Neha Shahzad

Analysis of a Short Film

The Black Hole

The first thing the audience see is a plain black background with the title, The Black Hole in
white, bold, capital letters. The black background is clearly a reference to the title, but may
also connotate the dark undertones of the narrative that is about to unfold or foreshadows
the negative ending. The fact that the white text is in capital letters and bold attracts the
audiences attention to the title as it is clearly significant to the whole short film. The
directors intention may have been to signify that the black hole is the main disruption in
the short film. The fact that the text is in white, not only contrasts to the black background
making it stand out, but may also connotes the innocence and naivety of the main
character. The black background starts to disappear in a circle shape behind the text,
symbolising a black hole.

Once the black background has disappeared entirely, it reveals an establishing shot of an
office. This instantly draws the audience in as it is a common place they may spend time, but
they can infer from the title that something out of the ordinary is going to happen. At this
point, the title The Black Hole is still visible on the screen, foreshadowing the impending
appearance of a black hole in the office environment. The camera pans across the office,
until a worker is shown with bored look on his face. The mid shot shows both the worker,
who makes a diegetic sighing noise (telling the audience that he doesnt want to be there)
and the low key lighting of the office behind him. This helps the audience relate to the
character as the dull atmosphere paired with the fact that they have probably been in his
position before, means they can connect to and empathise with his situation.

A close up of the photocopier buttons after this reveals to the audience what task the office
worker is completing. After this, it returns to the mid shot in which the audience see him
frown and look down at the photocopier. This helps to keep the audience interested as they
know that something has clearly gone wrong and want to continue watching to find out. The
next close up shows the mans finger pressing the button on the photocopier multiple times
as it makes a diegetic bleeping sound. This represents the office worker as impatient as the
audience can see that he hasnt waited for very long before getting frustrated. His
frustration is further emphasised by the cinematography and sound as he kicks the
photocopier to try to make it work. A diegetic whirring noise is heard coming from the
photocopier and it cuts to a close up of a piece of paper with a black circle being printed.
This creates an enigma code, as the audience are now intrigued as to if the man deliberately
tried to print a circle, or why this happened by mistake. A mid shot of the office worker
taking the piece of paper out of the photocopier reveals more of the office to the audience.
It is revealed that nobody is working at the desks behind him, possibly signifying the
isolation that comes as a result of his job. A close up then forces the audience to focus back
on the mans face, where it lingers for a few seconds presenting his confusion at the
disruption of the narrative. As an attempt to repair, he opens the lid of the photocopier to
address the problem but sees nothing wrong. In the background the audience can still hear
the droning of diegetic ambience of an office. This not only makes them focus on the sound
effects, but also further emphasises the repetitive nature of the tasks that the office worker
is forced to undergo every day. When realising there is nothing obviously wrong with the
photocopier, the man looks straight at his watch. This may connote the lack of attention he
Neha Shahzad

pays to his work and workplace as in the shot behind him there is a clock, telling the
audience that instead of noticing this, he is preoccupied with his desire to leave. This
represents him as lazy and inattentive.

In the next part of the scene he lifts his hand to drink out of a plastic cup and then without
looking places it on the surface next to him. This further highlights his lack of care as he
could be placing the cup on important documents. The diegetic whooshing sound draws the
audiences attention to the fact that the cup has now disappeared and that he, in fact,
placed it on the piece of paper with the black circle. This intrigues the audience and makes
them want to continue watching to see if there is a supernatural theme to the short film.
Before this point the film was very slow paced, representing the office workers day and so
the director could place greater emphasis on the actions of the man. However, after this
point, a fairly quick succession of shots shows the mans amazement as to where the cup
has gone. One of these shots is a point of view from inside the black hole, showing that it is
in fact this reason that the cup has disappeared.

A mid shot level with the photocopier shows the man hesitating when going to touch the
black hole, inferring to the audience that it may be dangerous and further emphasised by
the diegetic whooshing sound that the black hole makes when his hand gets near. This may
also foreshadow the ending of the short film as the other time the audience heard the
diegetic whoosh sound; the cup was sucked into the black hole. The next few parts of the
scene show the audience the man as he experiments with putting his hand into the black
hole and finding out what happens. Throughout this process, the audience begin to see his
demeanour change. At first he is hesitant and confused and his facial expressions reflect
this, however as time goes on he realises he can put the paper on a surface and reach
through to the other side. He then experiments with this using a vending machine, but by
his facial expressions the audience knows that he is clearly doing wrong, yet continues
anyway.

After managing to get a chocolate bar for free out of the vending machine he walks back to
the centre of the office environment and there is a close up on his face as he smiles at the
piece of paper. The audience see him looking around figuring out how else to use the black
hole to his advantage, in a close up, until his eyes fix on something. An eyeline match then
reveals he is looking at an office door with the words Keep Out printed on it. This shows his
character to be selfish and uncaring of the consequences. A shot from inside the office
shows his intention to unlock the door and go inside. This is by far the darkest shot of the
short film so far, revealing the darker side of the characters personality to the audience.
After making his way to the safe, there is a long shot as the office worker checks behind him
to make sure nobody is watching as he removes a wad of money from the safe. The diegetic
sound of his breath and smile shows the audience that he now wants is getting greedy and
wants to use the black hole to gain something for himself.

He desperately continues to remove money from the safe, getting more and more worried.
This is presented through his breathing getting heavier. Additionally his actions progress
from reaching his hand tentatively into the safe to half of his body, inferring that his
character is extremely greedy. All of a sudden the shot cuts to an extreme close up of the
tape he has used to fix the piece of paper to the safe moving slightly. The close up shows his
Neha Shahzad

body to be disappearing into the hole just as the piece of paper falls off- leaving him
trapped. The shot then lingers on a long shot of the safe and the pile of money, so the
audience can take in the moral and ending of the short film. The screen then cuts to black,
perhaps showing the mans point of view as he is trapped in the black hole forever.