Textual analysis on short film

Russian Roulette - Directed by Ben Aston http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2014/04/02/russian-roulette/

Genre/narrative

• Russian roulette is a short film comedy about a lonely young girl who lives in London. The young girl (Lucy) finds herself on chatroulette hoping to find some company. She comes across a libidinous cosmonaut who she finds very interesting because he is travelling space. • Lucy is portrayed as a very lonely and sad character. This is seen when

she pleads for the cosmonaut not to leave “don’t, please” and how she hates London because its “so cold and depressing” and how “everyone else is depressed”.

Camerawork

The film begins with a close up of the laptop showing the people on the website. The camera then zooms out showing the audience the name of the website “chatroulette”.

The camera then makes a mid shot of the protagonist Lucy. This shows who the person behind the voice is when the camera is focused on the website at the start.

Throughout the film, there is a number of shot reverse shots. This is used to show the people on the chat website and to also show what Lucy’s facial expressions are towards the different types of people that pop up.

Mise en scene

• The mise en scene in the short film is very limited. The setting is in a bedroom, with the main character Lucy sitting on the bed. The scenes show her laptop which she is using to communicate with other people on the internet. • The protagonist (Lucy) is dressed very casually and her make up is very

minimal; giving off a very naturalistic look. • The film shows the cosmonaut that Lucy becomes interested in is placed

in space; the man shows Lucy where he is through a small window. • The cosmonaut is shown wearing a simple polo top, casual clothing like

Lucy.

Editing/sound

• Russian roulette started off by editing in a voice over and an instrumental sound of a piano being played. Diegetic sound. • Many shot reverse shots through the scene to show facial expressions

on both the person on the website and Lucy. • Low key lighting is used. The bedroom looks pretty gloomy to

represent the characters feelings which is depressed and lonely.