Ethical Issues In The Short Film 'Dog Food'

Dog Food (2014) is a short film about a butcher who owns a small company named after his dog who went missing, Ralphie. During his grieving, Declan’s life starts to unravel. He meets two customers, Eva and Michael, who plan to take revenge on Declan for contributing to the animal slaughter industry by owning a butchery. As the alarming truths of the characters enticingly become revealed, it leaves the spectators on the edge of their seats, waiting for the next thrilling action to take place. When watching films of this sort, the pounding heartbeat and rapid breathing we all encounter is a prime example of engaging in the film experience— the phenomena of not only watching a film, but being a part of it too; physically, emotionally, and even

This can be reasoned by revealing the essential notions that implant the film experience, which consist of the mise-en-scene, affective mimicry, and the ethics in cinema, all of which are present in Dog Food.

The mise-en-scene is a stage arrangement directed by every artistic decision that is made behind cameras. Every detail matters, whether it is the images we can or cannot see or the sounds we can and cannot hear. Every one of these decisions is a part of the artwork. “It’s in the film, and therefore, it has an expressive meaning” (Sikov 9). This is which is why the mise-en-scene is considered one of the basic building blocks of the movie— the basic building blocks of one’s film experience. The features of the mise-en-scene manifest themselves in many ways in the short film Dog Food: the subject-camera distance, the images in and out of focus, and even the subtle transition in music; they shape the way we get access to the narrative. A scene that possesses

These interactions can not only evoke physiological reactions among the spectators but can create an ethical experience within the spectators as well. As stated by Sinnerbrink in Cinematic Ethics, cinema provides a new way of thinking. It not only reflects our social and moral values but exercises our moral imaginations as well (Sinnerbrink 7). This is said to be referred to as Cinematic Ethics: adding depth to one’s ethical experience through the aesthetics of cinema. The relationship between cinema and ethics can be taken in many forms. When watching the short film Dog Food for the first time, the most prevalent aspect of the cinema-ethics relationship was the ethical content found in the narrative. I consider it the most prevalent, as it directly initiates critical reflection through the exposure of confronting ethical topics present in the story. In Dog Food, the confronting topic that’s in question is “Humane Slaughtering Practice”: is there truly a “humane” way of killing animals? I reflected on this topic right as I noticed that Declan named his butchery after his dog, Ralphie. How could one possibly have such a close connection with his dog if he slaughters animals for a living? This great question that I pondered upon is essentially how the ethical experience manifested itself in my film experience. The degree of this critical-ethical reflection intensified