Textual Analysis - Main Text

I have decided to do my textual analysis on a short thriller film called 'Pockets'. I really like this short film as i think it is really well filmed and also the effects in it are brilliant. Below is a link to it and below that is my shot to shot analysis of it.

This is the starting shot of the short film 'pockets'. straight away the audience can make the immediate link to the title of the film because it is showing a man going through his pockets. As you can see they are empty which could then suggest that this man is poor and homeless. This would then also make them think that this man might commit some sort of crime because he needs to get something.

The camera then cuts to the main characters face. This a shot that is always shown in short films because it introduces the character to the audience. he has scruffy clothes on and a scruffy beard so this almost confirms to the audience that he could be homeless. 

This picture here is showing who the main character is talking in the phone with. The main male character is saying that he basically isn't very happy with how they are living and what they have been eating. This indicates that he wants a change and will do whatever he can to get it. This shot is really dark which could mean that they don't want the audience to see everything in the shot yet.

It then cuts to the male character again and it shows somebody walk past him towards a subway underground. We then see the main character watching him all the way and say in the phone"don't worry about it, I'm going to get us something nice to eat". This pretty much now confirms that he is going to commit a crime to get some food. 

The neat shot is of the character following the man. It also shows the title of the film "pockets". This shot is dark apart from the title which is really white. I think this shows that this part is dark because of the crime he is going to commit.

I think this shot above is really effective. It is a match on action of the male pulling a knife out of his pocket and flicking it out so he could use it. This could be telling the audience that he is going to use this to steal the mans money. What I think is really cool is that everything in the shot is slightly blurry apart from the hand and the knife. I think this is glamouring the weapon and telling us that it will be used for a bad cause. 

This shot shows the twist in the short film. After the male character has over powered the other man he then tries to take his wallet. However his hand comes out of his own back pocket. I think this is what really gets the audience interested because it is completely unexpected and different. They have used a long shot for this part because I think they want you to see everything going on in the shot.

After he attempts to steal from the guy he then runs away and is chased by the man. There is the a fight scene after this where they are using the pockets to ouch each other. I think this has some really cool special effects in it and is really well filmed. It has a huge range of shots and they are really fast paced which goes with the music in the background. Also the beat of the music goes with the pattern of the punches that they are throwing. 

After the fight they eventually stop and the man who controls the pockets surprises the other character and the audience by showing the inside of his coat which is lined with pockets. The male main character runs after the pocket man pulls a gun out on him. I think this is an effective part because it shows that this guy is almost unstoppable because he has an unlimited amount of pockets to go through. 

The main character again phones the female who he was on the phone with. He tells her to take off everything that has pockets but is to late and gets pulled into one of them just as the main male gets to her. Again this is a really amazing special effect as her whole body is pulled away out of thin air. They are then back at where the couple are living and the story takes another twist.

After this there is some dialogue between the three characters where they are discussing why the main male tried to steal and the pocket man then mocks him by eating the rubbish food that they were going to have and drops it in disgust because it tasted horrible. This is the start if the next twist.

The next picture is very important because It then shows the name of what e had just eaten. They are called heat POCKETS. This makes the audience realise that the man has just made a huge mistake because he then has part of a so called pocket inside of him. 

The film then ends with the main male realising what the pocket man has done and kills him by shoving his hand into the heat pocket. I think this is a crazy end to it and adds a big twist to the end by having it. 

I think this film is exactly what a short film should be because it is only 3 minutes long, there are only 3 settings in it and only 3 characters. These are the main conventions of a short film. Also it is a very dark one which is a convention of a thriller. A twist is another convention of a short film thriller which is what we have added into ours by changing who did the murder.