Short film 2: The first time it hits

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Throughout the course of the text the director uses a wide variety of shots in order to create a certain effect to the audience member watching. This technique becomes very apparent in the first opening shots of the extract. (0:04 to 0:35) Within the first shot, the audience members are made to become engaged with the male protagonist. This is reinforced through the shot where the audience members view the scene through the use of the skateboard in which the male is on. This means that audience members just primarily see what is on the ground or in the far distance. Thus, helping to reinforce the length of the narrative and the measurements to finding something.

Each shot that has been taken within the short film is coloured black and white (0:01 to 2:42). This helps to reinforce the ambiguity of the text and keep the audience engaged with the flow of the narrative. This ambiguity is also reinforced through the fast paced editing whereby the audience members only see certain aspects of the scene. Nevertheless, similar to "The Plan" the audience members are given hints to certain points of the narrative in order to create a build up to the entire sequence. An example of this would be how the director has used predominately CU's and MS shots of the two protagonists in order to establish certain features about them. The audience members become intuative with the dynamics of the character. This means that they learn that the characters are teenagers with a relationship or connection between one another.

The audience members never actually hear any spoken dialouge from either character, thus helping to maintain the ambiguity of the text. Nevertheless, it also suggests a certain level of realism as teenagers in this situation tend to be shy and/ lost for words. However, the use of the two different types of sound helps to identify the two different characters and how they are represented. When the boy is on his skateboard, the audience members are engaged with a rock/ punk music. Whereas, when the focus is on the girl the music becomes softer and more of a melody. Thus, helping to represent what it means to be feminine and masculine and a teenager. The distinction between either character is done intentionally so that the narrative can flow, change and develop.


The development of the text is emphasised when the director uses CGI in the formation of a red heart coming from the females head (1:10 to 1:30). This has been used as a point of change within the narrative, which is also reinforced when the sound changes to become a softer melody. Furthermore, the pace of the extract slows down to show the two characters that have finally become united. Thus, helping to direct the audience through the text and maintain a sense of realism that the director cleverly achieves.