Coursework Evaluation

Representation:

Mise-en-scene - I created a short film which demonstrates an extreme result of being covetous which includes other sins based around the seven deadly sins from the bible. Others include “sloth” and “greed”. I attempted to portray this to the audience with the different uses of the micro elements of film form. The most prominent being character expression and costume. With costume I went with a smart shirt and tie however I wanted the costume to imply laziness and lack of care, so I had the shirt untucked, tie undone and wrinkled the shirt. This gives the “sloth” sin impression as the character looks lazy and unprofessional. This is emphasised with the setting of the introduction. An empty classroom at 4 o’clock, giving the impression the character is in detention. The use of setting is also found within the character’s bedroom, there are multiple shots demonstrating how messy the room is, the mess further implies that meaning of laziness and thus pushing the “sin” theme of the film.
Character expression and movement is also very key as the film is set around this one character, I gave the idea that the character is greedy by showing the overjoy and lust for money once the protagonist is aware of the power he has. A phone prop is used for the character to let other people know what he has discovered, however no one believes him and ends the call, this gives the notion that no one trusts him. The use of one character, like that of The Fly, is to emphasise the actions and reactions of this one character.

Cinematography – I used aspects of cinematography to convey meaning within my film. One example of this is with the use of pans which were used within the main character’s room to demonstrate how messy the room is along with stills of the character’s desk, adding emphasis and focus on the character’s “sinful” behaviour. As character expression is very important within my film, I complemented this with the use of cinematography as when I wanted the audience to imply meaning from it, close up shots, long takes and zooms were all used to emphasise the importance of my character’s reaction to his lust for greed.

Editing – I attempted to use a variety of transitions to keep the audience interested with the limited settings, but I also used transitions to imply meaning of time passing. This is seen where the main character is seen making pens appear followed by a fade to black and then hearing the scene before seeing it, implying time has passed and the character has moved to a different environment. 
Also, throughout the entire films I tried to make the film have fast cuts, camera constantly moving and showing different angles, making non-intense actions have more of an emphasis to them. Similar to the style of that of the auteur, Edgar Wright. I used the “hearing the scene before seeing it” transition multiple times to give the impression that the character is thinking in one shot, and then acting on his thoughts in the next.

Sound- All of the sound in my film is diegetic. The use of the clock ticking at the start is to give the feeling of time passing very slowly, the character being bored and wanting to leave. The black screen before the title with the sounds of footsteps and cars passing being heard implies that the main character is walking home and is revealed walking through his front door. This effect is also used at the final black screen, where the siren gets slowly louder implying that it’s driving towards the final scene.

Editing and Sound – For multiple sounds in the film, I applied effects and keyframes so that the sounds would change depending on the camera’s position, giving the effect of distance from the sound’s origin. Examples of this are the clock at the start, the footsteps of the character walking away and the siren at the end. Using lowpass effects and volume I altered how loud and muffled a sound was to add further meaning. A majority of the sound is Foley sound, recorded and added in after in premiere.

Genre:

The genre in my short film is not easily identifiable. This is because only two things stand out when it comes to that regard. The use of setting in the film, a modern school and a contemporary home indicates that the film is contemporary and as the plot device is fictional and does not exist, the film has fantasy undertones. Assigning the film as a contemporary fantasy. I have used varied micro elements to show this even if the genre “contemporary fantasy” isn’t immediately apparent to the audience. One example of this is the use of costume and props. I used a keyboard to make a link between the fantasy and the contemporary, with the main character using it to “spawn” whatever objects came to mind. The costume being a shirt and tie, used to emphasis the contemporary school and student image. This technique was also used in The Black Hole for the same effect.

Narrative:

The narrative in my short film conforms to that of a conventional narrative, following a linear structure with a clear beginning, middle and an end. This is obvious to the audience as the end of the introduction includes my character leaving the setting, title card displays and the scene after introduces with my character entering the setting. Giving the impression that the time passed was chronological and went from one to the other. This is the opposite to short films such as Over which is shown in reverse. A contemporary narrative technique that I made use of is the Kuleshov effect

As seen here, my character expression is shown, cut to what he’s looking at, followed by his reaction. This helps the audience understand what he’s feeling and why. In this case, the scene starts with my character looking confused, cut to a confusing, illusive message on the computer, followed by my character reading the message in a confused tone. Suggesting that this message is what’s causing the character’s confusion.
The Kulseshov effect is not only used in just short films, but famously in film in general. Here’s an example from Tight Jeans which I think relates to my film the most:

With similar character expression, being confused, the three friends look over with a questioning demeanour then the camera cuts to a boy walking past, then back to the three characters reaction. Exactly like my film, the audience can find meaning with the combination of the character expression and the Kuleshov effect to decipher that what the camera cuts to, are what the characters are confused about.

Character focus is the key feature in my film that drove the narrative forwards. The story focuses on one boy, the events that happen to him and the result of his actions. This is a very conventional narrative, similar to that of The Fly or Arrival which also only focus on the actions of one main character, and others either making a minor appearance or not at all. The only difference here is at the end of each of those films, other characters are shown, only briefly.

Audience:

The target audience is other A-Level students who are trying to find inspiration for their own films. The goal for my film is entertainment and to shock the audience. I’ve done this by providing an interesting idea and having a shock ending. The preferred reading for an audience to take away is that being sinful, lazy, greedy, etc; leads to bad consequences, in this case it is very extreme. I never wanted the audience to like my character, but not dislike either. I wanted the audience to stay neutral so that they can see the wrong doings and potential greed in his actions, but I also wanted the viewer to feel bad for the character’s demise so that the message to avoid the lust for greed is clearly stated. The micro elements are used here in order to balance the opinion of the viewer. For example, cinematography, editing and setting are used to cut pans together of the character’s room, showing an undesirable and uncared for mess, the costume element being used to show the character’s lack of care for his appearance. However, the use of character expression and cinematography are combined, showing close ups of the character’s face and movements, so that the viewer feels like they’re sat there with them and are just as confused as the character. I did this by not using the technique of dramatic irony, similar to that of the Ellington Kid, where the audience is only revealed new information, the same time as the characters are, this creates an element of relatability. The age demographic for my film is for 15-18-year olds as they would understand what is happening, and not be too young to be potentially scared by the ending.