In the short film Love Hurts, many codes and conventions of the romantic drama genre can be seen throughout the film. The subject of the film is based on a lady who is being abused by her boyfriend and is trapped in her controlling relationship. Throughout the course of the film, the young lady appears to be scared and seems to tread on eggshells around her boyfriend. The title Love Hurts gives the audience an idea that the short film will be based on the topic of domestic abuse. The title creates the idea that the lady in the film is being abused, but loves her partner too much to see that she should not be with him. The first scene opens with low lighting. A close up reveals a lady with bruising around her eye, however the audience is unaware of what has caused it thus creating an enigma. A two shot then revels the lady sitting with her friend, having a chat over tea and cake. Diegetic dialogue is used when the two friends are talking and laughing. The laughing suggests that the lady with the bruised eye is okay and is enjoying herself, making the audience question what is going on. The laughter among the two ladies creates a somewhat happy atmosphere, however this contrasts with the extremely low lighting bringing the atmosphere down. Barthes enigma codes is used throughout the first scene to create mystery and confusion within the audience. In the second scene, a man appears from the kitchen and enters the living room, where the two girls are. Diegetic dialogue is used as the man says you alright, girls? Although the man hasnt said anything harmful or threatening, the lady with a bruised eye instantly lowers her head and her voice. This creates the idea that something is wrong as it looks like the lady with a bruised eye is somewhat frightened of the man. Later on in the scene, the lady without a bruised eye decides its time for her to leave as she has to be somewhere. A close up shot of the lady with a bruised eye reveals her troubled face as she says please, why dont you stay for longer? This suggests that the lady does not want to be left alone with the man who appears to be her boyfriend. In the next scene, the man appears to be angry as he shouts why did you want her to stay so badly, dont you want to be with me? Dont you care about me? this finally reveals to the audience that the boyfriend is verbally, as well as emotionally abusive. While the man is shouting, the lady is quickly trying to calm him down. This infuriates him even more as a medium shot reveals him spilling his tea on himself and burning himself. A long shot shows him lashing out at his girlfriend as he pushes her onto the floor. A close up shows the lady covering her face before her boyfriend pushes her. This suggests that she is used to abuse as she was expecting it. The short film ends with the woman on the floor, after her boyfriend has abused her. Whilst our short film and Love Hurts are based on different storylines, they are still extremely similar. Both our film and Love Hurts are based on the subject of women who are going through domestic abuse. Both films include similar elements, for example, the use of high angles to make the victim of domestic abuse appear as vulnerable. Tanika Singh