MRANG in 'The Elevator' - 5th Short Film Analysis

Applying the 5 Key Concepts to the Short Film 'The Elevator'

Brief Summary

Media Language

• Titling is kept simplistic, with white colouring superimposed over a long shot mid angle.

• Setting, props and decor of the reception area shows an office block setting and the colours are dull.
• High key lighting is used throughout the entirety of the short film.

• Music soundtrack is repetitive, similar to the generic 'elevator music'.
• Sound effect of the 'ding' noise used to emphasise the elevator setting.
• Costume, hair and make-up of the male protagonist along with other characters is informal but still smart and looks as though large effort has been put in to fit the context of the short film.

• Extreme close up shot at low angle of the elevator sign prop and floor sign prop.

• Medium close up at mid angle of the male protagonist being blocked by other characters.

• Birds eye view angle at medium close up of protagonist on his phone prop, later shown in extreme close up.

• Point of view shot at medium close up mid angle of the other characters in the elevator.

• The sound effect of the loud bang builds to silence adding to the effect of the elevator falling.
• Slow motion effect adds to the comedy of the male walking towards the lift, coupled with the dramatic music soundtrack this generates much humour in the audience.
• The facial expression and body language of the protagonist is shown as he awaits the arrival of the next elevator.

• Composition of the protagonist is in the centre of the shot in the next elevator setting.
• Extreme close up at high angle of the females hair shown to emphasise the mucus as a prop as it flies into her hair.

• Swine Flu sign shown at close up mid angle demonstrates eyeline match.

Representation

The simplistic titling is used to create a representation of the comedy within the film, perhaps that the humour is simple in itself but still found comical.

The use of the extreme close up and close up shots could suggest a representation of how the male protagonist is feeling so claustrophobic and trapped.

Although evident, the calculator app shown on the phone prop creates the representation that the male protagonist is getting very conscious about how much weight the elevator is carrying.

The dramatic soundtrack and slow motion effect shot of the male at long shot mid angle represents him as an extremely important part of the short film. Obviously, the protagonist has realised that if the male enters the elevator something dramatic will happen to the elevator so he decides to remove himself from the situation.

The birds eye view angle shot suggest that up is the only way to escape from the elevator. This also gives an insight to the surrounding of the protagonist in the elevator perhaps suggesting that the only way is down.

Audience

The target demographic for this short film is hard to identify. Though, I would say it was people of any gender and perhaps even any age as this humour is very relatable to everyone as it is such a simplistic humour.

The psychographic of this short film is people who are in the mood for a humorous short film and enjoy humour that can also be quite rude and offensive.

Narrative

This short film follows a linear narrative with a slight circular narrative towards the end where 'history repeats itself'. The narrative is also unrestricted allowing the spectator to get an understanding of what the protagonist is thinking before the other characters, creating dramatic irony.

Bordwell and Thompson: Story - The male protagonist is perhaps attending meeting but suffers many troubles on his way to the office, mostly consisting in the elevator. After joining a second elevator the protagonist realises that all the people he is sharing it with have the flu. Only when they leave and he sees the sign prop does he realise they have swine flu.

Plot - The male arrives at the elevator and has a traumatic event in the sense that the elevator begins to struggle due to the weight being carried. This becomes a major worry for the protagonist and so he leaves the elevator and waits for another. The next elevator arrives which he enters and it soon becomes apparent that everyone in the lift is ill with swine flu.

Todorov: Todorov's 5 stage theory can be applied to this short film -

1. Equilibrium - Going to the office and arriving at the elevator.
2. Disruption - A large amount of people entering the lift exceeding the maximum weight of the elevator.
3. Recognition - The protagonist estimating the characters weight and adding them together to arrive at a weight which exceeds the maximum capacity in the elevator and leaving.
4. Repairing of the damage - Entering the next elevator.
5. New equilibrium - In the lift with people with swine flu.

Barthes: Enigma Codes - 

• Phone prop - What is he doing on it?
• Capacity of people - Is that over the maximum? How many more people are going to get on?
• Male walking in slow motion shot - Is he going to get in the elevator?
• Facial expression and body language - What is wrong with the people in this elevator? What flu do they have?

Action Codes - 

• Swine Flu sign prop - Shows that everyone in the elevator had swine flu.
• Calculator prop - Shows that the weight is exceeding the maximum amount.
• Button prop - The protagonist is going to take another elevator upwards.

Strauss: Binary Oppositions -

• Weights create a binary opposition in this short film
• Ill versus Well
• Male versus Female

Other theorists unmentioned are difficult if not impossible to apply to this short film. 

Genre

Rick Altman's Semantic and Syntactic Codes theory - 

Semantic Codes	Syntactic Codes
Décor, setting and props – Simple settings with minimalistic décor are very popular in the comedy genre to ensure not to subtract from the humour.	Binary opposition – Often used within the comedy genre to create diversity and emphasise stereotypes.
Costume, hair and make-up – Stereotypical of the comedy genre creating a sense of realism that the audience can relate to.	Stereotype theme – The comedy genre is well known for following stereotypes and this has been done to create an offensive sort of humour.
High-key lighting – Used commonly in the comedy genre.
Range of shot sizes and angles – Often use a large amount of less commonly used shot sizes and angles in the comedy genre to give it a more informal effect.
Sound effects and music soundtrack – Common to be used in the comedy genre creating sensationalism and adding to the humour.

David Buckingham and Steve Neales theories - 

The short film uses repetition mostly rather than variation or change so as to not distract too much from the genre and target demographic. By creating a stereotype and emphasising it, this short film really does not differ too much from other comedy short films. 

5th short film- Megan

Connection

(click title to view film)

 

Nobody has the right to look down on others

 

Bird's eye view

    Representation:

 I believe class is represented  throughout the film in both a  positive and negative way. The differences between classes are extremely noticeable throughout the short film by the use of facial expressions and camera work used on different characters. I believe the two upper class characters are portrayed in a negative and selfish way as they take no notice of the homeless guy that is noticeably looking for loose change. The homeless guy is portrayed in a positive way, he is shown to be harmless to anyone. The audience can tell the difference between classes through the use of mise en Scene, the costume, props and facial expressions are key to giving away the way class is portrayed and how the upper class characters look down on the homeless man. Eye-line match is used at a high angle to show the upper class looking down on a lower class. The audience are put in the position to feel sorry for the homeless man.

  Media Language:

 In the short film, Connections, they use a variety of shots to portray the differences between classes. The film opens to an extreme close up shot of a sleeping bag which instantly tells the audience that there is someone trying to keep warm. The slow camera tilt up is slowly revealing the character to the audience. The extreme close up then reveals a man that looks a bit rough around the edges, someone that seems to be shivering. A slow non diegetic soundtrack is played over a variety of shots to perhaps set the mood and atmosphere of the short film which would be sympathy towards the homeless guy. The diegetic sound of the man walking past with a suitcase shows how the homeless guy gets a lot of people walking past him daily. With the contrast of the diegetic sounds with the soundtrack played it shows the audience that perhaps this homeless man is having a tough time.

\From homeless man's view

As the loose change drops we hear the sound of it hitting the pavement and the soundtrack stops. This could be because the director is trying to show that as soon as the homeless guy comes across loose change his mood instantly starts to increase, hence the sharp cutting of the sad music as the loose change drops. It then cuts to a low angle of a new character introduced, someone dressed in a suit that looks well presented. This low angle could perhaps be the perspective of the homeless man. This low angle also shows the difference between classes.  The upper class guy dressed in a suit shows that he is looking down on the homeless man. We are then introduced to the next character which is a woman dressed in a suit. They both seem to have a connection when they both go to pick up the change as they both start to tease each other about who should have the loose change, baring in mind there is a homeless person right by them. This shows act of selfishness between the characters.

We then can instantly see the contrast within the two characters and the homeless man as the male and female characters are both dressed in suits and look neat and tidy. We can tell this by their costume and how this adds to the effect of the short film the differences of class within society.

As the two characters are talking, the homeless guy reveals to crawl across the floor between them and pick up the loose change by their feet. The dialogue then stops between the two characters as the homeless man picks up the change. This could add to the fact that the two upper class characters are looking down on the homeless man as they are shocked that he is picking up the loose change.


High angle shot
 

  It then cuts to a high angle of the upper class characters perspective of the homeless guy. This high angle shot shows how the upper class characters are looking down on him and if he is not like them.  It then cuts to a close up of the male character looking down towards the homeless man with a slight look of shock and confusion on his face.

As the two upper class characters walk off it then goes back to the soundtrack played at the beginning of the film, similar to the camera work it returns to the same as the opening of the film adding to the effect that this is almost one day out of many the homeless man experiences that are the same as everyday and is back to his equilibrium of the plot, whereas the storyline would continue as this on a daily basis.



4th film post- Megan

Brando-ing

(click title to view film)

 

'Banter between two friends stuck on a roof'

 

       Audience:

• The audience would be people who use social media as this is a film posted onto the internet for people who enjoy films and filming there own i.e. media and film students- this is a psychodynamic audience group
• People ages 15-30 because this is the likely target group to use the internet and social media sites to get hold of the short film. The two characters in this film are also between this age (tone of build, facial hair) group meaning more of a connection with the audience through their choice of 'banter.'
• Demographically, I think this film would appeal more to males than females because both the characters are male and therefore would be more relatable to the audience. As well as this, the plot is more relatable to this gender because it is more stereotypical of men to get themselves into trouble (getting stuck on a roof) than females. Men are seem as more immature and this would be classed as 'immature banter' which woman wouldn't typically be seen to be involved in- stereotypically.

 

    Genre:

 



Costume- brightly coloured shorts suggesting comedy



 

facial expression showing banter between friends

Its quite obvious to assume from the short film that the genre is comedy due to the 'banter' we see between two guys.

Rick Altman's theory states that film genres have typical visual codes that convey meaning to the viewer - otherwise known as a semantic code. This film shows typical visual codes to demonstrate comedy including costume, facial expressions and context.

The 2 men are shown arguing over nothing on the roof instead of figuring a way to get down which shows the story to also be based around a comedic value rather than just the plot (how did they get up there, how will they get down? comedy would be added to these parts of the story too.)

 

 

Narrative:

The audience are only shown small snippets of the whole story (the plot-Bordwell and Thompson) so therefore the audience are left with the enigma codes of where are they, why are they there, how did they get there and how are they going to get down? (proposed by Barthes)

As there are only 2 characters, the binary positions would be between the 2 friends (one is getting frustrated with the other one talking rubbish and them disagreeing)- proposed by Levi-Strauss.

The story line has a linear narrative (there is no flashbacks or jump in time through the use of cuts(editing.)) Using Todorov's theory of narrative we can suggest the equilibrium is them on the roof having banter between one another and the disequilibrium would be them quarrelling between 'de-neroing and brando-ing faces.'

 

 

        My thoughts:

I like the simplicity of this film, there isn't any editing used for location changes or costume changes but rather as if the filming of a natural,  banterous conversation between 2 men. But with the use of camera shots and the script it is able to draw the audience in to enjoy the comedy between them. This is something I would like to achieve in my film- being able to attract the audience into our short film without the need of over-complicating our storyline or locations.

'Just Say Hi' - MRANG (5th Post)

'Just Say Hi' by John McPhail

(Link to the film)

Media Language

• Music - cheerful, sets atmosphere
• LS - establishes setting, characters
• CUs - focuses on main characters
• Parallel editing - shows connection between characters
• Facial expressions - he's trying to talk to her, she doesn't want to

• Transition - change in time
• Change in costume - also shows shift of time, creates ellipsis
• MS - focuses on his expression, notices her more, she smiles because she's being noticed

• Walking backwards - nervous to talk/look at her, she's confused at this
• CU - sees her face, awkward moment, he helps her out
• Smug expression - knows his way with women
• Grin - excited because he helped her

• Box of tissues - he helped her, he cares
• Smiling - she knows he cares
• Different shot/MS - makes audience see something different
• Changes hairstyle - wants to look appealing
• He falls over - clumsy, funny, stereotypical 'romance', instantly embarrassed
• Music - lyrics suggest feelings towards each other

• Two shot - nearly together
• He slides towards her - building up to climax
• Cut - hides new character, blocks them, frustrating for characters and audience

• Facial expression - looks determined
• Match on action - reveals it's not her, awkward
• Doubt - she may not come
• Parallel editing - shows connection, OTS finally shows how close they are
• Two shot - finally together
• Lull in music - can hear dialogue, dramatic

Narrative

Bordwell and Thompson's theory can be applied effectively to this short film. The audience doesn't know the back story of these two characters, so the plot is only focusing on how they met.

The transitions and their continuous change of clothes shows the days passing, but it is unclear if it is consecutive. However, the plot does leave an ellipsis as to what they do when they're not at the bus stop; do they think of each other?

At the end, when they finally meet, the audience can only assume that they continue on into a conversation that hopefully leads to some form of relationship, even when it's only hinted by the story.

'Sweet Nothings' - MRANG (4th Post)

'Sweet Nothings' by Giles Ripley

(Link to the film)

Media Language

The film begins with an LS of a man coming through his front door. He's wearing a suit, so the spectators can deduce he has a well paid job. He comes in and checks for messages on the phone. Here it cuts to a MCU of the phone, suggesting that it is of some importance. The phone voice over announces no new messages. It then cuts to his face, his expression showing mild disappointment, as if he was anticipating something.

He picks up the post-its and takes one off. It cuts to an OTS of what it says. The handwriting is obviously female, and the gender of the voice over confirms this. It cuts to his face again and his facial expression shows he's happy and content. It fades to black, suggesting time passing and creating an ellipsis.

Am LS shows him returning home again and the same routine is showed; he comes in, shuts the door, puts his keys down and checks the phone. The spectators can then deduce that he is obviously waiting for a specific call. He picks up the post-its again and the female voice over reads it out; his facial expression happier.

The routine is showed for a third time, only this time he is holding a bunch of flowers. The lighting is very high key, which mirrors his mood and the atmosphere. He does the same thing only to stop at the post-its. He drops the flowers and the voice over speaks, an ECU confirming what she says.

He then picks up the phone and tries ringing someone several times. The handheld camera movement adds an unsteady atmosphere. There are a few edits to imply his distressed state, and his voice when he speaks is very shaky. It cuts to him sitting on the floor in despair and then to an ECU of his heartbroken face, his dialogue showing he is desperate for something.

If fades to black and the off-screen sound of a doorbell can be heard.The next shot is an LS of the man running to the door and opening it. He is in a dishevelled state and his facial expression shows worry and desperation. He quickly takes the box from the postman and shuts the door in his face, cutting off his dialogue. This shows that whatever he now has he must have it now.

He hurries to open the box, a few edits and CUs showing his shaking hands. His breathing is fast and uneven, and the handheld movement of the camera adds a lot of instability to the current situation, as if mirroring his turmoil and insanity.

He finally opens the box and takes out the package. An OTS CU reveals what it is, and the audience are in for a shock. He opens the kit and takes out the new pack of post-its. At this point, the audience is slowly realising what is going on and how this man lives his life.

The female voice over returns, but as she speaks, her voice is warped and a second voice can be heard speaking with her. This new voice is clearly male that's imitating a woman's. As the man reads the notes, his happiness slowly descends into deep satisfaction and insanity shown through his facial expression.

He sits on the floor again and as the male voice over echoes the same words, the camera pans and tilts up to the right to reveal his fireplace covered in post-its. It stops on a picture frame and jump-cuts closer. On each jump-cut, there is a loud noise that enhances the shock effect of what is being shown, the music slowly building up to a crescendo. On the last one, it cuts to black, leaving the audience in complete shock

Genre

At first, it is unclear that this is a comedy. Using Steve Neale's theory of repetition and variation, this short film's genre can be identified.

• Beginning shows casual 'relationship' - nothing different about it
• Shows relationship is steady
• Apparent relationship doesn't end well - man breaks down
• Calls friend(?) - still not clear it's a comedy
• Package arrives - audience question what's going on
• Opens package - reveals plot twist
• Comedy element recognised - man acts as his girlfriend
• Slightly creepy - mental disorder?

It's only at the end it's seen as a comedy, because this man wants a girlfriend so badly he acts out one for himself.

However, amongst this, there is a darker side to it, as the man may have done this for so long that it has become part of his life. He stated that he 'can't live without her', even though there is no one to live without. He can't continue without making up a fake girlfriend, which in itself is quite sad.

Representation

What's represented in this short film is a number of things. One is gender and how it's communicated. The man is a stereotypical businessman; suit, briefcase, works every day etc. The female aspect of the film is similar, even though it isn't real; loving, stay-at-home type etc. 

Towards the end, when it is revealed that his relationship is fake, the man is seen dressed up as his 'girlfriend', which then introduces the representation of sexuality. Even though this man longs for a relationship with a woman, he has to make it up himself. This could suggest something about his sexuality and why he chooses to do it.