Labels

Friday, 11 September 2015

Narrative Analysis of 'Lovefield' - Zoe Cameron-Waller


The first shot is an establishing shot to reveal the setting which is a field of wheat. The setting has very low-key lighting, which creates a dull and gloomy atmosphere, reflected by pathetic fallacy, as the sky seems to look stormy and grey. This also sets up the equilibrium, as everything seems normal, due to the way the camera pans down and over the field, using cross fades to emphasise how desolate the area is. A cut to a close up of the wheat is used to slowly tilt up the creaky sign that’s swinging in the wind. Again, this suggests how deserted this place is, and the diegetic squeaking sound of the sign emphasises the lack of life and noise in the area. The camera continues to pan up the swinging sign to reveal a crow; this creates a sinister atmosphere, as crows are usually associated with death.
The camera then focuses back on the wheat, and uses close ups and cross fades to emphasise how we are going further down into the wheat. The camera slowly pans across a phone lying in the wheat, and the diegetic beeping sound adds greater enigma in terms of Barthes theory of enigma codes, due to the way it causes the audience to wonder where the owner of this phone is. It's clear that someone has been cut off mid conversation due to the diegetic beeping sound, which raises a lot of questions as to why, perhaps this person has been attacked. The camera continues to pan its way across the field floor as it reaches another object, which is someone’s handbag with money sprawled out across the floor. This amplifies the enigma as the audience begin to raise even more questions about whose personal belongings these are. The camera continues to pan across, and suddenly a hand enters the frame and grasps hold of some wheat, suggesting this person is in pain, which is confirmed by the diegetic sound of a woman screaming. The camera then reveals some bloody underwear which increases the tension and raises the enigma as we begin to wonder what’s going on. The camera then pans across to a dirty looking foot which is squirming about, this along with the diegetic screaming, conveys that this person is in severe pain. The use of restricted narration means we don’t get to see who this foot belongs to, which raises the enigma even more, in terms of Barthes theory, as we continue to wonder what’s happening to this women. The fact she has no shoes on and her personal belongings are scattered, suggests to the audience that she’s been robbed and left to die. In terms of Todorov’s model, this is the disruption phase, as the normality and loneliness of the field is disturbed by this woman that’s in pain. It also suggests to the audience that this woman is the hero, in terms of Propp’s theory of Folk Tale, as she’s seeking pain relief and most likely some help. The squirming and wriggling of her foot suddenly stops, which conveys that she’s died, however, her identity still remains hidden as restricted narration is sustained.
A knife is suddenly thrust into the ground into the same shot as the motionless foot, this is accompanied by a sudden burst of sinister non-diegetic music, which conveys that something very bad has just happened, and it also follows Thriller conventions as the tension is maximised to generate anxiety amongst the audience. The hand is also covered in blood, which suggests that whoever this hand belongs to, has something to do with the woman’s fate. The camera abruptly cuts to a medium close up of the crow again, which emphasises the assumption of death. The camera then cuts to a medium close up, and the camera slowly tilts up an unknown character’s body, revealing a farmers costume, consisting of dungarees and a white vest, which is a stereotypical 'Hillbilly' character. The camera also displays a tattoo, suggesting that this character is somewhat dangerous. Danger is also conveyed by the way in which the camera tilts up the character at a low angle; it makes this character seem threatening and dominant, perhaps suggesting a villain character in terms of Propp's theory of Folk Tale. Once the camera finally reaches the face, it’s confirmed that this character is a male. His hair is long and scruffy, and another part of his costume consists of a hat, making him seem rather messy and dirty. The camera then uses shallow depth of field to focus on the crow in the background; this makes the male character seem guilty as he acknowledges the crow watching him. The camera then displays a long shot positioned behind the male character and we are positioned to believe that he's peering around the field to check that no one else is present. A cut is made to a low angle, slight worms eye view shot of his legs as he runs away from the woman, conveying that he’s guilty of something, and therefore suggesting that he’s the bad person, and that the woman was the good person, in terms of Strauss’ theory of binary oppositions. The camera then turns around with the man as he turns and runs. This is also the recognition phase in terms of Todorov's theory as he realises what’s happened and runs away. The cuts become fast paced as he fumbles around in a car, perhaps looking for something. The camera constantly refers back to the crow which caws non-stop as if trying to alert someone and get help. The non-diegetic music builds up to a high tension point as the camera displays a close up of the man holding a black sack, which insinuates to us that he’s going to put the woman’s body in the sack, which again confirms that he’s the villain in terms of Propp’s theory of Folk Tale, but also suggests that this is the Confrontation phase in terms of Todorov’s model, as the man tries to hide and confront what’s happened. The non-diegetic music then comes to an abrupt stop and a diegetic thump sound erupts into the scene. The camera cuts to an extreme close up of the man’s eyes peering over the open bonnet to see what made the noise, which creates enigma in terms of Barthes theory of enigma codes as we don’t know what made that noise either.
The non-diegetic music becomes very tense as he stares at the crow tapping the car. Shallow depth of field is used to demonstrate the stare off between the man and the crow causing suspense. The man eventually stomps away from the car with a pink blanket, which is followed by a low angle shot which uses shallow depth of field to highlight the man coming towards the body and causing tension. Worm’s eye view is used as the man kneels down over the body with the blanket as if he’s going to place it over her face, which is when the non-diegetic music stops and diegetic sound of a baby crying begins alongside sympathetic non-diegetic music that completely flips the tense atmosphere to an affectionate atmosphere. A medium close up displays the woman handing over the baby wrapped up in the pink blanket to the man whose facial expression changes from serious to delight at the sight of the new born. The camera sweeps to the right slightly, revealing the sweaty woman who’s obviously just given birth, and also revealing the new equilibrium in terms of Todorov’s model as it differs from the starting equilibrium being a normal field of wheat and now being the birth place of a child. It also stops the restricted narration, and allows unrestricted narration to show the audience the face of this female character and what happened to her.
The camera cuts to a close up of the woman as she says “Thank you” to the man, which reveals that this short film has completely misled us to believe that the male character was the villain and bad person in terms of Levi Strauss’ theory of binary oppositions and Propp’s theory of Folk Tale, due to the way the non-diegetic music and camera movements constructed the way in which the audience see the man. Contrastingly, he’s actually the good person and the hero in terms of Levi Strauss’ theory of binary oppositions and Propp’s theory of Folk Tale, as he aided the woman in giving birth and successfully delivered her baby, this is also confirmed by the end establishing shot that shows his tractor abandoned in the field that belongs to him, and the car that belongs to the woman that was clearly driving by when she suddenly went into labour and luckily stumbled upon a farmer who helped her.
Diegetic music of sirens begins playing; conveying justice and help, creating a happy ending for the short film which was completely unexpected due to the carefully constructed themes.

No comments:

Post a Comment