The film immediately opens with the title ‘Soft’, along with the diegetic vocal sound of a male’s voice. The first shot shown to an audience is through the use of a mobile phone, this can be established because of the reduced quality of the image and sound. This initial shot is representing stereotypical teens from within today’s society, as we are shown several youths charging hastily along an alley way. The hastiness and energy, portrayed by the characters is depicted in the shakiness of the hand held mobile phone camera and the alley way with its over grown side verges is conveying a kind of roughness that can also be related to the teenagers at this particular point.
At the end of the alley way the charging youths join a small group of other youths who are intimidating and bullying one male teen who is represented wearing his school uniform. The surrounding youths are mainly wearing dark casual clothes that would be associated with the term ‘Hoodies’. However, there is one youth who seems to be a little more dominant and he is dressed in white. The colour white represents the form of purity, but in this instance I feel the Director chose this design so that the youth in question could clearly stand out and be identified against the dull lighting that is clearly conveying a bad and negative atmosphere from within this footage. This colour design is also reflecting his carefree confidence and oblivious immature ignorance.
As this brutal youth repeatedly strikes the young male in his school uniform, an audience would feel its impact through the diegetic sound of the punches and they would witness another male youth filming the incident on his mobile phone, which is known as ‘cyber bullying ‘or ‘happy slapping’. These themes are continuously highlighted in today’s media and it has become a growing concern amongst the older generations that these kinds of attacks seem to be common with teenagers from within the lower class of society. Once the brutal images have been filmed, they are then sent via text to other mobile phones or alternatively posted on to the internet for all to view. At the end of this particular scene the screen goes blank to indicate a slight pass in time.
We are then shown a high angle celluloid shot depicting a quiet and clean street. The diegetic sound of birds tweeting set the atmosphere as peaceful and tranquil and the natural light cascades down onto the road, which is in complete contrast to the mobile phone footage. As we hear the sound of a moving car engine, the car enters the frame and parks up. An adult male gets out of the car and automatically locks it, before going into his home.
The next shot is from within the house and it is again a high angle shot depicting the staircase, but this time it is accompanied by the sound of thumping music, that is commonly associated with teenagers and it is also representing teens as a bit of a head ache. Instantly, we see a pair of youthful legs and feet wearing trainers walk along the landing and then walk down a couple of steps, but this is interrupted by the diegetic sound of a key turning in the lock of the front door and the youth quickly retreats back to his bedroom. The adult male from the previous shot then enters the front door and calls to the youth upstairs, to move his bag. The next few editorial cuts show the male adult in the kitchen perusing to make a hot drink, but he is clearly out of milk. He calls up the stairs for his son to go and get some milk, but the youth chooses to ignore the request and therefore turns up the volume to his music in an attempt to indicate that he did not hear his dad’s request.
The youth’s father then exits the house and seems to bear a false image of politeness to his neighbour. Back on the street the sound of birds, bring back the element of peacefulness. The scene is then cut to show mobile phone footage of the bully teenagers and this time one of them is pretending to play a musical instrument as he blows down a traffic road cone. The beat of his tune is very similar to the kind of musical beat the youth in the house was playing. This footage then cuts to a celluloid film shot of the father walking along a very scenic walkway and the sound of church bells chime in the distance. This shot is then interrupted to show another scene filmed by the mobile phone. We see a youth playing aggressively with a balloon and the youth dressed in white hiding behind a modern telephone box and he pathetically jumps out to scare a passing adult female. This immature behaviour is accompanied by the distant sound of church bells, but this time the bells make a belonged donging noise, which is in complete contrast to the previous scene and sound. The donging sound puts me personally in mind of a death march and this could be indicating that something bad may happen. The strong representation of age, immaturity, gender and gang culture is conveying an image that today’s media has conjured up from within their tabloid reports of stereotypical lower class gangs.
The parallel editing here means that both events are happening at the same time and an audience would suspect that at some point both scenes will clash and combine.
As the father walks into the shop, we see the youths for the first time on celluloid film. They try to frighten him by popping the balloon they are playing with and this clearly has an effect on him, but he surprisingly annoys the gang when they laugh at him, because he sarcastically laughs back at them. The father then buys a pint of milk from a cautious shopkeeper and as he is about to exit the shop the bully youth is in his way. The father politely asks the boy to move and the youth complies with his request, but as soon as the father is outside, just in front of the shop door the film image changes and this time the father is being shown on mobile footage. The bully then confronts him and kicks him, but the father does not retaliate; instead he just gets back to his feet and heads back off down the road. Immediately after the incident but before the mobile footage is cut, we are shown the bully demonstrating a robotic dance that is depicting his immature triumph and a sure sign that the recorded footage will be used as a form of ‘Happy Slapping’.
The divide between the gang and the father is represented by age and class. From the slang tones of the gang it can be established and securely confirmed that their lack of educational skills puts them in the lower class, while the father is placed amongst the middle working class of society. This is supported by his costume design as he is wearing a shirt and tie and that his overall appearance is clean and tidy. Furthermore, an audience had already established his residential status as typically middle class.
When the father walks back to his home, there are a few quick cuts that flash back to the incident he had just encountered and these quick shots are accompanied by the diegetic sound of a thumping heartbeat. The flash backs along with the sound are conveying his anxiety as he reflects back to the experience. Furthermore, he is followed back home by the bully and his side quick gang.
Back in the comfort of his own home the father is approached by his son in the kitchen. As the boy hesitantly tries to make a cup of tea, he desperately tries to approach the subject of his attract. His father who is seen quite reluctant to face his son is shocked to discover the event his son was subjected to and in return he dishes out advice that the boy should stand up for himself now. During these editorial shots the boy repeatedly asks what time is his mother coming home. I believe the Director chose to implement this question because the boy is feeling insecure and it is widely known that in general, mothers like to protect their young from harm.
In the lounge the youth along with his father encounter the dominant bully and his gang just outside their window trying to provoke another incident. The father reluctantly tries to ignore the situation, while the boy becomes slightly stressed and he persistently insists that his father should do something. It is not until his son asks him “Are you scared?” that we are shown the father removing his tie and approaching his front door. Cowardly and lacking decisiveness the youth’s father pauses by the front door and tries to assure his son he is not scared, but it is the youth who is first to go outside, followed by his father. The close up shots, that track the father as he approaches the gang depict his reluctance to follow his own advice about standing up for yourself. Just as he gets near to the dominant bully the camera shots are cut and the following coverage is now covered by a mobile phone.
Suddenly and without warning the youth rushes to the aid of his father and uses a cricket bat to defend himself against the dominant bully. Without any hesitation he takes one almighty swing for the bully and as the bully falls to the ground the footage is transferred back to celluloid film. The pace of filming at this point is depicted in close up quick cuts to portray energy and aggression and at the same time an audience is shown an ironic situation between both the father and his son. Consequently the father gave his son advice and assured him it was good to fight back in order to protect himself, but in contrast to this the father did not follow his own advice. As the bully runs away the boy is left feeling hurt and humiliated by his father’s actions and this is demonstrated in a frame shot that sees the boy approach his father to hand him the cricket bat, but instead of giving it directly to him, he allows the bat to fall to the ground. The sound of him entering his home and slamming the door shut behind him suggests that he is disgusted that his father failed to protect him.
The film concludes with a high angle shot, subsequently like the one when it first introduced the quiet street, but this time we are shown the father retrieving the cricket bat from the floor and then entering his home. The diegetic sounds that accompany this action are the sounds of distant traffic and dogs barking which are now creating a bleak atmosphere. These sounds are in complete contrast to the first initial sound of birds tweeting that conveyed a sense tranquillity and peacefulness.
After viewing the whole of this short film the title ‘Soft’ reflects the attitude of the father’s behaviour towards the brutal and violent gang and one would most certainly expect a grown mature adult to take control, even if it was just purely to telephone the police.
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