Film anaylses- 'Sign language'

The film “Sign language” starts with the production company logo then a focous pull on the foreground to the background on a close up of the side of a mans face. There is then a mid shot of him standing up. The mid shot reveals the location the film is set which is in a bus. Its filmed using the technique hand held camera and is throughout the whole film. When the protagonist stands up the camera follows him when he leaves the bus. He is wearing a hat a jacket and colourful gloves. This suggests he is a low classed working man. He is holding a sign in his hands. There is a voice over playing introducing what he works as. When he leaves the bus the title of the film appear in plain yellow. The background then goes black and we see it transition into a focus pull shot of an over shoulder view of the protagonist. We then see a mid shot of a woman holding out leaflets in a busy high street. She is happily smiling and her bright yellow coat suggests she’s a happy character even though nobody notices her. We then see then see in the same shot, the protagonist walk past her and take a leaflet. We see a close up of her face looking grateful and looking at him as he walks off. It then cuts to a close up and low angle shot of an address sign “oxford st.” We then see a long shot of the road and a bus passing. There is a pole in the foreground. This makes the audience feel they are there. We then cut to an extreme long shot followed by a mid shot of him setting up. We then cut to an extreme close up of him talking directly to the camera with high enthusiasm despite his working conditions. We then see a long mid shot of a moody man doing a similar job. The protagonist explains sarcastically how he is a pleasant and enjoyable man to socialise with. We then cut to amid shot of him looking dull as the protagonist talks about him. There are continuous cuts from the mid shot to a close up of the protagonists face as he talks about him. We also see an over shoulder shot where the foreground is in a focus pull. It then cuts to a long shot of two men in the crowd holding up other signs looking very bored. We then cut to another focus pull of an over shoulder shot of the protagonist pointing to another direction. We see a long shot of another person, a student wearing a rain coat doing the same job. The protagonist then points (with less off a smile like he’s sad) at the woman wearing the bright yellow coat giving out leaflets. Every time we see the protagonist we see him in a close up and the others in a long shot as it makes the audience feel they are standing next to him as he talks to us. The protagonist’s phone starts to ring and surprised, he quickly answers it. He answers with a smile of excitement answering to his dad telling him his promoted job starts tomorrow not today.He then tells his dad he cannot talk as he is at work. He then emotionally talks about how inspiring the location of his job is with all its history and beauty. We think he’s talking about the location but he starts to look at the woman in the bright yellow jacket and talks with passion. He looks like he’s upset he can’t talk to her before he leaves. His alarm goes off then he jumps back to reality and sarcastically acts like he’s exited his “shifts over”. Before he starts to pack up disappointed he doesn’t get a send off the boy from work experience whistles at him and we see him turn his sign around which says “bye bye Ben”. The boy points to the other direction and the camera pans to the two men who do the same and their two signs say; “we’ll miss you” and the other “but before you go...” They point to the moody dull man referred as the “joker” and his sign says “just talk to her” with an arrow pointing to her. He then walks towards her looking nervous. The screen goes black and the yellow title is displayed. We then see a cut of in the screen where the credits (on a black background) are on the lefts and the film is played on the right. We see him very happy in a close up and ear muffs talk about his new job. We see a long shot of him standing in front of a plane in a field. He is wearing a leather jacket and black trousers. He looks less scruffy than before. Then the film is played on the right of the screen and we see him excited starting the plane. We then see the woman on a bird’s eye view close up looking up at the sky when we see a long shot of a plane drawing “golf sale” with an arrow. The whole screen goes black and the credits appear. Throughout this short film there are many interesting camera shots. One interning camera shot was the close up of the protagonist’s face as he talks about the other workers. Every time we see him it’s in an extreme close up but when he talks about the others we see them in a long shot. This is used to show that it’s his story and like he’s being interviewed. It make the audience feel like they are there standing next to him and looking at the people as he points at them. Another interesting camera shot used was the hand held camera effect that was played throughout the whole film except the end after the title was displayed. We see the hand held camera effect follow the protagonist like he's interviewing him. It was used to show it’s not a professional documentary and is filmed by an amateur or tourist. This give a realistic effect to the audience as it makes it feel your actually there.
The credits in the short film play an important and effective part. The credits in this film appear only at the end of the film and appear as rolling credits; actors’ names, cinematography, special effects, colour, producer, sound, music. Music also plays an interesting part in the short film. There is a soft guitar instrument playing throughout the whole film. It sounds really dull and almost sympathetic. This is when the e protagonist isn’t with the girl he like. However at the end when they are together, it gets faster and another instrument is added making the atmosphere seem joyful.There are many characters in the short film that play important roles. In this short film only the male protagonist ‘Ben’ talks. His dialogue is a response to interview questions about his work place. This changes in the end and it starts to get personal. He is a very ambitious character and improvises in his dull conditions at work. “Anya” whose name is revealed in the credits is the second main character. She is the woman Ben likes and doesn’t notice him in the beginning. She is a very joyful person and we tell this by her bright yellow coat which symbolises happiness. “Harry” is one of my favourite characters. He is one of the dullest and moodiest characters in the film. As Ben improvises and talks about Harry, he describes him as the joker and how he makes everyone laugh. We then understand his near sarcasm. Another interesting character is “Alex”. Alex is the student on work experience and not much of his personality is revealed except for his clumsiness. “Chris and Steve” are two character that hold up the same signs. They look like best friends and do everything together. They’re even shown together as they reveal the back of their signs.Miss en scene plays an important part in all films. One interesting choice of costume the director chose was the bright yellow coat. The yellow coat symbolises happiness, joy and brightness of the character. It makes her seem young hearted and enthusiastic at her dull job. She really stands out because everything around her is colourless and grey. Location is another interesting aspect of miss en scene. The location of the film is in Oxford Street, one of the biggest shopping high streets in London. When Ben describes the woman in the yellow coat, at fist we think he talks about the street and his inspiration to the history and facts but he then get carried away and describes Anya. One interesting prop is the signs. They are used to reveal a message to Ben before he leaves.