A Textual Analysis of…A Textual Analysis of…“Frendo“Frendo””

By Kym Tran

The Film…The Film…

• Short Film Title: Frendo• Genre: Ironic drama• Created: February 2009• Director/Producer:

FourColorFilms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ALe5Q0l8x0&feature=related

TitlesTitles…

The titles of this film are as basic as you can get, they don’t speak to the audience in any way, they just inform you of the name and personally I

don’t think they match in with the film itself. They remind me of title from programmes like “Fraser” TV suited for older people with a much more sophisticated taste in programming. I wouldn’t have imagined that after they appear on screen that the story of a young couple would appear to

take centre stage throughout. They are plain and rather boring.

Framing…Framing…The main character “Frendo” we believe he is called, is mostly

always centre of the frame, except for after his deformity occurs. In the beginning he is seen behind his desk and talking to people right in the middle section of the frame, showing us his importance and status of character on camera. The background behind him differs

from being in a house, to being at a travel agents or out on the town. The camera pretty much always follows him though as the story is

about him.

Editing and special Editing and special effects…effects…

An awful lot of transitions are used to show the progression of unrealistic time passing by. It signifies his boredom and stress at the workplace and

when he takes a stroll into the city centre he sits still and watches the world go by at a much faster pace. We are made to believe that the characters

days in his reality always drag out and he gets stuck in one place for a very long time, while everything surrounding him passes him by with ease.

Mise en scene and Mise en scene and locationlocation……The story takes us through “Frendo’s” work life, homelike, night life and

general daytime walk abouts through town, the mis en scene always shows us where he is, we are never confused about this. For example here we see

him behind his desk in an office type place. We can tell exactly what he does for a job because number one there are travel posters surrounding him on the walls behind and there are maps too. His conversations with customers

make it clearer to us that he is in fact a travel agent.

Sound…Sound…

There is plenty of diegetic and non-diegetic sound throughout this film. The music in the background the film (with the exception of when the main character is clubbing) is a sad slow piece of music. It has no particular

climaxes to it at any point, it just makes us feel as though everything is going much slower than it should be. The diegetic sounds that we can hear range from conversations, to partying to throwing up. It is only when the character is sat watching the city centre that e cannot really hear the hustle and bustle that we should be able to. This shows us that the character is in a world of his

own almost.

Script and Audience…Script and Audience…There isn’t an awful lot of dialogue in the scenes, but there is enough for us to understand what is going on. I think the target audience of this film would be

teenagers, as the film deals with mostly teenage issues and emotional problems, although it would seem they deal with it by acting out an adults life.

I cannot understand why such a young couple have a whole house to themselves, some things do not add up in this film.

Camera angle, Movement Camera angle, Movement and Position…and Position…

After his deformity occurs, we notice the camera is more focused on the main characters facial features, mainly of course his obscene smile. This is a great shot because even though the character is simply driving a car it shows that

it doesn’t matter what he does in his daily life now, he is stuck with a deformity that he never stops thinking about. The character is more to the

side of the shots when he is followed after his deformity happens.

Genre Specific Elements; Codes Genre Specific Elements; Codes and Conventions…and Conventions…

This film does challenge some conventions, even if it does not mean to. It situates a rather young couple into an almost aged married life. They have a big house, a car, obviously well paid jobs. This is an ironic drama, karma is a the main idea in this film. It is cleverly done, but perhaps with better acting it

would seem less amateur.

Camera and Narrative…Camera and Narrative…

The camera does a lot of the work in this film telling the story when there is no narrative dialogue. For example, when the character is down on his luck, it will point down at him, or show him to the side of a shot. When he was happy and life was going well for him, he would be in the middle of the shot, happily

going about daily tasks.

What have I learnt from the What have I learnt from the construction of this short film and how construction of this short film and how can I apply any of these techniques to can I apply any of these techniques to

my own short film?my own short film?I have learnt the importance of how a simplistic setting

can tell a story maybe better than a really complicated setting. From this film I will try and put into my own:

• The highly varied camera shots, the positioning and viewing of the shot.

• The use of timing, e.g time passing by quickly but character not really moving with it.

• The clever use of lights and colours in the clubbing scene and especially the lighting when we see the main character on the floor in black and white, varied editing.