EROL'S RESEARCH

Short film name: Tune for Two

  Name of director: Gunnar Jarvstad

• The scene opens with a black frame which morphs to become a blurred outline of the protagonist's legs being dragged through white snow. This short film begins from the viewpoint of this character - created by the use of a  POV shot. The fact he is being dragged suggests that he has been unconscious, and therefore that whoever is dragging him is the culprit responsible.  Consequently, the audience is aware that the character may be in danger. 
• The diegetic sound of a heart beat heavily, pounding in darkness, is accompanied by a high pitched ringing sound - created by a Foley artist. The strong, heavy heart beat is in contrast with the diegetic sound of the high pitched ringing, which can be associated with the confusion associated with coming around after losing consciousness. When this sound is pieced together with the quick blinking of the character, it becomes apparent to the audience that the character has fallen out of consciousness and the ringing sound represents him waking up. Also this high pitched sound is screechy to listen to which would most likely cause the audience to cringe.

• This element of enigma leave the audience in suspense concering the welfare of this character. It makes the audience question why they are seeing a pair of legs being dragged through the snow. This would raise questions about how the protagonist ended up in this situation, and the intentions of the characte who is dragging him.
• After this, the high pitch sound fades out. However, the sound of the strong heartbeat continues while the frame fades to black, leaving the audience in suspense, for about 5 seconds. In this short frame of darkness the audience have time to think about the enigma which has been created. Another point is that the ringing sound stops, which may be because he is fully awake and has regained consciousness. Alternatively, the frame may fall into darkness - and the high pitch sound may stop - to suggest that the subject has fallen into an unconscious state again.

• This POV shot above shows a large, dark clothed male digging a hole with a spade. Although a spade is not a typical piece of iconography, digging a hole is commonly associated with burying people - which helps the audience to build a picture in their mind of what might happen to the character getting dragged  through the snow.
• Despite the fact that the audience are still viewing what is happening in the eye of the character, it is still clear what is going on. The fact this has been shot in a POV will help the audience feel more involved in what is happening, meaning that they are likely to feel sympathy towards the character being buried.

• The high pitch ringing sound continues with a faint sound of the digging in the background. When these two sounds are combined with the blurriness of the characters view it suggest to the audience that this character is perhaps falling in and out of a conscious state. The idea of this character being in this condition most likely means he is injured to the point where he cannot keep himself  awake - suggesting a severe state of  injury. This point is backed up when the character passes out again, indicated by the screen fading into darkness to show his fading vision.

As the character is revealed it is obvious to see that his face is bloody and his eyes are closed which suggests he is scared of what might happen to him. He is still partially unconscious and has been forced to wake up - this is conveyed by his tired looks and indicators that he is in pain.

•  This shot above shows the man being dragged through the snow in a close up. The fact it is close up shows the audience how the character has realised what type of danger he is in as it conveys his deep emotion. He is standing before his own grave with a bloody nose and a mysterious dark figure pointing a gun at his head. The audience are likely to feel that there is no way out for this man and he is facing his death.
• This extreme long shot below shows both the characters in the frame. One character standing tall, the other with his face covered in blood is kneeling down looking into his own grave. The setting is shown nicely in this shot, which appears to be a cold country. This type of climate holds a reputation for a lack of survival and life. Perhaps the cold, harsh conditions around him suggest his cold fate to the audience. Another point to make would be that this type of setting is most likely in the middle of nowhere, with no one for miles - this shows how little how this character has.

• These three shots above demonstrate how the emotion of the protagonist gets the better of him. In the long shot (second picture) it is clear that this character is in distress, however in the close up the audience are fully aware that this character has probably lost hope which is shown in his despairing emotion. As well as this, his injuries are more obvious here too (dried up blood and a purple bruising suggest he was beaten up) which helps to add the level of sympathy they feel for him.

This picture above shows the antagonist clenching his jaw with a stern look on his face. This type of facial expression is typical of negative characters, showing anger and possibly hatred.

Although this character is meant to be a typical antagonist, it appears that after the protagonist begins to cry he looks up to the sky and takes a deep breath. Perhaps this is a sign that he may be struggling or feeling bad about what he is about to do.

A close up of the gun is shown while he takes a deep breath. This deep breath could be to symbolise how he does not really want to kill him but perhaps he has to. The tightening clench of his hand on the gun paired with the squeaky sound of leather gloves reinforces the fact that he is going to kill him despite any bad feelings or doubt in his mind.

• The protagonist then begins to sing hesitantly. His eyes are looking into the sky for hope, although his face still appears scared.

• The picture above shows the confusion on the antagonist's face. Although the antagonist is about to shoot this man in the head, he joins in with the song. The two men start to hum together as if they are good friends, which is an unexpected plot development. This part of the sequence would likely make the audience feel confused, as well as delivering some relief from the negative emotions which have been building against the antagonist because it makes him appear like a normal human who also has feelings. 

• This sudden change of emotion can be seen on the protagonist's face as he is seen to be smiling while he sings along. However relieved he looks he still continues to have fear on his face, and also continues to look towards the sky as if he is hoping for a miracle. 

• Another long shot of these two characters mirrors the same shot from the start, but the mood is a lot happier; both above and below images demonstrate this. The audience are likely to feel surprised by the sudden change of events, and also to feel more positive emotions towards the antagonist - especially after he lowers his gun. It is also possible to see a smile on the antagonist's face.

• After the singing comes to a stop there is silence as if the pair are waiting for something to happen. The antagonist waits nervously looking side to side - a sign of being anxious. Despite the shared moment of friendship between the two, the antagonist then shoots the man in the head before the protagonist can turn around and look at him. This suggest that he wanted to get it over and done with before the character could look him in the eyes. This is another sign that the antagonist may have been forced to shoot him. The short film ends in a long shot of the antagonist burying the man. The loud sound of the gunshot makes this scene spine chilling and has this would have a deeper impact on the audience, especially due to the fact they shared a small moment of friendship together. 
• This moment of friendship they had is likely to make the audience feel even worse about him shooting the vulnerable male. Something which would also raise high emotions to the audience would be the fact that they both look happy towards the end, even more so for the protagonist because he believes that the other man might not actually shoot him.

• This extreme longshot above shows the reality of this cold and lonely landscape, which brings the audience to realise that although the two men shared a song together in a small moment of friendship, the reality is that the protagonist was always going to be shot in the end. The ending of this sequence plays the original version of the song that the two men were attempting to sing; this song is upbeat and happy - unlike the death of this man.  This non diegetic soundtrack contrasts the situation which makes the short film seem at times comical.