A2 Film Studies Reflective Analysis

For my short film, I was the writer, director, cinematographer and editor of the project and my aim was to meet the conventions of a psychological film, however, I also combined it with the genre of comedy through the use of irony and contradictions, a difficult combination to meet within 5 minutes. My target audience is 16-25 year olds, both male and female, particularly those with an interest in unconventional comedies and just hope that it would make them laugh, which is very difficult when comedy is one of the more subjective genres.

Firstly, the way I achieved in making it a psychological film was through the mise-en-scene and cinematography, showing the protagonist Chris’ mental breakdown and obsession over trying to achieve his goal of finishing the script. The ways how this is shown is through Chris mimicking actions and shots that Zoe had already acted out in the first scene of the film, such as drinking from the cup and sitting on the couch the same way. The reason why I did this is because it better represents Chris’s obsession with the script and begins acting out the actions that he wrote for his character to perform. This shows the similarities between the two worlds as they play out parallel to each other.

This style was inspired by amateur film-maker Doug Walker, who has made many films in this style by using a lot of long lasting close-up shots with fast paced editing, which I implemented into my film as well, even mimicking shots to look the same. Most of Walker’s films are comedies that are usually slow paced and tend to let shots linger for a while, and has a constant use of the editing technique shot-reverse-shot, which I also implemented into my film. His short films are also normally surreal comedies, however his is different due to his films pushing the audiences suspension of disbelief and normally a lot of slapstick humour, while mine is more through dialogue rather than actions.

However, certain cinematography techniques and usual conventions are intentionally missing from my film; such as an establishing shot at the start of the film, instead my film starts off with a mid-shot from behind the character; enforcing the fact that there is something wrong with the world straight away by breaking the conventions of film making. Another way how this is applied is by mimicking conventions of the surrealist genre, shot in black & white, unexplained enigmas such as Zoe’s friends disappearing and a random car crash that is never explained, these are also similar elements that are used in surreal films, which I chose to parody in my film for the opening. Also the black & white is used to create a contrast between the two settings, Zoe’s world and Chris’s world, and the only part of Zoe’s world that is seen in colour is what she is watching on TV, which then instantly disappears as it doesn’t belong in this world. Other use of Mise-En-Scene is that while Chris and Zoe are having a conversation through the computer, the background for Zoe is a scripted version of what they are talking about, showing that Chris’ obssession with finishing the script is beginning to take over his mind and this is only the beginning, as later when she actually appears in front of him showing that it is getting even worse.

As for the framing of the shots, at the start Chris is seen in the corner of the frame with a large gap, showing how insignificant he is and that he is missing something (in this case it would be trying to finish the script) and close-ups are framed from a high angle. However as soon as he begins talking to Zoe, he is framed from low-angles, this shows that he (although unknowingly) is beginning to come up with more ideas about the script (this is enforced by his conversation with Zoe being scripted behind her).

 In terms of editing & sound, I mainly used this to help create meaning in smaller segments of the film, rather than give meaning over all. For example, in an early scene where Chris is struggling to think of something to write, the ticking of the clock can be heard, and I implemented it with rhythmic editing so the shot would change at the same time as the clock ticks, this also uses an eye-line match when Chris looks to back and forth from the laptop to the clock. This creates juxtaposition as the scene begins and ends with the exact same shot and repeats several shots in the scene; and by focusing on the ticking shows how slowly it is passing by that every second feels significant.

 At roughly 24 seconds into the film, there is a shot which features Zoe being sat in front of a mirror; this represents the reality within a reality in which she is living in, her whole world is fiction and non-existent and is just trapped within a screen, similar to how her reflection is trapped in a screen, however she also escapes the mirror, as she will soon escape this reality. And for a scene that represents Chris, at 2:43 seconds, when Chris wakes up, he walks from one door frame straight through into another, like Zoe, he is now trapped. However the difference being that while Zoe escaped her box, Chris escapes one box, just to be put into another.

I also used intertextual references and eclectic borrowing throughout the film, such as the montage at the end when Chris & Zoe are listing possible endings to the script; there are references to famous television finales and satirizing them, such as Lost or Seinfeld. With focus on The Sopranos, as the film ends in the same manner as that show, this in itself is a very unconventional ending, as no real ending is told. The passing of time is also done unconventionally, rather than using a fade when switching from day to night or vice-versa, it is done as a simple cut (Which people found to be funny according to my audience research). The reason why I chose to do it like this is because this allows more of a comedic tone rather than a serious one, as editing is normally a very important aspect when it comes to comedy and can set the whole tone for the movie, and most comedies tend to have more fast paced editing as it allows for more of a comedic effect.

 When conducting the audience feedback for my short film, I rather than doing just a questionnaire, I filmed their responses so I could get an instant reaction from it and then question them about it afterwards. Overall, they all enjoyed it, they all were able to understand the plot and found it funny, however they do think that there could have been more jokes, particularly with the character of Chris. Several of them stated that they were confused by the beginning, which was the point as it was a satire of surreal films, and overall enjoyed the characters and interactions. They were also impressed with the effects in the film (mostly the green screen) however they did have minor issues with the lighting and overall sound design, stating that it could have been improved, mostly with a hissing noise been present in the film.

Although some people were mixed over the running time, some saying it should have been longer in order to get more jokes and develop more characters, while others said that it was too long as it was, but also stating that should they cut anything out, they wouldn’t know what to take out. Overall, I do believe that I achieved my aims and objectives that I set out when starting this film through the use of stylistics, as the audience feedback showed that everyone enjoyed watching it and would be willing to watch it again or show it to a friend, the short film is on YouTube and is near one hundred views with plenty of positive feedback from the viewers.