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Short Film Analysis Contracts

Source - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5td_grhqR0
Contracts is a short film, which is of the action and crime genre, using many of the conventions from
it. The institution who produced the film is BigSync, who are an independent producer making short
films with low budgets. The institution make action and horror short films, so this short film
conforms to the institutions ideology. The plot of the film is two criminals performing a robbery of
an arms dealer. The film uses a variety of technical aspects, such as camera and sound, to convey
various things to their target audience. Their target audience are males, as they typically enjoy
action films more than females, and people who are interested in the crime genre. It could also
appeal to people who enjoy and appreciate short films made with little to no budget.
In the first shot, there are car lights passing over the
pitch black screen, followed by a close up of the back
of a car. This creates enigma for an audience, as we
dont know who is in the car and what the situation is.
As well as this, there is mysterious and low pitched
music in the background, which further adds to the
enigmatic atmosphere. On the other hand, this music
also has an action feeling to it, which conforms to the
conventions of an action film, as well as the
institutions common use of the action genre. There is then
a cutaway to the inside of a car, where we see a character
changing gears. As well as adding to the enigma of not
knowing who the character is, there is also a red tint over
the shot. This gives a sinister feeling to the shot, and
implies that a bad event is going to occur, and represents
the character as dangerous or evil. The scene is comprised
of various shots of the inside of the car, with only the
characters hands shown operating the car, creating constant enigma, and encourages the audience
to continue viewing. There is also a constant darkness in all of the shots, further adding to the
enigmatic and sinister atmosphere.
Further on, we see two characters making a suspicious
exchange of a bag. This creates enigma for an audience, as
we dont know what the two characters are exchanging. This
is a common convention of the action genre, where enigma
is created in the beginning to interest the audience into
watching more. As well as this, this scene also uses a
common convention of the crime genre, where suspicious
criminal exchanges are carried out at night or in the dark
away from others. This means that the institution is targeting and appealing to two audiences,
people who enjoy action and people who enjoy the crime
genre, as well as conforming to the institutions common
ideology of focusing on these genres. The exchange is
followed by further enigmatic close ups of the characters
body and the bag as the two characters get back into their
cars. Following this, the title and director name fade in onto
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screen. This is a common convention of action films, in which an opening sequence engages and
interests the audience in some way, in this case through enigma, followed by the titles.
In the next scene, the first shot we see is a
two shot of two characters who are wearing
masks. The institution is slowly revealing the
characters to us as the film progresses, which
further encourages the audience to keep
watching to find out who the characters are.
The masks are also a common convention of
the crime genre, in which characters hide
their identities when committing crimes. This also represents the two characters as criminals. Whilst
the characters are in the elevator, calming music is playing. This is a way of the institution appealing
to its audience by relating to them, as the audience will relate to the music that is played in
elevators, as it is something that everyone recognises from their everyday lives. The characters are
also wearing suits in the shot, which represents them as being smart and professional. Although this
contrasts with the masks that make them seem evil, criminals wearing suits is a common convention
of the crime genre. There is then a cutaway to the room where the two characters are heading to,
with two other characters trading guns. The camera starts by paning up to the left, revealing the
guns first and then the two characters. This represenst them as violent. As well as this, guns are a
common convention of both the crime and action genres. As this happens, one of the characters is
mostly hidden in the shot, creating enigma for an audience as to who this man is. There is a cutaway
to the characters in the elevator, and the camera pans down to the characters waists, revealing that
they have guns. The shot adopts a red tint at this point, which represenst the characters as evil and
dangerous, who are about to commit a crime with the weapons that the have. Due to the previous
cutaways to the characters in the room and in the elevator, this indicates to the audience that the
characters dealing the guns are in danger.


In the following scene, we are shown a two
shot of the characters walking towards the
camera. This shows the relationship between
the two characters, and is further emphasised
by the stability of the camera. When the other
characters are shown, the camera is free,
rarely staying stable, representing that they
dont have a stable elationship. This is also the
point at which the characters are revealed to the audience. There are then multiple cutaways
betwene the two sets of characters, gardually building in speed. This creates tension for an
audience, as it indicates that a confrontation is going to occur. Once the fight occurs, the camera is
shaky, with quick cuts between shots. This fits the
atmosphere of the scene, engaging the audience
with the action sequence. Quick cuts are also a
common convention of the action genre. At this
point, the music becomes suspensful, which engages
the audience with the situation that is happening, by
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ensuring that the music is suitable. During the scene, a low angle is used of the criminal, with one of
the characters sinking out of the shot at the bottom. This empowers the criminal and makes him
seem superior. Low angles are used with both criminals, making them seem in conrol over the
situation, and represents them as dominant.
In the next sequence, only text is shown on screen as subtitles for the police dialogue. This creates
enigma, as we are unsure as to what is happening to the characters who just committed the crime.
This is also an interesting way of engaging the audience
whilst conforming to the institutions low budget. During
the text, sound effects of police sirens and radio chatter
are used in the backhround to engage the audience as
much as possible. The text is white and yellow, changing
colour between diffeent characters, but certain text is
highlighted red at points. This captures the audiences attention, as the red text stands out. The red
text is also used to indicate that the characters are in danger.
In the final scene, the car that they escaped in has
crashed, with one of the criminals dead. The remaining
character stumbles out of the car, collecting all of the
weapons that they stole. The camera is unstable and
unfocused at points, which gives the impression of
trauma and haziness from the crash. At one point, pull
focus is used, where the criminal who is alive closes the
car door, and the focus is pulled forwards to put the dead criminal in focus. This is a way of
emphasising the relationship between the two criminals. As the criminal walks away, there are
various cut aways to close up shots used of objects. This is to illustrate to an audience that those
objects are important to the characters, such as the bag. This is a common convention of the crime
genre, in which characters have a bag containing
something that they have stolen. Towards the end
of the film, we see the main character drop the
bag and fall to his knees. We are shown a medium
close up of the character, giving the audience a
connection to him. He drops his head due to his
grief of his friend at this point, so the audience
feel a connection with the characters emotions.