Media NarrativeBy Connor Baker

My Narrative

• Penny’s Drop – Establishing the scene with an establishing shot within a caravan, a male character, a book and a penny. In this dark, abandoned forest settles a low income man with little to his name. The scent of burnt candles linger within the air. The use of low lighting for lack of electricity. He lays there, just reading. A ticking sound in the background draws his attention. His facial emotions are scarce and confused. Bringing in the beat in the background of a tense nature, he moves over to the noise slowly. Watching every step he takes within. As the camera focuses on a crackling cupboard, he looks at it, worried and on edge. He brings his hands to the handle slowly. The music getting more intense, with the scent of fear bleeding from his skin. The tension of the environment gets to breaking point just when the penny drops. A lack of the characters attention allows the cupboard to creak open. His next turn will be his last with a loud scream of horror.

Comparison Film

• He Dies At The End

• YouTube link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRlvnDUtBbI

Established Setting

• The settings of both short films are established both in a confined area which we don’t leave at any point during the short film. In penny’s Drop we are kept within a confined caravan which is badly lighted due to the lack of electricity. Whereas there’s similarities in He Dies At The End Because we are kept in one compartment focused only within the room he is in and down his hallway.

Camera Work;

• During the short film He Dies At The End we have a lot of use for point of view shots, for example when we are shown the computer asking him questions about himself, and when he’s looking down the hallway. It’s similar as to when the male character is walking towards the boiler cupboard in Penny’s Drop. It allows the audience to feel what the character is seeing through their own vision so they are more deeply engage to allow the fright factor to unleased at the end.

• Also, both films are introduced with an establishing shot of the setting to allow the audience to immediately know where the character is located to in the scene.

Dialogue

• Both films aren’t dialogue written in anyway whatsoever. It’s similar to a lot of short-films because a lot of the time dialogue isn’t used. As an audience we are kept with the storyline through sound effects and the intensity it brings along with it.

Editing

• In He Dies At The End, the scenes shot are editing into a black & white colour throughout the storyline, it would be exactly the same in Penny’s Drop, with the use of low lighting to create that form of darkness that every member of the audience fears or has feared some time in their life (playing on the audience’s fears).

Location

• Penny’s Drop is set located in a forest (out of the way of civilisation) which gives the audience the feeling that nobody else is around to help if something goes wrong. He Dies At The End is similar to this as he’s in his apartment which is displayed to be confined and not having a lot of chance for somebody to here a call of help.

Narrative

• The similarity of the narrative in He Dies At The End and Penny’s Drop is rather strong. The endings are both resembled around a shock factor to both male character’s leaving the audience majorly shocked. They’re both set within a small confined area. There’s also that sense that somebody is in the room with them when we’re watching the short films as we here sound effects that suggest something or someone is watching them.