Unedited Footage Of A Bear Analysis

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'Unedited Footage of a Bear' Confuses and Captivates

A deep and ominous current runs through Unedited Footage of a Bear. Directed by Alan Resnick and Ben O'Brian, this short carries a fearful weight in its violent imagery and hidden meanings.

Part of a larger group of "infomercials" produced for Adult Swim, Unedited Footage of a Bear starts out as exactly what the title says: cell phone video of a bear. A few minutes in the footage fades out, replaced by a YouTube ad for an allergy medication called Claridryl. A woman (played by Jacqueline Donelli) complains of allergy symptoms taking over her life while her children yell in the background. As the cheery music of the ad quiets the woman drives through her neighborhood in a van littered with empty Claridryl bottles. She passes a crime scene and pulls to a screeching halt. On the road is a yellow cardigan that matches the one she has on. In the distance, a doppelganger of the woman (played by Kerry Donelli) charges her and beats the woman to a pulp. The doppelganger …show more content…

The wide open space of the park where the ad takes place shifts to rows of cloistered suburban houses and eventually into a prison of a house. Bright colors, used in both the ad and the second half of the short, take on different meanings. Where the ad is characterized by intense yellow the second half shows shines of red and black. Other colors become muted compared to them. This contrast intensifies thanks to Patrick McMinn's lighting effects which create stark outlines of characters. Lit up with harsh lighting every person in the film appears to be trapped by their surroundings both in the first half and the second half.

Unedited Footage of a Bear grows more interesting on each viewing so I encourage anyone who checks this short out to watch it multiple times. Released on December 14th, 2014, the short runs 10 minutes

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