Sian Ruffell

The Treehouse is a short film which involves a grieving boy after the death of his
mother and a precocious young girl, who when meet together go on a journey. The
film shows the audience how young people can cope with death of a major figure of
their lives, through a childs perspective.

At the beginning of the film non-diegetic sound is played over slow moving shots of
the young boy, the music is parallel to
the speed of the edits and camera
work- reflecting the characters mood, a
boy who has recently lost his mother.
When Matt meets his neighbour
Angelia non-diegetic sound of space is
heard when she is speaking about how
her Mum has died but she hasnt left
her as she is ...Just up there. This
noise is calming and by Matt meeting such a positive girl and hearing her views of
where her Mum is now can be calming for
Matt. The non-diegetic sound then appears
to be similar to the piano playing at the
start of the film however appears more
upbeat when the camera is showing the
smiley Angelia. Harmonious music is
presented when Angelia reassures Matt
that it is, going to be ok. The music then
is foregrounded as the camera heightens.
As both children continue to imagine they are in a space ship dramatic non-diegetic
sound reflects their imaginations, childrens imaginations are powerful and in this
case are helping both children cope with death therefore the music is parallel to the
scene.

Matts breathing is foregrounded when he is having flashbacks of his mother; as the
sound is foregrounded it makes the audience panic and empathises with the
character. The scene where all children are shouting abuse at Angelia at school is
then followed by the dramatized music again as soon after Matt calls her ugly, this
could represent Matt realising what he has done and how it can make people feel.
He is sorry about his past actions
and realises they can both help each
other through the grief both are
experiencing. The dialog from Matts
mother, sweetheart, you will never
be alone. Is then made parallel to
the scene of Matt and Angelia
holding hands and smiling together,
showing the importance of
friendship.

Sian Ruffell

When Angelia and Matt meet a close
up of Matts face shows the grief on
his face, it then pans round to a
smiley Angelia. The camera then has
a birds eye view shot of both
children laying on the grass this shot
shows the distance between both
children which resembles the start of
their friendship. It also shows a contrast of both characters, Matt is looking
miserable and Angelia seems very content, the type of shot makes these differences
more obvious to the audience. The 180 degree rule is used when both characters are
speaking about their mothers; it then switches with a simple cut to the birds eye
view shot. When both characters are seen speaking in a shot together this can
represent that they are connecting, in this case both characters are connecting
because of their mourning. The scene of
both characters in space, the camera
shows a close up of both holding hands it
then tilts up giving a close up of both
characters smiling at each other. This
close up shows that both Matt and
Angelia are beginning and friendship.
When the spaceship is seen to be having
technical issues the edits speed up,
mirroring the Matts emotions of him then having a panic attack. The edits then cut
to flashbacks of Matt at school and Matts mother. The images also appear to be
blurred which also reflect the panic of Matt.


The scenes of Matts flashbacks with his mother have high key lighting, this white
lighting is resembled with death therefore this is why it was used in this scene to
make it clear to the audience that
Matts mother is dead and this is a
flashback. The colours of the costumes
chosen for Angelia and Matt represent
the personalities which are presented
to the audience. Matt is seen wearing a
dark suit as if he has just been to his
mothers funeral his emotions match
his dark, dull colours of his costume.
On the other hand, Angelia is wearing bright colours which completely contrast to
the mood of which Matt is feeling. The lighting is low key in the spaceship, this is
part of the childrens imaginations.