Textual Analysis on Narrative - Tick Tock

Editing

Todorov's theory of equilibrium was not evident in the short film 'Tick Tock' as it didn't follow a conventional, linear story etc. Instead, a reverse chronological narrative was established through the use of editing. The editing highlights what type of narrative is being used. For example, the credits came first before the film to symbolise the use of reverse chronology. Another significant editing technique used to highlight the film being in reverse is through the use of credits which are shown at the beginning. The whole short film is filmed using a single long shot which implies that the male protagonist does not have any time to think anything through as we find out at the end that this is because he is going to die and therefore, stimulates the narrative. Slow motion is used in the film as well as some clips being sped up. This conveys the feeling of adrenaline as we find out that he is expecting a very soon death. As well as this, titles are presented on the screen which are negative characteristics such as greed. The audience are then able to imply that the male is possibly wishing he could go back in time to right his wrongs which drives the narrative. 

Camera angles and Movement

The camera used to film the short film is being hand held throughout. This can symbolise a sense of discomfort which can highlight the narrative as being disequilibrium which means that the peak of the narrative is at the beginning where as it would normally be in the middle. A hand held shot is also used at the beginning, focusing on the clock on the wall with the hand ticking anti-clockwise. Again, this exaggerates that the narrative is in reverse chronological order.

Levi Strauss' Binary Oppositions is also n narrative theory as he says you need to have opposites to build a story. E.g good vs evil, right vs wrong, known vs unknown. These opposites can be shown through the use of camera angles. The opposites, right and wrong, are portrayed to the audience through the use of tracking shots with the addition of titles. This is shown as the man is doing a good deed such as giving his wallet to charity, but, at the same time he also has negative characteristics appearing on the screen such as greed. This makes the audience intrigued to find out why a good man who hand his wallet over to charity would have the characteristic of greed.

Sound

The short film has a closed narrative, as theorised by Barthes, as the meaning is clear and resolved at the end. Barthes also theorised that an enigma code is crucial in engaging an audience in a narrative which was created through the use of sound. In the short film, there is not dialogue, only synchronous, non-digetic music in the background which is fast paced at some point throughout. This emphasises the feeling the dying protagonist is feeling as he is going to die. Due to the absence of dialogue this meant that the audience are only able to visually follow the narrative due to the addition of subtitles. Additionally, there is also the sound of a heart beat acting as background sound. This symbolises the amount of adrenaline the male protagonist is feeling which can be transferred onto the audience who are watching.

Mise-en-scene

Bordwell and Thompson state that a narrative is the product of a cause and effect relationship, and this can be seen through the use of key props used in the mise-en-scene. The pills show the cause of the whole narrative and as Bordwell and Thompson theory states, there has to be an affect from the cause, which is Emit patching up his relationship with his ex-girlfriend and his parents.

The use of the clock also contributed to represent the use of reverse chronological order of the narrative as it can symbolise his wanting to start fresh. The small box used in the film contributes to the narrative as the male finds it after he takes the pills which gives him the desire to return it to his ex girlfriend in order to try and right any wrongs he may have committed before he dies.