Tune for Two - Short Film Research - Megan

Tune for Two (2011)

Primodrom

Vimeo

A man kneels by his freshly dug grave with a gun pointing at the back of his head and sings a song designed for two. I chose to write about this film because I thought the narrative was really interesting and I liked the element of humour. 

Representation

• The only social group relevant appears to be middle aged males. The class of the two individuals is not obvious to us, as their costumes are quite similar and we do not hear dialogue from either of them. (1)
• Genre/style - comedy/thriller
• The comedy element to this film changes our view of the murderer as we see him possibly having second thoughts about going through with the murder, and see a more 'human' side to him. (2)
• The thriller aspect comes from the tension created by the comedy, and the codes and conventions that we associated with this genre, such as the murder weapon, the desolate setting and the point of view shots at the start.
• I think that both characters are represented in positive ways, despite one of them being a murderer. The song allows a humourous element in the film and enables the audience to see both characters in a positive way, and almost makes you forget about the fact that one is about to kill the other.
• I think that there is slight stereotyping with the costume of the murderer, in that he is wearing a coat and gloves and is overall quite casual, but I do not think that he is a hugely stereotypical character as his actions throughout the film are not really stereotypically what we would expect of a murderer. 
• The film deals with the issue of murder but combines humour, which makes the narrative more intriguing. The audience is positioned to empathise with the man being murdered, but are also allowed to see a more personable side of the murderer.

Narrative

• As an audience, we are shown about as little of the story as possible. All we know is that the victim has been dragged to this location, presumably pretty much unconscious  and then sings a song before he is killed. We are given no indication of why this has happened, or what will happen after.
• As far as chronology goes, we are shown the sequence in order. We see the grave being dug through the victim's eyes, though we do not immediately understand what is going on. (3)
• I feel this film only truly links to Roland Barthes theory of action and enigma codes. I think these codes, such as the gun(4), the desolate setting(5) and the mise on scene elements, help explain the situation to the viewer, as otherwise the comedy element would not work and would make the film incredibly confusing for the viewer.
• The theory of binary opposites also works to an extent here, as it's a sort of good vs. evil, except we see a 'good' side to the 'evil' character(6), so our perception of evil is distorted somewhat.
• The beginning of the film is not the beginning of the story, which means that as an audience we almost seem to come in half way through, which is somewhat confusing at first. I think this has been done so that the audience can appreciate the comedy without having to empathise too much with either character as we do not know about what has happened previously.

Genre

• I think the thriller genre and the comedy genre are both present in this film, as there are codes and conventions of both in the film. As if often the case with short film, this is a hybrid genre film.
• Steve Neal's theory about difference in repetition is key to this short film, as the comedy genre is not often mixed with thriller, but works here because the most common elements of repetition allow the audience to feel as if they know what is going to happen, but are then surprised.
• Codes and conventions of thriller are key to the build up of this film, and without them the humour would not work as the audience would be so surprised by the singing, and it would not work as a hybrid genre film.

Audience

• I think the audience for this film is 20-25 year old males, possibly slightly younger, as they are more interested in thriller films and Vimeo is a website which is mainly designed for a younger audience. I also think that the comedy aspect would appeal to this demographic as well, and the twist to the narrative would be refreshing.
• I think this film would really appeal to this audience as the comedy twist is really unique and different, and is not what we are positioned to expect.
• I cannot find any evidence of other screenings of this film, or evidence of any awards which it has won.
• The production company is Swedish, but again limited information is available about it, which I would assume means that the company is quite small, and this was possibly quite a low budget film.

Media Language

Short Film Research - Megan Trigg

Short Film Research - Megan Trigg on Prezi

Cotton Stones - Social Class/Regional Identity/Gender

Social Class

• Working class – mise en scene important in conveying this. Costume and setting particularly important, stereotypical costume combined with houses typically connoted with working class. Interior of house demonstrates a working class lifestyle as it is very untidy and there is leftover food on the table (use of props is significant)
• Dialogue also contributes to the representation of social class. Slang terms used, suggesting working class.
• Use of camera helps create a representation of working class. For example, near the beginning of the film there is a medium shot of the two boys walking towards the camera which appears to be handheld. This helps the audience understand a representation of working class as the shot size allows us to focus on the characters and the use of mise en scene surrounding their costume.
• The film is primarily shot from an eye level angle, creating a sense of realism for the audience as they feel directly involved. Helps reinforce a representation of working class as the audience is positioned to understand the lives of the characters and how their class affects them through this camerawork.

Regional Identity

• Northern England – mise en scene in terms of setting is important for conveying this. Establishing shot of where they live is quite barren which is associated with Northern landscapes.
• The accent used by the characters is the main feature of the film that allows us to see that this is set in Northern England, as they have typical Northern accents.

Gender

• Female – at one point she seems to conform to typical gender roles, when she starts tidying up after the male characters in the house.
• There is only one female character in the film who is depicted negatively, so the film does not have a positive representation of females. She is cheating on the male character and seems vulnerable throughout.
• Male dominance is key in the film, which links with Social Class as working class men are often expected to be, or like to see themselves as being dominant over females.
• The brother has a slightly different male representation, as he is not part of the ‘tough’ image that the other two males in the film have. This also links to class and particularly status as he is shown to be weaker than the others because of his intellectual ability. In this sense he is more like the female character which is shown in the scene where she invites him to sit with her on the sofa, as she seems to sympathise with him. 

Editing does not appear to be hugely significant in Cotton Stones. For example, there are long takes in between cuts which could suggest that the focus is on the action and not on the production, though could also simply be chance as the film was shot on 16mm film and therefore having very quick cutting would have been expensive to produce as it would probably have required much more film.

The Laundromat - Short Film Research - Megan

The Laundromat (2009)

Timothy Melville

Vimeo

A man finds himself with a gun amongst his dirty laundry. With only two other people around the suspect is obvious, and unable to take her seriously he ends up handing over his wallet at gunpoint. I chose this film because I found it amusing, and liked how the slight twist at the end allows you to keep guessing what is going to happen the whole way through.

 

Representation

·         social groups – young females & young males – interesting issue of their relationship, they don’t know each other but both seem to fight for a power balance with her eventually getting the upper hand over him

·         genre/styles – comedy/drama

Representations of masculinity/femininity:

·         Female character (1)

o   Modern representation of women, as she has power over the male character making her more dominant.

o   Negative representation as she ends up stealing his money through being manipulative.

o   She is not a stereotypical character as she isn’t particularly feminine in the way she acts or dresses and women are usually the less dominant characters, whereas she clearly has more power over him than he does over her.

·         Leading male character (2)

o   We aren’t shown a huge amount of detail when it comes to his character – easy to relate to as his costume and body language suggest he is quite laid back

o   Brings the comedic element to the film as he is gullible and dances for her

o   Positive representation – friendly towards her and apologetic to both characters at the start about needing change

·         I do not think that the expected audience for this film has shaped the representation in any way as I think the characters have been represented this way as the choice of Melville who both wrote and directed the film.

·         Deals with the issue of stealing though in a slightly comedic manner, as well as gender stereotyping.

 

Narrative

·         Most of the story appears to be included in the plot. We do not see what happens to either character afterwards, but assume that they do not meet again. This allows us to have pretty much the same viewpoint as the characters do which means as an audience we can relate to both of them better.

·         Narrative is linear without closure which leaves a cliff-hanger for the audience as we are left to assume what happens to the characters in the end.

·         Restricted narrative occurs when he gets change for a twenty from the other man in the launderette. We do not see the woman put the gun in his basket, but we assume she has done so.

·         Todorov’s narrative theory can mostly be applied to this short film, as all but one of the stages are apparent. The disruption of equilibrium occurs when he finds the gun amongst his laundry, and the confrontation stage is where the couple start talking about it and he gives it to her. The resolution stage is not as clear cut as the others, as there is not really a resolution to their conflict. The new equilibrium is established when the female character leaves and he is left to realise what has just happened to him.

·      Roland Barthes theory of enigma codes can also be applied to this film, as the audience is given a mystery in the text – the gun – which the audience is motivated to answer throughout because of their engagement with the narrative. Action codes are less important, though the close up shots of the machines at the start asking for dollars only allows the audience to guess that there will be an element to the narrative which surrounds this. (3)

·         The beginning and ends of the film are not all that different. We assume that the characters go their separate ways and do not meet again, which is the same as they were in the beginning. The only thing that really changes is the disruption to normality which occurs in the film with the introduction to the gun.

 

Genre

·        Comedy is evident in this film, with elements of action and crime, which makes this seem like a hybrid genre film. This is not uncommon in short film as they often feature conventions from many different genres.

·         Steve Neal’s theory of “difference in repetition” works well here as this film is certainly different from other comedies I have seen, and combined with action and crime conventions it allows a difference to be evident.

·       Rick Altman’s theories can also be applied here as there are semantic conventions of action and crime which communicate meaning to the audience – namely the gun. I feel the gun is the main prop which makes the film more sinister than simply a comedy. We sense the danger in it as an audience, which is partly due to the characterisation of the female character as we do not completely trust her.

·       These codes and conventions that we are introduced to throughout the film allow us as an audience to get a better sense of what might happen. This is particularly important in short film as there is much less time to create a narrative which is immediately going to capture the attention of the audience.

 

Audience

·        Based on many of the comments on the Vimeo page for this film, I think the target audience is mainly males around the ages of 20-25 with an interest in cinematography and film.

·        I think this audience would enjoy this film because the genre is more commonly associated with males fitting this demographic anyway, but also the effective use of camerawork would please those more interested in the making of the film than the content.

·        As far as I can tell, this film has only ever been screened at film festivals such as the Official Selection Bodega Bay Film Festival and Official Selection Southern Screen Film Festival in 2011, which are credited on Vimeo alongside the awards the film has won, such as Best Film Bohemian Shorts and Best Film Bayside Film Festival, both in 2010.

·        The film was directed by Timothy Melville who is a filmmaker from Melbourne, and was produced by Scarab Studio Films, which as appears to be an Australian production company.

 

 

 

Media Language

Laura - Representation - Bus baby

Bus Baby
Camerawork
Initial establishing shot shows us the setting - the bus could perhaps signify an impoverished person as she has to take public transport - could this be because she has a baby which costs a lot of money to look after?
It also allows us to question the buggy, then the next long shot allows us to see the parent is a teenager: the theme of the film

Point of view shot - mid shot where we see her through the bars on the bus -
this makes the audience perhaps feel bad for her as the bars isolate her from
the rest of the people - this is further reiterated by the extreme close up
which shows her facial expression looking very lost, therefore we feel bad that
she perhaps has to go through this experience alone

Yet, this also makes us judge her as the composition shows an old woman in the
corner of the frame with the teenager in the centre therefore it represents age
- the woman is sitting down yet the teenager is standing up away from everyone
because of her baby, therefore the audience may judge her for her teenage
pregnancy

There is a zoom from long shot to mid shot of the teenager - this slightly
blurs the shot representing the feelings of the teenager as she is lost and
confused - the zoom leaves the audience feeling disorientated therefore
allowing us to empathise with the teenager

Low angle close up of the teenager - low angle makes her seem vulnerable
allowing us to sympathise with her; she is only young - yet it is a POV from
the baby’s perspective to perhaps actually sympathise with him and the life he
may lead because of his mum being so young, though we may feel threatened by
his harsh accent which is in stark contrast to the fact he is a baby, we are
still made to sympathise with him