http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGPyXgtKzDE
We have also been inspired by the film fight club, throughout the movie we see subliminal messages, such as the images of a character created in the protagonists head. We have decided to do this for our film, however our main character will have a headache, as soon as he touches his head, a quick flash of an image or a video will appear. These images and videos will show a chair, derren brown or someone sitting on a chair. This will allow the audience to figure out what's going on and also build up tension before revealing the consequences of the character. This will allow us to make the video more exciting and entertaining for the audience rather than the whole film following the main character.
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Influences - The Usual Suspects
In most of our film the protagonist sits behind a computer screen. However, the wall in front of him with posters and diagrams of chairs inspires him to give him new ideas.
This scene is inspired by this image, this image is a scene from the movie The Usual Suspects. The villain in the movie manages to create a lie and build up a story by using the board behind him, however in our movie the main character stares at it uselessly not knowing the fact that it's having an effect on him.
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What influenced us
The derren Brown live show was quite extrodinary, whilst many people viewed it and claimed to be effected by it, true or not its very entertaining and people found themselves watching with great intensity. This inspired our group to base the idea of our short film on the darren brown experiment. We slightly twisted our film from a strange experiance to a dumb down parody, but this still sticks to our initial idea.
What also influenced us is the way Darren brown works and plans out his stunts in advance so they all come together at the end which is what we are trying to acomplish with our short film.
Another piece of media that influenced us to create a short story based on unexplained events is "The Blackhole" This gave us an idea of how we can utilize silence to build the suspence until the climax.
What also influenced us is the way Darren brown works and plans out his stunts in advance so they all come together at the end which is what we are trying to acomplish with our short film.
Another piece of media that influenced us to create a short story based on unexplained events is "The Blackhole" This gave us an idea of how we can utilize silence to build the suspence until the climax.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Costume
The costume we have chosen for the main character would be a pair of plain black trousers with a white shirt and black tie. The shirt should be slightly rugged and loose, also not properly ironed. This is important as it conveys the character's attitudes to life, he is reckless, frustrated and tired.
The reason we have chosen this costume is that it makes him fit into the role of an stereotypical office worker at an average job. This makes it realistic and allows the audience to relate to the character.
Location Scouting
We want to base our film in an isolated office as it is the stereotypical environment of a typical office worker. We have chosen to use various rooms within our school as they mimic an office style workspace and all of the props such as desks, computers etc. are already available in an office layout which saves time for us and looks very natural.
We have chosen to use an isolated location by a bridge for the shot where we introduce the main character as it allows us to create a secluded theme as if the man is cut-off from the rest of the world.
For the rest of the locations such as the corridor and the canteen we have also chosen to use locations within the school campus again. The reason for this decision as we explained before is that they already have an office style layout which saves time and makes them look more natural, we based our storyboard on these locations.
We have also chosen to use these locations for the reason that most of the walls are a plain white colour which we hope to create a neutral feel with, but also one of lifelessness because the colour is plain and draining. The location as a whole creates a realistic feeling as it is a real, ready available workspace not a studio set-up.
Script
Script
EXT. Street - Morning
CU – A drenched newspaper is shown briefly on the wet floor as the character walks above it.
MS Tracking – We then see the character walking along side a building and enters through the back entrance.
INT. Office – Late night
MS Trucking – A Clock is shown, then character whilst he is sitting at his desk.
Cut to:
CU – The character tapping his pen against the table whilst looking at computer screen.
CU – The character is stressed, he pulls at his face whilst looking at computer.
POV – Stares at a blank document on screen.
CU – Shows character tapping his pen again.
MS – The Character stands up to go and get a drink of water.
MS – Camera tracks character walking left to the water fountain through a corridor.
Quick Cut to:
CU – Characters hand shown with cup getting water.
MS – Character looking directly in front at a poster whilst drinking water.
OTSS – Character looking at poster after finishing his drink.
Quick cut to:
CU – Picks up crisp packet.
MS – Camera tracks character whilst walking back through the same corridor.
LS - The character reaches for the door and finds that its locked.
CU - Man tries to open the door whilst its jammed.
LS - Man is seen giving up and taking the longer route, camera tracks left as it follows character.
MS - The character reaches his desk and throws the crisp packet down.
ECU - An email is shown to have been received.
cut to:
CU - Characters confusion as he notices the email from an suspicious sender.
cut to:
ECU - The character is seen clicking the email and a massive flash appears from the screen.
CU - The character again is seen playing with his pen, as he thinks and fidgets he drops his pen, this is shown by a mid shot.
LS - A low angle shot as the man tries to to reach for the pen, a focus pull enhances the scenes intensity.
LS - The character realizes he cannot get up from his chair, as he struggles the camera slowly zooms out.
ELS - Character is still seen struggling to escape from the chair
THE END
EXT. Street - Morning
CU – A drenched newspaper is shown briefly on the wet floor as the character walks above it.
MS Tracking – We then see the character walking along side a building and enters through the back entrance.
INT. Office – Late night
MS Trucking – A Clock is shown, then character whilst he is sitting at his desk.
Cut to:
CU – The character tapping his pen against the table whilst looking at computer screen.
CU – The character is stressed, he pulls at his face whilst looking at computer.
POV – Stares at a blank document on screen.
CU – Shows character tapping his pen again.
MS – The Character stands up to go and get a drink of water.
MS – Camera tracks character walking left to the water fountain through a corridor.
Quick Cut to:
CU – Characters hand shown with cup getting water.
MS – Character looking directly in front at a poster whilst drinking water.
OTSS – Character looking at poster after finishing his drink.
Quick cut to:
CU – Picks up crisp packet.
MS – Camera tracks character whilst walking back through the same corridor.
LS - The character reaches for the door and finds that its locked.
CU - Man tries to open the door whilst its jammed.
LS - Man is seen giving up and taking the longer route, camera tracks left as it follows character.
MS - The character reaches his desk and throws the crisp packet down.
ECU - An email is shown to have been received.
cut to:
CU - Characters confusion as he notices the email from an suspicious sender.
cut to:
ECU - The character is seen clicking the email and a massive flash appears from the screen.
CU - The character again is seen playing with his pen, as he thinks and fidgets he drops his pen, this is shown by a mid shot.
LS - A low angle shot as the man tries to to reach for the pen, a focus pull enhances the scenes intensity.
LS - The character realizes he cannot get up from his chair, as he struggles the camera slowly zooms out.
ELS - Character is still seen struggling to escape from the chair
THE END
Target Audience
The target audience we have chosen is anyone over the age of 15 because they will be able to understand and relate to the issues and morals portrayed in our film, anyone under the age of 15 may not find it interesting as it highlights serious issues rather than themes of fantasy which younger viewers are interested in. This target audience are older students and younger adult and possibly middle aged people, these people have would have heard of the Darren Brown event or tried the experiment. They are people from our society who are interested in current events on what is going around in the world of media such as film and television.
The target audience is based mainly in the UK as the Darren Brown show was broadcast as a UK television production, it was a huge hit with the nation.
We have determined this by using the BBFC classification Guideline. Our film would be classed under the rating of PG (Parental Guidance) for the following reasons:
There is no discrimination shown of any kind
There is no references to illegal drugs or the use of drugs
Our film contains very mild themes of supernatural events.
The film does not contain any bad language, nudity or sex.
Although we have chosen to aim it at an audience over the age of 15, anyone from the age of 8 and above may watch it as it is a PG rated film.
The target audience is based mainly in the UK as the Darren Brown show was broadcast as a UK television production, it was a huge hit with the nation.
We have determined this by using the BBFC classification Guideline. Our film would be classed under the rating of PG (Parental Guidance) for the following reasons:
There is no discrimination shown of any kind
There is no references to illegal drugs or the use of drugs
Our film contains very mild themes of supernatural events.
The film does not contain any bad language, nudity or sex.
Although we have chosen to aim it at an audience over the age of 15, anyone from the age of 8 and above may watch it as it is a PG rated film.
Detailed synopsis of our film
It would start off with a quick montage of shots of newspapers, commercials, etc of the Darren Brown Experiment, then we would introduce the main character. He would be coming out of the subway on the way to work and would see several signs which would influence him to be stuck in his chair as Darren Brown did by placing signs in the newspapers etc. They would start off very basic like a man sitting down asking him for help to get up then they would turn more obvious.
Next we see the man working late in the evening alone in the office. He is a designer for a company who make specialist chairs for extreme comfort, he is working on an idea for a new design for a chair but his mind is blank. He looks at a poster by his desk which says "So Comfortable, You can't leave" which acts as another influence. Suddenly he receives an email from an unknown source, when he opens it there is just a short flash of an image of someone stuck in a chair which he barely notices, then the window closes on it's own. At this point he is fed up of work so he decides to get a drink, but no water comes out of the fountain.
He then makes his way back to his desk but the door is jammed so he takes the long route around the other side where he sees more posters of chairs. He eventually gets back to his desk when suddenly he receives an email from an unknown source, when he opens it there is just a short flash of an image of someone stuck in a chair which he barely notices, then the window closes on it's own. He doesn't pay attention to it and decides to try to draw some ideas so he fetches his pencil and lays out some paper in front of him. As he tries to think he spins his pencil in his hand but it slips and falls on the the floor which frustrates him even more. He reaches out for the pencil but it's too far so he tries to get out of the chair but to his surprise he is stuck and can't get up. He carries on struggling in an attempt to free himself and the story ends with a black screen as the credits roll.
Next we see the man working late in the evening alone in the office. He is a designer for a company who make specialist chairs for extreme comfort, he is working on an idea for a new design for a chair but his mind is blank. He looks at a poster by his desk which says "So Comfortable, You can't leave" which acts as another influence. Suddenly he receives an email from an unknown source, when he opens it there is just a short flash of an image of someone stuck in a chair which he barely notices, then the window closes on it's own. At this point he is fed up of work so he decides to get a drink, but no water comes out of the fountain.
He then makes his way back to his desk but the door is jammed so he takes the long route around the other side where he sees more posters of chairs. He eventually gets back to his desk when suddenly he receives an email from an unknown source, when he opens it there is just a short flash of an image of someone stuck in a chair which he barely notices, then the window closes on it's own. He doesn't pay attention to it and decides to try to draw some ideas so he fetches his pencil and lays out some paper in front of him. As he tries to think he spins his pencil in his hand but it slips and falls on the the floor which frustrates him even more. He reaches out for the pencil but it's too far so he tries to get out of the chair but to his surprise he is stuck and can't get up. He carries on struggling in an attempt to free himself and the story ends with a black screen as the credits roll.
Initial idea
We were trying to research ideas for inspiration. We decided that we wanted to base our film on an every day situation which took and unusual turn. We were inspired mainly by the 'Black Hole' story idea which was based on an unexpected happening, although we didn't want to have a cliche idea which was too similar.
The Darren Brown live show about making the public sit stuck in their chairs at home was a huge spectacle at the time. We were discussing different possibilities of ideas but could not come up with a solid idea. Then an idea came into our minds; We could include the Darren Brown idea to influence the protagonist so that he would become stuck in a situation. It was very brief at the time but started to develop slowly. After brainstorming for a few minutes we finally came up with a complete idea.
The Darren Brown live show about making the public sit stuck in their chairs at home was a huge spectacle at the time. We were discussing different possibilities of ideas but could not come up with a solid idea. Then an idea came into our minds; We could include the Darren Brown idea to influence the protagonist so that he would become stuck in a situation. It was very brief at the time but started to develop slowly. After brainstorming for a few minutes we finally came up with a complete idea.
Brand Identity
Brand identity is used to allow an audience to recognise and identify a product by a specific brand.
Brand identity is created and determined by the behaviour and reaction of the target audience, for example Nike is associated with sports as they advertise their products using famous athletes to attract their target audience.
Brand identity is created and determined by the behaviour and reaction of the target audience, for example Nike is associated with sports as they advertise their products using famous athletes to attract their target audience.
It can also be determined by specific attributes such as colours, logos, fonts, layout of adverts.
These attributes together help create a unique significance about the brand, for example Apple use the same plain white background and text font and colours which creates a feel of simplicity.
These attributes together help create a unique significance about the brand, for example Apple use the same plain white background and text font and colours which creates a feel of simplicity.
We want our brand to be associated with themes of mystery, isolation. This can be achieved by dark/light background with subtle colours.
Film Magazine Analysis
In this review of the film "Speed Racer", we can see 4 main images which relates to the film, we see two images of futuristic cars in an intense scene, this connotes that the movie is based on an futuristic car events. We also see the main character in 3 of the images, in one of them, the main character is in a romantic scene with the love interest, this clearly shows that this movie follows the rules of convention of an action movie. However, due to the bright colours included in all the screen shots, breaks the rule of convention of an action film, showing that this movie is different from the rest and also fits into the futuristic location of the film, this review also suggests that this movie is based on a comic book, this is suggested by the colour and style of the font. This review would attract comic book readers and fans of the comic book "speed racer" or similar type comic. The headline font is yellow, bold and funky, a gives the feeling somewhat childish and humorous feeling.
The headline opens up brightly with the slogan, "FEEL THE NEED", this questions the audience on what the review is about, therefore attracting the audience. There is also a somewhat lure below the headline, which again gives a question to the audience which attracts them to read further on. The article starts off with the details of the movie, such as the stars, director and the release date, this gives the audience a chance to recognise any of the movies cast which will excite the audiences interest. The article opens up with a different technique, it explains a humour type conversation which the creators of speed racer had, this allows the reader to fit in with the film, also involving the audience with the creation of the movie. The article gives a very descriptive history lesson of how the creation of the movie started, this allows the audience to be a part of the movie further more and and have a keen interest which enables the audience to see how the development of the film had turned out to be.
Overall, the magazine review has been successfully created and follows a convention rule of a magazine article, due to the fact at the first sight, the target audience can immediately be able to relate to it due to its brand identity. This is successfully created by the use of colours and fonts, and the conventional method of the way the image is places around the double pages magazine. The headline of the movie also reflects upon the movie, giving the audience an idea of a futuristic comic style movie. The article uses a descriptive history story, which interests and excites the audience making the feel part of the movie, so they can later find out how the final movie had turned out to be.
The Orphanage Magazine Article Reveiw
This review of “The Orphanage” displays 3 images which guide the readers eyes across the pages. It is a three page spread, the page with the white background has more detailed information into how the film was produced and what influences the producers had.
The first two pages have a large image spread in the background of a young child standing in a dark corridor with a bag on their head which looks quiet bizarre and frightening. The other images are screenshots from the film in a sideways collage style which draws your eyes back and fourth making you take in more information each time drawing you more interested which is also quiet deluding. From the moment you place your eyes on the page you can tell that the images connote the film is of the horror convention.
The text on the left image is slightly blurred and blended into the wall, it says “HOME SWEET HOME” this at first suggests that there may be a comical element within the film but then gets you thinking and feeling its and even more cold and evil story behind the walls of this house which is exactly what happens in the story.
It is explain in a short section on the second page that the family move in to the house feeling it as their home but then the evil starts to take over. This is good as the audience gets a direct idea of the story and theme from the first glance.
The first page is just a review of audience reactions to the film which mentions youngsters gathering to go to a horror festival. They watch the film and are shocked with the same screaming and jumping reaction throughout the film which draws the audiences attention and also identifies a target audience.
Once you reach the third page you start to understand the story behind the idea which is more appealing to older viewers as there is also a small box in the bottom right hand corner which shows related and inspirational films to the story which attracts their attention further as they understand what they’re getting into.
There are some small quotes in highlighted text like “The Orphanage” which opens a question in the viewers mind and directs them to the story outline which is handy for those who want to just get a brief synopsis, these then direct you to the area you wish to read about in the main text body.
Altogether the article describes briefly the outline of the story for those who wish to consider watching the film but then move on through the magazine and them more in depth information for those who wish to reminisce over past experiences and get deeper into the idea of the story. There is a lot on offer to all sides of the audiences information wise although it could do with some more standing out text titles or images like the speed racer review.
This poster is conventional, throughout this magazine article we see a strong sense of brand identity and the layout is a very conventional magazine article as it is very easy to follow, the descriptive language engages the audience to read more therefore creating a successful conventional magazine article.
I'm not there - Poster analysis
This poster is very conventional as it is following a biography of a famous character. In this poster for the film 'I'm not there', we see a mid-shot of the character character in the shadows smoking a cigarette. This character is famous among music lovers world wide, by using a famous character this attracts the target audience to view the film, this image portrays a famous image (right) therefore being easily recognised by the use of hairstyle, cigarette and sunglasses props. The character in the dark creates a mysterious type effect, while the cigarette illuminates one part of his face revealing a lighter side. This questions the audience as to why this character is hidden in the dark, attracting them to find out what's going on in the film. The background for the poster is white, which emphasises the mysteriousness of the character and brings out the characters icon more.
The text is in grey on top of the shadow of the character,however the bottom sentence changes colour to make it stand out, this suggest that the target audience is mature. This text also suggest a more 'fantasy' style setting, as the text mentions that all the actors/actress play one character throughout the film, furthermore questioning the audience. However, the cigarette smoking breaks many rules as it advertises smoking making it seem cool and in a fashion like manner.
Overall, this poster is not very conventional poster, but it's successful as it attracts the target audience successfully by the use of an iconic character in the poster, furthermore, the colours also communicate with the audience as it questions the audience making them think, as it has a sinister, mystery effect.
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Rambo - Poster Analysis
In this poster we see the back of a character holding a knife, in a stance that is ready to attack and go in a battle, this immediately shows us that this movie is an action packed movie. The character is wearing a bandanna, a bandanna is widely worn by gangs, freedom fighters, soldier's etc. This represents that he is an outcast and somewhat a rebel and will fight for what he believes in. He is also seen wearing a ragged t-shirt and combat trousers, this shows us his social status of being a rebel and an outcast, this attracts audiences who love action movie with a rebel character creating chaos.The character is also standing in a sprinkling rain, which represents a desperate feeling, this shows us that the character is desperate and makes the audience more curious for what reason.
The colour theme is mostly grey, this reflects upon the main character as he is an aging veteran and also the characters behaviour and personality, this makes the audience have sympathy towards the character. The blood dripping down his arm is slightly coloured making the red stand out, the red shows the audience a strong sense of violence within the film . Red tends to promote images and text, making objects appear larger and closer, though less than yellow coloured object, the poster makes the audience realise that there is blood dripping down and again plays the role of feeling sympathy towards the character.
The background colour is black and white, and the fact that his face isn't shown shows the audience that the character has the choice of choosing a good deed by doing bad stuff (killing etc.) or either live in regret knowing he didn't choose the right choice. This opens up the audience more as they are more and more eager to find out what the movie is about.
I think this poster is very well represented as it attracts and questions the audience, the poster somewhat leaves open questions to the audience.
This poster is a very conventional poster as it includes a masculine macho hero of the film. Most posters portrays a action hero as a loner, someone good hearted and fights for himself, in the poster we see the hero by himself in an isolated dark area which again follows the conventional rule of an action adventure poster.
Crank - Poster Analysis
In this poster we can see an arm sticking up showing the rock/devil sign, this represents a type of group known as metal heads. Metal head are people who are associated with heavy metal music, these types of people follow similar trends etc. These groups are very much masculine and represents a power of strength and aggression through their behaviour and music, this shows to the audience that this character will be very aggressive and violent.
There is also a clear view of veins running through the arms, this is very much abnormal as it is very thick and very clear. This represents a strong use of drugs, this clearly sets the idea that this movie is going to be about a psychotic aggressive person who is heavily involved with drugs and gives the audience an idea that this movie is going to be action packed.
The word "Crank" is burnt onto the skin, this gives the audience an idea that this character has been labelled as "Crank" by his enemies, this also represents a sense of torture and angered characters. There is also an electrical current running through the top of his finger, this shows that his body has been defibrillated, defibrillation is an act of running an electric shock current through the heart in order to start the heart up, this again relates to the use of drugs injected in his body.
The use of no character in the poster helps the emphasis of aggression through the anger, this will allow the audience to feel the anger and aggression of this character. Also the phallic symbolism is used with the arms to show the act of Superior power and domination.
This poster has been very well composed in terms of expressing the meaning of the movie, the fact that it has left audience questioning this characters situation, makes them more eager to find out the actual cause of the whole electrical current, vein arms etc.
This film poster is very unconventional however still sets the message of violence, domination and anger. However, some the semiotic of this poster is quite conventional as it shows that this film is a very masculine action adventure film full of adrenaline, which is shown through the use of the rock sign and the veins popping out.
Monday, 14 September 2009
What about the bodies
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/filmnetwork/media/shorts/A3440387?size=16x9&bgc=C0C0C0&nbwm=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&bbram=1
The film starts with a high angle establishing shot (most likely filmed using a crane) displaying a long road running through empty fields as the titles start to roll, all you can hear is the digetic sound of the wind blowing the grass, it is a dark gloomy day with a dark cloudy sky. Then we hear the digetic sound of a motor nearing, a car dives past the camera down the road and the camera starts to rise up higher. The combination of the silence, types of shot and movement and location combined already create a sense of danger or uncertainty which draws the viewer in. The shot lasts for about 25 seconds then we see more shots of the car as it carries on through it's journey. Within these shots we see the car pass a pale blue van where the shots lasts a little longer than the others and we hear the digetic sound of a hand saw coming from inside the van as it shakes on the outside, this shows that the van or whoever is inside it has some significance in the story.
We then start to hear sheep as the car carries on driving through the field, there is a non-digetic soundtrack which starts to play, a somewhat comical whistling tune to liven up the situation, from here we know that there will be a sense of comedy in the story.
We are then introduced to the first and main character of the story through a mid-shot as he drives through the field of sheep irritated by their sounds.
He then comes to a stop and we see another high angle crane shot which pans from left to right as the car passes to the side and makes a stop, there is a short non-digetic bass sound which comes to a stop and ends the fading whistling tune. Then we see a few quick shots of the man viciously eating an apple looking around for something.
Then we see a an extreme long-shot of him waling up the side of a cliff where we see a steep drop through an over shoulder shot.
Then more short shots of him finishing off the apple then spitting and tossing it of the cliff.
The shots carry on in this style as the man returns to his car where he regularly checks to make sure no one is looking while he opens his boot to remove a shovel, there is a non-digetic metalic wipe sound effect used which adds significance to the shovel. The man then proceeds to the back door of the car where he opens the door and we see a woman which seems to be dead but when he looks at here we see a flash back of her lying in a bed smiling. The flash back then ends and the man looks sincerely at the body but then has a short shock memory which we see through a few very short flash transitioned shots, then he starts to throw up. This view of the man being sick creates a feeling of sickness but also confusion for the audience which may make them turn away in disgust but keep them wondering what will happen.
He carries on having these short shock memories and throwing up in the same style of quick shots as before which create continuity by speeding up the time.
We then see a long shots of the blue van from before approaching and the man tries to close the door but the woman's foot is in the way, he forces it till it closes while we see parallel editing from the van to the man and back as it nears. He finally closes the door and goes to the front as he slips on his vomit then starts to drive away. The quick editing again creates tension keeping the audience glued to the action.
We then see a point of view shot from inside the van as the man drives away. When he comes to a stop he realizes he forgot the shovel where the van is which we see through another quick flashback shot. He decides to go back and retrieve it.
We then see him quietly sneaking to the van where he looks under and we hear the shing sound again as he spots the spade. He is then surprised by a detached arm covered in blood which drops to the ground and a non-digetic sound of a heart beat starts which adds to the tension. He grabs the spade then pulls it quickly making noise but manages to escape. However this does not go unnoticed by the man in the van. We see a close up shot of the fist of the detached arm symbolizing the man's anger then he dumps the arm in the van and proceeds towards the other man with the spade.
We then see a long shot of the main character arriving at his car with the spade but again throwing up in disgust even more than before which creates the same effect as before on the audience. When he gets back into the car he sees a dark shadowed figure of the woman in the back and flees out into the field but slips on his vomit again falling flat on his back. The man from the van then appears and knocks him unconscious with his own spade. Then to our surprise the woman gets out of the car sneaks up towards the man from the van like a zombie and knocks him unconscious then spits on the man from the car showing her revenge.
At this point the story turns quiet comical again and the audience keep stay glued in agitation as a new story unfolds.
We then see the main character waking up in the car with the woman as she looks at him with an angry lifeless expression on her face, there is also the whistling tune soundtrack playing again as the two characters exchange looks then the woman brakes on a hard frame knocking the man unconscious again, we then see another flash back of the woman in the bed.
It carries on to a point-of-view shot of the sky from the eyes of the man from the van as he gains consciousness again seeing his toes through a blurred shot as he wiggles them.
The we see a similar thing with the man from the car as he wakes up. We see a close up of his face then another shot at an obscure up-side-down angle of the woman digging a hole in the field. It carries on to some quick parallel editing exchanging shots between the two characters as the man rolls the car down the hill and gets in only to find that there are no keys. Again there is a repetition of the story, his actions do not go unnoticed by the woman and he gets out of the hole to go after him. Then the man in the van shows up. He gets out to attack the woman but she knocks him unconscious again and hijack his van to go after the other man with the car. At this point it seems to be like a wild goose chase between the three characters and starts to become repetitive although there will be no more.
The woman drives towards the man with the car at high speed as he struggles to push the car down the road. We see a panning shot from the van to the man pushing the car showing direction without a stop which hints the idea there is going to be a collision. The heart beat sound starts playing again as we see more parallel editing of quick shots between the man and the woman in the car with tears forming in her eyes. The tension should start to build again, although at this point I found the situation quiet amusing due to the longitude of the story and the constant repetition. I knew what was coming. Then through a direct long shot aimed at the man pushing the car the woman screams and crashes him ending both their lives. Or maybe not.....
This fits in very well with the conventions of a short film as there is no dialogue, all information was conveyed through movement and gestures, significance of props towards the characters and narrative and additional sound effects combined with a combination of directive shots and fast and slow editing. this forms an overall successful short film which ended exactly where it should leaving the audience satisfied with the conclusion. As well as this the idea was quiet unique and amusing and it holds similarities to aspects of narrative and semiotics we found with other short films we have analyzed such as the quick directive shots and cuts in the editing in the films The Black Hole, Strangers and The Sound of Silence.
By Naji
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/filmnetwork/media/shorts/A3440387?size=16x9&bgc=C0C0C0&nbwm=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&bbram=1
The film starts with a high angle establishing shot (most likely filmed using a crane) displaying a long road running through empty fields as the titles start to roll, all you can hear is the digetic sound of the wind blowing the grass, it is a dark gloomy day with a dark cloudy sky. Then we hear the digetic sound of a motor nearing, a car dives past the camera down the road and the camera starts to rise up higher. The combination of the silence, types of shot and movement and location combined already create a sense of danger or uncertainty which draws the viewer in. The shot lasts for about 25 seconds then we see more shots of the car as it carries on through it's journey. Within these shots we see the car pass a pale blue van where the shots lasts a little longer than the others and we hear the digetic sound of a hand saw coming from inside the van as it shakes on the outside, this shows that the van or whoever is inside it has some significance in the story.
We then start to hear sheep as the car carries on driving through the field, there is a non-digetic soundtrack which starts to play, a somewhat comical whistling tune to liven up the situation, from here we know that there will be a sense of comedy in the story.
We are then introduced to the first and main character of the story through a mid-shot as he drives through the field of sheep irritated by their sounds.
He then comes to a stop and we see another high angle crane shot which pans from left to right as the car passes to the side and makes a stop, there is a short non-digetic bass sound which comes to a stop and ends the fading whistling tune. Then we see a few quick shots of the man viciously eating an apple looking around for something.
Then we see a an extreme long-shot of him waling up the side of a cliff where we see a steep drop through an over shoulder shot.
Then more short shots of him finishing off the apple then spitting and tossing it of the cliff.
The shots carry on in this style as the man returns to his car where he regularly checks to make sure no one is looking while he opens his boot to remove a shovel, there is a non-digetic metalic wipe sound effect used which adds significance to the shovel. The man then proceeds to the back door of the car where he opens the door and we see a woman which seems to be dead but when he looks at here we see a flash back of her lying in a bed smiling. The flash back then ends and the man looks sincerely at the body but then has a short shock memory which we see through a few very short flash transitioned shots, then he starts to throw up. This view of the man being sick creates a feeling of sickness but also confusion for the audience which may make them turn away in disgust but keep them wondering what will happen.
He carries on having these short shock memories and throwing up in the same style of quick shots as before which create continuity by speeding up the time.
We then see a long shots of the blue van from before approaching and the man tries to close the door but the woman's foot is in the way, he forces it till it closes while we see parallel editing from the van to the man and back as it nears. He finally closes the door and goes to the front as he slips on his vomit then starts to drive away. The quick editing again creates tension keeping the audience glued to the action.
We then see a point of view shot from inside the van as the man drives away. When he comes to a stop he realizes he forgot the shovel where the van is which we see through another quick flashback shot. He decides to go back and retrieve it.
We then see him quietly sneaking to the van where he looks under and we hear the shing sound again as he spots the spade. He is then surprised by a detached arm covered in blood which drops to the ground and a non-digetic sound of a heart beat starts which adds to the tension. He grabs the spade then pulls it quickly making noise but manages to escape. However this does not go unnoticed by the man in the van. We see a close up shot of the fist of the detached arm symbolizing the man's anger then he dumps the arm in the van and proceeds towards the other man with the spade.
We then see a long shot of the main character arriving at his car with the spade but again throwing up in disgust even more than before which creates the same effect as before on the audience. When he gets back into the car he sees a dark shadowed figure of the woman in the back and flees out into the field but slips on his vomit again falling flat on his back. The man from the van then appears and knocks him unconscious with his own spade. Then to our surprise the woman gets out of the car sneaks up towards the man from the van like a zombie and knocks him unconscious then spits on the man from the car showing her revenge.
At this point the story turns quiet comical again and the audience keep stay glued in agitation as a new story unfolds.
We then see the main character waking up in the car with the woman as she looks at him with an angry lifeless expression on her face, there is also the whistling tune soundtrack playing again as the two characters exchange looks then the woman brakes on a hard frame knocking the man unconscious again, we then see another flash back of the woman in the bed.
It carries on to a point-of-view shot of the sky from the eyes of the man from the van as he gains consciousness again seeing his toes through a blurred shot as he wiggles them.
The we see a similar thing with the man from the car as he wakes up. We see a close up of his face then another shot at an obscure up-side-down angle of the woman digging a hole in the field. It carries on to some quick parallel editing exchanging shots between the two characters as the man rolls the car down the hill and gets in only to find that there are no keys. Again there is a repetition of the story, his actions do not go unnoticed by the woman and he gets out of the hole to go after him. Then the man in the van shows up. He gets out to attack the woman but she knocks him unconscious again and hijack his van to go after the other man with the car. At this point it seems to be like a wild goose chase between the three characters and starts to become repetitive although there will be no more.
The woman drives towards the man with the car at high speed as he struggles to push the car down the road. We see a panning shot from the van to the man pushing the car showing direction without a stop which hints the idea there is going to be a collision. The heart beat sound starts playing again as we see more parallel editing of quick shots between the man and the woman in the car with tears forming in her eyes. The tension should start to build again, although at this point I found the situation quiet amusing due to the longitude of the story and the constant repetition. I knew what was coming. Then through a direct long shot aimed at the man pushing the car the woman screams and crashes him ending both their lives. Or maybe not.....
This fits in very well with the conventions of a short film as there is no dialogue, all information was conveyed through movement and gestures, significance of props towards the characters and narrative and additional sound effects combined with a combination of directive shots and fast and slow editing. this forms an overall successful short film which ended exactly where it should leaving the audience satisfied with the conclusion. As well as this the idea was quiet unique and amusing and it holds similarities to aspects of narrative and semiotics we found with other short films we have analyzed such as the quick directive shots and cuts in the editing in the films The Black Hole, Strangers and The Sound of Silence.
By Naji
Lovefield Analysis
The film starts off with an establishing shot revealing the barren location, as the score slowly sets in with a typical thriller style sound which keeps the audiences attention, the diegetic sounds of the wind is heard brushing crops which again sets the location in a very open area. The camera then pans to the left where you here squeaking, a road sign is shown slowly swinging with a crow standing above it. A close up shot of the crow is shown whilst it calls out and turns towards something. The camera goes to where the crow faces and slowly the sound of a phone is heard and then we see it lying on the ground, as the camera is continually panning we see money beside it then a blood stained cloth, suddenly the sound of a woman in pain is heard and soon after she is shown lying on the floor but only her foot is shown, the score then comes in with a deeper tone sounding very sinister.
As the woman slowly stops moving the score gets louder and then stops simultaneously with the woman's movement. Suddenly we see a bloody hand holding a knife stabbing the floor with an extreme closeup and focus pull right in front of the camera as the score gets louder. This is very effective to scare the audience and the suspense leading to this multiplies the effect of it. The crow is seen again in a mid shot panicking then cuts back to the bloody hand with a crane shot which slowly moves upwards to show the characters face as he seems nervous. An over the shoulder shot is used to show the character looking at the crow as a focus pull is introduced. Crows are related to death therefore the audience naturally presumes the woman has been murdered.
A long shot of the man shows him looking around as if hes on the run or looking towards something and he then suddenly begins to run, as he runs the camera is showing hand held mid shot of the bottom half of the character to intensify the situation and conveying the character is frightened. The man looks like a stereotypical farmer as he wears similar clothes and has long hair with a cap. When he stops he reaches his car and opens the boot as he takes out his keys you see the character is in a nervous state as he uses wrong keys to open his boot. When he opens the boot a mid shot is used from inside the boot as he is getting a bag out, then he hears a noice and looks up, he sees the crow tapping his car and he looks confused, he then carries on to take a big cloth out and starts to run with it he notices the crow is following him and he ignores it and carries on.
As he approaches the woman there is a deep focus on him walking towards her and a focus pull switches it to a shallow focus, and you see the woman's lifeless feet as he reaches her. A perfect low angle shot of the man going on his knees and reaching out with the blanket convinces the audience of what exactly is happening, as he is doing this there are many cuts going back and forth from the crow calling out and the man moving closer. As the crow and score stops we see the man leaning in with a mid shot of him as he reaches for a baby. As this happens you see the woman who was thought to be dead handing him the baby as the mans facial expression completely changes from nervous to relief. He then laughs and says "Its a boy", then a close up shot of the woman whispering "thank you". This was the only dialog through out the film which kept the suspense and concentration strong.
The film finishes with an establishing crane shot moving upwards showing a truck there which is the farmers and a police car going to them which explains the phone on the floor. The stereotypical view that farmers/hillbilly's are all dangerous and evil is contradicted by the mans actions he had taken to help the women.
Overall the massive twist creates an outstanding scene which had many emotions concealed within it. A very important factor which the audience might not have noticed is that throughout the entire film there was a slight sepia tone and as he reached for the baby it slowly changed and made the picture brighter which gave it a more neutral feeling and the danger theme had vanished. What made this film work was the combination of score, no dialogue, danger theme and the different emotions.
By Zeyad
The Sound Of Silence
The Sound Of Silence - Short Film
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/media/shorts/bb/A3884682_16x9_bb.asx
The film starts off with a short title sequence and somewhat comical soundtrack along with the digetic sound of a typewriter. The first shot is and extreme close up of a typewriter then another displaying the title he types "The Epilogue", this is the last chapter of a piece of work. We are then introduced to the main character through the first mid shot of him sitting down in his chair typing. He is wearing a plain white shirt, has a stubbly beard with squared reading glasses and a focused look on his face. The mid shot is a deep focus with some household objects blur ed in the foreground, this makes you feel comfortable and acquainted with the situation. We can automatically tell that the character is a writer of some sort which is good as we understand what is going on right from the start.
There is then some parallel editing between the main character and two neighbours who move into the flat above. We see consecutive short still and handheld shots of the neighbours moving their possession into their flat making allot of noise and the main character's confused and disturbed reaction, the amount of sound and movement gradually increases from the moment the man hears the the keys of the removals van which we can clearly identify by the bold text on it. We then see an aerial shot of the main character before any of the mayhem starts with lots of newspapers and other rubbish left on the floor, even a plat of food which seems to have been left on his desk. This makes us feel like he has almost tried to segregate himself from the rest of the world in order to seek solitude so that he can finish his work which is the main objective in the story. As the neighbours carry on to move their possessions we only see shots of their feel and hands moving and placing their stuff in their living room. In between we see another Ariel shot of the main character as he gets out of his chair looking and the ceiling then a point of view shot looking at the ceiling, both shots look as if a fish eye lens has been used to round the image which creates a sense of confusion for the audience allowing them to understand the main character's feelings. He finally reaches a point where he can't stand the noise anymore that he decides to get out of his room and find out what is going on but to his surprise he sees the couple just leaving and waving goodbye, he decides not to say anything.
Later at night as he gets ready to sleep he hears a banging sound gradually increasing followed by a woman moaning as the couple above have sex. we see a shot of the light hanging and starting to shake back and forth as this happens while the man reacts with a disgusted look on his face. He struggles to fall asleep and ends up stuffing his face with his pillow to mute the noise.
We then see an establishing shot of the city outside combined with the digetic sound of drills and other shots and sounds of fire engines traffic and a dog barking as the mayhem and disruption in the man's life carries on.
We are then introduced back to the main character with a mid shot of him stretching before he starts his work. Just as he settles down to get started there is a group of kids outside fighting and then we are drawn back to a short silence with a zoomed shot through the window into his room and close up of a calender displaying the day before the final day of the deadline for his work then a close up of him biting his lip afraid he wont finish in time because of the disruption.
Again he tries to take action and sticks his head out of the window shouting "Shut Uuuuuuup!!!!!"
He carries on battling with the world and tries to seek solitude in a park but is interrupted by a dog. Then as he walks along the street he passes a music store where an old record floats out of a box of records shining in light, there is also a non digetic sound of sprinkling stars which adds to the magical feel. We see the cheap price tag of 85p through a close up shot and he decides to buy it. these small discreet shots help draw the viewer's attention and allow them to create a bond with the character letting them understand their feelings.
When he gets home we see him playing the record anxious to find out what kind of sound will be played but to his surprise we hear complete silence. We see more closeups of him turning the volume up and down but still no change in the sound. He turns the record off and hears the digetic sound of the tea pot whistling, after turning it back on he realises the advantages of using the record to suit his needs. The record stop and we see a close up shot of the title on it "The Sound Of Silence". This introduces the main story about silence. The audience may sense a trigger of danger as they realise what the record does as there could have been a dangerous accident had the man not heard the tea pot and turned it off.
There is a fade transition and we come to the evening where the man is trying to carry on writing. This transition allows the feel of continuity to be kept.
The man is working and again he hears some surprising loud noises which turn louder and louder with people speaking and music vibration along his ceiling. At this point the man's short fuse kicks off again and he takes look outside his door and sees that his new neighbours are having a party and have invited a bunch friends.
He can not stand the noise so he goes back into his apartment and and starts to move a tall cabinet to. The audience may become quiet confused of what he is doing but are still well acquainted in what's going on thank to the quick consecutive short closeup shots displaying each step of what he does, and the wonder is good because it keeps them thinking instead of being fed all of the facts which could make the situation turn bearing.
We finally see him placing speakers at the top of the cabinet by the ceiling and we know exactly what he has planed which is quiet amusing. He turns on the record as the neighbour is about to make a speech which we see through some parallel editing, then suddenly there is complete silence. the people are at first making fun but then start to become confused and scared which we see through lots of erratic moving handheld camera shots which adds to the feeling of fear of the situation.
Now the man finally has his peace so that he can carry on his work and we see more consecutive close-up and mid-shots shots between fade transitions displaying him working, pages turning (which represent time passing and a new chapter coming) and him working again focusing until he finally reaches the day of the deadline where he has completed his work. There is a non-digetic soundtrack playing throughout this series of shots, it is the same soundtrack which was played during the opening of the film its ends at a high note which fades down in volume quickly with him having a sigh of relief as he finishes his work. This soundtrack along with the several shots of whats going on and the fade transitions also allows for continuity which keeps the audience in their seats anxious to see what happens next as the story nears it's end.
This last scene starts with a short shot of the calender on the Finlay day followed by another shot of the record playing then the man waking up. The record then stops and to the man's surprise the sound of the noise of the city outside starts again.
Now he uses his magical record to mute the world outside by playing the speaker out of his window then he goes back to sleep with a small relaxed grin on his face.
But it isn't over. The record starts to burn forming smoke which sets off the alarm but of course the man is not aware of anything as the record mutes all the sound and he is asleep, then the images fades into black rolling the credits and the comical music soundtrack from the introduction.
This film contains similar traits to the Black Hole story, whatever goes around comes around. The film again is isolated and set in one setting, which arises the tension further more before exploiting the cliff hanger ending.
It fits in well with the conventions of a short film through the use of semiotics using, quick cuts in the editing as well as the small locations of the man and his neighbour's houses and the outside of a shop which allows the audience to pick up vital information quickly to convey the simple idea and narrative in a short time span.
By Naji
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/media/shorts/bb/A3884682_16x9_bb.asx
The film starts off with a short title sequence and somewhat comical soundtrack along with the digetic sound of a typewriter. The first shot is and extreme close up of a typewriter then another displaying the title he types "The Epilogue", this is the last chapter of a piece of work. We are then introduced to the main character through the first mid shot of him sitting down in his chair typing. He is wearing a plain white shirt, has a stubbly beard with squared reading glasses and a focused look on his face. The mid shot is a deep focus with some household objects blur ed in the foreground, this makes you feel comfortable and acquainted with the situation. We can automatically tell that the character is a writer of some sort which is good as we understand what is going on right from the start.
There is then some parallel editing between the main character and two neighbours who move into the flat above. We see consecutive short still and handheld shots of the neighbours moving their possession into their flat making allot of noise and the main character's confused and disturbed reaction, the amount of sound and movement gradually increases from the moment the man hears the the keys of the removals van which we can clearly identify by the bold text on it. We then see an aerial shot of the main character before any of the mayhem starts with lots of newspapers and other rubbish left on the floor, even a plat of food which seems to have been left on his desk. This makes us feel like he has almost tried to segregate himself from the rest of the world in order to seek solitude so that he can finish his work which is the main objective in the story. As the neighbours carry on to move their possessions we only see shots of their feel and hands moving and placing their stuff in their living room. In between we see another Ariel shot of the main character as he gets out of his chair looking and the ceiling then a point of view shot looking at the ceiling, both shots look as if a fish eye lens has been used to round the image which creates a sense of confusion for the audience allowing them to understand the main character's feelings. He finally reaches a point where he can't stand the noise anymore that he decides to get out of his room and find out what is going on but to his surprise he sees the couple just leaving and waving goodbye, he decides not to say anything.
Later at night as he gets ready to sleep he hears a banging sound gradually increasing followed by a woman moaning as the couple above have sex. we see a shot of the light hanging and starting to shake back and forth as this happens while the man reacts with a disgusted look on his face. He struggles to fall asleep and ends up stuffing his face with his pillow to mute the noise.
We then see an establishing shot of the city outside combined with the digetic sound of drills and other shots and sounds of fire engines traffic and a dog barking as the mayhem and disruption in the man's life carries on.
We are then introduced back to the main character with a mid shot of him stretching before he starts his work. Just as he settles down to get started there is a group of kids outside fighting and then we are drawn back to a short silence with a zoomed shot through the window into his room and close up of a calender displaying the day before the final day of the deadline for his work then a close up of him biting his lip afraid he wont finish in time because of the disruption.
Again he tries to take action and sticks his head out of the window shouting "Shut Uuuuuuup!!!!!"
He carries on battling with the world and tries to seek solitude in a park but is interrupted by a dog. Then as he walks along the street he passes a music store where an old record floats out of a box of records shining in light, there is also a non digetic sound of sprinkling stars which adds to the magical feel. We see the cheap price tag of 85p through a close up shot and he decides to buy it. these small discreet shots help draw the viewer's attention and allow them to create a bond with the character letting them understand their feelings.
When he gets home we see him playing the record anxious to find out what kind of sound will be played but to his surprise we hear complete silence. We see more closeups of him turning the volume up and down but still no change in the sound. He turns the record off and hears the digetic sound of the tea pot whistling, after turning it back on he realises the advantages of using the record to suit his needs. The record stop and we see a close up shot of the title on it "The Sound Of Silence". This introduces the main story about silence. The audience may sense a trigger of danger as they realise what the record does as there could have been a dangerous accident had the man not heard the tea pot and turned it off.
There is a fade transition and we come to the evening where the man is trying to carry on writing. This transition allows the feel of continuity to be kept.
The man is working and again he hears some surprising loud noises which turn louder and louder with people speaking and music vibration along his ceiling. At this point the man's short fuse kicks off again and he takes look outside his door and sees that his new neighbours are having a party and have invited a bunch friends.
He can not stand the noise so he goes back into his apartment and and starts to move a tall cabinet to. The audience may become quiet confused of what he is doing but are still well acquainted in what's going on thank to the quick consecutive short closeup shots displaying each step of what he does, and the wonder is good because it keeps them thinking instead of being fed all of the facts which could make the situation turn bearing.
We finally see him placing speakers at the top of the cabinet by the ceiling and we know exactly what he has planed which is quiet amusing. He turns on the record as the neighbour is about to make a speech which we see through some parallel editing, then suddenly there is complete silence. the people are at first making fun but then start to become confused and scared which we see through lots of erratic moving handheld camera shots which adds to the feeling of fear of the situation.
Now the man finally has his peace so that he can carry on his work and we see more consecutive close-up and mid-shots shots between fade transitions displaying him working, pages turning (which represent time passing and a new chapter coming) and him working again focusing until he finally reaches the day of the deadline where he has completed his work. There is a non-digetic soundtrack playing throughout this series of shots, it is the same soundtrack which was played during the opening of the film its ends at a high note which fades down in volume quickly with him having a sigh of relief as he finishes his work. This soundtrack along with the several shots of whats going on and the fade transitions also allows for continuity which keeps the audience in their seats anxious to see what happens next as the story nears it's end.
This last scene starts with a short shot of the calender on the Finlay day followed by another shot of the record playing then the man waking up. The record then stops and to the man's surprise the sound of the noise of the city outside starts again.
Now he uses his magical record to mute the world outside by playing the speaker out of his window then he goes back to sleep with a small relaxed grin on his face.
But it isn't over. The record starts to burn forming smoke which sets off the alarm but of course the man is not aware of anything as the record mutes all the sound and he is asleep, then the images fades into black rolling the credits and the comical music soundtrack from the introduction.
This film contains similar traits to the Black Hole story, whatever goes around comes around. The film again is isolated and set in one setting, which arises the tension further more before exploiting the cliff hanger ending.
It fits in well with the conventions of a short film through the use of semiotics using, quick cuts in the editing as well as the small locations of the man and his neighbour's houses and the outside of a shop which allows the audience to pick up vital information quickly to convey the simple idea and narrative in a short time span.
By Naji
Strangers
This short film starts off in a dark train station platform as the train zooms past, showing to the audience that the short film is based in a train, there is also a non-diegetic sound of drums to show to the audience that this is film is based in somewhat of a tradition. The camera then shows a mid shot of a man walking into the train door as the train arrives, he is a normal guy wearing sports clothes and a gym bag(possibly coming from the gym). He then proceeds to sit down, and then he glimpse towards the guy sitting opposite him giving him an awkward look, this somewhat creates an awkward tension between these two characters, the camera then tracks the train as it slowly passes past.
The guy sitting opposite him is wearing smart casual clothes and reading a newspaper, it clearly shows Muslim extremist on the front page suggesting to the audience that he himself is also a Muslim (not an extremist). The other character starts playing with his necklace of the Jewish star, to show the other guy that he is Jewish, there is a close-up of the other guys face as he realises the Jewish star, this shows his reaction towards it and clearly shows that there is a small tension building up.
The drums starts to thump play loudly as we see 4 men walking down the train (they are a racist group, this can be recognised by their skinhead and tattoos), this suggests to us some sort of trouble is going to be caused. They proceed to sit down, as it shows an over the shoulder shot of them spraying graffiti onto the the guy's newspaper.
As the tension slowly rises by the loudness of the drums and whispering, we see each of the character's close-up face reaction as they are looking at each other with confusion, however the skinheads have a very angry evil look towards the Muslim guy, not acknowledging the fact that there is also a Jewish guy sitting opposite him. As the train stops at a platform, the Jewish guy proceeds to leave until his phone starts ringing a Jewish theme song, this automatically breaks the tension towards the Muslim guy as the skinheads turn towards the Jewish guy, we see mid-shots of all the characters turning towards the Jewish guy as he hesitates to find the phone in his gym bag. We see a close-up of the skinheads face as they are all angry and starts to stare at both religious characters. We then hear two loud non-diegetic drums as the two religious guy nodding at each other, this shows us a sense of teamwork and unity as they both proceed to run for the exit as the doors start to almost close. The unity is shown when we hear a non-diegetic sound of traditional middle eastern drums to show us that they are both from the same country. They quickly rush down the train as the pace of the drums builds up alongside the the quick cuts, this raises the excitement within the audience.
The non-diegetic music stops as soon as they escape and the door shuts on the skinheads, showing that the two characters are safe. As the train leaves, they are now both in the opposite side of the platform facing each other, they then swap the bags. They both nod at each other and leave.
Again this short film is conventional, as it has minimum dialogue, this short film speaks alot about the issues relating to the trouble in the middle east, such as the conflict between Jewish and Muslim religion. In a situation like this, it shows that the two religion can work together in a team. The film is based in a underground train station, as the diegetic sound of the train is loud and aggressive this raises the tension and awkwardness within the audience. The sound used in the film is non-diegetic, using a constant humming noise which again raises the tension and awkwardness within the film.
By Shayez
Black Button
The short film starts off with a quote from the bible, this raises questions for the audience as they are puzzled, this is a good technique to attract the audience as they will be more willing to find out more about the film. There is also slow paced eerie music, this allows the audience to think and reflect upon the quote that has been given at the beginning of the short film. The colour theme throughout the short film is a simple black and white (white mostly), white can sometimes represent a colour of dream therefore creating a dreamy effect, it is also known as the colour of death in Chinese culture.
It then starts off with a mid shot of a man in a business suit sitting on a chair behind a desk talking to a terrified man, the business suit and the bigger chair represents the power and a bigger importance against the man in an "employer type clothes" and smaller chair.
As the terrified man starts asking question about why he is there, the somewhat business man starts to explain that there is a black button in front of him and if he presses it, someone will die. As the over the shoulder shot zooms in on the black button, dramatic non diegetic music is played to give a more intense effect and also to emphasise the importance of the black button.
As the business man tries to persuade the other man to push the button, he then shows a briefcase with $10million, this is an over the shoulder shot from the business man, we see the employers reaction as he stares at the briefcase having second thoughts. He is also given another choice of leaving, the business man shows him a key, the camera is tracks and zooms in on the key, again emphasizing the importance of the key.
We then see a particular moment, when the employer asks the business man how many people die in car accidents, the business man gives a precise answer, there is a close-up shot of the employer confused. This is a very important scene as the audience start to realise there is something mysterious and unusual about this character. He also does not deny about being "evil".
As the business man becomes more persuasive, the employer gets more uncomfortable, there are also quick cuts of the black button, both characters face, the key and the briefcase with the money, showing to the audience that the character has a choice of leaving with nothing or killing someone for $10million. As the employer rises up and presses the button there is a close up of the business man's face who is eager to find out if he will push it. As the employer presses the button, it is slow paced and the music tension rises up and then cuts out, creating the effect of something has happened. The employer then proceeds to take the money and leave, but the business man tells him he is dead, suddenly there is a drums playing in the background to show the shock-ness of the character. The business man explains to him that he had a car accident, there is a blurry clip and a sound effect of a car crashing, while the blood pours out of his head, this creates a shocked feeling within the audience.
The camera movement on the employer is quite shaky and tracks the blood as it flows down his clothes, this shows the character is uncomfortable and extremely frightened. However on the other hand, the business man is very calm and this is reflected to the steady camera as he speaks clearly. The short film ends with the close up of the business man's face as he tells the employer that he will be seeing the person he killed (by pressing the black button) next, it ends with a loud scream.
This is a very conventional short film, the whole film is based in a bright dream like white room. The ending of the film is a cliff hanger leaving the audience stunned and shocked, this is a main trait of a conventional short film as it emphasis the message of this story is similar to the Black Hole, again with the whole "whatever goes around comes around". Therefore making a successful convtional short film. However, there is a lot of dialogue used within the film which is a unconventional for a short film, this brings out the story further more.
The Black Hole analysis
The Black Hole:
This movie is about a sleep deprived office worker finds a Black Hole whilst photocopying late one night Suddenly the possibilities seem endless. We can immediately realise he has sleep deprived by his behaviour and the way he dressed, he wears a simple smart dress clothes which is worn out and is quite messy, his body language also suggestion of him being deprived as he starts to get frustrated when the photocopier machine does not work.
The film starts off with a Hole expanding fast, this reflects upon the title of the movie and gives the audience a sense that the black hole is an important element in the movie. The camera tracks diagonally towards the lifeless character daydreaming as he starts to use the photocopier, as the camera tracks it gives the audience a better sense of the setting which helps the audience to be part of the short film. The only noise that is being used is the photocopier machine, this emphasis the importance of the machine. There are close up of his hand and leg movement to show his frustration and anger as he hits the photocopier, this suggests to us of a deprived character.
We see medium and close-up of his face as he starts to discover the purpose of the black hole (which allows the user to go through any solid object). There is somewhat of an "Eerie Electronic" noise as he touches the black hole, this shows us that this is unusual and something new and attracts the audience into the short film more.
He then starts to experiment with the Black Hole on the paper, by stealing the food from the vending machine, we see a close up of his enlightened face as he finds successfully steals a chocolate bar. There is a slow zoom of a door, there is also low lighting which suggests to the audience that this area is banned from the public, and dangerous. As he slowly enters the room we see a mid shot of his face as he plans to steal the money from the vault, his reaction is one of feverish joy, showing his excitement at this unbelievable opportunity, whilst also being accompanied by a flash of greed. We then hear the digetic sound oh heavy breathing, which again shows excitement and greed within this character as he pulls out more money through the black hole of the vault. As he digs deeper into the vault for more money, he some hows goes inside the vault, we a mid shot of the paper falling off as he is still in the vault. There is a couple of second pause, we can hear the photocopier machine beep with error throughput the short film, this again shows the importance of the photocopier and constantly reminds the audience the cause of the black hole. As the camera zooms out, we hear the character tapping within the vault as he is unable to get out. This creates a sense of amusement for the audience, it also gives the message of "whatever goes around comes around", so being too greedy isn't always the answer no matter who you are.
The short film is very conventional, this is due to the fact that there is no dialogue but instead diegetic sound played throughout the whole short film, such as the error beeping of the photocopier. The isolationism is also a main convention of a short film, the sound created by the character such as heavy breathing of excitement etc, this creates a sense of isolation of the setting which allows the character to do whatever pleases him without getting caught (stealing money from the vault is an example). A cliffhanger is also left in the end leaving a moral for the story, this follows a strong conventional rule for a short film.
This movie is about a sleep deprived office worker finds a Black Hole whilst photocopying late one night Suddenly the possibilities seem endless. We can immediately realise he has sleep deprived by his behaviour and the way he dressed, he wears a simple smart dress clothes which is worn out and is quite messy, his body language also suggestion of him being deprived as he starts to get frustrated when the photocopier machine does not work.
The film starts off with a Hole expanding fast, this reflects upon the title of the movie and gives the audience a sense that the black hole is an important element in the movie. The camera tracks diagonally towards the lifeless character daydreaming as he starts to use the photocopier, as the camera tracks it gives the audience a better sense of the setting which helps the audience to be part of the short film. The only noise that is being used is the photocopier machine, this emphasis the importance of the machine. There are close up of his hand and leg movement to show his frustration and anger as he hits the photocopier, this suggests to us of a deprived character.
We see medium and close-up of his face as he starts to discover the purpose of the black hole (which allows the user to go through any solid object). There is somewhat of an "Eerie Electronic" noise as he touches the black hole, this shows us that this is unusual and something new and attracts the audience into the short film more.
He then starts to experiment with the Black Hole on the paper, by stealing the food from the vending machine, we see a close up of his enlightened face as he finds successfully steals a chocolate bar. There is a slow zoom of a door, there is also low lighting which suggests to the audience that this area is banned from the public, and dangerous. As he slowly enters the room we see a mid shot of his face as he plans to steal the money from the vault, his reaction is one of feverish joy, showing his excitement at this unbelievable opportunity, whilst also being accompanied by a flash of greed. We then hear the digetic sound oh heavy breathing, which again shows excitement and greed within this character as he pulls out more money through the black hole of the vault. As he digs deeper into the vault for more money, he some hows goes inside the vault, we a mid shot of the paper falling off as he is still in the vault. There is a couple of second pause, we can hear the photocopier machine beep with error throughput the short film, this again shows the importance of the photocopier and constantly reminds the audience the cause of the black hole. As the camera zooms out, we hear the character tapping within the vault as he is unable to get out. This creates a sense of amusement for the audience, it also gives the message of "whatever goes around comes around", so being too greedy isn't always the answer no matter who you are.
The short film is very conventional, this is due to the fact that there is no dialogue but instead diegetic sound played throughout the whole short film, such as the error beeping of the photocopier. The isolationism is also a main convention of a short film, the sound created by the character such as heavy breathing of excitement etc, this creates a sense of isolation of the setting which allows the character to do whatever pleases him without getting caught (stealing money from the vault is an example). A cliffhanger is also left in the end leaving a moral for the story, this follows a strong conventional rule for a short film.
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