Narrative Structure: The Grandmother is about a boy who grows a grandmother in an attempt to escape from the abuse he receives from his parents. The film starts with a 2D animation of an abstract interpretation of the three main characters being brought into the story by coming through the ground (mirroring growing plants) and ends with the ‘grown’ Grandmother dying and the boy returning to the point that he was at when the film started. There is no real indication of where or when this short film is set anywhere within it.
Cinematic Influences: For a majority of the film, the lighting is so dark that it can be mistaken for being a black and white film. However, this element is juxtaposed with sharp and noticeable colours within the scene, such as the orange stain on the centre of a bed to represent the torment the main character goes through at the hands of his father or how the main character has bright red lips which contrast his pale face which can only sometimes be seen (such as at 2:27). Cuts between shots are rapid and done at random during sequences where the audience is intended to feel a sense of distress such as when the Grandmother is pulled out of the tree which is also presented as mirroring a mother giving birth. An extreme close up of the mother laughing hysterically while the boy is trying to get help is used to further show their abusive treatment towards him. The music is often unusual and unsettling to create unease in the audience and imply that something is wrong. Another way sound creates this uneasy feel is through the way it uses disgusting sounds during the sequence where the tree ‘births’ the Grandmother. However, when the boy runs back to the Grandmother for comfort, the music is more calming to show how this is his escape from reality. The tree that acts as a focus throughout the first half of the film looks out of place in its location as it is shown to be dark and decaying and contrasts to the clean, simple room and white bed that it is in. The outside world is rarely seen in this short film which could imply that the boy’s parents have locked him away within the house to be forgotten about by society. The main character’s mistreatment is also shown through the dinner table sequence (between 16:58 – 18:38) where his parents have large amounts of food while he only has a small plate of mostly mouldy food. The only time that the characters say anything is when they shout which leads to the ‘dialogue’ being distorted and indecipherable to the audience. To compensate for this silent style of performance, the actors use overly dramatic physical movements and actions. Whenever the boy and the Grandmother are in the same scene, they are almost always very close together to imply the Grandmother’s protective nature over the boy. The genre of this film is clearly horror but it is possible that it is a hybrid genre as it also fits into the experimental film genre due to its mix of live action film and animations throughout the film.
Andrew Elton's Film Studies Blog 