Short Film Title: Lou-Lou Lives Here
Genre: Drama
Year: 2005
Director: Hazel Grian
Source (web address): www.raindance.tv
Writer: Hazel Grian
Producer: Mark Parry
Editor: Yvonne Davies
Sound: Gemma Goldsmith
Director of Photography: Simon Jacobs
Cast: Hayley-Rose Puplett and Steve O’Halloran
Funded by: UK Film Council’s New Cinema fund in association with South West Screen.
Distributed by: Short Circuit Themes.
Brief synopsis: A dark story which parodies the anxieties of a ten year old girl walking home alone. Our worst fears for her happen when she is hunted by a sinister man but this little girl has a powerful secret
Tag line: “Why shouldn’t little girls walk home alone?”
Micro.
Camera angle, movement and position.
Hand held, shaky - showing disorientation. High angle - looking down - we feel shocked looking at the young girl - gaining sympathy. High angle while showing girl licking her wound - already a clue to the fact the little girl is a dog.
Long takes. Medium close up on faces. Narrow depth of field shots showing us that Lou-Lou can hear her owner calling her.
Quick montage of shots with the girl running away from the man showing the panic she feels. Close up on eyes when she changes into a dog. Fast blurred shots.
Framing Characters are in the middle of the frame - rule of three.
Locations have wide shots and character are main focal point.
When showing the dog running away, you see it framed with dark woods in the background - showing she’s wild and untamed - this is proved when she kills the man and runs back home.
Editing and special effectsTo begin with, the editing is in long takes showing the girl waking up but then as the short film progresses and the girl turns into a dog, she shots are short, not letting the audience see too much. A few fade transitions but usually cuts. The structure shows the audience that the girl is in fact a dog.
There aren’t any digitally enhanced special effects, but on the camera when the girl turns into a dog, the camera is in a fish eye lens and has almost a glass effect showing what the man would look like from the dogs perspective.
Mise en scene (including location)
Dirty clothes and unkempt hair - showing the girl doesn’t care for appearances.
Location - woods - wild and dangerous - proved by the man. Creates a tense atmosphere - you know something bad is going to happen.
Man in van holds a small toy hoping to entice the little girl.
Dead rabbit - in the same position the girl was in when she woke up - the animal inside her wants to touch the dead rabbit.
White van - danger.
Lighting - dark on man’s face. Shadows on girls face showing she’s second natured.
Sound
Non diegetic helicopter sounds, loud wind noises, dog barking referring to the girl being a dog. Man shouting. Van revs.
Diegetic sinister voiceover whispering “Lou-lou.”
Heavy breathing showing her panic. No dialogue.
The use of silence in this short film is crucial. It’s genre is drama leaning on to horror so the silence makes the short film more eerie. It also makes you question: does the girl even know how to talk?
Music - there’s a quiet, almost muted rumbling piece played along until the girl see’s the van is empty.
Script
There isn’t any dialogue between the characters in this short film, only the calling of Lou-lou’s owner.
I think the writer wanted the short film to be visually enough to satisfy the audience. The shots and narrative don’t need dialogue because they’re rather self-explanatory.
Titles/Institutional Reference
Titles are in the font ‘courier new’, and they fade in on a blank black screen, referring to the genre and mystery of the plot.
The titles stay on the screen for just over five seconds.
They are meant to be obvious because there is nothing else on the screen except the titles.
Macro.
Genre specific elements; code and conventions
Scarecrow - convention of horror - e.g. Jeepers Creepers.
Helicopter noises - convention of police - searching.
Man in a white van - dangerous - pervert.
Black crow - convention of horror.
Dead rabbit - symbol, foreshadowing events to come.
The audience’s needs have been met for the genre.
Narrative
The narrative is being told from the POV of the little girl/dog.
The concept of time is represented by the camera shots, you can see the light. Montage of shots show time moving quicker as the girl runs through the woods.
The man in the white van plays an important role in moving the narrative along because when the little girl turns into a dog to defend herself, we realise what the point of the short film is about.
Narrative structure - Girl wakes up - Girl walks down lane - Man stalks girl - Girl runs off - Girl turns into a dog to kill man - Dog runs home.
Representations
The short film is obviously set in the present - because of the Pylon showed at the beginning of the film.
The little girl at first is shown as being quite innocent - lying along in the middle of a field but as it moves on we see she’s not so child-like at all. She kills the man who was trying to attack her. And we see her turn into a dog. The camera and mise-en-scene subtly show us this - She licks her wound - She tries to pick up the dead rabbit - Her hearing is heightened - She see’s in black and white.
We don’t get a good look at the Man, we only see him briefly as he comes up behind the little girl. The camera by then is focusing on the girl’s reaction and her turning into a dog. The camera shows the man dropping a small toy therefore he witnesses the girl turning into a dog.
The little girl is challenging the stereotype of defenceless girl walking home alone because she in fact has a dark secret and can easily kill the man.
Todorov’s theory can be loosely placed in this short film. Equilibrium - little girl wakes up and walks along a lane. Disequilibrium - She’s see’s the van, runs through the woods and turns into a dog. New equilibrium - The dog runs back home; safe.
Male’s in this short film come off looking worse, like sexual predators. Age as well is represented as not being a big factor when fighting off an enemy.
The audience in this shot film are being asked to identify with the little girl. The man no one would have sympathy for and be glad he is killed but then there’s always the fact that the little girl/dog is a murderer.
Audience
The target audience for this film would be adults - children would be too young to understand why the man is following the young girl and why suddenly a dog comes along - adults would understand what the meaning to this short film is about, especially parents.
Themes/Messages
The main theme of the short film lies within the tag line: ‘Why shouldn’t young girls walk home alone?’. This film proves that danger lurks out there and little girls cannot turn into dogs to protect themselves.
Ideas Generation/Reflection Area
From this short film, I’ve learnt a lot, e.g. Think carefully about the mise-en-scene and sometimes dialogue isn‘t needed to create effect. It’s definitely motivated me and is the inspiration for one of my ideas.
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