'unleaded' by Neve Walder

                                    
                               
                                                     'Unleaded' analysis

Unleaded is a short film produced by Luke Davies, 'unleaded' is about '3 thugs in south London attempt to rob a petrol station but are suddenly interrupted when a couple of stoners come in with a serious case of the munchies.'

Title sequence

When the film begins the screen is black however we can hear diegetic sounds of cars driving past, this creates enigma in the audience as we wonder where the noise is coming from and what it is. we can also hear banging sounds and the sound of petrol going into a car tank, this would make sense as the dark comedy is called 'unleaded'. the first moving image we see is a dial on the petrol tank that tells us how much we are putting in and how much it will cost. as this is the establishing shot it suggests that the dial is significant to the story line. could this dial be important in suggesting that the people in the car are going to be driving far away? running away?
the title also creates enigma because it doesn't tell us much and doesn't hold an important meaning in society other than it makes our cars drive. 

Petrol station:  Close up shot

Firstly we are introduced to a female wearing a grey hoodie with the hood up her body language and facial expression suggest that she is upset/uncomfortable i can denote this because the characters eyes are red and full of water suggesting she is about to or has been crying. in an extreme close up of the rear view mirror we can see the characters eyes darting around as if she is worried and looking for someone or something?
the setting is quiet apart from the sounds of cars which suggests its set at late night or the petrol station is in a remote area.

Female protagonist

There is a cutaway from the female protagonist looking at 3 men robbing the petrol station, This creates enigma as we wonder why the protagonist isn't doing anything about the situation. initially the audience believed that the female had relations with the robbers and was waiting for them to get out to drive off. however the protagonists body language and facial expression would suggest she is worried and isn't sure what to do.

Gun scene

The props used suggest that the robbers went with the intent to kill or threaten, This isn't made clear to us until there is a long shot of the 3 men and one holding a gun against the man on the till. the prop represents gang culture in London and the use of guns is more common. the males costumes also represent gang lifestyle, They are wearing dark clothes and hoodies which suggest they are hiding themselves.


Later on in the film the 'stoners' arrive in there car, the car is full of items squishing the protagonist in the back of the car. the mise en scene suggests that the 3 characters in the car have no organisation in there life perhaps they don't have a house to lives in? the 'stoners' have red lined eyes that suggest they have been doing a lot of weed. this also has representations of gang culture in London where the use of drugs is common. 

'Stoners' car

The camera pan across from the number plate of the 'stoners' cars this is a focused shot that suggests the number plate is important. we also see the headlights turn off slowly this gives the audience a creepy feel and creates enigma as we wonder why the number plate is shown and what is it symbolising. we then see another close up of the female protagonist looking very worried as she isn't aware that the car isn't anything to do with the robbery. 

'Stoners' close up shot of number plate

In the car the 'stoners' appear to be having an argument about who should go into the petrol station to cure their munchies. there is a p.o.v from the characters in the front of the car therefore we can only see the protagonist arguing, it seems that the protagonist is arguing with himself because we don't see the other too. this could be intentional to show that he is high. The male protagonists accent and dialect suggest he is from a lower class background or from poorer parts in London. 

Close up of the 'stoner'

The main protagonist in the 'stoners' car walks into the shop and surprises the gun man this is in a long shot cutaway and mid shots that show the gun mans confusion. there is an over the shoulder shot of behind the gun man looking at the 'stoner' the costume of the stoner is hiding his identity from the gunman. (he cant see that he has headphones in) therefore getting angrier and angrier. the 'stoner' stands still staring at the magazines, completely unaware of the threat he is under. the 'stoners' represent some typical teenage behaviour such as being disconnected and unaware of society as they have headphones in. 

Gunman's confusion inn close-up

Anger is shown through the use of language, all of the characters use swear words in conversation and to express their emotion, this could be used to represent and attract younger audiences of a certain background. further in to the gunman scene the 'stoner' is still unaware of the gunman holding the gun to the back of his head. in this scene we are introduced to the dark comedy in the film this is shown through the phone call, However this time the gunman is unaware of it. The comedy is shown through the diegetic dialogue with the 'stoner' and and his friends, as he speaks to them on the phone the gunman shouts at him and then the 'stoner' replies to his friends however it appears that he is shouting back at the gunman this antagonises the gunman. this is all shot it a shot reverse shot to show both characters body language and facial expression, as this is a shot reverse shot there is lots of cuts which suggest a fast pace and intense atmosphere.

Over shoulder shot

'Stoner'  unaware of the danger behind. reversed over shoulder shot

In the last scene the women at the beginning walk through the door, there is diegetic sounds of a bell on the door as it opens. the gunman turns around quickly and shoots the women before he had a chance to see who he shot. we can hear a non diegetic high pitch screech that suggests panic and can symbolise when someone is dieing or passing out. all other diegetic and non diegetic sounds disappear. this gives the audience the feeling of being surreal. this is also a shot reverse shot of the gunman then the women, we see a mid shot of the female holding herself where she was shot. her body language and facial expression show shock and worry, as do the gunman's!

Phone call

The genre of 'unleaded' is dark comedy i believe this would appeal to an audience of 17-20 men because some may relate to parts of the plot or just find dark humour funny. i don't think this film was made to target women of any age due to the mise en scene and the storyline. stereotypically women don't like  aggression, bad language or dark humour in films. men would find this more interesting.

in 'unleaded' Todorovs theory can only be applied to some of the film, such as the beginning there isn't really an equilibrium due to the sense of enigma we get from the mise en scene and the typical iconography. however from the tiny bit of peace at the beginning we are thrown into the disruption (the robbing beginning). we can then apply the recognition stage of Tvetzan Todorovs theory when the women protagonist is shown looking worried and disturbed be the men. however there isn't an attempt the repair the disruption, we then have another equilibrium at the end when women gets shot, the gunman's attempt to repair the disruption is to run off.