Research/Case studies 3

This short film is about two men both providing for their children, however one is doing it the right way. He has got a legal job as a police officer, the other male is a drug dealer. The film shows how they spend their day and it flicks from both males. One is celebrating his daughters birthday and the other is planning to raid the house of the drug dealer. The police officer and his squad end up raiding the house, arrest the drug dealer and accidentally shoots the daughter of the drug dealer because she wakes up and creeps out the dark. There is a flash back of the day the drug dealer spent with his daughter.

It is introduced with police sirens and J.Cole in the back of a car so as the audience we are able to make the assumption that he has been arrested. There is dark lighting so we can link this with something bad is

about to happen or already has. It then goes to a closed up J.Cole washing his

face and therefore we can assume that his is a flash back and it is leading up

to the reason why he is in the police car. During this close up shot we can see

his reflection in the mirror and this can be a symbol of him living two lives

or being two people. It goes onto a mid shot of another male standing and

looking at his reflection in the mirror, the viewers can assume that these

characters a similar in way but as it is only the beginning we do not know how

yet. J.Cole is wearing a black tank top, which is a dark colour so it can be associated

with bad things and the other man is wearing a white tank top and we can

associate this with good things. They’re doing the same things but differently,

both are brushing their teeth but one with an electric toothbrush and one with

a normal. This can indicate that financially they’re not in the same places and

live different lifestyles. The music begins to play and it has a happy ora but

J.Cole does not look happy. He is carrying out household tasks and we can see

this through the use of mid shots. He is putting the candles on a cake and has

put on five candles. He lights a barbeque and this shows that it is someone’s

birthday that he knows and he is making into an event. We are able to assume

that he is a father, brother or an uncle. J.Cole sits doing nothing, this makes

the audience think that he is waiting for something. The lighting is dark and

we can see a silouete of him, waiting can be a long and dull process.  It moves to a different scene of the man that

we had seen before sitting at the table with a little girl looking happy, we

can assume that he is her father. It switches back to J.Cole holding his

trainers, this highlights the contract between both characters as he is earing

shorts and another tank top and the other male is wearing shirt. There is a

close up of J.Cole looking at drugs and then it goes to a close up shot of the

man wearing police uniform. This again highlights the differences they have. He

then puts the small pouches of drugs into his shoes as a hiding place for them.

It goes to a wide shot of J.Coles house and a car pulling into the drive, just

as the car pulls up the door opens and a little girl runs out into his arms.

This can give the audience mixed feelings on J.Cole as he is doing something

bad, storing drugs. But we also feel happy for him as the close up shots

express the happiness in his and the little girls face. We are able to make the

assumption that the little girls has come to celebrate her birthday. Two older

people enter the scene and as there is not dialogue the audience have to make decisions

on who the people are and how theyre related, in this case I believe that

they’re his parents.  There is a shot of

the family enjoying their time together and the shots are in a slower motion,

this gives the audience a chance to take what is going on, in. The other male

is dressed in black with a torch with many other people, this shows that he is

with his police for planning a raid. It goes back to J.Cole and his family are

sitting around the table and the girl is about to blow out her candles. As the

scenes flick between the two it increases the tension. The music volume drops

and y9u can hear the family sing, again it switches to the other male but with

the voice over singing happy birthday, this represents the police interrupting

an important moment. As we see what a family man J.Cole is we have forgotten

that on top he is not a good person as he is storing drugs which is committing a

crime. It goes to a mid shot of J.Coles house and a black van drives passed and

the police running towards to house. We can see the police barge into the house

and it switches to the little girl named Leslie, we was able to discover this

when they sung happy birthday to her. She wakes up and through a close up we

can see he hugging a teddy for comfort and fear in her eyes. The camera goes to

a point of view shot of Leslie looking out the gap in her bedroom door. She can

see J.Cole being arrested as he’s pressed up against the wall, we can see him

struggle but there is more than one person holding him. We see a gun in the

hands of an officer appear as he walks around the corner, still in the same

shot. This has an effect on the audience as she is only a little girl and it

causes tension. We feel sorry for her because no child should have to see this

happen. We see a silhouette of the little girl still in her point of view shot

which means its dark and the door widens and the officer shoots. The bullet

makes a sound and the screen goes back. It goes to a flash back of their day

and the music in the background is faint. This can show that to J.Cole this is

seen as not real or even to the officer.

It goes back to the point of view shot of the little girl except you

can’t see her outline. All of the officers and J.Cole freeze for a moment. This

shows that its an unbelievable moment, just moments later J.Cole fights to see

her but the officers move him. The expression the officer’s face is filled with

shock and regret. More flashbacks go by but theres not as many as before, this

could represent her life at that moment, and she’s dying. It goes to a close up

of the main male officer from the beginning and hes just standing there leaning

on the car with the police lights flashing rapidly and this can represent the

heart rates off all the characters. The shot go between him and J.Cole. There

is the mid shot of Leslie drawing in a room that is coloured with light colours

and this can show her place in heaven. After than we discover that she is in

actual fact in a class with the daughter of the main police officer. The camera

shot goes to a close up of the officer with regret and sadness in his face. The

scene ends with a black fade out.

The cutting rate in this clip is not too fast nor too slow, however when it does speed up it is used to show the similarities between the two. When it slows down it shows the differences between the two, the slower cutting rate allows you to take in what is going on.
I chose to analyse this short video because it has many shots that I would like to use in my short film. I think that they capture moments well and there are also effects that I would like to use in my short film. I like the way the video is introduced, it is simple, the black background with the title and directors name. I also like the way the music fades in and out of the clip.