Ralph essay

“Ralph” the short film is a piece directed by Alex Winckler. It’s featured genres such as romance and drama where shown through the themes of being lost, desperation/determination and revelation of the protagonist as he ventured into new lands in search of his best friend (crush) and instead meeting the waitress and forming a bond with her.

The first scene introduces a lost boy in an isolated train platform as he appears out of the train carrying a lot of baggage with him. The viewer sees he’s a key character seeing as he’s the only person in the frame. During that scene the actions carried out is the actor moving his head from side to side, indicated he’s unfamiliar with his whereabouts and location. The big luggage could symbolise the large amount baggage he has (phrase “baggage” implying to a lot past despair and sad experiences) giving the character more of a mystifying aura which compels the viewer to the character.

The film then suddenly transitions to the title. Displaying the title in bold print after showing the character so we can understand he’s the character called ralph and therefore he’s an important character or protagonist.

 Also the sound is of the train station announcer constantly reiterating in French and of a busy crowd to draw emphasis to the casual, slice of life tone of the short film also to the fact he’s lost and may have a purpose of being at that location.

The film moves into the next take of him lifting and putting the receiver, headset and transmitter to his face and dialling some numbers on a telephone. The camera pans to the character to show his focused stare, conveying Ralph has an objective and something he intends to do that alludes to a phone call. At that point the character hasn’t spoken; only sound is of the busy train, adding to the characters mystery, hence compelling the viewer.  

Later on in the scene of dialogue between the character and a French stranger, Ralph quotes “Sorry I’m English no French,” which emphasised to the viewers that the character doesn’t belong, seeing how his language isn’t well understood nor does he understand, making him seem out of place and lost and highlighting to the viewer he’s from England (which is exposition for the viewers as it reveal to us more about the character). In the phone call between Ralph and Emily, the director furthermore reveals the characters intentions of wanting to find his friend so the viewer can understand the films purpose. This adds some interest to the film this way we can watch to see if the character achieves his purpose also creates a sense of journey to the story making it more engaging. However it manages keeping the slice of life tone by retaining it’s no soundtrack and just sounds of life and the busy train station.

In the character’s journey to find his friend there is an obstacle: he doesn’t have her number; he has to try and attain it. The character is put in a dilemma as he struggles to deal with the situation since the language barrier becomes a problem for him, hindering him from finding his friend. This draws the viewer in as they can sympathise with the character or find his dilemma comical. The director realises and emphasises his frustration by taking these numerous shots, one being of him banging his head and another of him rubbing his eye while writing showing the desperation and determination which is how the character feels towards the problematic situation.

The characters desperation is also conveyed once he starts punching and hitting the phone booth, instigating an uneasy feeling for the audience.

Also the waitress whom is shown to be annoyed with her job which also draws sympathy from the viewer towards her also making her more relatable for the viewer henceforth likeable furthermore the confliction between the Ralph and the waitress conveys to the reader that she’s an important character mainly because it doesn't incorporate into the journey of trying to find Clare’s number also since she directly challenges Ralph and has a lot of screen time.

The scene in which the two characters Ralph and the Waitress interact for the first time and converse the director gives exposition due the waitress instantly assuming that “girlfriend: Clare?” Plus Ralph’s reply “It’s complicated,” explained to the viewer the situation with Clare and Ralph. This constructs an understanding towards Ralphs as he seems relatable and hence forth likeable, and making the audience experience deeper sympathy for Ralph. Furthermore the director clarifies by showing us the picture so we as the audience can comprehend how close Ralph and Clare is and how he likes her.

Tension builds up once Clare arrives and Ralph is forces to do the sudden introduction as it seems he has to choose between the waitress he just met and Clare who he’s been searching for. The actor creates an uneasy atmosphere for the audience with his obvious nervous utterance of “they are at the hotel,” which alerts the audience to the drastic situation.    

Winckler lets the audience witness how Ralph’s development as he makes a decision in contrast to the purpose he gave himself at his introduction. This indicates that Ralph has gone through a revelation that transfigured him into a better character incorporating a happy ending for the story. The director emphasises this by placing a positive soundtrack to him walking away and there ending the piece at that.

Ultimately the director conveys the themes of being lost and out of place in the in the fact that the character has ventured into a foreign land with the purpose of finding his friend however having difficulty finding her contact details, Ralph later finds himself and his place towards the end when he realise he doesn’t belong with Clare and goes towards the waitress. Desperation and determination is shown through the characters efforts of looking for Clare and withstanding the frustration of a futile search in order to achieve his goal. Revelation and realisation is shown at the end when he understands it wasn’t meant to be.