‘Door’ short film analysis

The first shot is a tracking shot towards a closed door; this is to establish a link between the title of the short film and the main way of transportation for the characters. We decided to ask our teacher if he could be involved in our project, this was so we could have someone act as a typical mentor figure and deliver exposition under the guise of instructions. When the teacher points to charlotte the camera quickly cuts to a mid-close up of his hand, the quick and aggressive motion of his hand signifies that she has no choice and has to go first. When Charlotte enters the fantasy world a sound effect can be heard during the transition, this is to indicate that a transition has occurred. When the scene transitions to the fantasy world a wide shot of the field is used, showing a number of flying vehicles and another that is flying off into the distance. This is to show that Charlotte has left where she was before and has entered a clearly different world. During this shot the sound of non-diegetic music begins to play in the background, this music sounds ominous to show that where Charlotte is isn’t so safe. The music is also futuristic to shows the sci-fi/ aspect of the scene. Non-diegetic chirping of birds can also be heard to show the fantasy side of the scene. When Charlotte moves away from the door it begins to close with an over exaggerated creaking sound, this is to make the scene slightly more unnerving. As charlotte walks down a path a dragon appears out of nowhere, the reason for the dragon was because it is a generic enemy of the fantasy genre. The ominous music disappears as the dragons roar drowns it out, the music then stops while the dragon takes the notes. This was done to show the characters reactions through the use of the non-diegetic music, by having no music appear during the taking of the notes it shows that charlotte didn’t have enough time to react to the situation. The music then returns but is replaced with more suspenseful track, this is to show the urgency of the situation. As charlotte runs away and enters the door there is a close up shot of the dragons paw to show that it just missed catching her. It the cuts to the dragon getting up and cuts again to a wide shot of the dragon flailing around furiously, the diegetic roar sound showing the anger of the beast.

Continuing to the horror genre portion of the film, once I enter the world the colour slightly dulls to indicate that a change has occurred. As I move on the camera is placed slightly close to a wall as I walk past, this is to indicate that someone might be watching in the shadows. There is a quick close up of my face to show my reactions to the environment. As I continue forward the camera tracks left while I walk, this is to indicate that something is following me and watching me. The camera then cuts to another close up of my face, showing that I have realised that something is behind me. The constant close up of the face are a typical trope of the genre I am paying homage too, as well as the ‘he’s behind you’ technique of most slasher films. The mask that Luke is wearing in the scene is meant to represent the age old trope of the ‘killer with a mask’ used in a large majority of horror films. As I start running up the stairs there are a lot of quick edits and a variety of different shots such as close up, mid wide shot and mid shots. The constant edits are used as they are, again paying homage to the horror genre where the character is typically seen running away from the monster/villain with a variety of shots and quick edits. Moving on the writing up the notes, the song ‘I Need a Hero’ begins to play while a large amount of transitions are made. This song was chosen because the scene is a parody of a generic 80’s montage, filled with over the top transitions and cuts. The tracking shots are used to make the task of writing up the notes more difficult than they actually are. The constant elaborate transitions also help further push the 80’s style.

 

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