Thursday 22 September 2016

Nathan Wilkins - "The Fly" analysis

The Fly is on Short of the Week and was directed by Olly Williams.

The film begins with a black screen and just sound, with diegetic foleys of guns reloading and dialogue saying "right boys, 3 minutes, go, go go!". This use of a black screen with just sound generates enigma and restricted narration, as spectators are left to just assume these men are off to commit a crime. This suggestion is soon confirmed as we see a close up of a man in a car with agitated body language and facial expressions soon followed by an extreme long shot to establish the setting of the large bank he is parked outside. This introduction confirms what the rest of the main character's gang is doing, robbing a bank.


A strange sense of equilibrium is established at this stage, as the man sits peacefully waiting for the rest to come out of the bank, with just "3 minutes" to wait for them. This calmness is emphasised through slow moving camerawork and minimal ambient sound. His shifty facial expressions and body language seem customary for someone in his situation, such as twiddling a toothpick between his teeth, but nothing out of the ordinary for someone taking part in a heist. This equilibrium is generated so we then feel shocked as the narrative progresses.

The disruption in the film comes in the hilarious form of a fly, which soon establishes this short film as a Comedy after a contrastingly serious opening. The fly is introduced through a buzzing diegetic sound and extreme close up as it lands on the windscreen. A POV is used here to generate empathy with the man who is currently committing a crime. This unconventional idea of rooting for the "bad guy" generates comedy and excitement as it creates a refreshingly different viewing experience for spectators. The POV looking at the fly with shallow depth of field allows us to focus on it in the same way as the man, and the use of a fly as the 'antagonist' will resonate with many spectators, as it is recognisable as a nuisance to people, especially in important situations like this.

After initially appearing to have been thwarted by the windscreen wipers, the fly soon returns and is this time inside the car as is suggested by the eye level mid shot as the man throws his arms in the air when we hear the fly again. The sound of the fly increases in volume whenever it is near the man, which generates empathy as we hear this annoying noise in the same way as him, so want him to succeed in his quest to eradicate the problem.

The man continues to be increasingly irritated by the fly, and is shown desperately trying to hit it with his arms as he flaps them recklessly in the air. This action is shown at multiple camera angles with high frequency cuts to emphasise the speed and disco-ordination of his actions as his determination to kill the fly rises further. The fly appears to land on the prop of his interior mirror, and he responds with a violent slap. This action ironically hurts himself more than the fly, as he grabs his hand with scrunched and distressed facial expressions. The fly escapes unscathed, adding to the comedy of the scene and leaving the man looking embarrassed. This is emphasised through the following shot which shows the mirror in shallow depth of field, with a distorted image of the man looking ashamed and in pain from the force of the hit. The broken mirror is symbolic of the man's misfortune and clumsiness, and foreshadows the further breakages which are to come.

The man proceeds to keep making attempts to kill the fly which end in failure. The prop of a heist mask is used in a comical way to try and squash the fly, which is very different for what these masks are usually used for. While the others in the crew are heard in a parallel cut showing the door with sounds of successfully carrying out the heist, supposedly in these same masks, this member of the team can't even kill a fly with one. This twisted use of a prop adds to the unconventional and original themes in the film.

As the fly still won't go away, the man decides to rub the sugar from a doughnut on the steering wheel in an attempt to capture the fly with the prop of a paper cup. These items are pieces of iconography of the everyday, which create a sense of normality around this character, suggesting that he is not well equipped for this job. The fly lands on the wheel, so he slams his arm towards it with aggressive body language shown at a mid shot to include his actions as well as detailed facial expressions. Within this sequence, parallel cuts to the bank door continue to be used to remind us of the significance of what is happening meters from this getaway vehicle with such comical actions taking place. The car horn goes off as he hits it, but it locks in place and continues to make this indiscreet noise, which has quickly escalated from the slight annoyance of the diegetic buzzing of the fly. The escalation of events and frustrated body language throughout this short film generates hilarity as it has all come from a slight nuisance. 

The horn continues to be whacked in desperation as the man tries to shut of the piercing diegetic sound of the horn, shown through high frequency cuts at varying angles to show all sides of his frustration. Eventually, the air bag flies out and adds to the abysmal situation the man finds himself in, also with the prop of the coffee cup flying subsequently towards him. Slow mo is then used in a medium close up as we see his anger at the situation, and fears that he is drawing unwanted attention to himself. He then tears apart the airbag with a knife with deep aggression, shown through a juxtapositional panning shot which highlights the stillness of the scene around him. This use of gentle camerawork and deep focus allows spectators to see his calm surroundings, whilst he jolts back and fourth when ripping the airbag open. This contrast is humorous for spectators, as he should have by far the easiest job, yet manages to make it as difficult as possible for himself.

As he momentarily begins to calm down from the air bag incident, he finds the fly sat on his face, as shown through an extreme close up. He attempts to hit it, but ends up shoving the toothpick through his lip. His agony is demonstrated by loud diegetic shouting which continues via sound bridge onto an extreme long shot at low angle of a building we haven't yet seen. This demonstrates how far his voice has travelled due to the pain he has gone through.

Once the tooth pick is removed, there is another brief moment of peace with quiet ambient sounds being heard, before we yet again hear the dreaded buzzing of the fly. The man's actions begin as before, with banging and shaking against the prop of the steering wheel, but then escalate further as the prop of the gun is brought out. High frequency cuts are used to highlight the recklessness of his actions as he shoots in all directions in an attempt to finally kill the fly. Turbulent hand held camerawork is used for us to empathise further with him, allowing spectators to feel like they too are going insane at this ongoing problem. The man shoots the car multiple times, leaving it looking wrecked and unusable. As he proceeds to hit the car with his gun, we begin to hear the sound of a police siren approaching, and see a medium close up of the man getting his breath back as he starts to realise what the consequences could be. We then cut to a 3 shot of the rest of his crew who have just exited the bank after a successful heist. They stand with exhausted body language and masks on their face, so it is up to spectators to imagine just how angry their facial expressions are when they discover the state of their getaway vehicle. The final shot of the film is a medium close up of the man as he looks at them in horror and raises his eyebrows as if to shrug off what he's done. This final shot is a hilarious culmination of all that has happened, as it seems like the inevitable thought of going to prison isn't the worst of his worries after the trauma caused by the fly.

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