Research: Short Film Analysis: Agender

Plot/ Narrative 

In this dystopian short movie we find the protagonist, Charlotte, conflicted with emotions in a world where homosexuality is seen as the norm and heterosexuality is seen as something deeply wrong. Men are inferior to women and as a result, they are treated like slaves and like slaves, they receive violence.

This is a well-edited low-budget feature which, in fairness is quite a good film, with a deeply interesting plot, certainly well constructed for a 10 minute movie. However, as a criticism the acting is not great; the script could have also been refined and made a lot more powerful. Take the intro voice-over and the end voice-over which uses rhyme. Often I just wanted to scream out no, don't say that and I found myself huffing in annoyance, waiting for the girl to give a more realistic performance. Where was the emotion? Frankly I couldn't connect with it. I realise that acting timid as she was, was part of the character but on the most part, scenes like when Charlotte couldn't quite believe that the guy might like her, the acting was poor. Despite this, looking at the film just shows me how important casting is for my film in order to grasp the emotion and realism of the story and make it convincing for the audience.

Characters

In this short film we are introduced to 2 main protagonists: a rebellious young girl named Charlotte and young man (whose name we never find out, which in effect helps to highlight the disregard and lack of respect the women have for men). Other than that we meet Charlotte's two mothers and fellow classmates. From the scenes in the classroom we get an idea of the treatment of men from how the one male character in the room is made to serve the female teacher: totally under the teacher's control.


Initially we see a younger version of Charlotte with her mother and this is when we are first introduced to the first parent. In the scene the mother can be seen judging her daughter's actions and as a result, praising her with a look of satisfaction when Charlotte hits the young boy. In the two shots on the right we see that this woman is wearing a khaki coloured vest top, a maroon cardigan and jewellery. It's not clear if she's wearing make-up however the costume, despite the colour of the vest top, are all icons of femininity. However, in these shots we see that her hair is tied back, connoting practicality which conventionally, is a masculine trait. This subverts the feminine stereotype.

However, as we find out later on, this woman is a lesbian. The media stereotypes lesbians to appear 'butch', strong, muscly and have cropped hair. Here we can see that the woman subverts the lesbian stereotype. We can also assume that because of her age she must be a mother. Why? She comes from the house, looking to her daughter for some form of action when she sees the boy going through their rubbish, like a teacher observing students progress to see if they've learnt what's been taught.

Charlotte, as seen in the close up shot on the right, clearly wears a lot of make-up, a symbol of femininity. This tells us that she also cares about what she looks like which is another conventionally feminine value. Considering this is a dystopian/ Sci-Fi film it is typical to find that the main protagonist is female, so in theory we can immediately assume that this is a dystopian film purely based on the fact that the main character is female.

Charlotte's second mother appears to conform to the feminine stereotype, wearing jewellery and what appears to be a floral top. It's also very clear that she is wearing make-up, showing she does value what she looks like. We aren't aware of the fact she is Charlotte's second mother until eye-line-match shows Charlotte looking at a family photo hanging on the wall where all 3 are standing together. Just as with her partner, this character appears very feminine, subverting the lesbian stereotype.

The second most significant character in this short film is the young man. In the medium close up shot on the right we see that he is wearing a dark raincoat, a black top and a hoodie. Conventionally, these are all typical pieces of costume that connote masculinity. The costume also ascribes to the stereotype of a young person. From this we get the reading that this character is a young man, probably suggested to be in his late teens, early twenties and that because the clothes don't look particularly expensive but rather worn out, we get the reading he is on the run, or at least in hiding.

Although minor, we are also introduced to two stock characters who appear to be in a relationship. Both characters are wearing typically very feminine clothes, paired with accessories and hair and make-up which is neat, tidy and attractive. Evidently in this film, the characters subvert the lesbian stereotype which films tend to conventionally portray as having short, cropped hair, masculine clothing and having an all-round 'butch' appearance and personality.

Camera Shot/ Angles/ Movement


This film is a perfect example of the execution of camera movement, camera angles and camera shot. For one there is a lot of tracking, panning and zooming in and out that is used well in the film to lead the audiences' eye past the characters and to see what they are doing. Zooming is also used to convey what the characters are feeling, whether it's anger, or shock,  in which case you would zoom in. We have eye-line match and shot-reverse-shot to establish relationships between the characters and to show the audience that what the characters are looking at is significantly important (e.g. Charlotte as a young girl looking at the boy and the moment Charlotte makes eye-contact with the two classmates whose hands she is staring at).

Another brilliant shot that helps sustain the reality of the narrative is this extreme close up shot (on the left) of the teacher's mouth. By using such a detailed and close shot the director/producer is giving the audience the reading that Charlotte is bothered by what the teacher is saying, suggesting that Charlotte doesn't believe in the way society is run in this dystopian film. This proves crucial to the plot.

Editing

Continuity editing has clearly been used in this film although the narrative structure is non-linear which drops us immediately into the scene, producing the most shock from the audience when we realise how both genders are in a situation of unequal power. As for editing techniques the producer has used fades to white when the title appears, to create the effect that time has passed.

Sound

As with most films, to achieve an effective understanding of the plot and to maintain realism in a film, both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds are used. Agender displays this very well. Incidental music is used when Charlotte is taking food from the fridge, suggesting she is doing something risky. Likewise, any moment where we find tension or trouble about to occur the music intensifies. Incidental music is used a lot in this film, to build suspense and worry for the protagonist. The only light-hearted moment in the film is when uplifting music has been used for the moment when Charlotte and the guy realise that they like each other. It's not just the juxtaposition of music that causes a whiplash of emotions to hurdle our way but the careful fades and cuts of the music. For example, at the end when Charlotte unexpectedly hits the guy the music stops altogether, proving shocking and dramatic.

Lighting

High key lighting has been used here, to ensure the atmosphere and mood isn't ominous, however possibly a blue filter has been used also to create a sort of foreboding atmosphere, implying that the world the characters live in is wrong and unforgiving.

Typography


The film uses formal typography with a black font and white background. From a fade to white, the title dissolves in, floating around the middle of the screen before the text dissolves and the shot cross-dissolves into a close up of the protagonist's face. When we see the title the music gets louder, as if the convention of all movies (either louder background music or a sound motif).  The use of black writing on a white background creates this idea of role reversal because usually it is so common to see films use black background and white writing. By creating this idea, the titles help to inform the audience that the film has something to do with a role reversal, in this case it's power of gender (from when women were once inferior- not any more though). The white also has connotations of being lost and isolated, some of the many themes to cross into the film.

This film, in relation to titles, conforms to the conventions of films, with titles beginning the film and credits for cast at the end. Most credits for short movies are created to look different from how any other film sets them out. In Agender they have used a neat and organised structure which is very appealing. If you notice, some of the text is faded, which suggests that like the way the words are almost incomplete, the world is just as incomplete when there is no fairness and equality in whatever sexual orientation you have. This theory, if the deeper moral meaning of the film, shows us in a unique way that there can be no 'complete' and good world when people are deprived of what they love: in this case, whether they are homosexual or heterosexual.