Hole in the Paper Sky 814 Word Essay on the Change That Occurs Within Howard Ferp

Jason Clarke plays Howard Ferp in the short film 'Hole In The Paper Sky' written by Howard Kingkade and Bill Purple (also the director). Howard starts the film as an arrogant, self centered man whose life changes because of a few simple run ins with an unlikely character named 'Thirty Nine'. Thirty Nine is a Dalmatian, owned by the science lab that Howard works at. The dog sole use is animal testing and when Howard goes to take him some dog biscuits one day, he ends up witnessing some of the pain of the dog firsthand. He later steals the dog from the lab and laying it to rest for good. Howard is now a changed man and makes up for the wrong he has done.
At the start of the film, Howard is a brilliant yet misanthropic math genius. He is awkward and arrogant upon many social interactions throughout the short film. This awkwardness and arrogance towards people is proven in the scene where Howard is sat in a University lecture, not listening. The professor, notices Howard playing chess and listening to head phones so head up the stairs towards him to see what is going on. He picks up a piece to attract Howard’s attention, shares a brief comment from his knowledge of chess before informing Howard how wise it would be to pay attention during lectures. Next he gives Howard a math equation before pausing for an answer. Howard repeats the equation and starts working aloud, solving the problem perfectly and simply holding his hand out for the chess piece, not stopping for confirmation of his answer. The scene’s presence in the film was not to outline how much Howard knew his stuff. In fact, the scene was solely placed in the film to make his change through the film more obvious and how arrogant and socially independent he was before certain encounters.
The film’s main storyline is to show the change Howard undergoes because of multiple interactions with a dalmatian. The dog's name is Thirty Nine and changes Mr Ferp from stubborn, arrogant and socially awkward into a brave, warmhearted socially... acceptable man. You could say that he was given a new leash on life.
The dog's first meaningful scene is set in Howard's office. Thirty Nine just shows up at the door. Howard shoe's the dog away yet ends up having to throw a book at him to make him flee the scene, but the dog just brings the book back to him. He then throws scrunched up paper out the door which the dog brings back and places in the bin. A connection is made just before the scientist who owns the dog comes in, apologises and ignores Howard's question of what the dog is used for.
The next couple of meetings take place inside the scientists office and result in Howard giving Thirty Nine food.
Howard heads to the office one day, pocket full of dog biscuits, to find the door locked. He pokes a hole in the poster covering the door's window to uncover the dog in pain as he is cruelly pinned down and tested on.
This is the turning point for him and results in Howard going to the office late at night, smashing the doors window and grabbing the dog from it's torture cage.
The dog's death is the final destruction of Howard's abusive personality and the missing piece of his new attitude.
The journey of Howard's transformation from bitter and awful into sweet and pleasant, ends here. He has gone through hell and back, resulting simply in a kinder perspective on life. Howard has a new manner about himself, almost as if he had called for peace, after his lifelong war with people, daily routines and everything that wasn't chess. He is up beat and smiles for the first time in the film. Strategically he is now placed in wide open spaces with sufficient lighting and people. This shows that he is now an open person, willing to let people into his life. He is also sat without objects blocking him from humanity and nothing stopping him from human interaction except old habits.
The film is one of a kind being the only decent film to tackle rapid change in a somewhat frosty character due to unfortunate events. The daring scenes show the viewers ho much of an awkward man Howard Ferp is from just the first minute or two. The audience sits on the edge of their seats while a simple dog changes him for the better. It is not the dog's actions as such, it is more like the scarring images of torture that Howard sees which make reality settle in and bring him back to Earth. This was all mainly told through the use of perfect camera work and lighting, the result of Bill Purple's cunning directing.