Nigel - Lovefield Analysis

The narrative with this short film is cleverly made and revealed slowly, to the point that the viewer is confused after the signs which were suggesting a different genre. The genre that is created from the first part of the short film suggests that it will be a horror or thriller due to the connotations with mise en scene, editing sound and cinematography. This, one first audience viewing, the suspense is crucial in grabbing the attention of the viewer and making it seem like they are going to be witnessing a dramatic scene.

The narrative structure is Linear which means that it is in the order of it actually happening, if it wasn’t it could create more suspense or could even be too complex for a short story with the little bit of story that this actually contains. The actual idea is very small, that there is a birth in a field, that’s the basic idea. But the cinematography extends the idea even further.

Sound is important in displaying the narrative to the audience and how the conventions of a genre are shown, which obviously change in this case half way through to change the whole prescription of the conventions, such as the characters, props, setting, editing, ect. The narrative needs to drive these thoughts in the viewers mind to actually connote suspense.

Some of the props, like the knife that’s thrown into the ground and the mobile phone that’s been left on the floor in the narrative have the binary opposite signal different to what it is revealed to actually be, for example the knife usually means murder and danger when it is innocently used to cut the cord (presumably) of the baby and the blood on the man’s hand is that of the blood from the birth, whilst the phone which could suggest a struggle or attack as it was in mid-dial when it actually was used to call for help, to aid the young lady.

The narratives ending is the reveal, it is revealed that instead of being a horrific murderous scene, it is actually something much more innocent and the murderous creepy man is actually the hero of the situation. This plot twist is meant to get a reaction from the audience as well understand the signals weren’t true, perhaps to confuse them as well, portraying the narrative in a completely different way.

Editing causes the narrative to seem odd as well when compared with the true meaning. One technique which was used to hide the true narrative was the colouring of the shots, which was changed as soon as the true meaning was revealed, everything seeming to be brighter and happier than gloomy and dull, using this desaturated colour. This is a convention of horror and thriller genres, which obviously the narrative doesn’t fit in as it is the opposite to these.

So in conclusion I think the narrative is hidden until the end, by the end it is revealed as a plot twist. All of the conventions help the narrative to confuse the viewer and set a unique idea and plot. The techniques help this, cinematography, editing sound and mise en scene.