TEXTUAL ANALYSIS- ALONE

The first scene shows a man sitting at a computer desk in an office. He then receives a phone call from a panicked woman, asking him to come home. The man is then shown waking up in a bed, with the previous scene having only been a dram. A voiceover is then used throughout the film to inform the audience of the context and storyline. The voiceover informs the audience that an apocalyptic event has occured and the protagonist is the only person left alive. The narrative follows the man as he gets ready to go out to get supplies. He finds a house and collects some stuff and walks back to the house he started in. However, on his way back a light turns on in a house he walks past. This means he is not as alone as he thinks. 

Enigma Codes: 

Enigma codes are raised frequently throughout this short film to allow the audience to engage with the film and its narrative. Enigma codes are raised at the beginning of this short film in reference to the identity and the significance of the man shown at a desk in an office due to the normality of the scene, the audience wonders why he is being shown. This feeling of normaility is then shattered with the phone call which raises enigma codes as to the identity and relevance of the wonan calling. 

Characters:

The man- 

The man  is immediatley established as the protagonist through the inital long amount of screen time he gets in the first scene of the film. This positions the audience to engage with the character. This film's narrtive follows the man's experiences, which is then established through the use of his voiceover, which reinforces him as the protagonist. The voiceover additionally encourages the audience to engage and realte to the man as it creates the feeling that he is directly talking to them. Due to the concept and theme of this film, it is suggested that the man is the only character, which is later disproved at the end of the short film. The man's life is represented as boring and repetitive through the use of close-ups to focus the audience on the boring activites the man does each day. This postions the audience to develop the same feelings of the man. 

The woman- 

The true identity of the woman is never revealed throughout the entirety of the film, but the audience can establish that she is probably the man's partner/wife. 

Locations:

Office- This location is only used within the first scene when the protagonist is first introduced, and is used to establish its normality. Ambient office sounds can be heard which increases the locations normality. 

First House- This location is first introduced by using an extreme close up shot of the man's face as he wakes up suddenly from a dream, which reveals little of the location.

Town- The film is set in a small American etate and the protagonist is seen wandering around the abandoned town in search of supplies. This location is crucial to establishing and highlighting the fact that he is alone as no other people are seen on the estate. Long, wide angled shots and tracking shots of the man walking through the streets are used when this location is first introduced to establish and show the extent of the protagonist's isloation. 

Second House- The second house is introduced as the man searches for supplies in a nearby house on the estate. The man is shown searching and finding the hidden key to the house, which suggests that this location is new to the character as well as the audience. This intesifies the audience's engagement and relation with the character, as their knowledge of the location is the same. 

Editing:

A fade from black transition is used right at the beginning of this short film to immediately set a gentle, calm tone to the scene. This calm tone is later changed with the phone call. A rumbling sound is used in conjunction the quick transition between the first office scene and bedroom scene, which suggests that something has changed between the two scenes. 

A filter and fade effect are used on the flashback shots of the man driving and walking along a bridge. This establishes these shots as flashbacks/memories, which correlates with the voiceover, and the fade effect signifies the haziness of the memories which suggests that the apocalyptic event happend a long while ago. 

A jump cut is used when the man walks along a deserted road, which keeps the audience engaged despite the boring action. I think this is an effective technique in a short film due to the restricted duration. 

A time lapse is used later on in the film to show the man collecting supplies out of the garge, which shows time passing in an effective way that keeps the audience engaged. 

Sound: 

In the first scene ambient office sounds are used to set the scne, which helps the audience engage with the film.The sounds create a peaceful, ordinary equilibrium of an office, which is then disturbed by the phone ringing. This immediatley suggests the phone call has a significane and shows a change in the tone of the film. An ambulence siren can be heared down the phone, which produces negative connotations. 

During the transition between the office scene and the next scene a rumbling soundbridge is used to suggest that something is about to happen. The man's heavy breathing as he wakes up portrays characters distress. 

The protagonist's continual voiceover is then used throughout the film as to give the audience context and to inform them of the story. The voiceover portrays the character's isolation as it presents hin as talking to himself or the audience. This engages the audience with the character and also allows them to immerse themselves in the story. The monotone sound of the mans voice suggests his sadness his feeling of repetitiveness in terms of his life after the apocalypse.