Nigel - Missed Analysis

Missed is a short film placed in the thriller genre. It has many conventions of a thriller and creates enigma throughout, this is done by all the techniques, which are balanced to try and create the effects to the audience that this genre is designed for. The first few lines of the short film are of a man, lets call him Ryan, Ryan gives the bad news to Will (we know his name from the description, it isn't clear in the short film, that Emma has past away from a skiing incident. This news is given very carelessly to him from the man, Ill call him John. John gave Will the news in the morning, his dialogue is very casual. This is almost offensive towards Emma as it seems like there is no care for her, and perhaps he thinks Will is in the same boat and also doesn't really care too much. This is perhaps done to show how quiet Will is about Emma s death and is pretty much in shock towards it, this dialogue sequence shows this but is also aided by his body language and facial expression and he actually looks concerned by the news when Ryan doesn't seem bothered at all. This comparison of the two characters shows that Will is a more caring character or even just has an emotional connection with her too, which helps the narrative move on. This interaction is driven by Ryan which is something we could maybe do, drive the narrative and explain our main characters emotional state using another character which plays little part to the narrative. 

These few shots help enigma to be created around what is actually walking past outside as you don't see, you see Will look out from inside and also see him looking out of the window from the inside but you cannot see what he is actually looking at. His face looks concerned or even shocked by what he has seen from the cafe. These are only a few shots but show us his emotions and also work for the audience as a way to perhaps make it more interesting for them and intriguing. I think we will try and use as many shots like this as possible because this kind of shot will help us develop our narrative but not reveal too much to the audience. 

This sequence uses sound very interestingly, there is a lack of sound throughout this part. There is a few lines of dialogue which make it to the point of audible but other than that it is pretty much ambient sound from inside the cafe. This is very well done as you hear certain words which give the audience an understanding of what is actually being said but without revealing too much about what was actually said. This may come in handy as it can be a way of creating enigma as you don't fully understand what has been said but you get a very good idea. The cinematography used makes the audience feel like they are looking in at them so are from a different perspective and the characters are perhaps unknown by anyone else, not being looked at by anyone else or in anyone else's attention. It is a zoom from the previous shot, a cut to the zoom instead of actually zooming in. This effect does make it seem like you are in the same position as before. 

This part of the sequence is when Emma is revealed as being part of his imagination, or a ghost, we're not sure but it seems like Emma is actually part of his mind and he is missing her, noting the title. She hasn't gone missing as it would usually be in most thriller conventions, she is actually the one who is being missed. She is revealed to be a part of his imagination by a shot that shows him being alone at the table from a further distance, this shot shows his body language to be a little depressed about what just happened. They are shown in two shots and also shot reverse shots. The two shots shows both of their body languages and expressions at the same time whilst the shot reverse shot helps us understand that there is a genuine conversation going on between the two and shows mostly Wills expression, longer takes on him. This shows that he is the main point of the conversation even though it is about Emma dying, which could just be suggesting that she doesn't actually exist anyway, it is all about him. 

This narrative could inspire us and help us develop our own short story narrative as we thought of including mini kinda parts like this to develop our character over the span of a few scenes and to find a way to explain their backstory, I truly think we could use this in our short film. I think the idea of talking to a deceased person this way can help us a lot, the two shot of them sitting at the table especially as it suggests that they are in their own world, concentrating on both and perhaps can show each emotions and their body language.

In conclusion, this narrative is a similar concept to what we would like to eventually do in our final short film as we plan on having two characters interact but one of them doesn't actually exist as a concrete character but instead is all in their mind. The camerawork and mise en scene which connotes this and the fact she isn't actually there, this is something we will have to achieve if we wish to do this too.