Textual Analysis 2 - My Favourite Things

This short film is classed in the ‘others’ category, however after watching it I would describe its genre as family/romance. This is because the characters in the film are a young boy and girl. By using young characters the film can be classed as family and since a boy and girl has been used, relating to the story, it can also be classed as romance.

The film is approximately 5 minutes long and has approximately 81 shots.

A variety of shots are used throughout the film:

This is an over the shoulder shot of the boy  seemingly bored and daydreaming. As we see him sitting idly that audience may believe that an exciting event may happen involving the boy.
 

A low angle shot – showing us where the boy is sitting and what he could possibly be looking at. This could also be said to be a point of view shot of the flowers down below – the camera is shaky, mimicking the movements of the swaying flowers.

A blurred shot of what the audience will assume is a little girl – this effect of not knowing who the girl is suggests she may become a central character in the film. The shot then begins to focus on the item in her hand, which we see is a photo-camera as it comes into view. The shots becomes a close up shot of the photo-camera as the girls walks closer to the camera – due to this we know that the photo-camera is a key part to the film.

An extreme close up – clearly showing the audience his facial expression as his curiosity takes him further into pursuing the mystery girl. This also emphasises the importance of his role in the films story as the ‘silent hero’ type character.

This is another over the shoulder shot, however in this we see that tracking is also being used. This effect almost gives an innocent voyeuristic atmosphere, since he is following the girl. Tracking is also used in other shots to give the effect of the girl being followed, in which case she is, by the boy.    

This shot can be described as a point of view shot of the shop owner looking at the little girl through the window. As she hasn’t entered the shop, it gives the audience the idea that she, possibly, cannot afford the sweets she so desires and hence creating sympathy towards her.

This shot begins blurred until it becomes and extreme close-up shot of the boy. It then fades into or merges with the next shot. This transition suggests to the audience the idea of a slight time skip, as the scene changes to a park.

This is a medium close-up of the tin. We are able to completely see the tins appearance in this shot. The fact that it is shown to us individually in its own shot, suggests that it is a key part to the film and has great value.

In this shot we have a medium close-up shot of the sweet. This shot can also be described as a slight wide shot, as we are able to the girl, blurred into the background, and her room, also blurred. As the shot has been focused on the sweet and the other items found in her tin (as seen in the film) the audience are lead to believe that the revealing of these items are the event that we were so anticipating to see. 

Lighting

As the day goes on the film we can notice that natural lighting is mainly used. We notice this because the lighting at the end of the film compared to the lighting at the beginning of the film has become more dimmed. So from this we know that natural lighting was very important in the making process of the film. Also the way in which the lighting is used to show different times of the day is very effective as it gives the audience a sense of being a part of the day and watching its events unravel.

For example, in this shot we are able to see the sun’s light reflecting onto the buildings in the back. We can tell from this that the sun is low in the sky and is therefore reflecting at that angle and that golden colour, telling us it is close to the end of day.

Sound/Music

Non-diegetic music begins almost immediately as the film enters the first scene. It starts off as a single instrument, to emphasise that this is the starting point of the story about to take place. Gradually as the scene progresses several instruments begin to play, layering up to building up the excitement of the events that are about to take place. An example of one of the instruments used is a xylophone; we know this due to the faint ‘tinker’ sounds. This creates child-like music, almost ‘magical’ like, and therefore making the film seem innocent, hence the use of two children to be the main protagonists.

In this shot of the girl taking a picture we hear justified, diegetic sounds of the photo-camera when the picture is taken. Throughout the film this is the only diegetic sound that is used. This effect is used to emphasize the important part the photo-camera plays in the film.