Research Task 2- Emma Robertson

Lou-Lou Lives Here (Grian) 2003
http://www.britfilms.com/britishfilms/catalogue/browse/?id=D5D44D521b52018985IyHu956479

Genre: Thriller/Drama



•Hand-held camera work

•Establishing shots of the countryside to set the scene

•Extreme long shot of the little girl lying in the fields- along with high key lighting on her vulnerable body

•Close ups of the girl's side profile observing the fields- captures emotion

•Over the shoulder tracking shot of the girl walking down a picturesque path, filled with shadows.

•Black and White only- reasoning that it's Lou-Lou (the dog's p.o.v) and it's a convention to the thriller genre

•A powerful frame was the extreme close up of her eyes looking at the White van

•Suspenseful Medium shot frame and strong depth of field as the man approaches the little girl behind.

•Mood= Chilling, Supernatural from the tense and suspenseful atmosphere and mise en scene of the woods

•Very dream like through the high contrast and the many dissolves and overlapping of images such as the extreme close up on the dog's face.

•Slow motion is used to vary the speed of the short film.


•Editing is key in this sequence to show the little girl transforming into the dog. Dissolves and overlapping of the girl's feet running and the dog running home.

•Fast cuts introduce a fast pace and creates suspense.

•POV shots and shakiness becomes quite subjective to allow the audience to experience the tension
Prop conform to the genre:

1.Scarecrow

2.Dead rabbit

3.White van= has connotations to crime, child abduction

4.Woods

5.Small child's toy

6.The 'Beware' sign

The use of sound:

•Non diegetic soundtrack creates mystery
•Howling wind
•Crows = key convention of the thriller/horror
•Dog whimpering and barking
•Van wheels
•Wind of the plastic bag

Lighting:

1.High key lighting to create a dream like sequence, mystery and chilling

2.For the close ups, there is well exposed sequences of her face= seems very angelic

3.Allows contrast of the darkness and lightness= shadow depth of field

4.Sometimes it helps with out of focus

Inspirational?
I like the idea of using just black and white colours. Therefore, it allows powerful and striky shadows to form. The importance of lighting will be included in our short film as 'Lou Lou lives here' symbolises the power of light. Although, I felt the narrative was poor, the dreamlike sequence and the 'weirdness' of the film, despite the terrible sound effects, have stuck in my mind.

Emma Robertson