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Characters

There are two main characters we’re introduced to in this short. Although neither can be assumed to be specified as an antagonist or a protagonist. The man, Andrew, is the first to be introduced to us, via a news report. He is introduced to us as a freeborn Martian, and an alleged leader of the rebel army. Not only is his image and footage of his capture brought up, but we also see a high angle long shot, which uses a grey filter to show that what we are looking through is CCTV footage through the camera in the room he’s intended to be interrogated within. However it isn’t until we get into the room that we actually see the character up-close. Before this, we have the female character making her way to the room. Fast-paced non-diegetic music is used when she walks briskly to the elevator, followed by the camera which tracks her movements. This builds tension and is used to mimic the speed at which she makes her way to the room as well as the possible likelihood of her nerves which are causing her to feel flustered: hence the music.

In the shot on the right is a medium close up, over-the-shoulder shot showing the woman speaking to Andrew. In terms of the female stereotype, this woman wears lots of make-up which shows she places a value on looking good, thus she subscribes the feminine archetype/ stereotype in this way. However her hair is also pinned back, suggesting practicality. Her costume, a suit, also connotes professionalism. These are icons and connotations which shows she subscribes to the masculine stereotype/ archetype. This shows she is subverting the feminine stereotype. In relation to the sci-fi genre however, women are typically presented as being strong, independent and sometimes dominant. In this film, the woman certainly fulfils these stereotypical traits as we can see from the suit that she has power and by the fact that she is a representative of the government, in charge of

talking to Andrew, the rebellious Martian, she has authority and therefore dominance over him. Thus this character subscribes to the typical female seen in sci-fi films.

In this medium close up, over-the-shoulder shot of Andrew we can see that his make-up has been used to make him appear as if he’s been in a fight and has wounds to prove it. What we can see of Andrew’s costume is that he wears a black

jacket. The fact he is not wearing a suit, like the woman, establishes he doesn’t have as much power as her. In terms of gender analysis, this shows he is subverting the masculine archetype/ stereotype because his costume makes him seem inferior to the woman. As for his make-up, this suggests he might be violent. The fact that we know these wounds are a result of his involvement in the uprising of a Martian rebellion against Earth shows he must be strong because evidently he’s showing that he’s not in pain. In this respect, he is conforming to the masculine stereotype. Conventionally in sci-

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fi films, the male character can be either dominant or inferior, which can also be the case for women (although it is becoming more prevalent conception that women are the leading characters for films that come under this genre). The male/ female protagonists in sci-fi films are typically featured as having wounds and looking dishevelled. Although Andrew doesn’t appear dishevelled (emotionally), his appearance is so. Therefore he conforms to the male stereotype for sci-fi films.

We also see a stock character featured in this short. This is the news reporter who talks in a majority of the film. What we can see in this medium close up shot of the reporter is that just like the main female character, she is wearing smart clothing and her hair is pulled back, connoting professionalism and power. This implies she is knowledgeable and that her opinion is important. She is holding a microphone also, and wearing one headphone to mimic an earpiece. Both are icons/props associated with the job, used to sustain the verisimilitude of the film and thus what happening in it.

Some other stock characters in this film are soldiers. Through montage editing we see several shots of them fighting. Dressed all in black, wearing helmets and holding guns, which connotes violence, power and danger, we instantly get the reading that these are soldiers.

Settings/ locations

In the low angle long shot on the right you can see a floor of an apartment/office building on which 3 elevators are facing the camera. High key lighting is use in this shot where we see the woman moving from this room to where Andrew is being held ready for interrogation. The overall appearance of this room is being clean which means that the purpose of it is for business purposes because buildings with offices usually appear clean and organised. The light is also unusual and large which brings us to suppose that there is new technology around to enable that much power to be used and so from this we get the reading that this film must be set in the future.

Another location shot we are given is the ‘interrogation room’ where we see the woman talking to Andrew throughout the majority of the film. In this black and white filtered, high angle, long shot, we get the impression we are seeing the woman walk into the room through CCTV footage (which I alluded to earlier). In the shot we can see the room

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is decorated simply, with basic furnishings such as a carpet, desk and two chairs. By seeing the other chair positioned opposite Andrew’s chair we instantly get the reading that this is an interrogation. The fact that the voice-over says Andrew has an impending execution ahead of him confirms this reading. However we find out that rather than

directly interrogating Andrew, the woman appeals to help him which is a shocking surprise to us considering her status and her compassion to helping this rebel in front of her.

Of course, a science fantasy dealing with the subject matter of space (Mars) must feature some form of space-craft and footage/ CGI special effect edits of the planets involved. In the shot on the left is a medium long shot of space-craft. Behind this is

the Earth. Shooting across the shot are bolts of light we can assume are the strikes of energy that resemble artillery we have today. Instantly we get the reading that this is a sci-fi film and so it’s easy to see from this shot, that the special effects and graphics inform us of the genre.

Themes

Slipstream Military Science fantasy

Genre iconography

The iconography found in sci-fi films includes strange and new technology. This also includes space ships which can be found in this film as well as many of the other short sci-fi films I’ve looked at. Weapons also come under genre iconography.

As the camera tilts down and tracks the woman’s actions, we can see in this medium over-the-shoulder shot that she pulls out a weapon. New and certainly technological (as regarded by the lights) this is a piece of genre-specific iconography- a weapon which further establishes that this is a sci-fi film.

Going back to the point about the woman being a dominant character, the gun is an icon of power and violence and so, just like Andrew who has wounds that in ways conveys this, the woman appears powerful. Thus she further subverts the feminine archetype (when talking about gender representation).

Camera Shot/ Angle/ Movement

In this film we see much of the start introduces us to what has happened in the past years, informing us that the film is based in the future. While a narrative voice-over explains this, graphics are used on the screen to mimic a news report. The fact that this

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is a global issue suggests that it is likely something beyond our own planet has had an impact on Earth enough for it to be a crisis. Due to this, the film must be a sci-fi film.

Tracking, panning, titling and zooming are all camera movements found in this short. For example, when the woman is walking to the elevator in this close up shot on the right the camera tracks the woman. This gives the impression we are following her and gives us, as an audience member, the feeling we are actively involved in the film.

Low angle and high angle shots are both varied in use here in this short however they aren’t used for the purpose of showing hierarchy and status but rather to sustain the realism of the film. For example, a high angle shot is used when the woman approaches Andrew in the room, but this is instead used to clearly show that the camera has taken the point of view of the CCTV camera. Another example is this close up shot of the characters walking out of the building. The low angle shot is used here to put emphasise on the fact that they are making their way out despite orders from the government.

A majority of the shots in Freeborn aren’t actually still but rather shake a lot. By doing this, it conveys Earth’s difficulty to face the Martians and so by shaking the camera it gives the impression that events are moving quickly and are hard to comprehend. It further increases the confusion and inability to focus on what’s happening that some of us might experience when watching the film.

Editing

There isn’t a great deal of information I can afford to the editing of this film as it features lots of cuts. In terms of editing in post-production however I can say that this film has had a lot of work put into it in order to create realistic special effects such as for the lights on the gun and the scenes in which space and space-ships are involved. Montage editing is used when the news report runs at the start and towards the end of the film.

Shot-reverse-shot is used also when Andrew and the woman are exchanging dialogue. As their conversation becomes more heated and tense the camera cuts to close up shots of their faces, which enhances the intensity of the scene. Thus suspense is built ready for when Andrew reveals that Martians are coming to free him- a climatic point in the film which leads to the music becoming more erratic.

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Sound

Just as the ident appears, incidental non diegetic music plays in the background before this quickly fades out. Just as a quote appears, silence remains. When the text then fades out, a voice-over forms a sound bridge over the next few shots of Earth and Mars. While the female character explains details of the film’s narrative, incidental non-diegetic music fades in. The music isn’t too loud and intrusive but calm and yet slightly melancholic. This becomes slightly louder and develops with the use of more synth sounds when the title appears. A sound bridge is used to connect this music with the next scene where there is a live news report detailing recent events. In the event that this is being watched by someone, the sound of the news reporter’s voice would be diegetic. The fact that towards the end a crisis is outlined, directly spoken by the reporter gives us reason to suppose that the report is being directed not only at us but also the general public in this film. The music once again fades out and silence fills the next shot.

Quick, fast-paced, non-diegetic music cuts in the moment we track the woman walking to an elevator by which point we can faintly hear the diegetic sound of her feet walking across the room as well as the sound of the elevator as she presses the button and the door slides shut. This is used to uphold the verisimilitude of the film whilst the non-diegetic music is used to build suspense and cause us to get the reading that this woman is an important character. A pulsating boom sounds the moment a jump cut is used when we see a medium shot of the CCTV camera, by which point the music cuts out and the shot cuts to the woman walking into the ‘interrogation room’.

For a while the only thing we hear is the diegetic sound of the characters’ dialogue and the sound of their slight movements such as fabric rubbing against other fabric when they move and the diegetic sound of the woman opening her case and revealing important documents to Andrew. This maintains the realism of the film. When we begin to learn that Andrew knows of a rebel attack on Earth, non-diegetic incidental music fades in. Just as Andrew cocks a smile a dull thud alerts us that something is about to happen. The volume of this antagonistic, foreboding music builds just as the two characters stare at one another (shot-reverse-shot). The camera tilts down (and up)/ tracks the woman as she pulls out a gun where diegetic sound effects are used to resemble the strike of a gun and to make the reality of an explosion possible.

This scene cuts to space where a sound bridge is used and the music intensifies as the situation becomes ever tenser. The diegetic sound of space ships whooshing past instantly affords us the reading that this is a sci-fi film, despite the fact we can already see that space is an image constantly looked at in this film.

Some of the notes I made on the remainder of the film includes:

Diegetic sound of news reporter speaking and the faint diegetic sound of crowds crying out emphasises the fear felt by the characters and enhances the realism of the film.

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There is the diegetic sound of bombs falling on America as well as the faint sound of a siren, all of which help to make the confusion, fear and chaos a reality so the film can be established as something really effective.

Non-diegetic music changes the moment we see Andrew and the woman walking out of the building and this intensifies, building into a crescendo to dramatize the fact that the woman is leading Andrew back to safety (home).

Music cuts out when the title cuts in but fades back in, pulsating when the credits cut in and out.

Lighting

High key lighting is used throughout this film. It’s only towards the end when the two main characters are making their way out the building that it looks as if a dark filter has been used or at least the corridor was dark and a bright filter was used which caused the image to look slightly grainy. Possibly low key lighting was used when the new report shows footage of the soldiers trying to defend the planet.

Typography

A lot of the films I’ve looked at don’t use it but an ident is just as important as the title of a film, particularly for a film to be professional, which this film is obviously trying to achieve through how it has been carefully made. Non-diegetic incidental music is in the background when the ident actually appears. When the ident comes in, it does so gradually with each element added in separately to form the final image before the image vanishes from the screen in an iris shape. The colours and graphics, which resemble stars and galaxies in space, informs us that the production company (whether made up or not) deals in making sci-fi films.

Before the title appears a quote fades in and out, which we assume has some significance to the story. The fact that it is aligned right, at the bottom of the screen means we are able to see that this quote only helps to establish the theme, but that the writer isn’t relevant to the story (because he is not involved in it). No music plays while this fades in and out. No distraction is thus there so all of our attention can be directed to the quote.

Following this is the title which also fades in and out. Non-diegetic music starts to fade in when this appears.

The title is repeated at the end of the film also. However this, along with the credits, cuts in and out, rather than fading. If you look on the right you can see that the title is in upper case letters which

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implies the movie is about a big issue and/or tells us that violence is something explored in the film. The typography for both credits and title follows a similar font as well as the use of the colour orange. Orange connotes warmth and comfort. However, it also mimics the colours found on Mars. Behind the title are stream of light and what looks to be stars and the faint trace of nebulas. This informs us that the film must be based in space and/or revolve around travel in space. Therefore the typography here informs us that the genre must be a sci-fi film. As for the fact that orange is backed onto a black background, the colour black symbolises the vast expanse of space and/or perhaps acting as a reflection of antagonistic forces that juxtapose the protagonist forces in this film- as we see in most films that black is used as the background for credits that use typography of an opposite, contrasting colour, such as white.