Research into existing products - Short film, Scene 26 by Rob Hardy.

Context: This short film was created by Rob Hardy, I found this short film through the BBC website, in the Film Network section. I extended my research into Rob Hardy; he is a cinematographer and director whose career has consisted of created short films, such as Honeymoon, but also working on feature films such as 'Blitz', 'Is Anybody There?' and 'Red Riding'.

Genre: Rob Hardy is known for the genres of Drama, Thriller and Horror, and I would have to say that this short film is a mixture of these. There is a drama element where we don't know why the man is there, who he is and how he will escape. The thriller element is also present as we hear a bomb under the bed and wonder if he will escape in time, and what the gas was coming out of the tube and into his mouth and what it may have done to him. Finally, the horror element is present as at one point we see blood and glass all over a bathroom floor, then a persons feet as blood drips from them hanging from the ceiling, and we can't help but wonder if it was suicide or murder, or if the man is next.

Style - Textual Analysis: The feature starts with a black screen as the bold white font of 'Scene 26' fades into the shot. We then hear the loud non-diegetic sound of symballs clashing as we see a close up of a mans face as he lies on the floor, eyes wide open with panic with a tube taped into his mouth. The shot zooms out to a long shot, as we notice that the man is tied up with rope lying in a hotel corridor with some of his clothes ripped, meaning that he may have been involved in violence or attacked as we hear the non-diegetic sound of a high pitched screeching as the man begins to move.  An aerial shot of the mans face shows us that the tube is leading underneath the door behind him as we hear some sort of gas being pumped through it. The man pulls his face away from the tube, pulling it out of his mouth but some still remains in his mouth and we can hear the diegetic sound of the gas.

A long shot of the man sitting up and shuffling to the wall gradually zooms in to a mid shot as we see his face, shocked and confused and trying to get away from the tube. We hear the diegetic sound of a young child laughing in the distance, a convention of a horror film, as often childrens laughter can be scary and eery when you're in a situation like this. A mid shot of the door enables us to hear the diegetic sound of someone scratching against it from the inside as the laughter grows louder, almost asif someones laughing at the mans fear as the door handle begins to rattle.

A long shot of the man lying down, still tied up, but struggling to shuffle down the corridor is seen as he gets closer to the camera, we can also hear his heavy breathing through the tube and grunting, showing fear and struggle. We then see a POV shot from behind the man watching him shuffle, as the man goes out of sight, the camera pans to the left so we can see him, giving an eery element to the video that someones wtching him as we hear a shrill screetching sound along with a tap dripping.

An aerial shot appears of a meal left outside someones door, which the man shuffles towards; a mid shot of the man at a low angle level to the floor (which most of the film is shot in) shows us him sucking food up through the tube, showing us that hes desperate and may have not had food for days, he may possibly be a hostage. We see a mid shot of the man sitting against the wall, resting. This jumps into a long shot of the corridor with an open door at the end of it, this gradually zooms in as we hear random noises like the dripping tap, the ticking of a clock and shrill static.

The man struggles to this door as the camera follows him in reverse tracking, then a POV shot watching him crawl from behind him. We can see a mid shot as the man crawls into the room, and notice that there is a room to the right of the camera, over the floor is broken glass, a broken lamp and a bloodied towel, this could mean that there has been some violence / abuse, the dripping tap sound grows much louder here.

As the man peers into the room to his right, he finds that there has been some sort of horrible event here, as he see's blood all over the bathroom floor, broken tiles, a shower curtain and streams of tissue, and finally, a body hanging from the ceiling with blood dripping down their feet. Was he intended to see this? Was this a murder or horrible suicide? Is he next? This is what we're waiting to find out.

We see a telephone off the hook next to him, we hear the diegetic sound of a woman, speaking in a paniced fashion, but in a foreign language as she repeats the same thing. A mid shot of a box under a bed in the room is shown as it gradually zooms in, as it zooms, the voice on the telephone grows louder and so does a ticking sound, could this mean that the box is a bomb and the voice is trying to warn him?

We see an aerial shot of the man struggle under the bed towards the box. This jumps to a long shot of a young girl walk into the room, wearing a white fluffy mask as we hear random piano keys. In a mid shot she removes the mask to reveal a blank expression as she stares at the man for a moment and then steps over him. She then climbs onto the bed before beginning to jump up and down on the bed with the man underneath. We see close up reaction shots of the mans face under the bed, his expression is paniced and he looks in pain as we see the matress being forced down on his head.

At one point the girls jumping is filmed in slow motion, adding a surreal, dizzy quality to the film.
We then hear her laugh loudly, and as a cymbal crashes again, we see the original long shot of the man back in the corridor with the tube in his mouth.

Form: The short film itself is partically of the narrative and abstract style,  the narrative style is present as we follow the mans journey down the hotel corridor and into the one room to see if he will escape or what will happen to him. The abstract style is present as the little girl jumping ontop of the bed crushing the man doesn't make much sense, we don't know what her motives are, also, we have no idea what the box under the bed means or what the ticking noise was, we can only assume.

Audience: I believe that the audience for this short film would be 16-45 year olds, as anyone under 16 may not understand the random imagery of the box or the reason why the voice was foreign (to add to the dramatic aspect that we need an answer or explanation but we cannot understand it when its in a different language), I also believe the surreal / horror / thriller elements would capture an older audience who are gripped by the journey of the man and how he will escape or what happened to him to put him in this situation.