Vanity

Vanity from artperezjr on Vimeo.


Mise en scene
Editing
Sound
Camera

Media Language

The sequence begins a shot of a shower curtain and water spraying from the shower, with a non-diegetic sound track of upbeat music and on-screen diegetic sound of the water falling. The sequence is black and white. It cuts to a female character in the shower. There is a variation of close up shots and extreme close ups such as her face and shoulders as she showers.
















There is a voice-over of a phone call between a male and female (non-diegetic sound), we assume that the female is the one showering. They are arranging a double date and there are jump cuts to signify time going by. It cuts to the female character doing her hair (CU) and the camera is on the back of her head as the camera circles her from behind. The shots are shaky to convey a hand-held feel. There is a cut to her going through her wardrobe looking for something to wear (CU) and she chooses a floral dress. It cuts to show her walking over to her mirror (MS). The camera is behind her so we can see the back of her and part of her reflection in the mirror.













It cuts to BMS of her face on as she looks in the mirror. She is composed in the centre of the frame and her facial expression looks dissatisfied so she walks away from her mirror.















It then cuts to CU of her changing her dress to a polka dot dress and then cuts to her in front of the mirror again.

















There is a cut and she is in a different black dress (MS). It cuts to a CU of a quote she has stuck on her mirror, and then cuts back to her. Her body language changes as she dances in front of the mirror. There is a cut to a POV shot from outside the bedroom window looking in on the female character dancing from behind (LS).

It cuts and there are a series of fast pace shots of the girl trying on another dress, and then a cut of the mirror as the female character enters the frame and stands in front of the mirror to try on the dress. It cuts to a CU of the female character and there is an eye line match to one of the quotes on her mirror.












It cuts back to the girl putting on some lipstick. It is a long take as she notices something with her face and does a puzzled facial expression into the mirror. She puts her hand on her face to stretch her eye and pulls her hand away as her eyes widen and she looks shocked as she's discovered wrinkles. It cuts back to a quote and back to her in a reverse shot reverse sequence as she examines her wrinkles.















She looks up and there is an eye line match to another quote on the mirror. These quotes are humorous to suit the conventions of a comedy genre.







It cuts back to the female character whose hair has gone messy. She jumps back in shock and her eyes widen as she tries to fix it.
















She steps back and sits on her bed helplessly with a shocked facial expression. The non-diegetic soundtrack stop and there is diegetic sound of someone knocking on the door and the female character turns her head towards the door and we are introduced to another female character(MS) as they exchange dialogue.








It cuts to a 2 shot and then a shot reverse shot sequence as they exchange dialogue. The non-diegetic sound track starts again and it cuts back to the female character first introduced in front of the mirror and cuts to quotes on the mirror and back to her. This continues in a shot reverse shot sequence. The girl looks saddened at what one of the quotes said and helplessly tries to fix her hair by running her hands across her head in desperation. It cuts to a quote and her facial expression is shocked as she looks in the mirror and whispers "are you insane" in reply to the quote which is constructing her to wipe out the competition for the double date who is her friend.

The shots continue to switch from the quotes to the female character when she whispers (diegetic sound) "how". The camera then cuts to a CU of some scissors. It cuts back to the female character who gasps in shock whilst looking at the scissors. It cuts to a CU of her hand reaching for the scissors as  the door knocks (off-screen diegetic sound).









The non-diegetic music stops as they exchange dialogue and it cuts to a BMS of the female characters in front of the mirror. The first female character we're introduced to is taking the quotes down. The other female character states that she has quotes on her mirror to, and there is shallow depth of field as she isn't in focus. They both pause and don't speak whilst looking at each other expressionless through the mirror. Non-diegetic music starts and there is an eye line match from the first female character introduced and a cut to a BMS high angle of both the female characters reaching for the scissors. There is a cut (BMS) from the side and the girls are fighting over the scissors where the titles appear in big letters in the centre of the screen with on-screen diegetic sound of them fighting.










The screen goes black with the titles over it. It cuts and the credits appear in smaller writing in the centre of the frame.

Representation

Femininity is represented in this short film through the use of makeup, hair and costume. It supports the femininity stereotype as this film is very girly in terms of music, the dresses, and dancing in the mirror. It portrays girls as being vain and self obsessed with their appearance, which is a typical stereotype for a female. Towards the end of the short film, when both the girls reach for the scissors; the femininity stereotype is rejected. This is because they are fighting for the scissors, and fighting is an action associated with males rather than females, and isn't lady-like which is what a stereotypical female is.

Narrative

David Bordwell and Kristen Thompsons theory:
The short film is presented in a linear structure as it is in chronological order. The plot is that the two female characters are getting ready to double date, however for one of the girl it goes terribly wrong and she is persuaded to disadvantage her friend in order to be the most attractive one. From the plot, I gather that the story is that the two female characters are good friends and have been asked on a date.

Todorov's theory:

• Equilibrium
• Disruption
• Confrontation
• Resolution
• New Equilibrium

This theory doesn't fit with Vanity as there is no new equilibrium established due to it being a short film, a majority of it is left to the imagination.

Genre
The genre for Vanity is comedy. The comedic conventions are presented through the way that the short film mocks how vain and self-obsessed girls are.