After a theory lesson learning about Laura Mulvey and her Male Gaze theory, we formed a hypothesis that the audience would be influenced by the perspective of the video and there attention would be focused on the lady in the film and wanted to test this theory. 'Office Space' is a 5 minute short created by the YouTuber 'KickThePJ', who also plays the main character. The film's plot surrounds a typical 'white collar worker' slacking off at his desk, daydreaming and getting scolded for doing so by his boss. As the short progresses audiences eventually see him proceed to create a rocket to escape the earth and his responsibilities. This narrative clarifies the genre as fantasy/fiction. The title itself 'Office Space' is a clever pun due to the rocket at the end taking him to actual space and away from his office space where his problems are. This lack of job satisfaction represents the protagonist as a typical young office worker, as boredom at work is a common trait of people in his position. Furthermore, he has a heavy workload which is mundane and repetitive, causing his lack of productivity, much to his boss' chagrin. The boss himself is represented typically, due to his stress induced nature and the fact he refers to the protagonist by his surname 'Jones', like a teacher, showing his superiority and adding to Jones' unhappiness.
The audience this film is targeted at would be able to relate to this overall idea of 'wanting to escape' everyday life, as the audience would be young adults at school, college or possibly work and uni who would know the feeling of tedium he is portraying. The narrative is linear, starting with the protagonist at his workplace, proceeding to show his lack of enjoyment at his job, his bosses anger and his imagination running away, ending with the climax of him blasting off into space. However, if this film had been created by an institution with a large budget, this last scene would have been extravagant and high quality, but because the creator is a Youtube content creator he clearly has low resources, therefore the rocket is a shabby design made purely of cardboard and the blast off is a shaky camera and a torch shining from underneath the cardboard. This signifies the low budget of a typical YouTube content creator, which in comparison to professional institutions seems basic and self-produced. Furthermore, the acting is of a lower standard than professionally produced shorts, again showing the lack of budget and access to good actors and contacts. The camerawork is particularly effective and of a good quality, with interesting angles to convey an accurate recording of the storyline whilst also being unusual enough to still infer a sense of mystery. The sound quality is strong however the dialog of the boss is obviously pre-recorded and dubbed in over the footage which brings the film's quality down as the volume is slightly amiss. The editing is smooth and the cuts are well timed thanks to the creator being well experienced in editing videos for his job. The music is synchronous to the setting and helps build anticipation up to the climax. The use of sound effects are relevant and draw the audience's attention to the points of the narrative which are significant to the story. The mise-en-scene is all round well done and effective at keeping audiences involved in what is happening, for example the dull atmosphere in the office emphasises his boredom, making it relatable to his audience who are well aware of the dullness a work environment can induce. The lighting is always clear and suitable, for example in the at home scenes the desk lamp highlights the desk and focuses the audience's attention to what Jones' is doing. This 6 minute short, Room 8, is of the Thriller/Suspense genre. It's set in a prison and focuses on a new prisoner meeting his creepy, stoic jail mate. These immediately has connotations of mystery as the audience as prisons and criminals have negative connotations which are typical of Thrillers.
Dialog represents the main character as cocky and risky as he 'takes his chances' with the ominous box. Whereas the antagonist is an older man shown to be reserved and knowledgable which is typical of older prison mates. The content is quite mature, it's not aimed at children, as it has a dreary atmosphere, includes a disturbing ending and is set in an unsettling location with matching characters. Therefore it is most likely aimed at young adults as the genre's codes and conventions appeal most to the 16-25 age group. Theres a linear narrative as we find out information along with the main character as the story progresses, however the first scene foreshadows the ending, in which case it could be considered as circular considering the stories surreal nature. The short was produced by Bombay Sapphire's Imagination Series in 2013 and then the film went on to win the BAFTA for Best Short Film 2014. As they're a popular company they were able to contribute a large budget to the film and production. As we found last year, a large budget means higher quality equipment and production team, therefore the overall result is award winning quality. Bombay Sapphire benefits from The Imagination Series as they're able to aid budding film makers and involve themselves in the creative industry. So by doing this they're able to get their brand name on a renowned, televised, national award. The audience can tell that the film is made by with a bigger budget and by trained film makers as the storyline is more ambitious and they use technical editing with professional technology to realistically portray the contents of the box and the miniaturisation of the main character. College students may be able to have a plot as ambitious but the technology is not available to them ands the production may not come together and be executed as well as this one. |
AuthorsMolly Broad Archives
February 2016
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