Tuesday, 2 December 2014

Analysis of a short film (Office Space)

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The film commences with a black screen and a sound bridge of a alarm clock ticking to indicate that it will go off.


Close up of the alarm clock being let off and a hand reaches out to get the clock knocking it down. 

Jump cut to a close up to the kettle to show pace of the action changing to another close up of the 
kettle done at a high angle with steam coming out of the spout. 



Jump Cut and close up of the tie being pulled up not showing the face. 


Tracking and Dolly Shot going to the right side of the office to indicate the start of the protagonists day at work done at low angle done again with a jump cut. 




Zoom in of the file cabinet and a secretary comes into shot putting a file on the cabinet for the protagonist to look at done at close up. We are able to assume at this point that he has a job that is low life and is rubbish. The secretary is shown as out of focus to show her irrelevance as well as the protagonist which is made out of focus. 










Dolly shot of the protagonist getting a sheet of paperwork and taking it from the cabinet done at close up. 





Low angle done at mid-shot of the boss entering the room to indicate power and how he is superior to the protagonist and that he is someone who will make something out of life. Protagonist looks up in shock and surprise to indicate his fear and inferiority to him. 




Close up of the protagonist looking up at his boss in shock and surprise. 



Mid-shot at low angle to indicate power. The boss is still within the shot. 



Close up of the protagonist looking up at his boss nodding and getting back to work after having been shocked and surprised by his appearance. 





Mid-shot at low angle. The boss is still within the shot. 




Close up of the protagonist looking up at his boss nodding and getting back to work after having been shocked and surprised by his appearance. 



Mid-shot at low angle. The boss leaves after talking to his employee to get the stuff sorted. 



Zoom in and close up of the files being put on the file cabinet once more to indicate the end of his day at work. 



Blue lighting and close up of the hand with the key being put into the lock to indicate that it is night-time and he has reached his home where he can relax and forget about work.


Jump cut to a close up to the kettle to show pace of the action changing to another close up of the 
kettle done at a high angle with steam coming out of the spout with blue lighting to make the audience assume night-time has fallen.



Zoom in and wide shot of the protagonist sitting down putting one of his hands into his head to indicate his life is not what he wants it to be. Music is very optimistic and motivational.



Close up of the letters with the letters looking boring and with red lettering to show the boring stuff. 



Extreme close up of a advertisement of a holiday to show his desire which is to go on a holiday abroad making it a drama/comedy. 



Low angle at close up of the protagonist looking down at advertisement to show his desire to escape the life he has, Low key lighting used to indicate his desire of to try and to go abroad but to also show he is trapped in a repetitive life where he cannot escape and live life normally. 












High angle on the holiday brochure with low key lighting to indicate hope and desire for him to have a better life which is to escape the job he has. From this, we can assume this could be a sort of comedy. From this, the protagonist puts the holiday brochure down as a metaphor for his reality.

Wide shot of the protagonist writing something down with the use of zoom to suggest something he wants to do. The screen then cuts to black indicating the start of a new day. 

Close up of the alarm clock being let off and a hand reaches out to get the clock being held to stop the 'ding' sound to indicate the start of a new day. 

Jump cut to a close up to the kettle to show pace of the action changing to another close up of the 

kettle done at a high angle with steam coming out of the spout. 

Jump Cut and close up of the tie being pulled up not showing the face. 




Tracking and Dolly Shot going to the right side of the office to indicate the start of the protagonists day at work done at low angle done again with a jump cut with a minor change of him looking outside. 



Zoom in of the file cabinet and a secretary comes into shot putting a file on the cabinet for the protagonist to look at done at close up. We are able to assume at this point that he has a job that is low life and is rubbish. The secretary is shown as out of focus to show her irrelevance as well as the 
protagonist which is made out of focus. 





Dolly shot of the protagonist getting a sheet of paperwork and taking it from the cabinet done at close up. 

 





Low angle done at mid-shot of the boss entering the room to indicate power and how he is superior to the protagonist and that he is someone who will make something out of life. Protagonist looks up in recognition of him as if he isn't as important. 








Low angle of the protagonist daydreaming showing is desire to escape the life he has.




Mid-shot at low angle. The boss is still within the shot and leaves to indicate the loss of power unlike the day before in which he scared the protagonist admitting defeat.












Zoom in and close up of the files being put on the file cabinet once more to indicate the end of his day at work. 




Blue lighting and close up of the hand with the key being put into the lock to indicate that it is night-time and he has reached his home where he can relax and forget about work and plan to escape the life he currently has.

Jump cut to a close up to the kettle to show pace of the action changing to another close up of the 


kettle done at a high angle with steam coming out of the spout with blue lighting to make the audience assume night-time has fallen.









Zoom in of the protagonist sitting down to the table. The table is filled with loads of working equipment in preparation for his plan. Motivation non-diegetic music is heard over it to represent his thoughts and ambition. 

Dolly shot of the equipment to show what he will use and to make the audience guess what his plan is as the audience is unsure what his plan is. 


Match on action and zoom in of the protagonist picking up the superglue gun. Again, the scene cuts back to the protagonist mid shot at a low angle to indicate he is getting more power by doing this plan. 








Low angle of the protagonist using masking tape at close up.


Back to mid-shot of zoom in on the protagonist



Close up Dolly Shot of his plans 

Mid shot at low angle of the protagonist writing something which immediately cuts to black. 

Ringing of the alarm clock which is turned off without being slammed down. 
High and low angle of kettle boiling done at close up.


Close up of the tie being pulled up. 


Dolly shot of the protagonist sitting down with his bag being put to the side done at a low angle at wide shot to a match on action at close up at mid shot



Zoom in of the file being put into the folder space. Secretary who puts the file is out of focus to show irrelevance to the plot. 

Protagonist looks up to show recognition and how his day has changed a bit. 

Dolly showing the protagonist picking up a piece of paper and slamming the paper on the table.  He then folds it turning it into a paper aeroplane 


Close up of the paper being folded 

Cut to the boss slamming his hands on the table. The shot is done at mid-shot and at a low angle to indicate his power. He turns round to see him and realises he has disappeared somewhere.









Establishing shot of the protagonist looking at his world and knowing that he needs to leave. 


Close up of the protagonist looking out and looks down at the paper airplane. He throws it away as a visual metaphor for him to escape the life he currently lives. 

Long Shot of the protagonist looking up at low angle indicating he now has power to do whatever he wants to do. He gets his briefcase and walks away from the hedge.  



Wide shot of the protagonist walking down the office. The boss is at the end of the hall looking unimpressed and asking where he was. 



Over the shoulder shot of the protagonist putting his hand on his shoulder and shaking his head to indicate he now has the power.


Over the shoulder shot of the boss looking confused. The protagonist walks away. 


Jump cut to the protagonist walking to the living room in his home. Things have been covered up and the protagonist throws down his bag and takes off his tie. 


He looks down and opens a box which then cuts to the box being opened at close up. He puts various stuff he will need including crackers and a mug (Note: From what I am able to gather, the film uses references to Wallace and Gromit: A Grand Day Out as it uses the same shot)


Back to wide shot, he turns around to look at something after closing his box.



Low angle of the object to show power and a achievement. The next shot of the same action is done at a high angle from the perspective of the creative object. 



The protagonist takes off the cloth material to reveal he has created a rocket to escape. 



Low angle of the protagonist staring at the rocket. 


High angle of the protagonist staring at the rocket.


Jump cut to the protagonist jumping into the rocket. He presses the buttons to make the rocket fly. 

Cut to the rocket being powered up. The window is lit up.  


Cut to the protagonist feeling excited inside the rocket as he starts to lift off. 


Cut to the protagonist pressing a button to turn on the boosters at close up. 


High angle of the rocket boosters preparing to lift off. 


Cut to the protagonist being scared inside the rocket. 


Cut again back to rocket boosters.



Close up of protagonist as he experiences the G-Force on the rocket. 


Mid shot of protagonist 


Close up of protagonist relieved after the G-force on the rocket. 


Shot of the protagonist looking out of the rocket window.


Shot inside the rocket of him looking outside. 


High angle of the protagonist relaxing. 


Wide shot with visual effects of the rocket in space. 


Black - Cut to credits







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