Student example film :Bunker

 Bunker

Characterization 

JOHN

He is the only character that is visually in the film. His character is represented as someone who is recording a daily vlog everyday but with little to no understanding with why he has to do it, which reflects to us that he is in some sort of apocalypse or is isolated. His character development is very noticeable as John started out to be confused but calm. However,  as the days go by, we see his character starting to lose his minds and become more aggressive and stressed out. 

Mise en scene 

Cinematography 

The film contains a large amount of medium shots, which gives the film a sense of realism as it reflects what a self filmed vlog would look like in reality. The medium shots are contrasted with the close up shot of when his character is fully developed and we see him lose his mind. The close up shot enhances his frustrated emotions that he has been bottling up.  The shots in the film are mostly straight forward shots as it is mimicking a vlog type of shot. However, as John starts to become more aggressive, we get a side short at a slight lower angle , which gives the audience a new perspective of him, but the lower angle reflects him to look more powerful, which can be used to indicate how his anger has made him seem more powerful and how his anger and frustration leads him to the resolution of the film. 

Costume

The change in costume reflects the change in days, which gives an audience a sense of the time passing. His first costume was a lighter blue polo shirt, and as the film progresses, the choice of costume colour becomes darker toned, which can reflect how John's emotions escalate. The use of darker costume colour reflects a sense of sadness and isolation which sets the mood for the film. 

Prop

 picture frame 

the picture frame is used as a repetition in the scenes as he films at the similar spot in the room every time. This enhances the isolated feeling as it indicates the room is quite small. The picture frame is seen to be empty and fallen down from the wall, this mirrors an empty feeling as  John is no longer there/alive 

Editing

The film is edited at a slow paced. This allows the audience to follow what is going on but it also can reflect how John feels, as he is stuck in a room without human contact or any type of communication. The film also uses simple transitions like fades and cut shots. The fades can be used to mimic the feeling of time passing, where as the cut shots are used at the climax of the film, which can mirror the sudden burst of frustration that John shows. 

Narrative

Act1: is when we are introduced to the character, John. We are informed that he is talking to a camera that was given to him to vlog, However, we also learn that he also doesn't really know what is going on which puts the audience and the character at the same page. The longing in answers makes the audience question how he got there, why he is there and who put him there. This creates tension as it makes the audience eager to  know more. 

Act2:as he tells us more about what he was left with (dry food and a camera) the rising of action increases as the scene really portrays isolation, creating sympathy for the character but also makes the audience feel what the character is feeling, which creates tension. This leads to the climax of when he starts to get more aggressive and the camera shot changes (to a close up) this reflects his anger, frustration and loneliness the atmosphere he created becomes more tense and heated from anger. 

Act3: contrasts the heated and in your face scene from Act2. The scene is more calm and ends with the resolution which is the silence scene of the picture frame. This indicates emptiness and indicates that John is no longer there. 

Performance

The performance reflects many emotions such as loneliness, isolation, confusion and anger and frustration. The performance shows a large contrast between how the character feels and also shows a large contrast to when the character is fully developed VS when the character isn't fully developed. At the beginning of the film, John is presented as confused but has some hope as he is willing to wait for someone to come. This is shown through his facial expressions and body language as it is more engaged. His performance increasingly reflects his frustration and a lost in hope. For example, when he is trying to get radio signal but fails, his body language presents a sense of frustration but he is still presented with some hope as he uses words like "yet" in his dialogue. However, in later scene his performance match the narrative as he informs us that he hasn't slept. His performance reflect more frustration than the start, this is shown through his hands as facial expression as he uses his hands to help him communicate which shows a sense of being overwhelmed, his facial expressions mirror a sense of hopelessness. 

  

How is it lockdown approved 

There's only one character, in one setting. which helps minimise the location choice and the number of people on set.