The Badger's Promise - Short Film Analysis using Narrative

A Summary of The Badger's Promise

This short film is about a group of males who are intoxicated by Magic Mushrooms and Marijuana when two of these men step outside to discover an intruder within the bushes outside their friend's home. When they both come to the conclusion that the intruder is an alien, one of the men gets a hold of a shotgun and shoots the creature when prompted by the other male. Soon afterwards, they discover that the 'supposed alien' was a dog where they then sprint into the house and begin to express the situation to their friends. They end up burying the dog in their garden and get on with their evening.

Narrative

The Equilibrium: The beginning of the film starts off with a group of men who have just eaten some sandwiches filled with Magic Mushrooms and they're watching TV waiting to experience the full effects of the drugs. 

Long Live the Kings - Short Film Analysis using Audience

A Summary of Long Live the Kings

This short film is about a male trio who are exploring the mountainous wilderness and roads on motorcycles. This film could be set in France, Switzerland, or Quebec in Canada as there is a road sign written in French, however; there are Bison in the film which are only found in North America and Canada. The trio travel around the mountains during the day, and seem to visit pubs and inns during the night where they can find a place to stay. During their travels they encounter a number of people, which expands thier social circle.

Audience

Grainy title makes the film appear old

I feel that this movie would appeal to older, experienced men of brought up as upper middle class or middle class as they would have to have wealth, in order to, first purchase motorcycles with an additional cost of fuel, insurance and upkeep, as well as, travel costs. I also feel that it would appeal to foreign people, those who have a keen interest in motor vehicles, or people who love nature. A lot of the shots involve images of wolves, mountain cats, cattle etc. The motorcycles used seem to be somewhat vintage which could appeal to older and experienced men as they might have grown up with these bikes when they were younger if belonged to their father, uncle or other members of their family.

A chalet that could be found in Europe or Quebec

Vintage motorcycles

The actors look over 40 years old

Bison on the mountainside

An Audience Profile: 

Age:                              Gender:                          Class:

4-6 - 0%                        Male - 90%                    AB - 10%

7-11 - 0%                      Female - 10%                 C1 - 45%

12-14 - 0%                                                           C2 - 40%

15 - 24 - 0%                                                         DE - 5%

25-34 - 10%

35-44 - 20 % 

45+ - 70%

Brady - Short Film Analysis using Representation

A Summary of Brady

This short film is about a young, disabled boy named Brady, however; his mother seems to steal the spotlight at various points in the film. Brady's mother takes Brady to the swimming pool where it is then noticeable that she lusts for a young man, possibly at High School, named Ted who volunteers at the pool and helps Brady to improve himself. Brady's mother appears to give Ted her phone number, or a note of some sort which seems to make him feel uncertain about the situation and awkward, resulting in Brady's mother retracting her gesture and breaking down emotionally inside of her car. 

Representation of Disability and Lust

Where Brady is first seen

Brady opens with a big close-up of a woman taking off a small child's clothes. The audience can determine this as her nails are painted and often, small children don't choose to dress themselves. If you look closely you can also see that the young child, the audience assumes is Brady, is sat in a wheelchair showing that he is disabled and this concludes why his mother is dressing him. If the audience had not taken notice of this, the next scene shows his mother carrying him into bed from his wheelchair where she then continues to align his legs and makes him comfortable.
The next scene features Brady's mother marking papers or filling out forms etc. and she pours a glass of wine which could suggest that she is stressed or might need an escape of some sort with alcohol. Her facial expression, along with a lasting sigh, also suggests that she is fatigued; this could represent that Brady's disability has an impact on her life. It is apparent that Brady's mother is single as there has been no male figure about in Brady's household.
As Brady's mother pours out her glass of wine, there is a medium close-up of a man lunging into a body of water which represents Brady's mother's lust for a man, or a particular man which the audience then comes to learn is Ted; a volunteer at the swimming facility. Her lust for this particular man is shown with a short scene of her in bed pleasuring herself.
Brady hasn't spoken yet at this point which could make the audience question whether there are greater complications with his already restricted abilities; once Brady's mother wheels him into a double doorway, shown through a long shot, Brady says 'Hey' to Ted which eradicates his inability to speak.

Ted and Brady's mother's fingers touching

There is a close-up of Ted softly touching Brady's mother's fingers as she explains that Brady's arms are stiff so they need to be worked upon which could imply that there is chemistry between them. After this occurs, Brady's mother can be seen to be staring at Ted as he walks away with a sly smile upon her face.

Brady's mother glancing at Ted

Brady's mother sits upon a bench beside the pool and picks up a magazine to supress her boredom as she waits, however; when doing so, she keeps glancing up from the magazine and the camera shows a close-up of Ted which further represents her lust for him. During this scene there are also long shots, medium shots and close-ups of Brady as well to show that he is still at the top of her mind despite her desire for Ted. After a few slow-paced shots switching between Brady's mother's facial expressions and shots of Ted, there is a short clip of bubbling water which could suggest Brady's mother's passion and warmth towards Ted.

Ted being glanced at

A long shot through Brady's eyes, as he's sitting in his wheelchair after the session, shows his mother walk up to Ted and starts to thank him for the help with Brady. She then begins to pass him money which is the audience's first though but then turns out to be, for example, her phone number or a time to meet her for a date. During this time, a close-up of Brady's face shows the audience that he's trying to understand what is happening between his mother and Ted.

Sharing the note

Ted seems to take this gesture the wrong way and Brady's mother becomes embarrassed and tries to apologise for her immaturity with 'I'm sorry, what am I thinking?' and takes back the note she has given him and walks away. Ted also walks away and the audience can distinguish that he feels awkward about the situation, despite not being able to see his face, as he ruffles the back of his hair.

Rejection

Brady's mother wipes off her lipstick inside of her car which could suggest that, before she took Brady to his swimming session, she had wanted herself to look pretty in order to impress Ted. She says to her self 'stupid, stupid, what was I thinking?' and the audience can witness her heart shattering as she floods out her emotions into her hands. The audience can also grasp a sense of frustration in herself as she hits the steering wheel multiple times.

Brady wiping his mum's tears

Brady calls him mum over and here the spectators can see their roles switch when Brady lifts up his hand, which he had severe difficulty with before, and proceeds to wipe his mother's tears. Brady, despite his disability, is mature with his emotions, whereas his mother, being physically able, is immature and weak within her emotional state.

Much Better Now - Short Film Analysis using Media Language

A Summary of Much Better Now

This short film is about an small bookmark which comes to life and finds a magical world inside of a book of which it has been stuck in place. The film is set inside an old abandoned office or workspace, with a book that has been stood upright on a desk until the wind forces a window open and blows it over exposing the inside of the book and prompting the bookmark to be given human characteristics. It is an animation, however; the scene may possibly use real life objects and feautures as the film seems especially realistic. Nearing the end, the book closes, shutting out the bookmark from the wonderful contents but then becomes aware of it's surroundings with plenty more books to explore.

Media Language

Camera

Editing

Sound

Mise en Scene

The office where the film is set

The picture foreshadows what might happen

Much Better Now starts off with slow paced, non-diegetic music which seems to be classical accomanying the word 'now', written in a formal font, on a black screen. The camera seems to track slowly to the right, exposing the office/workspace. The audience can tell that this is an office/workspace based on the desk and the filing cabinet in the room. During the first minute or so, the pace of the film is extremely slow, however; this contrasts with shadows moving rapidly across the desk suggesting that time is in fact passing by quickly. During the first minute of the short film, the camera shows close-ups of the contents of the desk, focusing more on the book standing upright and the bookmark in place, but also shows a change in focus from once object to another.

The bookmark that has come to life

The music stops when the camera shows a big close-up of the bottom half of the window as the wind is blowing upon it. At this point the pace of the film has normalised and the time is set in the present. More non-diegetic music starts to play as the audience can see the bookmark come to life but this time it is happy and uplifting.
The dullness of the film during the beginning has been eradicated completely as the audience can see the film become vibrant with colour and more engaging.

The bookmark surfing

The pace of the film slows for a few seconds and the music softens, but the audience can still hear the diegetic sounds of seagulls and waves, as the bookmark is taking in the beauty of it's surroundings. Here the film seems to be in slow-motion as we can see the bookmark balancing upon a card surfboard but the action starts up again, with the same non-diegetic music playing.
There is a creative shot where the camera shows a long-shot of the fish underneath the waves and the music becomes muffled.

Under the sea

Somehow, the book closes, shutting off the wonderful world of surfing and brings the bookmark back into the dullness of the reality that it's in and the audience can feel sympathy for the character. A new equilibreum occurs here. A high-angled shot that ends up tracking behind of the bookmark and zooms out behind the character to show that the room is full of books that it can explore.

The end of Much Better Now

The short film ends on a white title screen featuring the words 'Much Better Now' used in the same font as the title on the black screen from the beginning.

MRANG Glossary

*leave audience*

MRANG and What it Stands For

M = Media Language 

Media Language is how the 4 technical codes (Sound, Mise en Scene, Camera and Editing) communicate meaning.

R =  Representation 

Representation is the depiction, or portrayal, of someone or something in a work of art, for example, a film, painting etc.

A = Audience

N = Narrative

Narrative is the spoken, or written, account of connected events, for example, a story. This can be written as a script for a television show, or film and spoken through dialogue by the actors/characters.

G = Genre 
Genre is a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.

This Is Me

Genre - Altman and “Semantic and syntactic codes”, Neale’s and “Repetition and variation”, Buckingham and “Negotiation and Change”. 

Lovefield

Narrative – watch the film and then apply the theorists and terms that were covered in class – Narrative Structure (linear, non linear etc),   Restricted and Unrestricted narration, Plot and Story (Bordwell and Thompson), Todorov and his 5 stages, Barthes and Enigma /  Action codes, Levi Strauss and binary oppositions, Propp and Character types  , Vogler and the Hero’s Journey.

Mix Tape

Audience – consider who the target audience is for short films / this particular film.  We did work on target audience back in January when we used the Pearl & Dean website.  Give reasons to support your answer.  You need to consider viewing platform / place of exhibition as well as content of film.

Silent Things

Representation – write an in depth analysis about the representation of disability.

The Black Hole

Media Language – write an in depth textual analysis of how the 4 technical codes (Sound, Mise en Scene, Camera and Editing) communicate meaning.

Sound

Mise en Scene

Camera

Editing

The short film begins with a circle-shaped transition featuring the title 'The Black Hole' and in the background the audience is able to tell that the location is set inside an office building. There is diegetic sound of beeping noises suggesting machinery. The camera begins to track sideways towards an office worker, his facial expression lacking enthusiasm, where he then gives off a sigh letting the audience know that he has possibly had a long day at work, or is extremely bored at this moment in time. He also seems to be completely alone.
The audience can now be assured that the diegetic beeping sounds were in fact a photocopier as the camera shows a big close-up of the character pressing a green button on the device where the noises repeated themselves. So far, the pace of this short film is slow.
The character seems to become frustrated as he repeatedly presses the button and the audience is shown a close-up of his hand doing this. He then proceeds to kick the photocopier and the audience is shown another close-up of a piece of A3 paper with a large black circle printed onto it. The character seems puzzled as the audience is shown a big close-up of him staring at the page and then proceeding to check inside the lid of the photocopier to see if there were any objects obstructing his photocopying process. There was nothing unusual about the content inside of the the photocopier, however, there is a sense of enigma when the character places a small plastic dixie cup on top of the piece of paper with the black circle, but it appears to fall into the black hole. Here the audience can pick up on his sudden change of facial expession from fatigued to amazed about what he has witnessed. The only sound the spectators can hear at this point is a quiet non-diegetic tone coming from the black hole itself and the ambient noise created by the office environment.
Realising that he can place his hand through objects sparks his curiosity and he begins to retrieve a chocolate bar from a vending machine in which he has not paid for, resulting in his imagination running wild as to what he might be able to do next; the audience can tell this from the expression on his face.
The camera begins to zoom in on a door which the character has fixed his gaze upon, with the words saying 'Keep Out' suggesting that there is possibly something valuable or mysterious behind the door. The protagonist uses 'The Black Hole' to open the door which then reveals a safe in the middle of the room where it is then predictable what he is going to do. A variety of long shots and close-ups are used here to show the audience exactly what the protagonist is doing.


The Black Hole - Short Film

Never Forget - Representation of Gender

A representation of gender in the short film Never Forget - Sankar Jayaraman 2013

How do these two shots represent masculinity and feminity?

The first shot is that of a rapid tilt up from a woman's legs up to her head and shoulders. We can tell this person could be perceived as a woman from her choice of clothing (a skirt and slimming overcoat), as well as, the length of her hair. Her body language suggests that she is fixing a button on her coat so that she looks presentable.

The second shot is that of an older man and the audience is able to tell this from his wrinkeled neck and chin. His clothing choice is that of a tuxedo, red bowtie and cufflinks suggesting that he is preparing for a formal event and wants to look his best.