Stephen- The Black Hole Analysis

The black hole- How the four technical codes convey meaning.

 

Right at the beginning the title emerges from a small hole which then expands to fill the screen- the film is within the hole which is surrounded by blackness- so, this perhaps gives the illusion that we are looking through a black hole to see this going on. Furthermore, it could also give the illusion of a looking glass, as if we’re keeping an eye on the character. In this short film we are immediately thrust into a dark coloured place, symbolic of a workplace. This opening exposition shot gives the entire workplace environment a dark feeling, suggesting a prison of sorts. The sound also reflects a prison like environment, the sound of the photocopier is reminiscent of a processing machine for a prisoner. The slow tracking of the camera allows the viewer to see the full office setting whilst also giving the camera personification; the camera is not of free movement –it’s on rails- suggests it’s just like this character, stuck on one path.

The diegetic sound of the character sighing gives the meaning that office life is bad and boring, whilst also being tiresome. The medium close up shows the character’s body language as being slumped clearly showing his emotions towards his job- he dislikes it vastly. This is also reflected in his facial expression; that of pure boredom. We can also see his costume isn’t finely made, showing a lack of effort to look presentable. We are shown through these aspects of mise-en-scene that the character dislikes his job whilst he is also bored with it. We get the impression that he is looking for an escape from his ‘prison’ like job. The use of a prop, the photocopier, also gives the ambience of a work environment. We also get a sense of agitation from when the character frequently presses the prop photocopiers button- enforcing the fact that this character is tired of the job.

We also get a sense of frustration, through the use of body language and pace- with a slow editing speed; the shots are rather long aside from match-on-actions. Where the character kicks the photocopier (a common way to vent frustration includes violence) we are seeing it in a medium shot, with the photocopier taking up most of the frame- this composition shows the viewer that work is more important than the character, a rather negative outlook upon life. The depressing outlook is also shown through the costume, the protagonists’ black trousers and shoes, although a common work uniform also signifies the darkness that work induces upon us; stress, depression, and frustration.

As we cut to the piece of paper being printed we see the ‘black hole’ that the film is named for which can easily be seen because it is centre to the composition and the entire piece of paper is in focus, with the surrounding office setting being out of focus. This depth of field is usually used to signify important props- the paper being one of them.

We then get a cut where the protagonist seems disinterested in the paper that was printed out. He looks at his watch, part of his costume, as someone would normally do when counting down the minutes until the end of the day. This shows a typical workman’s attitude- everybody wishes to return home quickly. Through this we can tell that the man is, again, bored of his job and wishes for an escape. We then cut to a medium shot of the protagonist drinking from his cup- a prop. Stereotypically, we’d think it was a coffee or a tea, something resembling a work place environment, but it is unclear what is in the cup. We’ll presume that it is a caffeinated drink, as the man clearly is tired and needs that boost. This, too, shows us that the man has been worked hard in this jail-esque setting. Then we get a match-on-action, showing the protagonist reaching for the cup and then drinking it through the black hole. This signifys that he’ll be feeling a boost and more energetic once he’s placed the cup down.

As the cup drops into the ‘black hole’ the protagonists’ facial expression shows his wonder and curiosity: emphasised by the depth of field focusing on him and composition of the close up. As we cut again we’re in a medium shot showing the character reaching into the hole to retrieve the cup, his facial expression shows he is concentrating for the first time in the film. When he picks up the cup again we see his facial expression turn to one of confusion, we can see him wondering how the paper works. It’s also clear from his facial expression that he doesn’t quite believe it. (Not a believer of spiritual things- we’ll come back to this.)

For the first time in the film we see the protagonist smile, as he reaches through the hole and pulls his arm back- testing to see how it works. It’s almost as if he has found his escape.The low angle of the shot also gives him power; as if he has found a god and can control It.

As he walks up to the snack machine his body language clearly shows he is on edge: he casts his gaze around the room, checking to make sure no one is watching him. This shows that he knows what he is doing is bad, it’s almost biblical in a way- he has a great power and yet he vandalizes it. We then cut to a close up of the paper. The composition of this shot is mocking: right next to the paper is where you insert your money. It emphasis his bad deed, giving clear meaning that this character isn’t quite the protagonist.

As he eats his stolen chocolate bar his diegetic sound of his breathing gets frantic showing his excitement, with his eyes scanning around the room, looking for something else to use the ‘black hole’ on. His eyeline then matches with a door clearly labelled “keep out”… we know what he’s going to do.

We see a silhouette, stereotypically used as a way of introducing villains or antagonists, of the character behind the glass of the door. As we get a match on action where he opens the door, it signifies the act of breaking and entering- which we all know is illegal. We automatically know something bad is going to happen to him, and we’ll be fine with whatever punishment he receives due to his previous behaviour. However, for the character, he believes this is his only way out of this ‘prison’ that is working life. As we get inside the room we can clearly see a locked safe, which the character is attempting to get into. Once again, the characters’ body language shows he is keeping an eye out so he doesn’t get caught- emphasising his illegal activity.

We get face paced cuts between the character reaching into the safe and the placement of the money on the floor. This quick pace shows us his heartbeat, how excited the character is, whilst building suspense- we are waiting for the pace to slow down to conclude the story in a big revelation. This is also used to emphasise his fast body language, which shows how quickly he is trying to get the money and effectively ‘escape’ from the ‘prison’ of his job. Throughout this we can still hear the diegetic, off screen, sound of the photocopier- an ominous sound. It’s as if we can’t escape it; it being wherever the camera goes.

 

We get a close up of the character crawling into the safe, in his search for more money. This shows us the power of greed, as he unknowingly crawls into a place where he might not escape from if something goes wrong.

We get another match-on-action as the character crawls all the way into the safe, and the sticky tape comes loose and causes the paper to fall down. This traps the man inside, which is instant karma- something superstitious that, as said early, the man likely didn’t believe in. We can his hear diegetic attempts to break out, banging on the safe, mixed with the photocopier sound- which is off screen still. This makes the whole ‘workplace is a prison’ scenario more realistic, as the safe is a ‘solitary confinement’ cell. It brings us to the meaning of this film:  don’t use power for unjust gains and also working isn’t a bad thing- as the moneyhard workers earn.