NEA Evaluation

My short film is called “Consequences” and it is about the outcome of someone being bullied resulting in his death. The main short film I gained influence from was “Over” because my short film is done in reverse chronological order with his death already happening so we see the events leading up to it. Another influence I gained from the short film “Over” is the use of time stamps to show the date and time so the reverse order makes sense.

Between shot transitions I used time stamps to show the date this was done to help orientate the audience so they don’t get confused by the non-linear order.

In terms of editing techniques I used to tell the story I to used a reverse chronological order narrative so the character had already died at the start and so the audience see’s the build up to the event, I did this because it puts the viewer on the edge and they have to use there imagination to guess what is going to happen next the reason why i did this is to make the audience feel more involved. I took this influence from the film “Over” and “Memento” which also does the same thing, it brings an element of the unknown for the spectator and increases the climax of the situation so they become more engrossed in narrative.

In my short film I implemented a minimal amount of dialogue because the viewers are required to use their own imagination and interpret it themselves creating polysemous atmosphere for each spectator, a good silent short film will root itself in the audience brains far deeper than a sound short film because you have to interpret it yourself therefore they stay attentive . I got this influence from the short film “Over” because there was also no dialogue involved so it left me to guess what was going to happen next keeping me more interested that’s why I transferred it to my own film. I also added a scene where the main character speaks before his death this creates suspense because the rest of the film has been silent ,so the spectator will not anticipate it, because the realisation of what he has done breaks the silence yet there is no turning back.

Another scene where sound is significant is when the bully calls at the end at this point the digetic sound is enhanced and this is all you hear. This is the same at the end of “Ellington Kid” when the shop owner is sharpening his knife. All you can hear is the sharpening of the knife this is also connoting how props are playing a pivotal role in making the end polysemic.Because it could connote that the story was true but could also just mean he is sharpening his knife making it ambigious.This is also seen in my short film because some may see it as bullying never stops whilst others may see it as bullying only stops when the person dies. It is also connoting how significant prop is in the narrative. Also in my short film I primarily use diegetic sounds for example the scene in the park which had children playing in the background this creates a real atmosphere for the viewer instead of it being silent or with the use of non-diegtic sound. This is also the case in “Over” at the start where the birds are chirping this creates a sense of realism in the short film because this is something that occurs in day to day life. So this allows the audicence to relate thus making them feel involved in the sitaution.

In terms of mise-en-scène the main prop I used was the characters mobile phone which was a main feature and was focused on because this was one of the main ways he was bullied this was connoted by the texts he was getting from the bully and at the end of the short film when the bully calls the main character when he dies without it the narrative would not progress this is also the case in “Slap” with use of make-up. The way in which I connoted the importance of the phone was done with close ups of the phone. This cinematography was influenced by “Ellington Kid” with the close up of the knife at the end this connotes it is significant in the short films narraive. Another influence of mise-en-scene from “Over” is the setting I decided to film the ending when it was dark because darkness connotes bad events are going to or have happened. This is seen in “Over” in the first scene where it is late and dark which creates an ominous environment for the viewer. A cinematography influence I gained from “Over” is the camera positioning I rarely used camera movement because the audience will feel more like a spectator if there view is stationary this is also done with the multiple long shots which is also done in “Over”. I also used cinematography with use of positioning when we see the texts that are being sent to the main character I used a side angle so the viewer reads the text as if they were next to him reading it so they feel more involved.  

In the short film “Over” when the audience is aware of the characters death low key lighting is used because dark colours normally connote something dark has happened or is going to happen, they use high key lighting when the audience is unaware of the characters death this connotes. I have implemented this into my work when he is at school. I used high key lighting because it connotes that he has life and when he is at the park this throws off the viewer because they will think he is alive. An example of when I used low key lighting was when he was having the drugs because death was imminent.

I decided to follow Todorov’s narrative structure to create my short film with the first part which is the exposition when we see the main character in the park by him which establishes the character and the setting and setting the tone. Next is the rising action which is when he is getting bullied at school and goes to his detention and we see the messages his bullies are sending him this is were the rise tension happens. The climax is when he commits suicide because he decided he couldn’t handle the messages and the bullies this is a turning point, which marks change for the worse for the main character. Then there is the falling action this is the aftermath and sorts out the audience questions of the main character being dead at the start, which is the day after the incident. Last is the resolution which is when we see the main character later on where he is lying dead on the chair. Also at the end before the credits there is information which tells you the moral of the story and facts on bullying. This narrative helps shed light on character development this makes the viewer feel attached to the protagonist and therefore they will feel sympathy for them and even relate to them in some aspects.

I feel like I met the brief of completing my short film I took a significant amount of influence from the other selected short films to make a 5 minute short film. Also I managed to follow Todorov’s 5 part structure to create use of narrative devices like flashbacks to make an interesting short film that keeps the audience interested. However if I had to improve on it I would change the way in which he died because it is hard to recreate a suicide.