Over

 Over (2015, Threlfall)

Narrative > non-linear, it goes backwards in time (reverse chronological storytelling) starting from late at night way up until the actual finding of the body to the actual death occurring. If we saw what happened to begin with, it most likely wouldn’t have the same effect on the audience.

Genre > drama, documentary…re-enactment - definitely links to conventions of drama, the entire process leading up to the main event is dramatized to a full extent - every new shot has a bit more information and detail until finally we see the initial cause.

Representation > Countertypes possibly… I feel like the directors intended meaning of the film was to bring light to the situation again although it was in the limelight when it first happened, it then just became forgotten all about - who is this man? Why was he fleeing? Why has no one claimed him?

Micro Elements:

Cinematography > static shots, helps to create suspense. As well as, the use of long shots. Cut to close up shots of evidence scenes - binary opposite. First shot is very dark, used to represent the time of day, and each shot appears lighter (going back in time) this is contrasting with lighter conditions - and it could be a metaphor for life and death and how quickly it can all be changed. A long shot, portrays the crime, the clean up, the police etc. all whilst a young boy and his dad enjoy a game of football together. ( meaning of life and death possibly). A focus on a few shots where no one notices the body, the impact to society and their outstanding unawareness.

Editing > Very slow paced, time to take it all in, and focus on the detail, this is done to build the tension and the drama. We feel as though something is going to happen - yet, it's hard to know what it possibly could be.

Sound > lack of non-diegetic music, not a lot of dialogue. In the beginning and throughout there’s a focus on the natural sound of nature and people going about their day - birds, sirens, talking, cars, footsteps, small parts of dialogue such as, indistinctive dialogue - when the woman notices the flowers, even mentions that it looks like someone has died. Focus on the noise of sweeping and clearing up the blood, whilst we hear a piano being played in the background - binary opposite. This makes it feel quite morbid.

Performance > Extras portray a very different counterpart to what we are seeing on screen - a literal dead man lays on the road, and people take no notice, instead we see some people jogging, riding a bike, then later even whilst police are still there cleaning up the scene, a dad and his son play football together on the green right by where this man died. It isn’t a dig at how people acted, but more of a detailed view of how odd life is… people happily giggling, enjoying themselves whilst a few hours ago a man just died, ad we know nothing about him.

Mise en scene (costume) > Through the use of costume, this film portrays the important information for us to understand what is going on for example, we know that their is something serious happening due to police officers being at the scene for majority of the short film. We know this because of their outfit - high-vis jacket, caps, walkie talkies, the colours of their clothes etc. This is opposite to that of the extras (public) who wear simple outfits such as jeans and tops, dresses e.g.

Mise en scene:

(props) > Showcasing police cars further gives us important details to the storyline, seeing the amount of police cars may be a shock factor to the audience to realise something really serious has occurred - this is further justified with evidence of a black van which is seen taking a body away. (Setting/location) > Real place, not a set up, can add to the impact of the film, realism/naturalism.

Influence > The narrative structure of this short film has influenced be to be more optimistic towards the use of unstandardized procedures of film such as breaking the conventions of sequence and context.