Action Short Film Analysis 2

Onslaught

Onslaught is an amateur production and will provide a useful contrast to the professional one I analysed in my last post. 
Even though the film unfolds out of sequence, I am going to summarise it chronologically for the sake of clarity. A man and his partner are having a day out at the beach. They are having a picnic, during which he proposes. As this happens, several attackers approach and the man is forced to fight them off. While the protagonist defeats two of the thugs, the others hold his girlfriend hostage. As he goes to rescue her, he is shot. At this point the thugs drag his body through the sand as both he and his girlfriend are carried off. However the protagonist breaks free of their grasp and continues to fight, eventually resulting in victory. The film ends with his girlfriend cradling his body, but remains ambiguous as to whether he survives the gunshot wound or not. 

Dialogue

This short film uses no dialogue, so the explanation behind the fight is completely speculative. I am not sure how I feel about this, because it is hard to relate to the story in any way and so leaves the viewer feeling as if they've only seen half of the narrative. The emotional connection is established visually through the proposal, but the thugs emerge out of the blue so the blend of romance and action isn't an effective hybridisation of genre, more of an abrupt transition from one genre to the next. 

Camera Shots/Angles

• Tracking Shot: The two tracking shots in this film have different impacts. The first, where we follow the protagonist while he is dragged through the sand, has a lethargic impression. We, like the character, feel somewhat dazed by what is going on and are uncertain as to where he is being led. The second tracking shot, which follows the protagonist as he defeats each thug individually, evokes an impression of magnificence. We are supposed to feel like he is an unstoppable warrior fighting to protect his love. 
• Establishing Shot: I would classify the establishing shot here as the shot where the couple are wandering along the shore, and we view them from a distance. This is important because the wide angle introduces us to the setting as well as the characters we need to care about at the same time. In addition it subverts our expectations about what the film will be about by creating an idyllic equilibrium. 
• High Angle Shot: The high angle shots are used to provide a more cinematic scope to the fight. As the thug jumps down from the rock it makes the protagonist look small and overwhelmed, which raises the stakes by depicting him as surrounded, as if the thugs are closing in. The other high angle shot takes place when the protagonist does a spin kick off of the rock and knocks the thug unconscious, which shows a reversal of fortune. It mirrors the earlier example but the characters have switched place, so now the protagonist looks in control. 
• Tilt Shot: The tilt shot is done for the same reason as the high angle shots, but this time it is dynamic rather than static. The tilt shot captures the thug's movement as he leaps off of the rock and punches the protagonist to the floor. It frames the antagonist in a way that threatens our confidence in the hero. The motion of his attack as he jumps down helps to establish the intensity of the scene. From a cinematographic point of view the shot helps to intersperse the action on the ground by raising the camera to new heights. 
• Close Up: Towards the end we see a close up of the protagonist as he clutches his wound, which enables us to get a sense of character and a moment of reflection in his facial expression. A brief close up like this brings us a more human side to the skilled fighter they want to portray. Choosing to do a close up shot of the ring further contributes to the emotional stakes of the short film and reminds us of the equilibrium that had been set up previously.  
• Two Shot: The two shots during the picnic capture the partnership of the couple. Framing them together emphasises their intimacy and symbolises their contentment. This emphasis becomes more apparent when the thugs take them apart, because the separation is the cause of the protagonist's anger. 
• Long Shot: The long shot has practical purposes during a fight sequence, especially when more than two characters are involved in the conflict. A long shot helps to alert us where all of the characters are and keeps them in view. It can also be used for clarity so that we can see full body movements, which makes the choreography stand out and seem more continuous. 

Editing

I have to admit I am not fond of the non-linear time-jumping employed here, because even though it is done for suspense and mystery, it leaves the viewer more confused as a result. With such a basic narrative, editing the scenes out of chronological sequence wasn't necessary and consequently feels as though the filmmaker is trying to do too many things at once. Due to this the action appears choppy and hard to follow. 

Another editing technique used here is slow-motion. Again I am not sure it works within the context of the film. Usually slow-motion in a fight scene is used to exaggerate the ferocity of the warrior and give us time to appreciate the skill in his abilities (300 and the Spartacus tv series are two main examples). Clearly a similar intention is present in this short film but it comes across as unrealistic. It seems to completely reverse the effect of humanising him at the start, because we see the character as an ordinary man, not a god-like force. 

That being said I like the cutaway shot towards the beginning where we see him reach out to something in the sand, and the camera cuts away to the ring being left behind. I think that this has significance in motivating the character to fight back. But overall I would say that the film would be much more watchable if the narrative was depicted simply, and focused on the gritty side of the brawl rather than using slow motion to make the protagonist seem epic. 

Diegetic/Non-Diegetic Sound

The film is accompanied by a non-diegetic score, which serves as the main piece of sound in the movie. Like I found in the drama shorts, the soundtrack tends to replace dialogue because it is a simpler way of building an emotional arc. It is easier to resonate with the musical tone. I think that the tone of this score works well and doesn't seem contrapuntal to what we are watching. 
One flaw I would point out is the lack of volume with the diegetic sounds, because they seem to be undermined in favour of the soundtrack. The punches and groans of the characters are muffled and so it reduces the impact and intensity of the brawl. 

Mise-en-Scene

Although I keep coming back to it, the important object in the mise-en-scene is the ring, because it represents the motives of the character and tells us what he is fighting to reclaim. The picnic basket, blanket and bottle of wine all serve to enforce the romanticised, domestic lifestyle the characters are enjoying. I mentioned the importance of clothing in my previous analysis and how it juxtaposes the characters, and it is the same in this example. The protagonist is dressed for a day on the beach, not a fight, just like how the office worker was dressed for his everyday job, not a brawl. This demonstrates how the protagonist is being forced out of his comfort zone and doesn't want to fight. Moreover the dark clothing of the thugs makes them appear rather stereotyped as villains and this creates ease for the viewer in identifying who is who. 

Review

Personally I don't like this film. I respect what they were trying to achieve, but I feel like it could be better both narratively and technically. My main fault with Onslaught is the way it has been edited, because in trying to subvert traditional, linear storytelling all they have succeeded in doing is complicating what should be a basic narrative. I am quite unconfident about creating a short film in the action genre because anything less than professional can come across as quite naff. It is the riskiest genre out of the three I am considering, because even though they should be narratively basic, the choreography tends to be how an action film is judged.