'Gone Goodbye' By Keith Rivers - Short Film Analysis - Sam Swinson

'Gone Goodbye' By Keith Rivers - Short Film Analysis - Sam Swinson

About the Film (Director, Release date, Overall plot and Issues):

This short film is a 4 minute short that was created by Keith Rivers. It was released on  the 23rd November 2009. I found this short film on Vimeo which is a video sharing platform.

The short film follows a man after he has made the decision to leave a long term relationship that he has been in with a woman named Catherine. The overall, film is shot in a dark style with very dull colours surrounding the protagonist giving off a very gloomy atmosphere. Also, we hear non-diegetic voice over which is the protagonist speaking as he reads out the letter he has written to Catherine.

This short film is a highly stylistic film that uses the representation of props in an unusual way. The whole piece is an unusual and surprising way to tackle the theme of relationships and privacy.

Concepts:

I will be applying 3 media concepts to this short film. I will apply:

• Narrative
• Media Language
• Representation

Each concept will be colour coded to make it easier to see where i have applied each concept to the short film.

Analysis:

Narrative & Media Language:

• Todorov's narrative theory and Barthes narrative theory can be applied to this short film:
• The film begins with a fade from black into an extreme long shot that is tracking a pick up truck as it drives along a road (Figure 1).
• At the same time there is slow paced sad and upsetting non-diegetic background music.
• This music relates to the Social Realism genre because it gives the audience the same feeling as if they had just left a long term relationship.
• This is the Equilibrium part of Todorov's theory because everything is normal.
• Also, this is a chronological and linear narrative which works well for the piece because it builds up the story in the audiences head making them understand the sadness of the film, therefore, having a greater impact.
• In addition, the ending of the film has closure so it is a closed narrative. 
• This is a very long opening shot which works well with the non-diegetic background music because it creates a slow pace for the start of the film.
• The dark lighting and colour of the shot creates the gloomy atmosphere that is continued through the piece.
• The non-diegetic voice over adds to the gloomy atmosphere as well.
• The setting is on a road surrounded by trees which suggests to the audience that the place this car is going is very secluded and there is not other traffic on the road suggesting that it is quite far out of the way of civilisation.
• This is adds to the Social Realism genre because often people want to be alone when they are leaving a long term relationship.

Figure 1

• The pick up truck that we have been following then pulls into a car park that is almost empty which adds to the idea of this character wanting to be secluded. 
• In the non-diegetic voice over we her the man say "I'm drifting" and this is mirrored in the camera work because the camera is moving around above the truck in an extreme long shot at a high angle (Figure 2).

Figure 2

• Up until about 1/4 into the film we don't see any characters.
• This creates Barthes code of Enigma because the audience are hearing a mans voice over and we don't see any characters.
• Then in an extreme long shot we finally see the character who gets out the truck and he is a man (Figure 3).
• This leads the audience to think that this is the protagonist/the man that we can hear in the voice over. 
• This allows us to see his costume which is a dark green shirt which connotes the gloomy atmosphere, also, he is wearing jeans and trainers with his hands in his pockets suggesting the informality of his costume. 
• On top of this, we get another good look at the setting and all the trees have no leaves meaning all the trees are bare. 
• This means there is not colour on the trees which could connote the lack of happiness in the protagonist.

Figure 3

• The first cut in the piece is almost half way though it which adds to the slow pace of the piece.
• This emphasises the sadness of the situation to the audience.
• The cut is to an extreme long shot of a bare lake where the shot looks desaturated (Figure 4).

Figure 4

• After this, there is a cut to a close-up of the protagonist (Figure 5).
• This is the first time that the audience see the character's face in the film.
• His facial expression shows that he is serious and it suggests that he is miserable.
• This is mirrored by the weather because it starts to rain and we can hear diegetic sounds of rain drops hitting the water on the lake which is pathetic fallacy.

Figure 5

• Then there is a cut to a long shot of the character as a bight yellow balloon comes into the frame (Figure 6).
• This balloon contrasts the colour of the rest of the film because it is bright and saturated.
• This is the Disruption stage of Todorov's narrative theory.
• Also, this creates enigma because the audience are questions where this balloon came from and they want to know what the significance of it is.

Figure 6

• Next there is a cut to an extreme close up of a piece of rolled up paper that it attached to the balloon.
• Shallow depth of field is used to put the audiences focus on the paper.
• This shot adds to the enigma surrounding the balloon because it generated confusion amongst the audience as they don't know what is written on the paper.

Figure 7

• After this, he tries to retrieve the paper with the stick he is holding, but, he ends up popping the balloon. 
• While he is trying to collect the paper this is the Confrontation part of Todorov's narrative theory.
• There is a cut to a mid shot of the protagonist as he bends down to get the paper (Figure 8).
• This is the Resolution part of Todorov's narrative theory as the protagonist has gotten rid of the balloon that was causing a disruption.
• Furthermore, Barthes action code is used here because we see the facial expression of the protagonist which shows determination and then there is the non-diegetic swoop sound which is when the balloon moves towards the stick. This is the action code because the audience can predict that something is going to happen to the balloon and this builds up tension. 

Figure 8

• Then there is a long shot of the protagonist as he drops the bit of paper that was attached to the balloon (Figure 9).
• This is the New Equilibrium part of Todorov's narrative theory.

Figure 9

Representation:

• The balloon prop:
• A balloon is often seen as a sign of happiness, for example, they are used a birthdays to celebrate.
• However, it has been placed in a sad Social Realism short film which suggests that it's not in the right place.
• This makes it stand out and it represents the contrast between how the protagonist should be feeling and how he is forcing himself to feel.
• Also, it could represent his emotional ties to the woman named Catherine, therefore, this balloon would become symbolic for that.

• Additionally, there is a note attached to the the balloon and it is a repetition of what the non-diegetic voice over said at the start of the film.
• This means that the note and the balloon represent the protagonists thoughts and conscience.
• Therefore, if he didn't pop the balloon then it would have been floating around him forever which represents that the thoughts about the woman would have been floating around his mind forever.

• At the very end of the film we see the protagonist ball up the note and drop it on the floor.
• This is a representation of him letting go his feelings for Catherine.
• This means that he can go on an live the rest of his life without having to hold onto the feelings.

The Film On Vimeo:

Gone Goodbye - A short film from Session 7 Media on Vimeo.

Inspiration (relating this research to my short film):

What in particular you found inspiring, or CREATIVE about the use of the concept in the film?

I liked lots of aspects of this short film and found lots of parts of it inspiring in different ways:

• I found the way that it used the Social Realistic genre very effective. This means I would like to try and be as effective when I create my short film because it told the audience so much in so few shots through connotation.
• Also, I like the way the transitions were used. In this short film not many transitions were used, but, when they were used they were used very effectively, for example, a graphic match was used to transition from looking at the lake to looking at the sky. In my short film I am going to think very carefully about the use of transitions to add meaning to my piece because in this piece the lack of transition connoted a slow pace which represents the sadness of the film.
• On top of this, I liked the way the balloon prop was used to represent the protagonists thoughts and feelings. This was done very cleverly and it inspires me to try and implement a prop with connoted meaning into my short film.