As their conversation continues, Elroy begins opening up about his life after an initial unbalance of Claire doing the majority of the talking. He says how the box belonged to his mother who passed away, and the happy memories he has of her writing kind notes on Post-Its. Claire is shown in reaction shots when Elroy discusses his past, and she expresses contentment through these continued medium close ups. The repetition of these shot types and eye level angles within the shot reverse shot sequence, with eyeline match being kept, allows for seamless continuity so that spectators are just concentrating on the compelling dialogue which drives the narrative.
Elroy claims that "half the time (he) can't stand people" unlike his mother who could "find something nice to say about pretty much anyone". Claire then encourges him with confident body language and dialogue that he "could do that", to which he replies "no I can't". This doubtfulness is shown at an eye level 2 shot to show her conflicting reaction to what he's saying, as she appears to belive in Elroy more than he does himself. At this point in the film, he is still restricted by the way he somewhat hides behind the prop of this box. This is a signifiant prop as it's used not only to show Elroy's timid personality early on, but goes on to be used to progress his character into a more outgoing one, when he uses the Post-Its from inside to bring joy to people.
A third character is introduced when a man comes and sits inbetween Elroy and Claire. He is introduced as a bold and dauntless character, who is wreckless in his body language as he squishes quickly onto the bench. Elroy initially expresses a dislike to what the man has done, with aggrivated facial expressions shown at a medium close up with shallow depth of field focussing just on his face. He is presented very differently to Elroy, with a chequered shirt and facial hair, with gelled hair and glasses. These different attributes are to emphasise the contrasting characters, and suggest that this could be someone Elroy was referring to when he often "can't stand people". This character helps demonstrate Elroy's progression through the film after his conversation with Claire, as rather than getting annoyed at the man's actions, they are shown writing kind notes about him. These notes such as "nice shirt" are shown at a close up to allow spectators to read them and understand their significance in Elroy's develpment throughout the short film.
Elroy and Claire then go around town sticking these notes of kindness on all varieties of people. Mid shots are used throughout the ending to capture the jubilation and laughter of people as they recieve these compliments, as well as Elroy and Claire who feel great about what they're doing. There is an emphasis on Elroys reactions, as his progression as a character seems to be complete.In my own short film, I would like to use the idea of character progression in similar ways to Elroy, as we empathise with him throughout and enjoy seeing him come out as a better and more fulfilled person.
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