analysis of a similar short film

the short film i analysed was "The Killer" by Alex torterotot . The film is a Thriller , with just the slightest of supernatural elements . The silent film tells the story of a nameless guy , who ( i assume) is returning home from work. From the offset there seems to be something not quite right about this journey , with strange camera angles , non digetic suspense music , and most importantly , the video is edited in black and white. Throughout the journey home , the words "le tueur" or "the killer" appear in various places he walks past.The character gets increasingly paranoid that he's been followed.  The video culminates in him Ending up in a dead end , and he hears someone creeping up on him , he clutches his breifcase , and smashes the guy creeping up on him round the head . The guy collapses to the floor , and hits his head , and dies . It is then revealed that the killer , is in fact the main character.

shot by shot analysis 

the opening shot is an extreme long shot of the city of Paris , this is used to set the location of the film , This shot is needed due to the fact the film is silent . Notice also that this opening shot is in colour , this suggests that the city , on a whole , is a nice and warm place , however it is just the characters life that is dark and mysterious , and scary.

the next shot cuts to black and white , and the guy seemingly leaving work , to go home , the character in this opening shot is a good distance away from the camera , in a long shot , this suggests that he is at a distance and somewhat powerless to the events that area about to unfold.

he then walks towards the camera , and as you can see he hangs his head low and towards the ground , again suggesting he has little power , and also adds the the moody , depressing feel of this film



this next shot , the character is completley in the dark , with a light behind him , this suggest that someone , or something , could be following him .










The next shot is a close up of the character lighting a cigarette , this shot is also the opening titles , however the titles are very minimalistic , this adds mystery to the storyline.

in this shot , we again see that message , "le Tueur" on the wall , which we see continualy again and again all the way through the video. this repetition informs us that this is important in the storyline , and the arrow , pointing in the way the character is heading , tells us that the character is heading towards
the killer .

in this shot , we can see graffiti on the wall , this establishes the location as an uneasy , and unsafe neighbourhood , as stereotype suggests , this adds to the somehwhat scary and uneasy feel.





this shot , a close up of the characters face , as he turns around , we see the emotion , and the growing fear and edginess in him , followed by the message "le tueur" again , as he walks off into the darkness , which suggests he's walking towards a dark and scary place.




after some shots to depict the passage of time and location , we see the message again , in an extreme long shot , having the character in such a distance , and shows him been small and this suggests he is powerless and weak.

this shot shows the realisation in the characters face , and shows he has now seen the message , although he still doesn't understand yet what it means , it means nothing to him.




this shot is a location establishing shot which shows the character has reached a dead end , both in a physical and in a fate sense , he now can't get out of whats about to happen.








in this close up of his face , we see him peering over his shoulder , sensing someone behind him ,as the camera pans to show him cluthcing his briefcase , which due to this , we can conclude he plans to use as a weapon.

 in these last three shot , we see a shot of him striking the guy behind him , who is just a nobody really , and then a close up of the now corpse , bleeding from his head , to show that he's dead , then it changes to a medium shot of the character slowly backing down a wall , where the message le tueur is revealed , with an arrow pointing towards the character revealing he is actually the killer.The film the cuts to the credits and finishes.