Little Larry
Found on: http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk
Synopsis: In Larry's
life every day is the same. Lonely. He is a mid-twenties, professional, single
man who still feels like a child inside. Something is missing. Larry is finding
growing up and fitting in so hard that he still sees himself as an 8 year old
boy. However he then finds a girl who is just like him and he realizes that
this is what he has been missing.
Why
I chose this fim: I chose this film because it instantly stood out from the rest of
the films I had been browsing through. The fact that it was in black and white
definitely played a part in this because to me it meant it didn’t need to have
colour for it to be interesting to watch. Another aspect that was interesting
was the young boy dressed and acting like an adult, the contrast was intriguing
and made me want to know more:
The fact that it is all in black and white represents the boredom and dullness which the commuter feels. It also makes it feel like it is an old film, which reflects how the worker doesn’t want to grow old and he feels like his life is black and white and no longer colourful.
Another shot which represents how the typical commuter feels is
when he arrives at his block of offices. It’s a low angle shot which is taken
from right underneath him, it has the effect of the offices looming over him
which reflects the he feels intimidated and unwelcome by the place he works.
Essentially this short film is a silent film as there is no speech
at all, just music. However the music represents the feelings of the young
commuter. It goes from repetitive, strange track - which suggests confusion and
bewilderment. To a more upbeat pleasant track when he meets the girl, which
represents clarity and newfound happiness.
The main character is Larry his name in itself is a clue as to the
kind of character the film maker is trying to create because of the saying ‘On
your Larry’ which means on your own.
However what makes the film stand out, in my opinion is the fact that the character is in his mid-twenties is played by a small child. This again represents the feelings of a lot of young
Commuters who have just started to work in London after leaving
university or their parents homes. This image was painted clearly because
everything except the young boy was what someone in their mid-twenties would
wear/do. The contrast between the child and the maturity of what he was doing
was entertaining in some respects and caught the audience’s attention and at
the same time made us realise what the character felt like e.g the ironing is
something a child that young should not be doing.
I don’t think the film is direct at a specific group of people.
However young commuters will be able to relate with the film the most because
it might mirror how they’re feeling therefore it would be a good idea to target
this film at commuters and if the film was to succeed it would be an idea to
advertise in train newspapers of station billboards.
The main issue dealt with in the film is young workers, going from
university or from their parent’s homes, to living on their own, commuting to
work everyday and how isolated and overwhelmed they feel. This is a good idea
by the director as this issue is one which is often over looked because people
don’t think of how depression can come from living alone in a repetitive job.
When the young boy finds love with the young girl at the end it shows that two
people feeling like this can make each other happier. This could give hope to
young commuters feeling lonely.
The story is about a boy
going to work in a large office building and coming home who then finds a girl
and walks off into the sunshine with her. however the plot is a young commuter
who feels like he is a young boy trapped inside someone else’s body, who is
suffering because he is lonely and feels like something is missing and then finds a girl who he falls in love with and no longer feels whole. The story represents what the character looks like from the other character’s point of view, they can’t see what he is really feeling. However the plot represents how Larry himself feels. The chronology of the narrative is completely linear, which helps us see the commuter’s repetitive daily routine. In a very basic way, a narrative theory that applies to ‘Little Larry’ Vladimir Prop. Prop says that there are certain character roles which create the narrative that the audience expect within a film e.g the hero, the helper who aids the hero, the princess (the sought for person). In the film there is the hero who is Larry, the main character who then meets the princess who is the girl at the end. Although this is in a very basic form, in a longer film the theory would be more clear.
The genre of this short film varies, it starts off as an
informative film where we see the life of the commuter and it then turns into a
romance because he meets her and turns into a man.
The genre is very clear and simple which means the message of the
film is much more evident.
In general for short films having a set genre is very useful. For
their audience especially if the audience knows they like a particular genre
then they will chose to see the film within that genre. Vis versa the film
producers can chose the genre to attract a particular audience.
A particular genre theory
which applies to ‘Little Larry’ is Rick Altman’s semantic theory which states
that the characters, archetypes, iconography locations, props, music, shooting
style and others all communicate what kind of genre the film is. I thought this
applied to ‘On your Larry’ because in this film there is no speech and the
audience grab on to anything else e.g props, characters etc so they can
classify the film into a genre.
The Black Hole
Film maker: Claire Neate James
Synopsis:A bank worker is making photo copies when all of a sudden the photo copier prints a piece of paper with a large black dot on it, which he soon discovers is a hole which allows him to reach into anything he wants. After using it through a vending machine the power of ‘the hole’ goes to his head as he goes to the bank’s safe and steals money. However when he climbs in to the safe to reach more money, the piece of paper with ‘the hole’ on it drops to the floor and he is locked into the safe.
Why I chose this film – I chose this film because I appreciated the way the story was light hearted and slightly comical and at the same time there’s a moral message within the story.
A social group which is particularly relevant for this film are again, young office workers. Not the day to day officer commuter with little motivation, like in the film ‘Little Larry’, the type of worker which the moral message in particular relates to are the money hungry workers, who would do anything for a pay rise. The film isn’t naturalistic because the magical piece of paper is unnatural, however, everything apart from the piece of paper is completely natural and realistic. This contrast makes the film have a comedic element to it which grasps the audiences attention.
The worker is a stereotypical bank worker, standing at a photocopier looking impatient. Straight away we know he is in an office from the chairs and computers in the background. The stereotype of a bank worker at first isn’t particularly negative or positive. However when he steals all the money in the safe, this makes the us see the banker in a greedy and selfish way, giving the character a negative stereotype.
There isn’t a specific target audience to this film, except it would arguably, not be a film which anyone below the age of 11 would enjoy. This shows that the moral message within does not just apply to office workers, it applies to everyone. I think the message they are trying to put across is that being greedy when presented with an opportunity can put you in a worse situation than before, or something along those lines.
The plot and the story are very different. The story is a man discovering a piece of paper with a hole before getting locked into a safe. The plot is a bored bank worker who discovers a piece of paper with a hole in it and the enormity of his power goes to his head before it backfires and he gets what he deserves after attempting to steal. The plot has a whole new underlying meaning which highlights the key message about greed within the film. The light hearted storyline goes with the plot perfectly as it is contrasting.
Again it is a completely linear narrative which was a good decision from the film maker as a non linear narrative wouldn’t have highlighted the message of the film, again the contrast of the simple story line and meaningful message is what attracts the audience. Todorov’s theory is that every story begins with some kind of equilibrium, like a status quo which the audience comfortably recognise, which is then disrupted by an event which sets of a chain series of events. In ‘The Black Hole’ the equilibrium is the bank worker looking bored making photo copies, the disruption is when he photocopies a magical piece of paper which has a hole in it. This then sets off a series of events, him losing his coffee, then he reaches into the vending machine, then he goes into the safe.
The genre of the film is modern, naturalistic with aspects of non-naturalism and comedy. There isn’t a specific genre which can be applied, however a relevant theory is Steve Neale’s theory which states that genres are instances of repetition and difference, difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre: mere repetition would not attract an audience’. In ‘The Black Hole’ the repetition is him playing around with the piece of paper in a way that isn’t too dangerous, the difference is when goes into the safe because this is dangerous. The contrast between the repetition and the difference is what attracts the audience.
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