In a HeartBeat textual analysis

  In a Heartbeat - Animated Short Film from In a Heartbeat on Vimeo.

Mise-en-scene:
'In a HeartBeat' portrays many different representations in a short amount of time through all four of the micro-elements in a lot of interesting ways. For example the use of the mise-en-scene represents school to be very judgmental and this means that people believe that they have to behave or look a certain way in order to fit in- hence why the ginger character doesn't want to show his true emotions. Stan Cohen's theory of moral panic can be seen in this short film, as the film highlights the reactions of fellow pupils when they see two boys who love each other and it highlights a look of shock on their faces as the homosexual attractions are causing a threat to 'traditonal' and 'normal' societal values. This is therefore why the ginger male runs and hides when he is unable to hide his true feelings under a tree at the school. When he runs off the colour palette becomes colder as it highlights how sad the boy is that he is going to be viewed differently by the culture he lives in.

Camera:
The camera angles and movement further shows the unwillingness of both characters in showing their true emotions in the public domain, as they both fear the backlash of what people think. Through the use of a close up shot of the brown haired boy, the audience are able to highlight how scared the boy is that peoples perception of him may change and this therefore shows that Tessa Perkins theory on stereotypes ,and the fact that they are not always false, is true as many homosexual people remain closeted as they are too scared of the reaction they will get from the people they both know and don't know. Furthermore, through the depth of field at the beginning of the short film we also are able to sense the idea that people still believe homosexual feelings should remain in the back of peoples minds as the ginger boy is in the foreground of the shot, whilst the boy that he fancies is in the background of the shot and thus may be showing that he has repressed his homosexual feelings in order to fit into a society which they are too scared to challenge.

Sound:
The film has no dialogue which the director has done purposely in order to magnify the message of the film as it can all be seen through the actions of the characters- and may be due to them highlighting that some homosexuals suffer their feelings in silence. As there is no dialogue the film is completely driven through non-diegetic sound, mainly through the use of a soundtrack. The soundtrack is a soft piano, that builds up in tempo and pitch whenever one of the boys becomes panicked by public perception of them, thus showing that homosexuals are still unable to fit in in a society that is much more accepting than before. Homosexuality is something that is very rarely touched upon in mainstream media, especially theatrically, and this therefore highlights that Gramsic's Hegemony (that dominant ideology is represented the most and is therefore the most 'normal') is shown to be true as much of society still believes that heterosexuality is much more normal than homosexuality, thus why this film is trying to challenge that perception

Editing:
Finally through the use of editing in the short film the message of the film becomes even more clear, and the representations of the minority group is even more powerfully highlighted. Dtedue to the film being animated, it means that the director can do things with the film, that they would be unable to do with real life characters e.g. have a flying heart. The CGI flying heart is used as it is a metaphor for the uncontrollable emotions that the homosexual protagonist has and therefore extends the message that we cannot choose who we love- which is evident throughout the film. The animation can also mean that the film is targeted towards kids and this is vital for the director as they want to teach children from a young age that homosexuality is normal and they do not need to be scared of it, or scared to admit of it.