Textual Analysis Of "The Black Hole"

I have decided to analysis the short film entitled 'The Black Hole'. This is because although it has lack of dialogue meaning the entire short video relies on humour being created though the situations the character is put in and his reactions. Me and Josh are planning to create a 4th wall breaking comedy short for our project so I thought it'd be good to explore different types of comedy shorts before finally deciding what we want to do. Below is an embedded version of the short.

As I'm now familiarised with the film I will breakdown some of the elements I found to be interesting about the short film before doing individual shot analysis.

Plot Details:

Asleep-deprived office worker accidentally produces a black hole out of the photocopy machine – and then he gets greedy…

Questions The Audience Have:

Towards the start of the short the audience is most likely thinking "Why has this black hole appeared and what is the purpose of it?". I think the creators wanted this question to become present with the audience as it means they become engaged with the story and want to continue watching in order to see what happens. However, there are some more questions that could be asked about this film such as, why is he stealing in the first place and how will he get out of the vault now the paper has fallen off. These questions are never answered. I believe this was done initially to allow the audience to have their own beliefs about what has/will happen to the character in order to keep them thinking about this short film.

The Establishment & Representation Of The Character:

The only character shown is a middle aged male in a clean, neat suit so the audience can establish he is likely a hard working employee. Near the beginning of the film is it quickly noted that he is dissatisfied with his job as the angles/distance of the camera shots (medium shot) so a dull expression on his face but, as he finds the black hole he transforms into a joyful figure as the discovery of the black hole gives him a break from his average, boring job. Finally, in the later half of the film he is shown to have become greedy within a short period of time due to the power he has received from being in possession of the object.

Location:

There is a quick pan of the of the room that helps the audience establish that the short film takes place in an office building. This is obvious as the outfit the man is wearing (a white shirt and tie) is a typical workplace uniform for a man of his age. This idea is further supported by the fact he is surrounded by the large printer, employee cubicles and typical workplace equipment such as computers. There is no change in location throughout the duration of this film. However, the rooms do vary from the original setting near the printer, a small area in which the vending machine is seen and the room featuring the vault the character breaks into.

Editing/Effects:

As the film is titled "The Black Hole" it is clear that the best and most prominent effect will be the black hole. The effect is created by simply having a black circle printed onto a piece of A3 paper. But due to the skill of the editors they are able to make it transform into a functioning black hole using appropriate camera shots and special effects to make it seem as if the man and objects are able to pass through the device. The framing of the shots that show the black holes power in use are creative as initially it makes the audience look through the hole and up at the character as he stares down upon it. This means that it makes us feel as if we are in the hole and his smart technique allows the creators to establish the holes depth making the audience believe it's real. 

Sound Usage:

I noticed that whenever the black hole is featured on screen there is a non-diegetic ominous noise that proceeds it. This could be because the creators of this short want to show the audience that this black holes power is mysterious and unknown as well as signifying that this is an unusual thing to happen. Diegetic sound is heard throughout the film by objects like the printer, surrounding objects that can be found around the office and other items. The lack of dialogue isn't unnatural either as the character is alone so the removal of this easy skill isn't jarring since he has no one to converse with.

The short film starts with a cropping effect that slowly pulls away to reveal the setting of the short. I like how the directors, Phil Sampson & Olly Williams decided to used this effect as it's a black hole but instead of destroying everything like they typically would it's giving life to something but showing us the short. The fact 'The Black Hole' is written across the screen also creates a stark contrast which helps draw the audiences eyes to the center of the screen.

The close up shot allows us to see that behind the main character there is a cubically divided office space with a mundane colour scheme composed of primarily grey. Using a shallow focus the shot could be symbolising that the employees life is slowly blending into one long day with nothing eventful happening within it (something that will soon be disrupted). This has been done to show the characters isolation and boredom as he's the only employee currently working. It's obvious the character is sick of this and wants nothing more than just going home instead. This is evident because of the expression on his face that signifies a lack of interest as he's staring into nothing and release of a sigh. 

This man is going about his normal day and presses the printers button without even thinking about it. This shows how long he's been at this office building doing this job allowing us to gain a little more insight into his character. Subtle shots like this give the audience the chance to build their own backstories for characters in order to build a bond between them and the character so they can become more invested in the film as they become more inclined to believe the plot. 

This is a medium close up. It clearly depicts the look of confusion on the characters' face once he presses the button; only to get met with an error noise as his response. It's important to include a reactionary shot as this gives the audience and character time to comprehend what's happening.

After a few seconds of confusion we're shown a close up shot of the character rapidly trying to press the same button in the hope he'll get a different response. This just reinforces the audiences idea that whatever is happening to the character isn't normal. However, the fact the character is pressing the button harder and faster would imply he's getting frustrated.

This kick proves the audiences belief that he is frustrated. This is because the act of kicking something shows that he is annoyed enough to do damage to the machine. The fact this shot is a low angle shot further shows this as the filmmaker wants the character to appear strong and powerful as it's meant to make us look up to him.

Made through a problem occurring with the photocopier the black hole, in which the short is named after, is produced on a piece of paper. At first glance it appears to be nothing special but it's actually an ingenious cost cutting technique. This likely was the chosen method for the short as it wouldn't of had a very large budget to begin with as it was probably self financed or crowd funded by a small group of investors. The extreme close up places the black hole in the centre of the screen meaning the audience is instantly shown the void which they already know to be the black hole however, the character is yet to figure this out creating dramatic irony.

These four mid-shots allow the dramatic irony to play out to a comedic effect. This is due to the character being confused by something astonishing, not because it's something incredible (the black hole) but because the character doesn't comprehend the error but he knows the routine so he just thinks it's a printing mistake on a ruined piece of paper so he puts it to a side without thinking anything of it. 

As the character has resolved the problem with the printer he takes a drink and goes to put it down on top of the sheet of paper that was just produced from the machine. This shot ends on an uncompleted match-on-action which could be a creative decision by the director to make the audience anticipate what will happen next. 

This shot is taken from the perspective of a subject that is inside the hole and it glorifies the character as it is another low angle shot. It is also a continuation of the match-on-action and it shows the cup falling into the hole before starting to show the characters surprised facial expression. This is done to allow the audience to see an event happen and a reaction from the characters affected so they can know how to feel about it before the plot continues. 

These shorts are the first of the unnamed character acknowledging what he has been created through the printing error. The expression on his face makes it seem as if he's both confused and scared because of the blank look shown in shot three. I believe this as he's clearly staring at the black hole trying to work out what/how it's there but can't so is baffled.

The unnamed man attempts to reach into the black hole and grabs his paper cup. This shot shows the expression of disbelief on the characters face whilst he defies all known capabilities of physics. These are useful shots to include as it allows the audience to see that the film is set in the real world but has fantastical elements that can lead to a comedic effect which keeps them further invested in the film. This also shows the talent of the filmmakers involved as they are able to create a realistic effect on a low budget.

This is a singular medium close up lasting between 1:06-1:10, I chose to break it up into two screenshots because I think that this shot best shows the films special effects by highlighting the mechanics of the black hole by allowing anything to pass through it (To an unknown location). The effect looks realistic which helps the films believably as the discovery of this black hole needs to  convince the audience that it's actually happening to keep them invested in the short film. 

This close up shows the characters inner thoughts before they play out on screen as you're able to see he's thinking about how he can use this power (the black hole) to his advantage. I was able to reach this connotation because of the expression on his face. The fixed look in his eyes lets us know he's either envisioned or is looking at something he wants to try and use the black hole on. This in a way shows the characters greed seeping out of his personality now as he wants to use the power to benefit him, most likely through theft. He could be planning to steal from his work as we've already learnt he's sick of his job so he might want to get back at his employer. From this one shot I've learnt facial expression is important as it can reveal a lot about a character or situation they're in because we are able to register emotions through the expressions so I'll be sure to make sure me and Josh include a close up with this sort of evoking nature to it to elevate our short.

I left out a scene in which the character steals a chocolate bar from a vending machine as I thought this upcoming scene better highlights the points I plan on making about the following screenshots. Shot 1 shows the character after he realises the potential in the ability to steal as he's already used the black hole to benefit himself. Whereas, shot 2 is the character coming to the realisation that he has the ability to use the hole for bigger thefts. This is evident by the movement from a mid shot to an extreme close up of the mans face. This is because it shows his expression change so we (the audience) change too in order to understand the characters thinking evolving into a more evil use of the gift he has been granted. This is a smart decision by the filmmaker as it allows the audience to change their mind to but, in this case about the character.

This shot allows the viewer to see from the perspective of the character and gaze upon the mysterious door that is locked. This tells the audience members that the character is aware of what is behind the door and intends to steal its content. This shot is also darkly lit compared to the others, this could have been done to evoke the sense of greed the character has been overcome with for the audience.

These four shots show the man using the black hole to open the door shown in the previous shot. The first shot clearly shows the man through the blurred glass, this has left him to become a dark figure like the black hole. This could have been done to make the audience subconsciously think he is just as destructive as the black hole as he attempting to break into the locked room in order to steal something from his employer.

These shots show how the man has begun stealing bundles of money from a vault by placing the black hole onto the vaults door. As you can see in shot 4 he already has a substantial amount of money but, his greed gets the better of him and he decides to climb into the vault in order to establish whether he has all the money available. However, ironic and karma get the best of him and the sheet of paper begins to fall off (shot 3) and the man soon gets left stuck in the vault.

This final shot of the man being trapped in the vault is a great means of comedic pay off as he's tried to steal from his work but, the greed has caused him to become trapped in a humours and uncomfortable location. This allows the audience to laugh knowing that the man got what he deserves through this act of justice when the paper finally falls.

I decided to screenshot and annotate most of the shots within the short 'The Black Hole'. This is because I think there's a lot I can get out of this two minute twenty one second short. Hopefully that has been proven above by the amount I have been able to go into depth with each shot. Whilst analysing this short I discovered that a group of people had created a remake of 'The Black Hole' titled 'Unknown Remains Unknown'. This isn't crucial to my specific project but I decided to include an embed version of it on my blog as I think it shows the clip I chose to analysis has inspired others to create films of their own.

I found this post to be extremely helpful as it has given me some ideas of how to create a comedy short film. This will surely influence my final production as this film has shown me many techniques I could use in order to create a funny scene such as, how to use silence matched with facial expression as a way of evoking humour. Alongside this I found it useful as it showed me some shots I will consider including in my short film in order to produce a funny scene.