Sofielosophy

PT IN MIL.

OVERVIEW

“Limang Libo” is a film about two people who lead normal lives and are unaware of each other’s existence; Susan, a midwife who is bound to her debts and Manuel, a scavenger who lives a simple life with his pregnant wife. Their paths cross when Manuel takes his wife to Susan’s home because of an accident that will endanger their child, letting Susan take charge of the whole situation. Both faced with unfortunate circumstances, both Susan and Manuel will be forced to act against their instincts.

SUMMARY

The story begins with a quick glance of Susan and Manuel’s lives.One night, Manuel’s pregnant wife experienced labor pains because she will gave birth he decided to bring her to Susan.

Due to her financial problems, Susan saw it as an opportunity to pay all her debts so she asked P 5,0000 as a fee in exchange for the help she will give to Manuel’s wife.

Desperate to save his wife, he went out and attempted to rob Susan’s son without knowing that it was Susan’s son in the first place. However, Manuel ended up killing Susan’s son.

Meanwhile, back in her house, Susan was successful in getting the baby out of Manuel’s wife’s womb. However, the baby died.

Unfortunate for both, in the end they became each other’s antagonists.

ANALYSIS

To convey the emotions and the message of the film, it used various technical codes such as camera techniques. Moreover, the lighting throughout the film is essentially dark to emphasize the tragic events in it.

SYMBOLIC CODE

Cellphone and the Money 5,000 pesos

TECHNICAL CODES: CAMERA TECHNIQUES

#1 CLOSE UP AND EXTREME CLOSE UP

An extreme close-up shows us objects and people differently than we see them. It calls attention to the subjects, making them more memorable visually.

The extreme close-up shot of Susan is used in the short film to allow the viewers to enter her intimate space, revealing certain characteristics and emotions that would otherwise go unnoticed from afar.

#2 MEDIUM SHOT

Medium shots are favored in sequences where dialogues or a small group of people are acting, as they give the viewer a partial view of the background and also shows Susan’s facial expressions in the context of her body language.

#3 ESTABLISHING SHOT  

An establishing shot is usually the first shot of a new scene, designed to show the audience where the action is taking place. It is used in the first scene of the short film.

#4 LONG SHOT

Long shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or, and to remove ambiguity it will be called a, wide shot) typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings. The scene were Manuel robbing a student who is unfortunately Susan’s son is a long shot.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

QUESTION #1: THIS IMAGE BEGINS AND ENDS THE FILM. WHY IS SUSAN CRYING?

Susan is crying because she has a lot of debt to pay and her financial problems makes her life miserable.

QUESTION #2: THE VIEWERS WILL MEET SUSAN AND MANUEL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THIS WAY. DO THEY KNOW EACH OTHER?

No, they don’t know each other but their paths cross when Manuel takes his wife to Susan’s home because of an accident that will endanger their child, letting Susan take charge of the whole situation.

QUESTION #3: MANUEL IS A SCAVENGER. WHAT IS THE TOOL THAT HE USES FOR HIS WORK?

 As a scavenger, Manuel uses cutter for his job.

QUESTION #4: DESCRIBE SUSAN’S SETTING? WHO IS SHE EXPECTING TO COME EARLY IN THE MORNING?

Susan is implied to have an impoverished life so she lives in a small house in a squatters area. She is expecting her son to come early in the morning.

QUESTION #5: HOW MUCH DOES MANUEL EARN FOR WHAT HE DOES? WHAT DOES HE DO WITH THE COINS OF THE BLIND GUITARIST?

Manuel earns at around 20 pesos a day and some coins or “barya”.  He places some coins of the blind guitarist inside of a tin can.

QUESTION #6: WHAT DOES MANUEL WITNESS WHILE HE IS ENJOYING THE SONG OF THE BLIND GUITARIST?

He witnessed a suspicious way of of trading a cellular phone for money.

QUESTION #7: WHO IS KNOCKING ON SUSAN’S DOOR? WHERE IS HER SON, AND AT WHAT DIEGETIC TIME OF DAY DO THE VIEWERS MEET HIM FOR THE FIRST TIME?

The person who knocked on Susan’s door was a person who is in charged of handling the bills to the residents. The viewers met Susan’s son one evening while he was drinking with his friends.

QUESTION #8: WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP DOES SUSAN HAVE WITH HER SON, ACCORDING TO HER SON’S FRIENDS? WHAT DOES THE CELLPHONE INDICATE ABOUT THIS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUSAN AND HER SON? IN WHAT WAY DOES THE CELLPHONE ALSO FUNCTION AS A SYMBOLIC ELEMENT IN THE NARRATIVE?

Susan and her son has a not so strong mother and son relationship, because he is described by his friends as a “mama’s boy” but he denied it. 

The cellphone symbolizes the unconditional love and sacrifices of Susan for her son. Despite of all the debts and bills she had to pay, she still gave her son a brand new cellphone.

QUESTION #9: WHILE SUSAN’S SON IS OUT DRINKING WITH HIS FRIENDS, WHERE ARE MANUEL AND SUSAN? WHY IS SUSAN SO ANXIOUS? WHAT IS SHE READING AND FUSSING ABOUT? WHAT DOES HER ANXIETY HAVE TO DO WITH HER SON’S NEW CELLPHONE?

Manuel is with his wife, who later woke up due to his wife experiencing labor pain. Susan, on the other-hand, is in her house managing all the debts and bills she had to pay.  The cellphone is related to Susan’s dilemma maybe because the money that she is supposed to use to pay the bills went to buying her son’s new cellphone instead.

QUESTION #10: HOW DO SUSAN’S AND MANUEL’S LIVES CROSS? OTHER THAN CROSSING PATHS, IN WHAT OTHER WAY ARE THEIR LIVES PARALLELING EACH OTHER? HOW DO THEIR PARALLEL LIVES CORRESPOND TO THE PARALLEL EDITING USED BY THE FILM?

Susan and Manuel’s lives cross with each other when Manuel brought his pregnant wife to Susan, who is a midwife. Aside from  that, they are both in need of money.

QUESTION #11: WHY DOES MANUEL HAVE BLOOD ON HIS SHIRT IN THIS SCENE? WHAT WAS SUSAN THINKING WHEN SHE TURNED HER HEAD AWAY FROM MANUEL? WHAT DID SHE LOOK AT BEFORE ASKING FOR P5,000.00 FROM MANUEL?

The blood on Manuel’s shirt came from his pregnant wife because he was assisting her in giving birth. On the other angle, Susan looked to all the bills and payments she had to made thinking that this could be her chance to get money resulting to asking Manuel for 5,000 pesos to help her wife to gave birth.

QUESTION #12: HOW DOES THE EDITING CONNECT THE SPACES OF SUSAN AND HER SON, THROUGH THE GESTURE OF SUSAN’S TURNING HER HEAD? HOW DOES EDITING MANIPULATE TIME, SO THAT SUSAN ENDS UP LIKE SHE IS TURNING TO LOOK AT BOTH HER SON AND MANUEL WITH HER SON?

The editing gave the impression and message that Susan is looking to both Manuel and his son.

QUESTION #13: HOW DO THESE SCENES – WITH SUSAN HELPING MANUEL’S WIFE DELIVER A BABY AND MANUEL UNKNOWINGLY STEALING THE CELLPHONE OF SUSAN’S SON – PARALLEL EACH OTHER? HOW DOES THE DEATH OF MANUEL’S SON IRONICALLY PARALLEL THE DEATH (?) OF SUSAN’S SON? CONSIDER THE VISUAL COMPOSITION OF THE SCENES.

This scenes were parallel to each other because we all know that both of them are in need of money and they are searching for solutions to solve their own problems. 

For Susan, she forced Manuel to pay 5,000 pesos for her service. And for Manuel, she steal the cellphone of Susan’s son to get money. But in the end, none of their problems were solved.

QUESTION #14: HOW DOES EDITING CONNECT IMAGES THAT ARE GRAPHICALLY SIMILAR OR CONNECTED?

Editing connects images that are graphically similar or connected by conveying messages and impressions in the film.

QUESTION #15: THE VIEWERS SEE SUSAN AND MANUEL FOR THE LAST TIME IN THIS WAY. DO THEY KNOW EACH OTHER? WHY IS THERE BLOOD ON MANUEL’S SHIRT? WHY IS SUSAN CRYING?

In the last scene, Susan and Manuel now know each other but not personally though. Susan is crying because of all her problems financially and emotionally. On the other-hand, Manuel has a blood stains on his shirt because he is assisting her wife in giving birth.

QUESTION #16: WHAT ARE THE SOCIAL ISSUES BROUGHT FORTH BY THE FILMMAKER ON BOTH SIDES OF THE HYPERLINKED STORY?

The social issues that were emphasized in the short film were poverty, unemployment and crime.

QUESTION #17: WHAT IS THE OVERALL EFFECT OF DRAMATIC IRONY, OR THE FACT THAT THE VIEWERS KNOW MORE THAN THE CHARACTERS, ON THE SOCIAL ISSUES BEING BROUGHT FORWARD?

The effect of dramatic irony in the film gave the viewers more  emotional impact.

QUESTION #18: HOW DOES THE FILM MANIPULATE TIME AND SPACE TO SHOW THE INTRICACY OF HOW PEOPLE’S LIVES ARE INTERTWINED? 

The film didn’t use the typical chronological order to convey a story. Instead, it used camera techniques and different settings.

QUESTION #19: HOW DO LITTLE DETAILS AND GESTURES IN THE FILM ADD UP NOT ONLY TO TELL A STORY BUT TO COMMUNICATE THE THEMES?

Little details and gestures in the film help communicate its theme and genre. And to convey its real message to the viewers.

QUESTION #20: WHY IS THE FILM STRUCTURED LIKE A CIRCLE, ENDING WHERE IT OPENED?

“If you choose STEM in St.Dominic, your future is just one ride away!”

“I see dead people” The Sixth Sense is well worth the ticket price. It has an outstanding storyline and there are a couple of good scares, rendered more effective because I dropped my guard off. Well the story goes like this, it’s about a young boy named Cole Sear, who has a sixth sense or the ability to see ghosts. He met a well-known psychologist, Dr. Malcolm Crowe, and the two started to have a bond with each other.

When I first saw The Sixth Sense, I didn’t know what to expect. I guess I was looking forward to a good scary horror flick. I was very surprised! I found that the purpose for this movie was far greater than just trying to scare the audience. I found this movie was showing not only the emotions of fear, but also faith, commitment, sadness of loss, and love.

Relating this movie to Marshall McLuhan’s theory “The Medium is the Message” As the theory stated, the medium itself exerts much powerful effect on us than the content it delivers.

There is this one scene in the movie where Cole told Dr. Malcolm his secret that he can see dead people. Since, Dr. Malcom is a renowned psychologist, at first he thinks that Cole is delusional and was suffering from hallucinations that he considers dropping his case.

Remembering his former patient, he listened to an audiotape. On the tape, his former patient starts to cry. Turning up the volume, Dr. Malcolm heard a weeping man begging for help in Spanish. Because of this, he now believes that Cole is telling the truth and he suggests that the young boy should try to find a purpose for his gift by communicating with the ghosts and perhaps aid them with their unfinished business.

That is to say, the message is greatly affected by the medium that is used. Thus, this scene is a great example of McLuhan’s theory “The Medium is the Message.”

The surprise ending of the movie was immensely jaw dropping! That I was left shocked and utterly amazed with awe. Having said that, it is one of the movies I love to watch again and again.