Screening Review

Girl Chewing Gum 

This screening was of John Smith's, Girl Chewing Gum short black and white film. The film consists of Smith narrating an intersection near a cinema in Hackney, where people walk through the scene. The people, cars and birds move through the scene as Smith voiceover appears to provide directions for the movement of the 'characters'. The second shot in the film is a piece of open ground situated by some overhead electrical pylons, in this shot the voiceover reveals that the commentary for the first shot is actually coming from this location, therefore Smith cannot see what is being directed first hand, like the audience.

We were given chewing gum to eat while watching the screening. This gum contained a set of instructions for us to complete while watching the film, my instructions were to clap whenever a car passed through the shot. This made the screening more interactive with a clever homage to the title of the film. The design of the outer wrapping of the chewing matched the aesthetic of the poster used to promote the film, which brung a sense of cohesion across the screening. 

The poster has a 4x3 grid layout, which promotes the simplicity of the film effectively. The use of greyscale mixed with colour wasn't explained fully, but I like the form. The use of the bus at the top of the poster (the first thing we see in the film) and the text 'NOW DISAPPEAR' (the last spoken audio in the film) is an interesting homage to the film, which creates a form (poster) which works as glimpse into different aspects of the film and as a literally timeline to the film.