Short Film Analysis THE BLACK HOLE What is

Short Film Analysis ‘THE BLACK HOLE’

What is it? ‘The Black Hole’ is a dark comedy short film made and directed by Phillip Sansom in 2008.

Opening Shot The opening shot is a panning shot moving slowly to a mid shot with the title of the short film in white text, to focus on the main character looking miserable and fed up of his job. This mid shot focuses on the main character and his facial expressions which show the audience his mood. There are background noises of the photocopier beeping and the printer moving which connotes repetition and boringness

What does the establishing shot communicate? Mise en scene of the close up of his face allows the audience to see his messy shirt and tide which imply he doesn’t care about his job enough to make an effort to look smart and put together. Furthermore, his messy hair adds to this idea by implying he’s woken up late or had to rush to work so has not had enough time to make himself look smart. He has a miserable facial expression that makes him appear bored of his average unfulfilling job. The grey, dull lighting adds to the idea of him being miserable as grey is the colour of the mood bored or sad.

In what way is the main character recognisable as a kind of stock character? The mise en scene suggests to the audience that he is a stock character due to the background noises of the photocopier and printer whirring and the desks with computer on in the background all imply he's in an office. The dark, dull lighting of the lamps on the desk present a boring atmosphere to work in.

The black hole The producer uses electronic sound effects to represent the sound being made when the main character goes near or puts his hand into the black hole, this connotes supernatural powers and magic.

Mood changing between different shots In this first image the shot is a close up on the main characters face so that we can see his change in mood after he has discovered what he can do with the black hole. His eyes are more widened and he is smiling. In this next shot his facial expression changes again when he gets the idea to break into the office with the safe in. his eyebrows lower and his lips are pierced which imply he has some up with an evil idea. The black lighting in this image connotes evil and mystery as we as the audience cannot see anything other than the outline of the main character from the inside of the door so we wander what is on the inside too.

Change of pace The pace of the film changes as the shots switch between faster and more abruptly.