Short film deconstruction #1

‘A social life’ - Production by Kerith Lemon Pictures

A social life is a short film about a woman living her dream life through social media. It connects to the effects of social media depression, she is that the point that she realizes
 this is not her life but an online persona she has created.

At the beginning of the film a pan is used to introduce the young women in bed followed by the sound of an alarm which is continually used throughout the short film to represent new mornings.  It manipulates the audience to think that more time going by without showing a whole day.
The most common types of shots used throughout the short film are mid shots and close ups. The mid shots are typically used to signify the things she is doing for social media, rather than her own good. The mid shots are able to capture her movements and gestures through the small journey it shows.
Special effects are commonly used to show the social media aspect of the film. Pictures are displayed on the screen on top of the actual footage as well as to display the ‘likes’ that her pictures are getting. It symbolizes how important the ‘likes’ are to her everyday life and in the end shows the effect it has on her.
There is very little use of dialogue which I have discovered is common within drama genre short films. At around 1.48 is the only time that dialogue is used between the main character and her mother talking through the phone. Music is more often used to convey emotion or tension throughout the narrative. Most of the noise is non-dietetic through music being played in the background instead of dialogue , however multiple dietetic sounds are also used such as the lock on the phone, which is used constantly, the sound of the camera taking a photo and other small things to ensure the film is still realistic. Although the non-dietetic music doesn’t last long in the middle of the film, it creates tension and builds up the story that is occurring.Towards the end, music starts to play again of a slightly slower pace to show the change in person and situation, it is more upbeat which allows the audience to feel happy for the character too.
This particular short film is influenced by the narrative theory of Todorov as the equilibrium is disrupted, the narrative continues to its climax and at the end the equilibrium is restored.
 Mise en scene is kept very simple within this particular short film. Everything used is very realistic by using objects that are around the house as props. These help create the realistic setting dramas tend to have. It is very relatable due to these aspects as well. Most things seen are also around other people’s homes.
With the editing, slow and longer shots are used in the beginning and as it continues the scenes begin to get slightly shorter to illustrate the ‘depression of social media’. This is called slow cutting, which refers to the opposite of flash cutting which is used throughout the film.
Overall this particular short film follows the conventions of the genre genre as well. Which helps with my knowledge when creating my own short film