'More Than You Can Chew' by Tony E. Valenzuela - Candice Tyson

link to short film: http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2011/03/10/more-than-you-can-chew/

Genre: Thriller

Summary
'More Than You Can Chew' is about a male and female paramedic that enter a crime scene with several mutilated bodies. The female paramedic finds a little boy in a closet that appears to be afraid of 'monsters'. However, when the boy leaves the closet the curtains are drawn and he disappears leaving the female paramedic in shock.

Representation

 The representation of age in this short film is different from a lot of stereotypical films. For example the little boy, he is presented to be like any other stereotypical child-  sweet, innocent and afraid of 'monsters'. However, we see in the later part of the film that in fact he is not sweet and innocent and instead the monster that had mutilated the others in the house.



This clip near the end of the film sequence the little boy is revealed as the monster. It is a medium shot of the boy allowing us as the audience see not only his expression in some detail but also his costume. His teeth are showing through his angry expression, revealing two fangs- the sort you'd see on a vampire. When the light shines on him he goes up in flames and disappears leaving nothing behind to give evidence he was even there.

• Not only in this film but in other films as well, children are now being used as the antagonists as it breaks the stereotype of children being sweet and innocent. This often shocks the audience as what they see is unexpected.

• Another example of a film that breaks the sweet and innocent stereotype is the film 'Orphan' where by a family adopts a little girl who they believe is an 'extraordinary little girl' but however turns out to be a brutal murder with a bloody past.

'Orphan Trailer'

•  What I found quite interesting about 'More Than You Can Chew' is the fact they break the stereotype for the little boy however they abide by the typical gender stereotype of the male and female paramedic.

The male paramedic follows a stereotypical representation. We see this is shown through mis en scene through his facial expressions and body language. His facial expressions throughout the short film show us that he's not shocked or affected by anything he is seeing. This is a stereotypical view of males as they are often presented as being 'tough' and 'strong' and not emotionally unstable like the female kind. The paramedics blank expression in this big close-up shows us that he's not been affected by the mutilated body.

 The female paramedic abides by some stereotypes however some are also broken through costume and occupation. The paramedics costume is not feminine and something more suited by a male, in addition her hair is scraped back. Females are presented by magazines to look feminine in order to be 'pretty', however the costume the paramedic is wearing is not 'pretty' or feminine- breaking the female stereotype. However the stereotype this paramedic does abide by is the fact she wears make-up so she is making an effort on her appearance in some ways.


Narrative
'More Than You Can Chew' supports Todorov's five stage theory.

1.Equilibrium- before they enter the crime scene.










2.Disruption of the equilibrium- they see a dead body dripping with blood.











3.Recognition of the disruption- the male paramedic calls 'sir' to identify whether the man is dead or alive. With no reply, they then realise he is dead. The suspense building music begins to play.

4.An attempt to repair the damage- the female paramedic requests a sheriff to respond to the crime scene.












5.New equilibrium- the male police officer walks in the room like everything is normal. This sets a calm mood like everything is back to its normal state because all has been covered and identified at the crime scene.












Genre

• The genre of this short film is stated a thriller however I would disagree with this as the short film contains a supernatural being of what looks like a vampire. This is usually a convention of a horror, not a thriller.
• A number of conventions would support the idea that this is a horror instead of a thriller for example-

• POV shots- we are seeing a point of view shot from what the antagonist is seeing through the cupboard door. This is repeated and creates suspense as the final time he looks her eyes are open.

• Frame work- the frame work shows us that the antagonist is creeping up on the paramedic however she is not able to see this

• Costume and make-up- the costume is carefully selected to make each of the characters look like normal people however it is soon revealed that the little boy is not 'normal'. The make up is used to make it obvious to the audience the characters are injured or dead, this makes it quite graphic and scary for those watching.

• Tension building music- the music builds tension and creates suspense for the audience. The sound is low throughout and ends with higher fast music this makes the audience feel uneasy even at the end of the film.

Audience

• The audience suitable for this short film I would say is generally teenagers over the age of 15 as the blood and gore may be too strong for anyone younger than this age and it may also be too scary.
• The gender targeted by this short film I think is mainly aimed at males as its usually male audiences that enjoy horror the most. The blood and gore is also usually something that would fascinate and interest the male audience more than females.

Media Language
This is a medium long shot used as a small establishing shot. From this particular frame work we can see the house is middle class and appears well kept giving us an idea of who lives in this house.

These two shots on the right are shown from a low angle with the use of depth of field. The shot begins with the male paramedic in focus then as the camera slowly tracks back the hand comes in to focus with the paramedic then going out of focus. This type of shot is really creative as you are firstly focusing on the reaction of the paramedic as you are unaware of what he has seen. Then as he goes out of focus it is revealed what he is looking at and now this subject is the focus of the audience's attention.






This close up shot of the young boys shows us as the audience the concern and maybe confusion through the expression on his face. He appears to be hiding from somewhere creating the enigma- who is he hiding from?





This is a medium close up of the female paramedic. Us as an audience are aware of what she's looking at. My thoughts are that the director used this particular shot to show her reaction through her facial expressions that she shocked and disturbed about what she is seeing.



The director has used another establishing shot. This is a long shot and shows the paramedics standing to the right with the main focus being the lifeless body laying on the table. The lighting through the window is used quite creatively in this shot as it makes the viewers look directly at where it is shining- the table.



In this long shot the camera work builds suspense through the use of handheld camera work. With the slight wobble of the camera in addition to the light non-diegetic sound the tension starts to build. Another effect of the handheld camera work is that it gives the audience a sense that someone might be there watching her.



 This extreme close up continues to build tension in this scene as you get the feeling the person laying on the table may still be alive. You begin to prepare yourself for something to happen but nothing does.






This is low angle medium close up of the female paramedic. The camera slowly tracks round her as she looks in confusion to where the diegetic sound of the creaking floorboard came from. The low angle allows us as the audience to see the reaction on her face as well as the ceiling above where the diegetic sound came from.



This shot I felt was particularly creative as the camera is filming through the legs of the female paramedic so that us as an audience can see that the injured girl is edging her way closer to the paramedic. This shot also increases tension as we are not sure what the motive of the girl is- is she going to try and hurt the paramedic?



I really like this long shot that ends the short film. The camera tracks backwards and the suspense building non-diegetic music begins to play, it is fast and the volume grows leaving the film on a spooky and quite negative vibe. The main focus while the camera tracks backwards is the female paramedic as she sits there in silence, motionless and clearly in shock of what has happened.

What I liked about this short film
There were a number of shots in this film that I really liked and will consider using when it comes to creating my own short film. There were a few shots where the director chose to use the technique depth of field, I felt I worked really nicely in drawing the audience to a certain subject in the frame. I am hoping to learn how to do this an hopefully incorporate it into my own filming if necessary. I also really liked the ending and how the non diegetic music is the loudest at this point. In addition, I feel the track backwards was a really nice technique to use at the end as it adds to the quite scary vibe.