Doodlebug- Christopher Nolan

1. Identify the genre/s or style/s used

• Social realism
  
• Items you would find in a house of an office as you are unaware of his location.


• Low key lighting/Black and white- works well as it adds mystery because at some points you can see what is crawling on the floor.


• Realistic setting.
  
• Black and white clothes adds to the insanity of the character as everything is plain and there isn't any colour in his life.
  
• Small room- padded cell.
  
• Minimalistic.


• No homely touches to his personal space.


• No dialogue, just non-diegetic music

2. How does this film use genre/style conventions uniquely?

• It uses the music to tell the story. There isn't any dialogue apart fromthe woman on the phone. I like this as it shows that music can be more than a filler for silence. In this it builds up the anticipation and the tension as you are waiting for something to happen. This would be a good technique to use for our short film as it would continue the flow of the story.


• I also think that the shots that are used add to the narrative as they are of various pace and length. The shot at the end where the man is lying on the floor lasts around 8-10 seconds. This keeps the viewer interested as they want to find out what is going to happen.


• I like the way that the lighting is used with the black and white format. It adds mystery as you cant see what he is looking for or if it is even real.


• The zoom in to the clock makes him seem a little insane as it seems that he has only got alimited amount of time to find the creature or something could happen.
  

3. How does the film use the short film format?

• The film begins in disequilibrium as the man is trying to find the creature. Tthis then sets the scene for the movie as that is the narrative for the rest of the film.


• I like the ending of the film as you find out that the bigger man is infact the man being chased by an overriding power. The little man seems to be the leader as when he steps, the bigger man follow him. The camera works well here as the little man holds the power but the camera is at a high angle which indicates that he has got less power.


• I like the fact that the opening titles are related tothe film. The doodlebug logo is represented by the characters eyes, which tells the audience that there is a relationship between the name Doodlebug and the character.
  

What do you find interesting about the use of sound?

• I like the way that all of the sound is non-diegetic apart from the phone ringing. When the phone rings, it makes the audience jump as they are concentrating so much on the character. This engages them more into the rest of the film. I would like to use this technique on our film as i like the way that it keeps the audience interested event though it makes them jump.


• I think that the phone ringing could be his mond playing trick on him, because as soon as he picks it up it goes onto the dial tone. He also puts the phone in the water as a signal that he doesnt want to be disturbed by anything until he finds the creature. This shows that his mental state has been disturbed and that hedoesnt have contact with the outside world.

5. Themes and issues and representation

• The film is about a man who is in a house or a room. He thinks that there is something in his house that is crawling around. He tries to catch it, but as the film goes on, it seems as if it is his subconscious playing tricks on him.
  
• I think that this film represent his mental state as he isn't in contact with anyone else. When the phone rings there isn't anyone there. It seems like he has been put in a padded cel, so he has nothing to do. In the film you never see any pictures on the wall or any homely touches which signifies that it could be temporary.


• The audience feel for the character as they wonder what he is doing in the room. However, they dont sympathis with him as there is nothing to make you feel sorry for him.