Black Swell Textual analysis

Black Swell from Jake Honig on Vimeo.


Mise en scene:
The mise-en-scene used in Black Sweel highlights the narrative from the offset in many interesting ways. Through setting the short film in a motel the audience instantly depicts a sense of isolation as the motel was stranded from much civilisation. Furthermore, due to the motel having a very cold colour palette and being bare and wooden, the audience can envisage of sense of emptiness in both the actual scene and the state of mind of the main protagonist. Through the isolation of the character- further highlighted by the motel room having two double beds, but only one person occupying the room (perhaps stating that the elderly man is now alone and has no one to turn to)- Barthes theory of enigma code may have been used in order to make the audience question why he is alone and why he looks so depressed. This enigma code is firstly uncovered when the man pulls out a gun which we immediately associate with suicide and violence and is answered further later on in the film as the two clearly depressed men sit together, for a brief time, drinking. Alcohol is a possible indexical sign of  mental illness as it can be used in order to try and forget what is happening in your life, and even
when used recreationally means that people have an excuse to forget and usually leads to a brief personality change.

Camera:
The camera angles and movement in 'Black Swell' also help to drive the narrative of the film as it makes up for a lack of dialogue throughout the film. Bordwell and Thompson's theory that everything in a film is caused through a chain reaction of everything else in the film can be highlighted in this film as the framing of the film rarely shows the two men in a shot together- which once again highlights the loneliness of both characters- and when the two characters are shown together it shows the younger male walking off after being shouted down by the elder man. The close up shots of both characters in the one room show the paradoxical ways of dealing with depression and this therefore is the reason leading to the younger man killing himself as he was unable to get the advice and support he wanted.

Additionally, the birds eyes view panning shot which is used when the elderly man is laying on the bed  highlights to the audience that not everything is okay as you can see the man thinking and have just seen the gun, so even though the man is not actually saying anything it become vivid what he is thinking of doing and is only stopped due to the loud music he hears from next door. This therefore shows that in a modern society, people with mental illnesses are unable to get the help they need and are usually left alone to 'deal' with the situation- once again shown through the young man next door doing the exact same thing.

Sound:
The sound (or lack of sound) also helps the narrative to come through clearly as the diegetic sound throughout the film is never mixed with non-diegetic in order for the audience to focus on the main message and objects of the film. For example, when the man gets the gun out of the wash bag, all that can be heard is the clicking of the gun and this is to magnify the importance that the gun will have on the story. If this was mixed with a depressing soundtrack, then this may become less obvious. Also the dialogue between the two characters also shows the different ways in which people suffer with mental health problems, as some people suffer in silence and don't seek appropriate advice, whilst others do, but are not always taken seriously. This is therefore of encoding a film with a secret message which the audience needs to decode and means that the audience are made to sit questioning both the film and our society- which the director uses in order to show the wider world the problems facing mental illness.

Editing:
Finally the editing of the film is significant in driving the narrative as it is the main way in which the audience is able to identify the link between the two characters- other than the school link. The constant use of shot-reverse-shot means that the two characters are always linked and as an audience we can see that this is because they are both going through very similar situations, but the editing technique also means that the differences can be found within the similar characters e.g. one wanting comfort through talking, whilst the other wants to just be alone in silence. Finally at the end of the short film the cut from the long shot to the close up shot of the man coming out of his motel room in order to check on the young boy after hearing a gun shot shows the elder mans shocked reaction and this could have been possibly used by the director in order to highlight the shocking nature of mental illness, as some people don't recognise it in others until drastic actions are taken.