Criticality 2

 

Corporate Monster

Directed By Ruairi Robinson

Cinematography / DoP by MacGregor

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The second analysis, I'm looking to complete is for another short film directed by Ruairi Robinson, with his Sc-FI thriller Corporate Monster. I found this film on Short of the Week a website where filmmakers all over the world would put their films to show everyone. The film is roughly 17 minutes long, which is a few minutes longer than we want. However, this film has very similar themes to Control (Working Title) it follows the protagonist as he begins to see leaders of the world as their true alien form, but no one believes that he sees them. It shows his decline into madness as the audience doesn't know if the aliens are real. In this analysis I will have a brief description of the events that happen throughout the film, then I will analyse the framing, camera movement, lighting, visual effects, and the grip used for the production (if accessible). I will be using different books, websites, and journals to help further my analysis and strengthen the points I'll be making. I really enjoyed watching this film as it gave me a lot of inspiration for our project, especially with camera movements.

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What is the Film about?​

The film follows one main protagonist Robert who has just been fired from his job after 4 years. After being fired he goes to see his doctors and says to him that he's finding it hard to concentrate, can't sleep, and he keeps getting headaches when near any type of screen. His Doctor then prescribes him with this new drug, which should help with his symptoms, however, he states that this is a new drug that has not been approved for people to be taking so Robert must not tell anyone about the drugs. We then cut to Robert in his home taking this new drug whilst watch a President Trump rally when suddenly the two security personnel next to Trump transform into this squid looking alien. The audience is then introduced to Robert's girlfriend who suggests to Robert for him to go on a walk to get fresh air. As he is walking he passes a man yelling "They're everywhere" this then repeats as he is walking away. Suddenly the city noises start to become louder as his head is adjusting to the drugs. When Robert is walking he keeps seeing this alien in different people. Later, his girlfriend arrives back from work with Robert sitting in the kitchen. He begins to explain what he has been seeing around the city, she just thinks that it's his mental health acting up. However, Robert insists that she too takes a pill as he explains that they both can't have the same hallucination meaning that he's just having a side effect from the drugs. She refuses which leads him to try and force one down her throat, she retaliates by punching Robert and running out of the flat. The next day Robert looks worst than the day before, he goes back to the hospital looking for the doctor when he sees another doctor as an alien. In shock and fear, he exits the hospital and begins to walk down the street when suddenly a police car pulls up next to him and an alien gets out with a pump-action shotgun. The fear in Robert's face as he realises and turns around and runs down the ally. The alien opens fire when Robert runs around the corner and picks up a brick. The alien catches up to Robert when suddenly he begins to repeatedly smash the alien's face in with a brick. the informed alien is laying there coughing up blood when Robert picks up the shotgun and goes to his old work where his girlfriend is. He walks into the office and sees an alien and shot it through the chest, everyone freaks out and starts to run out of the office. Robbert is walking through the office screaming for his girlfriend when he suddenly walks into his old boss's office and holds him hostage. Finally, his girlfriend reveals herself and he finally gets her to take a pill. After she takes the pill he runs up to the roof and the building and sees that the building is surrounded. Robbert sits down leaning against the ledge of the building and tried to take his own life, but there is no ammo in the gun he laughed then a squad of police surrounds him screaming at him to show him his hands. He shuts his eyes, then we hear a bang. Robert dies. However, we then see his girlfriend watching her boss talk to the police, her eyes dilute as the pill takes effect. Her boss is an alien. 

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Framing ​

The first section I want to talk about and analyse is the framing throughout the film and how it changes throughout the film as Robert slowly falls into his paranoia. As mentioned in the first analysis I really want to make the audience unsettled throughout the film and doing this I wanted to take inspiration from Mr. Robot that shows the style of cinematography, however, within this film that doesn't really happen. The framing throughout is very traditional and keeps to the thirds, which works really well for the film. Through watching the framing I enjoyed watching his slow fall into mental health by the use of negative space and making him look small within the first half of the film. It was the scenes when he was walking around the city the Dop has thought truly about how the framing will make Robert look alone through his troubled time. They've done this by placing him in the lower third of the frame and by having an extremely wide frame. 

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Fig1.1​ Extreme Wide of Rober walking across the street

Fig 1.1 shows that this shot is unconventional as there is a  lot of headroom for a traditional wide, the fact that this is such an extreme wide emphasise "...his isolation and loneliness..." (Brown, B. 2012) when dealing with his mental health. Not only does the frame size suggest this but also the amount of negative space within the frame, as shown in the space above Robert displays his isolation. The negative space is also very unsettling if left alone, normally DoPs would pt something in that negative space to help ease the audience, but the fact that nothing is there has an unpleasant feel to the shot. This is a skill and technique used a lot during Mr. Robot as it shows his isolation from the world. I like this idea that our main protagonist slowly loses control the framing becomes more unconventional, which would hit the audience's raw gut feeling emotions.

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Another framing element that I would like to discuss is when there is more than one actor in the scene and how it has been framed to help the narrative progress. The scene that really struck me was the final confrontation Robert has with his girlfriend and former boss.

Fig 2.1 Robert Confronts his boss 

I really like the use of space within this shot as every actor within the scene fills up the frame perfectly. The boss in the lower right side of the frame shows Robert's dominance over him in this scene. Robert in centre of the frame shows his importance within the scene and that the outcome all depends on his actions, and finally his girlfriend on the left side as we see over her shoulder and her perspective of what's happening. However, this is not the point I wanted to make. The real reason why I like this framing is the fact that it goes from outside the action to inside the action. The shot starts with the camera being able to see everyone in the scene "...there’s no bias toward a particular character. We’re watching everyone react, and the camera itself isn’t too close to the action." (McGregor, L. 2017) this is a technique that I want to use as the whole film is done to watch our subject through the aliens' eyes. so having distance and seeing everything as it unfolds would benefit the narrative more.

camera movements 

This film was not scared when adding movement within the middle section of the film. The movement was a lot different than the first film I analysed because in this film there was a lot more tension to create as it was longer. So to help create the tension it had handheld camera movements to create this sense of tension within the scene.

Fig 2.1 Corporate Monster (smooth camera movements)

Fig 2.2 Corporate Monster (Handheld Shacky camera movements)

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Handheld camera movements are used in nearly every action/horror/thriller film "A handheld shot is often used to suggest instability. It is especially effective when contrasted to a stable image." (Sijl, J V. 2005) which was done perfectly in this film. In the beginning, the shots were stable, but once Robert had started to take the pills the camera movement became shaky and unstable, which represented his decline in his mental health and paranoia. This is something I have thought about with our film as I thought this would be another great way to show the audience his unstable behaviour without telling them. As the film is only going to be around 15 minutes it would be hard to add extra details so to be able to have this type of emotional effect on the audience would work better. 

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Another camera movement that I prominent throughout the film was a tracking movement as the camera would follow Robert walking around the city. The tracking shot can be used it a variety of ways that help the narrative progress, for this film it is used to follow Robert's journey. The tracking doesn't start until midway through the story when the camera follows him through the city and into his old office building. What is a tracking shot? A tracking shot can be "...any shot that physically moves the camera through the scene for an extended amount of time. Tracking shots often follow a traveling subject, though they can be used to simply show off the scene." (Lannom, SC. 2020) which gives the DoP a lot of thinking to do in order for the shot to work and to help the narrative. All shots whether static or moving should always help the narrative progress otherwise they are useless. This film worked hard on creating these movements to help give information to the audience not only through the camera but to show the actor's performance better. A lot of the shots I have been thinking about do this, I want to follow our characters downfall into mental health.

Fig 2.3 Tracking shot of Robert walking around the city.

Lighting ​

The next section I want to go over is the lighting during this film. The film had a dark and sinister tone throughout as we saw Robert's fall and not only was that seen through the framing and movement but was prominent in the lighting. There are two scenes in this film where I thought the lighting was great and that was when Robert confronted his girlfriend (for the first time) and asked her to take a pill which resulted in her slapping him. The second scene that I want to look into the lighting is the final confrontation in Robert's old office.

​The first scene is when Robert tries to get his girlfriend to take a pill, the scene takes place in his flat kitchen. The lighting that I noticed in this scene seemed practical with a sidelight. The dim-lit room really helped add tension to the scene, the light was above the actors and to the side of them.

Fig 3.1 tense practical and sidelight in Corporate Monster

This created a sense of tension within the scene by having minimal lighting because "Where there is no light, one cannot see; and when one cannot see, his imagination starts to run wild." (Alton, J. 1995) which is what the DoP wanted to make. During this scene is when we see Robert begin to lose control due to his mental health. This is an element of lighting I want to create for the inside scene especially when our protagonist arrives back at his house and has experienced some of the aliens' torture toward him. This is a pivotal point in Corporate Monster as already mentioned it's the first big change in Robert's character, so to show the audience he's changed they used fewer lights to make the scene more intense. Not only does this occur once but it also appears in fig 2.1, this style was introduced at the beginning when Robert first takes the pill; and when he first sees the aliens on the TV. So there is a reoccurring theme with this style of lighting which is constant throughout the film. This is important because if the lighting i
s not consistent then the audience will not feel the right emotion when watching the scene and can incorporate the scene in a different way.

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The second scene that I want to look into is when Robert has fully lost control his mental health has never been more dangerous to himself and others. He's gone on a killing spree murdering all the aliens in his old workplace. However, everyone else just thinks he's killing regular people, which adds to the tension his girlfriend feels towards him when has a shotgun to his boss' head. The lighting within this scene looks natural to me, with a hint of practical lighting place around the office. There would also be a few lights bouncing of diffusers to create a softer look on the close-ups to fill in the shadows the practical lights would be making.

Fig 3.2 Lighting within the final scene

Fig 3.3 Lighting within the final scene 

Even though our film doesn't have a confrontation like this I think that using this style of lighting at the beginning of the film would benefit the look and the feeling I want to make the audience feel at the start. I don't think the lighting really works in this scene as I think it is the penultimate moment before the end, I think the lighting should be more intense to simulate Robert's end. Showing how he is fully engulfed by his mental health and paranoia. However, I can see why the lighting is like this because they are in an office building where the lighting is flat and doesn't stand out. So they have done it to make the office look realistic so audiences can relate this location with their workplace.

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Visual Effects 

​For the final point, I want to discuss I originally planned to analyse the grip used for production, however, I found it challenging to find any information regarding what equipment was used. So, at this point, I will go over the VFX that was used in this film. VFX (visual effects) are very normal to see in Sci-Fi films because they make the films seem more believable "...manipulated, or enhanced for any film, or other moving media that cannot take place during live-action shooting." (Maio, A. 2020) which is why they used VFX for this film as it enhanced the narrative. There were many scenes that used VFX within the film, for example, the aliens, the tv/computer screens, and the gunshots/gun wounds. The main point I want to make is the VFX shots of the aliens as this is going to be similar to ours. I know that this production had a bigger budget than what we can create so this is going to be taken into consideration. Overall, I felt as if the visual effects team done a great job with creating a realistic alien for this production. However, due to constantly seeing the aliens in different places made it less atmospheric and the tone was less tense. As constantly seeing the alien made me (the audience) feel underwhelmed. I know that the film is from the perspective of Robert so the audience sees what he sees, but after a few times of seeing the alien, it did not look good if anything it made it funny seeing them everywhere. So, in my opinion, I think that they overused the VFX in this film and lost the tone they wanted to create. Visual effects can be hard to create well so when doing them they should be made to manipulate and enhance the film.

Fig 4.1 The Alien in Corporate Monster.

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Illustration list 

https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2019/09/17/corporate-monster/

​Fig 1.1 Extreme Wide of Robert walking across the street in Corporate Monster (2019) [Film Still, Online] In: Corporate Monster. UnKnown, Vimeo

​Fig 2.1 Robert COnfront his boss (2019) [Film Still, Online] In: Corporate Monster. UnKnown, Vimeo

​Fig 2.2  Handheld camera movements (2019) [Film Still, Online] In: Corporate Monster. UnKnown, Vimeo

​Fig 2.3 Tracking shot of Robert walking around the city (2019) [Film Still, Online] In: Corporate Monster. UnKnown, Vimeo

​Fig 3.1 Tense Practical Lighting  (2019) [Film Still, Online] In: Corporate Monster. UnKnown, Vimeo

​Fig Lighting within the final scene(2019) [Film Still, Online] In: Corporate Monster. UnKnown, Vimeo

​Fig 3.3 Lighting within the final scene (2019) [Film Still, Online] In: Corporate Monster. UnKnown, Vimeo

​Fig 4.1 The Alien in Corporate Monster (2019) [Film Still, Online] In: Corporate Monster. UnKnown, Vimeo

Bibliography

Alton, J. (1995) Painting with Light. New York: New York Macmillan.

​Brown, B. (2012) Cinematography Theory and Practice: Image making for cinematographers and Directors. (2nd ed.) Milton Park: Focal Press.

Lannom, SC. (2020) What is a Tracking Shot? The 25 Best Tracking Shot Examples & Definition. At https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/tracking-shot-camera-movement-definition/ (Accessed 2/1/2021)

Maio, A. (2020) What is VFX? Defining the Term and Creating Impossible Worlds. At:​ https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-vfx/ (Accessed 2/1/2021)

McGregor, L. (2017) Understanding Point of View in Film and Video. At https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/understanding-pov-in-film-and-video/ (Accessed 1/1/2021)

Sijll, J V. (2005) Cinematic storytelling: The 100 most powerful film conventions every filmmaker must know. Laurel Canyon Blvd: Michael Wiese Productions.