Here She Is

“Here She Is” is a short film written by Megan Rosati and directed by Megan Rosati and Anna Akana. It is about a beauty pageant that encounters strange experiences. At first glance, it looked like it was filmed in a studio due to the dark background and lit props. I love the simplicity of filming in a studio and with only two sets of scenes. This teaches me that the mise-en-scene of a film doesn’t need to be extravagant to have a good-looking film. Shooting in this style makes me realize that the emphasis can be on the character’s makeup and costume design. It makes me focus on the simplicity of creating on a low budget.

The first scene is the “final stage” of the pageant and the second is set inside the fitting room for the pageant contestants.

Although this is a very short film, it was most creative in using the techniques of editing. It was beautifully edited by using the fast-forwarding creating a foreshadowing technique. The flashforwards were a depicting of what the ending of the film would be like. The most interesting thing about these flashforwards was that it was edited in reverse motion mixed with ominous music. This helps drive the film to feel fantasy and horror-like. Without the ominous music, this film would not have that reaction to my thinking.

The scene was set at the pageant stage where all the contestants were on stage and then it cuts to the main character standing by herself with a dark and evil look to her being. It then changes to a scene where she is in the fitting room passed out on the floor. The scene where the main character is standing by herself in the dark and evil look makes you wonder why she is in that state of mind. She goes throughout the film to explain that something bad is going to happen yet the other contestants don’t believe in her.

I was heavily intrigued by the extravagant fantasy makeup and the predictable yet unpredictable ending. The continuous tension of the main character was displayed from the beginning until the very end making me want to know what’s next. I still am clueless about what happened in the end of the film because the ending shows the main character in the complete opposite emotion from what she was feeling throughout the film.