Short Film “The Return”

This short film is similar to ours as it could be seen as a psychological thriller, as there are twists in the plot. However, this film is more likely to be seen as a horror film, as it is more intense and scary. This short follows codes and conventions of other short films, such as the length of the film, use of the Mise En Scene and narrative structure.

The introduction:

The short film begins with the productions introduction to the film, which promotes the production company. This is made eye catching, so the audience can relate to it and know which company the film belongs to. This opening shot shows a collision on the road, which may indicate the storyline of the film or the beginning to the narrative and what it is about. Following from this, we see a crumpled car on the side of the road. This is to highlight the importance and the possible result of the crash. Within this opening sequence, there is none diegetic music playing in the background, this may be suggestive to the narrative as the music is creepy and fits the genre of a psychological thriller or a horror. This challenges codes and conventions of a short film already, as the normal equilibrium (balanced start to the film) is not balanced and a problem/climax starts the film. Then the resolution follows. This challenges the theory of equilibrium by Tordov and challenges Vladimir Propp’s narrative structure theory. Film information, such as the Production Company and main cast credits appear at the beginning to introduce the film to the audience. This scene is gripping and grabs the

audience’ interest

This follows on to the next shots of new papers, reviewing the car crash, in which the audience have just witnessed. This is to introduce possible characters, such as “Emily” who is said to be in critical condition. This leads to audience prejudices over Emily’s conditions and may guess that she has died or will die, due to the crash. This also leads to the story being built up around the character of “Emily” leading to who Emily is and whether she is alive, which fits to the film’s title “The Return” This is similar to the ideas of our film. This shot also gives a time reference to show the passing of time which shows effective detail in the short film that helps the audience understanding. The

audience is made clear that this character has died from the crash as the line on the electrocardiogram appears. The title fades, which is a transitions we hope to use, when editing our film as it is a simplistic transition. The title is red and black and all capitals. This shows the use of semiology as red may represent danger and the black represents the darkness that could be shown in a horror film.

The next shot is a high birds eye angle, which establishes the location of the shot, which looks like a memorial centre/graveyard this may indicate the of the character “Emily” semiology can be derived from the use of the birds eye angle, as if Emily’s character is looking down at the people at the gravestone, who are likely to be her close family members. The coverage of snow may specify the season is likely to be winter, which again shows the passage of time as it was sunny on the day of the car crash.

The next shot confirms the death of Emily, as she is carried away in a coffin. This is a nice shot and looks effective from the use of framing and the high angled, direct birds eye shot, connoting the same semiology that she may be looking down on them and may be seen from her perspective. Making this a POV (point of view) shot. The music is still non diegetic. However, the mood of the music has changed to a more mellow, touching and emotional sound. This represents the sadness the characters are facing and allows the audience to feel empathy for the character that are grieving.

The camera movement is affective as it is, what looks like hand held, making this scene more effective as it looks more natural and less set up. The camera moves, the same direction as the people. Making the audience feel more involved as they stay with them. There’s a variety of shots and camera angles, making each shot differentiate, maintaining the audience’s interest.

The next shot is of the priest, whilst burying the girl. This is a medium, low angle, worms eye shot, which could connote that the character in the coffin, is below this man, again looking up from her perspective and the priest is above ground and above her. This shows power through gender roles as the male is also seen as dominant form this shot.

The next shot then turns from a medium shot to a low angled shot of the priest walking off on his own and then joined by the other characters. The camera at this point stays still, connoting that the dead girl is left behind as the still camera connotes that this is still seen from her perspective. As they walk off, the priest then places his hand on the characters shoulder. This is a good example of the use of Mise En Scene, as the use of the priests body language, helps the audience understand the characteristics of another character. The use of Mise En Scene makes the audience focus first on the priest, as he is the only one in the shot. However, when the other characters join the shot, the audience is still focussed on the priest, as he is placed in the middle. This also shows the understanding of placement, from how the producers have placed and framed the characters. Although, the focus moves away from the priest, and towards the character walking to the left of him. This is because of the use of body language and Mise En Scene, as the priest places his hand on

his shoulder. This connotes that this specific may have been the closest one to the character who died “Emily” and the audience can understand that he is most likely to be most vulnerable. This may

also suggest and introduce the protagonist of the film.

This is the next shot, which is of the girls “favourite stuffed animal” This shot shows link to this character and Emily, as what was hers is now in his hands. This show an effective use of props within the film. From this shot, the camera pans up naturally from a hand held camera to his face to a close up shot. The camera moves then to show her grieving parents. From the use of this shot, the narrative becomes clearer as the audience understands that the main characters are the teenage boy in this shot, who portrays Emily’s (girl who died) brother, and her parents next to him. The audience now understand which characters the film is focussed on.

This ends the opening sequence and the equilibrium is now balanced after the funeral as the family are ready to move on and the storyline is made clear and characters have been introduced. The use of Mise En Scene, in the shot of the parents shows that the male character (father) has the most power against the female (mother) and represents gender roles. This is made clear from the body language as he is comforting her and supporting her, as she is cuddled into him asking for emotional support.

The use of Mise En Scene is used again to show the bond between him and Emily as his body language leant down to her level so he could be closer to her to talk; this shows the closeness of their relationship. The use of dialogue, helps the audience understand that he is who they though as we now know for sure that he is Emily’s brother from the line “love you sis” Also the name “Emily” is on the headstone, which links to the name in the newspapers being in a critical condition. All of this clears the audiences understanding.

Up until now, the equilibrium of the film has been fairly balanced and the climax is to follow, which happens just at the end of the graveyard scene as the teddy bear moves in the last shot, referring that Emily’s spirit may “return” This is also an extreme close up to make the scene more intense and can leave the audience feeling uncomfortable or on edge. This builds audience interest as it grabs their attention. Another aspect that adds to the intensity of the shot is the use of non-diegetic music, as it gets more exciting and dramatic, and then stops suddenly. This shot is then a quick cut as no fading is used as the shot just turns to black.

This shot shows simplistic family life and that nothing has happened since the graveyard scene. However, other messages can be derived from this, such as the loss of two other characters, as the youngest daughter Emily has died and the mother isn’t coping well and “is still in bed” which is a sign she is not coping well with the death of Emily. The space in between the two characters is desolated and makes the shot looks empty and lonely. This is created from the use of lead room between the two characters. This could also explain the distance between these two characters relation. This also shows peace as the shot is quite with little to none dialogue at the beginning of the shot.

Close up shots are also used to vary the shots so the audience don’t lose interest and get bored. We must consider this as a big factor during filming our short film as our film is heavily dialogue based; meaning without the variety of shots, the same shot could bore the audience as no action is taking place away from the scene other than dialogue. Close shots can be useful for showing detail and can also be used as a cut-in, which it is in this shot.

The shot of him crouching down to pick the object (unknown at this point) up is familiar to a shot which has already taken place in the film, reminding the audience of when he was crouched down to his sisters grave. This is because of the type of camera angle is the same, low angle, reminding people of Emily’ perspective. This may confuse the audience as to what is left on the door step as the intensity of the shot rises as gripping music plays non diegetic, in the background.

The shot increases with intensity and becomes more gripping as an over the shoulder shot, shows the teddy he left on his sisters grave, arriving back onto his door. However, the shot is made more gripping as diegetic sound (girl whispering “stay with me” is added to the shot. This starts to portray the horror aspect of the short film. Also the camera at this point is hand held, meaning that the scene appears shaky, this may also leave the audience feeling on edge. The teddy is now seen as the link between the protagonist and his sister, and is known as the scary element of the film as it represents the return of his dead sister. An over the shoulder shot shows his feelings and emotions and looks at the situations in his perspective. This intense music rises as the situation does. This shows and presents to the audience how the character is feeling, which is scared and confused, as are the audience at this point.

As the pressure rises in the film, the non-diegetic music does too and, leaving the audience on edge with anticipation. The change of camera shots lead to excitement as staying in the same place, may bore/disinterest the audience. The locking of the door shows that he knows this bear isn’t normal and the situation he is in isn’t safe, he is protecting himself and further showing vulnerability. This also shows a transition shot to vary and prolong the narrative and tension.

The camera is set as the teddy is placed down and then the camera moves away. This shows the teddy moving, as it is an inanimate object and shouldn’t, the audience would be scared and

emotions may change. This teddy still shows the link to his dead sister, meaning that his sister Emily may be haunting him and whose spirit is most likely to “return”. This is effective as this camera movement plays with the audience, as it pans out slowly, making the audience wait in anticipation as they want to see what is happening, whereas, they would want to see it straight away. This is a good way to build excitement and tension in a film. An extreme close up of the bear is the next shot, which is intense and made shock/spook the audience and to make them understand that the bear represents his dead sister and thing aren’t at peace and a problem is most likely to occur. This indicates the beginning of the climax of the film and is in the run of the film. This highlights the running up to the disequilibrium to the film.

As the lights flicker, the film has hit the disequilibrium of the narrative, this becomes clear as the music is at its most intense and stops in synchronisation with the music. This leads the audience to think there will be a jump scene straight away; however, the film has created a false sense of security as the film then carries on with the narrative. Although the audience can understand that he is panicking as he rushes to get the lights back on.

Lighting on his face is used as it is filmed in pitch black, as without the light, the audience would not emphasise the jump scene or experience as they wouldn’t know a hand has appeared on his shoulder or his sister’s ghost was behind. The use of the light also shows the expression on his face, leading the audience to relate to him in this situation. The music starts as soon as the jump scare hits, adding to the intensity and shock factor.

The film then shows the Emily, his dead sister in a white dress. She looks pale and ghost-like. They have created this look by costume. The white dress may connote a spirit/ghost, as this is the usual connotation for ghosts as audience relate the colour white with heaven, as well as purity, which could be another connotation for Emily’s character. Innocence may be derived from Emily character as the colour whit can portray innocence and purity. She also looks young, innocent and vulnerable, which she was when she was left on a critical condition. Body posture has been used to make her character look creepy and scary as her head is lowered and looks dead. Her hair covers her face, making her character seem suspicious and scary as the innocence is lost. She remains hidden and spooky, looking like a haunting spirit. This comes across as chilling to the audience as they aren’t expecting it as they know she is dead. Furthermore, this shocks the audience into a further false sense of security. We will have to consider how to make Eve in our film look like this and spirit like and consider the importance of costume and make up, as Emily’s character looks pale. This is another reference to being a ghostly figure as the audience can relate to dead people normally turning white. Bright lighting is also used behind her, which makes her blend in and reduces her opacity. This adds to the spirit like look of Emily’s character. As the lights flicker, she then disappears

and the teddy reappears, this is done so the audience know that the bear carries her spirit and will always be related to the dark side of Emily’s spirit. This also plays with the audience’ heads spooks them.

This is the climax of the film other known as the disequilibrium. The next shot is filmed from a tilted angle and is out of focus. This is a fast moving series of clips, which highlights the panic and tension of the horror film. At this point, the genre has become very clear to the film and the audience are hoping for a resolution.

A high angled bird’s eye shot is used also as a close up, to show expression and the panic that the protagonist is experiencing. This also varies the shots and the duration of the shots. This is a longer duration shot than the previous shots. This gives the audience a break by spacing out the film. This may also indicate there is more of a climax to come as the situation may not have calmed down yet. By varying the duration of the clips, the films pace is not to slow or too fast and can leave the audience to get to terms of their emotions in relation to the film.

The next clip shows the adjusting of the focus. Adjusting the focus in the right way means the object closer to the camera shows the action is more important to the thing behind it that if not in focus. By having something that is in focus, draws the audience’s attention into that first, understands what is happening and will then begin to look at other aspects and details around that shot. This is known a pull focus, as the focus moves from one thing to another. This is demonstrated in this shot, as the focus is on the draw as it is pulled out and then focusses on his expression. This determines that the audience can full see the draw being pulled out before noticing the protagonist’s reaction.

As the protagonist goes to sleep, the audience can see the time passes as the next shot is pitch black meaning it may be the middle of the night. From what seem to be calm and as the audience thought that the disequilibrium was over and the return of Emily’s spirit had gone, a voice appears and says “I’m back” this immediately raises the tension as the audience will ow expect a jump scare scene of Emily. However, there is a moment of silence and darkness before anything happened to build even more tension.

The next shot shows the appearance of the teddy. This instantly indicates to the audience that Emily’s sprit is there in the room as the teddy is a representation of her. This build tension as the audience is now anticipating Emily’s arrival. However, the film lured the audience into a false sense of security again, as Emily is seen to just walk past and pick her teddy up to then reappear in a jumpy scene. As the audience was not expecting this, it would make them jump.

The next clip is the protagonist burning the teddy. However, this show connotes that by doing this, it is putting him in further danger as he is placed behind the flames indicating what might happen if he carried on, this is also on a tilted angle, which goes against the conventions of filming.

The next shot is of the house of the protagonist. This leads the audience to believe that the disequilibrium has been resolved as the danger has been potentially removed. The light goes out which indicates he is ready for bed and to move on from this event. However, another twist occurs as, the burnt teddy is seen in the next shot, which coonotes Emily’s prescence, meaning that the family are possibly still in danger. This goes against the narrative structure, as the plot keeps twisting and the resolution does not come straight away. Again, the producers have show time passing, by filming in the evening and getting the streetlight in shot, to prove that it is late enough for the streetlights to be on.

The next shot is a call to what looks like an emergency services radio , in which a femal voice explains “There is an uncontrollable house fire” at the protagonists house. This is a different way around filming this situations as it is a low budget film, they would not be able to show a house fire, so they filmed it differently, but still had the same affect as to showing the house on fire. This gives us an insight as to scenes we may want to film, as there may be things we cant actually film but we can still represent to make it look similar.

To further represent the house fire, they have used flickering lighting to represent flames and orange lighting to represent the ire. The light is also reflected in the beards eyes, to make it look like there is a fire. As the shot flashes back to the bear (which is a representation of Emily’s character) it connotes or suggests that Emily’s spirit may have had something to do with the fire as she may have caused it. Which is then confirmed with Emily’s voice over saying “Now we can be a family again” the camera pans into the teddy, which fits the genre of a horror, as most horrors are based upon

one object that may be the reason for the horrific events. The use of any camera movements makes the shot more effective as it adds something to the shot and prolongs the intensity.