IDENTITY SHORT FILM 1

Identity Analysis (MRANG).

 

The opening title is just on a black screen with white text on it. This is simple and plain, yet the text has cracks, and rubbed away parts that fade into the black. This could suggest it’s something to do with a broken identity. This raises the enigma and makes the viewer want to know why the text font and background is relevant.

  

From these screen grabs, the character knows more than the audience, this is called restricted narration. This is suggested by the way she is shown without a mask on, and then she puts one on, we have no real understanding at this point what the mask represents, however she does. We can see by the background that she is in some sort of bathroom or toilet; the tiles on the wall suggest this. It seems quite lit, but also a bit desaturated. Facially, she seems quite content, but then she has to cover that up, which could suggest the lighting being a bit grey.
The non-diegetic music in the background sounds as if swords/knives are being scraped together to give off that very metallic sound. When she puts the mask on her face, it sounds very magnetised, suggesting it is permanent

 

The first frame certifies that it is some sort of bathroom, as we can see the tiled floor, as well as a baby changing table.

We are then introduced to a series of shots which are edited together, showing just the back of her head. This is particularly clever because we see just her surroundings. For example, the second shot is her in a classroom, and another one was her walking through the corridor. This tells us another setting, a school. Notice, the woman in the second frame is also wearing a mask, which is different to our main characters.

 

                              

Our female protagonist seems to be on her own a lot of the time. Maybe the masks mean different things? At this point, there is a lot of enigma being raised.

The camera shot is a medium shot, to capture the true loneliness she must be feeling. We can see silhouettes of people walking past, which suggests people don’t care for her.

We can see people in groups behind her; this shows that maybe her surroundings aren’t very accepting, which is also where the masks might come into play. It seems to be quite nice and bright outside, but around her it seems to be dark and shadowy, which would suggest she is content in her own darkness.

                                               

We can see that the classes have a routine. The fact they are sitting with their arms crossed shows maybe a strict ruling within their classrooms. They all have different masks, but they come in groupings. For example, we can see that the “yellow” masks connote popularity. The poster reads “This is what beautiful looks like”. The word “beautiful” is highlighted in yellow, which suggests that yellow masks are the most beautiful. This is the same with real life stereotypes, such as being 6ft tall and being a size 4 to fit into the “beautiful woman” categories. The fact that nobody has the same mask as our main protagonist shows she is her own individual and she doesn’t follow stereotypes.

The poster is placed on the school walls which suggests that the school is promoting the segregation of people within schools. The girls surrounding the poster all have yellow masks and one of them is flipping their hair. This is suggesting she doesn’t care for other people, only herself and her appearance.

In this scene, we are revealed to a circular narrative. What we thought was happening in the beginning was actually edited in reverse. We thought as an audience, that our main protagonist was putting on the mask, but by the end we realise she’s taking it off, which is the reasoning for her bright and cheerful body language.

The lighting in this room hasn’t changed and still looks a bit desaturated, however we feel completely different about what is happening.

The fact she is removing her mask shows she no longer feels the need to conform to the supposable norms of the social world.

We see a high angle shot looking down on the venetian styled mask, that has just been left, this is significant to the last shot, as we see her walking through her school, outdoors surrounded by the other pupils who are still masked. This suggests she has come out of the darkness into the outside world.