Heartstrings Productions: Short Film Analysis

Screened on BBC HD as part of BBC HD Film Shorts, this particular short film 'In Passing' uses a range of Camera angles/ Cinematography, Editing, Mise-en scene and Sound, to portray the key themes of love, loss and to express the dramatic nature of this short production. Set in war time London, this production uses an Establishing shot to set the scene of the film, of a uniformed man, typing a letter on a typewriter, this not only gives us an idea of when the production is set, but also imply's that this letter has significance in the production, as a man, of what appears to be importance, due to the uniform he is wearing, is taking the time to type it.

The shot then cuts to a Close Up on a door, with a letter being posted through, this suggests that the letter that the man was writing in the previous shot, is now in the possession of someone else.

A Medium Shot is used on the main dominant character Fay Travers, a mother, with both her husband and son at war, when she picks the letter up. This shot gives us a detailed view on her reaction to the letter, and we can see the dread that fills her face, as she realises her world is about to be turned upside down, due to the contents within.

A Extreme long shot is used on the character Fay Travers, as she puts the letter down in between the two empty chairs, that usually her son and husband sit in as she sits alone, unable to open the letter and bravely carrying on with her daily routine.

A long shot is also used to re-establish the scene of a crowded air raid shelter, as everyone tries to get comfortable for the night ahead, this expresses the little space everyone had and shows the harsh conditions of war time London.

Over shoulder, Medium shots are used, to show the exchange of conversation between Fay and her son Henry, as she asks him all about the war, and he reassures her that 'everything will be alright'. This dialogue has a sense of irony as everything isn't alright and we later discover that he has been killed in the war.

Close up is used to express the key theme of love and loss for example when she hugs Henry for the last time, she hugs him tightly and we can see that she doesn't want to let him go, even though she has to.

One of the final shots used in this production, is that of a Long shot of Fay finally reading the letter, accepting what has happened and coming to terms with the loss of her son.

Edit is a key aspect used in this short film, Cuts are used throughout to join the pieces of edit together continuously and for example fade in/ fade out is used to show a change in a passage of time and to show Fay fading into 'dream land', where she see's Henry for the last time and says her final goodbye to him.

Medium shot of Fay as she falls to sleep and fades into 'dream land'

Mise - en scene is also a key feature used to portray the theme's of love and loss in this production, for instance, Dim Lighting is used to represent Fay being kept in the dark about the contents of the letter, she fears opening the letter and begins to convince herself that by not opening in she can carry on with her life, rather than facing the truth which is in fact the loss of her son.

In contrast to this, Bright Lighting is used to represent Henry and his friend George walking into the light, passing on and expresses that they have both been killed in the war.

Long shot of two male characters as they walk into the light

The acting used in this production, shows the emotion and love the characters have for one another, for example Fay finds it so hard to let go of her son and accept the loss of him due to her for him love being so strong, similar to this Henry finds it so hard to say goodbye because he doesn't want to leave his mum, but he has no other choice.

Medium shot of Fay and her son as they say there final goodbye to one another

The sound uses throughout this production, is both diagetic and non diagetic, both the main characters speech is spoken softly with a sense of remorse, this sets the tone of the film as when you love someone your kind to them and speak with emotion. Also within this production a key speech referred to is that of the one used in this film Peter Pan, Tinker-bell says ''You know that place between sleep and awake, the place where you can still remember dreaming, that's where ill always love you, Peter Pan'', This is used as a metaphor for Fay and Henry as she she's him in the place between sleep and awake and will always love him, despite him being killed.
The non diagetic sound used in this production includes air raid sirens which set the tone of the film being in war time London, but in contrast and a soft music plays, which makes you feel remorse and sad as it relates to the people killed.

The title sequence of this production, is that of a simple one, it follows the footsteps of an army officer walking to the room in which Henry's commanding officer is writing a letter to his mother, also fade in/out are used to fade between the footsteps and to plain white text of the titles. Along with this, the music of the title sequence is that of a soft violin playing and the sound of the typewriter keys being pressed as the CO writes his letter of condolence.