EMILIA PARTRIDGE 10802 NEA EVALUATION

A short film is defined by how its duration varies to the length of a feature film. The
Academy describes a short film as ‘an original motion picture that has a running time of 40
minutes or less’. An effective short film creatively
adapts how a story is told, usually in the structure of
narrative and development of character. The short film
Operator exposes the spectator to a nuanced
performance working for the emergency services. Tight
Jeans gives an insight into three characters, generating humour in just 8 minutes. Slap is
drama about a struggle with gender identity.

My film, Encore, also aims to explore character, through a relationship between two
brothers. A short film is best compared to poetry or a short story, so my inspiration came
from Hemmingway’s, ‘Hills Like White Elephants’. Hemmingway coined the theory of
omission, presenting a fraction of what is happening. On the surface it is a conversation
between a man and a woman, but underneath it is implicit they are discussing whether the
woman should keep her child, similar to the idea of The Arrival. This inspired me to retain
certain information from the audience, generating greater mystery.

Encore tracks Angus’ recalling of the argument he had with his brother Sam, as well as a
reconciling conversation that they share. What happened to Sam in the ending is left open,
but it is implicit in Angus’ costume that he is attending a funeral suggestibly Sam’s. My use
of an open ending was influenced by the effective ambiguous ending of The Ellington Kid,
Nathan tells a story of a murder ending on a shot of the kebab shop owner sharpening a
knife adding a further mystery.
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I chose Encore as my title because of its dual meaning, relating to the conversation between
the brothers, implied to be happening one last time. The title also recognises the
performative aspect, ‘encore’ usually referring to an additional performance at the
conclusion of a concert, highlighting the musical motif of the guitar.

Genre, as defined by Neale, is a system of

‘orientations, expectations and conventions that
circulate between industry, text and subject’. Genre
has many other definitions; Altman recognises a film’s
syntactic and semantic elements. Both definitions are
present in my screenplay, dealing with family life and
one’s psychological state. Encore, like Echo and The Arrival, is a drama about realistic
conflict. As Caroline (Echo) copes with the death of her father, as Anna (The Arrival)
contemplates keeping her baby, Angus in Encore reflects on his brother and their
relationship. Originally, my screenplay fitted more to the conventions of comedy, borrowing
the easy informal nature of conversation in Tight Jeans. However, I developed this idea
incorporating the backdrop of grief. Linking to genre, the aesthetic of the film is the way its
visual features arrange, creating the non-narrative dimension to the film/ the films ‘look’.
The Arrival’s dark aesthetic reflects the film’s pensive and emotional nature. My film’s
aesthetic changes throughout but remains naturalistic, achieved through the arrangement
of microelements. In flashback the aesthetic is cold and forbidding like The Arrival’s,
whereas the reconciliation has a warmer aesthetic and in present day the aesthetic is bright
and hopeful.
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Encore’s narrative has 3 parallel timelines, using a frame narrative of ‘present day’ at the
beginning and end with the rest seen in flashback. The Ellington Kid’s frame narrative and
flashbacks were incredibly effective, ensuring two timelines happen at once. I was
particularly inspired by this and how the narrative structure rendered the storytelling to be
very believable by interpolating the spectator, and so used a frame narrative myself.

Opening scene Final scene

The 3 timelines consist of 1) Angus in the present day getting ready for a funeral, 2) a
conversation between the two brothers and, 3) an argument between them. Since
Aristotle’s Poetics, narrative plots have a beginning, middle, and end, which mine certainly
follows. My structure was influenced by Propp’s Formalism, defining the difference between
plot and story in narrative construction. My film’s fabula is simply two brothers have an
argument which one of the brother’s reflects on, yet the syuzhet that employs these
narrative devices ensures Encore remains gripping. I used a non-linear structure as I wanted
to create a somewhat disorientating affect, emulating the experience of grief and memory.
Therefore, I used flashbacks to intercut scenes, which in breaking logical sequencing created
a dream-like quality. Encore was also influenced by Barthes’ open endings and enigmas, the
EMILIA PARTRIDGE 10802 NEA EVALUATION

spectator is left wondering what happened to Sam, and how Angus copes with his grief.
Echo uses a similar structure, with Caroline receiving the same phone call at the beginning
and end of the film, suggesting she has not changed and will continue conning strangers.
The cyclical structure that Encore and Echo share
ensures we see character development, whilst
Caroline is unchanged, Angus is more hopeful
emphasised by the music and the finality of closing
the door.
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Microelements are used to help shape narrative.

In the introduction of Angus, he is framed by a
mirror as he looks at his reflection. Mise-en-scene
of his costume, a black suit, implies that Angus is
attending a funeral. As a spectator we are
positioned over the shoulder of Angus looking at
his reflection, ensuring we are aligned with him
and his thoughts which continues throughout. I
was struck by the shot of Connor looking at his
reflection in a shattered mirror, in Slap, which
emphasised his turmoil and confused identity. I
aimed to achieve a similar sentiment, wanting
to deepen the audience’s connection to Angus’
thoughts. It became a motif, using shots of
Angus in reflections which created a voyeuristic
feel but also emphasised the duality behind Angus, and a mystery yet to be discovered. This
shot transitioned, using a cross dissolve, into an extreme close-up of Angus’ shoe, a
Hitchcockian technique of beginning a scene in close up. This highlights how the film has
temporally and spatially shifted, the unconventional shot pattern also emphasises that the
spectator is now following the logic of Angus.

Editing is an important aspect that helped to

structure my film and is integral to highlight the
parallel narratives. I used continuity editing
throughout, to establish a coherent spatial and
temporal world. My main method was using shot-
reverse-shot during Angus and Sam’s dialogue,
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however as the film progresses the camera tends to linger with Angus for longer and Sam’s
shoulder is no longer seen in shots of Angus. This helps the spectator realise Angus’
unreliability in our alignment with him as we begin doubting whether Sam is present. Whilst
cross dissolves conform to continuity editing, I aimed to enhance their dream-like quality
making them last longer. This is heightened through the sound bridges that connect the
events as they are being imagined in Angus’ head. I also tried to take longer shots, especially
in the opening with a lack of edits and was inspired to do so by Tight Jeans’ minimalist
editing which created a true sense of realism bringing the characters to life.

Motifs in the mise-en-scene also helped shape the

narrative, I used the prop of a guitar which was
central to Encore. As a symbol of Sam’s love of music,
which is then shared by Angus through their physical exchange of it. This is emphasised by
musical motifs of guitar playing, which I worked with my actor playing Angus to curate. As a
recurring motif, the music itself taps into the theme of memory, we worked to make it
sound reflective and melancholic also highlighting the theme of grief.

A moment of tension in my film was the brother’s argument by the side of the road. The Fly
effectively used sound as a narrative device, for creating
suspense with the sound of the engine constantly running and
getting progressively louder. This inspired me to include the
diegetic sound of the cars, when shooting by the road to build
tension as well as adding a nondiegetic ‘boom’ effect that
grew until Sam explodes at Angus. It also worked to
emphasise the danger of this argument by the roadside, possibly foreshadowing the death of Sam.
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Propp’s 8 ‘spheres of action’ assert that there are certain types of characters in all storytelling. My
actor’s performances, that I directed to be nuanced and subtle, ensured they were three
dimensional and psychologically credible characters. This means they don’t conform neatly to
Propp’s ideas, however Angus evidently wants to do the right thing but lets Sam down, making him a
flawed hero. The journey that we go on with Angus’ character ensures the audience is firmly aligned
with his experience, and for me the audience is an active part of making the meaning of the film

Overall, Encore adopts a nonlinear narrative involving flashbacks and multiple timelines. It borrows
ideas from across the set list of short films to form the narrative and aesthetic of my film. The genre
is closest to a drama and uses microelements, such as mise-en-scene, to convey meaning and an
intended compassionate audience response.

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