The Manipulated Living -Tasha Reynolds

The Manipulated Living by NavajoJoeFilms - Published on Aug 24, 2012


Key Concepts discussed:

Media Language (Camera/Sound/Editing/MES)
Representation
Genre

This short film begins with a pan across a little boy sleeping in his bed, the boy looks at piece and quaint whilst asleep. Although contrastingly the mise en scene suggests the opposite as the lighting and colours in this shot are both dull and dark colours suggesting that the environment he is in isn’t very innocent and pure like the young boy himself. Music is playing quietly in the background that sounds like a single low note just being stretched out, supported with the sound of a quite piano playing sadly in the background. As the shot converts to a close up of the boys sleeping face it feels like the shot is being presented as a restricted narration shot as we can hear movement in the background. For example, we can hear a door open from outside the room almost immediately the boy wakes up; his facial expression suggests that he is alert and scared. Since the noises that can be heard sound ordinary the fact that he is awoken from them as soon as he heard them suggests that this is not the first time he has heard them and is therefore accustomed to these particular noises.

The boy then sits up and through what we can see with an over the shoulder shot he is looking at the door listening to the noises that come from behind it. At first the door is out of focus but the longer the boy gazes at it the more it comes into focus connoting that the door is related to the particular noise that is scaring the boy. The camera cuts to a handheld close up of the boy’s scared facial expression the fact that this is being shot using a handheld camera expresses the panic and nerves that the boy is feeling inside. This is a prime example of a binary opposition when compared with the opening scene where there is a pan over the boy whilst he’s sleeping. The pan is shot using a secure tripod with very controlled movement symbolising the controlled and calm state of the boys mind at the time, whereas now that he is scared the camera is supporting this by shooting from a shaky handheld camera.

As the scene continues we are presented with a low level shot of the door where we can see shoes appear outside the door this is followed by a reaction shot of the boy looking terrified. As a result the boy runs out of the shot and into a corner in his room away from the door. Followed with a medium close up of a man abruptly opening the door, throughout this scene a variety of shot/reverse shots are used between the little boy and the old man. The man enters the room staggering holding a bottle of alcohol; this prop supports the assumption that he is drunk. The man’s body language is clumsy but at the same time invasive as he stands in the doorway with his legs spread apart like he is presenting himself as a bold figure. Meanwhile the camera is shaking whilst filming this shot helping to represent the chaotic state of mind the man may be having.

The shot then changes to a close up of the scared young boy cradling himself in the corner of his room. The composition of this shot reveals various aspects such as the fact that the boy is wearing white suggests that he is innocent in contrast to the intrusive man who is wearing dark colours. Additionally, the boy has placed himself right against the wall in the corner of his room as if he wants to get as far away from the man but is trapped.

Continuity editing is also used when the drunken man drops his bottle of alcohol he is holding as seen in a medium close up however, as soon as the bottle smashes onto the floor this is shown with the use of match on action from a low level view of the pieces of smashed glass that resulted from this action. The smashing of glass which can be heard very loudly over the mysterious music suggests that this has been edited with in post-production; for instance by using a foley to make the sound effect have a big impact when we hear the bottle smash. In this low level shot of the smashed glass we also get a glimpse of the young boy who’s still cowering away in the corner of the room. This may be only for a second but we are able to see his terrified reaction as he hears and sees the bottle smash on the floor. This is abruptly followed by the door being slammed shut; shutting us as spectators out of the room where the action is taking place. The impact of the door being slammed shot is increased with the diegetic sound of a high pitch piano being forced down, further creating the fear surrounding the unknowingness of what the man is about to do inside the room.

The sequence is continued with a medium close up of the vulnerable little boy in the corner of the room, as the handheld camera shakes rapidly the boy screams “No please stop!” in desperation for the man to leave him alone. The composition of this shot helps to represent the process of power within this scene. For example, the drunken man’s body language signifies that he has the power and control in the situation as he towers over the boy grabbing him. As he does this his shadow engulfs the small boy again implying the fact that he is the dominant character in this situation. The boy is then thrown onto the bed as this action is completed the camera is parallel with the action taking place; as the boys thrown on the bed the camera is also thrown backwards in a synchronous motion.

As the sequence progresses it is being made clear to the audience watching that the drunken man is about to rape the young innocent boy. This is played out through a series of jump cuts consisting of high angle shots to close ups and filmed by a hand held camera which changes from being  in focus to out of focus. This action of the camera helps represent the distressing and confusing thoughts that the boys mind must be processing. The background music turns into a high crescendo pitch expressing the panic and chaos that is happening in the scene. These technical aspects such as camera movement and sound help to convey the style of genre used in this film as they are stereotypical conventions of the thriller genre. However, due to the fact that the film shows the psychological outcome the events have on the boy I would personally label this film as a psychological-thriller; making this short film a hybrid. This is an example of how Steve Neale’s theory of repetition and variation is used in terms of genre.

This is followed by an over the shoulder shot from the old mans view where the door suddenly bursts open with a young man entering heroically holding a bat. In a matter of seconds the young man whacks the rapist over the head with the bat, whilst almost parallel to the action the camera pans as he’s falling over. In this short film the camera tends to represent through its movement and method of filming how the characters are feeling and reacting to certain events.

The audience are then presented with a blocking shot at floor level of the protagonist/hero standing over the antagonist; the shot consists mainly of the older mans face as he is nearly unconscious and in pain. Notice how the concept of power and authority has changed since the hero has walked into the scene. In off screen diegetic dialogue the hero yells; “You piece of shit!” this offensive language spoken by the male character suggests that he despises the antagonist and that he now owns the power and authority. The shot then switches to a point of view shot from the antagonist’s perspective, we know this as the angle of the shot is positioned slightly slanted in resemblance to the position the man is lying on the floor. In this shot we as the audience are presented with the hero leaning over the camera looking down at it. The man continues to say “If you touch him again I will kill you!”. As a result of this framework and camera positioning the audience feel as though the character is yelling at them; the camera is therefore using a personal approach to engage the audience.

The shot then changes to a medium close up of the young boy in the corner of the room; notice how he keeps converting back to the same position and area of the room as this may give him comfort and feel like he is protected. The hero’s shadow then walks across the shot and decreases as he squats down next to the boy at the same height level. The composition of this shot suggests there’s equality in terms or power and authority in this situation between the boy and the hero. It also suggests that the hero respects the young boy and doesn’t see his age and the fact that he’s bigger as a reason to dominant the younger boy. This is then continued with a point of view shot as the man says calmly to the camera “He will never hurt you again”, it is obvious that he is saying this to the young boy to help comfort him.

This concept of reassurance and comfort is continued through the use of gentle diegetic piano music playing in the background. The shot then cuts to a close up of a door frame in which the hero walks into the shot and turns and says to the boy “You can wake up now” to which a reaction shot of the boy looking up as he hears this is used along with the simultaneous movement of the camera motioning the boy’s body movement. The door then closes and is emphasised through the use of a foley making it more dramatic and clear that the event is now over. Almost simultaneously as the door closes viewers are presented with a medium close up of a man waking up in bed; the fact that he is waking up as soon as the door is shut suggests that he was having a nightmare. This is further suggested through his facial expression and body language as he sits abruptly upwards as he awakes looking frightened and panting in bewilderment.

However, once he realises that it was a dream and that he is okay his facial expression changes to being relieved that the action he just dreamt of is over. Although contrastingly, the character also looks sad and scared this could suggest that the nightmare he had wasn’t fiction and is actually a true past experience he has gone through. One key thing to highlight in these shots after the character has woken up is that they are shot using shallow depth of field with only the male character remaining in focus. As a result this draws the viewer’s attention to focus on the characters body language and facial expressions. The shot finally fades to black as to end the emotions the character is experiencing.

This is then followed with a tracking shot of the man walking down the hallway from his room the use of a tracking shot lets us as spectators walk with the character and gain an insight into what he is experiencing. It is here that we realise that his dress code is the same as the young boys in the dream, suggesting that he is the young boy in the dream. The man then turns to a door to which we are presented with a side view of his face; the lighting consists of low key lighting as we can only see the silhouette of the characters face. However, as he opens the door light from that room highlights his face, suggesting that the light coming from that room represents hope and peace. This is then followed with a match on action shot of the door being opened from the other side. As the door is opened we can see the expression on the characters face looking surprised but in a comforted way. To which he says  “You” which is then accompanied with an over the shoulder shot capturing the hero from the dream in the same dress code and holding a key prop; the bat. This then cuts to a close up of the hero smiling whilst saying “You remembered”.

The overall representation in this film focuses on the perspective of a rape victim and how various actions and events have affected him. For example, the short film starts out with a young innocent boy being a victim of child molestation and shows through how the film ends that even after a long period of time these traumatising actions done can still have deep psychological damage on a person; in this case the boy. When analysing the representation used in further detail I would say that the social group of age has a big impact on the effect of the film. This is due to the fact that the boy in this film is presented as a little boy between the ages of 6-8 and is therefore very defenceless and has a lack of power and authority in a situation like this. The film portrays this very clearly through codes such as his body language and facial expression as the character of the boy is represented as scared and vulnerable.

When analysing the key concept of genre in greater detail I would say that this media product also uses Roland Barthes theory of action and enigma codes as well. For instance, the film uses action codes various times such as when we see the light turn on and the man’s shoes under the door; implying that there’s someone behind the door that is going to come in. The use of enigma codes is used by using a variety of restricted narration shots and by the ending of the plot where the audience are left with deciding on their own interpretation about what they have just watched.