Evaluative Analysis

My intentions for my short film (1 New Message)  was to educate my spectators on the dangers of the internet. By creating a short film based on this idea it presents the idea that young people have too much of a dependence on social media and they are constantly being influenced even when they may not notice it. Therefore, this film demonstrates an ‘exaggerated’ version of what could go wrong if people are not careful when using social media. This develops the conventions of a ‘social realism’ genre as it is not taking a ‘realistic’ approach into the dangers of social media as although I wanted to educate, I also wanted to entertain. In order to achieve this, I had to make it engaging which is the influence behind the falling down the stairs which can be seen at the end of the film. My short film was influenced by other short films such as The Ellington Kid, The Operator, The Fly and The Arrival. 

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When considering the macro elements, my short film conforms with the genre conventions of social realism as I am presenting issues that are happening to users of the internet making it an educational piece, however, conventions of a ‘thriller’ are still present. It conforms to the conventions of these genres as I have used suspenseful music, dark lighting (conforming with a ‘thriller’) as well as making sure the spectators are educated (conforming with ‘social realism’). The use of lighting and sound makes it an easily identifiable ‘thriller’ and lighting is one of the micro elements (and elements of mise-en-scene) that I wanted to focus on. Lighting is an effective way of conveying meaning and creating the intended atmosphere of making my audience concerned and especially as there is no dialogue, therefore, the message has to be portrayed rather than told. There is a shift in lighting as at the beginning the setting can be seen to be bright and clear (image 1) whereas as the film progresses and the message starts to be portrayed there is a change in lighting, transitioning into darker tones acting as an implication to the sinister things that are soon to happen (image 2). The shift in lighting could be said to challenge the conventions of the ‘thriller’ genre as it is not common for there to be a contrast in lights. My use of lighting was influenced by both The Ellington Kid (directed by Dan Sully) (image 3) and The Operator (directed by Caroline Bartleet) (image 4) where lighting has been used to demonstrate the dark/tense atmosphere that I intended to create in my short film. Within The Operator, dark lighting was used to highlight the suspenseful atmosphere that spectators would be feeling whilst listening to the young woman on the phone when hearing how the fire is progressing. The dark lighting may have also be an implication to the ‘dark happenings’ that are taking place on the other side of the phone as the spectators are able to hear what the fire is doing rather than actually seeing it spread. This implication has inspired my short film as I used lighting to symbolise the danger that is being shown.  

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 The representation focuses on youth. This social group is synonymous with social media and yet despite being the most active users are also the most naïve to its dangers. Adopting an ‘it won’t happen to me’ mentality. There is a contrast in character expression and movement, showing the development in the narrative. At the beginning of the film the protagonist can be seen to be meaninglessly scrolling through their social media accounts (image 5) whereas, as they start getting the unwanted messages, the facial expressions and movements become more panicked and frightened (image 6), this was achieved by increasing the speed of my movements and breathing heavily and quickly when the message that is received tells them that they are being watched. After doing some research on short films based on the dangers of social media it is a noticeable appearance that the young people portrayed in these films are specifically doing something wrong, therefore, in my short film I wanted to break this convention and portray someone who is not doing anything wrong or dangerous but they still get an unwanted message which leads to dangerous consequences. I used a continuous setting (the house) which was influenced by The Fly and The Operator.  The Operator was able to engage the viewer through the entire narrative despite only seeing one character and one location. This was effective as the audience was put into the position of the phone operator as although she could not see the fire developing, she was still able to help the young girl and her son. The use of one setting in 1 New Message could act as a symbol of the isolation that young people go through due to social media. Young people are spending less time outside but more time inside scrolling through someone else’s life. I have done this through including multiple shots of scrolling through different social media accounts, including screen recordings of searching up different websites to represent the idea of social media controlling our lives (images 8 and 9). I have developed this idea of a continuous setting seen in The Fly (image 7) and The Operator by bringing another character into the setting as in these films the majority of the action is taking place through one person. Although the second character’s face is never shown, they still create a turning point in the narrative as it is left up to the audience’s interpretation regarding what happens to the main protagonist of the story.  

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My short film is following a linear narrative showing the progression of the ‘stranger’ getting closer and closer to the protagonist. The use of a linear narrative allows the story to be easily followed by the audience as flashbacks or flashforwards have no significance to the storyline as the dangers are currently present in today’s society, these issues were not relevant in the past and may not be in the future. In The Ellington Kid, a non-linear narrative was used with the use of flashbacks allowing the audience to have a clearer understanding of the story and ultimately made it more engaging as if it was just the two boys speaking, no action would take place in the film. This is literally the opposite to Operator, where audiences are left to create images in their mind and also to some extent in Arrival where we guess at her final decision as to whether she tells the man, let alone if she keeps the baby or not. The use of flashbacks is relevant in The Ellington Kid as it contributes to the narrative, whereas in my short film, they would have no significance. I was also wary of confusing a younger target audience with editing techniques differing from the classical Hollywood narrative they are used to. I  have incorporated the Kuleshov effect, a film editing technique which relies on the second shot in the sequence to portray the meaning of the first shot. The viewers are able to gain more meaning from the two shots collectively, rather than a single shot on its own. I have demonstrated this editing technique within my short film, specifically the moment when my character finds out that her parents have left her at home alone. The shot cuts from a front-facing view of the main character to a shot showing the note left for her. By doing this, it was clearer to convey that the main character was now home alone, this ultimately is the drive of the narrative. (Images 10, 11, 12, shown in the order that they were edited in).

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My target audience is people between the ages of 12-19, much like The Ellington Kid, Echo and Slap. I have decided to have the starting age young because children are being exposed to social media earlier as the development of technology continues. At first, this young target audience caused an issue for my chosen genre of a ‘thriller’ however, I overcame this by creating a contrast from the beginning to the end. This way, the younger audience would be drawn into the opening of the short film and slowly be introduced to the idea of the ‘stranger’. However, the ending of my short film is up to personal interpretation as it is polysemic (image 13). Who entered the house? Did they take or harm her? Etc. In fact, the ending is a metaphor for the questions anyone could have about an online account, we genuinely never know who we could be talking to. With this being my preferred reading for a spectator, I was aware that to target a wider audience I wanted to avoid a cliché short educational film like those made for schools. Instead, I believe my film achieves both informative, thought-provoking and entertaining as reactions from spectators. Audiences are able to consume on portable devices as the construction does not require the big screen/surround sound experience, thus conforming to the genre, target audience and task set. 

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