1. Micro Analysis
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 alsomid 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 will
be able to empathize with the character who is walking
2. 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.
