'Never Forget' - Mae Webb

Never Forget
2012
Director: Sankar Jayaraman
Found: Virgin Media Shorts

Summary: A jilted lover teachers his fiance a harsh lesson.
Why I chose this film: I chose this film as I like the way it almost switches the stereotyped roles of men and women. I also really like the way that they show two contradictory events as she is lying to him and the audience become omniscient through the unrestricted narration of the flashbacks.

Representation and media language

GENDER

Similar camera work is used for the male and female but it generates different attitudes towards them. The first shot we see of the female character is a track up from behind her. This camera work seems as though it is from a male view point as it travels up her body making her seem quite sexualised.   

We then see a slight track up from in front of the male character showing him doing up a bow tie. This along with the non-diegetic jazz music playing makes him appear very respectful and not sexualised.

This film shows a traditional representation of femininity at the beginning. It is a traditional representation as the female character cares a lot about her appearance. For example a close up shot shows her touching up her make up, making herself look good with the prop of a heart shaped mirror and a wedding ring showing she is also married, which is traditionally feminine.

However, as the film goes on we see a more modern representation of femininity. For example this close up of the shot glasses lined up show that she is drinking to get drunk and is in control, also showing she is out on the town with her friends rather than being at home in a domestic role.

    

An editing technique of jump cuts is used to show her dancing with another man in the club. This could either be to show the distortion and panic in her mind as she is lying to her fiancee, going through the events in her head. OR this could be to show that this went on for a long period of time.

 Either way, the audience are positioned to be against her and think of her as a 'whore' as she is going against the norms of a woman. 

Another extreme close up shows her taking off her wedding ring. This shows that she wants to cheat and isn't a victim and not being taken advantage of.

 In addition a medium long shot shows her leading the man out of the club showing she is in control and knows exactly what she's doing. Making her seem more dominant than submissive which challenges the traditional female stereotypes. 

Close ups are used to show the contrast between the man and the woman's emotions. For example, a close up is used to show the female characters face showing her facial expressions looking guilty as she lies to the man, this is something that is not seen as very feminine as women are supposedly caring and emotional. However, it is the male character who is seen as feminine in this respect as an extreme close up shows his facial expressions being hurt and into it more than she is showing his emotional side. This breaks the traditional stereotypes of men as they are seen as non-emotional and don't show their feelings.

Narrative

• The structure of this narrative is multi-strand because there are two different narratives within it, showing what is happening in the present and the flashbacks. Cross-cutting editing is used to create this multi-strand narrative as flashbacks are shown between the shots of the two characters talking on the phone. 

• Rowland Barthes theory of binary oppositions could also come into this by having a good and bad character. The man is the good character as he has done nothing wrong and is innocent in all of this, however the female is the bad character because not only has she been unfaithful she is also lying to him about it. This is quite interesting because usually in films it would be the other way around and the female would be seen as innocent and a victim whereas this film has challenged those stereotypes.

• The film also uses unrestricted narration by showing the audience the flashbacks as it gives them more knowledge than the characters as they know that she has cheated on him and is lying. This makes the audience omniscient and creates suspense as they wonder if the characters will find out and what will happen when they do.
  
  
  Audience
• 
  This short film was found on the website 'www.virginmediashorts.com', therefore the audience for this film would most likely be fellow film lovers and people who are knowledgeable about short films.
• The website appears to be aimed at a younger audience as it's aim is 'championing undiscovered talent' which suggests that they are looking for upcoming film makers who are just starting out in the industry and have not had years of experience already. Therefore the audience for this film may be between the ages of 15-25.
• I feel that this film may appeal more to a male audience because of the way that the female character has been sexualised and is more of an object to look at rather than an in-depth character that females can relate with.

Genre

• The film 'Never Forget' is listed as a 'drama', however there is no such genre as this. I would say this film is closest to the thriller genre as it includes conventions such as low key lighting, shadows, a city setting, and the overall themes of suicide and cheating are themes that would come into a thriller film as they are quite dark subjects.