Erol's short film analysis

short film name:Eden 

Directed by: Tu Do YouTube videos 

Audience/ Media language 

Eden is a short film about a young male adult and a little boy. These two characters appear to be related due to their closeness and the older male's caring manner towards the boy.  This shot establishes the location and the fact that there appears to be no one else around. The title of this short film takes up over half of the frame, this stands out making the audience aware what the film is called. Eden might even be the name of the little boy.

Audience: Eden is shot in a time where it seems there is no one left on earth, the audience will gather this information due to there only being two characters in this short with no one else around to be seen, no cars being driven, abandoned buildings too. These are all clues to what the story may be about, which will raise questions to the audience about why they are the only two characters in this film. Through the setting and character action the audience will build a picture in there head about the fate of these two characters and whether or not it is a good one.
 Something which helps to create a very still and quiet atmosphere is the fact that all you can here is the boy running his stick along the railings of the bridge. Another point would be that motorways are always very busy and loud so this would make the audience question why there are no other sounds to be heard. 

This type of short film is most likely aimed at teenagers to young adults (18-25).  The older male character does not appear too old  (maybe early 20's)  and yet he is caring for a boy a lot younger than he is even though he may still, in the eyes of some, be a young man himself. Perhaps the director chose this age range so that people who care for their younger siblings would be able to relate on some extent. The close up below shows the man's face, which reveals how skinny and unwell he looks. In addition this character does not appear to be too happy, his face looks pensive as if he is heavily thinking about something. Perhaps he is concerned for the welfare of his brother. 

The main claims 'things were a lot different before' which would give the impression to the audience that something had happened, imaginably a deadly virus could have wiped all of human life from earth apart from these two characters. The youngman would have to take charge of them and keep the brother safe, which is a big responsibility for someone who is very young too. 

The picture below helps the audience to imagine how lonely and quiet it might be for these two characters. As the two characters gaze over towards the motorway the faint sound of cars fade in and continue for about 5 seconds and then  the sound gets louder as if the cars were nearer towards them. Then suddenly the sound stops which gives the impression that the character comes back into reality which is also greeted by the sound of repeated coughing by the young boy. 

Here it shows the audience how his older brother is patting him on the back as the boy continues to cough. This would raise some level of emotion to the audience and it would cause them to feel sorry for the boy. This is due to the fact that there has obviously been some massive wipeout of humans and the coughing suggests that the boy may have the same illness. This would likely cause the audience to feel empathetic towards both characters. 

Narrative 

Enigma and action codes are used throughout the narrative in this short film. The boy coughing could be recognised as an action code as this moves the narrative on - it suggests that he is ill and they are going on a journey to find a doctor, as his brother states later in the film. 
At the start of the film it is noticeable that the faint sound of cars when they are looking at the bridge sound too distant for them to be seen, however as they look over there are no cars even there. At the last second the sound of the car sounds as if its passing them by really quickly, however it quickly cuts to a side shot of the male character looking into the distant. His character reaction seems as if he had been in a day dream and simply was remembering from before. 

Eden lightly follows Todorov's theory of equilibrium. The first stage in the theory is equilibrium where the atmosphere is peaceful and so are the characters, and although it seems in this short film as if there has been a complete wipeout of mankind the two characters are have accepted this. The short film shows the characters to be walking along a motorway bridge where Max asks 'where all the cars are at' to which the older boy  gazes into the distance in response to his question and imagines the sound of cars traveling past them. Another point to make in this first part of the narrative is there is a low pitch humming sound, perhaps this conveying a dream-like state for the older character. The disruption to the equilibrium (the second stage) is where they realise they need to get Max to a doctor. The coughing of this character is something which suggests that he is unwell, and this narrative suggests that he may die if he does not reach a doctor. After this they continue to follow their map which is assuming they are following to get to a hospital. (picture below shows them following the map and the older boy telling max to wait where he is while he goes to find the hospital) 

The next stage of equilibrium is confrontation. The confrontation happens in this short film when the older male character walks over the hill to discover that the hospital is completely abandoned and he then realises that (the next part of equilibrium) that his brother is going to die. However he tries to resolve this by telling him not to worry about the doctor and tells him that they are going to play instead. Despite the hero protagonist trying to be calm about it, it is obvious from the look on his face that he is upset. When he is facing max he tries to put on a brave face with a fake smile, whereas when he faces away he can no longer fake is smile. (pictures below show this) 

The picture below is where Max realises that he is going to die. 

The older male turns around to found out that max is nowhere to be seen. A new equilibrium has been created, Max has disappeared. It could represent Eden being mentally ill himself, perhaps Max died a little while ago and he is still having flashbacks. Scenes earlier in the sequence suggest this, for example the humming sound and also the sound of the cars at the start. Although it may not be a peaceful equilibrium, it has changed from the beginning and Eden is no better off than he was at the start.