Conversation Piece is a short film directed by Joe Tunmer for the BBC. Produced by Enrico and Junior from New Treatment.
One sleepy Sunday morning, Jean notices a chip on a treasured vase. She accuses Maurice, her husband since whenever. He denies it. Employing a variety of tactics, Jean attempts to get to the bottom of the situation.
The film takes place in a typical English middle class home. The characters themselves are rather stereotypical, or I could argue traditional. Jean is cooking to potatoes for a roast Sunday dinner and her husband Maurice settles down to read his paper in his dressing gown with his toast. There costume is old fashioned as are their roles (Jean working in the kitchen while Maurice relaxes.) I also think it ads to Maurice’s character that he keeps everything in his pockets. His toast, a handkerchief and superglue to fix the pot add the end. It’s funny and just makes him a little more interesting.
The sound is what makes the film so unique. A conversation piece is a track of music which sounds as if two instruments talking. This track is written by Rex Stewart and is a 1966 jazz piece. In the film the couple talks only while the music is playing. We cannot here their words but the instruments play when their mouths open. It is an ironic, funny and a strange ending. The track plays again and jean returns to the room for another conversation. It makes us wonder if they can only talk when the piece is playing.
The story is linear following just these two characters which is a good format for a short film. There is a cliff-hanger ending as we wonder what Jean has returned to say to her husband. It is a musical comedy and as such it is quite light hearted. As an audience we do not find ourselves taking sides but simply viewing a petty household argument.
A shot i found inspiring was the depth shot of the vase, where the first shot is focused on the vase and we can see Maurice out of focus behind it. The next shot although the same focuses on Maurice instead. This emphasizes the importance of the vase then shifts the attention to Maurice very successfully. This is something we could definitely include in our own film.
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