Case Study 5 - I'm Alan Partridge - BBC Sitcom

Case Study 5 - I'm Alan Partridge

I'm Alan Partridge is a British sitcom originally broadcast on BBC Two between 1997-2002, it starred Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge a failed television host and radio host who is trying to get back into the world of television. The television series used a single camera set-up, this was done to immerse the audience in the strange world of Alan Partridge and his awkward situations. I'm Alan Partridge preceded Ricky Gervais' 'The Office' and was innovative in its use of the single camera method to add to the humour of the characters. The sitcom is shot in a way that feels like a documentary however unlike 'The Office' it isn't a 'documentary', instead the creators have used the single-camera method to make the audiences feel as if they are in the same room as Alan.

The single-camera appears to be hand-held and is quite shaky giving the show an unprofessional feeling that is almost reminiscent of the character Alan Partridge. The camera is positioned in a way that it could be a POV shot of someone watching Alan, therefore the show is high in verisimilitude. The camera creates a claustrophobic feeling that the audience are stuck with Alan and cannot escape the visceral cringe-worthy situations that Alan puts himself in. Throughout the series Dutch angles are used as they create an unnatural view of things and a quirkiness that goes well with Alan's personality.

The lighting throughout the series is natural and like the camera it is manufactured in a way to give the show a realistic appearance. I'm Alan Partridge looks like many of the early reality television shows however as the the format of the show is a sitcom Alan does not interact with the camera.

Cut-aways are used to create a lot of the humour, these cut-aways often linger on the faces of the people Alan is talking to, the expressions and reactions from the other characters is emphasised by the lingering shots which only add to the awkwardness of the situations. Much of Alan's dialogue has the character saying something that he believes to be funny which in reality is not funny but Alan's failed attempt at humour is what makes him so funny to the audience. The character Lynn who is Alan's loyal but long-suffering personal assistant who he regularly demeans to make up for his own undesirable personality, Lynn's character is effective at creating humour as Alan always knocks her confidence by telling her some home truths, despite Alan's behaviour she is devoted to Alan's wishes. Many of the characters Alan meets who he tries to befriend are put-off by Alan's rudeness that he is oblivious of, the audience gain gratifications from seeing Alan fail as the more Alan attempts to up his profile the more foolish he becomes. One noteworthy scene in which Alan makes a fool of himself is in series 1 where Alan shoves some cheese into the BBC television commissioners face for not giving him another series saying "smell my cheese".

The soundtrack throughout 'I'm Alan Partridge' is mainly diegetic with most the soundtrack being from the radio station that Alan works for, the songs that are played throughout the series are mainly from the 1980s and feel outdated, this fits in with the character Alan as he is supposed to be a middle aged has-been who is trying to keep his career going without making any modern changes to please his audience or to bring a younger audience.

Realist VS. Anti-Realist

Verisimilitude: This refers to the appearance of a narrative being true or real. If something has high verisimilitude then it will have high levels of realism, if something has low verisimilitude then it will be low in realism. This can be seen in film productions and in narratives.

In film and television a director may use different camera techniques to achieve high levels of verisimilitude and to create a realistic view of a situation. For example POV shots are used to put the audience in the perspective of a character and it is considered realistic as the audience are seeing something happen from a 'human eye'. A shaky camera or handheld camera is used as it can make a sequence appear to be more gritty, for example in a fight scene a hand-held camera may be employed to create a realistic fight sequence atmosphere, on the other-hand a director may use a wide angle shot or over-the head shots so the action is clearly visible, this is not as realistic as true life as you wouldn't have such a clear view of a fight and does not have the same immersive effect as a shaky camera.

How Audiences can be targeted and positioned

Audience Targeting

Television producers aim to achieve the highest audience possible for certain programmes. On the other hand there are more niche programmes that are targeted at specific type of audience are not aimed at the masses. The more mainstream programming are carefully constructed so that they will draw in the largest audience possible, therefore producers have to consider the content and scheduling of there programmes. Audience targeting is where media producers adopt a strategy with the goal of developing criteria that can group people as 'a whole', the most common criteria used are:
Demographics: Age, level of education, income, ethnicity and gender.

Geography: National, region, country,

Psychographics: Personality, values, attitudes, interests, level of readiness for change and lifestyles.

Targeting the audience effectively is important because once the audience has been divided based on selected criteria, campaigns and then designed and communication channels are selected for producers to reach their intended audience effectively e.g. advertising campaigns, new TV shows.

Chat shows are programmes where producers carefully select the guests to appeal to a broad audience. One example is the Jonathan Ross Show, in one of his shows the guests were Zachary Quinto (Age 36 American Hollywood Actor), Zoe Saldana (Age 35 American Hollywood Actress), Jeremy Kyle (Age 48 English Daytime Television Show), Russell Howard (Age 33 English Comedian) and finally music guest Radiohead (a band from the 1980s). All of these factors are taken into account. By having these guests the producers of the show are trying to appeal to large demographic. By having a variety of guests on the show the producers are appealing to niche audiences as well as broader audiences. The producers have carefully selected guests from different backgrounds in the entertainment industry. Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana represent the Hollywood A-list international celebrities that appeal to a large demographic. Jeremy Kyle’s show is on ITV therefore viewers of the show will likely want to see him in a relaxed environment, he will attract an older demographic. Russell Howard is a comedian who targets young audiences as his humour is based around current events. Radiohead are a band that formed in 1985 therefore they will appeal to an older male demographic. There are many reasons why the audience would be interested in the guests. Zoe Saldana is an American actress, who is currently 35 years old, she shot to fame after starring in Avatar which was a huge international blockbuster and therefore made her an international star that is recognizable, she would appeal to a broad audience demographic of male & females, she would appeal to males because she has certain sex appeal (eye candy). Zachary Quinto is an American actor, who is currently 36 years old, he first became known in internationally through the American television series Heroes that was broadcast in the UK, by appearing as an iconic character in a huge franchise Zachary Quinto will appeal to a broad audience demographic. Jeremy Kyle is an English TV presenter, his reality television series is the English counterpart to the American Jerry Springer show, and his show appeals to an older audience, mainly older retired females or stay at home mums, therefore he will bring in an older audience demographic. Russell Howard is an English comedian; his television show is shown on BBC3 a channel that specifically targets a young audience, therefore Russell Howard brings in the young audience demographic. Radiohead have been active since 1985 therefore their audience demographic will be older males.

Audience Ratings

Audience measurement or ratings is where an audience is measured to find out how many people watched something. The practical measuring of audiences helps broadcasters and advertisers determine who is listening rather than just how many people are listening this broader meaning is called audience research. Audience research helps producers and advertisers to show adverts or programmes at certain times so that they are reaching the correct/ideal audience. 

Scheduling

TV producers deliberately schedule programmes at certain times, as do advertisers who position their adverts at peak times. The 4 main terrestrial TV channels have their programmes perfectly mapped out. Between 9-12 Breakfast programmes are shown to give the audience a quick update on today events with interviews with guests, This Morning on ITV also has some debates on lifestyle with guests, these morning shows are targeted at stay at home mothers and older audiences. Between 12-17:00 reality shows such as construction shows, auction shows and game shows are shown, again these programmes are targeted at mothers and older audiences. Between 17:00-21:00 Soap dramas are usually shown as this is peak time and  larger audiences will be watching. Between 21:00-23:00 more adult themed programmes are shown as it is post-watershed producers can get away with more risqué content.

Official Ratings Organisations - Organisations were formed to monitor audience ratings

BARB (Broadcasters' Audience Research Board) is an organisation that compiles audience measurement and television ratings. It was created to replace a previous system where the BBC and ITV companies compiled their own ratings. BARB viewing data give broadcasters, advertisers and other interested parties a minute by minute breakdown of viewing at regional and national levels. This information is vital in assessing how programmes, channels or advertising campaigns have performed and provides the basis for airtime advertising trading.

Audience Positioning

Audiences can be positioned through technical codes employed by the text. In a moving image text, the camera shots and angles are used to place the audience in a particular position. Here are some examples of shots/ angles and the meaning they can be used to create:

1. POV – Puts the audience in the perspective of a character, this type of shot is used to make the audience experience what a character is experiencing.

2. Voyeuristic Shot – This shot usually has a vignette, this is where the camera is partly covered by something (e.g. leaves) and gives the feeling that someone is being watched.  This type of shot is a convention of a horror film and can be seen in ‘Eden Lake’.

3.  Close-Up - The audience can see characters emotions by looking at their facial expressions this is used in every genre and is a general convention of film.

4. Dutch Angle - A Dutch angle is where the camera is on a slight angle and gives the feeling that something is not right about a certain situation; Dutch angles are effective because they can create an unsettling mood to the audience.

5. Low Angle and High Angle Shots – A low angle shot can be used to make a character look intimidating and the dominant character in the situation. A high angle shot can be used to make a character appear to be the most vulnerable character in a scene and therefore a victim.  

Here are some post-production (editing) techniques that can be used to create meaning:

1. Montage – A montage is where lots of different shots are accompanied by a non-diegetic soundtrack, montages are used to show a passing of time in a short/brief period, a montage can be seen in films such as; Scarface, Ghostbusters and Goodfellas. 

2. Flashback – A post-production technique where the colour palette of the film is changed to black and white or sepia as this gives a ‘vintage look’ to the flashback and makes clear to the audience of a time gone by.

3. Match Cut - A match cut is an editing technique that is used as a transition from one location to another, it involves cutting from one object to another one that is similar in shape but in another location. The editing technique creates a seamless transition from one scene to another, the meaning of this technique depends on the context of its use, one famous example of this technique is from Stanley Kubrick's '2001 A Space Odyssey' (1968) where it transitions from the dawn of man where a bone is thrown into the air into a space ship/shuttle in space. 

X-Factor Example of Audience Positioning

The two extracts that I looked at from the X-Factor auditions 2012 both have evident differences. The first audition we looked at showed Nick Buss, a 70 year old man who is immediately stereotyped a s a grumpy old man. In the introductory VT a non-diegetic soundtrack of a modern pop song is playing, Nick says “It’s just noise turn it off”, the non-diegetic soundtrack then cuts off and the ‘One Foot in the Grave’ theme tune begins to play, the editors have used this theme tune as the television show ‘One Foot in the Grave’ is about a grumpy old man and is therefore ideal to play over Nick Buss’ audition, the use of this theme tune is that it sets the tone that this is going to be a comical audition.  The editors have emphasized the diegetic sounds of Nicks grunting as this reinforces the stereotype of him being a grumpy old man. When Nick goes onto the stage the set-up is changed to multiple camera, noddy shots are used to show the judges and audiences reactions to Nick's singing, it cuts backstage to show Nick's wife who doesn't look very supportive of Nick. The diegetic sounds of the audiences reactions such as the booing, chanting and laughing are all amplified so that it makes clear to the viewers at home that Nick is a 'joke act'. The editors have chosen to show Nick swearing and complaining about the fact he does not get through, we see him singling out Tulisa whom he insists on calling 'Tulisia' as the one to blame for him not getting through.

Nick's audition contrasts with Melanie Masson's audition. When Melanie is first introduced she is represented as a typical stay at home mother who is very innocent, the VT then begins to go into Melanie's quirky personality, the non-diegetic soundtrack is the 'Bewitched' theme tune which reinforces the quirky behaviour. The audience are made to feel like Melanie is another 'joke act'. However when she comes onto the stage and begins singing she contradicts that feeling because she is actually a good singer, it cuts to a close-up of Gary's face who is looking very shocked/surprised the camera then pans down looking at each of the judges reactions, the diegetic sound of the audience cheering is almost as loud as Melanie's singing. It keeps cutting away from the action to the back-stage to show Melanie's children to give some emotional impact to the audition and empathy towards Melanie (making the audience root for Melanie to succeed). The up-beat non-diegetic soundtrack is very upbeat and positive when the judges all say "Yes". The camera does a 180 degree turn from the audience applauding to the judges who stand-up to Melanie on the stage rejoicing at the fact. The final shot is a privilege shot where we see Melanie walk away with her children. Melanie's audition is therefore more positive then Nicks and the audience have been positioned to root for Melanie. 

Narrative Theory

Vladimir Propp was a Russian scholar who proposed that all characters in a narrative could be resolved into 7 broad character functions these were as follows;

1. The Villain: The antagonist who seeks to stop the hero from completing his quest or is struggling with the hero.

2. The Dispatcher: A character who sets the hero upon his/her quest.

3. The Helper: The helper is someone who helps the hero in their quest. The helper could also be known as the deuteragonist (sidekick) someone who is the secondary hero who helps the hero complete his quest.

4. The Princess or Prize: The hero must complete his quest which could be either to safe the princess and be with her or to stop something that is preventing the hero and princess from being together happily ever after.

5. The Donor: Prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object. The donor is often someone who gives the hero something or tells the hero something that will give the hero an advantage, the donor could also train the hero and prepare them for the battles that he/she will face.

6. The Hero: The main protagonist, the hero is someone who the audience "root for" and the hero is the one who must complete a quest.

7. The False Hero/Blocker: The false hero is someone who tries to take credit for the hero's actions or tries to marry the princess. Sometimes the false hero is replaced with the blocker who stands in the way of hero or distracts him from the main quest.

Below is an example of the character types applied to the film 'Star Wars' with two extra character types:

Character Type: Hero

Name: Luke Skywalker

Goal: Luke is the last hope for the Jedi Knights a sacred organisation dedicated to protecting the galaxy, however, after the Jedi were wiped out in a purge after his father Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader) turned to the dark-side of the force. Luke is dedicated to defeating the Empire and helping the rebel alliance restore peace and trying to bring his father back to the light side of the force.


Character Type: Villain

Name: Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker)

Goal: Darth Vader once went by the name Anakin Skywalker, his mind was corrupted by The Emperor and he joined the dark-side of the force and ceased to be Anakin Skywalker. His goal is to destroy the rebel alliance and to turn his son Luke Skywalker to the dark-side so they can rule the galaxy as father and son.


Character Type: Princess/Prize

Name: Princess Leia

Goal: She is Luke’s brother but she does not know this until Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. She is very much involved in the rebel alliances’ quest to destroy the Empire. In Episode IV: A New Hope she has been kidnapped and has been taken to the Death Star, Luke and the gang rescue her and she begins her relationship with Han Solo.


Character Type: Mentor

Name: Yoda

Goal: Yoda is one of the last remaining Jedi and is in exile hiding from the Empire. Yoda is old but still very powerful with the force and once Obi-Wan Kenobi is killed he trains Luke in the ways of the force.


Character Type: Helper

Name: R2-D2/C3PO

Goal: These two characters are loyal to Luke et al. Throughout the Star Wars saga they assist Luke, Han, Leia and Chewbacca by repairing the ship and giving advice (although C3PO is often ignored to add humour to certain scenes).


Character Type: Blocker

Name: Jabba the Hutt

Goal: Jabba is a gangster whom Han Solo owes money to, Han Solo keeps on getting delayed on giving Jabba his money back and in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back Jabba sends bounty hunter Boba Fett who captures Han and takes him to Jabba’s Palace where he is kept prisoner.


Character Type: Dispatcher

Name: Obi-Wan Kenobi

Goal: Obi-Wan Kenobi like Yoda is one of the last remaining Jedi knights and is hidden in exile watching over Luke as he grows older, when he finally crosses paths with Luke he sets him off on his journey to become a Jedi knight. Obi-Wan Kenobi is ‘killed’ in a duel between Darth Vader. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s ghost still guides Luke.


Character Type: Redeemed Character

Name: Lando Calrissian

Goal: Lando is a friend of Han Solo’s and resides in Cloud City, his main concern is to keep the Empire out of the city. When Darth Vader arrives he is forced to turn in Han et al, but when he learns that Darth Vader plans on taking over Cloud City Lando then assists Chewbacca and the gang escape and eventually rescue Han and destroys the Death Star Mark II.


Character Type: Best Friend/Secondary Heroes

Name: Han Solo & Chewbacca

Goal: Han and Chewbacca are loyal intergalactic bro's who ride round the galaxy in the Millennium Falcon. These two characters assist Luke in his various adventures and are secondary heroes as they are working towards similar goals as Luke (destroy the Empire). Han and Chewbacca show their loyalty to Luke by saving him on multiple occasions, the first time being in the first Death Star attack and the second being on Hoth. Luke returns the favour by rescuing Han and Chewbacca from Jabba’s Palace.


Tzvetan Todorov is a Franco-Bulgarian philosopher, he suggests that stories begin with an equilibrium or status quo where any potentially opposing forces are in balance. This is disrupted by some event, setting in motion a series of events. Problems are solved so that the equilibrium can be restored.

Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:

1. A state of equilibrium at the outset

2. A disruption of the equilibrium by some action.

3. A recognition that there has been a disruption.

4. An attempt to repair the disruption.

5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium or a new equilibrium is established.

Below is an example of Todorov's narrative theory applied to the film 'Star Wars'.

Equilibrium: Luke is a farm boy who is living a mundane life and seeks adventure.

Disruption: Luke's Auntie and Uncle are killed by the Empire who were looking for his new droids who have data on their battle station.

Recognition of Disruption: Luke sets off with Obi-Wan Kenobi to Mos Eisley where they meet a renegade solider of fortune named Han Solo and his sidekick Chewbacca whom he pilots the Millennium Falcon with. Luke and Obi-Wan pay Han Solo to take them to Alderaan to rescue the Princess.

Attempt to repair disruption: When the characters arrive at Alderaan they find it has been destroyed and are soon pulled into the 'Death Star'. Han, Chewie and Luke et al. find and rescue the Princess. Meanwhile Obi-Wan Kenobi is seemingly killed in a duel with Darth Vader. The heroes escape.

A return or restoration of NEW equilibrium:  Luke leads an attack on the Death Star with the rebel alliance. Luke with the help of Han and Chewie destroy the Death Star. The film ends with Han and Luke receive a medal for their efforts in a ceremony hosted by the Princess, Chewbacca is shunned. The new equilibrium being that Luke has achieved what he wanted by leaving home and joining the Rebel Alliance with his new friends. 

Final Girl Theory 

The final girl theory is a convention of the Horror and Thriller genre(s). This refers to the last woman or girl alive who must confront the killer. The final girl has become a cliché of the genre as woman are seen as more vulnerable characters than males who are stereotyped as the strong protectors. Carol J. Clover coined the term 'Final Girl' in her book. According to Clover, the final girl in may films share common characteristics: she is a typically sexually unavailable woman or virginal, the girl may have a shared history with the killer, for example in the film 'Halloween' Michael Myers is revealed to be the brother of the 'Final Girl' Laurie Strode, the same can be seen in the 'Scream' franchise where the character Sidney Prescott is constantly threatened by the killer. Clover suggests that the final girl is no longer the damsel in distress and during the final girl's confrontation with the killer she becomes masculinized by taking up arms and attacking the killer, the final girl's innocence is destroyed when they take up these typical masculine traits in order to survive. 

The Dominance of the Big Six

The Dominance of the Big Six

The big six operate as the major film production and distributors in Hollywood, this includes; Sony Pictures, 21st Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. These companies each have different divisions such as 20th Century Fox who have a television network which has been the home to such popular shows as ‘The Simpsons’ which had a film spin-off in 2007 and has proven to be a lucrative franchise for the company, Rupert Murdoch who owns 20th Century Fox has utilised the different divisions of the company so that the 20th Century Fox brand name is known to the public and is recognised worldwide. The Walt Disney Company is another company that has created a successful brand, by gearing the majority of its films towards families they have made an impressive amount of animated films that are timeless and multi-generational, Disney also has multiple theme parks that are based around the films made by the company allowing the audiences to interact with the products, in recent years Disney has made many lucrative deals by acquiring productions and franchises for example in 2008 they acquired the rights to Marvel Films in 2009 for $4 billion and have since made $5 billion since the purchase, also in November 2012 they bought Lucasfilm for another $4 billion giving Disney the rights to the Star Wars franchise and Indiana Jones two franchises that are incredibly popular with audiences, other purchases include the television network ABC for $19 billion dollars. Although they are American based their presence is still dominant in other countries. Together these companies constitute an ‘oligopoly’ on the film industry, this means that collectively they dominate the industry holding 80% of the US/Canada market share of the film industry.

For people working within the big six this is an advantage as it allows for much higher budgets for large productions making it so that the studios can release their summer ‘blockbusters’ that are more mainstream titles geared towards a wider audience. Smaller production companies will not rely on the financial power that the big six hold in the industry and will choose to release titles with narratives that although may be obscure in some cases but still based in reality, the trouble with such productions is that they don’t have the money to innovate technologically within the industry and that is something that the big six particularly have done over the many decades, James Cameron’s Avatar was a huge hit partially because of the hype surround the 3D effects in the film. However, the independent productions that are now being made replicate those that the big six were once releasing when the motion picture industry was first conceived, the big six have been criticised for releasing films with similar themes and remaking films from their back-catalogue.

The big six use their power within the industry to promote their ideological views and promote Americanisation within the media often do not take any creative risks or confront certain ‘ideologies’ in order protect the brand name, this is an advantage for smaller productions because they can create projects to question American ideologies, for example Michael Moore produces documentaries that tackle topics such as gun control in ‘Bowling For Columbine’ and ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’, these documentaries although produced on low budgets and by small production companies proved immensely popular and grew more popular through word of mouth which for smaller productions is a good thing because they cannot afford a  marketing campaign.

A disadvantage for the big six is in certain cases big budget blockbusters can flop and therefore result in huge financial losses to the company, one recent notable example is ‘The Lone Ranger’ which was released by The Walt Disney Company on a budget of $250 million and its worldwide gross being just $243 million despite its huge promotional campaign.

Overall I feel that competition is necessary in the industry and the fact that the big six shadow over many of the independent production companies is a bad thing as the same ideas are constantly being recycled by the big six who stick to a formula that results in a large gross. The industry shouldn't be based around profit and should be about taking risks on projects that may be considered better critically but may not have the largest profits that the big blockbusters bring in.  

Series - Serial - Single Drama

1. SERIAL: The Pacific

	DETAILS
DEFINE	Single narratives (of various characters) told over a finite number of episodes which concludes in a final instalment.
YOUR TEXT	The Pacific
Narrative	The Pacific like Band of Brothers follows soldiers during WW2; however, this serial takes place in the Pacific Theater of Operations within the wider Pacific War. The serial covers major military operations during this period and the actors are playing soldiers who were actually involved with these battles, therefore being a true story.
Technical	Partly Single-Camera. The serial has many cinematic moments, and as Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are producers of the serial they have made sure that many of the gritty camera work used in the WW2 film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ are used here to create the same immersive effect putting the audience in the position of the soldier by using POV shots etc.
GENRES	Historical War Drama – True Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. SERIES:Spaced

	DETAILS
DEFINE	Series of television programmes rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode-by-episode fashion.
YOUR TEXT	Spaced
Narrative	Daisy Steiner (Jessica Stevenson) and Tim Bisley (Simon Pegg) are two London twenty-somethings who meet by chance while both are looking for a flat, having both broken up with their partners. Despite barely knowing each other, they pose as a young working couple in order to meet the requirements for an advertisement for a cheap flat. In this flat there are other odd characters that the two main characters interact with. The narrative of the series follows the surreal adventures of the couple, and the romantic tension that builds between the two.
Technical	The show was shot using a single camera set-up. The director Edgar Wright shot the series in a cinematic style and even ‘borrowed’ shots from certain films in order to pay homage to them as the series makes multiple references to other films.  – Edgar Wright – Director
GENRES	Comedy, parody/homage

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. DRAMA: Dirty War

	DETAILS
DEFINE	Same as a film – a single self-contained story, usually between 60-90 minutes.
YOUR TEXT	Dirty War (2004)
Narrative	The film follows a terrorist attack in London; the events of the attack are shown from multiple perspectives; the government, police and the emergency medical services.
Technical	The film uses a single-camera set-up to show the perspectives of the characters in a realistic way; the camera is very shaky and is used in a way that represents the frantic nature of the attack. Examples of shots include; extreme close-ups, POV, over-the shoulder shots.
GENRES	Thriller/Drama

 

Case Study 1 - 'Tell'

Case Study 1 - 'Tell'

 

'Tell' (2012) is a short psychological horror written, directed and edited by Ryan Connolly, who primarily operates independently releasing films online. This horror short follows many cliches found in the genre and its plot has obviously drawn inspiration from literature such as Edgar Allan Poe's short story 'The Tell-Tale Heart'. The plot of 'Tell' follows a charcter named Taylor who is having some-kind of mental breakdown and argues with his girlfriend Jenny whom he kills with a hammer.

The director Ryan Connolly has used the single camera to create a creepy atmosphere which shows Taylor's mental breakdown without the use of dialogue, an example of Connolly using the camera to create a paranoid feeling to the film is the use of voyeuristic shots that make it seem that Taylor is being watched. The dialogue in the film is perhaps the weakest element of an otherwise well made horror short, thankfully Connolly has used little dialogue as the actual camera-work and Taylor's facial expressions can tell more than the dialogue.

 

The character Taylor does not fit in with Propp's character theory, although he is the character in which the audience is following he does not have any of the characteristics of a protagonist, the audience are not "rooting" for Taylor to get away from the murder, however, the writer has allowed the audience to see Taylor as a character descend into madness. 

The audience are immersed into the world of  'Tell' by the use of certain shots and angles for example over the shoulder shots  allow the audience to see things from the perspective of certain characters and make it clear how certain characters are feeling emotionally by focusing on their facial expressions.

Unlike many modern horrors that choose to use graphic violence to 'shock' the audience 'Tell' has been made in a way that the psychological elements of the film are more frightening than visual gore. 'Tell' follows the old horror archetype "What you don't see is actually more scary than what you can see". One example of Connolly following this is the scene in which Taylor murders Jenny, the actual violence is off-screen and the diegetic sounds make the sequence feel very unsettling. The camera slowly pans into the kitchen counter and Taylor's arm appears with blood on it, this sequence is very slow paced, this has been done so that the tension builds.

The editing is very subtle throughout the film, many of the shots linger therefore breaking the 5 second rule, the rule has been broken because the audience are able to see the characters thinking, this creates a feeling of uncertainty and highlights the fact that Taylor is all alone in this situation and is losing his grip on reality. Quick shots are used to show Jenny who appears to be haunting Taylor, these shots are quick because the director wants the audience to begin to question whether Taylor is going crazy or Jenny really is haunting him.

Close-ups are used to show significant objects, for example a close-up of a knife and a saw signifies the fact that Taylor is going to cut-up the body, Connolly has successfully alllowed the narrative of the story to flow without the use of dialogue.

The non-diegetic soundtrack follows the conventions of a typical horror soundtrack and is used to great effect. The soundtrack has build-up moments where the audience are waiting in anticipation of a jump moment however they are decieved.

The lighting is very dull, the source of the lighting is natural in the way that the house lights are used, therefore the film has high verisimilitude in terms of its setting.

Overall 'Tell' is a well-made independent production that has safely followed what has been done in past horror films and has created the ultimate cliché ridden film.