Steel Homes

Steel Homes Analysis - Eva Webber 2008

Steel Homes (A short film/documentary) directed by Eva Webber (2008) was selected and won numerous awards from the 'Sundance Film Festival'. The short film explores the lives of people who have lost loved ones and are left with their loved ones belongings from the past which are stored in containers which they buy or rent. Eva explores the emotions of these people and what certain objects that their love ones left behind mean to certain individuals and the history that they can provide.

 I really like the way that the director has used something that to most people means nothing but to certain individuals could mean so much and could give them memories from the past. I thought the idea of the film was very simple but brilliantly put together through the unscripted views of the people involved. I also really liked the first couple of minuets where the use of close up on the objects is used with a simple voice over the top of the sequence. It was effective and had some meaning behind it as the objects related to the voice over. Another aspect and technique I like that Eva used was the use of the long corridors in the location the filming the people at the bottom of them made it look as if they were isolated and insecure, wither this was meant or not I found it as an audience member very effective and interesting. The one aspect I wasn't to sure about was the location shots used as cut away's throughout and thought it could have been more effective if they filmed even more of the peoples emotions instead that they documenting.

Overall the film really explores how through objects people could express so much emotion and is really captured by the director through the shot choice and voice overs of the people who are being documented in the film.