Analysis of an existing short film

Analysis of an existing short film

Alive in JoburgDirected by Neill Blomkamp

Produced by Spyfilms

The documentary-style sci-fi short film employs an episodic narrative in order to establish a realistic feel to the film. The film looks as though it is a news broadcast as it uses banners along the bottom saying “Alien Landing: Troops Deployed”. This further establishes the aforementioned realism. The film features interviews from “Alien experts” and members of the armed guards and the Afrikaans minority.

The film then takes a dramatic turn as they show the robot suits that the aliens wear. The film then puts us in the middle of the action as the helicopter from the news broadcast lands and two soldiers are deployed on the ground. The soldiers open fire on the alien but the bullets are deflected off of the metal. The panning shot used is from the helicopter’s point of view, again building on that realism and making us believe that this could actually happen. The angelic music juxtaposes with the ongoing conflict scene this makes the audience feel as though the soldier’s actions are justified or even for a holy cause.

The aliens have their eyes blurred as though it would actually make a difference. The subtitles serve to translate the alien’s noises and yet again create the idea of realism in the film.

Drawing back to the idea of the documentary-style the next shot is of an Afrikaans man being interviewed. He talks of the fear he experiences at the hands of the aliens. The high angle shot makes us feel an unjust sense of dominance over the helpless man.

The following shot juxtaposes with the previous shot as it returns to the sci-fi style. The panning shot shows the Afrikaans minority as they are over shadowed by a massive alien space ship.

The second interview with an Afrikaans man shows his fear and the lengths he has gone to in order to defend himself. He says about his bulletproof vest and his concealed fire arm and this again establishes the order in which the Afrikaans people must fend for them in order to protect themselves from the aliens.

The interview with the police officer informs the audience that the spaceships are up to a kilometre in length. This adds an almost horrific element to the film as that is a terrifying image.

The cables that are tapping into the earth’s electricity and water are coming from the dilapidated ships, building on the aforementioned Realism and horror elements of the film.