Attic Panic - Ailsa

Attic Panic

Attic Panic - Short horror film from David F. Sandberg on Vimeo. February 2014.

Media language and narrative

 

The film starts with the title, which looks like writing on a window that has condensation on it. This instantly looks sinister. 

The camera pans through a dark setting and reveals a woman getting something out of the cage. She attempts to unlock the door but it doesn't work. Her confusion is shown by a CU, and her struggle is also shown through a CU (of her hand. Through this we only hear ambient and a little diegetic sound - this will emphasise what happens next.

We are then introduced to a squeaking sound, which creates mystery. There is then an eyeline match onto a MS of an object/ person covered by a white sheet. This creates enigma. The woman's facial expression reveals she's both scared and confused. 

 

We are then shown a LS of a light that's surrounded by black - this emphasises how ineffective this is and therefore makes the audience worry.

 

The sheet covered object/ person is shown in the same MS (to show how it hasn't moved - making the aftermath more effective,) and then it twists slightly. The woman is shown in a MS, and her terrified looking body language and facial expression causes the audience to also experience fear. The light suddenly switches off and we hear a diegetic sound of it smashing. This leaves the audience feeling anxious, scared and wondering what will happen now. We hear diegetic sound of the woman becoming breathless as a reaction to this, it's emphasised even further by a high angle view of her - showing vunerability. All of the shadows and silhouettes also create enigma and fear.

Another light is shown as the woman now struggles to unscrew it from the wall. It burns her hand, which could be a sign that she should leave it alone and something bad is going to happen. Non - diegetic eerie and unpleasant sound builds up as she, once again, struggles to open up the cage. We then see a darkly lighted MS of the white object/ person walking.

 

Once she's in, there is an ECU of the white sheet, followed by a fade - to - black and a CU of the woman's terrified facial expression. 

The woman starts to pull at the white sheet, to emphasise this we see various CUs of her 

 hands. 

The non - diegetic sound gets louder and more high pitched to build tension. 

 The non - diegetic sound gets louder and more high pitched to build tension.

It's then revealed that there's nothing under and the non - diegetic sound stops.

As it continues to squeak, the light is shown in a CU. The white object/ person appears behind the character without her realising.

The non - diegetic sound builds up again and there is a black screen, followed by it ending with the diegetic sound of the light bulb smashing. 

The narrative of this short film is linear as it just follows one simple storyline, without going back or forth in time. 

Representation

Women in this short film are represented as being vunerable and unable to fight their own battle. They are seen to be more at risk. Dark settings are presented as being scary and full of shocking things. 

Genre

 The genre of this film would be horror. It has many conventions that come with this, such as ghost-like objects and dark settings.

  

Lights Out

Lights Out - Who's There Film Challenge (2013) from David F. Sandberg on Vimeo.

Mise en scene
Editing
Sound
Camera

Media Language 

The sequence begins with diegetic sound of heavy rain falling. There is low key lighting as the atmosphere is dark, conveying an eerie feel. The shot is of the outside of a house, which is not very visible due to the low key lighting. Titles fade in 'lights out'  in small white font. The font is slightly wobbly, suiting the horror genre. 
 










The diegetic sound of rain stops as it cuts to the hallway of the inside of the house, where we're introduced to a female character. There is on-screen diegetic sound of a door opening, and the female character opens the door and walks in (MS). She turns away from the camera and then there is a cut where we see her from the front as she walks towards the camera (LS to CU). She is wearing a long checkered shirt which gives the impression that they are her pyjamas. She stops at the end of the hallway and switches the light off, there is on-screen diegetic sound of the light switch being turned off. The women is looking down the hallway and there is a vague outline of a person in the darkness. This creates enigma and suspense for the spectator.
 













There is a cut to a POV shot of the female character (LS), from the unknown person's perspective as it's from the other end of the hallway. She turns the light on and it cuts back to the camera being behind her from the other end of the hallway with no sign of anyone else being in the house. This repeats itself as she turns the light off again, and the figure appears. It cuts to a CU of the female character looking down the hallway with a confused facial expression. She turns the light on again with on-screen diegetic sound of the light switch, and squints with confusion as she stares at the spot were the figure was. It cuts back so that the camera is behind her (BMS) and the figure reappears however its gone again when she turns the light back on. This repeats itself until she turns the light off to see that the figure has become closer to her, it is a female with her back to the female character. We can see her more clearly this time as there is more lighting. She appears to be naked with cuts all over her body which creates mystery and spectator positioning as we're unaware who this women is and why she is wounded. Non-diegetic sound plays as the figure appears which is very sudden and scary, with the intention to make the spectator jump. 
 













The female character gasps in horror and jumps back. It cuts to the female character (BMS) who looks shaken up and scared. There is non diegetic sound of a buzzing noise and diegetic sound of creaking floorboards to add to the suspense. It cuts to a high angle close up of the female character ripping off duct tape, with on-screen diegetic sound of it being ripped off. It cuts to a close up of her putting the tape over the light switch as she looks behind her warily. There is a cut to the women getting into bed, there is low key lighting, only light from her bedroom lamp (MS). It cuts to a CU of the women wrapped up in her duvet in bed with her eyes closed tightly. It is clear that she is scared from her twitching. 
 










It cuts to a shot of the bedroom door which is slightly open and there is off-screen diegetic sound sound of something dropping on the floor, and creaking floor boards which creates enigma as you can't see the cause of the sound. It cuts back to the women, and her eyes are slightly open with an eye line match to the door. There is a shot reverse shot sequence as it cuts back to the door, where the off-screen diegetic sound of creaking floorboards become more continuous and louder, to signify that the antagonist is becoming closer. The camera zooms in closer to the door and it cuts back to the protagonist as she lifts her head to look at the door properly. It cuts back to the door and keeps zooming into it whilst the creaking floorboards become louder, creating suspense. The light suddenly turns off, which means that the antagonist is very close to the door in order for it to take the tape off the light switch and turn it off. It cuts back to the women who is rising from her bed, panicked and back to the door which is opening wider. The off-screen diegetic noise of creaking floor boards is becoming increasingly louder and more significant as the suspense is building and there is a rhythmic thumping noise as if someone is running towards the bedroom. It cuts back to the female character as she gasps (on-screen diegetic noise) and throws her duvet over her head in desperation. It cuts and we see her under the duvet with her eyes tightly shut, she opens them occasionally to check that no one is there and she is shaking with terror. It cuts to a high angle above her as she removes the duvet from over her head to look around the room, and cuts back to the door which has opened completely. As it opens there is non-diegetic sound of a short scary sound clip to add to the suspense. It cuts back to the protagonist as she cries out and puts the duvet back over her head. It cuts back to under the duvet where her eyes are shut again and she is whimpering. There is a sound bridge as there is a buzzing diegetic sound as it cuts to the lamp flickering. It cuts back to the protagonist under the duvet, where the light flickers from dark to light. It cuts to a POV shot of the plug sockets and back to the female character as she reaches her arm out to put the plug socket back in to stop the flickering. This creates spectator positioning as they're wondering if the protagonist is going to appear or grab her arm.
 










Once she secrures the plug into the socket it cuts to her gasping as she quickly brings her arm back under the duvet, as that's her safety net. It cuts as she removes the duvet over her face and looks around. She laughs (on-screen diegetic sound) and smiles slightly as she thinks that she is safe however she looks to the other side and it cuts to a scary looking women staring at the female character with her mouth open and no pupils. There is on-screen diegetic sound of the scary women making an unpleasant noise as she appears and a non-diegetic screeching sound as the lamp turns off. It cuts to credits on a black screen in white wobbly font. 

Representation 

The representation of femininity is portrayed in this short film. The character is a middle aged female and she supports the femininity stereotype of women living alone being vulnerable and helpless from her cowering under the duvet when in danger with no male to protect her.

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 women is being targeted by a scary looking women. The story is not clear to us as we don't see what happens to the women before or after. We assume that she lives on her own which adds to her vulnerability.

Roland Bathes theory: 
His theory of enigma codes are present in this sequence as enigma is created through-out, causing spectator positioning. Action codes are also conveyed such as the flickering lights, the thumping noises.
 
Genre 
The genre is a horror which is signified through the screeching, high pitched sounds and use of low key lighting. These are semantic codes, introduced by Rick Altman.

BIRTHDAY- FRANCES

Birthday | Short film from smider on Vimeo.

MRANG

Media language

Mise en scene
Editing
Camera
Sound

The film starts with a black screen then suddenly the title 'BIRTHDAY' appears in block white capitals. The title is only on screen for a couple of seconds then the screen cuts to black again.

As soon as the title disappears a non-diegetic music sound track starts playing, straight away the eerie sounding piano music creates a tense atmosphere for the audience before we are even introduced to anything yet. The first scene we see is a POV MS shot as if the camera is watching from the corner. We see an elderly man sitting on the edge of a bed who's costume consists of a white shirt grey trousers and braces on his trousers. The bedroom he is sitting in has low key lighting and is furnished in 1950's wallpaper and furniture, the room appears to belong to the elderly man. A CU of the protagonist sitting on the bed shows that he is just sitting staring into space. The next scene we are shown by a tracking shot, an elderly lady lying in a bath tub, this could maybe be the elderly man's wife.









 The non-diegetic music sound track of a high pitched piano being played carries on however is now accompanied by the sound of water dripping out of a tap. A shallow depth of field shot shows the elderly woman's staring up at the ceiling just like the male character in the scene before was, this suggests that they could be thinking about something, perhaps each other. The female character has a straight facial expression which makes it hard for the audience to see what she is feeling or thinking about. The next scene cuts to an ECU of stuffed birds on a mantle piece, the male protagonist then walks into the shot and we are shown by an ECU that he has just picked some cuff links up from the side of the mantle piece. There is still no dialogue that has taken place so far which makes it hard for the audience to know what is exactly happening at this moment in time. An MS shows the man, still standing staring at the wall putting on a brown jacket. The setting is still lit with low levels of lighting however there is a spot light on the top of the male characters head which suggests that he is key character in this short film. The scene then cuts to a CU of the female character, now out of the bath, putting on face powder, her facial expression shows she is slightly smiling to herself as if she is enjoying putting on her makeup. She is dressed in a beige blouse and her hair and makeup are both done nicely which suggests that she is getting ready to go somewhere.

 She looks lovingly at her powder sponge as she puts it back in the pot that she got it from, the scene then suddenly cuts to a tracking shot of the elderly man walking over to a chest of drawers, perhaps in the living room. He has a stern facial expression, which is shown by a CU, as he opens the drawer. An MS shows the elderly man reaching into the drawer and taking out an item wrapped in a cloth, it is unclear to the audience what the item is yet and we are yet to find out.









As he gets the item out of the drawer the non diegetic music gets louder as he picks up the object and he seems to be really careful as he does so. This suggests that the item in the cloth could be important to him. The next scene shows a MS of the elderly woman looking into a mirror as she brushes her hair and the non diegetic music appears to be getting louder and louder, creating tension as if a climax is going to take place any time soon. The scene then cuts to the elderly sitting on the bed again unwrapping the object from the cloth he took out of the drawer the prop he is holding is a gun. A low angle CU shows the man, who's costume has now changed into a black suit and tie and a white shirt. We hear the diegetic sound of the male protagonist loading the gun as he puts in the bullets, with still a blank facial expression showing no emotion. The scene then cuts to an out of focus camera shot of a prop which is a birthday cake with a lit candle on top. This prop is significant because due to the title 'BIRTHDAY' it tells us that it is one of the two characters birthdays in this short film.











 The shot of the birthday cake then cuts to a MS of the elderly man sitting on the bed again and we are shown by an ECU that he is looking at an old photograph of a young boy blowing out a candle on a cake this creates enigma for the audience as we are unsure who this young boy is. He strokes the photograph lovingly and his facial expression softens as if he is remembering happy memories, maybe this young boy is him when he was younger. This also suggests that maybe the birthday cake we saw in earlier scenes is his and it is his birthday in the film. The next scene is a CU of the birthday cake and it shows to be the exact same cake as we saw in the photograph. The scene after the birthday cake is LS of the elderly woman sitting in a room full of books on shelves drinking out of a glass chalice, it is unclear what it is in the chalice, perhaps its alcohol. As the elderly woman swallows her drink her facial expression suggests that she is unhappy. The scene cuts to the male protagonist standing in front of the mirror holding the prop (gun) to his head and then from a LS we see the photograph the male character was holding in previous scenes, lying on the bed that the man was sitting once before. The males facial expressions shows that he is scared and unable to pull the trigger of the gun so he puts it down.


 An MS shows the man sitting back down on the bed wiping tears from his eyes, he puts the prop (gun) down on the bed side table and picks up another prop which is a telephone. This scene is filmed by a hand held camera which suggests that the male character is being watched from across the room. As he dials the number the non diegetic music goes very high pitched and then a ringing sound start to play suggesting that something bad is going to happen in the next scene. Through a MS we see the man waiting for whoever he's ringing to answer the phone the scene then cuts to the elderly woman sprawled out on the bed and the telephone on the bedside table next to her is ringing which makes is obvious that the person the elderly male character was ringing is the female character. An LS shows us that the elderly has a significant prop next to her, a box of opened pills spilled out on the bed next to her. The low levels of lighting has a high grey scale which creates a dark atmosphere and it makes it clear to the audience that something bad has happened, the elderly woman has overdosed on pills and killed herself. The non-diegetic music sound track starts to play, as a birds eye tracking shot shows us the dead woman lying there with open eyes. The last shot we see is a CU of the birthday cake with the candle blown out. After this scene the screen cuts to black.

Representation

The social group represented are elderly people and they are represented in a negative manner as it suggests that not all elderly people are mentally stable. Femininity is also represented because it shows the elderly lady putting on her makeup and wanting to look nice which is what most women tend to do in this day and age.

Narrative

The short film has a linear structure as it is in chronological order. The story appears to be that the elderly man and woman were once together but then broke up for some reason and it is the elderly man's birthday and he thinks of killing himself with a gun but then decides to ring his ex wife however she has already killed herself. The plot doesn't tell us this and it is up to the audience to work out the story line between the two characters.

Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes identified action codes, which tells us an action will take place and allows the spectator to predict the plot. When we see the elderly male character take the gun out of the drawer the audience can guess by this action code that something significant is going to happen with this gun, perhaps someone gets shot or shoots themselves. However, the plot twists when the male protagonist goes to shoot himself in the head but then changes his mind, only to turn out that it is in fact the female protagonist who kills herself.

Genre

The genre of this short film appears to be a thriller due to the constant genre codes of low levels of lighting and high pitched music.

Growing Pains

Growing Pains from MP Cunningham on Vimeo.

Mise en scene
Editing
Sound
Camera

Media Language 

The short film begins with a house (MS) central in the frame. There is off-screen diegetic sound of a dog barking. There is a cut and we are introduced to two male characters (OTS 2 shot). One of the male characters who is closer in the frame we can only see his shoulder and a small part of the side of his face, however we can see the further away character clearly (MS). There is a focus pull where the focus is on the further away character, who is wearing a red football shirt and a beanie hat. 
 









There is on-screen diegetic sound as they exchange dialogue and off-screen diegetic sound of a fork scraping on a plate. It cuts to the male character was closer in the frame, and its a POV shot from the other male characters perspective. He is also wearing a white football/sports shirt which suggests that the two characters share an interest in sport. His body language is slouched as he is looking down (BMS) and his facial expression looks slightly upset which reflects in his dialogue "I don't have an appetite". 
 












There is a shot reverse shot sequence as it cuts back to an OTS shot and back again to the male character in the white shirt. There is a sound bridge of off-screen diegetic sound (dialogue) as the conversation is taking place at a different scene. It cuts to the scene and the two male characters are standing in a vets room (MS low angle). The character in red's body language is with his hands on his hips standing straight. 
 











There is an eye line match and it cuts to a POV shot from the two characters, where we are introduced to another male character (the vet), who is wearing a white shirt and has long hair and a beard. He is sitting on the bed in the centre of the frame (MS) with a dog on his lap. The three characters are exchanging dialogue regarding the dog, where it becomes clear that the two male characters we were introduced to first own the dog. 
 














It cuts back to the two male characters in a shot reverse shot sequence (BMS low angle as its POV shot from vets perspective as he's sitting down) and they're expecting bad news about the dog's health therefore there are variations of body language, and the character in the white football shirt covers his face, suggesting that he is expecting the worst. 
 


















It cuts back to the vet as he informs the two male characters that the dog doesn't have cancer. There is a cut back to the two male characters and their facial expression looks relieved as there is on-screen diegetic sound of them sighing in relief. The male character in red puts his hand on the other character's shoulder in a comforting way and smiles at him. 

 











There is a cut back to the vet as he announces that Duke (the dog) did test positive for homosexuality. This adds humour for the spectator as it's very silly. There is a cut back to the male characters who look at the vet in shock.














The next scene is a change of setting as they're leaving the vets. There is a non-diegetic soundtrack playing as they walk towards the camera in slow motion (BMS). The dog is in a wheelchair which adds to the humour of the film, as it is implying that homosexuality is a disability.

















It cuts to the two boys sitting on a sofa (MS eye level) who have expressionless faces and their costume has changed which signifies that the day has changed. We are introduced to another male character. It cuts to a close up of one of the male characters and there is an eye line match to the dog who enters the room wearing a pink tutu. This outline the fact that the dog is homosexual and adds to the humour.










There is on-screen diegetic sound (dialogue) and a foley sound as it beeps out swearing. There is a close up of the dog smiling. There is a cut to a black screen with white font in the centre reading 'Three Months Later'. It cuts to one of the male characters and the dog walking in the park (MS). It cuts to a shot of a white dog (eye level MS) and the owners feet upwards. The meaning of this is that the homosexual dog is attracted to the white dog, therefore the male character lets him off his lead to approach the other dog.

Representation

The short film represents homosexuality, and middle class men. The representation of homosexuality rejects the stereotype as it's an unusual situation as the dog is gay, instead of it being the human. However, it supports the stereotype as the dog is presented as homosexual through costume - this is shown when the dog enters the room in a pink tutu as that is a typical colour for a homosexual person to wear, and tutus are associated with women.

  Narrative

David Bordwell and Kristen Thompsons theory:
The short film is presented in a linear structure as it is in chronological order. The story is that the dog hasn't been itself which is why the men have taken it to the vets as they thought it was a bad illness such as cancer. The plot of the story is what is shown to the spectator, which is that the dog is homosexual.

Genre

The genre of the short film 'Growing Pains' is a comedy.

LONE HUNTER-FRANCES

LONE HUNTER from noahabe on Vimeo.

MRANG

Media language

Mise en scene
Editing
Camera
Sound

The film starts with a fade from black into an ECL a forest with snow topped trees accompanied with a non-diegetic music sound track which an echoed/chiming kind of music. As the camera is showing a forest the music sound track becomes parraellel sound as we would associate a forest with being quite echoed and empty which is what the music sounds like, therefore it fits in well with what we see on line. The words 'lone hunter' appear on screen and as this happens the non diegetic sound track.

There is then a quick short cut followed by a series of high frequency cuts which switch from a man running through a forest to an ECL of possibly the forest that the man is running through. As the frequency gets faster and there is a non diegetic music sound track of a high pitched ringing sound which gets louder and louder with every cut. After a few seconds of these high frequency cuts there is a MLS of a male character who's costume is made up of an orange hat and army print top and trousers. The character is around middle aged with a ginger beard. His choice of costume suggests that he is hunting and wanting to be camouflaged in the forest. After a few second focus on our protagonist there is a loud foley sound of a gun shot after the gun shot has taken place there is silence as the music stops.

There is then a tracking shot of the tree's in the forest and then it cuts to an ECU of the protagonist holding a prop (gun). The shot then cuts to a CU of the characters facial expression which suggests he is concentrating and intrigued as to what he has just shot.The lighting in this short movie is low key lighting which suggests that the film could be a thriller. Next the camera cuts to a POV shot of the protagonist walking through the forest, due to the use of a handheld camera it makes the character look like he is being followed by someone or something. There is then a cut to a low angle shot of the protagonist and a diegetic sound of wind blowing. The character walks over to the thing that he has shot and his facial expression becomes horrified and confused. There is then a long shot of the protagonist standing holding his prop (gun) and a diegetic foley of a russling sound which allows the audience to realise that something's not quite right and the male character is being watched. Again the camera switches to a handheld camera which backs up the idea that he is being watched. There is then high frequency shots of he protagonist running through th woods with his gun. This series of events creates enigma for the audience as we don't know what is happening or what is going to happen next. After a few seconds of an ECU on the characters face there is a non-diegetic music soundtrack followed by the diegetic sound of falling snow and then a shot reverse shot which cuts from the protagonist to the trees then back again. The high pace non diegetic music starts to increase the tensity of the scene. An ELS shows a dark figure moving through the trees, from the POV of the protagonist. As this happens the non diegetic music gets louder and more high pitched as he starts to chase after whatever it is he can see and then there is a MS of our protagonist with his prop (gun) and a diegetic sound of him loading it.

As he hides with his back against the tree the non diegetic music sound track gets louder which suggests that this is building up for something to happen. An MS of a POV of the protagonist shows another character hiding in the woods possibly who our protagonist is looking for. Next the camera cuts to a POV shot of him aiming his gun at this second character and an ECU and the diegetic sound of the protagonit pulling he trigger tells us that he has just shot the gun. However, a quick cut to another ECU of the protagonists face shows his facial expression is shocked and a MLS shows that the protagonist has just been shot himself. The use a prop (blood) splattered on the protagonists costume tells us that he has been shot. When the shooting has taken place the non diegetic music stops and the only sound we hear is a high pitched ringing which gives the impression to the audience that the protagonist is going to die. An MLS shows us him falling on the ground clutching his bloody wound. The camera then cuts to a LS of the forest with cut after cut of different parts of the forest, as this is being shows the non digetic music sound track is played again. Next a low angle long shot shows a character identical to our protagonist walking over to the dead body with a horrified facial expression clutching his prop (gun) then the camera cuts to an ELS of the protagonist's face then the camera cuts to black.

Representation

Lone hunter represents masculinity as it is about hunting which is a common male activity. The clothes he wears are stereotypical clothes that a man hunting in the forest would wear and the setting along with his prop he holds throughout (gun) make is clear from the start that he is hunting for someone or something. The male character's prop (gun) appears to be expensive and the costume which is an orange hat, camouflaged jacket and black trousers the protagonist wears looks fairly new and expensive so this suggests that the male character is of a middle class.

Narrative

Todorov's Theory

• Equilibrium-This is where the hunter first shoots his prey.
• Disruption-When he notices his prey isn't just any old animal
• Confrontation-When he's running through the woods chasing something
• Resolution- When he gets shot
• New equilibrium established- When he walks over to his body and realises he's shot himself

Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes identifies action codes due to the high paced music at the start of the short film and allows the audience to guess that something is going to happen due to the music creating a tense atmosphere.

Genre

The genre of this short film is a thriller which is made clear from the start due to the low key lighting and choice of music.

Exes

Exes from Ali Vingiano on Vimeo.

Mise en scene
Editing
Sound
Camera

 

Media Language

The sequence begins with a sound bridge as non-diegetic music plays on a black screen. Diegetic sound (dialogue) of a male's voice sounds as we are introduced to a female character from a high angle however we can only see the middle part of her body as the camera tracks her (CU). From her costume we can tell that she is a female as she is wearing a skirt. The camera tilts up so that we see the upper part of her body. There is a cut to four males exchanging dialogue where it comes clear which male was speaking in the beginning. The camera is behind one of the males (CU) so that we can only see the back of his head, however we can see the other three male characters faces. There is focus pull where the focus is on the character who's face we can't see (restricted narration) which could suggest that he is the most significant character of the four.









He moves his head to the side and it cuts so that we see the a small part of the males head in the frame looking at a female approaching (OTS). There is shallow depth of field however as she comes closer the camera focuses. There is a cut and there is another tracking shot of the girl previously introduced (CU). She turns around slightly so that it is a side view of her face (CU) and she is looking down at something possibly her phone and has her hand on her head. It is a possibility that she knows the male character that was watching her walk up the road and she is trying to avoid him by looking busy and hiding her face with her hand - diegetic music plays however it isn't very loud so that it's clear it is coming from her earphones, therefore only she can hear it. It cuts back to the four males who are still exchanging dialogue and the focus is still on the male who's face we can't see. He tells his friends (dialogue) that "he is going to stay outside" as it cuts to an OTS shot where we see that the female is closer. This reinforces the possibility that they may know each other as he is staying outside. The three boys go inside, leaving the male character on his own. He moves his head round to face the female character and smiles awkwardly whilst holding his hand up to wave. It cuts to a POV shot of him from the girls perspective and he says "hey" (on-screen diegetic sound). Subtitles appear at the bottom of the screen in yellow writing which read 'This is happening.'














This editing technique let's the spectator know what the character is thinking, and this suggests that he is slightly nervous. It cuts to an OTS shot and the female (BMS) is looking down on her phone. She turns her head to look at him and it cuts back to his face (eye level, CU). He says "hi, hey" and his facial expression appears awkward and nervous as more subtitles appear reading 'I'm going to be okay.' 'I'm not going to cry'. This supports my previous suggestion that he is nervous as he is trying to contain himself on the outside however his thoughts aren't contained. It cuts and the female character walk over to him and the subtitles appear in a white font 'I want to stab myself.' The difference in colour is for the different characters as their different thoughts are presented. Her wanting to stab herself is clearly an over-exaggeration, however it gives the spectator an idea of how much she doesn't want to engage in conversation with him. Their body language is awkward as they hug and the subtitles continue through-out the sequence to construct the message that they're thinking differently to what they're saying. When they enter the pub we are introduced to several more characters and there is a lot of dialogue, in which the subtitles are below. It is clear that the male and female character used to be in a relationship from the female characters subtitle reading "hate/love/hate him'. This constructs the meaning that they still love each other which could be why the male character was nervous when approaching her. There is a cut to a different female character who is handing out shots to her friends (MS). She says (dialogue) I brought them all with my own money, as she says this subtitles appear at the bottom reading 'my dad's money'. This creates humour for the spectator as it suggests that she lives off her dads money, implying that she could be spoilt. It cuts to a 2 shot (MS) of the characters and the female character pretends to be on the phone which suggests that she doesn't want to speak to him - his facial expression looks awkward.














It cuts to the male and female character (2 shot) where they are engaging in conversation (dialogue) and the subtitles show 'I miss you'. This shows the change in attitude on the females behalf. The female character leans across and kisses the male character (MS) and there is focus pull as the background is out of focus.











It cuts to the two characters in bed (MS), off-screen diegetic sound of police sirens play.











It cuts to the titles where the word 'EXES' is displayed in the centre of a black screen in white capital letters which fill the centre of the screen and an upbeat diegetic soundtrack plays as the credits appear in smaller white font in the centre of the black screen.

 

Representation

The short film 'Exes' would be relevant for a teenage/young adult demographic, due to the age of the characters, music and setting of  bar/pub. It represents age and class, as the characters appear to be middle class teenagers. The use of the subtitles add humour which adds the possibility that the genre is a romantic comedy however also social realism as many teenagers could relate to the film therefore it's suited to the demographic. The main female character is a stereotypical girly girl which is presented through the use of her makeup and costume as she is wearing a skirt and high heels. The boy rejects the masculinity stereotype of being big and strong, he has a more geeky imagine which is presented though his glasses and body language as he acts nervous around the female character whilst she acts more confident which could be seen as a positive or negative representation depending on the spectator. I think that the expected audience has shaped the representations of the film because the elements of the film is very young and modern in terms of sound, the subtitles at the bottom, the humour, the setting and the idea of drinking alcohol. The setting of a bar targets a youth demographic as it is relatable to them and is therefore appealing to watch, for both male and female.

Narrative

David Bordwell and Kristen Thompsons theory:
The short film is presented in a linear structure as it is in chronological order. The story is that the main male and female character used to be in a relationship and haven't see each other in a while. This isn't shown to us in the film however we assume that's the case because of the plot.

Todorov's theory:

• Equilibrium - this is when the two exes notice each other and exchange dialogue outside the pub/bar.
• Disruption - this is when their friends leave them alone to talk in the pub.
• Confrontation - this is when the female character pretends to get a phone call to avoid awkward conversation
• Resolution - this is when they start to talk and are getting on well and realise that they miss each other.
• New Equilibrium established - this is when they end up in bed together.

Roland Barthes:
Roland Barthes identified action codes, which tells us an action will take place and allows the spectator to predict the plot. An action code in 'Exes' is when the male and female character kiss, it allows you to predict that they would end up in bed together, due to the previous subtitles shown

Genre

The genre of this short film is a romantic comedy. The fact that it is a comedy becomes clear when the subtitles appear at the bottom as most of them are humorous and taking the mickey out of the character; mostly the male character. The romance becomes clear when the two characters kiss and there's a chance to rekindle their relationship.