Applying 5 key concepts to short films - John Hodge

Dream Girl - By Alice Seabright

The film follows a young man on the subway, who promptly gets into a usually "awkward" situation - a passenger falls asleep on him.

There is lots about this film I love - the realism, the sound, the camera work - it just portrays so much without even having the characters talk.

Representation

Daily commuters appear to be the only consistent social group represented in this short film. As they travel by train, presumably daily, this situation might be quite common - especially having the seating the same way they did in the film. Stereotypically, the reaction would be of annoyance, having the person who was fallen asleep on either getting up and moving, or just pushing them off. On the contrary, the male is very gentle when he attempts to push her off his shoulder when he arrives at his stop. This, however, is quite stereotypical in the fact it's a woman he's dealing with - but as she was sleeping it could either be trying not to wake her up out of courtesy, whether or not she was a woman.

The situation feels very real - the diegetic sound, setting and actors all contribute towards this. It's almost like a constructed documentary, if I had to label it. Because the situation is a familiar one for most of us, there's no need to add anything extra to put the situation into context. Thus why we are dumped into the scene as though we are also sitting inside the train.

Because this situation is one we are familiar with, and have witnessed, the seat we are given in this shot feels very similar. It seems as though Dream Girl is trying to take a (relatively) common situation, and spin it in it's head.

It appears like this film is trying to question how some of us react to others on public transport. Rather than with delicacy and understanding, we seem to jump to conclusions that they are being inconsiderate of their situation. Much like in this scene, except the passengers react differently. It's more of an "Oh, now what?" reaction, rather than one of distaste.

The faces pulled are meant to give off a sort of comic effect, in addition to portraying the fact that they aren't too fussed about it, and could be also from familiarity of the situation as well.

Narrative

The story consists of all that happens within and just outside the doors of the train, so we have no idea where the woman was before she got on the train. We have no idea why she's tired, but that's because it's not an important aspect of the story - all that we need to know is that she is tired and accidentally fell asleep on someones shoulder. Obviously, one implies the other, we just do not know any specific details.

A linear narrative also helped with the realism of this film, time flows like it should.

Todorov's theory of narrative structure can be applied to this short film. The equilibrium is before the woman falls asleep on the guys shoulder, with the falling asleep on the shoulder being the disruption. It appears that this short film has multiple equilibrium's and disruptions, as when the guy pushes her off and leaves, he decides to come back into the train and let her keep lying on his shoulder, meaning that the original disruption became equilibrium, making the guy getting up to leave the disruption, leaving the resolution being the moment he sits back down and pulls her back over.


Genre

This film, from my own knowledge, appears to bring something slightly new and quirky to the table. It is extremely realistic, with only a few camera shots of outside of the train, whereas the rest are inside. It also feels as though you are jumping around to different people's points of view, instead of just viewing it from to the side or above as an all-seeing all-knowing spectator.

Audience

As I found the film on VirginMediaShorts, I'd expect those who are passionate about film to watch this. In addition to this, any other short film makers might be interested. In addition to this, those who daily travel on public transport may appreciate this more than those who commute by car - sharing a train with someone as opposed to being alone in a car on the way to work.

The fact that this film plays on one very well known and extremely embarrassing event that could happen on public transport would be very appealing to the viewer. The ending also, the fact he goes back into the train and lets her sleep on his shoulder again - the social norm would be to just go to your destination, but the guy made a decision to stay with the girl.

• Tivo Award Winner 2012 (VirginMediaShorts)

LUCKY 13: PJ, Tiny Planet Explorer 

"A boys journey through the universe to find a wondrous new planet to explore."

Another winner from VMS2012, I chose this film because it's story telling was fantastic, and personally appealed to me in it's references. While a simple premise, the film maker does a lot to make it stand out and make it entertaining.

Representation

Only one social group appears to be portrayed in this film - the late teens early twenties young male. This is clearly portrayed through the use of props, such as many things a child would have had in the 1990s. This male is in a situation where he wants to move planet, which is an exaggerated version of moving out of home and into their own house. And in this particular representation, he is shown to be indecisive, as having a lack of direction and above all completely unprepared. The edited shots of the "small planets", showed him going from one play to another after something about the planet he had found didn't sit well with him. "My new home was made not by choice, but by lack of preparations." The changes made to the film, and having them loop around to meet each other, completely warps out perception of that world. They use the distortion of the characters figure to help portray the fact that it wasn't particularly easy being on these planets, with his "molecular structure" being messed around with.

The style, overall, is very quirky and comedic, which was influenced by the audience, which was in turn influenced by the moral. By having a young man play a role where he goes to move to another planet, you are trying to appeal to an audience who were kids in the 90s - thus the reason for the 90s references, such as the Gameboy, Zelda Ocarina and Mario underwear. This is popular culture that would be recognised by the target audience. This also appears to be aimed at just females, if going by stereotypes. All the "pop culture" references in the props are from video games, which may or may not be more likely to be identified by the males.

Narrative

We are thrown straight into where he makes the decision to leave, leaving the back story up to the audiences imagination. We are also cut off by the time he is forced to settle down, having taken too long to find any suitable place. In relation to Todorov's theory, it appears that the film starts just after the disruption, causing him to leave (if there was one). It also finishes with a seemingly meager solution, being nothing more than settling with what he had found, thus leaving us with no closure. Does he go off to find a new planet after he's become more prepared? Is he stuck their now with the provisions he bought? We wont know.

Genre

This film is clearly Adventure (with it being labelled so on VMS) and comedy. The comedy seems to stem from the voice over from the characters, and the various conversations over the phone he has before he embarks on his adventure. Typically, short films use genre to set a tone for the whole film, and make it somewhat predictable in what it's going to be like. In this case, its going to involve adventure and comedy - exploration, and potentially funny moments. Already, this paints a picture in the audience's mind of what the film is going to be like, so they are not too shocked because they expected something completely different.

Audience

As mentioned when talking about representation, this film is aimed at young males who are around the time of leaving education or entering university or just looking to live on their own / away from where they would usually live. The references also mentioned in representation may please the target audience, who are presumably young males born in the 1990s.