Analysis of a short film

Name: Signs

This short film justifies many codes and conventions of the drama genre. The first shot we see the
character shown from a camera angle that conveys that he isnt very important and he doesnt have
a powerful status as the camera is looking down on him, therefore so are the audience. A lot of
medium close up are used to convey the characters emotions. This helps to represent the character
as there is no dialogue in this film to help the audience understand what kind of character he really
is. The medium shot conveys the character is very shy and timid making him seem very vulnerable to
others since he has been caught looking at a woman on the opposite escalator.

There is a shot that shows the male character first spots the woman and because the movement of
the camera zooms in it suggests there is another main character which we have been introduced to
and she is of some importance in the story line. The next shot that is shown in the film as it
progresses is a narrow depth of field. The main character is the only one in focus which draws the
audience attention to him showing his depressive and sad state which again helps the audience spot
the representation of the character.

The film does use Todorovs theory as the rule of thirds where the screen is split up into three
sections grab to the left our character is directly central to the shot making him the focus. Later,
there is a shot reverse shot sequence to show the two characters will have a link in the storyline and
helps the audience to suggest what is going to happen, e.g. they will end having a relationship. The
mise-en scene is especially important in this short film as the representation of aspects such as
characters, props and costume must be obvious as the film has no dialogue to help explain the
narrative of the film. The narrative of the film is told on a piece of paper with a thick marker. There is
a scene where the woman is communicating with the man for the first time, then over time they
show how time has passed by how they both been communicating with each other in a unique way.

When I was analysing this short film, I think they didnt use the use of lighting properly for instance in
the beginning of the film where it shows the man being depressed and lonely the lighting didnt help
to match the characters emotion. As well the same is applied at the end of the film where the mans
emotions change when he is finally happy and the lighting is still the same. The fact that the mans
emotion shows happiness the lighting should have been brighter as it exemplifies a characters
happiness, which will allow the audience to interpret the films concept properly.