The document provides an analysis of the film "The Exam" in comparison to other short films based on various criteria such as narrative structure, genre, characters, and intended audience reaction. It examines how "The Exam" uses techniques like flashbacks, editing pace, and character performances to establish certain genres and elicit laughter from viewers. However, it notes some viewers decoded elements differently and did not find parts funny due to how certain issues were portrayed lightly. The analysis draws on theories around narrative, representation, and decoding of texts to understand how "The Exam" was both conventional and unconventional in certain aspects for short films.

1. Evaluation Kweku Obiri-Yeboah 4090 Alleyn’sSchool10802
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What defines a short film? There have been many interpretations to this particular form of
film production – from subjective ideas, like how Catherine Des Forges suggests that they
comprise of ‘spare, economic narrative… and well-structured work which draws the
audience in quickly’, to literal ideas, such as how the Academy Awards define a short film as
a film with ‘a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits’. Short films can also be
thought to be defined by the context of production– while feature length films are often
big-budget, big audience style productions, short films tend to be independently made for a
smaller, more niche arthouse audience. Questions about the different forms of short films
can be drawn from these statements. Are short films to feature length films what poetry is
to novels? If so, then the content of the short films and the way it is presented must be
considered. Due to their short nature, short films
tend to present their characters, story and plot
early in the filmrather than unfolding over the
events of the film, conforming to Des Forges notion
that short films attempt to ‘draw the audience in
quickly’. My filmalso conforms to this idea to a
certain extent, exposing the location, characters
and plot points all very early in the film.
My film, The Exam follows teenager Tim and his retest of an exam with a rogue teacher and
a spoiled brat. In an uncanny turn of events, Tim uses his memory to recall the events of the
past week to help him answer the questions on the exam. The titular nature of the film is
similar to The Fly, as the premise of the film is mostly explained by the title. This title wasn’t
changed, and I stuck with it as it is simple and self-explanatory – however, the film is a
comedy, and in this sense it can be compared to Tight Jeans, as it includes controversial
humour surrounding modern day social debates, including gender, race and culture.
Steve Neale defines genre as ‘systems of orientations, expectations and conventions that
circulate between industry, text and subject’. My film attempts to root itself in the comedic
genre by using various tropes and ‘elements’ associated with the genre, such as comedic
techniques involving looking at the camera and breaking the fourth wall and a stylised
aesthetic and performance, similar to that of ‘Tight Jeans’ and more widely known,
‘Slumdog Millionaire’. This is combined with my film’s unconventional twist of ‘syuzhet’,
which contrasts the present story with a series of ordered flashbacks throughout the film.
This unusual sequencing can be compared to that of ‘Over’, which reverses the order in
which events unfold in the film. Although done slightly differently, both films inevitably
disrupt conventional continuity and narrative structure by playing with the plot.
However, it could also be argued that my film conforms to conventional narrative
structures, such as Todorov’s three part structure based around an equilibrium, a disruption
of equilibrium and a new equilibrium. When asking for opinions, I was told that the
structure of my film was ‘too simple’ and relied too much on the flashbacks for narrative
flow. Personally, I would compare my film’s narrative structure to ‘The Ellington Kid’, where
the present space in the shop is contrasted with flashbacks of the past. Because of this, the
three part structure of the of ‘The Ellington Kid’ is split up over the past and the present,

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where equilibrium is established in the present,
disequilibrium occurs in the past, and a new
equilibrium is left hanging in the open ending between
both past and present, the echoing of the knives the
film ends on reminiscent of this blurring of lines.
Furthermore, it is also not dissimilar to ‘Tight Jeans’,
where the structure isn’t obvious, and disequilibrium
occurs across the filmrather than a single moment.
However, both films use continuity editing to counter this
and make sure the narrative is still linear. By this idea, my
film conforms to conventional narratives by using
continuity editing for a large portion of the film, establishing a narrative by keeping space
and time within the film linear for the most part. The filmdigresses from this linear
narrative with the flashbacks used in the film; the flashbacks use fades-to-white and fades-
from-white to impose a change in temporal space at 5 points throughout the film. The
flashbacks also allow cross-cutting to be achieved, further contrasting the change and
differences in temporal and spatial locations between the exam hall and the flashbacks. The
flashbacks themselves are used within the filmto break the fourth wall, as the characters in
the film react to the post-production editing of the bright lights. This way, editing
techniques have been used to interact with and introduce a common trope and element
found across comedy movies, shaping the narrative by using the comedic ‘repertoire of
elements’.
The pace of the editing varies throughout the film. During the scenes which take place in the
exam hall, the pace of the editing speeds up, due to the large amounts of shot-reverse shots
between the three characters. This leads to the overall pace of the filmfeeling a lot quicker
due to the shortened ASL in these scenes, however it allows for the comedic scenes to not
feel rushed. The varied pace of editing is similar to ‘Echo’, where varying shot lengths are
used when the protagonist is in differing state of minds.
The establishing shot of the film immediately sets the scene – a long shot of an empty exam
hall. This setting is familiar yet unfamiliar, recognisable but foreign at the same time, and
therefore informs the audience of the type of plot and characters they will be seeing
straight away, as exam halls can be associated with schools, teenagers and teachers right off
the bat. Tiffany specifically is presented as a typical high school ‘spoiled brat’ through her
performance,
shown to be
constantly texting
on her phone and
chewing gum, as
well as using a
sassy tone when
conversating with

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the other two. In terms of generic character types, Tiffany is similar to the stereotypical high
school girl seen in the ‘chic flick’ genre, and when asked for opinions on her chararcter, was
told she ‘performs like a character directly from the recent Crazy Rich Asians’. Further
elements of representation are exposed through both students. Timand Tiffany are both
teenagers of Asian descent, which opens up a space for light cultural and ethnic humour,
similar to the discussion in ‘Tight Jeans’. Discussions like these would likely be inappropriate
in films with a somewhat darker tone, such as ‘The Operator’ and ‘Slap’.
My filmattempts to use cinematography to position the characters and therefore the
narrative in the film. In the first shot of the characters, the camera situates itself at a low
angle looking centrally down at Mr Jones’ desk, with both students desks closer and on
either side of the camera. This immediately establishes a hierarchy within the scene, where
Mr Jones holds more power over the two students. This hierarchy is somewhat flipped with
the costume – Although Tim and Tiffany are presented as equal and below Mr Jones, Tim
wears a black tie and ultimately looks more formal than his teacher, indicating a shift in
power.
The audience mainly aligned with Tim’s experience in the film, seeing multiple POV and
Over the shoulder shots from his perspectives, as well
as seeing his personal flashbacks and experiences.
However, it is not exclusively his perspective, as there
are shots from the other perspectives also. In the
introduction, the long shot of the clock from Tiffany’s
point of view stresses the dullness and boredom she is
experiencing, while Mr Jones takes up most of the
frame, emphasising his control.
The preferred reading of my film from a spectator is
laughter, and I attempted to encode this reading
through the use of performance, cinematography and
editing, which resulted in that reaction for most of
those who read the screenplay. However, there were
are few cases where the content was decoded and
misunderstood by some, and as a result they did not
find the screenplay funny, due to the severity of some of the issues taken light heartedly in
the film. Based on schemas the audience may have built up watching previous comedy films
such as ‘Tight Jeans’, my film may be expected to be witty, quirky, funny and not take itself
too seriously. My filmattempts to do this for the most part; however as some people
decoded the screenplay in a way it wasn’t intended it clearly does not do this all the time.
This result conforms to Roland Barthes’ ‘Death of the Author’ notion, that the writer’s
intended meaning is irrelevant and rather the way the audience decodes the text is more
important.
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