"portal" Charlie

Analysis of “portal” short film by Dan Trachtenberg

Narrative:

-       Heavy piano riff, slow piano riff this really helps represent the character rather as a prisoner as opposed to a woman.

-       We see she is treated as a prisoner and acts like a prison would, doing press ups and tallying the days as they go by, this is all done to help portrait passing time.

-       We know she is there for a reason, hence why she is fed and has the barcode on the back of her neck.

-       As you can see from the screen grab, this particular sequence is in terms of a CCTV camera, which again lets us know she is there for a reason and she is being watched.

-       The riff and the sped up footage of her occupying her time with fitness or eating and looking for a way out further entices the audience as to how she will escape, and yet portal may be a clue, but at this point in the film, it is unclear.

-       Considering the beginning and the ending of the film is starts with a woman in solitary confinement on her own with nothing to do, and no where to go. We see her escape but not to the extent of freedom. She escapes to another level of this almost game like situation.

-       The film is linear, it does follow sequence in a start to finish order, this is good as the plot is easy to follow and understand, and works a lot better as instead of the plot being altered the situation is ordered so she goes from apparent freedom, back to step one, which I think has a greater effect on the audience.

Genre:

-       In terms of genre the short allows multiple genres, which is unusual because short films tend to be either very specific or have no clear genre what so ever. Portal is mostly live action, and science fiction.

-       The audience would be mostly male, as the key things that appeal to a male are in this short, guns (of sorts) women and danger.

-       Rick Altman suggested that narrative is part of memory and relating to personal effects; this is applicable in portal as she is a prisoner and her freedom and access to personal life has been cut off.

-       This short uses codes and conventions which allow us to place it in a specific genre. Such as the location and activities, and props used (plasma cannon) this is useful as the audience can gain an expectation of what will occur in the film, but it’s when those expectations are twisted or met that people become pleased.

Audience:

-       In terms of audience the people expected to what this film would be mostly people who enjoy short films, as this channel has only two films “portal” and “the making of portal” but YouTube its-self, caters for all short film lovers as many channels are solely devoted to short films such as “north lake films” and “curio films”.

-       As mention previously in narrative, the audience will expected audience of the film would enjoy it because rather than messing around with narrative it turns the story on its head, this would please the viewers as its taking the film in an unexpected direction, we think she finally has freedom, but no.

-       The short has been showed on a variety of other websites including vimeo.com and has also been analysed by the IMDB with reviews and further production information, the short itself has over 11,000,000 views on YouTube meaning “portal” is a liked film and people are starting to hear about it, especially seeing as its been on IMBD I would say this film was a success.

-       The film itself has won no awards, but the game on which it was based on did, creating an instant fan of the film before release, as fans of the game would want to see the film interpretation.

Representation:

-       In terms of representation the character (nameless) is represented as a tough independent woman, who is capable of looking after her. This will work in synergy with the genre to help give this film more impact and attract the action audience, for example if the main character was not tough and strong and more of a damsel in distress the audience would sympathise with her rather then will her.

-       The film is perhaps comparable to the Bourne series or bond, as she is a a capable person. This will help her escape in a way, not relying on luck but talent, she is capable of escape.

-       It is hard to see any issues that the film deals with; it reflects the opposite of gender, a woman, as a stereotype would not be expected to do what she does. A woman is more feminine and not such a threat in a situation like that.

-       In terms of ideology the basic definition states that it is a state of thinking for social and singular groups, so she has the ideal skills required in the film. Dominant ideology would be appropriate to use here as she is re[presented as a female with a tough temper and no nonsense actions that allow her to  behave that she does and use her mind to help her predicament out.

Media Language:

-       In terms of shot types and shot sequence, we can see an overlay of a security camera a fast forward effect, showing her eating, working out, and looking for an escape. This helps as it shows time passing, letting us know she has been there for a while and needs to get out. Also the same technique allows the audience to know that she is being watched.

-       Another fantastic shot is used, when a part of the wall lifts up, as we can see her face, looking in In the gap in the wall, then the camera tracks backwards to let the audience see what she is looking at, of which is a plasma canon, and by extension an escape.

-       Also the shot when she breaks the mirror in order to see what is on the back of her neck, the shot type/ angle and non-diegetic sound also work in synergy, the second the barcode becomes visible a heavy piano riff Is overlaid which helps show the significance of the barcode, and the emotion on her face. This really works well as it helps add distress to the situation.

-       Also the use of framing at a sequence right at the start of the film when she stands up, the framing shows her in a room with a bed, her in medical wear and standing the middle of the room looking confused and out of touch. The camera is right against the wall this makes her look insignificant and inferior and alone.