Echo - Lewis Arnold

 Echo is a short film following a girl who receives a phone call from the hospital about her dad being in an accident. It is quickly revealed that she had not in fact been on a call, leading us to understand she had been running a scam. However, as the story progresses, we begin to see that she is grieving for her father who had actually been in an accident. The plot is ambiguous, not giving the viewer total understanding her character and how she is acting. We do not know if she is intentionally using her grief to gain money or if she is simply grieving to the point she keeps reliving the experience of learning of her dads accident. Our response to her character also varies greatly over the course of the film: at the beginning we feel bad for her as we believe her dad to have just been in an accidence but a few moments later we believe her to be a scammer, and start to feel more negative about her. However, by the end of the film, we can see that she is grieving and it is suggested that she has actually been through the experience she is acting out, making us feel more sympathetic towards her. 

The structure of the narrative is important in creating this ambiguous storyline.  The film leaves us with no answer on how the order of the events took place in the plot, making the film more compelling, as we do not know if the final scene was her actually getting the phone call for the first time, or simply her doing the scam again. The use of close up at the end, still suggests there is something more going on then just as scam, as it puts emphasis on her expression. The long take on this shot allows us to see just how much grief she is feeling, showing her emotions are real, even if the call isn't. This creates an open ending, not allowing us to see what happens next, or even understand the truth within the story.