Analysis of Student Films: Withdrawal

This piece of G321 Coursework was submitted in 2013, so will use most of the same technologies which we will have available to us when making our coursework.

Use of red titles connotes the horror genre

Genre: The genre of this opening appears to be ambiguous, as it contains key conventions of both the drama and horror genres. A frequently used style of drama is the 'kitchen sink' drama, which are usually set in run down houses. The setting of the opening being mainly in a bathroom connotes that the genre of the piece is a drama, as it seems like an uneasy location for characters to be. Additionally to this, the use of drugs and implications that the girls are drug addicts (the film is called Withdrawal), are both key conventions of the drama genre, as they are gritty, realistic portrayals of people within a certain society. However, these representations of the drama genre are countered by several key conventions of the horror genre. The titles are all red, which is a convention of the horror genre. This is because the colour red connotes blood, which is usually associated with the violence which is the main part of the horror genre. Additionally to this, the roaring sound at the end is a key convention of horror, as it connotes fear by making the audience feel this fear as well.

Editing: At the beginning of the clip, there is mainly the use of continuity editing in order to show that the girls lives are normal at this time, before they have started consuming the drugs. However, after this the editing starts to use lots of fade transitions, especially after the characters have consumed the drugs. This means that the clips fade into each other slowly, has been done in order to connote the effects of the drugs which are slowing down their minds. Additionally to this, there is a use of slow motion on the shot which sees them both laying on the ground next to each other, which has been used in order to let the audience feel the same effect of the drugs which they were feeling.

Sound: The non-diegetic sounds in the clip is a fairly quiet, deep noise, which gets slighter louder as the clip progresses. This sound is uncomfortable and unsettling for the audience, so connotes the uncomfortable subject matter of drug addiction which is shown within the opening. The sound of a tap trickling and the drugs being prepared are the only diegetic sounds heard in the clip, which could have been done by the students in order to show the audience the negative effect which the drugs are having on the girls, as they seem unable to speak to each other. The growling sound right at the end is neither diegetic or non-diegetic sound - it is implied that the girl is hearing it in her head. This is effective because it is not initially clear on the first time watching this opening, and could show that the drugs are making her schizophrenic, so this will completely change how the rest of the film pans out.

Camera Angles: The dutch tilt at the very beginning, when the girls are walking into the house, shows the audience that something out of the ordinary is going to happen, as the shot connotes unsettlement and discontentment. The close up shot on the ID card has been used to connote the life which has been ruined by drugs - if she is carrying an ID card then she must be fairly young, so by showing her using it as a tool to prepare the drugs with, the audience get the impression that the drugs are slowly ruining her life. Finally, the close up shot of the girl when she is unconscious allows the audience to inspect her more for the first time - this makes them want to watch the rest of the film to see whether her condition deteriorates further due to consuming drugs.

Mise: The lighting throughout the opening is fairly naturalistic, which connotes that the film is part of the drama genre, as if it were too dark it would seem like a horror, and too light a comedy. There are a variety of props within the clip, including the ID card, the rolled up bank note, and the drugs. All of these things separately would immediately connote drug addiction, but this picture is even more prominent when they are all placed together.

Titles: The majority of the titles within the opening of this film have been embedded into the film, meaning they fit around the various objects within the film. This makes them appear as if they are written on the walls, and the red colour of them symbolises blood. This works incredibly well with the genre of a drama/horror, as it appears the titles have been written in the scene with blood. However, a negative point about the use of titles within this opening is that they appear in a variety of different places on the screen, and aren't on for long enough. This means that the viewer has to move their eyes around the screen in order to see them, which means they are likely to become frustrated with the titles, as they may find themselves having to rewind the opening in order to read them. 

Character: The two characters seen in the opening are both female, which is immediately controversial as it is usually males who are seen consuming drugs within films, especially within the drama genre. Additionally to this, the characters are seen consuming drugs within the opening, and the opening is usually meant to be the most upbeat part of a drama film, so it shows that much worse is to happen. There doesn't appear to be a power imbalance between the two characters, as neither of them is forcing the other one to do the drugs. 

Studying this opening has taught me about how mashing two separate genres together can work really well, although it will be hard to get an equal amounts of iconography from each genre into the opening in the way that this opening has managed too. The positives of this opening are: the innovatively embedded titles, the mixture of iconography from a variety of genres and the use of a dutch tilt in order to foreshadow what is going to happen throughout the rest of the opening. However, they could have kept each of the titles on the screen for slightly longer, and shouldn't have used the Film4 title at the beginning, as it had the counter effect to what they wanted - it made the clip appear less professional rather than more.