short film analysis - Kayla

The little witch – short film:

Throughout the film we are lead to believe the genre is a happy drama or maybe adventure film. The way this genre is portrayed is through codes and conventions.

The opening titles to the film are just a swing swinging with the title “The little witch” appearing over the top there is ambient sound and the sound of the rope moving. The font is more like the kind of font stereotypically used in a horror film.

 
The first shot is a tilt up of a little girl running and the camera tracks her as she is revealed. There is a non-diegetic piano soundtrack to create a happy mood. The little girl’s laughter is the first diegetic sound we hear but the non-diegetic piano soundtrack continues to play.

The lighting and colour is bright and warm to reinforce the idea this is about a little girl and her dad and their relationship together.

  

the non-diegetic soundtrack finishes and the first dialogue is when the dad is putting the little girl to bed. The girl says “don’t forget to check for monsters under the bed” as soon as she says this the mood of the film changes. The camera tracks down slowly as if we are the dad looking under the bed. All we hear is the little girl humming.

 

before any other soundtrack is played we see the same little girl under the bed with a different facial expression. The lighting is dark and has a blue tint. The little girl looks as though she is shaking with fear. Just as the question of “why is she scared?” comes into the audiences head she says “there’s someone on my bed” making it clear why shes scared as there is potentially a ‘monster’ on her bed.

 

There is now the non-diegetic soundtrack of string instruments getting louder and louder as the camera pans back up onto the bed. This soundtrack is used to build up tension as the camera (us) slowly looks up to see whats actually on the bed.

 

Just as the soundtracks reaches its climax and the girl on the bed is almost visible the film suddenly comes to an end. This film leaves the audience asking questions but is also a very good way of ending a short film as it almost doesn’t need explaining

 

One minute time machine – short film:

The film starts off with the title over the top of a clock. There is an upbeat piano non-diegetic soundtrack throughout the film. The genre is clearly a comedy.

 

The first shot is a LS of the two main characters. The women is sat on a park bench. The lighting and colour of the shot is light and bright. The dialogue is pretty simple

 

Table 7

The film starts of with a LS of a couple at a table there’s low key lighting

 

The Dialogue is ironic as she says “I don’t want somebody listening in” and they are but we do not know the reason yet.

  

There is a Sound bridge between the image of a man and the couple talking at the table. This parallel editing shows that the scenes are connected mainly because he is listening to their conversation.

  

There is a non-diegetic soundtrack, it is tense string music. The genre seems like a dramatic and adventurous. The man starts writing in Chinese, clearly writing down what they are saying, again to emphasise the fact he is listening in and it is important he does so.

  

There’s a shot reverse shot of the couple arguing. The audience doesn’t know what its about. The dialogue is ambiguous because they could either be arguing over their relationship or something more serious like some sort of business deal. Her dialogue at the beginning when she says she doesn’t want anyone hearing their conversation steers the audience away from the idea they are just a couple and makes it seem more like a business deal.

  

Setting is dark and eerie

 

Lots of men working on type writers. They look like they could work for the government or something sinister. Their job title is still unknown much like the argument of the two people. Maybe they relevant.

 

There is a CU of the man hitting the box to emphasise the importance of it working. Hearing the couple’s conversation must be very important to him but we are yet to know why.

 

CU of the man putting out his cigarette, there are lots others in the ash tray, he clearly has a stressful job and this kind of prop works well with the setting.

 

The editing frequency speeds up and the film cuts to a shot of the women speaking at the table and then back to the man who is listening. The man appears to be writing fast on his typewriter as if he’s heard something important.

 

Fast editing frequency as it goes back and forth between the two settings.