A2 Media 'Never Forget' Short Film Gender Homework by Maria

https://moodle.centralsussex.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=66

Fade in from black, slow

Depth of field shot

Pan/tracking follows arm down as unzips

Tracking shot follows her up from her legs

Focus pull as adjusts cuffs and bowtie

In the first moments of the short film, the audience can sense a very eerie sense of uncertainty as the soundtrack that accompanies the first establishing close ups of the man getting ready with a slow pan of him unzipping a heavily connoted suit, representing glamour and self indulgence in appearance, to a close up of him fixing his bow tie, with a shot reverse shot from the woman walking, shows the music is only seen whilst he gets ready, whereas the female has diegetic sounds of her footsteps - she is non stereotypically, as a female, ready before him. However in both pans fixed on clothing it can be seen clearly who is female and who is male and the diegetic, on screen footsteps also affirm the female is glamourous too. This creates a tone of unknown and is unsettling to the audience and sets a tension. The manual focus on the camera whilst straightening the bowtie can also give subtle hints on reflecting the male character's mind-set. The editing simply transitions in cuts to add a normality.

At first we are positioned as an audience to feel as though this is a usual couple meeting for a date, apart from the very quiet sound and switch of gender attributes subtly there isn't anything to be seen as wrong in the first moments of the film.

We are made to think the couple are meeting and as the title is called Never Forget we are curious as to why it is called that, although as its a date and has no dark suggestive undertones yet it seems to have a predicted happy outcome.

Focus pull from face to mirror

The normality in gender is seen above when the female character is checking herself in her hand mirror, a stereotypically normal activity for a female to do, yet the focus isn't on her but her mirror, which sends a strong message to the audience that her values are seen to reflect her as a person poorly and also subtly hints her character may not be entirely 'innocent'. It is still eerily quiet also, with the diegetic sound of cars rushing past and wind, yet there is no other sound to make it seem like an untypical type of 'getting ready' sequence, which feels like there is a loss in the film at this stage. The shots are long which adds to the tension as it seems very slow and almost to drag. Another mise en scene factor to note is that the female is all in black, which portrays her as a villain even though her actions seem contradicting to that stereotype at this point.

We are secondly positioned to see the vanity of the female character, and this plots a small seed of weariness in the viewers eyes as most female characters aren't so vain typically, and as this section lasts for longer than a quick glance and the mirror is placed central to the shot, thoughts such as appearance over personality is valued in that characters mind which put the audience off her slightly.

We can be made to assume it is still a date and that she may feel nervous, we cannot know at this point how far in the date is, yet this ritual of getting ready is nothing out of the ordinary.

Not central in shot, doubles as establishing shot also

There is then a 'jump' in shots which could potentially leave the audience confused for a few moments as locations switch for the male without explanation; building on the thoughts slowly of his unstable mind-set as he seems very mysterious and unlike a typical male who would be seen as well explained and not as erratic. The establishing shot in a close up on his phone which clearly states the time, evening, and also the location in a mid shot, which is deliberately highly glamorous to show the audience that there is a link between his costume and location - highly desirable and scenic, and also links the two characters together to be seen as partners in the lock screen. This is still fragmented together by cuts, which keep it sharp and simple in terms of editing. The continuity also shows there is something slightly odd about this situation as the diegetic sound doesn't jump whilst changing from female to male, which adds to the alienation and loss of complete information in this scene.

We are then, again, positioned to believe the male is also nervous for his date yet the screensaver makes the previous shots odd as it connotes a long relationship rather than a first date scenario. We can begin to wonder as an audience why they are both separated and why these signs of anxiousness have been shot.

This emphasises that maybe there isn't something quite right with the couple and also builds tension and raises enigma.

Shot reverse shot

When he calls, it can be heard diegetically that the woman is late to meet, which stereotypically is usually the other way round in gender roles, which adds to the unsettlement of this sequence and adds to the strange sense of unbalance for the audience. The man's tone of voice is calm, and the woman seems on edge yet trying to keep her 'cool' which builds tension. It can be seen through camera work that currently the male is more important than the female as he is seen in glamorous mid shots whilst she is seen in long shots walking closer, and there is a strange stillness from the silence which creates enigma. There is shot reverse shot being used between cuts to add a slight pace to the call yet the continuous quietness contradicts it.

We are placed to believe there is a strange, unexplainable distance between the two as the phone call sounds cold and unusual to two people in a typical relationship, the tone of voice isn't usual and makes the audience suspicious to what is happening and may believe there is information that has been withheld from them.

We are made to feel a distance deliberately before the flashback to leave space for questioning and to keep us interested in what is happening.

The shot sizes vary as it jumps from long shot to close up as her voice breaks and signals to the audience perhaps she is lying to her significant other as her tone in voice raises in pitch, and off screen diegetic music fades in with a clubby genre to cue editorially flashback sequence. The flashback sequence indicates her withholding information from the male and also that something isn't right, which therefore aligns with her mise en scene previously seen in a long shot of all black, once thought to be seen as a typical glamorous female, and now a darker role appears and the enlightenment of the oddness of the scenes so far begin to click in the audience's minds.

The jump in shots and the fade in of music links to the previous belief of withheld information and the audience prepare for a cued flashback and due to the close ups are made to think that the woman is lying which adds to the distance in her relationship with her partner.

This has been done to make the audience feel enigma and cue excitement for a reveal of information.

Shot reverse shot

Friend leaves to shift focus completely on her

The now on screen diegetic music becomes louder as the female is seen off centre here to also show an establishing shot with a continuity to see only her back to add a slight mystery, and then shows her - looking more relaxed in body language and facial expression, but also through outfit and hair - her hair is completely flowing and her dress is more detailed; more of an effort has been made on this night then on the night with her significant other. It also links the shots framing wise as they are both to the right of the composed shots, yet both in very different circumstances. Therefore she seems like a stereotypical female, yet under the circumstances she isn't.

We have been positioned as an audience to introduce the beginning of a story of affair, and this makes us accustomed to the new situation and introduces us to the new character and this sets the shot reverse shots following up to show the move in current times link to the last ones and therefore the audience believe there is a link in what will happen in the present to what has happened in the past.

Low angled mid shot to show focus is on their bodies

They are now centre of the frame yet the woman is with a different, innocent man from his light clothing yet he is inessential to the role, and seen to be more causal and carefree as his clothing is less uptight than the previous male seen, and they are also moving much more - which signifies the freeness and fun they are having in which a happy, trouble free couple would have. They can be seen to become intimate; which the female and her significant other are never seen to have, which also raises questions for the audience. There are cuts to show ellipsis through editing and that a lot of time was spent together, whereas the female and male in the current time arrived separately; adding to the strangeness of their relationship to the audience. The sound differentiates between the situations too to show that they are also very different and of different natures, all together very highly contrasting scenes webbed together.

We are made to believe as an audience that in these shots the decision that the femaleis inevitably about to make had been led up to, and therefore wasn't an accident, and also this means we are positioned to see the revelation of the new turn in the story.

Long shot for more establishing shots

Composition looks almost like a mirrored shot made in
post production; adds emphasise to the action

The shot previous to the one above shows a massive contrast and reveals the situations are again, much the opposite of each other as one is a long shot to establish that in current time she is still walking, yet in a sudden cut to the next shot, it is mirrored to emphasise the past intimacy between the two and also is the big reveal of what has happened and why the character has acted so oddly, it also shows her take up none of the frame to almost all of it and her solidarity in the first compared to the second can be seen - all the shot reverse shots build up these differences and is also layered as the differences in mise en scene between males split them entirely, and music gain and loss between the two scenes also add to this whole other environment which seems very split. The cuts are seen throughout the dream sequence to keep it snappy, and are really only known to be a dream sequence with the music.

We are positioned to be slammed in the face with the switch from a long shot to mirrored mid shot, from the female being small in the LS to large in the MS and this makes us feel the shock as an audience of what the male must feel and makes us feel sympathetic for him and also that the female doesn't seem to care as her thoughts don't mirror the SRS as she never thinks of her current partner at the time and also lets the audience assume what is going to happen.

Close up of action of taking off ring

There is a variation in shots as the female character is seen in a close up of her ring being taken off which indicates cheating, deception and a bad trait of lying, which the  audience understand from the removal of this vital mise en scene piece. Her red nail varnish again makes her seem sexualised  and shows she has made more effort on an unimportant night out then on Valentine's Day, and shows her carelessness of her status as a wife. Her face is not seen to make her seem more innocent and stick partly to her female role.

This positions the audience in a new stage of events as they see that the characters are in fact married and bound by marriage that they both agreed to, yet she is betraying him and abandoning him.

These shots are only seen currently so we feel even more shock built open actions that are already shocking to make us think about her actions.

Continuous shot leads to reaction of husband

A pan is used of her and the male of them leaving, which fluidly works in one long mid shot and ends with them walking off the camera shot to reveal the male character alone at the bar. He is again in the right of the camera frame, which shows his continuous role of the victim, which is usually untypical for a male role in a film, and shows him in despair and without power, whereas the female is cast in a lower light still yet with more selfishness and uncaring traits which makes the audience turn away from her in likeness.

We are being positioned to see how easily the female cheated on her husband as using a pan shows one fluid movement and the man being left behind, and we finally realise that the oddness of the date and the phone call is due to him knowing his partne has cheated on him. We are now believed to fully know what is going on and that this is the meaning of of the title of the film.

Shot reverse shot adds tension as each frame switches
from mid shot, close up, to extreme close up

Extreme close up on face to emphasise what he is saying

The shot reverse shot intensifies as she slows her walk and the camera slowly gets closer to his face as he phones her, and shows the disgust on his face in an extreme close up as he says his final words 'this is all your fault', which shows by his tone he is very unhappy and revengeful. There is also confusion for audience and female who are both left in the lurch as his diegetic script doesn't yet make sense as he stops talking.  Enigma shows the audience and female are left in the same position as there is again silence which eerily sets in.

We are being positioned to feel confused as an audience as a big plot twist has been revealed yet there is more strangeness in the conversation on the phone. We are also made to feel slightly unhinged and worried as the camera shots change to close ups and tension builds to make the audience feel on edge and again out of the loop with the female character. Therefore we have been deliberately placed and constructed to feel confusion and tension for the next scene.

Out of focus mid shot from a lower angle to add enigma of mystery

Shot is framed with her composed in the
middle to show key reaction is on her face

There is a pause as the shot is a long mid shot angled upwards to show she is superior and also an evil like character as a woman, which is untypical. The length of the shot and her unawareness builds up tension until the white noise is broken by a body falling to the ground in a blur past her as she then screams. The camera is angled up so we are unable to see what exactly has fallen and doesn't switch back to the man, there is also no more script afterwards which hints that the man the female is staring at is her former partner; which explains the planning and early arrival usually untypical to a male character and explains the erratic behaviour portrayed through the short film.

We have finally been revealed to why there was a lack of information as there is a second plot twist, which ends with the man ending his life. We were constructed to not expect the ending in a shock finale to build all the tension up, relieve it, and then take us by surprise. Therefore the audience are more stunned as they weren't expecting this counterpart as the new equilibrium is much different from regular films.

The short film ends with shot being extended without words just white noise, and the audience have time to realise it is the male who has fallen. The audience are held in the same position as the woman, unknowing as to what the male was going to do and his final words can now sink in - it ends on a cliffhanger and left the female character and the audience in the lurch right until the last moment.

To conclude, we are made to see subtle hints that the characters don't follow typical generic gender roles and also through this see their separation relationship wise, and a cleverly placed flashback withholds information to add enigma, and then the misleading of the audience adds a shock factor to the end as the equilibrium, dis equilibrium and new equilibrium take different turns which are deliberate to create suspense, tension and shock.