Initial Research into Short Films - Little Larry - Ettie Greenwood

 

Little Larry - Andrew Lee Potts

Synopsis: 

This short film is about a middle classed, professional,  mid-twenties man named Larry who feels lost at work and life, and cant seem to grow up. The film denotes a young child to represent what he feels like as he struggles to find love. The film ends when he finds a woman who is alike him, this is presented as two children  who meet and 'grow up' together.

Media Language:

One of the main aspects that stands out to the audience when watching this film is the black and white high-key editing: This desaturated colour may connote that Larry is unhappy, and the contrast from the high-key may suggest a contrast that he has between what he wants and what he has. This therefore creates two binary oppositions: Young vs. Old, and Reality vs Non-reality.

High-key desaturated editing

Over saturated editing (also high-key)

However after the character Larry finds someone alike him, the editing shifts to an over saturated style. This therefore creates a significant change between the two edits, and the saturation may connote his happiness and new pleasing lifestyle.

By using children as characters in this short film, I feel that this clearly infers how Larry does not feel comfortable with his lifestyle, as the child in the film acts out adult activities which would not be expected of him. This is also denoted in one of the first shots where the post-production editing of text is placed on to denote Larrys thoughts and to give the audience more context so they understand the short film more.

The edited text on one of the first shots.

The non-diegetic soundtrack in this short film sounds slightly tribal: The track has a varied pitch and a rhythm to it which makes it seem slightly 'childish'. This therefore suits the context of the film - as it is child focused- making it asynchronous. 


During the length of the short film, close-ups are used throughout to capture the characters facial expressions with ease. When looking at these facial expressions, the characters emotions seem to be mpstly negative as his facial expressions connote a fed up and sad emotion. This highlights how the adult character larry is fed up with life and cant seem to 'grow up'.

The time-lapse at 1:06 also highlights Larry's stuggle in life as it shows the other character moving around the office while he just sits there unmotivated. Time lapses' are a good way to connote time passing, and this example, how he is lacking motivation. (see photo below left)

The time lapse

Larry denoting his feelings

Larrys feelings are also denoted in the shot of him making a paper sign saying 'Lonely' and placing infront of his name sign to read 'Lonely Larry' (see photo above right). Here the alliteration is used to give a more childish approach as aliteration is common in childrens books, therefore again highlighting his desire to grow up when he can't. In the background of this frame, there is a group of colleagues chatting, whilst Larry, in the foreground  is on his own. This captures his feelings of lonliness successfully.

Representation:  

I think that the representation in this short film is shown clearly due to the use of actual characters to connote Larry. The child used in the film is used to represent his inner thoughts and actions of how he still feels young, even though he is now in his mid twenties.

When Larry (as a child) finds a girl also represented as a child. This is when they both grow up together and the colour then becomes saturated. I think this is because in modern society there is empahsis on getting a job -which larry has done-, finding love, then settling down with a family. The last two points are what larry lacks, so inside this may cause him to feel as if he is not growing up. Therefore they both can grow up together and this is denoted in the fade transition to two adults who were once represented as children.

Audience:
The reason why most directors create short films, is to show larger companies their work and to try and get signed to that company, so ultimately the audience for most short films is bigger companies.

I think that the target audience for this short film would be:

• People aged 15-30 - I think this because this audience would be those who are mostly likely to come across short films - due to them being posted on social media frequently- but it also includes the mid-twenties age group which is the age that Larry is at. Therefore this may appeal to people who are feeling the same as the characters giving them sort of emotional support that they are not the only ones. (demographic)
• Classes A-C1 - I think this because the characters denoted are of middle class and therefore a middle class would be most likely to view this short film as they can relate to themes shown such as: an office job, the costume, the dog walking and the dates that Larry participates in. (demographic)
• Males and Females - Both genders would watch this film, but I think it could have more of a 60/40 split due to the main character being male. But also it is more common for males to feel 'lost' in work so this could appeal to males who feel the same. (demographic)
• People who go to the cinema - This short film was shown at the cinema before the start of a movie (which would have had a similar target audience to this film). Therefore the target audience would have to enjoy going to the cinema to see this short film in the first place. (psychographic)
• People who use social media -  Most short films get shared on social media, therefore the target audience would use social media as these are the people who share the videos for other to see. (psychographic)

My Thoughts:

I liked the colour use in this short film as it was used to create an effect. Therefore I may consider doing that in our short film if we need to achieve a certain effect or atmosphere.

I also enjoyed the way that the director chose to use actual children to represent the characters thoughts a feeling clearly. The text put on top of the image was also a good idea to denote to the audience what the short film was about and to stop any confusion.

The titles were also good in this short film as they were very typographic:  

 Here the word 'little' is small which mirrors its meaning, whilst the word 'Larry' is big to fill up the screen and to denote to the audience the name of the character/film title.



Here the credits are placed next the the character to identify to the audience the names of the actors. I like this technique because it is a clear way to denote the characters, but also is visually appealing to look at.