Media Studies: Individual analysis of a short film

I have decided to analyse 2008 short film 'The Black Hole' which is about an office worker who discovers a black hole - and then greed getting the better of him.

   

The film opens with a black screen that begins with a iris opening edit starting from the centre of the screen going outwards with the title 'The Black Hole' Central to the screen.

There is a tracking shot that turns into a close-up on the main character where it is established through an eyeline match he is using a printer. The character appears to be working in an office and this is made apparent by his shirt and tie. A close-up of his foot kicking the printer is used to show that he is having trouble using it. It is shown that a white sheet with a black hole is printed.

The film uses a medium shot of the character grabbing the paper and looking at it confused before switching to a close up to display his emotions. A side shot of him checking the photocopy paper shows that something strange is going on as the paper being photocopied is normal. 

The character then checks the time and takes a drink of his coffee, symbolising that he believes he may be just tired and he is hallucinating from the lack of sleep. This shot is shown from the perspective of the black hole, we know this as it is a low angle shot from the position the hole was placed and there is a black rim surrounding the camera lens.

 The character then drops his drink into the hole before reaching inside to get it back, this is accompanied by a strange buzzing sound which is used to show that the black hole has an extra ordinary power. 

Although two shots usually contain two characters. There is a two shot of the man and the black hole opposite each other, this is used to display a green screen edit of the man reaching into the black hole, seemingly defying logical explanation. A close up of the character looking around connotes the the fact that he has just had an idea.

This is confirmed in the following shots as he gradually starts using it to take bigger and better things, From a vending machine to a vault. As he begins to use the black hole to take money from the vault, the sound of the hole becomes more prominent and heavy breathing from the character can now be heard. Fast paced match on action shots are used to represent the characters excitement of the money.

Finally there is a parallel edit of the character climbing into the hole, at the same time there is a shot of the cello-tape coming off simultaneously, as the sound effect used throughout the film is making a constant gain the audience knows there is about to be a climax of action, The music stops as the paper falls to the floor and the camera's shots gradually jump outwards as diegetic sound can be heard from both the printer and the man knocking from the inside of the safe.