Short film analysis

Lovefield 

The short film Love field is directed by Mathieu Rathe. It combines the elements of horror, suspense and drama. It takes the audience on a roller coaster ride of emotions.  The title then fades in  and the camera  follows and tracks thorough the cornfield. These are all medium   shots and mainly depth of field is used when the corn field is shown.

                              
                                                    

The back ground score is creating suspense and then the camera slowly pans left to show a crow sitting on an address plate. The connotative meaning of a black crow is death and this gives the audience the impression that the film is a horror also the thrilling background music adds to it.                                               

                                                   

 A lot of extreme close ups are used in this film not to portray characters' facial expressions but to show aspects of the mise en scene like props. One of the close up shots is of a mobile phone and you can hear  the diegetic sound of a phone constantly beeping because it can’t reach a line, which implies a feeling of desperation.

 The next extreme close up is of a blood-spattered cloth and this appears instantly after you see someone’s hand grab the straw as if they were in pain and then you hear screaming which not only confirms the person is in pain but that the audience think that this is a horror scene and there's someone killing the girl . The camera then pans towards the left and you see a person’s foot clenching with pain.   
             
                    

This shot also has narrow depth of field shot, this has been done in a way that the audience just focus on the bloody hand clutched around the knife.

 As this is a silent film, the diegetic and non diegetic sound of this shot is really important to reinforce the red herring. This shot does not strictly follow  the Rule of thirds, as half of the shot on the left is the back of suspected murders hear and the right side of the shot is of an open field which suggests to the audience that escape would be difficult and it's a very isolated place.  This shot shows the link between the two and I think that the crow is the main focus point of the shot to accentuate the meaning of a crow which is death.



The Last Gunfighter
In today's Media's class we were asked to analyze different short films keeping in mind their Genres, Background score, Camera movements, camera angles, Lighting, Mise-en-scene etc.

The first short film I analysed was Spaghetti, a western short film which has been directed by  Alessandro Dominico. It seems to be shot in a deserted industrial plant.
The movie is shot in black and white. Low key lighting is used mostly. Playing with lights and shadows.
"The Last Gunfighter" is an Italian short film  merged with the film Noir and it's a 9 minutes short film. It's a silent movie.
http://shortfilmonline.blogspot.com/2011/06/last-gunfighter-watch.html

                                 


Cinematography                          
The short film starts with maps and numerical figures along with some formulas on the wall that leaves a question of what it has to do with the movie further. After watching the whole film one gets to analyse that it was the hidden code of the film. The code on which the whole film was based. Its final plan.   

         

His get up is of those in Mid 60's: the leather shoes, the carry gun, giving the fill a more vintage look.

The background score is very gloomy, creating a very suspenseful atmosphere. The play of lights and sounds give it a very thrilling feeling where the sunlight is falling in to the building from crooked windows. Also, the character's expressions are very vague; mostly he has a mischievous look on his face and he has no idea what he's up to.
There are mainly cowboy shots  with deep focus and anticipatory frames. 

 However, the sharp glint, the malicious glee and the relieved, satisfied expression through the last 45 seconds after the bullet is fired are quite suspenseful and add so much to the drama as to where the bullet was fired at and who did it aim, that it is quite revolting to understand the direction of the bullet as it enters the main character's body himself.

          

Only at the end, when he lies dead on the floor and the folded paper lands on his body with the same plan, with same maps and formulas of what we saw initially on the wall present, it creates a  connection between the physical numerics and the directions on the paper. The secret code in this short film is decoded only at the very end of the film.

The title 'The Last Gunslinger' may be answered to as a gunman firing his gun for the last time, only the title does not identify who the last bullet was fired at.


                           


Mise-en-scene- the key elements of this short film were :


Set design:   Set design can be used to amplify character emotion or the dominant mood of a film, or to establish aspects of the character.
The set design of this film is mainly a deserted work space as shown below.

 Lighting:  The intensity, direction, and quality of lighting have a profound effect on the way an image is perceived. The gloomy mood established in this film is due to the lights and shadows and very dull lighting as shown below.     
               

Costume: Costume simply refers to the clothes that characters wear. Using certain colors or designs, costumes in narrative cinema are used to signify characters or to make clear distinctions between characters.
                                     
                                              

Makeup and hair styles:

Establish time period, reveal character traits and signal changes in character.

                                          

Color palette :  Black, grey and white.

Strangers

The second short film I saw was "Strangers" by Eraz Tedmor. It's a 7 minutes 11 seconds short film.The genre is suspense/ drama.The audience of this film have to be old enough to understand  the cultural differences and relations for it to make sense to them. Probably teenagers. The film is also about also relationships of two rivalling people.

The movie begins from a railway station where the main character enters the train and sits on his seat. The camera angles are mostly close ups and mid shots on the 2 main characters' reactions. This compensates for the lack of dialogue in the film.

Shot reverse shot is used when the two characters are exchanging glances. Also match on action is used. There are a lot of camera jolts, as they are in a train and it creates an unusual and awkward situation for the viewers. The panning of the camera to Neo shows the signs of aggression.
There is fine headroom and leadroon given in the frames of the camera. Mostly they are in the centre of the frame which shows that they are the most important but also hinting at a distance.
Only few props are used throughout, being the newspaper and a bag.


                                                   

There is dull lighting on the train; creative foreboding. Different elements such us a cross sign, the Jewish star necklace and the tattoos show the difference between the characters. There are fast straight cuts with a quick pace near the end with the chase.

                                                  

Mise-en-scene. The key elements of this short film:
 The set: The set of this film starts with the railway stations and the rest of the movie is shot in the train where the strangers star their rivalry.

Light:  There is diffused dull light in the train making it more realistic. There is softlight creating an airbrush effect.

Costumes:   The characters are dressed casually except the different elements in their clothing make them different from each other as a different character as shown.

The Return- Parallel lines

The third movie I analysed was " The Return- Parallel lines". Its a 3 minutes short film. A short film about an injured soldier acclimating back into his homeland. Directed by Keith
Rivers. Genre of the short film is Drama/ Romance.It has a single narrative where the movie is revolving around the guy.The background score is a light sad song throughout the short film.

The movie starts from a vista shot showing the airport and the baggage claim  area where the character goes to pick his bag and was ready to go back home. From where the viewer gets an idea that he's back from somewhere he was gone.

                                                  

A single prop which is an element of mise-en-scene used that is a necklace he is wearing which contains a unicorn pendant, it is carrying his memories with the girl he loved. It's a hidden code until they showed the flashbacks and the story behind the necklace which was entirely lined to his life.

Cut shots of his past are shown as flashbacks remembering his wife back home. The movie is shot in day light and cross process has been used. They feel off lighting is mainly urbanish .

Again cut shots of his flashbacks from the war are shown in vintage colorsw hich signifies all his thoughts and thus the editing helps us understand that this was something which happened to him in the past.

                                                    

In this scene back light is used to create the silhouette as this is also from his memory shown as a flash back.The lighting which is an element of mise-en-scene is backlights and day lights. The color pallet is yellows and browns in the present and greens are used when the war is shown which is an incident of his past.

                                                     

 Mainly long shots are shown in his flashbacks to show the environment of war and middle shots and close ups are shown to express his feelings while he is sitting in the car thinking about them .
At the end over the shoulder  and view point shots are used when the guy finds out his girlfriend with another guy along with the closeups with prominence of the girls guiltiness and the guy's expressions.
Also shot reverse shot and eye line match  is used when the guy and girl happen to see each other.

                             

Media Studies Questionnaire.

For this exercise my partner Abira Imran and I divided our questions,where she conducted her survey with 10 questions and my survey contained 8 questions. In the end both of our questions will be compiled together and final analysis will be drawn.
Here is a sample of my questionnaire.

Genres.

Genre is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or entertainment, e.g. music, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time as new genres are invented and the use of old ones is discontinued. Often, works fit into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions.

There are different types of genres for example:

1. Horror
2. Sci-fi
3. Thriller
4. Crime
5. Romance
6. Comedy, Drama and much more.
   
   
   
   COMEDY:

Recently I watched "The Dictator". The movie's genre is comedy and it's of the same director of Borat Larry Charles which is mockumentary.

The code and conventions of this movie which help to make it a comedy movie are mainly the main characters' costumes, the way he speaks in a very unusual Arabic accent and many incidents which are the part of the movie. Likewise, in one of the film's funniest scenes, Aladeen and an Arabic-speaking friend take a tourist flight over Manhattan in a helicopter. On the opposite seats are two mid-Western tourists, increasingly terrified about their fellow travelers who are talking in an alien tongue. The only words the American tourists understand are "Empire State Building" but the Arab speakers' accompanying exploding gestures are misconstrued as a plot to blow up the skyscraper even though we in the audience know from subtitles that Aladeen and his friend are eulogizing all the wonderful things New York has to offer and talking innocently about fireworks.

                                 

                                 

Also, while talking of comedy, expressions play a major role in giving a comical feel to the environment.

Particular scenes, where Ben Kinsley chops off a dead man’s beard to make it his own to prove his real personality, and many others, are portrayed in a very humorous manner to make it comedy.

                                    

The iconography  description, interpretation of this particular image shows that the character is non serious. Which can be seen by his costumes, the expressions and postures of the character.               

Similarly, "Hangover part 2", another comedy movie has the same code and conventions as far as the expressions are concerned. 

But as far as the colors are concerned the dictator has more colorful scenes and sets whereas Hangover is comprised of dull colors but the humor is similar. Moreover it consists of lot of in-your-face humor, awkward nudity and misplaced violence which is also there in “The Dictator”. Also, the dynamics between the main protagonists were believable and hilarious.

                            

ROMANCE AND DRAMA

 From another genre Romance/ Drama, “ A Walk to Remember” is a movie 

about first love and opening up to people, saying goodbye, miracles, growing apart, destiny, and letting yourself become something you never imagined. On the other hand the movie 

“ Ps. I Love You” , emotional journey of the story, was engulfing and intense. The movie is also about living a life for the person you love. In this movie Gerry leaves a series of letters that will guide Holly, not only through her grief, but in rediscovering herself.

This way both the movies are similar such that the romance is there but the storyline is somewhat similar that both the characters are attached in a way that they are just concerned with their loved ones and doing things which would make them happy and then either of  them would be dead in the end.

Ps I Love You.

 
                                                             A Walk to Remember.



HORROR MOVIES
In horror movies I would want to talk about "Wrong Turn Five". There are some very particular codes and conventions that are present in almost all the horror movies and some are included in this too. Like, someone investigates a strange noise; this is one of the most unbelievable, yet most overused horror movie conventions. All of your friends have been brutally butchered and eaten by an unseen maniac. You hear something odd coming from the woods. Is that the sound of someone dragging a dead teenage body across a bridge with exposed nails in it? Now the other characters even on a dare, walk into the woods alone to investigate.
The fake scare is one of the oldest and most over-used conventions in horror films. They can take on any shape and size, but in general, any scare in a film that is not connected to the threat (a friend jumps out, a door slams, someone looks into a mirror, someone new enters the room unnoticed, the phone rings, someone bumps into a department store mannequin, something falls, someone is tapped on the shoulder or grabbed, a policeman knocks on the car window, a balloon pops, a bird flies out of the trees, etc.) is a fake one. They are easy to do, and can be very effective or completely stupid.
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Also the iconography of the movie "Scream" is that Scream includes many classic icons of horror. We see knives and a mask in the opening sequence and these are used throughout the film to signify the killers. Knives are intimate violent weapons. The killers must attack from close quarters and often stab many times, heightening the fear and pain of the victim. Horror films use disguise as a means of disorientating the viewer and obscuring the killer’s identity until the end of the film. Scream includes many scenes in which we are positioned as Casey Becker or Sydney, waiting for the attack. This subjective (or point of view) camera work forces us to enter a scene of a film and experience the character's fear. The dangerous situations we are sometimes forced to experience make the pleasure of the film’s final peace and safety even more palpable.