Short Film Review 1 - "Winnow" (George Lewis)

Winnow is a short film, created by George Lewis (UK), following a man from the city venturing into the unknown.

 The first shot in this short film is a medium shot of the subject. What immediately caught my eye when the film started is the aspect ratio, and the colour correction put onto the shots.
 These effects put together give the film a feeling of age, calling back to a time when television monitors where more primitive, had smaller screens (and therefore a smaller aspect ratio) and did not have such a wide array of colours that modern televisions and digital display monitors do.
  We do not know anything about the man; his hair is wet, and roughed up, his shirt has large sweat stains and is creased, indicating that he has been through some form of ordeal to reach where he is. Perhaps he has been searching for this tree for hours, perhaps he was in some sort of danger and had to run away, or perhaps he was short on time and had to rush to get there.
  The man's attire indicated that he works in some sort of corporate job, perhaps in an office building in the city. This contrasts with his surroundings, as he is clearly in some sort of wooded area, like a forest.
  Another feature that immediately stands out in this clip is the music; it is calm and slow and, when combined with the faint howl of the wind blowing through the trees, gives the film a surreal feeling; it makes you question what is happening, and if this film is set in reality, or some kind of fantasy.

The next shot is an establishing shot/long shot of a large, old, and warped tree. The editing of the two shots together indicates that the tree is in fact what this man has been looking for. There is also a very slight, slow zoom into the tree indicating that this is indeed the main focus of this short.
 The music carries over from the last shot, giving the impression that there is more to this tree than meets the eye.

We then see a close-up of our subject, his face implies that he is frustrated, but eager to see what this tree is really hiding. He then proceeds to walk towards the camera, indicating that he is ready to find out.

The man then proceeds to climb into the tree; what follows is a 42 second "Alice in Wonderland"-like sequence in which the man falls down an absurdly deep hole in the ground.
 The music in this sequence picks up a little, implying that he is now in/now entering a world unlike our own.
 While falling the subject proceeds to remove his clothes and dumps all of his possessions. This indicates that perhaps this man is in a strange state of mind
 The lighting also changes on the way down, transitioning form bright and happy, to dark and sinister perhaps connoting some sort of evil undertones.

When the subject reaches the bottom, he is in some sort of dark space.
 The ground consists of soil present in coniferous woods (like the one in which the ancient tree resides) and debris and leaf litter that one would find in such coniferous forests. This all indicates that the subject may be in some sort of outside space, however, the information that we have previously received (that the man just climbed inside a tree) seems to contradict that conclusion; this may indicate that the subject has entered some sort of realm/world that mirrors ours in some way.
 The lighting of this scene is very interesting; as I previously described, the lighting gives a sinister feeling. There is only one source of light in this scene, emanating from one non-descript source. This light has a yellow colour, giving the feeling of warmth, and safety. Upon further analysis of this scene, you begin to question whether or not it is intended to connote the popular ideas of what happens after one dies - most obviously 'the light at the end of the tunnel'.
The subject may have died form the immense fall that he experienced: we may have seen him land, and he may be in some sort of surreal world - but perhaps the landing that we saw was him entering .Limbo'.
 This idea is further supported by the next shot after the subject crawls towards and into the light; we see a panning-transition from the last scene, to a shot of the 'over-world', where we see a small plant quickly sprouting from the ground. This plant is obviously meant to be the focus of the shot: it is central in the shot, and is the only item of interest that is in focus.
 I believe that this transition is supposed to imply that when one life ends (in this case the subject of the short), another begins (in this case the plant in the final shot).

In conclusion;
 The cinematography is excellent - the black bars and the colour correction make this short feel very professional, almost like it is part of a full length feature film.
 I love the tones that this short conveys - the combination of the music, the ambient sounds, and the cinematography make this short feel mysterious and surreal.