BLACK HOLE

In this film it shows the main character in a very dull boring work
environment, he finds out about the black hole by accident from
putting his cup through the paper. The man tries to invest from
finding out about this by stealing food from the vending machine. He
then thinks how he can get rich from this so the man breaks into the
safe but while taking all of the money out the black hole falls off the
safe and he is stuck in the safe

This short film isn’t clear that it is a comedy but at the end it does
show the conventions of a comedy as the man regrets his actions on
being too greedy trying to get all of the money out and he becomes
stuck

Mise En Scene:
Piece of paper used as a prop- this is effective in the film as the whole
film is based around this sheet of paper. The piece of paper is only
very effective due to the editing. The director intended for the paper
to be as important as it is in the film as the whole plot involves the
black hole. Another prop is the safe used at the end of the film, the
safe is used to show that the guy is greedy and enough isn’t enough
he tries to take all the money in the safe but gets trapped trying, this
is at the end of the film and this has a lot of deeper meanings. The
mans cloths are boring and bland whilst looking quite scruffy, this
represents his normal life before he finds out about the black hole

Editing:
The editing is effective all the way through the film as it makes it look
like his hand is going straight through the paper. The editing makes
the film look a lot more realistic throughout the film.

Sound:
Through out the film there is a constant sound of the printer in the
background like its broken or just printing and scanning, this is used
as a motif in the film. As soon as the man pressed the button like a
few times and it started printing it didn’t stop. During the film there
is also a roaring sound when the man is in contact with the black
hole, this is used to make the black hole seem very mysterious.
Cinematography:
The first shot is out of focus pan shot- this makes it seem like the
mans life is very boring and repetitive as its just a pan up to his face
of him sighing. All of the colours in the first shot are grey and dull to
show the guys life as boring before the black hole. There is a close up
used to show his reaction to the black hole, this is effective as it
shows how mysterious and weird the black hole is.
 The gunfighter
The gunfighter is a normal western scenario but the narrative is
broken as the narrator breaks the 4th wall. The short film begins like
a normal western film as it follows the same conventions, the
gunfighter walks into a bar to get a drink. The narrator starts
speaking like in a lot of other western films but the characters in the
film can hear what the narrator is saying, the narrator can also read
their minds and tell the characters can do in the future. The film
escalates when the narrator says that the Henderson boys came into
the bar to kill him for a bounty. This is the first of the secrets to be
revealed- as it goes on it gets more and more intense until there’s a
shoot off at the end and only a subordinate characters survives
everyone else dies.

This film is clearly a comedy as there’s lots of dramatic irony in it and

it’s such a bizarre narrative to an ordinary western. There’s also a
scene whereby the characters are seeing if the narrator actually
knows everything about the characters- the subordinate characters
suggest to pick a number and see if the narrator knows this, the
narrator tells the entire context behind sally picking her number- this
is done for comedic effects.

Mise en scene
The cloths the gunfighter wear make him look mysterious but also fit
in with the western conventions as he is wearing a cowboy hat and a
bandanna. All of the subordinate characters are wearing very similar
cloths- this is maybe so that the main character stands out as he is
just wearing dark colours but the subordinate characters are wearing
tanned cloth. The 4th wall is broken when the narrator starts having
an argument with the main character- this is for dramatic affect and
comedic purposes. Other than the main character there’s only one
character that stands out as she also survives at the end in like
everyone else- Sally is a stereotype of blonde women as in the short
film she is also very confused. The narrator is also used to tell the
future and warn some of the characters of other characters and the
narrator also tells a lot of people’s secrets- this is to make the short
film more interesting and funny as the narrator is very unpredictable.
The narrator is also used to build up tension between characters, the
main character tries to calm the situation down but the narrator
contradicts the main character the whole time- this makes the
situation too intense and all of the tension builds up to a shoot off at
the end whereby everyone gets killed except Sally. Also in the film,
when the narrator talks everyone looks up into the air like the
narrator is represented as a god.

Cinematography
At the beginning of the gunfighter there is an establishing shot of the
bar so it sets the scene that the film is a western in a bar. After the
establishing shot there’s a close up of the gunfighter so that the
audience is aware that he is the main character. There’s lots of wide
angle shots are used within the short film to show the subordinate
characters, there’s also lots of over the shoulder shots used to show
that theirs a discussion. There’s also lots of long takes used with only
a few different types of shots. The cinematography is very simply in
this short film but the narrative makes up for the lack of variety in
shots.
Editing
The editing is also very simply during the film, when the narrator is
exposing the secrets of the characters during the film the pace
increases and the tension increases as more and more of the
characters are involved in one of the characters secrets, this tension
builds up during the film increasing the pace until the climax at the
end whereby everyone kills each other.

Sound
During the beginning of the film dramatic orchestral music starts the
film and ends it- non diegetic. During the film non diegetic music is
turned into diegetic sound as one of the characters points out the
music playing breaking the 4th wall.
 The elevator

This film starts with the main character going into an elevator and
the elevator get more and more crammed until it falls back down to
the first floor, the main character gets out of the elevator and into a
new one which seems calm but then he finds out that the elevator is
going towards the swine flu treatment in the building.

The short film is clearly a comedy as the shots in the elevator are
used to make us laugh, an example is the birds eye view shot that
shows the main character is crammed in the elevator. The comedy
comes from the main characters emotion and all of the trouble he’s
been through to get to his floor when he could of just gone up the
stairs.

Mise en scene:
In the first shot a man walks into the elevator and he is followed by a
crowd of overweight/ bigger than average people. This is to add
comedy to the film as the main character works out the average
weight of everyone and compares it to the maximum of the elevator
and it comes out 1 lb over. The editing makes it look like the elevator
goes down to the floor level and it starts going up again. The main
character gets into the next elevator and he looks relaxed but then all
of the new subordinate characters start sneezing and coughing
spreading their germs to the main character. This is clear after
everyone gets out of the elevator as the camera zooms into a poster
saying “swine flu treatment”

Cinematography:
There are lots of wide shots to establish the lift and the subordinate
characters and show the emotions of the all of the characters, wide
shots clearly show the characters in a natural camera shot. There is a
bird’s eye view used when there are a lot of people in the elevator to
show he is crammed and he cannot move, this is used for comedic
effect. There is a close up in the elevator of a man sneezing on the
back of his head; this is to show that he is not safe even in the second
elevator he got in. this is clear at the end when there is a close up of a
sign saying “swine flu treatment”. The short film ends when the
elevator doors close and the screen fades to black.

Editing:
A key scene whereby the editing is used is when the elevator is
overweight and the elevator breaks and goes down to the first floor,
this is used for comedic effect as the directors intent is to show that
the main character is panicking as theirs lots of overweight people
pushing down the elevator but everyone is calm except him.

Sound:
Diegetic music is used in the short film when it first starts and the
man enters the elevator. When more people join the elevator the
music gets deeper and more intense suggesting that the elevator is
going to go downhill, when the elevator drops back to the first floor
the music starts again like it a constant cycle.