Textual Analysis: 2am The Smiling Man

Mise-en-scene:

There are little props used in this short film which allows this scene to be more realistic as the man is just walking down the street, supposedly heading home. The location is set in the middle of the night down an empty street. This is a popular setting to use for horrors as it portrays the horror of being alone late at night in the dark. The protagonist is wearing stereotypical teenage clothes with a scruffy T-shirt and hoodie. This shows his young age and can portray his vunerability and being naive which is stereotypically how young people are portrayed in society. By having a young adult/teenager as tthe protagonist in a horror film, it allows the audience to sympathise for that person and become more involved and interested in the film.

Camera angles and movement:

At the beginning of this short film, we are shown a mid-shot of the back of the male protagonist which emphathises the fact that he is alone. This would then cause the audience to automatically feel a rush of discomfort and on the edge of their seats. The camera that changes and is now infront of the man. The camera stays still but the man walks closer to the camera until there is a close up of the mans face which has a worried and confused expressions. It then moves to a point of view shot, revealing a man in a suit and hat, walking very strangly towards the boy. By showing the boy's expression before revealing what he is looking at draws a huge amount of attention from the auience as they suddenly become very eager to see what is there. Further on into the film, a low-angle wide shot is used showing the antagonist. This is used to convey dominance and to show intimidation behind the antagonists character which is a popular method used in horror films to increase the scare factor. Another point of view shot is used during the chase scene which is shown by the shots being shaky. This stratergy is used to  allow the audience to feel involved with the action and gain the feeling of being chased themselves.

Editing:

Throughtout this short film, continuity editing is used to create a sense of realism to make the film come across as being realistic which attracts a wider and larger audience. Another type of editing used is fast paced editing. This is put in place during the chase scene to empthasise the feeling of panic and adreniline. This editing technique is used to portray the feeling of chaos and allows the audience to feel how the protagonist feels being chased.

Sound:

The use of non-digetic sounds embedded into the short film starts off beig quiet and gloomy but gradually builds up as the short film gets closer to reaching the climax of the story. This technique automatically suggests panic to the audience with the feeling gradually getting more intense as the music gets louder and tense.Another non-digetic sound used is off a heartbeat. This connotes large amounts of fright and highlights how nervous and uncomfortable the protagonist is.  There are digetic sound effects used throughout the sequence such as wind and birds chirping. These are put in place to icrease the sense of realism as much as possible. Footsteps are louder than they would noramlly be due to wanting to highlight the fact that the protaonist is completely alone. It also creates a suspenseful and tense atmosphere for the audience.