THEORY - Short Film Analysis 'Let's Not Panic'
LETS NOT PANIC
"When an asteroid threatens to hit New York, twenty-something Sadie embarks on a quest from Brooklyn to Manhatton to reunite with the man she loves - her therapist."
The genre of this film is a comedy about a girl falling in love with her therapist and having him rescue her from a natural disaster. There isnt an extensive list of characters for this film which is a good thing as it means that the narrative is a lot easier to follow. The time setting this short film follows a split narrative that is based around future imagined events and present day.
This short film begins with the character subject "Sadie" fantasising about her therapist however you don't actually see him until later in the narrative. You are immediately greeted with a voiceover of Sadie talking about her fantasises and acting out what she is thinking so the viewer has visual and aural view. It then clips to her lying on a sofa in his office in different clothing and outfits which confirms the viewers suspicions that she is talking to someone about this fantasy. The use of Cameron's modular narrative 'anachronic' shows the flashing between story lines.
It then presents the therapist as the hero character as he beats up the fantasy drug gang that Sadie has thought about. Again we see Propps theory that Sadie is the princess character and the therapist is the hero (potential love interest too). There is a subtle significance of peanut brittle in this story which may potentially act as the enabler as she relies on her peanut brittle to keep her going along the way. In a way this media text is also structured around Levi-Strauss' theory as there is a common theme of good and bad , good being the fantasies and bad being the harsh reality of it all.
The clever sequencing of events in this film maintains the audiences interest as it uses flashforwards and "dream" like motion to create the illusion. Initially the viewer is unsure who is the designated narrator is between the male and female character that are presented to us however the female voice matched with the shots of her in the therapy office confirm the viewers speculation.
This short film includes a lot of real time influences however as it switches between current time and future time this may lead the view to come to multiple conclusions. The use of dream sequencing intrigues the viewer to keep watching to see what actually happens and to the viewers surprise the outcome is not as initially lead to believe in the first place.
The use of technical code throughout a narrative is important when it comes to being able to analyse. The clever use of different camera angles to show the main character sitting down in the chair in her therapists office confirms to the viewer that the previous scene that they watched was infact the fantasy that Sadie had. The clever use of editing enables the viewer to decipher between what is a dream and what is a reality throughout the narrative. During the opening scene the use of the sentence "breakdown of societal norms" is one that is slightly stressed when the viewer initially hears it so that when it is said again in the news broadcasters script the viewer will remember the previous scene and think about what may happen next.
If you apply Todorovs' theory to this film you are shown the state of equilibrium when the characters are balancing the positive and negative factors in the dream. There is then a disruption of equilibrium when the harsh reality comes to a head and Sadie realises that her fantasy will not come true. There is then a recognition of equilibrium when Sadie watches the news and finds out that there is going to be a World crisis and that it will potentially allow her dream to come true. There is then an attempt to repair the disruption which is emphasised when Sadie goes to try and find her therapist despite being advised to stay indoors as the asteroid threatens to hit New York. The reinstatement of the equilibrium is shown when Sadie gets to her therapist and he tries to pretend that he is ok when he is panicking. This lets the viewer think that there may be a possibility that Sadie's dreams mgith actually come true.
The story line of this film is one of a romantic comedy and the comedy value comes from the romance being highly one sided. This lightens the mood of the story line as the viewer is almost feeling the pain of Sadie as well as the viewer knowing there is a slight unrealistic feel of her relationship with her therapist. The narrative of this story is presented in a way that is easy to follow for the viewer. There is no complicated storyline and this is ideal for a short film. The story is told in a way that there isn't a lot of characters involved so it doesn't confuse the viewer. The use of bright lighting helps keep the viewers interest and the use of camera angles enhances the viewers interaction with the characters.
There seems to be a significance with peanut brittle and the use of imagery and description about it emphasises this. At the beginning we see Sadie talk about dreaming about making peanut brittle with her therapist and this then inciates the theme. Then once we see her therapist tell her that her dream wont ever happen you are shown a close up shot of her with the peanut brittle in her hand however its the sound you hear of her dropping it rather than the visual image of her doing so. However a man in the street hands her the bag back. This makes the user subconsciously realise the significance of the peanut brittle. Then we see her going into her apartment and leaving the bag of peanut brittle outside the door and locking it which could hint towards her getting rid of the idea of the dream. However when she finds out that there is going to be a breakdown of societal norms then she decides to take this opportunity to find bring back the peanut brittle which is nowhere to be found, however she still decides to take off on her adventure. The peanut brittle seems to have the significance of being linked to the therapist so that she associates it with him negatively once she has her dreams crushed by him.
This short film begins with the character subject "Sadie" fantasising about her therapist however you don't actually see him until later in the narrative. You are immediately greeted with a voiceover of Sadie talking about her fantasises and acting out what she is thinking so the viewer has visual and aural view. It then clips to her lying on a sofa in his office in different clothing and outfits which confirms the viewers suspicions that she is talking to someone about this fantasy. The use of Cameron's modular narrative 'anachronic' shows the flashing between story lines.
It then presents the therapist as the hero character as he beats up the fantasy drug gang that Sadie has thought about. Again we see Propps theory that Sadie is the princess character and the therapist is the hero (potential love interest too). There is a subtle significance of peanut brittle in this story which may potentially act as the enabler as she relies on her peanut brittle to keep her going along the way. In a way this media text is also structured around Levi-Strauss' theory as there is a common theme of good and bad , good being the fantasies and bad being the harsh reality of it all.
The clever sequencing of events in this film maintains the audiences interest as it uses flashforwards and "dream" like motion to create the illusion. Initially the viewer is unsure who is the designated narrator is between the male and female character that are presented to us however the female voice matched with the shots of her in the therapy office confirm the viewers speculation.
This short film includes a lot of real time influences however as it switches between current time and future time this may lead the view to come to multiple conclusions. The use of dream sequencing intrigues the viewer to keep watching to see what actually happens and to the viewers surprise the outcome is not as initially lead to believe in the first place.
The use of technical code throughout a narrative is important when it comes to being able to analyse. The clever use of different camera angles to show the main character sitting down in the chair in her therapists office confirms to the viewer that the previous scene that they watched was infact the fantasy that Sadie had. The clever use of editing enables the viewer to decipher between what is a dream and what is a reality throughout the narrative. During the opening scene the use of the sentence "breakdown of societal norms" is one that is slightly stressed when the viewer initially hears it so that when it is said again in the news broadcasters script the viewer will remember the previous scene and think about what may happen next.
If you apply Todorovs' theory to this film you are shown the state of equilibrium when the characters are balancing the positive and negative factors in the dream. There is then a disruption of equilibrium when the harsh reality comes to a head and Sadie realises that her fantasy will not come true. There is then a recognition of equilibrium when Sadie watches the news and finds out that there is going to be a World crisis and that it will potentially allow her dream to come true. There is then an attempt to repair the disruption which is emphasised when Sadie goes to try and find her therapist despite being advised to stay indoors as the asteroid threatens to hit New York. The reinstatement of the equilibrium is shown when Sadie gets to her therapist and he tries to pretend that he is ok when he is panicking. This lets the viewer think that there may be a possibility that Sadie's dreams mgith actually come true.
The story line of this film is one of a romantic comedy and the comedy value comes from the romance being highly one sided. This lightens the mood of the story line as the viewer is almost feeling the pain of Sadie as well as the viewer knowing there is a slight unrealistic feel of her relationship with her therapist. The narrative of this story is presented in a way that is easy to follow for the viewer. There is no complicated storyline and this is ideal for a short film. The story is told in a way that there isn't a lot of characters involved so it doesn't confuse the viewer. The use of bright lighting helps keep the viewers interest and the use of camera angles enhances the viewers interaction with the characters.
There seems to be a significance with peanut brittle and the use of imagery and description about it emphasises this. At the beginning we see Sadie talk about dreaming about making peanut brittle with her therapist and this then inciates the theme. Then once we see her therapist tell her that her dream wont ever happen you are shown a close up shot of her with the peanut brittle in her hand however its the sound you hear of her dropping it rather than the visual image of her doing so. However a man in the street hands her the bag back. This makes the user subconsciously realise the significance of the peanut brittle. Then we see her going into her apartment and leaving the bag of peanut brittle outside the door and locking it which could hint towards her getting rid of the idea of the dream. However when she finds out that there is going to be a breakdown of societal norms then she decides to take this opportunity to find bring back the peanut brittle which is nowhere to be found, however she still decides to take off on her adventure. The peanut brittle seems to have the significance of being linked to the therapist so that she associates it with him negatively once she has her dreams crushed by him.
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