Prophecy Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyb-7ljlqFo

Mise-en-scene

The location is very appropriate to the narrative and circumstances. It appears to be set in a small apartment in some part of London, with fits in with the accents of the actors and their clothing, appropriate to young people, to create a more believable setting. The film also seems to utilise a very muted colour scheme, with very little strong colours, this gives it a sort of gritty realism.

Camerawork

The camerawork for most of the film is very conventional, mostly medium shots and close ups, with the occasional Dutch Tilt, first used when the younger boy, Ali, begins to act strangely, transferring the older brother's emotions onto the audience. There is also a POV shot composed of the same shot, superimposed onto itself an moving around to simulate the elder brother's drunkenness. Another similar shot occurs after the older brother's death showing his dead face. Given the way that it repeats the style of a POV shot, it could be said to represent an out of death experience. It continues when he wakes up, to show confusion on the part of the character.The way the shots follow the older brother's movement and viewpoint, it is clear that we are meant to empathise with him and his view on the events and his younger brother's strange behaviour.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the film is very dramatic, being quite operatic and classically influenced, apart from the diegetic music over the older brother's headphones. The mostly classical non-diegetic soundtrack, is at odds with the realism of the mise-en-scene and camerawork. However, it does serve to allude to a more important aspect to the narrative, before it is explained visually or in dialogue, creating a clever and subtle use of foreshadowing. It reaches a crescendo at the climax as the protagonist discovers Ali's prophecy. The diegetic sound on the other hand is very conventional, showing more of the realism shown in the mise-en-scene, apart from a static noise accompanying the glitch effects.

Editing

The short film has a very good use of editing. A strange glitch effect across the actors creates a huge contrast between the realistic presentation of the rest of the film, really making the strangeness of it stand out, and creating confusion and mystery. From the point when the older brother falls onto his bed to his death, a black outline appears around the edge of the screen. This is quite subtle, not being something that an audience might notice on a first time viewing, so it registers on a subconscious level, making the tone become much darker, fitting in with the narrative as Ali's prophecy is soon to come true.