"The Black Hole" Analysis

The Black Hole

-Media Language

-Representation

-Narrative
-Audience

The Black Hole is directed by Diamond Dogs about a man working into the early hours of the morning, while at work he discovers a piece of paper with a black hole on it that enables him to pass through walls and vending machines. The man finds a safe full of money and tries his luck. 

The establishing long-shot shows a typical office setting, with decor and props you would find everyday in your natural working place. This then generates realism as it positions spectators to relate to the setting whilst also making the setting more believable. This is because a large quantity of people today in our society work in an office. It creates normality of a situation and we can notice it is our present day and begins with an equilibrium according to Todorov' as the props are up to date. 

The character we are introduced to is your typical man that works in an office. However his costume represents him of just a working class man as he is only dressed in a tie and white shirt which are not very well presented. This becomes parallel to his tiredness at work, as his body language and facial expression represent exhaustion which is also shown through his untidiness within his dress sense. The director would have used this type of costume as it is a part of iconography in a work place, therefore he would have created this to convey it to its audience. The camera gradually zooms in towards the character to inform spectators that he is alone in this office. 

The colour grading in this short film is extremely dull also representing his lack of motivation to do work, also it shows how he is not happy with the job he has and he does not receive enough money. This is then constructed through the ending of the short film, were he becomes greedy at a possible chance of a lot of money, however, being done illegally. Around his character is very dark creating a vignette effect around him, letting most of the high-key lighting reflect on him, enabling us to engage with his character as his actions. His loneliness is represented also through the dark colours, also used at appropriate times to generate a dramatic scene when he begins to get these crazy ideas because of the 'Black Hole'. 

The clock in the background of the first shot is used as a prop to convey meaning through his character, showing his personality and the atmosphere that is built through out the short film. This is effective to spectators as it is widely relatable and puts us into his perspective, creating sympathy for him as he is working after hours through till 3am. 

The director has typically used props to generate iconography, representing the every day life. The character mainly focuses on using the photocopier as this is where the Black Hole appeared from. This creates a verisimilitude for spectators, therefore when he discovers the Black Hole, the concept is more believable for us to watch. During the photocopier scene, it cuts to show the equipment he is using, and to show the match on actions representing his anger.

When the man had printed the black hole, he placed his cup of coffee on the piece of paper and notices it disappears. He then discovers a real black hole has been printed, he holds the piece of paper up to his face revealing a facial expression of confusion through an eye-line match, which is used to represent his curiosity of the black hole. 

As he begins to realise that he can physically put his hand through the black hole on the piece of paper, he starts analysing his next mission; the vending machine. He figures if he can get his cup back from the black hole, surely he can grab a chocolate bar from the vending machine? The unreal concept is created to feel so real to spectators, this is because of the way this short film has been constructed in the ways and uses of micro and macro elements.

He then begins to experiment with the Black Hole on the paper, by stealing the food from the vending machine, we see a close-up of his enlightened face as he successfully clutches onto a chocolate bar.

Onwards from there, it cuts to a pull-focus zoom of a door with a sign saying “keep out.” The low-key lighting represents the meaning of the sign, suggesting to the spectators that this area is banned from employers and only for the boss. As he slowly enters the room, noticing his creeping body language and facial expression as he checks around for anyone. We see a medium-shot of his face as he plans to place the black hole onto the money safe, his reaction is one of feverish joy, showing his excitement at this unbelievable opportunity, whilst also being accompanied by a flash of greed. We then hear the diegetic sound of heavy breathing, which again shows excitement and greed within this character as he pulls out more money through the black hole of the safe.

As he digs deeper into the safe for more money, he becomes overwhelmingly hungry for the money he begins to climb into the safe. We then see a medium-shot of the paper falling off as he is now traded inside the money safe. After a couple of seconds of omniscience, we can hear the photocopier machine beep with error throughput the short film, this again shows the importance of the photocopier and constantly reminds us as spectators the cause of the black hole. The camera gradually zooms away from the money safe as we hear the man tapping within the safe as he is unable to get out. This creates a sense of amusement for the spectators. This can generate a meaningful humorous message about being too greedy with money as karma comes around and fights back. 

The Blackhole influences me in a way of the way the filmmaker has managed to generate a meaningful message and issue but in a comedic way, not making it too serious that it could offend people or create an intense mood, instead it is lighthearted and makes spectators think.