Short film analysis

Short Film analysis

·         Cinematography                                                             

·         Editing

·         Mise en scene

·         Sound

How they represent a certain genre?

·         Narrative/Story

·         Character

·         Title/Credit sequence

"Stitches"

Director-Ben Kent
Producer-Ben Franklin
Director of Photography- Jonny Franklin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji4ZdqewhEA

 A fade in is used to set the scene and shows a garden with desaturated lighting to create an ominous atmosphere. You can see a teddy bear with a balloon tied to it which could infer that it might be someone’s birthday or someone having a party. Incidental music is used and straight away gives you the chills, especially with the teddy bear in scene. The balloon links in with clowns.

 Fast paced editing is used to show what could possibly be an aftermath of a party, in this scene you can see fallen party cups, dolls, clown drawings, and scary toys. In between these there is also a jump cut to a person’s face screaming. Lighting has changed from desaturated colours to saturated which gives off an odd impression as the music is juxtaposed with the things mentioned in the scene.

 In this scene it shows the title of the short film called “Stitches”. You can see that the title of the film slowly appears in red and seems to be sewn on which fits in with the title. The colour red connotes danger so this clearly gives away the genre of the film.

 A straight cut is used onto this scene where a woman is seen to be banging on something while hearing off-screen diegetic sound of the phone ringing. Later on you can see that she is banging on the TV to fix the signal. Low-key lighting is used to create a chilling atmosphere. You can see birthday cards and banners implying that it is someone’s birthday. A close up is used on the woman and dialogue is first heard. She nervously says “I’m coming I’m coming” whilst turning her head as the phone repeatedly rings which could signify fear.

 In this scene a POV shot could’ve been used to illustrate to the audience that someone or something is watching her as she is talking on the phone. You can also hear off-screen diegetic sound of leaves rustling which further cements the idea that there is something out there lurking. It turns out that there’s no one on the phone and it cuts off.

 Later, the phone rings again and ‘Mr. Stevens’ is talking to her on the phone and we find out that she is a babysitter. While she is writing down a number which Mr. Stevens has told her to, the camera cuts back to the TV and it changes to the news while she’s not watching. It warns that there is an escaped patient and tells everyone to be vigilant. The TV then changes back to another channel due to the bad signal just when she looks back. This implies that she is unaware of the situation.

 In this scene a close up of the woman’s feet walking up the stairs is used as she goes to check on Ryan who she thinks has woken up. Non-diegetic suspenseful music is used to build up tension and provoke an unsettling feeling which makes the audience intrigued.

 As she gets to the top of the stairs you can see a door slightly opened with off-screen diegetic sound of the water running. She quickly opens the door to find out that the bath tap is running but Ryan is not there which immediately tells us that something is not right.

 A close-up of her face is used to show that she is petrified as she sprints to the tap to turn it off when a shadow quickly runs past the door accompanied with non-diegetic major key music to make us jump. Shallow focus is used to show the shock on her face.

 A close-up is used again with low-key lighting to create an eerie atmosphere. Climatic music builds up as she turns around the corner to find that Ryan is stood there holding a balloon. She lets out a sigh of relief because it was only Ryan and walks up to him telling him “I’ve told you about this Ryan, back to bed” taking the red balloon off him. The colour red connotes danger and might foreshadow that something bad will happen. Ryan is seen to be looking at something and is alarmed.

 A long shot is used to show the woman walking down a dark hallway with incidental music to set an unnerving scene. She walks into another bedroom and switches on the TV. Chiaroscuro lighting has been used because you can see a silhouette of her and the balloon which makes it mysterious.

 A mid-shot is used with shallow focus as the phone suddenly rings again. Mr. Stevens asks Rachel if everything is okay and replies that everything is good while glancing round the bedroom.

 A POV shot is used from the clown’s perspective which we saw sat down on a chair next to the bed as she stood up. This clearly infers that there is something up with the clown. Non-diegetic major key music is also used to build mystery. It shows that she is completely oblivious of the clown.

 A mid-shot is used and shows that she has seen the clown. She mentions to Mr. Stevens about the life-size clown he has for his collection but he quickly tells her that he doesn’t have one. Straight away this makes the audience shocked.

A low angle is used on the clown to infer that Rachel is inferior to the clown and is disadvantaged as the clown has a big meat cleaver in his hand. You can see that the clown’s face is disfigured which conveys terror. You can hear the diegetic sound of Rachel screaming for her life as the clown is approaching her. The screen then cuts to black which suggests that she is dead while hearing Mr. Stevens calling out for Rachel through the phone suggesting that he is oblivious at the situation.