Short film: SIGNS

Why i chose this film?

I didn't know where to start looking for short films, so I went on youtube and hoped for the best. This was the first film I clicked on. After watching it I thought, this would be a good film to analyse.

Textual Analysis

The location of this short film is set in america. The setting seems like it is a busy place, however the main character isn't part of that busy hype. Throughout this film, he is more of a nobody rather than a busy body. It is a real life location, it is set in 2 main settings, one being the guys apartment, the other being his workplace, however there are snippets of other settings e.g. on the tube to work, and in a park on a bench. The guy wears the same grey suit everyday, which shows his life is very repetitive. The lighting is pretty dim all throughout the film.

The establishing shot of the film is of the guy in the bed. It is an aerial shot, meaning it is shot from above. It shows the guy in bed by himself spaced out as he just opens his eyes. Straight away we are given the inclination that this is the main character. During the film, the main guy meets a lady, who works in the next building, just below his office. He can see her through his window when he looks down and she see's him when she looks up. This is shown through the camera angles used. There are high angles and low angles to represent the distance between them both. 

I suppose the props they use in this short film is the pieces of paper that both characters use to write on as they communicate with each other through the windows. The paper plays an important role in this short film, as it is how the message is shown.

The first few shots are seamless, as they switch from watching him get out of bed, to getting ready, eating breakfast, and then on the way to work. They all follow one another in a clean order. There are no fades or slow motion pieces in the film.

This film has been very clever with sound, as the only sounds that are used is the background music that has been edited in, and the sounds of everyday life and other characters. The two main characters, the guy and the girl, do not have any dialogue however they have the biggest parts to play. The director has thought of another way for them to convey their message which is through writing on paper. I thought this was very clever and it made the film more interesting to see what they would say to each other without the use of words. Also, the background music has been edited to play along with the sequence of the film. For example at the start of the film, the music is very slow and boring and suggests that the guy is also very boring. However, as the film progresses and his life gets interesting, he meets the girl, the music starts to pick up and get happier.

Genre

I think the genre of this film is love. It is a short film about communication and being able to find love when you least expect it if you just follow the 'signs'. 

Audience

Through doing some research on this film I came across a Facebook page for this short film. It seems that this film is widely known and enjoyed by many, even those of a different origin. As there is no dialogue, there isn't much of a need to understand English I suppose, just watching the film through you can understand the concept.

Also this film has 105, 157 likes just on Facebook which shows its popularity. On you tube it has over 7 million hits.

Below is some of the reviews and ratings that audience have given this film after watching it.

Context

This film was released in March of 2008. The studio used was 'radical.media and publics mojo productions'. It has been described as a sweet film about communication and finding love when you least expect it. It stars actor Nick Russell and actress Kestie Morsaai.

This film was directed by Patrick Hughes who also helped with the screenplay alongside Karl Fleet & Nick Worthington. Patrick Hughes also has his own feature film out, his first, called 'red hill'. It was produced by Victoria Conners-Bell.