Textual Analysis (The Black Hole)

The Black Hole is a short film directed by two filmmakers, Phil and Olly, in 2008. It was uploaded through a relatively small production label's channel called "Future Shorts" and stars Napoleon Ryan in the lead role. The narrative surrounds what is stereotypically seen as an average, down-on-his-luck office worker who finds a mysterious black hole and uses it to his advantage. It is seen as a popular example of a short film that has done well. It has 16,720,910 views, an overwhelming 91,170 likes and only 1,989 dislikes. The channel has 22,3600 subscribers leaving the company open to sponsorships and partnerships with Youtube as well as its sister companies. The directors have also gone on to film other short movies. This is used as a basis of what can be achieved by short film directors and students which is what I feel is one of the reasons we should analyse it, as we can get an idea of what budgeting, casting, narrative and filming style short films implement. The opening shot starts with an unconventional white titling, superimposed with a circular opening effect in what we have seen in older shows and movies, e.g. the end of looney tunes. This can be seen as an intertextual reference as The Black Hole is said to have elements of post modernism in it.

No cuts take place. The camera pans through the office slowly using a tracking shot or possibly a dolly on a track until we land at a medium shot on the office worker's face. There is diegetic sound of the printers copying papers and functioning, as well as the (semi)dialogue of the character sighing with frustration. Visually speaking there is a dull colour effect used, and obvious discontent feeling the character has that we can see from his body language. What this has done is immediately connote to the audience that the character is not happy with his job, or the very least is bored with it - foreshadowing that something interesting will happen soon. Following this is a jump cut and a close up of his finger pressing the printer button, and after that a medium shot of the actor's face showing disapproval. There is another jump cut following this, showing the repetitive action of the character pressing the button, insinuating the printer isn't working. To compliment this idea, there is a following shot where the character kicks the copier lightly to get it to work. Already there is a narrative enigma; why is the printer not working? 

After this scene occurs we are introduced to the black hole for the first time. However, it is a large black spot on a piece of paper - this is shown through a close up shot of the piece of paper, highlighting the possible power of the black hole through a camera shot to the audience. This is because the black hole itself takes up a large quantity of the screen space. After this the camera cuts to a long shot of the character next to the copier, followed by a close up of his face. The close up of his face is provided for two reasons. Firstly it allows the audience to become familiar with the character for the rest of the film, and it also shows his confusion blatantly as he disregards the piece of paper. The camera then longshots back and fro to the close up, then back to another long shot with diagetic sounds of office machinery and photocopying paper in the background. The character drinks what is left in his cup. This is seen through two shots by the audience. The first is a standard long shot.

The second point of view the audience sees the worker drink his cup of liquid is through a low angle shot of what seems to be a point of view of the black hole. This connotes to the audience that the black hole has a conscious and is perceptive of the character's being, which the audience can relate to as they are too. The camera cuts to another medium shot as the character places his cup down; however there is the diegetic sound of a crumpling and a look of confusion on the face of the character creating a narrative enigma, though we are aware of the black hole's presence. Following this are numerous shots, with the most significant being the medium shot connoting that the cup has disappeared. Following this is the same, voyeuristic low angle shot that is implied to be the point of view of the black hole, with the character being aware of the black hole's significance. A handheld tracking shot followed by a close up follows the character as he warily observes the black hole. In the medium close up the diagetic sounds of the printers are being played while the character is observing the black hole. This is followed by the diagetic sound of a magnet when the character touches the black hole and a fast cut, insinuating to both the unknown audience and the unknowing character the black hole's power. This juxtaposes abnormality (the black hole situation) with normality (the workplace), creating a contrast in the narrative. There is several medium shots being played parallel to the diagetic magnetic sound, which becomes stronger this time showing the audience that the black hole can be entered into. This acts as a synergist to reach the crescendo in the short film's plot, as from now the audience is introduced by the character as to what the black hole is capable of - answering the previous narrative enigma.

In the next scene the character is followed by a slow moving dolly (in a long shot) to a vending machine, holding the piece of paper with the black hole in it. At the minute there is no diminuendo/crescendo in tension. The plot hastily carries on, and we see through a medium-long shot the character using the black hole to his advantage; the diegetic sound of sweet wrappers being touched juxtaposed with the diagetic effect of the magnetic sound while the character warily looks around. The audience at this point can relate to the character as he is living in a mundane, day-to-day job, however he finds a way out via the black hole. This creates an empathetic point of view.

After this scene the mise-en-scene and graphic visuals remain constant. However there is a medium close-up with a shallow depth of field, and the vending machine is out of focus while the character is chewing; this is followed by the diagetic sound of the character eating the candy he has stolen from the machine while he gratuitously smiles and looks at the piece of paper he holds which allows him to do that. The audience can infer from the lack of focus on the vending machine that it is no longer important, and the character has moved on. As there is a significant portion of the film left, we can only expect a crescendo in the excitement of the plot.

During this scene a close up is used to highlight the expressions of the character's face which implies what will happen next. His eyeline view focuses diagonally past the camera, which is followed by a jump cut. There is slight graphic contrast here, as we have a a much darker visual compared to the relatively light filter used in the previous scene. The long shot shows a dark brown door - complementing the dark graphic filter used, which says "Keep Out". This is then juxtaposed with another similar close up of the character's face, along with the diagetic sound of him chewing while he does so with his mouth open. This provides a slightly slobby, gluttonish point of view of the character that can be seen by the audience. This is also because the character heads off screen towards where he was looking at in the close up, which hints he will go into the brown door. The diegetic photocopier machine still plays while this happens, which reminds the audience that this character is still at work. 

A medium shot of the character's silhouette is used showing him from the inside of the door, quickly cut to a close up of his hand and the black hole unlocking the door. This may be a foreshadowing that there may be something inside the door the character may/may not like. We cut back to the medium shot, followed by the character opening the door. The character then slams the slight switch on and the body language and acting of the actor provides slight narrative enigma as if he has stumbled upon something as he the shot allows the audience to focus on his state of awe. The visual effects still compliment the previous scenes, and the character walks past the camera towards what is seen to be a safe in a medium shot where he positions the black hole. This keeps to the 180 degree rule and provides smooth editing, which consequently speeds up the plot.

As the character is using the black hole to open a safe, a crescendo in tension is used because there is slight narrative enigma; the audience is unaware of what lies within the safe. The close up is followed by a medium shot, which is then followed by a long shot. The long shot is performed on a dolly which moves slowly towards the character while his back is turned briefly as he enters into the safe. This mirrors the previous scene with the sweets and it foreshadows the character will find something that he will like. The camera then cuts to a close up of what the character pulls out, and the camera slightly moves to accommodate what the director wants the audience to focus on - stacks of money, hidden in the safe.

This is followed by numerous jump cuts and fast cuts, with close ups and medium shots being cut quickly. The diagetic sound of the magnet is used and it steadily becomes louder, while the camera focuses on the money in brief close up shots parallel to the sound of the printers and photocopiers being used. This provides a parallel of euphoria/excitement in what the character feels, enhancing the plot. This is followed by a louder sound and the character attempting to get into the black hole to take more money out. The sound reaches a crescendo in its volume, and the camera focuses on a piece of sellotape the character uses to stick the black hole onto the safe. There is diagetic sound of the tape falling off, which it does in the close up and the magnetic sound cuts off.

Following this there is a medium shot of the safe, quickly followed by a jump cut of the safe in a different shot - a long shot. While this is happening there is a diagetic sound of the printer being played again and again, and the character banging the inside of the safe. The credits then roll.

Throughout the film the job of an office worker is portrayed in a negative fashion. We can clearly see this through the emphasis on his facial expressions with close up shots, as well as well as the acting of the worker himself. The mise-en-scene and the graphic filtering accommodate this attempt for this portrayal, as they provide a dark and gloomy look to the movie. This is stereotypical, as office work is seen to be psychologically demanding.

Conclusively we can see that the short uses a combination of clever camera work through a variety of shots, while keeping little graphic conflict. This allows a continuum of the negative portrayal of the office job, providing a basis for the black hole storyline to begin. The budget for this is obviously low, there is minimal use of special effects and dialogue; the short is approximately 2.5 minutes long also which would cut the amount of money spent significantly. However this doesn't take away the professionalism of the filming or acting, which provides for an exceptional short film which we can argue The Black Hole is from its reviews, comments and "likes".

Watch The Black Hole here