Short Film Analysis-Matthew

This short film last for 8 minutes and is within the drama genre

The main characters in this short film are the 3 males and the young male who cannot fit in with the group which has already formed. This character throughout changes in the way he behaves due to the influence of the gang as they give him a hard time he continues to try and fit in with the others. The character facial expressions and actions reflect that he isn’t one of the gang, throughout he seem to look scared and cautious about the actions which the other males take. The other three males are presented to be stereotypical view of a teenage male around the age of 18.

We start with a title at the start of the film “The national film and television School Company”. Then into a medium shot of the bottom half of the two males in an urban area to establish the setting. Then into a close up of both males faces side oh here the camera focuses in to each male as they speak the camera focuses in then out in tern. Here the camera focuses away from the male at the front and then as he steps back of the shot the other male comes into the shot, next we get a title screen “slippin” which covers the screen. Then we go into a close up once again to show the facial expressions on the males face as he tries to impress the others with the music on his phone, from this shot we can see that he starts to look worried when one of the males says “bad taste”. A medium shot is then introduced to show the two males dancing to the music. A cut from this shot to a long shot to establish the setting in which they are in; here another male comes into the shot. Once the other male reaches the two males we are taken into a medium shot as he hands out the drinks we can see worry upon the lonely characters face. This event links to the point of this short film as he once again is being singled out and not fitting in with the group.  Here the dominant male stands up to the lonely character in the medium shot this signifies some power over the young male here the camera tilts to show this as he picks up his drink which they through on the floor. Then a medium shot appears in front of the 3 people to show the popular people joking here the young male tries to join in the joking until the other males leave him out, here the popular males make fun of the younger male as one hits him other the head and runs off. The medium shot then returns to the back as we can see the young male standing as they leave the shot. Here the camera cuts we see a bus driving by to represent the change of location. 

The next shot is a long shot which shows the two popular males standing side by side whilst the other male stand on his own in front, this shows how they leave him out, throughout he appears to the audience standing separately from the group. As more of the popular males arrive we as an audience notice that he becomes more left out and unpopular, until in a medium shot we see the alpha male arguing with one of the popular males however this doesn’t last for long as in a over the shoulder shot from the popular male we see him turn the blame and attention to the unpopular male. We end this scene with a long shot showing the popular male walking of the scene. Now to a medium shot, of the other popular males once again pointing the attention onto the unpopular male. Here a series of shot reverse shot of the popular and unpopular male as he drinks the remaining of his drink. The final two popular males here leave the shot as we have a focus medium shot looking at the unpopular male as they leave him once again. Here the shot turns into a still shot this shows the group walking down the street in a close up to a long shot with the unpopular male trailing behind them. We then are given a series of shot reverse shots and close ups to show the facial expressions of the 2 groups of males. 

This continues until the unpopular male runs away when they begin to fight. As the unpopular male runs away around the corner the camera fades out of the shot to show that the scene has ended.  We then fade back into a medium shot of the unpopular male on his own as he walks round the corner. Two new characters are introduced here as one of them bumps into the unpopular male the shot goes into a close up to show the anger upon his face.  As the unpopular male lifts up the carrier bag we remain in a close-up as the camera tilts this signifies the matter of importance to the bag. We then cut back into the close-up of his face to show the anger on his face the male begins to chase after the two males as if he is blaming them for smashing the glass inside the bag however we as a viewer here the unpopular male drop and smash the glass himself. This is the unpopular male once again trying hard to fit in with the group which he finds hard to fit in with.

 We then get a point of view shot of the unpopular male looking into the shop at the two males. Once the males come out of the shop one looks over at the unpopular male as he stares at him for a while he asks if something is wrong here the story unfolds as the unpopular male tries to fit in once again with the group. The final shot of this short film shows the unpopular male sitting on his self at the bus stop.

The director uses a verity of diegetic sounds in the short film in the urban area scenes we hear a lot of cars, lorry’s, trains and other environmental sounds and also non diegetic sounds such as the music when the short film first starts and the scenes where the unpopular male tries to show his music to the others.  

Throughout the short film the editing is rhythmic however in parts where events unfold and the tension rises upon the actions made by the unpopular male the pace of the edit is faster. We have a series of shot reverse shot to show tension and action between the popular and unpopular male.

Mise en scene is used to show a difference in experience between the popular males who are dressed similar and the unpopular male who is dressed differently this is due to presenting popularity the director here wants to show a clear difference so that the main factor to this short film stands out clearly to the audience. This itself shows a divide and a difference. The setting and location is similar throughout mainly in streets and other urban areas.

We follow a linear narrative throughout the story, this means that the short film follows a flow story and doesn’t go from past to present. The genre to the film is drama/thriller as we follow the life of both groups of popular and unpopular characters.

The credits to this short film are basic and plain they continue with the same background sound as the final scene of the film. Here the credits unfold showing the cast, director, editor, locations, sound credits etc.