http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/film/3466/a-deafening-story
A deaf man gets his hearing back, he can’t quite believe that it had happened so I he tests by clicking and clapping his hands. He enters a news agents, browsing the chocolate bar aisle, walks to the counter to pay. The female at the counter seems like she is ignoring him as he asks how much, after a few attempts the film twists where the female suddenly shouts ‘can you hear me’ this is when his hearing vanishes, he’s startled and walk out the store, clicking and clapping in his ears but he can’t hear a thing. I chose this short film because it didn't have a complex storyline or narrative and the fact that it wouldn't be so hard to replicate some of the camera/editing techniques within this short film.
Representation
The main male character is a representation of a
young adult, middle class with a disability. The location is not very clear but
my understanding is that it is in a town or city.
This short film represents social realism. This genre
is one that can be related to by the audience, it normally replicates peoples
everyday occurrences but a emphasised to make it interesting.
- The male character represents a modern dayl young adult, one difference is that he has a disability-being deaf. His costume implies he is working class as he is dressed well in casual clothes which aren’t scruffy and linked to various sub cultures.
- The targeted audience for this short film may have shaped the representation of the film, the female character in this short could be a stereotypical urban teenager, accent and costume emphasise the assumption.
- This film deals with the issue of a deaf disability, the beginning emphasises how much he lives In his own ‘buble’ represented by the shallow depth of field, the sound muffle and distortion gives the audience an insight on how the male can hear.
Narrative
- From watching the whole film you can tell that this is an un restricted narrative as we know as the audience everything that the character knows.
- A linear narrative is used for this short film, this means that the story line continues in a straight line, by comparing with a non-linear narrative which means the story line can go off expectantly you can conclude that the narrative structure Is linear by analysis that the plot doesn’t end up something unexpected. Although the character gains then loses his hearing, the narrative is still Linear. The storyline infers that the male character developed or was born with the disability of being deaf, as an audience we assume that he was born with the disability by seeing the reaction that he gives when he develops hearing.
- The plot shows how the male was deaf but then miraculously developed hearing, all the sound had been enhanced to emphasise that these noises were new and unheard of, suddenly whilst in a store the ability to hear vanished causing him to feel confused and suddenly leave.
- The difference between storyline and plot is storyline you don’t always see event as you assume they have happened before during or after the film, plot is the events you see within the film which creates the narrative
- Todorov’s narrative theory could be applied to this short film, the equilibrium is the ability not to hear, the disruption is the ability to hear, the resolution is unfortunately losing hearing again. Although disruption is a harsh word to explain this part of the theory, it replicates a change of course from what could have been expected.
Genre
- The obvious genre to give this short film is drama. Dramas replicate everyday life but exaggerate certain aspects. Drama as a genre is easily identified within this short film by following the codes and conventions, the setting is an urban town, maybe a city which audiences can relate to, as well as the characters, a young adult and a stereotypical teenager woman.
- Short films can typically use genre to follow the codes and conventions of one certain genre and then maybe create something unexpected in the plot, this would be effective as short films have a shorter amount of time to make an impact compared to Hollywood blockbusters.
- Rick Altmans genre theory can relate to this short film by following the semantic rule where it follows the codes and conventions which communicates to the audience about the characters and location. For example you’d expect to have some sort of British accent within a British short film drama. A more obvious example would be within a western film you’d expect a shoot-out.
Audience
- Virgin media short film website is a competition which allows people who create short films for a living and people trying out for the first time attempt and enter a competition to win. The prize is £30,000 of filming funds for their next film. The target audience for this website ranges from the keen film maker or enthusiast or students like us.
- The audience may be pleased by this type of film as It has a sense of realism and gives the audience a first person view of the character and his world.
- Shot one of the selected section of film uses a medium shot with character centre of shot, a unique sort of distorted/warped shallow depth of field for the edges is used to compliment the use of sound. Sound is a vital part of this short film because it puts the audience in the shoes of the character. Here, the sound picked up by the camera has been wiped off and replaced by layering atmospheric as well as muffled voices and street noises. This is a great way to add a sense of realism as using the camera sound wouldn't give the same effect as muffling the audio.
- As mentioned before Todorov’s theory could be applied to this short film, the equilibrium is the ability not to hear, the disruption is the ability to hear, the resolution is unfortunately losing hearing again. Although disruption is a harsh word to explain this part of the theory, it replicates a change of course from what could have been expected.
A female character enters from first observation to be a
males apartment, she looks around first, then enters bathroom and then starts
to trash the house, throwing cd’s out the window along with clothes and shoes,
after go through the wardrobe she find something in a box which makes her feel
guilty.
Representation
- There’s only one visible character within this short film but there is also another male represented within this film. The film suggests that the location is in his apartment. The female character represents a young adult, middle class, you can assume this as her costume is colourful and quality clothing.
- The film is defiantly replication social realism as it focus’ on the insinuated problem in relationship between the female character and the male character (which doesn't appear in any shot) A negative stereotype is shown within this, showing an un trust worthy and un approving character shown by her actions of throwing objects around and out the window.
- This film could be seen as action comedy. The comedy coming from the actions the female character is taking.
Narrative
- This film represents a subjective narration, we as an audience don’t know why the female is trashing an apartment, we make an assumption as a view that she is unhappy with a possible relationship with a male character by seen laughing and throwing comic’s around.
- None of the theories that I know of match up to this short film, neither do any enigma codes or action codes suggest any predictions of any activity throughout the film.
Genre
- The genre I’d class this as is action comedy, the comedy factor comes from certain factors, the urination on tooth brush and the expression of emotion at the end along with the text narration.
- Short films can typically use genre to follow the codes and conventions of one certain genre and then maybe create something unexpected in the plot, this would be effective as short films have a shorter amount of time to make an impact compared to Hollywood blockbusters.
- All genres are always changing and adapted in certain ways, without change and different interpretations of genres, all genres will be boring and all the same. Steve Neal’s theory of repetition suits this short film as it keeps the audience hooked knowing where the storyline is going but not quite sure how.
Audience
- Virgin media short film website is a competition which allows people who create short films for a living and people trying out for the first time attempt and enter a competition to win. The prize is £30,000 of filming funds for their next film. The target audience for this website ranges from the keen film maker or enthusiast or students like us.
- Audiences may be pleased with this film as there might be a wide range of viewers who can relate to it personally or know an event similar that has happened, this cementing the effect of social realism and showing it has worked well.
Media Language
- The use of a text narration intro sets the tone of the film from the first second. It points out that the female character is ‘acting like a plum and will go out of her way to prove it to you..’
- The second shot above is a very well used two
shot overlap both close up’s where one fades into the other, she’s first seen
putting the key in the door then actually opening. This shot doesn't really
relate to any codes or conventions but it does highlight a variation of shot
types and editing techniques .
I found this short film very appealing as it was fully narrated with no dialogue between any characters, this technique is used to represent what the main male character is thinking within his head.
Representation
- Social classes are very difficult to pin down a definitive definition as a lot of people share different idea's as to what characteristics each class has.
- From first observation you can get to the conclusion that the main male character throughout is from a working class background, this applies to all the characters featured during this short.
- You can tell that the characters are definitely not middle class as they don't match any of the stereotypes which follow that class, well dressed in a suite and expensive costume.
- The start of this short is constructed to represent a break up of a relationship, the way the film has been constructed contradicts the stereotype of the male dominance in relationships by the female take most control by ending the relationship.
- The representation of feminism through out this short has been re presented during the narrations as he relates to both girls as 'the girl of his dreams' this insinuates that they are beautiful and perfect.
- The image bellow shows the audience that the character is upset using body language, he is looking down removing any human contact or conversation which send out the message he doesn't want to talk.
Narrative
- This short film follows a non linear narrative structure, it jumps around using flashbacks or flash forwards or daydreams whereas a linear narrative has no sort of off cutting scenes, it has a clear start middle and end.
- Using a linear narrative would give the audience an understanding of what the character is doing in the present so they understand his emotions and gives it the simplicity which makes it easy to follow and understand what is happening.
- By telling the events through first person the audience can relate to this character as they can hear everything he is thinking whilst not just reading his body language which may not follow is true feelings.
e girl from the cafe is went hunting for.
Genre
- I personally believe that this short film is a romantic comedy, but it contradicts the usual codes and conventions of a romantic would have in it. The film represents the male character going through a break up which is a big code and convention within romantic films but it contradicts by the repetition of heart break and unhappy endings. The end of the short leaves the audience on a cliff hanger which isn't a usual code and convention for romantic comedies.
- Short film genres are most commonly hybrids which means it is more than one genre. This film is following the codes and conventions of a romance as it entails relationship and i believe the comedy factor is represented in the narration, the failed proposal and through the use of sound throughout.
- Altmans theory applying the syntactic approach doesn't fit this short film. The syntactic approach as romantic films expects the two suspected loves to first hate each other but then at the end fall in love.
- By not following the codes and conventions of a romantic comedy which would mean the audience would know what would happen gives the film anticipation as know one knows what's going to happen. This is a risky approach but leaving it as a cliff hanger makes the audience think up their own ending of what they'd like to happen.
Audience
- As i found this on one of the most popular video upload websites, this film could appeal to anyone who enjoys films. The suspected age of views could range from as low as 16 to as high as 50 or over. I say this because a lot of people can relate this film to themselves by past events. The use of social realism helps this film be more appealing to a wider audience than just one specific class or age.
Media Language
- Throughout the whole of this short the film relies on sound through soundtrack and narration to convey messages and feelings.
- The use of major key's in the soundtrack suggests happiness and excitement. From 0:34 seconds a lot of emotions and hinted feelings are insinuated just by using a few instruments, the use of bells at 0:49 suggests the dream of marriage.
- The use of shallow depth of field gives the scenes at the start a sense of the characters isolation. It conveys that its just them in the world and nothing else is happening, totally oblivious to the world that is actually around him.
Themes and ideologies
- This film is based around the romance and break up theme, it's common in both short films and feature length films. Its obvious that you can tell a story of a break up in just a few minutes effectively enough to get a reaction of sympathy or anger to characters.
This short film appealed to me as it uses a lot of dark filters for lighting and run down bland locations to convey sadness which can easily be replicated. Musically it is simple but effective as the minor key's help create the sad depressive mood which compliments the film.
Representation
- The representation of the family could be seen as working class but at the lower end of the scale. The flat estate seems gloomy and uninviting which suggests lack of money compared to other social classes.
- This may represent social realism in parts as it shows locations we can all relate to and themes such as families and running away we have witnessed or heard about.
- The young girl who's age could be around 4-5 is used as she children are seen as innocent and the audience wouldn't want anything bad to happen to the character.
Narrative
- The narrative structure follows a linear narrative as there are no strands or paths leading of to flashbacks etc. I believe this is used as it doesn't tell us why the young girl is leaving. This causes the audience to ask questions from little hint given by the parents, "are they ignoring the child?" and "what's going to happen next."
- The plot leads the audience to believe that the little girl is running away from home; we can say this from the little clues during the film, the letter/drawing left behind, the packed bag, and the scenes of her walking away from home. From the very last few seconds the audience are stunned and confused to what is actually happening and asking questions as to why the little girl is there and to what she is doing.
Genre
The genre of this film is a thriller. Thrillers main trait is to make the audience ask questions to what is happening which this does very well.
Audience
This short film was posted on the Virgin media short film website, this means it is easy to find, but as its on a comepetion site it may be aimed at the more frequent and analytical film viewers as it gives a lot of room for the imagination and for the audience to create their own versions of endings and own assumptions as to what she is doing.
Themes and Ideologies
- The theme through out this short film is social realism as it can be related to in so many ways by different groups such as parents. It may have happened to themselves or heard or seen similar stories.
- It follows the codes and conventions of a thriller as it leaves the audience asking questions; what is she doing?, where is show going? and why is she going?
No comments:
Post a Comment