Nightwalking
2008
Director: Daniel Cormack
Found: BBC film network
Summary: A woman is convinced she's being followed home, but what is her follower thinking...?
Why I chose this film: I chose this film as I like the way it plays on stereotypes and combines conventions of a thriller with comedy. I also like the way it shows two stories but from different perspectives changing the story completely.
Narrative
- This film has a Multi-strand structure as the film is told from two different points of view. It shows the same event twice (that both follow a linear structure) however from the view of a female and a male using voice over to reveal their thoughts. I really like this structure of narrative as I think it is very cleverly done to show the different perspectives that males and females have.
- Todorov's theory cannot be applied to this as there is a disruption in the linear structure when the perspective of the male character is brought in.
- The plot is very cleverly structured to reveal the story of two different characters who are not connected.
Representation
GENDER -
- Women - this film shows quite a stereotypical representation of women. The female character in this film is portrayed as a victim as the audience believe she is being followed by someone. Her voiceover reveals she is scared to walk home alone and feels victimised and threatened by the person behind her. This makes her out to be quite vulnerable and has the role of a damsal in distress.
- Here is an example of a female character in the film 'Taken' who is portrayed as a victim and a 'damsal in distress' who needs saving.
Female character - victim
Trailer for the film 'Taken' showing stereotyped women
- Men - when we see the male character through the female characters perspective he is represented as quite stereotypical of a man as he seems intimidating and scary as we only see him in very low key lighting and the sound of his footsteps are louder making him seem like he may dangerous. This is quite stereotypical as often men are the antagonists in films and women are the victims.
- Here is an example of a male character in the film 'The Disappearance of Alice Creed' who is an antagonist and is represented as dangerous, intimidating and scary.
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| Male character - antagonist |
Trailer for the film 'Disappearance of Alice Creed' showing stereotyped males
- However, when we properly see his character in his perspective the representation of him changes and it goes against the stereotyped man in a thriller as he appears friendly, non-threatening, doesn't want to hurt her, funny etc. This is quite non-stereotypical as in thrillers men are not seen as sensitive and are seen as strong and manly. This adds to the humour of the film.
Genre
- The genre of this short film is a hybrid. The film incorporates conventions of a thriller and also has elements of comedy.
- This follows Steve Neal's theory that Repetition and Variation = Genre survival as the film repeats certain conventions but varies the plot by showing the same event from two perspectives.
- The conventions used in the film that make is a thriller are:
- Sound - the sound of footsteps makes the film appear a thriller as it creates an edgy atmosphere as they appear to get closer which makes the audience drawn in as they want to know why someone is following her.
- Lighting - the use of low key lighting and shadows at the beginning of the film creates a dark atmosphere for the audience and builds tension as they don't know who the man following her is.
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| Shot showing low key lighting and shadows |
- Setting - the setting of a dark alley way is typical of a thriller as it is the perfect place for a crime to take place because there is no where around and it is dark. This adds to the tense atmosphere as the audience want the character to be in a safe place.
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| Shot showing the setting - dark alley way |
- Camerawork - the tracking shots from behind the female character are often seen in thrillers because it makes the character look more vulnerable as they can't see the danger behind them, which creates suspense.
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| Tracking shot from behind |
- The film also has a less obvious genre of comedy as it uses dark humour. For example, the contrast between the way the male character has been represented in the woman's perspective (intimidating, dangerous) and the way he actually is and his non-threatening tone of voice creates humour as it highlights the stereotyped views that women can hold of men. In addition, the irony that the female character thought she was in danger of being hurt by the male character and the fact that it was actually the male character who ended up hurt.
Audience
- This film is recieved to the audience through the internet and is found on BBC film network which is a website that showcases British short films.
- Daniel Cormack (the director) has also directed two other short films available on BBC Film network. These are called Amelia and Michael (2007) and A Fitting Tribute (2007)
- The audience may be adults of the ages 18-35 as they would relate with the characters and find it humorous as they would be able to think of a time when they had been in that situation.
- It would also show the audience that what we were taught when we were younger is not always true and you don't have to think the worst of people. Media language
Low key lighting is used to create a dark, eerie atmosphere, this also creates shadows which makes it appear dangerous and mysterious from the point of view of the woman.
Close up's of the womans face are used to show her facial expressions as we see she is scared, this adds to the anticipation that something bad may happen, it also makes her appear as a damsal in distress. However when we see a close up of the male character's face it is from her point of view and what she is imagining, therefore we see him in very dark lighting and black and white colour to make him appear intimidating and scary.
During the shots from his point of view the lighting is more high key which reveals his outfit more, we can see that he is wearing casual clothes (jeans and a top) with a coat and a colourful stripey scarf which makes him seem less intimidating. 
The same shots have been used during both the female character and male character's perspectives to show how women may overreact to the situation, which creates humour. For example, in this shot when it is from the woman's point of view low key, dark coloured lighting has been used to show that she feels intimidated and that something bad is going to happen, however when we see it from the mans point of view we see that he is not at all what shethought and the lighting is brought back to normal to show that he is not a threat and it is not as bad as she made out.
What I like about this film:
- I really like the way this film shows the same thing but from two different perspectives as it gives the audience two different views on it and may change their opinion on certain characters when they see it from a different point of view. I also like the way it leads the audience to believe one thing and then switches it and positions them differently.
- After showing this film to my group and discussing it we decided that we would like to use the idea of showing an event from two different perspectives in our film..
- We had the idea to show a first date from the perspectives of the man and the woman, to show how differently men and women think and the different things that may annoy them or they may like.
- We did some more research into the idea of using two different perspectives and found some more examples of where films have used this approach.
- Sliding Doors
Above is a trailer for the film 'Sliding Doors' - this film does use the
idea of two different perspectives to tell a story, however it uses two
different perspectives from the same person and shows how different her
life would be had she just done little things differently.
About Time
Above is a trailer for the film 'About Time' - this film uses two different perspectives to show how different events fold out after going back in time.
