Ahmed Khan

The film opening title text “The Date” is used with a simple text similarly to our short film. This is used to give the film a basic look, a storyline which will not be complicated.

The title is placed on top a pan with boiling water which foreshadows the film to have some form of cooking. Meals are one of the most common types of dates, this connotes that there will be a date taking place which will be done while having a meal.

Following the title we see the opening

scene where the protagonist of the film

is preparing a meal. The music syncs

with the cutting of the vegetables. With

the hasty sounds of the knife and

music combine it emphasises the

protagonists comprehension of the

arrival of his date. However the scene

feels calm due to the visuals of the

kitchen and the actors clothing. The

clothing is casual and the lighting of

the kitchen gives us a placid feeling.

Here the audience know for sure

why the protagonist was cooking a

meal as he sets the table. The

director continuously uses

establishing shots which

emphasises the importance of this

date and where the main course of

action will take place.

The non diegetic music‟s tempo

increases gradually as the film

progresses, this connotes the

protagonists is becoming more

rushed as he comes closer for the

arrival of his date.

In these scenes the director does well

to reach the conventions of a

romantic film with the use of; flowers,

candles, wine and wine glasses. The

various shots connotes how much this

date means to the protagonist as we

him carefully placing objects on the

table with precise perfection. This is

also shown with the characters

positioning and how his whole body‟s

drawn towards certain objects as he

places them on the table,

emphasising the importance for this

date to go perfectly.

In this scene we see the character

cleaning himself up in the bathroom, this

scene builds up the humour through the

way the character behaves for example

in the shower he mimes to himself as if

his singing in his thoughts, we also see

him doing gruesome things such as using

the same cotton bud stick for his nose

and ears. His facial expressions when he

struggles to cleans certain bits adds to

the comical approach to this film. The

audience often find the discomfort of

others and struggling to do things with

ease quite humorous, the film does well

to exaggerate this and also used extreme

close ups to create a focal point on the

screen

The scene swiftly moves on and here

we see the use of the establishing shot

to create the awareness to the

audience that the character is now in a

bedroom. We see the character still in

excitement as he idiotically teases

himself in front of the mirror. This again

builds up the comical approach to this

film. We also see the stereotypical

setting of a males room as it is quite

cluttered. We also see a blue being

quite prominent in this scene

emphasising the stereotype of a males

room as blue is overseen as a male

colour.

The director in collaboration with editor uses

the effect of jump cut to shows quick

changes between to scenes. This is used to

show the character trying on different attires

as he wants to look perfect. We start to see

that his date should arrive any moment as

the character takes a look at his watch and

is fully dressed for his date. His generally

attitude changes in these shots which

connotes he has calmed down either

because his nervous or he generally wants

to act mature in front of his date.

In this scene the whole atmosphere

and changes with the pace of the

music slowing down. This

automatically makes the audiences

generally mood change as they

know something has gone wrong

just by the sound. With the visuals

the director uses a clock as an

overlay faded upon another shot

showing how the character is

making phone calls while laying on a

bed which connotes his been doing

it for so long that he cannot be

bothered to sit up and make the

phone call.

Non-diegetic sound is used to

connote to the audience that no one

is answering the phone as we here

the following, „the number your

trying to call cannot be recognised‟

this connotes that his date is

completely ignoring him and by now

the audience feel sympathetic

towards the character.

The director builds up the sad atmosphere

even further by adding more upsetting

scenes. Close up is used to shows the

despair and disappointment the characters

feeling as there's a focal point towards his

face. The director also emphasises the

characters feeling of loneliness as his been

stood up for a date by having him sit alone

at the dinner table while he stares at the

other end which is completely empty. This

makes the audience keep feeling

sympathetic towards the character.

The atmosphere drastically changes with the upbeat tempo increasing in the non diegetic score music. We also see quite a lot of aggression shown as the character eats, from the way he holds his knife and folk tightly to how quick each shot changes which connotes the character is eating expeditiously. Even through the aggression we see glimpses of humour when the character finishes his food he goes to the food that he prepared for his date, which connotes the stereotypical view of men being greedy and eat much more than women.

The characters aggression continues as he quickly consumes a bottle of wine often related to a symbol of a romantic date. This connotes the character doesn‟t want to see anything which keeps reminding him of the date which he has been stood up for. We see various shots in a matter of few seconds again showing us the pace in which he consumed the wine which can be overseen with his feelings as he quickly wants the pain to go away. A mid shot has been shown to us by the director in order to show us how the loneliness has left him upset and depressed. The lighting as changed with only one lamp on in the background giving it a touch of darkness which is down excellently to show us the feeling his feeling deep down.

We see the character receive a text,

which creates an enigma to who

might this be as a close up shows the

character also deeply thinking who

this may be. At this point of time the

music is at a steady pace and hasn‟t

changed tempo which takes away

the feeling from the audience that it

may be his date texting him. A clever

technique used by the editor to

disguise the end and shock the

audience.

The shocking truth is revealed to us and the tempo of the non diegetic score music drastically becomes upbeat almost reflecting on the heartbeat of the character who has be the creator of his own downfall for his date. The close up emphasises the shock to the character. The director also shows us the clock which shows us the character has two minutes till his date arrives and he has ate everything which was set for the date. The conventions of a date going wrong in the comedy genre often has someone coming late and the other foolishly devouring all the food.

Towards the end the director keeps the upbeat tempo going however the sound level slowly fades out as the characters date is close by. We get a final look at the character who is presented to be in distress that he has no time to undo his wrongs. The film ends there with a blank screen leaving the audience to imagine what his fate is with his date and leaving the whole conclusion as a cliff hanger with film ending on the sound of a doorbell. The credits are shown but the font and colours are not to extravagant instead there straight forward, similar to the general fluency of the whole film in terms of storyline and editing.