Short film: MEMORIES

Why I chose this video?

I chose this video because I think for only being 2 minutes long, it gives off such a powerful vibe that you want to keep watching. Its very moving and cleverly put together.

Textual Analysis

The location of this film is in a normal street. It seems to be a cold wintery day as the character is wrapped up in a coat. The guy is dressed normally, trousers and coat, he looks like a normal man. During the film there are props in the form of undeveloped picture reels. Although the video is in colour, it is very drained so it is near enough black and white. The colours are very miserable and makes the film feel cold and depressed. 

The establishing shot of this film is of the main character at the zebra crossing. He is walking alone with his hands in his pockets, he seems very shut off to the rest of the world. 

During the film there is many different shots. There are low angle shots looking on the floor when the man picks the picture reels up from the ground. There are also zoom in's, when the camera focuses in on a point, for example in the film, the camera zooms in on the characters eyes. There are many other single shots of different things as the film goes on, for example of the guys house, and the nature around the house where the picture reels lie, and inside the home there are different shots.

The editing is very seamless in this video, there are no sharp cuts, it has all been put together smoothly. There are many dissolves in this film as the guy has flashbacks when looking at the picture reels. The editing has been cleverly done to show this pastime of thought through the fading in and out. 

The picture below shows the fade which represents the flashback.

There is also something called a dissolve in this film. This is when, the editor has blended a mix of images, over each other to imply the day has passed. This happens about a minute into the film when the guy has found more and more picture reels. 

The only sound in this film is the sounds of the music and the diegetic sounds of the natural background e.g. cars, wind, walking. There is no dialogue in this move which makes it more interesting to watch because you sort of make up your own dialogue in your head as you watch. 

Genre

This film is a fiction film, it has been written by the director who made this film up. My interpretation of this film is that it is about a man who has nothing but memories in his mind of certain things and they come back to him when he looks through old photos but then the memory disappears again. It could be due to an illness the character has.

Audience

This film was made by students however it is such a captivating story line that the audience for this film could be any age. It is not solely aimed at students. I think those of an elder generation, or even those who know of someone experiencing what the character experiences, would like this film. It is quite a popular film. 

It has 176,212 hits on you tube.

This film was also nominated and won the 'winner of best fiction award at the altered images student post production festival in London 2010'. 

Context

This film was made in 2010, and was written, directed and edited by a student from Buckingham university, who goes by the name of Radoslaw Sienski.