Initial Research into Short Films - A Favour - Ettie Greenwood

Synopsis- This short film denotes two middle class men, but of difference ethnicities: The white man meets the Muslim man in car park and explains that he has lost his phone. The Muslim man (the protagonist) then calls his phone and actually sets of a bomb unintentionally by dialling the number that the white man (antagonist) gave him. This film is a good way of challenging audiences stereotypes after the media provoking tension on the issue of Muslim terrorism. 

Media Language:
The first shot of the short film is an out of focus shot of a window. Some text has then been pasted on top of the image through post-production editing to create a title screen. The text in the title, 'A Favour' has a pixelated effect and seems to be technological. This style of text may foreshadow that technology may have part to play in the short film, but the audience do not know whe

Title screen of the short film

ther this will be to a positive or negative effect yet. However from what the audience can denote at the moment, the film seems positive due to the bright fill lighting and the white coloured font -which can connote innocence-

The scene involves constant parallel editing to show both of the mens' families having breakfast. Although both families are of different ethnicities, they seem to act similar which could cause the audience to see similarities in different people. The lighting again here is bright to connote positivity. The camera movement in this section is also creates spectator positioning  to act like the audience is involved in the scene. The movements shows are, whip pans (to act like someone turning their head to talk to someone), zooms (to imply attention to certain aspects) and a high editing frequency- 1.57 (to capture the busy scene in the morning).  

Conjugal roles are present in this scene, a 'cereal packet' family is denoted:

• The men go off to work - they are the breadwinner
• The women stay at home to look after the children
• The children are of relevant age to the parents
• The parents are married

This type of family is present in the media often, so it is known well with audiences. This may make the audience believe that there are no faults with their characteristics as the storyline so far seems very realistic. This 'setting up' the audience to think that the plot line will be light hearted, will shock the audience later on when the bombing happens. This technique is successful in creating the greatest shock to the audience. 

When the two men meet in a car park, the antagonist asks the protagonist to phone his mobile phone: 

Antag. - "Excuse me, can you do me a favour (2) yes, I've lost my mobile phone, do you happen to have a phone at all"

The antagonist asking the protagonist to call

Protag. - "Yes."

Antag. - "Could you give mine a call, so I can hear it?"

Protag. - "O-o-oh sure yes."

Here the antagonist speaks the most which creates a 'Higher Footing' (Goffman) and implies that he has the greater power in the conversation - which is conveyed later on when the protagonist realises that he has been 'tricked'. The body positioning also reveals the power status: the antagonist is laid back in his car seat and performs a relaxed position, whilst the protagonist has his arms across his body so suggest uncomfortable-ness. 

The protagonist phoning (and detonating the bomb)

When the man dials the number, this may be when the audience first get hints and suspicions. The number denoted to the protagonist to call is: 07700900842. This number is not deemed as a 'normal' UK mobile phone number due to the amount of zero's, so this may raise suspicions for the audience, whether they know about mobile bomb detonations or not.

The antagonist quickly driving off

The suspicion is then raised again when the man only allows a few seconds for the phone to call, then very quickly drives off. This is implied in the protagonists mind as well as his body position and facial expressions reveal that he is shocked too by the antagonist quick drive off.

The next shot is a long shot of traffic on the road where the protagonist sits in his car. Diegetic noises of sirens and traffic can be heard which denotes to the audience that an emergency has happened. This is a change of tone from the first section of the section of the film to now. Closeup's are used of the protagonist to express his worry and confusion of what is happening. Eyeline match is then used to show him looking up at a helicopter and then him turning on the radio. By using this technique, it is ensured that the audience can understand the process in the film.

The traffic jam

The protagonist looking worried/ confused

Part of the eye-line match- turning on radio

As the radio is turned on, the news reporter begins diegetically to explain that a bomb had been set off and the are "multiple casualties".  However, the last part of speech that is heard in the short film is: "It is thought that the bomb was detonated remotely" which would shock the audience as they realise that the antagonist man made the protagonist set off a bomb. The film then ends and a sound bridge is used after a cut to the credits to create a greater shock to the audience as it ends suddenly. 

Representation: 

I feel that the film was made to challenge negative stereotypes assigned to the Muslim community in the media.  For example the 9/11 bombings were thought to be of only the Muslim community which caused them, where in actual fact there were other ethnicities involved in the act of terrorism too. Therefore, I feel that the director chose a person of this ethnicity to be 'tricked' to show the audience that the assumptions and stereotypes are false and that anyone could have done it. 

However once the audience have finished watching the short film, they may think of the consequences and further events : the detonation would have been tracked to the protagonists' phone and therefore he would of been accused of the bombing which is injustice. This is most likely the reaction that the director and creator if the film aims to achieve. 

Narrative:

There are a few narrative theories that can be applied to 'A Favour':

Todorov's Theory of Classic Narrative (1977):

Because this short film has a linear narrative, this theory can be applied, but only points 1-3 are shown as the short film ends before a resolution is shown. This is done for maximum effect. 

1. Equilibrium - This is when the families are eating breakfast and the high key lighting suggests this as nothing wrong has happened yet. 
2. Disruption - It could be argued that this stage is as soon as the protagonist phones the number and detonates the bomb without noticing.
3. Confrontation - The first part of this stage is presented in the film when the protagonist finds out what his phone call did - set off a bomb- But the second part of this section is not present as nothing is done to attempt to deal with it as the film ends before this.

Because of the nature of these types of films being short, I think it would be hard to fit all stages of Todorov's theory in a short film. Therefore by ending the film as an earlier stage, each stage can have more focus to it and the sudden ending would create a more dramatic effect to the audience. 

Bordwell and Thompson - Plot and Story
This theory explains why films don't include every single event and can easily fit into a short space of time. The story is everything that happens in chronological order, it includes all the unnecessary parts of a film for example someone walking for 15 minutes non stop. However plot is what is used in film and it is where all the unnecessary footage is cut out - to create ellipsis- and makes the film for exciting. So this would show someone walking, but there would be constant cuts to show them walking down the road but in a different position; therefore a 15 minute walk could be cut down to 1 minute.

This diagram I made to help explain Bordwell and Thompson's theory

Therefore this method is used in this film, as the plot is only about 3 minutes long, whilst the story within the film would have been over a series of a few hours.

My Thoughts:
I liked this short film as it kept the audience in the quiet about what the antagonist planned to do until the very end. Therefore it created a greater shock for the audience. This technique was used in the short film 'Lovefield' (click link to open video) and I feel it was successful in that film too.  I may consider using this technique in our short film that we are due to make.

I also liked the way that stereotypes were challenged as most films usually conform to them. This therefore sets this film out from the others and my influence people to change their views on other views as they could be too ethnocentric. So, if we come across and idea which involves a stereotype of a particular character, I think it would be good to challenge the stereotype and possibly make our work influential.