1st short film- Megan

A Favour

(click on title to view film)

An encounter in a car park questions the assumptions of characters and audience alike.

           

     Representation:

The representation in this short film is trying to switch the stereotypes between a Muslim and British fathers daily routines. Neither of them are seen as a threat to us however too stereotypes we would suspect the Muslim due to the way they are presented through social media as a misguided stereotype i.e. Muslims have been linked and been subjected to the 9/11 bombings when there were others religions involved and that a couple of peoples actions doesn't relate to a whole religion. The director choose too flip the innate stereotype in the audiences head of a different ethnicity causing a bombing that wasn't of a Muslim culture. This has been used to trick the audiences and show them that we have put a negative stereotype on Muslims and actually it could be anyone from any religion.

                 Narrative:

Many narrative theories can be applied to 'A Favour', one of these includes Todorov's theory of narrative. However, as this is a short film there is no clear outline of each stage as they are merged into one: for example there isn't a new equilibrium at the end as the film finishes, it could be argued that the new equilibrium is the chaos that has been caused or the realisation to the audience that the stereotypes have been switched around.

Muslim family

British family

• The equilibrium: The parallel cuts between 2 families from different ethnic groups going alone their daily morning routine.

•  The disruption: The British man having lost his phone and needing the Muslim man to call his phone of his phone.

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  Helicopter, eye line match

  Recognition of the disruption: The traffic jam, police helicopters flying overhead and the Muslim man turning on the radio to hear of what as happens leads us to realise that he has detonated a bomb.

The only binary position that can be linked to this short film through the idea of Strauss is the binary opposition between cultures and ethnicity however this film was used to show us that the stereotypes of what we believe of each ethnicity is actually quite similar. For example, both being fathers, bread-winners of their family home with children at home.


     Media Language:



Muslim Man

The first scene we see uses parallel cutting between 2 family homes: one British and one Muslim. Although these are families of different ethnicities, we see them going along their breakfast routine looking very similar to one another and this is strikingly noticeable to the audience.


British Man

Fast paced cuts are used to zoom in on different characters faces so we can get the feeling of the family home. Each consisting of a man and woman who are married and have children- a 'normal family' situated and shown in the eyes of the media. The

camera is used to pan from a eye level shot at spectator viewing  as if the audience is sitting with each of the families watching their routines.

Long shot, suits

A long shot is used as we cut to the two men in the car park to contrast their similarities and differences as binary oppositions. The two men meet in the car park where the antagonist asks the protagonist to ring his mobile phone. This long shot is used throughout their conversation instead of shot reverse shots to conotate differences. Their suits and cars (props) show both men to be of a working class.
There is a lot of focus on the mans phone, shown by the close up used on the prop. Therefore suggesting that it could be significant to the story. 
The man only lets the phone ring for a couple of seconds before racing off in his car, a long shot shows the Muslim watching in confusion, we can also see his suspicion in his body language and facial expression.

Traffic Jam

A cut transition is used to show a birds eye pan over a traffic jam. Close ups and extreme close-ups show confusion and worry in the mans face and the diegetic sound of sirens also conveys an emergency has occurred.

Radio- eye-line match

Eye-line match is used as he turns on the radio to hear the news reporter mention an incident that has caused multiple casualties. The story finishes with a sound bridge onto the ending credits suggesting that the bomb may have been detonated remotely, signalling to the audience that this Muslim man has been set up.



             What I thought:

I liked the way the director used typical stereotypes and switched them around because it makes the audience feel something, guilt, confusion, and makes them think and keep guessing  which I think I would like my short film to be able to do to our audience watching it as it makes it more interesting.

I also like the way parallel cutting is used to contrast to different settings/characters and would like to use that in my short film to show binary oppositions.