"You've Been Framed" - Reflective Analysis

George Whale

109-540-9462

I will be analysing the cinematography and mise-en-scene of our short film "You've Been Framed". The film is a comedic sci-fi/thriller. I chose to create this cross genre film because I find these the most entertaining of narratives as they tend to be based on suspense. In addition, the science fiction element allows the story to stretch beyond reality and really draws audiences into the diegesis of the film thus making the unbelievable, believable. Pleasantville (1989 Dir: Gary Ross) where the two protagonists in the film get trapped inside a TV show after clicking a button on a remote. I found this idea really interesting and thus inspired me to have the story of a boy getting stuck inside his new TV, trying to repair things back to equilibrium.

Throughout the planning and filming process we changed our story several times, even to the extent of changing our narrative. This was because at first our plot was too generic and was quite complex with too much speech. To overcome this we spent a vast amount of the time re-story boarding the film until we developed a shorter version with the shots portraying the story more than dialogue.

Todorov Structure

Using Todorov's conventional narrative structure [equilibrium , disruption , recognition , resolution and then a new equilibrium] our film became far shorter, more concise and understandable with such little dialogue. This structure is a common pattern in the film industry and will be subliminally experienced by audiences.

For our ending, we added an unexpected twist by taking out the 'new equilibrium' part of the sequence. I believe that ending the film with the boy being trapped in the TV allows the audience to imagine what might happen next which makes a much more memorable film.

The film starts off with an establishing shot of the house with title credits, followed by ‘over the shoulder’ shot of the boy (Kevin) opening to door to a dodgy dealer to buy his new TV from. This is the equilibrium stage of the film. There is no opening establishing shot of a recognisable location because our narrative does not need an exact location, just a house with a lounge. This broadens our film’s universal appeal because it could take place in any household environment. As a team we also thought that an ‘establishing’ shot would waste valuable screen time (in which we were already pushed for at the time of the edit), only having 180 seconds.

Dodgy TV Dealer

A short conversation takes place at the doorstep where the dealer warns Kevin "its the TV of the future, treat it with respect". We used a close-up shot of the dealers face at this point to emphasis this key phrase during the shot reverse shot sequence. We decided to base our 'dodgy dealer' on David Jason's character 'Del Boy' in the TV series 'Only Fools and Horses' (1981-2003 Writer: John Sullivan)to portray a typical South London 'hookie' dealer. The actor I chose was middle-age, eccentric and wore dark sunglasses and a dark jacket. His appearance gives him an air of mystery and lack of trust, just like one of Del Boy's bargains! This character will appeal to older audiences as they may make this connection between these two character types thus making it easier to understand the dealers intent.

David Jason's 'Del Boy'

Lighting was a main issue in terms of continuity. We had to re-shoot many scenes, such as the lighting the boys face. We did this to capture his expressions more clearly. Having dark shots of the TV in the corner to make it seem dark and mysterious was also a difficult aspect of the film. Without using lighting effectively and accurate focusing of the camera, the quality of the film would be reduced. We made it a priority as a team to get the right lights without film. Therefore, we made this a top priority knowing that too much shadow or any reflections from the pictures or mirrors in the room would have devastating effect on the finished look…. especially the reflection of the TV screen itself!

Dot on Modern TV

One of the most difficult parts of our film was creating the way in which the boy ends up inside the TV. At first we wanted Kevin to click a button on the remote which transports him (just like what happens to Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire in Pleasantville), but Due to a lack of suitable technology this became too difficult to achieve. We agreed he we should just touch a dot that randomly appears on the TV to ‘suck’ him inside instead. The 'dot' on the screen was chosen as it used to appear on old fashioned TV set screens when they were turned off. To put it on a modern TV not only draws obvious attention to itself and is what draws the boy inside the TV but it also appeals to older audiences who remember the dot! To imply the dot is mysterious and important we used an electrical warp sounds once it had appeared to give it a dark and ominous feel.

Restricted narrative can be used to surprise an audience e.g. when a character does not know what is waiting around the corner and neither does the audience. A degree of unrestricted narrative, the other 'half', can be used to effectively build suspense as the audience are anticipating the events to come[ of which the character has no knowledge.] We used this style of narrative twice in our film. One is of Kevin being drawn towards the TV until he eventually gets sucked in. The idea for this came from a technique used in Poltergeist. Our film has a scene that uses similar constant cuts, between the boy and TV, to provoke a tense atmosphere. This clip below shows the tension building techniques which inspired us.

Poltergeist Clip 1:55 - Approaching the TV

Another way we delivered the idea of tension building and suspense was by making out the TV was supernatural. With as little dialogue as possible this could only be achieved by using appropriate camera shot techniques. The TV itself is made out to be a character with constant shots of the camera zooming into the TV [which is an enigma code for that the boy will eventually be drawn into the TV]. Many low angle shots and dominant close ups were used on the TV to emphasis power and importance within the film. In addition the big electrical hazard sign on the TV packaging box establishes that the TV is more than it seems…It is almost the protagonist of the film as the camera rarely leaves sight of the TV, as well as having many POV shots from the TV. 

TV repairman in Pleseantville

Kevin in the TV

Once Kevin is trapped inside the TV, he is now stuck in a parallel universe, which is obvious due to the sign stating ‘technical difficulties’ background. I was inspired to choose this background image as it reminds me of the one used in Pleasantville when the TV repairman is able to talk to the two protagonists from the real world through a TV. I was able to create the background image by use of green screen technology. We thought it would be less distracting from the simple story line if we chose an exact setting such as a TV studio or a well known image to make the story more authentic.

The feedback I have already received has been very positive towards our aims and contexts made at the outset. I showed it to various age groups from 6 to 92 year olds ! They all understood the plot and thought it had a great twist. Overall I think that the production of this film was great fun to do despite the having to frustrations of having to alter much of the story, the camera shots, the dialogue and also the lighting along the way.

Harry Hill in a frame on TV Burp

“You’ve Been Framed” also had strong connections with my TV hero, Harry Hill. He must spend hours ‘in front of the box’ [as well as in it] every week researching for his TV Burp. The mise-en-scene created for his show is reminiscent of Kevin being trapped inside his TV.

Me and Harry Hill