5 Minute Film Analysis By Hayley Outhwaite

The film that I have chosen to analyse as part of my A2 media work is a short 5 minute film named “The game”, I came across this film on YouTube which was created by four A level students as part of their media coursework. This relates to the reason that I chose to analyse this film as I also have to come up with a short 5 minute film with the rest of my group which consists of 3 other members. By examining in detail a 5 minute film created by fellow A level pupils this will benefit me and my group greatly as we will be able to gather ideas such as the various different shots they have used and also their editing techniques.

Here is the link to the short 5 minute film that I chose to analyse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAYWDAD3fnY



The opening couple of seconds of this short film shows a bright circle of light being brought into focus with non-diagetic sound gradually getting louder in the background. The shot quickly changes to a high angle shot of a young boy laid on a blue and white stripy bed with his eyes closed; the non-diagetic sound continues to play throughout this scene which really sets the mood as it makes you feel as if you are waiting for something to happen. In the same shot the young boy slowly opens his eyes then gently lifts his head up so that it eventually goes out of shot almost completely. A low angle shot is then used as the boy is sat upright in bed with his feet perched on the end of the bed, as the shot is at a low angle pointing upwards towards the bed his body is out of proportion. His feet being the closest to the screen look a lot bigger than any other part of his body and his head is around the same size as his big toe this adds an unusual sense to the film. The first use of dialogue is used in this shot in a way that makes the film seem like a monologue “stuck in this confided room, my own version of therapy,” however the young boy’s mouth doesn’t move as the voice is heard, which gives us as the audience the feeling that we are listening to his thoughts out loud. We then see a medium long shot of a plain chocolate brown door, in relation to this the boy then says “There is a door, and I chose not to use it” these two pieces of dialogue that we have heard so far is already getting us guessing what’s going on and asking ourselves questions like why has he locked himself in this room? Is he crazy? This is always a good quality to have in a film as it keeps the audience curious as to what is going to happen next and leaves them wanting to watch the rest of the film. This medium shot of the door is then followed by the same low angle shot as previously used when the young boy is sat upright in bed with his feet on the edge of the bed, however at the end of this shot an eye line match occurs as the boy looks down to the right hand side of him and then the next shot shows an alarm clock reading 9 o’clock this is a good use of continuous editing. From around 9 seconds onwards you notice a change in the non-diagetic sound in the background as a faint beeping noise seems to get louder and more aggressive as the film goes on, then eventually 20 seconds into the film it is revealed that the noise is in fact coming from the alarm clock because when the boy reaches with his hand to turn the alarm off the noise immediately stops, this is a very clever way to use non-diagetic sound as it builds up the suspense in the film.

The next shot shows a close up shot of a chessboard with the boy in the background, both of which are out of focus. However as “I like to play chess” is being said the boy and the chessboard are brought into focus. The boy then continues to speak “a game I have adored since childhood” a close up shot is then used to show the expression on his face has he lets out a sigh, an eye line match occurs again as he looks to his left where the chessboard is situated, this time his head is in the shot however showing him looking at it. The boy then carry’s on speaking about the chessboard “it keeps my mind surrendered, from the dreams” and as the words “from the dreams” are spoken a medium shot is used to show a view of the room that the boy is in, both the bed and the chessboard are shown in this shot, this shot is also an establishing shot as it sets the scene. The boy then moves from his bed to take a seat at the table on which the chessboard is on. An extreme close up is then used to show a camera which the boy then begins to talk about “the camera is part of my therapy, time to change the tape” the next few shots show the process of changing a tape by using a mixture of close up and high angle shots, I find these few shots totally irrelevant to the film. After these few shots however the film starts the get more interesting as the boy says “I forgot to mention my opponent” we then see a point of view shot of what the boy is looking at which is a dark figure sat at the table. The shot then cuts back to show the boys face looking inquisitive as we hear him say “I didn’t expect him back so soon” as these words are heard we also hear a slight ticking noise in the background which is very effective. We then see a full view of the boy and the mysterious figure sat at the table “it’s his move” we hear him say, this makes us curious as to what is going to happen next. A distorted voice is then heard as an over the shoulder shot is used, persisting not to show this mysterious persons face which makes us want to see who it is even more, even though the tone of the voice is very effective it should be more clear as it is hard to work out what he is actually saying. “Ignore his taunts, he’s pathetic” these words make us think that the mysterious person is not going to be a nice character and that maybe he’s not very nice to the young boy. The ticking gradually becomes louder and more forceful as we see a close up shot of a hand twirling a tape around their fingers, then a cut back to a close up shot of the boys face, then another cut back to the hand twirling a chess piece and then this is followed by another cut back to a close up of the boy who rubs his face as if to show that he is aggravated in some way. The same hand is shown again in a close up shot showing it moving a chess piece on the board, an extreme close up is then shown of the boy’s eyes which seem to be fixated onto something until the distorted voice of the person says “your move” and then his eyes change direction to point straight forward and we see him then move a chess piece and claim his opponents piece. Throughout this chess game everything seems very serious and competitive as if they have everything to play for which captures the audience’s attention and keeps them interested. Eventually as it is the mysterious characters turn to move they move their chess piece and then say “you silly silly boy, check mate!” revealing that they have in fact won the game of chess. By now the slight ticking noise in the background is at a much rapid pace, it cuts to an extreme close up of the boys eyes of which give the impression that he is really infuriated about the situation, it then cuts to a shot of his chess pieces and then to his fist which he is clenching. All these shots are building up the tension of the scene until finally a medium shot of the table is shown where the boy fiercely knocks the chessboard onto the floor, at the same time that this occurs the ticking stops and just a steady paced non-diagetic sound continues to play. Following the next few shots the boy eventually says “time for sleep. A rethink” continuous editing is then used to show the boys journey from the table to the bed in the middle of the room. The boy is laid flat on the bed and as he rolls over a close up shot of his face is then shown as he the words “he cannot have won” are heard with an echo effect added which is very effective as it shows that this thought is going round and round in his head. As the word “he cannot have won” are repeated over and over again the screen goes black which leaves the audience anticipating about what is going to happen next.

As the sound of the ocean plays as the screen is still black this gives the viewers the sense that the next scene is going to be somehow related to the ocean, which is exactly right as the following scene is set on a sunny beach. As the first establishing shot of this scene shows the boy laid in the exact same position as he fell asleep in during the previous scene this also gives us the impression that maybe the boy is dreaming. As the boy slowly wakes up continuous editing is used very skilfully to show him gradually getting up from where he is laid on the sandy beach. As the boy then looks around, as if becoming familiar with his new surroundings, the camera immediately moves to the other side of him to show continuity by using a medium shot. Straight after the previous shot a long shot is used to show the boy looking directly forward, this shot is then used again, this time as an extreme long shot however. A very effective use of overlapping follows this, as over the top of the extreme long shot of the boy a medium long shot of the boy walking along the beach is played, gradually taking over the full screen. A low angle shot is then used to look up at the boy who is now stood still looking over the horizon, though out this shot a sort of Arabian style non-diagetic sound kicks in, this then cuts to a point of view shot of a pebbly hill, and then back to the low angle shot of him and finally back again to the pebbly hill, yet this time a head is gradually appearing over the hill. As the head is being revealed from the top of the pebbly hill it cuts back to the boy, however this time it starts as a long shot and by using free hand camera work and fast forwarding the material an effective transition is created as the camera gets closer to the boy ending in a medium shot of his body, at this point an effective sound is used as if to symbolise his heart beating at the sight of the figure appearing from the hill. The next shot shows a medium long shot of the figure that has now fully appeared over the hill walking straight towards the boy, we can now see that this is the same mysterious figure that we previously saw who bet the boy at chess. The next couple of shots cut from the boy to the figure approaching him from the other side of the hill until finally a 180 degree pan shot is used to circulate around the boy to reveal that the figure is now behind him, as this occurs a sound effect is used which sounds just like thunder which is extremely significant as thunder is contemplated as a bad thing and the figure that is stood behind the boy has proved so far to be a bad person too. Part of the mysterious persons face is revealed in the next scene as a close up shot of his mouth is used as he speaks in his distorted voice saying “You ruined our game Allan, now were going to have to play something else” this piece of dialogue reminds me of the popular film saw and so maybe this is where they gathered their ideas from. The boys name is also revealed for the first time in this piece of speech. A long shot is the next shot to be used which is looking over the shoulder of Allan, this shows that he has now turned around to face his opponent once again, this is followed by an extreme close up of the opponent and then we see another long shot of them both with Allan screaming “no” and running away from the man into the direction of the camera. The next extreme close up of the man’s mouth shows him smiling which gives us the impression that he is happy with the outcome of Allan running off. Just as we think that Allan might have finally got rid of his enemy the next shot shows a medium close up of them both standing face to face with the man looking down on Allan as he hangs his head down which signifies that he has power over Allan. The man then says “You can’t escape, I’m in your head” which is echoed to add effect, as this is heard the man’s mouth doesn’t move unlike previously which ties into what he has just previously said about being inside Allan’s head. Another extreme close up of the man’s mouth is shown as he says “you can’t get away, then the player will die, let’s go for a walk” an over the shoulder shot is then used as the man walks off towards the sea. A low angle shot follows this to show the man’s feet walking in the sand and then Allan stood a short distance behind him. After a close up shot of Allan’s face it cuts to the previous low angle shot, however this time it shows Allan running behind the man. The following shot is a medium shot of the two boys with their backs to the camera facing out to the sea, both stood with their hands clasped behind their back. A close up shot then shows the side of both their faces with the mysterious man closest to the camera, he begins to talk “this is the game Allan and you just lost it.” Allan then replies to this by saying “What game? I didn’t know we were playing a game? What chess? I’m good at chess, I win you at chess, what are you talking about! I’m not playing a game!” Allan stutters whilst saying this as if he is scared about what he has just heard, he expresses his fear by raising his voice near the end of the piece of dialogue and by running off towards the sea as we see from another over the shoulder shot looking behind the man as he watches Allan run away from him. By now another non-diagetic sound has arisen which sounds a lot like a siren, gradually getting louder and more potent. Whilst watching Allan run towards the sea the man says to him “I’ll have to deal with you now!” and then yet another extreme close up shot of his mouth appears as he says something else however I couldn’t quite make out what it was that he was saying which is a shame as this was part of the climax scene. The scene does however end with a long shot of the beach with the man stood facing the camera watching Allan run towards us into the sea where he eventually fall’s face down into. There is yet another character stood a few feet away from the man in this scene which I found very confusing as no other characters have been introduced to the story yet and having already watched the ending I know that no other character does appear, this leads me to believe that maybe the figure was in fact a cameraman which is not a good thing to show in a film as it spoils the effect for the audience who are watching the film.

As the scene has just ended with Allan falling face down into the sea, the start of the new scene which I find very clever shows a high angle shot of Allan laid face down back in bed where he previously was before he ended up on the beach. The screen then goes black and all of the non-diagetic music dyes down until eventually the high angle shot of the boy laid in bed from right at the beginning of this short film is shown again, a soft pumping noise is also heard as if resembling a heartbeat, then the same beeping noise of the alarm is played. The entire opening scene is repeated all over again in a much more rapid pace and the ticking noise that was previously heard before gets slower and slower as the scene is sped up until finally a close up shot of Allan looking into the camera lens is shown and the ticking has almost stopped, then suddenly a point of view shot is shown of what Allan is looking at threw the camera lens which is the table where he earlier played chess. We then see medium shots from earlier on of them both playing chess sped up so fast that it creates some sort of flicker affect with a rapidly paced flickering sound playing in the background, until finally a medium shot of the table is shown in a blurred affect and then it cuts back to the medium shot of Allan who by now is looking extremely scared as he hears the man’s words once again “I’m inside your head” which are echoed once again. This shot of Allan slowly fades into a black screen and soft orchestral music is played as the ending credits appear by scrolling up the screen in a contrasting white font to its black background.

Conclusion

After watching this short 5 minute film several times and analysing it in great detail I have been able to pick out both the positive and negative points in this film. Firstly I was very impressed with the several different camera angles used in this film which ranged from extreme long shots to extreme close up shots. Also the use of non-diagetic sound to create an effect worked brilliantly throughout this film, for instance the ticking noise towards the end of the film built up the tension as the scene progressed. I was especially impressed with the amount of continuity editing present and the few times that eye line matches occurred.

The story in itself I felt was slightly confusing as at some points I found myself asking what was going on and why were certain parts occurring, for instance about 40 seconds into the film there were various different shots showing Allan changing a tape in his camera which I found totally irrelevant as neither of these shots related to the story so far and if anything just totally confused us as the audience. However I liked how the film had a mysterious feel to it keeping the viewers captivated and wanting to know what was going to happen next. I got the impression from watching this film that the young boy named Allan had some sort of mental illness as it showed him in a small confined room at the beginning of the film as if he was in some kind of mental hospital, also you get the impression throughout the film that the second character, which was the mysterious male figure, is some sort of imaginary friend that he cant get rid of who taunts him and makes his life hell. In my own film that I am creating with my group we have a character named Lucy who has schizophrenia so it has been really helpful for me to have analysed this film as I have been able to gather ideas of how I can portray her illness to the audience of viewers by using such things as an echo effect of peoples voices like they have used throughout this film.

Overall I felt that the group of A level students who created this film worked really hard to create an effective film which entertained its audience, however I felt that the storyline was a little bit confusing at times and lacked clarity in some parts.