Wrong side of the bed, is a short film directed by Daniel Lucchesi and was the winner of the 2006 One Minute Wonder Competition. It is based upon a man “Mr Average Joe” who gets up on the wrong side of the bed and spends the duration of the short film trying to get back to the ‘right’ side.
The opening shot of this short film, is a single mid shot of a man lying in bed, which takes up the whole screen. However, it is then revealed to be two shots placed over one another and presents the same character getting up on alternate sides of the bed.
From this, the screen is then divided into a split screen, showing the different sides of life, the ‘right’ on the left and the ‘wrong’ on the right.
The short film primarily consists of match-on-action (matching actions) which shows and represents the character living on the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ side of the bed. This is an intentional plot, and the lives on the split screen are designed to juxtapose one another. All the actions carried out by supposedly the same character on each side of the screen and are designed to show the audience the difference between the them emphasis the negative events which occur to the character on the ‘wrong side’.
It shows the character carrying out the same tasks on both sides, and the consequences of them. The ‘wrong’ side having all the bad luck and misfortune, whilst the character on the ‘right’ side has all good luck.
Examples of this include; the character on the ‘right side’ opening his curtains normally and successfully, whilst the character on the ‘wrong side’ ends up pulling the curtains off the pole.
There is also where the two characters wash their hands and the man on the ‘wrong side’ has the water rebound off something in the sink and sprays all over him, whilst the man on the ‘right side’ manages do wash his successfully.
However, at the end of the short film, Daniel Lucchesi, carries out a very clever technical move. He has the character on each side interact with one another and has them change sides.
The character on the ‘wrong side’ of the screen enters though a door and crosses the threshold onto the ‘right side’, by doing this he knocks the original character from the ‘right side’ onto the ‘wrong side’. Even when the new ‘right side’ character does this he still ends up having the bad luck as the woman walks past him, whilst the woman on the ‘wrong side’ helps the original ‘right side’ character.
On the whole, this scene has been constructed very effectively. In order to achieve the mirrored parallels of the ‘right side’, ‘wrong side’, the director would have had to film both clips from the same perspective. Of which they would then be in post production and editing, so that one of the clips would have been flipped, in order to create the parallel effect.
I have come to notice that through the duration of the short film the audience primarily focus on the character that is on the ‘wrong side’. The reason for this could be because the title focuses upon him, being called “The Wrong side of the bed”. Whilst the events and misfortune which occur to this character are much more entertaining and enticing for the audience to watch, compared to he very mundane events for the ‘right side’ character.
From viewing this One minute wonder short film competition winner, directed by Daniel Lucchesi, I have come to believe that the moral message of this short film to be that; it is not your life that gives you fortune and luck, but that it is instead, the person you are and how you live your life who determines the destiny you have.
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