2 Short films analysis

The first short film I am analysing is the drama "Phone box" by Alan Powell. https://youtu.be/W3I7ispO_QA

The film starts off with eerie music and panning shots of the surroundings of the phone box (mise-en-scene) which shows litter, cobwebs and graffiti in order to show the audience the lack of care to the area. The first character we are introduced to is a middle aged women whose first line is "Royal London Hospital" which immediately conveys to the audience that something concerning is happening in her life, this is reinforced by the mise-on-scene of the cigarette she is smoking because it tells us that she is stressed out and concerned.

The grim lighting in the scene conveys her emotion as she desperately writes a number on the window because she has been in a rush and was unprepared. She begins hitting the phone in order for it to work faster which again shows that she is desperate, it is then revealed that her daughter is going in to labour but her daughter doesn't want to see her which gives the audience a sense of wonder as they want to know why, also the sounds of cars and sirens in the background give the film a realist narrative vibe.
The audience is then introduced to a young man who calls his girlfriend Ashley because he left his phone but finds out she's cheating on him, the tone of his voice conveys his feeling of betrayal and the night time setting communicates to the audience what his Girlfriend was doing with another man late at night and how she says it was "Nobody" shows she is hiding it, again the sirens and cars in the background give a realistic feel and shows that this happens in real life regularly.

The last Character is a foreigner who is looking for a job, this is another example of somebody in a crisis as he is unemployed and is frantically trying to convince the person on the other end to give him information on the job and phone numbers.

Each scene is filmed from the outside of the box to give the audience the feeling of looking in to somebody else's life and this shows the drama aspect of the film as we see people who are in a crisis in their lives. Each characters clothing is average and reveals that anybody can be in a desperate time and may need to use a phone box.

The end of the film shows the importance of a phone box because when they are damaged people can't make important phone calls and this also reveals that in the age of advanced technology, not everyone has a mobile phone, the Woman from the beginning returns as the final character we see and the film gives closure on her and the daughters relationship as her daughter reveals that she wants to see her and that her mother is also a grandmother, the emotion in this scene is conveyed through the mothers desperate attempt to call her daughter back because the phone box stops working which leads to her asking someone for their phone, this again shows the importance of phone boxes and how not everyone as a mobile phone on hand.
Each character is the short film are similar in the fact that they all seem to be in a stressful situation which requires the phone in the phone box to resolve, however it has mixed results throughout. The consistent use of camera shots which appear outside of the phone box while people are using it may convey that when people are talking in a phone box, they enter a new world different from ours and their problems are solved or worsened due to that phone call, It also could signify that the phone box is just an opportunity for others to look in to your life as there is no privacy when someone is talking in the open and the windows on the box allow people to view you even if you don't want to, this is further supported with the audio being unedited and normal, this signifies that we are hearing the conversations as they are being told and that we can hear them using only our ears and no help from any editing tricks. This gives the film a realistic touch and allows the audience to become invested in the plot easier.

The second short film I'm analysing is a Thriller known as "Jet" by Jordan Chesney.
https://youtu.be/VGwiOXnfnCw

The first sound we hear is a car in the background which straight away gives the film a realistic vibe.

The first minute of the film is completely silent which gives the audience a sense of anticipation as they wait for something to happen while the camera stays focused with a close up shot of the main character, the mise-on-scene of the gun immediately conveys that he is suicidal but the emotion he has on his face conveys that he is hesitant and is terrified, also his clothes show that he is an average person and may be having a mid life crisis.
The camera switches between two shots, these being a close up of the main character and an over the shoulder shot where we see what he sees, this being a little girl walking.
The white van quickly screeching around the corner allows the audience to know immediately what is about to happen and when it does, the music kicks in and has a soft eerie feel to it, this also reinforces the stereotype that all kidnappers drive white vans.
 the main character has still said nothing but he doesn't need to because the facial expressions communicate exactly what him and the audience are feeling at the point when he becomes encourages to follow the kidnappers, this allows the audience to begin supporting him on his journey to save the little girl. The tracking shot of the protagonist holding the gun and sneaking up on the kidnappers gives the sense of anticipation and hope that he will save the girl. The passing of time is shown as the film goes from day to night instantly and shows that the protagonist has been following them for a while and this conveys to the audience his determination. The shaky cam in this shot could represent the fact that we as the audience are by his side and support him.
The music stays at a consistent pace throughout the scene even as he gets close to the kidnappers hiding place which is used to keep the audience in suspense and this continues up until he gets to the van, his facial expressions throughout the scene alone are enough for the audience to understand his thoughts up until the kidnappers take the little girl from the van.
The sound of the grasshoppers in the background keep the suspense and authentic nature of the scene intact.
The extreme close up shot of the hand gun and then his facial expression is the kuleshov effect and shows that he is now determined to save her, even if he becomes a murderer, this gives the audience somebody to root for in the film as they hope he will succeed. The protagonist's stance and positioning gives the audience a sense of looming danger and gives a tense feeling throughout the whole scene. The scene where he kills the kidnappers is kept ambient as the lack of any music keeps the scene authentic and allows the audience to be completely invested in the scene, the dog barking in the background after the gun shots allows the audience to feel as if they were real gun shots and allows the scene to become more realistic. The audience can identity that it's later in the same day due to the protagonist wearing the same clothing after the time of day clearly progresses by a couple of hours.
The film ends with the protagonist finding the little girl and there is still no dialogue, this may convey the little girls overall fear and the protagonists relief.


The consistent slow pace and lack of dialogue with ambient music throughout the film keeps the audience on edge from before the girl gets kidnapped even until after she is rescued. The film also has an unrealistic part to it, this being the fact that the protagonist didn't think to call the police or even attempt to get any other help whatsoever.


The codes and conventions of each film are substantially different due to the difference in genres and the meaning of each camera shot., they both tell a different story. In " the phone box" the camera work is used to give the audience a perspective in to other people's lives and to show how people's lives can improve or worsen due to a single phone call, the setting is also set in a single location which appears dirty and grey to give it a realistic feel. whereas "jet" uses camera work to signify  that we as the audience are side by side with the protagonist and support his decisions to save the kidnapped girl, and the setting spans multiple locations to show the passing of time and development in the story. Both genres appeal to the same target audience, this being teenagers as both films have a dark setting with an plot which follows either suffering or a drive to succeed, the codes and conventions mash with the genres well as the meaning of certain camera shots have mature meanings that younger audiences wouldn't understand.
A similar movie to "A phone box" is "Phone booth" which is set from start to finish in a phone booth and is an action, thriller. They are quite similar except you can hear the caller in "Phone booth" but in "the phone box" you can only hear the character on screen. Although they are different genres, they have similar codes and conventions.
A movie similar to "jet" is the movie "Kidnap" which is an action thriller with similar themes including the kidnapping of a child, an adults drive to rescue them and a shootout, The codes and conventions are similar also from close ups of the protagonists facial expressions of fear, anger etc.
The wide shots of the locations in "Jet" show the kidnappers to be relatively wealthy as the house and land is huge, despite this they still drive a white van which again links to the whole kidnapper and white van stereotype. However the multiple shots in "Phone box" don't give a lot of context to where the location is except that it's in the middle of a gritty and grey street in England, the drastic difference in locations also shows the difference in budget between each individual film and it's clear that "Jet" had more money and time invested in it than "Phone box"