1. Lauren Whyte
Short Film Analysis – 2am
Macro Issues
Narrative Outline There is a young man who is on his way to
somewhere, he is walking down a street wearing a
yellow suit when he sees a figure that is moving in an
unusual way. The young man decides he needs to
avoid the man. The man in the suit continues to
pursue the young man, he decides to run away from
him and thinks he has got away. But he didn’t.
Narrative Theory Begins with the equilibrium of the young man walking
at night. There is a disruption, another character is
introduced. The young man decided he need to react.
He avoids the man by crossing onto the other side of
the street. Equilibrium is restored as the yellow suit
man walks away and the character thinking he is safe.
However, the man then turns around and runs after
the young man.
Genre The genre of the film is a horror. It can also be seen
as a thriller.
Conventions The setting creates the dark theme to the film giving
it a spooky edge on top of the narrative. There is also
a weird and unknowable character who clearly
appears to be malevolent, furthering the horror
genre. The music is also constantly building up to the
bad moments, building tension up to its peak. The
crouching yellow man also creates an intertextual
nod towards Thriller as he forms a pose that suggests
the horror genre.
Representations There is an obvious message and value of how people
shouldn’t walk alone at night and they should be
frightened of the dark and any strangers they may
come across. It also says don’t trust other people that
you do not know. A negative impression of mental
illness the man may have had is also presented.
Furthermore, diversity was presented as a negative
thing and that having a mental illness is not a
something you want to have. The character also
shuffles rather than walks.
2. Lauren Whyte
Micro Issues
Mise en Scene The short film is set at night and due to this it is dark.
The dark creates the sense of horror as the characters
are lit to capture all of their reactions which are
emphasized by the lighting. The man is signified as
different and weird through the use of his unusual
yellow suit. This goes against typical connotations of
the colour yellow as the bad characters would usually
be wearing black. However, the yellow suit does
combine well with the smile on the man’s face as
yellow connotes a sense of joy and happiness.
Editing The editing jump cuts, suddenly the yellow man jump
cuts into another place where he wasn’t before. The
yellow man beats the continuity editing as he can
move to another place in a matter of seconds. The
audience see what the young man sees through shot
reverse shots. We are kept with the young man and
are able to empathies with him as we can see from
his point of view just how scary the other character is.
Sound Diegetic sound is used to emphasize the yellow man’s
feet as he moves forwards and taps them on the floor
to a set rhythm. Non-diegetic music is included to
increase the tension at the moments of action. It is
loud noises that rise at these tension peaking points.
A sting is used to emphasize the first viewing on the
man across the road. The music is not melodic. Non-
diegetic sound of the man’s heart beat is also used at
the end of the short film is used to emphasize how
scared the young man is.
Cinematography There is a mixture of establishing shots included in
the short film. There are also mid and long shots to
portray the characters and the areas surrounding
them. Close ups are used to capture the young man’s
fear by zooming in on just his facial expressions. The
camera follows the movement of the men at times.
The handheld camera shows the young man running
away which suggests the sense of chaos and worry.
Performance There is a strange physicality of the yellow man.
There is the movement from the joke to worry in the
young man as he realizes that the man in the yellow
suit.
Audience The audience may be either female or male. Males
3. Lauren Whyte
will be able to empathize with the character who is
walking home by himself. All of the characters in the
film are also male. However, a female may be able to
also empathize if they have to walk home alone and
feel scared or preyed upon by a male figure. As for
the psychographics, horror or thriller fans will be
interested in this film as it is based purely on building
the tension through the scenes.
Purpose 2am is not like a feature film therefore it is not made
to generate money from the box office. It will be
shown at places such as film festivals and allows the
people involved to get recognized. This also allows
the crew to advance in their careers.
Putting it Together 2am uses all of the previously mentioned techniques
to portray how scared and alone Roamer must have
felt walking alone in the dark and coming into contact
with the strange man. As the short film is set at night
and is dark, this creates the sense of horror as the
characters are lit to capture all of their reactions -
which are emphasized by the lighting. This allows the
audience to feel every emotion that Roamer is feeling
through his expressions, heightening the suspense for
viewers. Next, by using editing jump cuts, suddenly
the yellow man jump cuts into another place where
he wasn’t before - this scares the audience as they
are startled by the smiling man appearing out of
nowhere. Furthermore, the use of the diegetic sound
when paired with these jump cuts, emphasizes the
yellow man’s unusual movements with his feet as he
moves forwards and invades Roamers personal space
more and more. Finally, when the handheld camera
shows the young man running away, suggesting the
sense of chaos and worry, this heightens the tension
for the audience even further.
