Moment of Clarity- Film 2

Moment of Clarity follows a linear narrative of young male character waking up next to a young woman after a night out, however there is a sinister twist to the narration.

In the opening scene we have a series of fast paced cut shots, the lighting is very low key, and is shot in black and white. The camera angle is a point of view (POV) telling the audience that we are viewing the surroundings from a characters point of view. The use of focus pull and shallow depth of field we are told what subjects in the frame are important to take notice of. For example the initial shot of the sequence reveals a glass, this connotes to the audience that the setting could be in a bar possibly a prestigious one judging by the quality of the glass and the decor bellow it. most importantly with this particular shot is that we know the character is going to be or already is intoxicated and portrays a sense of mystery as to what happens to the character, the ingenuity of the focus pull editing technique helps to enforces this connotation further.

The first scene shows consistency with the use of dark lighting and a black and white effect accompanied with distorted background dialogue and a non-diegetic soundtrack. At this early point in the sequence, as an observer you can already start to gather the type of genre the director has intended it to be. The lighting, sound, decor all convey a thriller/mystery genre. from looking at the font in the title shot we get a sense danger or fear from the style of lettering. a dominant connotation of sharp tipped letters is usually on of danger or death.





After the title shot above we cut to a Big Close Up (BCU) of a character in bed. The lighting has changed significantly however the black and white editing technique remains. From having a sudden transition from the POV to the BCU of the character shows that the character was drunk blacked out and awoken in a bed. as the scene progresses the character rises quickly and sits on the edge of the bed momentarily, this is the first time we see the main character and the female character in the same shot together. The main characters facial expressions-although we know limited about him-appears to have a dark sinister and mysterious edge to him, this is supported well by the use of the black and white effect as it casts shadows over the eyes and contours of his face.

The sequence up to this point shows a linear narrative of a male character who has been out one night and had a one night stand with a female character, however their is a sudden twist or gestalt shift in the narrative as he soon finds out that the female character has a boyfriend or husband this is conveyed through a photograph prop of the female and an unknown male. (I believe this part of the plot has an external representation of youth, the director appears to be portraying a young demographic aimed at both genders, the characters also have a monogamous attitude which could be a hidden connotation from the director). To exacerbate the situation further the main character discovers the female character has been murdered, shortly after we hear an off-screen diegetic knocking sound, automatically from the facial expressions and body language of the main character we know the sound is hostile and a threat, in response to the knocking sound the main character scrambles into hiding.

The next shot is an Extreme Close Up (ECU) of the bedroom door handle there is a sudden loud on screen diegetic noise of the door handle opening, momentarily after a masked character enters the frame with his back to the main character. His costume resembles a quarantine or medical suit adding to the iconic thriller enigma. We then cut to a Medium Shot (MS) of the antagonist as he turns round in search for the main character but to surprise there is no-one there. At this section of the sequence it is evident that there is a delusional
/psychotic element. The camera then moves to a CU/BCU of the antagonist's face were he removes his mask and reveals that the main character is in fact the antagonist automatically making him a psychotic killer and murder of the woman laying on the bed.

From a personal perspective I thought this short film had real strength with intuitive and sinister twist to the end, the use of camera techniques such as focus pull in the opening scene connected very well with the narrative and strong effect. The absence of dialogue proved to be a powerful asset and gave the sequence more of an enigmatic feel to it.