Short film analysis - The Jump

Film: The Jump
Produced by: Invenire Films
Budget: Unknown
Released: Apr 15, 2015
Genre: Short, Sci-fi, Time travel, comedy?

Sound
Throughout the beginning of this film sound is very much used to comedic effect. It starts with a light hearted piano riff  incidental sound track that is played all throughout the process of building the time machine. Throughout the process of building the time machine each sound effect involved with the making progress is exaggerated for comedic effect, such as the cutting of wire or the fire of the blow torch. Ambient echoing sounds are played whilst the time machine is being inspected, this is added to give a sense of mystery. The sound of the date being changed on the time machine is highly exaggerated to clearly signify to the audience what is going on. The sound effects of travelling in time are very simple, it's a quiet boom, the actual visual effect of the location is enough to signify to the audience that the protagonist has traveled in time. Sound effects are very important in the scene in which the protagonist has traveled into the past. The producers have cleverly used ambient sound effect of nature and birdsong to imply the lack of human activity to suggest to the audience that the protagonist had traveled to a past location without the existence of human presence. Throughout the scene in which the character has traveled forward in time to the future, the sound effects are important in exaggerating the chaos and drama of the futuristic warzone the protagonist finds himself in. In the crucial "Mum" scene of this short film the incidental soundtrack is crucial in signifying to the audience the sadness of the situation. The sombre sound track implies to the audience that this is a sad moment for the protagonist and that something tragic is about to happen. The sound effect of the car crash is important in telling the audience that the car containing his mother has crashed, this is not shown visually.

Mise-En-Scene
The costume of the protagonist does little to enhance the narrative, although it is typical for a Time travel film to have a character dressed in casual, normal time period clothing. It could be argued his style of hair is stereotypical for a "nerd" character who would be interested in technology etc.

 







The key prop used throughout the film is the time machine. Much like the one in "One Minute Time Machine" it's very simplistic in design. In this case it's a simple brief case which has been cleverly used, the combination code has been used as the date selector for the time machine. In terms of representation brief cases are often associated with business and serious affairs, this juxtaposes with the unusual time travel capabilities it has.

The notepad prop has great significance throughout the entire film. With the absence of any dialogue what the protagonist writes in this notepad is key to directing the narrative of the story forward and implying the audience what is happening. The film has two settings, inside the house and the outdoor environment. Little is seen of the house it'self but it appears to be a modern style house. However it is notably quite empty this suggests to the audience that the protagonist is living there alone and is quite lonely. The outdoor setting is very peaceful and rural, there is no signs of human activity, this is used to suggest to the audience that the protagonist has time traveled to a time when humans did not exist. Oddly the same outdoor environment has been used for the future scene, where the chaos of the lasers and destruction juxtaposes with the quiet tranquil countryside setting.

Editing
The first scene in which the Time machine is being built is fast paced, this implies to the audience the rush for the protagonist to build the time machine. The main bit of editing is the time travel special effect. In this the character remains in the same position and it instantly transported to another scene, this is a very simple yet effective effect that implies to the audience that he has traveled in time. Special effects have been added to the future scene in the form of laser beams and fire effects, this implies to the audience that he is in the futuristic warzone with laser guns and explosions. The pace of editing in this scene is very fast and frantic to emphasize the danger and panic of the warzone environment. The pace of editing in the remaining scenes is often very slow to signify the emotion felt by the protagonist. There are also a number of eye line matches to show the emotions the protagonist during these heartfelt scenes.

Camera 
Throughout the whole beginning sequence the camera uses two different perspectives, the POV of the protagonist and a reaction shot the protagonist. This is done to show the concentration and ingenuity of the protagonist as he constructs the time machine. One shot of special significance is the extreme close up of the note pad and the protagonists pen writing on it. This is used as a tool to progress the narrative and tell the audience what is happening, it is presented as an extreme close up to signify to the audience of the importance of the notepad.

An extreme long shot is used in the "past" scene to show off the vastness of the outdoor environment and to clearly indicate to the audience that there is no human life. It also displays the "greenness" and tranquility of the setting. The camera angles used in the future scene cleverly only concentrate on the protagonist and track movements at a mid shot. This is done to keep as much of the setting hidden from the audience as possible and also to signify the action and excitement of the scene.

In the sad "mum" scene the camera constantly does a shot reverse shot eye line match of what the protagonist is looking at, this also works as a reaction shot and it displays the emotion felt by the protagonist in these sad scenes.