The ForGotten One
Short Film Textual Analysis
“Colourbleed” by Peter Szewczyk is a short film made in the UK and was produced in 2011. The short film starts off with a stereotypical teenage girl vandalising the street wall. This was shown through the close up. The protagonist is portrayed as a “rebellious girl” as she has colourful hair, tattoos and piercings. The bold multi-coloured streaks in her hair resemble the graffiti on the wall. This makes it seem as though she is an outcast to the real world, this is because of the mise-en-scene of the character, and she is portrayed as colourful whereas the real world is seen as black and white.
The girl is also shown through the medium shot of her in her bedroom. the mise-en-scene of the low-key lighting is important as the dark tones to the medium shot emphasise the previous ideas that the audience had. This means that the representation is still ongoing, as this is later on in the short film, suggesting the director wants the audience to feel this way towards her. This repetition suggests to the audience that the bird is significant in the narrative. I think that this medium shot of the bird is also a way of conveying the fantasy genre as the bird is exaggerated in comparison with the rest of the shot. By this point there is also non-diegetic music which is slow with a melancholic tone which acts as the representation of the city
There is then an establishing shot of the street which switches to a close up of when she turns her head and there is a clear shot of the tattoo of a colourful bird on the side of her neck, which is important to the story later on. Then there is an interior shot of a place that could be public services or someplace similar. The camera then switches to a close up shot of the girl’s hand on a piece of paper and the old lady hitting it with the ink stamp. She then walks home only to see her hand is deteriorating because of the ink. Her feet enter the shot and seem uneasy, her boots are black and scuffed, and stand out from the mainstream clothing seen on other characters. In the next scene we see the girl cuts her hand to see if she can get rid of the ink, her hand starts bleeding different colours.
This key element of the special effects is colourful, which is a vast contrast to the city. Also the director showed this through the mid shot in which the facial expression of the girl conveys fear. Therefore, the audience mirrors these emotions and starts to feel scared for her.
The final shot in the film is a medium shot zoomed out to a long, low angle shot of a girl and her mother looking up at a brick wall amused. The shot shows a painted bird, which we as the audience immediately recognises from the girls tattoo and the bird from out of the window. They were both significant shots in the short film. The long shot suggests that the girl has achieved what she wanted and left her mark on the city, as the city before was dull and miserable.
The special effects in the short film are all based on colour. The conventions of a short film in the way that they make the audience feel entertained and emotionally attached to the young girl. The young girl’s life does not change, however she does leave her mark in the city when her signature hummingbird is painted on the wall where she last was. A shallow depth of field is also used, changing focus for the audience possibly flicking from what she is seeing and the reality of the city which she seems not to be in. The scene when she is getting stamped, and the colourful bird gets introduced to us, is when there are P.O.V and shallow depth of field camera functions are being used. This feels to me the jumping from being in her own world back into the reality of the city and the other people in the room. The title 'Colour Bleed,' appears with brightly coloured text, then quickly changes into black with the ink running down the wall in a sharp jagged line. This is symbolic in the way that it appears on the wall and the running of the ink summaries what happens to the girl in the short film.
Lois Kwakye
About A Girl
In the beginning of the film, they use a low angle with the mise-en-scene of low-key lighting where we see the protagonist dancing and hear a diegetic sound of the girl singing. This shot is used to grab the audience’s attention when viewing the short film. We also see an establishing shot; this is to show that the protagonist is isolated and lonely.
There were jump cuts being used in the short film when she was walking through the canal. This was used between a close up and a medium close-up and a medium shot. There is a two shot of when the girl was talking to her dad in the café. It explains their actions as well as their facial expressions and body language. As we can see the dad is holding a prop of a newspaper to show that he isn’t listening to what the girl talks about how her mum would not buy her anything because she has no money it goes to an over as it is foreshadowing what was being said the scratch card. The scratch card shows that she hasn’t got a lot of money, as you can see the determination of the mother’s facial expression. At the end of the film it shows a close-up of the girl dropping the bag into the canal then it transfers to a low angled shot under the water.
The film ends with an aerial shot, showing the girl walking off. All the shots in this scene try to set a mood and they show the emotion on the girls face. Throughout the film we see that there are ambient sounds of the environment. Also the shots become less bleak and some colour is shown. This may be representative of her relief following the dumping of the baby.As the girl speaks of a certain event in a particular, false manner, there are often jump cuts to the reality of that scene.Long shots with cuts are often used when she is not speaking to emphasis her loneliness and pace the piece effectively.
Moreover, in the scene where the girl and her friends are on the bus singing “Oops I did it again” by Britany Spears resembles the actions that she committed. Another girl states “I’m not that innocent” can comply that she has done something beyond her boundaries, yet she is proud about it. The majority of the shots are filmed along a canal, with the girl constantly walking along. This may give the audience a sense that they are getting a ‘tour’ of the area. The protagonist also has a strong attitude and also swears, which is unusual coming from a young girl. This emphasises her poor upbringing and social class, although she does have a strong set of dreams and aspirations however it is highly unrealistic. She is portrayed as lonely throughout the film. She appears to be particularly independent but at the same time vulnerable and naive, as she says her mother is ‘tight’ with money, when really she is unlikely to have this money in the first place. She makes the audience feel like they know her well as she tells several sub-stories of her life. This adds to the shock at the end.
By Lois Kwakye
In the beginning of the film, “Black button” the audience gets faced with a quote from the bible. The mise- en-scene of the high-key lighting from the white background portrays to the audience that that the environment is trying to portray that the characters are purgatory. The colour white connotes with purity and holiness. This immediately explains suggests to the audience that the short film will be based on life and death. The film is followed with a smooth transition showing the title. This slow transition allows the audience to reflect back at the quote and linking it back to the film. The film starts off with a mid-shot of a man wearing a black suit who is sitting on an oversized chair talking to a confused and frightened man. The size of the chair helps the audience recognize the power and importance of the man sitting on it. Also, the colour of his chair stands out boldly. The colour of his suit creates a sense of evil and darkness. Altogether, these factors create the dominant personality of this character. We begin to hear diegetic sound of dialogue where both the characters have a forceful conversation. Also the mise-en-scene of the item of clothing the protagonist was wearing is a white shirt The colour white represents purity and innocence. This alone could create the personality for the character however, the size of the chair he is sitting on adds to this and shows to the audience that he is in a lower state of power compared to the man in the black suit. We later get a deep focus on the black button.
As the film goes on, the man in the black suit begins to persuade the other character to press the button. This then causes the character to become confused. This is shown by the use of quick cuts between him and his two options, to press the button and take the cash or take the key and walk away. The audience gets closeup shots of the key,button and suitcase. This could of been done to create a sense that he is so close now to making a decision. Also, the quick cut effect allows the audience to place themselves in his shoes and feel the pressure he is going through. Also, this scene is backed up by fast paced music. This helps raise the tension in the film. After the button is pressed, the man gets close to take the money and leave. However, the dominant man grabs his hand and brings him closer. This is when we get a closeup shot of both the characters faces. This could have been done to show that at last they confront each other and finally the story unravels. Here we find out that the man is actually dead. this followed by quick cuts that are blurry and also in black and white. This was done to make the audience recognise that it is a flashback of what happened. Blood begins to pout down the protagonist's face, allowing the audience to understand that what may have have been a dream happened to him in real life because he chose condemnation. The majority of the film was shown through shot reverse shot. This is because there were two people in the short film who were having a conversation.
By Lois Kwakye
Guilt
The first visuals the audience are presented with is a over the sholder shot which allows the audience member to receive a full on perspective on what the actor is able to see. Through the mise-en-scene of props, the blood that is smeared across the windscreen is a typical thriller convention as well as a pychological convention which in this case, smeared across the windscreen make the audience think that maybe a murder has just taken place.
Within this scene, there was the use of low-key lighting. Low-key lighting is essential to a psychological thriller aas it adds a sense of mystery to the scene. This setting is quite isolated which is also common within psychological thriller which also adds an eerie atmosphere to the film.
Through the mise-en-scene of props, fake blood was used. The fact that the blood is smeared across the hand as well as the windscreen in the previous scene could suggest that there was a 'hit and run'. The way the hand is placed out in front of him suggests a sense of confusion as if to say 'what happened?'
All throughout this short film the use of the camera being canted created a sence of confusion within the scene hich is a typical psychological thriller. The use of low-key lighting is used throughout which could represent the dark psyche of this character.
About a Girl
There was then the use of a wide shot which showed only the silhouette of the girl. The use of the wide shot allowed the audience to see that this character was isolated from everything, also thought the mise-en-scene of lighting, the was the use of low-key lighting which gave the effect of a silhouette. There was nothing but the girl and the digetic music. The fact that we were unable to see this character clearly gives off a sense of mystery around this character which attracts the audience to the film more.
The costume is very simple; tracksuit bottoms, gold-hooped earrings, slicked back hair gives off the implications of a ‘chavy’ character, someone with low status. Through the mise-en-scene of dialogue, the girl is very fast spoken which could implicate that she could be trying to get past a hidden message that she doesn’t want anybody to hear. Also the use of the fast paced dialogue could convey to the audience that this character feels confident in what she’s saying that she doesn’t have to give it much thought. The use of jump cuts between the girls dialogue could add to the girls shifting speech. The jump cuts could represent that this character has an uneasy, complicated life.
Each time the camera shows a close up on the girl, it then turns into a flashback which represents the daily events that take place in the girl’s life. This is effective as it gives the audience more of an insight to the girl’s life. The first flashback that we are introduced to is the young girl with her mum and her siblings. There was the use of a deep depth of focus as the girl was set in the forefront shows the distant relationship between mother and daughter. Through the mise-en-scene of props, the mother was using a scratch card which could convey that the mother is trying to escape from her financial difficulties.
The next scene begins with a hand-held camera, shot with a close up of this young Manchurian girl talking to the camera. Through the mise-en-scene of dialogue the audience are automatically able to pick up on the regional identity that is represented to us. Through the mise-en-scene of location we can see that this part of Manchester that the film is based in is quite ‘run down’. The fact that we are able to see a small ‘run down’ estate portrays to the audience that this girl could come from a working class background. Through the mise-en-scene of costume, it also hints to the audience the background this girl was brought up in.
‘About A Girl’ is a short film set in an estate in Manchester. The film is set out like a documentary based on a 13 year old girl protagonist.
The film begins with the title being typed up upon a blank screen as it appears in the form of a ‘text’ font. Along with this was the use of the sound effect of beeping which resembled the sound of a phone. The use of this non-digetic sound effect enables the audience to piece together that this film could be based around a teenager, and from the title About a Girl the audience get the idea that the film is based around a teenaged girl.
We then get an insight into the relationship the girl as with her father, which takes place in a café. Her father isn’t spending much time with her as he is more interested in his newspaper. The girl then explains to us the audience that she goes to watch her dad play football on Sundays. There is then a jump cut to the scene of her dad playing football in the park. There was the use f a reverse zoom which showed the girl isolated, sitting in front of the pub, singing while you can hear the digetic sound of the football match in the background. Here an observation can be made that the dad has made the decision to neglect his own daughter.
We then see another flashback of the girl on the bus with her friends singing the Britney Spears song “Oops, I Did It Again”. At this point in the film, we actually witness the girl enjoying herself. She then sings the line “I’m not that innocent” which hints to the audience that she in fact is not innocent, which is later revealed in the film.
There is then a jump cut to the next scene. The editing becomes a lot more slower compared to other scenes in the film which could portray something serious will be shown to us. There was also the use of a long bird’s eye view and we hear the girl narrating to us that she is “dead good at hiding things” which we know through her telling us that she hid a dog from her mother and throwing it into the canal. We eventually find out what the girl was hiding in the white carrier bag. It was a baby. It becomes a shocking event to the audience as this young character can undergo nine months pregnancy and go unnoticed. This emphasises to the audience that she was in fact neglected. Through the mise-en-scene of props, the carrier bag emphasises that this character doesn’t care about the fact that she’s walking around with a dead baby.
It then cuts into a long shot of the girl walking away from the canal while singing, which gives off the impression that what she did was normal, as if nothing ever happened. However her facial expression at the end comes across to the audience that something else is on her mind.
By Renae West
The short film Paralyzed written by Jeffery Reddick and directed by Aaron Sims based on a horrific experience with sleep paralysis. The film opens up with a blank screen, which then later transpires into a fade in of the title of the film “Paralyzed”
Paralyzed
We then saw the use of a medium close-up on the female characters face, conveying a sense of confusion. The effectiveness of the medium close up allows the audience to get a sense of the emotions from the character therefore allowing the audience to question a characters emotions or sympathise for them. We then heard a non-digetic sound effect of a dial tone which corresponds with the dialogue used by the female saying “please let me know where you are”.
The audience is then taken into the room of a motel in which there is low-key lighting on one half of the man’s face and the other half is in high-key lighting, thus creating a ‘sinister’ look to this male character. Also, through the mise-en-scene of facial expressions, the male actor looks distraught as if he’s had no sleep, which could link in with the theme of paralysis. The man doesn’t want to go back to sleep as he feels trapped.
The dialogue used between the two actors had a serious tone to it. The male actor says “I couldn’t spend another night there” signifying that this ‘thing’ is truly troubling. The dialogue was then followed by an over the shoulder shot to show the facial expressions used by the female character which conveyed a look of confusion as well as horror. There was a shallow depth of focus of the male character placing his hand around his neck followed by him saying “It was chocking me”. The effectiveness of the shallow focus makes the man’s actions our primary focus.
In the next scene there was the use of a pan shot from left to right to which gives the audience a better view of the setting which seems to be a motel. Through the mise-en-scene of lighting, there was low-key lighting present outside which is one of the main conventions used in psychological thrillers which created shadows and a tense atmosphere within this scene. Following the low-key lighting was a non-digetic crescendo of a score, which also created a tense atmosphere for the audience. There was the use an over the shoulder shot when the female character knocked on the door. A male character then opened the door which then conveyed a contrast between the mid-key lighting (from outside) and the low-key lighting (from inside the house) thus, creating an idea within the audiences mind that the outside is pure away from evil, contrasting with the low-key lighting in the house, crating an idea that the house has an ‘evil entity’.
While the female character was waiting for door to open, there was the use of a hand held camera. The hand held camera denotes the unsteadiness of this character, allowing the audience members to embark on the same feelings as the female character. Shallow focus was also present within this scene, thus making the female character primarily our focus in this scene.
The audience is then taken to the next scene through the use of a jump cut. It appears to us that something moved behind the shower curtain, and through a reaction shot, which effectively places the audience into the shoes of the male character, allowing us to react the same time as him. There was a close up of a blade which could be an omen, suggesting that something bad is going to happen.
In the final scene there was the use of digetic cacophony sound, which included a high pitch frequency coming from the radio and then playing a 50’s era styled music. As well as the digetic cacophony, the sound was also contrapuntal as there seemed to be a ‘demon’ ready to attack the female character; the scary actions that were taking place deliberately contrast with the song which included lyrics about ‘love’.
By Renae West
The short film ‘About a Girl’ is a drama genre and was directed by Geoff Boyle. It uses mise en scene editing sound and camera angles to show a range of representations and deeper meanings within the short film ‘About a Girl’.
Camera angles are used to show different representations in the short film. The film starts and ends with an establishing shot. The one in the beginning has more low-key lighting, which is a function of mise en scene; this could be used to show that she may have been burdened with something or had something in her head weighing her down this contrasts to the establishing shot used at the end of the short film which uses more ambient lighting. This could be used to show how she may have felt trapped by the thought of having the child, as the baby that was thrown into the water may have been hers.
In addition to this long shots were used when she was around other people such as her parents. This could have been done to show how she compares to them. This could be used to represent how she differed to her parents and other adults both physically in size and also how she was seen to be inferior to them and less significant. This could explain why she may have done what she done with the baby, and if the baby was hers it explains why she wanted to be pregnant, she may have felt that having a baby was the only way of her showing she was not a kid which she said in the scene with her dad using diegetic sound of dialogue, or even just a way to get the much needed attention from her parents. This is supported by the use of shallow depth of field used in the scene when she was with her mum. The use of shallow depth of field may have been used to show how her and her mum both live their own realities and the lack of mother and daughter connection. This idea is reinforced through mise en scene and the use of character positioning and proxemics, which were used to show the distance in the relationship between the girl and her mother.
Furthermore the use of a hand help camera when she was walking along the path could have been used to represent the conflict and confusion that was going through her head at the time. This linked with the numerous jump shots leading up the her throwing the bag containing the baby into the water could be used to represent her jumping between two states of mind or even having two separate conversation with the audience, this linked with the use of sound through the pace and tone of her voice may be used to show that she doesn't really want to reveal what she is going through and she doesn't want to make an issue out of what she is about to do. This could also be used to almost embed the story of her throwing away a dead child into the water into a normal and almost every day conversation. This could also be used to represent her class and regional identity by showing a white working class girl from Manchester, the representation would be her having to grow up before her time, having to be tough skinned through the many hardship she may face and taking things how they come, this is an almost perfectly illustrated through the storyline of the short film ‘About a Girl’ by her putting the dead baby in a white plastic bag, this use of mise en scene through props is make to show her hiding and extraordinary event (The death and dumping of the baby) in a ordinary, mundane white plastic bag, effectively showing how she masks the harsh realities of her life.
By Jean Rwamihigo
About A Girl
Echoes Is a short film of the psychological thriller genre. It was written and directed by Christian Doran. The short film has officially been chosen to feature as part of ‘Dark passages’ web series (2015) and was also winners of audience choice for best VFX and also best Cinematography at the LCA film Festival 2015.This film uses a wide array of media conventions such as; sound, editing, camera angles and mise en scene to show different media representations.
Echoes
Sound is used in the short film Echoes to contrast mental instability and what is happening in reality. Thought the short film Crescendos are used. These are used for a number of reasons. Firstly it is used before danger to build tension and alert the audience that a key part of the scene is about to take place. This was apparent in the scene where the character in the white overalls (mise en scene – Costume) was seen to enter the scene and stand over the girl on the bed, the use of parallel sound was also apparent in this scene. The sight of her dying was heightened by the non-diegetic sound being played over the sound. Crescendos were also used alongside diegetic ambient sound to show a state of confusion within the character, sounds began to overlap which could have been used to represent the characters altered mind set. Ambient sound was also used effectively in this short film. Ambient sound was used to add a sense of reality to the scenes, for example the people playing outside, this made the film relatable to the audience as they are sounds that they are used to hearing. Contrapuntal sound was used in the film over the dinner table, a harsh sound track was played over the soft friendly ambient diegetic sound of dialogue. This could have been to show the audience that what was happening in the characters head was far from reality, she was living her own harsh bitter reality.
Mise en scene was also used to show a number of representations throughout the short film. Character positioning in the scene was used effectively to show the significance of the main character and to constantly remind the audience that we were almost viewing her reality adding more focus to the character. This was done by mainly positioning her centre of the scene or either on the left of the right intersections of the scenes (rule of thirds). Low key lighting was also used when the main character stepped away from the table. This alongside the ambient diegetic sound of dialogue “I need to see you” adds an element of mystery and tension. It also physically looks like she is trapped in darkness which has connotations of death and lifelessness. This may lead the audience to ask who she wants to see again.
Finally the choice of costume also held a number if representations. In one of the scenes the ‘boyfriend’ is dressed in a red shirt, this has connotations of blood and danger, he also had a white overall on top of that, and the colour white holds connotations such as peace and purity. This could have been done to show how one of the main characters personalities saw the boyfriend as a danger and the other nearer the end saw the ‘boyfriend’ as a friendly force trying to help her after the appears to have overdosed. This could show how the unstable side of her personality saw things differently and took things differently to how they were in reality.
Camera angles were also used to show representations. An over the shoulder shot was used to see the character and her duplicate persona. This was effective because it allowed you too see both characters and still look like is was from the POV of one of them. This was useful as it engrossed the audience and allowed them to see the situation through the view of one of the characters personas. A hand held shot was used in the scene where the character was in the park. This could have been used to represent the characters shaky and disrupted state of mind, it gives a visual stimulus on how the characters mental state is currently, and it represents her as disturbed. A number of mid shots where also used, this was useful as it allowed the audience to get a grasp of the location, an example of this was an early scene of the main character in the bathroom looking in the mirror.
Allowing the audience to see the location adds reality to the short film this makes it relatable and may make it seem like what the character is going through can happen to the or someone close to home. The rule of thirds along side a MCU was used to allow the audience to focus on the characters facial expression and attracts the audience to give more focus to the character.
A number of editing techniques were used in the short film to show a number of representations. Duplicating the character and having the same character in the same scene preforming different actions add the psychological aspect to the film. I could have been used to show how the character lives in two separate entities. Her condition may cause her to feel like she lives two separate lives or make her feel like her internal self is watching over her. A number of jump cuts were also used this could have also been used to reflect the characters state of mind, this was further reinstated by the use of face paced editing in the scene that jumps from location to relation, this could have been done to express to the audience that the character is living may different lives and she is constants jumping between them. Adding visual of people on reflective surfaces such as windows and mirrors was used constantly throughout the short film. This could have been done to give a visual representation to the audience on what was going through her head.
Jean Rwamihigo
The opening shot is a wide shot of a profile of a girl dancing. The wide shot here shows the young girls isolation due to her being alone in a field with just her and her music. We see the young girl singing and dancing which show her youthfulness of being energetic with represents to us her innocence as a youth. However, the fact that she is alone in a field dancing by myself may mean she has self-conscious issues as she isn’t singing in front of her family and peers. This is reinforced by her singing the lyric ‘My loneliness ain’t killing me no more’ which then later on we find out that the lyrics relate to her life and situation.
'About a girl'
The opening title of ‘About a girl’ is presented in a text-like font which is related to the younger generation. As this title is presented it is accompanied by the non-diegetic sound of beeping as each button is pressed. This gives us a representations of the age of the character we are about to see.
The atmosphere in this scene is very dull and grey which is due to the lack of colour and the naturalistic low-key lighting again reinforces the young girls’ situation. However, the young girl then goes on to say ‘But now I’m stronger than yesterday’ which infers that as the days go by her situation may be getting better but her voice which sounded slightly weak while she was singing it makes us think that perhaps her situation isn’t getting better but she’s just hoping it does.
A jump-cut is used to go onto the next scene of a hand-held close ups of the same young girl talking towards the camera. The girl has strong Manchurian accent which represents her regional identity. The young girl is wearing hooped earing’s and a light pink bomber jacket which gives us the idea that she is a ‘chav’. This is strengthened by her walking through an estate which gives the representation of her lower-class status.
During this scene, the young girl continuous to look at the camera and continues to direct her speech to the camera. This show realism.
While the young girl is speaking we see flashbacks of her day-to-day life. One flashback is of the young girl walking in front of her mother who is sanding still n front of a pram, scratching a scratch card. This shows that perhaps the mother is in need of money to perhaps get out the cycle of deprivation. During this shot the young girl is present during the shot but she is out of focus, which shows that during that moment her mother is more significant in this scene.
Another relationship we see is the young girl and her father which is shown by a wide shot of them in a café. The girls’ father is referred to as a ‘bastard’; the informal meaning of ‘bastard’ is an unpleasant person, which leads to be the case for the young girl’s father. Judging by the distance between the father and daughter and the girl’s bored face it seems like the girl doesn’t enjoy being around her father also it shows that father doesn’t care to be around her daughter either as he is only interested in the newspaper. During this scene there is a lot of red such as red chairs, red cola cans and the red lighting. Red connotes danger and angry which could perhaps be a hint about the relationship these two characters have.
The ending of this short film is of a girl walking down a canal beginning to talk about childhood stories of her and r brother. Once again the general mise-en-scene throughout is kept very washed out and bland which represents the lifestyle the young girl is living.
As the young girl walks along the canal she continues to have a conversation with the viewers almost as if they’re side to side which creates an emotional connection between the character and the viewer.
The conversation starts of jokey and less serious but as the conversation continues it gives more serious and negative and while this is happening the lighting/colour begins to fade as if the audience should be ready for something bad to occur.
The young girl then takes to a stop and becomes very still and emotionless. We then see the girl overlooking the canal from a high-angle as she drops a white plastic bag into the canal and starts to walk away. Soon after the viewer discovers that the young girl’s stillborn bag is in the bag, which is shown as, the bag is unrevealed and the baby sinks into the water.
By Tyanna Nelson
'The Open Door'
The first scene is a black and white establishing shot with a ‘pan’ movement showing the opening location and setting the scene. We then move on to see a canted shot of a women walking down the road wearing work attire but once again, the colour of this scene is again in black and white, which implies secrecy and curiosity for the viewer. This establishing shot shows the isolation of the location, which is a thriller convention of where bad things happen.
Moving towards the end of the short film, we see the women laying in bed wearing a white silk rope which represents purity and sexiness which differed to her wearing a facial mask with cucumbers covering her eyes. A mask is an additional convention of a thriller.
The opening scene starts of with a classical music sound bridge, which is accompanied by a black screen with white credits fading to black then the opening title appearing. This automatically gives a contrast affect as classical music gives of a happy atmosphere which has a representation of being the colour white, so when the black screen appeared it makes viewers confused and question if there is some type of twist.
As the short film goes on, the first shot of the next scene is an out of focus shot of a women opening the door to her house. The fact that it is out of focus shows confusion, which could be an perception to the women’s home life.
Then this scene moves onto a close up of a door closing while making the diegetic sound of the door closing (cricking sound) soon after this scene jump cuts to the sound of a slamming knife. We soon go on to see that the woman is chopping up cucumbers. The fact that the knife is so long and sharp represents a sense of danger, threat and death. This is also another convention of thriller film.
The ending scene is of a figure standing on top of the stairs which seems to be the women. The mixture of the low-key lighting, the shadow in the background and majority of the scene being dark in the colour black reinforces the mysterious of the film.