The short film "Smashed" portrays four friends who go out drinking to forget their problems but end up causing worse problems. It is set in a run-down urban city. The characters use alcohol to try to solve their personal issues. Key props like an egg, a paper bag, and alcohol are used to represent themes of bad luck, pregnancy worries, and using substance abuse to cope with problems. Camera techniques and music are employed to convey emotion and signify the progression from sober to drunk states as the night escalates out of control.

1. 10Analyse the short film, “smashed” applying technical terms<br />The following film that I will be looking at is called “Smashed” 2009 written and directed by Peter Snelling. The film involves four friends on a night out, drinking and getting drunk to forget their problems, but leads to bigger and worse problems that they all had originally. The main setting of the film consists of an urban city setting. Over the next few paragraphs I will be looking at the the main factors that makes this film what it is and also what the meaning of the film is, and hpw the director has got his point across to portray the meaning of the film. <br />When watching the film, we get many messages and ideas about the film, from this, we can see that characters are based in an urban community, maybe from an estate; we get this message from opening scene when the camera is using shots with cut transitions to show the variety of the community. We mainly get the image of flats, sidewalks and newsagents selling alcohol and tobacco, this signifies to the audience that it could be a rundown area that is rough and intimidating, allowing the audience to connect with the characters and get a feeling for the life they lead before meeting them. We also see other parts throughout the film that signifies the run down city, we got these impressions from some of the scenery, including cleanliness and the well being of the area, we could see, dead trees, and also rubbish on the floor, giving the whole setting a rundown look. The director has decided to use all of the these factors to further set the scene for the audience, and really signify the type of area that we are viewing. <br />The characters in this short film play a very important role in sending the message to the audience of alcohol. We start off by seeing all of the characters as individuals before seeing them together, letting us see what each character is like personally and some of the problems that may confront them later on in the film. The two male characters that we see, are portrayed as very modern male citizens, we can see that they are mid twenties, but very immature for their age. This signified the way they dress and their mannerisms. During the scene where they are walking down the back ally, they are talking about the oncoming night, and what they want planned from it, we hear them talking about a one night stand and getting very drunk. The director has done this so that it relates to the audience, the audience will be able to see themselves in the characters, also the director has captured the age of the characters well, in the clothes and mannerisms. Also they way that the characters are dressed has the effect of the immatureness, this is because they are talking about a night out and what lies ahead, but they are dressed very casual and very underdressed for males of their age on a night out, signifying once again that they might come from a more run down area or that they are not ones to act their age. The two female characters are both very different from each other, we have one character that is very talkative, and arrogant, we can see this from the first scene we see her, she is very well dressed in bright colours and done up for the night, talking away about her life, whereas the other is more played down, dressed very dark sad colours, implying that she looks more serious than her friend, but from this beginning scene of the two, we start to feel concerned about this female character because she doesn’t seem interested, and the camera shows very little reaction shots when she is talking to her friend, implying lack of interest, possibly because she doesn’t care or that there is something else playing on her mind. This makes us feel for the character because we saw her in her room looking very uncomfortable and nervous about a brown paper bag with something in, signifying that something to do with that prop was bothering her in some way. <br />There are many props used within this short film that have very strong meanings and value to the film, first of all we have the egg at the beginning of the film, firstly shown on its own, then being “smashed” when stepped on by one of the characters. This can have many meanings towards the film, one being that the idea of the egg getting smashed signifies that bad news or luck is ahead of the characters, or smashed dreams, meaning the characters will be having problems throughout the film. One meaning that can also be taken from the egg is the view that it could signify pregnancy, and that the story will have an event about pregnancy and the egg getting smashed could be the idea that the pregnant character will be dealing with problems. Another important prop used was the brown paper bag, causing many thoughts and idea throughout the film, because the main female character has it on her at all times, and it does cause nerves to her. From the opening scene when we first see this bag, we can see that it is creased and crumbled, showing that the bag may be a couple of days or weeks old. Because we can see her grasping the bag, implies discomfort about the object in the bag is there, and is also supported when we see her emotion on her face, then see her drink her wine, the idea of drinking solves problems. At the end of the film, we finally get to see what appears to be in the bag, and the solution to what had been playing on her mind throughout the film, it being a pregnancy test, again having strong meanings and ideas about the character, she was aware there was a chance she could be pregnant, but still used the alcohol as a way to forget about it. Most of the props used by characters are shown as problems to them, we see the one male character looking at letters and pictures of his ex girlfriend, causing him to go out drinking to solve problems. From this comes another very important prop, this one being the most used....alcohol. We see this being used and portrayed throughout the film, being advertised in windows or signs, but mainly because throughout the film, all four characters have some sort of alcohol on them, and use it as a way to solve their problems. We see alcohol being given as a gift to say sorry, this is in fact the most important prop because the story and meaning behind it, is based around it. The idea that alcohol is big part of young life, and it is the best way to solve problems, making yourself happy when down. <br />The camera shots used are a big part of signifies what’s important in the scene, and is the main thing that makes props important in the scene. A good example of this is the opening scene, we see many quick cut shots used to show the setting but then a still shot of the egg, showing that the egg is most important prop in that scene and that it means something, so the audience should pay attention to it. We see a shot that is very clever, we are looking at the two female characters through a window and can see reflections, but can still hear them, and this is done by using the camera and microphones in different places in the scene, being able to give us this effect. We also see on more than one occasion, a shot reverse shot used when two of the characters are in conversation, this allows the audience to see both characters during the dialogue, and in some cases show how deep the conversation is because we can see both of the characters being locked in attention with each other. We see the transition when the characters are buying drinks, we can see the motion of buying them, the money on the table followed by them taking the drinks, this can have many meanings, one signifying the importance of alcohol in the film, but also the process of how quickly and easy it is to get hold of lots of alcohol on a night out. There are many other effects used, like the shaky cam, to signify what the characters are seeing, implying how drunk they are, and signifying that they are struggling to stand up on the own two feet. <br />The lighting during this film is very strong, as they don’t just use it to signify time of day, and where about the sun is coming from, but also as a way to communicate across emotion. We see this when the two main characters are having a conversation in the club and the lights in the club are flashing on them, they showed the colours on the faces during conversation to imply how they were feeling. The director used blues, reds and other colours as signifier’s of emotions, red as sad, blues and greens as happy, when the conversation was going in the characters favour. We also saw lighting being used to show the transition throughout the day, we had the effects being used to the lighting on characters changed depending on what the time of the day was, so we could keep track of the timings and what events the characters were doing at the time. <br />The sound in the film was very clever, using non diegetic music throughout, but changing depending on the event happening, starting off by having very calming instrumental music at the beginning, but changing to more upbeat and base style music as the tension built throughout the film, changing the mood of the audience and the characters. Another effect that is used, is to signify the change in action of the characters, coming to the end of the film, using very fast up beat music to imply the drunkenness of the characters, but then the slowing the music down as the problems arise, this gives the impression that the characters are sobering up, and having a sense of realization, and suddenly being aware of the problems that had happened because of them drinking. <br />In conclusion the use of all of these elements when used together creates an overall meaning from the film, it allows the director to decide his meaning but then show it and portray in many different ways throughout the film, making it easier for the director to get his point across towards the audience. But also makes the final meaning behind the story easy for them to follow and understand the story and characters involved. The final meaning of the film “smashed” is based around alcohol, signifying that alcohol is a part of every young person’s life, for better and for worse, and implies that more than often, alcohol is not a way to solve problems, because at the director implied, alcohol only makes your problems worse or causes more. <br />