Fourth Post

Research Task;

Lovefield, Mathieu Katthe
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4meeZifCVro)


I found a very interesting short film through searching around on Youtube, that I thought was very cleverly crafted with a unique storyline. Directed by Mathieu Katthe, ‘Lovefield’ is a thought to be horror film but with a twisted ending. The basic storyline involves the audience believing that the man has murdered a woman in a middle of a wheat field in a remote area, and how he reacts and runs to his car to retrieve a bag/blanket, as if to bury her, when in fact she has actually just given birth to a child.
Many conventions of a horror are involved and the related atmosphere is created in a number of ways. In the beginning, through the subtle but important, usually singular non digetic music notes and the added digetic sound of the wisps of wind create the basis of the horror atmosphere ambience. Low key lighting is used, emphasising the overcast bleak climate. The emblematic components of the settings, such as the location of a field, which is a common location associated with murders/horrors, gives the audience a sense of what genre the film is also. Symbolism is used, as a black crow appears throughout the film repeatedly – usually as close ups - and seems to symbolise death/negative activity. There is a mid shot at a slight high angle of the long stretch of road, with the sign swinging back and forth. This shot is very typical of a horror film and has occurred in some before; it stresses how deserted the area is and the lack of civilisation/activity. There is a slow build up of montages of the same wheat field location, which if you analysis carefully you see the camera is gradually tilting down to ground level.
Representations of characters are a key element to this film. The male character, first thought to be an antagonist, has many features to suggest he is a bad person. Such as his big build, skull tattoo, dark eyes and guilty expressions. You would be confused and surprised to see either - for example - a little boy or a teenaged girl stand up from the incident instead of this man.
This short film highlights just how much importance and significance all the elements of film have in how the audience perceives the situation and relations to characters etc. It can distort the wrong impression and the real meaning into what’s occurring in a clever and unique way. An example of how this film altered the perception of the situation is through the low key lighting, eerie music and the way the camera moved at a ground level showing the objects (dead phone, crushed wheat, blooded material, fallen handbag etc) and finally the struggling dirty/injured foot, and the sudden placement of the blooded knife in the ground. An example some of the ways elements of film contributed to the distortion of the judgement of character is the shadows and lighting cast upon the man’s face which portrayed an evil and angry expression, and furthermore the way the camera tilted up slowly showing his whole body posture and language, highlighting his status and actions. The sudden turn around of both lighting (turned into natural light to show good weather), music (transformed into most uplifting music) and mise en scene at the end scene twisted the story to show a positive and happy occasion of his wife giving birth, allowing the audience to understand he is actually a protagonist and his actions were in fact, caring and constructive.
I really liked the way this film constructed there storyline and unique twist and if our group decide to create a horror, this would be very good inspiration to create something with a similar effective ending, and would give us a range of ideas in order to craft many techniques to establish the correct specific atmosphere and genre.