Analysing Short Films: 'FUTURE.INC' - Alex

'Future.Inc' (Dir. Martin Stirling, 2012)

 'Future Inc.' is a short film based on an a website that supposedly puts people from the 21st Century in contact with people in the 24th Century. As many begin to believe the website is a hoax, one lonely woman begins to fall in love with someone who she's recently got in contact with.

The short begins in an office setting (props such as the water cooler are typical). The low key lighting can suggest a certain mood towards the room as well - particularly lower lighting can suggest tension. This is proven to be correct as many characters begin to criticise the female leads' informative talk. Although her personality comes across and satirical, she is taking her talk very seriously and eagerly. The opening scene uses a variety of camera shots; long shots, to show the entirety of this small room/all the characters involved. Close up shots of a defibrillator after being used give the audience a closer look at the powerful device, and is accompanied by a mid-close up reaction shot (in which the main character is positioned on the golden mean) - this reaction shot shows her clumsiness to accidentally shocking herself. Already, we have established that the main character comes across as goofy to the other characters - this is through her body language, facial expressions and over-exaggerated tone.

There is also a shot that shows three minor characters reacting to the main character being electrocuted. It could either be interpreted as a 2-S due to the positioning of the characters (one being hidden in the depth of field), or a 3-S, simply because they all do fit in the frame. The director used this frame to give a justification on how many people disagree with the main character's actions. Their facial expressions suggest that they are not nice people as they snarl and snicker and this woman who had just electrocuted herself. The editor also uses a sound bridge to see the main characters reactions - she awkwardly stands there and looks physically uncomfortable at the comments her colleagues.

We are then introduced to a new character, presumably, a male interest. We can assume this by their body language towards each other, and shared awkwardness. Their personalities are visibly compatible.

The editor has ensured to stay consistent with the colour  scheme as well - we can tell they are in a different room due to the different décor and surrounding space. The colours however stay consistently neutral, dull and somewhat desaturated. Unlike a lot of the short films I have analysed, this seems to be the first with absolutely no soundtrack involved - 'Future.Inc' relies on dialogue. This powerful decision gives a heavier meaning to the context and purpose.

The main character is now positioned at home watching a video on her iPad.

Something I have not seen much in my short film research is use of after effects. This particular shot shows an actor standing in-front of a white background/screen. Using special effects, a 'Future.Inc' logo and a form of modem dial-up (for the future) has been super-imposed on top of the footage. The monochromatic and silver colouring can be interpreted as a Zeitgeist - it's a shared cultural trend that the future is landscape full of robots and clean, green-energy on a white background. They have also used animation is on the dial-up to suggest information being sent to the 24th Century - this would be something our group could achieve. Simple animations and using mixed media in our short will really show off our skills developing.

This next shot is a visual clue to suggest the outcome of the short - the freezer will become an important prop as the narrative progressive. Although this scene may come across as unnecessary during the first viewing, it becomes an important enigma code. Barthes first suggested this trend of engima codes - codes that usually suggest mystery or raise questions.

The character is shown picking up a tub of ice-cream and continues to eat it in bed while talking to her love interest on Future.Inc. If the narrative were realistic, she would clearly not be able to meet him. However, her awkwardness and loneliness clearly gets the best of her as she feels that she should work on her body image.

This camera shot uses blocking to focus on a single figure in the shot - to achieve this, a camera has been set up in a corridor and positioned in a way that only views a small selection of a room. The actor is then positioned strategically in said room so they are the soul focus. Personally, I interpreted the hazed lighting and her hazed imagination of an unrealistic relationship. Jump cuts are then used to show her vigorous, yet unsuccessful workout routine which consists of rolling around on a ball and falling off. Her desperation is shown when a particular sound effect is used to indicate a notification on the website. This sound effect acts as a trigger for her as she jumps to reply.

The next scene shows the same character in the Future.Inc advert being interrogated by a bystander/news reporter on the logistics of the website's success. During editing, a filter is used to give this grainy, some-what 3D effect. To achieve this, layers of colour are shifted to create a distorted video clip. In this TMZ/celebrity stalking set up, a hand-held camera is used to film the website's creator. His body language suggests he has no time for the reporter, and pushes the camera away. This scene is important to the narrative development as it proves the website is a hoax.

The main character then decides to sport a new, formal look. Her slicked back hair do, and formal red jacket shows a reinvention of herself, and is all part of her refreshed image. The narrative develops and shows that she is not doing her work, and begins to miss work all together. Her colleague, who we believed to be a love interest in the beginning, checks up on her and is left disappointed. 

The male character's important line is:

"Well... all, miss you."

He begins to stumble on the word 'all', as he doesn't want to openly admit he will personally misses her. This just makes the narrative that much more sadder.

Her final scene is also her final 'reinvention' sporting a bouncier hairdo and red lipstick - she looks as if she is trying to impress someone. Typically, this kind of look would be for a date - so the conventions suggest that she's preparing to meet the love interest.

The camera tilts down to reveal the defibrillator from the earlier scene. This is the first important prop to the climax of the narrative. She then appears to be taking all of the frozen foods out of her freezer - again, very important to the development. Finally, an extreme close up of the website chat segment saying "QuirkyGuy: If only we could be together".

As the woman was advertising in the beginning, the app used to shock her earlier in the shot has now been set-up with a countdown of approximately 300 years. This is a clear indication that she is aiming to freeze herself up until the 24th Century - the dramatic climax to this already sad story.

Personally, my interpretation of this short was manipulation of those with mental orders, and represents those with extreme mental disability. The short also touches on the class system being a systematic problem for those 'under-achieving' in society. She clearly has personal issues if she believes she can freeze herself, and simply wake herself up from the dead in 300 years - this level of science just isn't available at the moment.

The short loosely follows that of Propp's theory (pictured to the right) on folk tales. We are positioned with a 'Hero' (although she does not possess any superhuman elements, she is still the main character we are 'rooting' for). The villain would the website/website creator, as he is the stigma for her actions. The helper and false hero, very strangely, happen to be the same person. The Helper would be the guy our hero believes she is talking to on Future.Inc, but he turns out to be the False Hero (or the initial love interest) the whole time. This tragic story is some-what complex, but still very achievable for our group.