Veronique - Patrik Bergh

"Veronique" is a humorous short film by Patrik Bergh. It follows the story of a teenage boy riding the same bus to school each day, and on one Monday morning, a pretty girl gets on the bus, who he names "Veronique" Although they never share one word together, the teen tells his friend of a love at first sight relationship between himself and the supposedly French girl. The theme for this short film is fantasy, as it shows the young boy fantasing about having a relationship with the young girl. The sequence portrays the typical British teenage years of ones life, where they have a new crush each week.

The film has a linear narrative structure for most of the film, following the young boys journey to school throughout the week. We know he is a young boy as it is denoted by his school uniform and through the voice over. However, at the end of the sequence, there is a flashback montage of all the previous encounters that the boy has had with Veronique.

The short film is subjective as we only hear the boys version of events, not Veronique's. However, it is clear to see that the boys recollection of what happened each day is entirely different to what actually happened on the bus. There is a contradiction between the image on screen and the narrative conversation that the boy his having with a friend at school. An example of this is on the "Monday" when the boy tell his friend "just as she sat down, I smiled at her and she smiled back" whereas the image on screen shows the audience that she doesn't even acknowledged him.

Throughout this short film, a voice over technique is used, as well as one line of dialogue; "hi". There is also a score played throughout, the score also reflects the weather, also known as pathetic fallacy. On "Monday" the rain is drizzling down the windows of the bus, and soft piano score is played over the on screen image, this also reflects the dreamy romantic mood of the scene. However, on "Tuesday", after the boy has decided the the girl is called "Veronique" and comes from Paris, "The most romantic city in the world", a jolly accordion score is played. As well as the music changing, the scenery does, with the electricity pylons starting to look more and more like the Eiffel tower.

The actress chosen to play Veronique is very striking, dressed in all red and has red hair. She is hard to miss and is very attention grabbing.

Titles are used throughout the film to signify what day it is.

The purpose of this film was not only to entertain, but to self promotion at the Orange Film 4 Competition.