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.