'Knock' 2011 Short film Analysis

Knock (2011) Short Horror film Link

For this short film, there were three characters. The first character we're introduced with is a white blonde girl talking to her friend about studying. As you can see in the gif above, the camera pans to the left to show the audience our first/ main character; this gives a creepy atmosphere as if someone is watching her. Although the room is poorly lit, she wears a yellow top that brightens up the room. The colour of the apple logo on her laptop is red and this suggests the danger that's about to happen. It then cuts to a shot of the guy she is talking to. He is placed in the centre of the frame making the audience focus on him and this is when we're introduced to the second character. They exchange dialogue with the guy asking her questions for an upcoming test. Because its a video call, the close up on his face clearly show his facial expressions. Unlike the lighting in the girl's room, his background is white and well lit making it look better as an individual shot.

The last character that we're introduced to is a person/ thing that knocks on the door. This character creates suspense and tension without having to be in the shot. He/ she/ it is the main part of this short film. The camera shot used to create this tension are main horror conventions like a door thats slightly opened and the sounds used would be a phone ringing or something dropping on the floor. The director may have only used two characters that are seen on screen because it doesn't distract the audience from the idea that theres another character that is creating tension/ danger.

The story is constructed in a way where it doesn't follow the narrative theory. The ending is vague and it doesn't explain who has been knocking or what happened to her. At the very end we see an image of the girl but she's lying on the floor with the door open behind her.

The cinematography used in the beginning of this short film are mid shots and close ups. This helps show the audience her reactions through facial expressions. In addition, the lighting was very low key and it did not have back lighting that could help give her a slight glow so that she doesn't look part of the background.

The mise en scene used to convey meaning in this short film was not up to high standards. As she was wearing an ordinary yellow top and a pair of shorts, this helped the audience understand that she was ready for bed, therefore she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth but when she heard the knocking she went on to find the mysterious person/ thing. She dropped her toothbrush out of fear, but then picked up a baseball bat. During this there was a shot where it showed the audience the toothbrush. As you know, the lighting in this short film was already bad enough but this shot shows the only well lit thing which was the toothbrush. The sound used in this short film were minor chords and sting instruments. This is one of the many horror film conventions which helped create slight tension.

There are many areas which could be improved, for example the plot of this short film doesn't explain much and some certain shots don't flow. Another example would be the shots where she's trying to go to sleep and the camera focuses on the time. it begins with a shot of 00:01 on the clock and ends with 4:44 It also then cuts in between each with a close up of her face. This was not done very well because i feel like it was overdone and the certain times almost seem comical e.g. 4:44am They could improve by explaining the story more and take away all those high angle shots. Although it makes her look small and 'vulnerable,' it doesn't look right. They could also improve by having better lighting.

This makes it a short film because it has a beginning, middle and end to the story. Although it wasn't clear, it does introduce the characters and it does have conventions in relation to the chosen genre which is horror.