The Short Film: Melissa

Melissa, a 9-year-old girl forms a bond with her captor...

Melissa and her captor, Razman. Photo Courtesy: Instagram@melissashortfilm

Could you imagine being a friend with a captor when you are the victim? This may lead you to think of the Stockholm syndrome, a psychological phenomenon which refers to an emotional attachment of hostages to their captors. Although Melissa is not really a film about the Stockholm syndrome, you could see some signs of it when 9-year-old Melissa found a connection with the captor, Razman who was involved in organ harvesting business.

Let’s Take a Peek at the Story

The trailer of the short film, Melissa.

Video Courtesy: YouTube@Cineuphoric Pictures

The story starts with the main character, Melissa being locked in a small cell made by wood boards. Through the gap between the boards, she could see a girl at her age locked in another cell. Different with her “neighbour” who kept crying for help, Melissa looked more calm in finding ways to escape. Throughout the captivity, Melissa was given food by a soft-spoken man, Razman. Both of them bonded over time as Razman gave her candies and crayons. They found their mean of communication through drawings. Their drawings implied that both of them had been domestically abused by their fathers. That is when Melissa found a connection with Razman who shared the similar personal experience with her.

It is then revealed that Apak, Razman’s abusive father was the mastermind of the kidnap and he forced Razman to be the caretaker. When Melissa was trying to find a route to escape, she accidentally saw Apak operating on her “neighbour”. The scene revealed that organ harvesting was the captor’s main purpose of kidnapping the girls. To save Melissa from the inhumane surgery, Razman stepped up and defended her from his father. The film ends with the scene where Melissa finally opened the door to escape.

The Heroes Behind the Scene

Sahira Jeffry, the director is explaining the scene to the actors who takes the roles of Melissa and Razman. Photo Courtesy: Instagram@melissashortfilm

Surprisingly, this high-quality film is not produced by experienced filmmakers, but a group of ambitious final year students. Studying at the Faculty of Cinematic Arts in Multimedia University, Johor, Sahira Jeffry (Director), Amirr Shahlen (Producer), Ahmad Iqbal Jeffry (Assistant Producer), Faiz Izal (Cinematographer/ Editor), Aqilah Jamal (Production Designer), and Amzar Hafizi (Sound Designer) worked as a team to succeed the project in 2018. According to the director’s statement, the central message the production team wants to convey is the need for companionship. This is portrayed through the bond between Melissa and Razman who are victims of domestic abuse, seeking for the comfort of a family. “We all shared our personal experiences where we find that we each has felt being scared and alone, wanting that connection with another human being,” stated by the director, Sahira Jeffry. The film has been screened in film festivals and received many awards including the “Honourable Mention” by Asia South East-Short Film Festival Winter 2018.

What makes Melissa a great short film?

Photo Courtesy: Instagram@melissashortfilm

1. Play with audience’s emotion

Panic spread through the audience as Melissa was finding the key to open the front door. The sound effect and the close-up shots on the character created the feelings of tension. The actress, Puteri Balqis who took the role of Melissa, showed her fantastic acting skills in the film. Her various facial expressions perfectly portrayed the multiple degree of scare. As an audience, my feelings went up and down like a roller coaster when I watched the film.

Despite the frightening ambience, the story came to a turning point where the director created an atmosphere of warm bonding between Melissa and Razman. Temporarily, audience took a rest from the panic emotion and felt the touching connection between the two characters. It also triggered the emotion of empathy when audience found the two characters having the same experience of being physically abused.

The ending scene stirred up more sentiment when Razman defended Melissa and was beaten hardly by his father. The plot reached its peak when Razman hugged Melissa for one last time and asked her to run away. Audience were so touched by the scene because it portrayed the self-sacrificing spirit of Razman in protecting his friend, Melissa. I would say, the production team and the actors were really amazing in leading the audience to feel the strong emotions in the story.

2. Play with lights

“Lighting is very important in filmmaking and the film Melissa played so well with the lighting!”- the Judge of Taylor’s University Film Festival 2019

In the scene where Melissa was locked in a small cell, the production team perfectly imitated the natural sunlight. Audience could see beams of sunlight through the gap of wood boards. It suited the scene by describing what situation Melissa was in. The sunlight symbolised freedom and that was what Melissa wanted. She wanted to escape from the dark, small cell to the bright outside world.

Beams of sunlight penetrated through the gap of wood boards. Photo Courtesy: Instagram@rockingbalqis

While in another scene where Melissa was trying to find a way to escape, the scene was set to be in almost complete darkness. This provoked the feeling of fear and tension among the audience. Due to low vision in darkness, the audience worried that the character, Melissa would bump into the brutal captor. Furthermore, in the scene where there were plenty of black plastic bags in human shape hanging from the ceiling, the atmosphere became more scary while immersed in the darkness.

Melissa was finding way to escape in almost complete darkness. Photo Courtesy: Instagram@melissashortfilm

Overall, Melissa is really a great short film in high quality. I couldn’t imagine that it was created by a group of students. I was touched by the film that my tears even dropped down at the ending scene where Razman hugged Melissa and asked her to run away. Unfortunately, this film is currently not open to the public. Hopefully you may one day watch it in a film festival! For now, as a substitute, let’s take a look on the behind-the-scene video.