Never Forget Analysis-Jess Smith

Homework 4

Media A2 – Transition period.                                                Jess Smith

Write a blog post on “Never forget”

The Post itself	What you write about
Structure Space Colour Font size Screen grabs (use snipping tool) Anchor these Hyperlinks Embed video You can even chose to video yourself if you would prefer, but illustrate points with images at the same time.	How Gender  is represented – How are masculinity and femininity being represented here?  How do we know this from the way the 4 technical codes are used? How are we being positioned?  How do you feel about the two characters?” How is the film’s construction positioning you to take this view?

Camera Work, Mise en Scene, Editing, Sound

Masculinity and Femininity

1.    The film begins with these close up shots with fast cuts in between them which all show a male character finishing the final touches to his smart clothing. Immediately  the film is creating a very smart, well groomed, wealthy image for this male character, which are all conventions of a masculine man. The second image below shows his hand adjusting his cuff in a bright lighting, positioned in the center of the frame, implying he is a man that cares about his appearance. 

His is further supported with his image below also displays the masculine character putting his red bow tie straight, also in a bright lighting. To go with the sophisticated off screen piano sound. 

The female character is then shown in the following scene at an outdoor setting at nighttime, suggesting she is a strong woman and isn’t afraid of being alone at night in a public area. However she is also looking at herself in a compact mirror, implying she is a famine woman who also cares about her appearance, similar to the male character. She is also wearing jewellery, which supports the assumption of her being a feminine lady. 

Both of these characters are stereotypes for a masculine man who dresses well/smart and a feminine woman who appreciates her looks and cares about make up.

There is then a scence shown later in the film with parallel editing to an extreme close up of the male character on the phone. He has a sadden disappointed, upset facial expressions, which is shown in a bright light. This shot conforms to the idea of the male being a strong, masculine character as the on screen diegetic dialogue quotes “before we met, I was content, I didn’t need you in my life”, which strongly suggests he doesn’t need a female partner to support him or love him, in order to lead a happy life. Overall this is is making him to appear as a hard, masculine character.  

2. Furthermore, there is another fast parallel cut to the female as she is still speaking on the phone, giving on screen diegetic dialogue as she is using her famine, soft and sweet tone of voice as she lies to her husband, at eye level close up. As she lies to her facial expressions begins to change from being content to a tenser, uneasy expression. This shot includes the on screen diegetic dialogue of “Chinese takeaway, bottle of wine, nothing special”., this is frustrating for viewers as they know she is lying to and this wasn’t the case. However it is gripping as the husband also knows she was lying, therefore it keeps viewers interested. 

Following this, she also used her femininity in these eye level long shots, below of her in a cocktail bar setting. There is bright enough lighting to show the character drinking her orange drink with a happy facial expression and upright body language. There are also shots on the bar in front of her, implying she intends to get drunk, creating enigma if she had the idea in her head of being careless and cheating from the beginning. She is also wearing a fancy, tight black dress, implying she’s made an effort for this night, further supporting the idea of her wanting to find a new man. These shots also have off screen, upbeat soundtrack, along with the background chatter and ambient sounds, fitting with the bar setting. 

As she is shown through jump cuts talking to a man at the bar, the camera quickly cuts to the two of them intimately dancing, in the center of the frame in a long shot, as the same off screen soundtrack continues. This male is different to the previous one shown (her husband) as he isn’t as smartly dressed and it just in a shirt and casual trousers.

Gender

1.    In this 4 shot, with the camera positioned at a low, straight angle, there are two males positioned at each side of the frame, dressed in dark and smart clothing. There are also two female figures which is suggesting that the two separate genders can come together and form a bond. Both couples are shown kissing intimately in the dim, dark lighting, however they stand out due to the bright spotlight pointed on the low table in between them. The table also has props on it, such as large drinks with straws, this could imply that events like this between the two different genders happen when alcoholic drinks are involved. The women are positioning their bodies in a specific way, almost on-top of the males, suggesting they are the more affectionate gender. However the male positioned to the left of the frames body language also prevents him as a loving person, as his hand is placed on the girls knee. This shot also includes a sound bridge off screen dialogue from the previous scene, as well as the background off screen soundtrack of the upbeat club music playing at a low volume. 

 

2. Following on from this, there are more ways that gender is displayed throughout “Never Forget”, such as this cut to a close up of the females hands positioned in the center of the frame as she removes her wedding ring, implying she doesn’t want to continue with her marriage. This shot as also allows the audience to see the male she is with hand on her leg, displaying the affection she is getting, hence why she is taking her ring off. The female is seen to be wearing red nail varnish which could have been done to connote this new love she is experiencing and the break of a different relationship, as well as the danger she will face in the future, due to her actions. This shot is shown in a dark light with little ambient sound. This action goes against gender stereotypes because it is expected that males are the ones to break up a relationship by cheating on their wife, however this film is not conforming to this stereotype and using the female as the one in the wrong. 

 

This is then further supported in this medium, side angled shot when she takes the man out of the bar and it presents her as a strong woman who is in control with her man being led and followed by her, as you can see from their body language below.

 The camera then pans at a slow pace as the characters get nearer to the lense, giving the audiuce the feeling that they are walking with them. As they're still in the bar setting the dull lighting continues, apart from red spot lights in the background, connoting danger or love. 

 

In addition, continuing the slow paced pan, the camera moves to this low angled long shot of the girl’s husband, who is positioned to the far right of the frame, with a very upset facial expression and slumped body language with his arm leaning on the bar for support, due to his state of shock. Seeing his wife with another man shows he has no male power and has little control of the situation. The fact that he hasn’t approached the couple suggests he is in too much shock to move and that he isn’t used to being in this situation with no control. This is supported by his clothing of a posh suit and tie, creating the idea that he’s a well-respected businessman. The red lamp positioned on the bar further suggests danger. This shot also uses a sound bridge off screen dialogue with off screen background soundtrack of upbeat club music still, juxtaposing with his feelings.

How are we being positioned? 

The audience are getting to see behind the scenes which show the danger of what females or males can do when they’re in a ‘committed relationship’. The film is making viewers feel annoyed and upset on the male characters behalf as his wife was enjoying being with another man at the bar.

How do you feel about the two characters?

The male character is shown throughout to be very hurt, upset and betrayed, due to catching his wife cheating on him with a younger man. He also seems to be playing a little game to see if she would lie about what had happened that night, as he didn’t confront her himself. However towards the end of the short film, you can clearly see that he is becoming frustrated and angry, rather than sad or upset. This is shown through his tone of voice becoming more abrupt and his facial expressions becoming tenser. The film also ends with in enigma as it shows the female character as her husband ends their phone call and something large falls right next to her, leaving viewers wondering if the male organised this.

Furthermore, the female character is shown as a sophisticated and smart female, however this assumption changes throughout the film as she is shown cheating on her husband. She is using her sexuality to her advantage in being with this random man in a cocktail bar. She is wearing a tightly fitted black dress, suggesting she came to the bar looking for a man to be with. She is then in denial as she lies to her husband about what she did that night, which could be because she regrets it or it could be because she just doesn’t want to the first to ruin their relationship. However overall the lying was mainly done to protect herself. I believe if she wasn’t enjoying her marriage, this wasn’t the way to end it, therefore have little respect for her.

How is the film’s construction positioning you to take this view?

I think the film makers were clever the way they shot this film because it used a lot of parallel editing when showing the phone call between the two characters and also the way they used cuts between the present and the past. By doing this it meant that the audience could see the female lying to her husband, whilst watching her do what she did the previous night. This makes viewers frustrated as she think she’s doing the right thing by not telling him, however little does she know that he saw her cheat, therefore it keeps viewers attention as we want to see the outcome of the end of the conversation and if he confronts her.