Summer Work - Initial Research into Short Films - Ettie Greenwood

1) 'BLACK HOLE' - MEDIA LANGUAGE

Sound: In this short film, only minimal non-diegetic sound is used, where the only use of this is in the foleys, where a 'whooshing' sound is heard to intimate the 'black hole' in action. By not using a music soundtrack, a sense of realism may be added to the short film and connote to the audience that this could happen in real-life (even though this is highly impossible). Also the lack of a soundtrack/ amount of foleys mirrors the setting and situation of the film - in an office-. This is seemed as a more bland profession, as hinted by the facial expression of the man and lighting choices, so if there were to many foleys and soundtracks the film could start to seem slightly unrealistic and unrepresentative. 

In this short film there is also a lack of dialogue where the protagonist does not use speech throughout. This helps the audience to focus on his facial expressions/emotions more closely. But also adds to the sense of realism as he is the only character in scene and it is rare for people to talk to themselves frequently. 

Finally, throughout the film the diegetic noise of the photocopier is repeated throughout as a background ambient noise to fill quiet spaces at times. However it could add to the sense of realism and remind the audience of the realistic setting. This could also remind the character that he is still in the 'real world' even though he tries to use the 'black hole' as escapism from his everyday life eg. stealing chocolate and money.

Mise en Scene: In the short film, a variety of concepts are used to communicate meaning to the piece: Firstly, the lighting in the film is unsaturated, dark and has a slight blue tint to it. A stronger 'key light' has also been used to create shadows on the characters face. By doing this the lighting creates a dull and realistic atmosphere which is synchronous to the setting, an office. The office setting is denoted by the use of props: computers, desks, photocopiers etc. and as the protagonist is wearing a shirt and tie, it is obvious that he is working in the office.

From looking at the protagonists' facial expressions and body language as first he connotes that he is feeling 'fed up' and tired, from what seems like a long day at work. His tie is slightly loose which also connotes how he is tired and his appearance is not a main priority. When he uses the photocopier his movements are lethargic and 'floppy' which also connotes his fatigue. However once the man has discovered the 'black hole' his facial expressions start to change to excitement, especially when he starts to steal the chocolate and money.

Camerawork: In the short film, a variety of different shot sizes are used to give the audience an omniscience view on the scene. Short sizes vary from close ups to long shots to allow the audience to see what the protagonist is doing at all times. The close ups are used at first to denote the audience of the protagonists feelings -fed up and tiredness.

POV shots are also denoted to give a different view to the film. This shot shown is the POV of the 'black hole' as the composition and framing has a black circular edge to it which is suggested to be the outline of the black circle. This also could create a life-like feel to the black hole and make it seem personified to the audience. This shot is also a high angle which may foreshadow the protagonists later power to steal money and chocolate from within the office.

There are also a few shots where forward and backwards tracking is used. An example of this is where the camera slowly tracks in slightly where the frame denotes the protagonist walking towards the vending machine. By slightly tracking in, this draws attention to the vending machine and highlights its' importance in the shot to come. It can also add some atmosphere to the shot. 

Editing: The only shot transitions used in this short film are cuts. This is the most common type of shot transition in film and is used to connote realism - which mirrors what other concepts that are also implying realism. However the editing frequency increases as the action progresses to show how the man is getting more excited about the new ability of the photocopy. 

But at the start of the short film, there is post-production editing where a text is shown displaying the name of the short film 'The Black Hole'. Then a circular wipe transition is used to reveal the footage. This circular shape imitates the photocopy of the black hole and could hint plot features, along with the title of the film.

2) 'SILENT THINGS' - REPRESENTATION OF DISABILITY 

This short film, displays the disabilities of the two characters positively. I think this done by spectator positioning whereby the two characters thoughts and feelings are shown through dialogue and close-ups. However even though that the character without the disability does use dialogue, it is less focussed on and this is shown through a lack of close-ups to reveal her facial expressions and feelings.

But firstly, the characters disabilities are first revealed to the audience through their actions: both protagonists are denoted to be flying a kite in silence then when disassembling it, they take it apart in a very organised and mirrored way as they do it together. The womens' disability is also highlighted through her body positioning where by she folds her arms upwards often and strokes her face -this could also connote a shy character as she has a 'closed' body position and has limited dialogue.

However when the male protagonist meets the teenage girl, a binary opposition is created between disability and non-disability. This is connoted by the difference in character and the protagonists lack of knowledge about 'white lies'. The binary opposition is also highlighted when the three characters are all together: the female protagonist asks the male protagonist who the teenage girl is (it can be argued that she is the antagonist). He then reports that "(he) met her this morning and she is (his) new friend", which then the female protagonist then questions "how can she be (his) friend already" and that "you can't just decide to be with friends with somebody... it's not that simple". This implies that she feels uncomfortable with the mans 'new friend' and this may be foreshadowing further negative events in the short film.

The mans disability is also more understanding to the audience where the female antagonist asks him whether he would like to go on the ferry with her, after he shows a great knowledge on how a ferry works. Because he is acting so naive about the decision and does not take into account the possible dangers, this connotes his disability on how he does not always think about dangers in life.

Once he is on the ferry his bad decision is then realised for him where he then starts to feel very uncomfortable and a series of closeups reveal this. Shots of surrounding characters are also denoted to create a binary opposition of the mans uncomfortable-ness and the other characters relaxed attitude to the ferry. A non-diegetic voice is also faintly heard to connote voices in his head and adds to the feeing that he is uncomfortable. The ferry staff then see this and when escorting the man off the ferry the antagonist denotes that he "was a man (she) met this morning and he wanted (her) to go on the ferry with him". This statement is false and may make the audience have negative views now on the girl as she is telling a 'white lie' which now makes the man in trouble. This also positions the audience to feel sympathy for the man. This also connotes how there is a status difference between disability and non-disability as the police/ferry staff listened and believed the female antagonists' false acquisitions.

3) 'MIX TAPE' - AUDIENCE

I think the target audience for this short film would be British adults aged 35-50 in social classes B-C2. I think that if the audience was British this would be an advantage to them as they would be able to relate more to the British culture displayed in the film. I also think that the age of the desired audience is suitable as the audience would have been growing up in the 1970's/1980's when mixtapes were very popular, this could bring a sense escapism (Uses and Gratifications theory - Blumer & Katz) as the audience remember their childhood romances. This therefore may make the film difficult for modern 10 year old children as they may not understand what a mix tape is, however it could be argued that by watching this short film, young children could be educated about the culture of the 1970/80's. Then I think the audience would be in social classes B-C2 as they would have access to technology to view the film on, meaning they would have the 'leisure pound' to spend, but also they would have some free time as they would be able to afford child care/ cleaners to give more time to have free. This is unlike the working class (class D-E) where they would not be able to afford this. 

I think this film would have a similar audience to the film PRIDE (click to open) as they have similar audiences -displayed on the website- This film also features Margret thatcher and is based in the year 1984 which is a similar time period as when Mixtape was based in. 

Finally the film Mixtape was mainly exhibited online as this is where most short films. This description is from a BAFTA meeting where Luke Snellin's (the director of the short film) work is displayed: "Since graduating from the prestigious screenwriting degree at Bournemouth University, Luke has written and directed several short films, commercials and music videos that have been broadcast on TV and cinema screens across the globe. His short film Mixtape was nominated for a BAFTA in 2010 and won The Grand Prize in the Virgin Media Shorts Competition. He has since gone on to work with brands such as Wrigleys, LG Home Entertainment and Actimel, and used online tools to successfully promote his work. Here from Luke how he has developed these relationships and entrepreneurial skills to forge a successful career." This text denoted how he became successful over publishing his work online  but also showed his work in cinemas and on TV to catch the attention of a wide audience. 

4) 'LOVEFIELD' - NARRATIVE

Lovefield uses restricted narration cleverly to position the audience to believe that something else is happening. By doing this the audience's attention is 'grabbed' as they search in their minds for clues on the event. This is a form of enigma (Roland Barthes) where by the props and camerawork create questions in the audiences minds and this makes them an active audience. Here are some of the 'clues' in the film that may hint to the audience that a murder/rape event has happened:

Even though restricted narration is used in the short film, making it hard for the audience to have a omniscience view on the story, the narrative structure is linear. This is because there are no jump cuts or flashbacks and the plot is in the same order of the intended story (Bordwell and Thompson).

Because the narrative structure is linear, Todorov's 5 stage process can be applied:

1. EQUILIBRIUM: I think this is when the establishing shots are present in the opening of the film, they denote corn fields, and then a crow on a sign comes into shot. Even though the crow may foreshadow negative events further on, I still think it is part of the equilibrium stage as nothing is shown yet to have caused a 'disruption'.
2. DISRUPTION: I think this is where the props come in to shot (the mobile phone, money, knickers and knife). These all suggest that a disruption has occurred, especially with the non-diegetic soundtrack which is suspending and eerie. 
3. CONFRONTATION: This part of the narrative order is harder to decide as it is usually done by a protagonist. However in Lovefield the audience are lead to believe that the man is an antagonist at first as restricted narration is present at first. So, the confrontation stage I believe is when the man runs to his car and looks for objects to wrap the baby in, even though the audience do not know this yet.
4. RESOLUTION: This is where the man comes back to the women and hands her the towel, this is also when the audience are revealed that the women was actually in labour and that the man is actually a protagonist. This could also be where the ambulance arrives for the women.
5. NEW EQUILIBRIUM: I think this is where the camera tracks out and pans across the corn fields once again. However this time the non-diegetic soundtrack has changed to a more light-hearted track as the audience are now omniscience about the events in the film. 

Binary oppositions (Claiude Levi-Strauss) are present in Lovefield: One is between protagonists and antagonists where the audience is positioned to believe that that the man is an antagonist at first, then changes to a protagonist after the real events are revealed. Another binary opposition is between life and death: this is where the audience are first lead to believe that a death has occurred, where actually a baby had been born.

5) 'THIS IS ME' - GENRE

As Rick Altmann suggests, a 'semantic code' is a visual code that communicates meaning for the spectator, and sees them as building blocks for any genre.

Semantic codes in 'This is me':

The toy plane: as this is a main part of the film after the man narrates how he is in hospital, so this could foreshadow its significance in the film later. This is told through a sarcastic tone which connotes comedy and how the man has now accepted his unfortunate injuries.

The wife: The mans wife connotes the comedy genre as she is represented in a comical way. She has a very unique style, and then seems to boss her husband around. Then when the man is in hospital he narrates how she only visits him monthly and sets a timer for her visit when she does, this highlights her neglect for her husband, even though he descried her in a comical way.


The man outside sunbathing: The way he sunbathes in his garden is seen as a comical stereotype in film .He sits right in the middle of the garden and is seated in a sun chair.

Syntatic codes in 'This Is Me':

Rick Altmann also said that specific 'syntatic codes' helped to reveal genre in a piece: Syntatic codes are typical conventions that fit into a certain genre. Therefore syntatic codes for any genre include

• typical themes
• typical character relations
• typical binary oppositions
• typical narrative endings
• typical narrative narrative disruptions

Therefore in 'This Is Me' syntatic codes include: comedy, sarcasm, the bossy wife, the incident, the ill husband and healthy wife, and the circular narrative structure. So all these elements added created create a comedy genre, but there is also a hint of drama in the film making it maybe a hybrid film. 

Steve Neale (1990) said that "each genre repeats conventions of the genre formula, whilst also creating new variations" and this is because "media producers need to meet the expectations of consumers whilst also offering something fresh and different". Therefore, the conventions that make the short film a comedy are:

• sarcastic narration
• very eccentric characters
• an unusual accident
• colourful lighting (at the flashback)

But the short film created variations by including new story lines: the man in hospital creates a more serious tone to the comical genre which is not common to see at the start of a film of this genre. This therefore offers "something fresh and different" to audiences.