Standby:
The short film standby uses a linear narrative from beginning, middle to end as it tells the story of two police officers in the role of 'beat cops' starting from when they two officers are first put together as partners following through to the day one of the officers gets a promotion and leaves, while also showing what it is like for her ex partner after she leaves. In the beginning the two are tense and awkward and bond at irregular intervals while in the middle they have bonded and it is evident there is almost a father daughter connection between the pair as they seem to become inseparable before the ending where the younger officer takes a promotion and her older partner has to start this process all over again.
The titles are in white and come towards the beginning with police lights flashing against a black background as it fades to white. The credits at the end are the same as a black background is lit by red and blue police sirens and this makes the white text stand out on the screen. The music used in the film is used as irony because the film is about police officers who deal with crime yet the music that is used rap music which is stereotyped as being associated with crime so by using it in a film with police officers it breaks the stereotype while also adding a sense of comedy to the film.
The dialogue in the film is not used often and the film often has periods where actions are used or the silence of the film builds tension between the characters. In most cases dialogue is not necessarily vital because there is no explanation for what is going on in the scenes and the actions can explain the scene better in many cases. The scenes that involve more dialogue are when secondary characters are used as the two main characters will be in conversation with the criminals in the back of the car.
In the film there is only one camera angle used, it is all shot from the perspective of a dash cam in the police car so be only see the two main characters at in the two front seats of the vehicle. This is effective as it shows the growth of two characters through one perspective, allowing the audience to see their growth as friends in one scene in which they are closest to each other for the most of the time.
The mise-en-scene used generally depicts the police force, for example one main part is the body vests that have police written across them, this is clothing 'beat cops' have to wear while on duty and therefore tells the audience what branch of the police the two are part of. Another example would be the handcuffs on of the secondary characters as this shows again that they are part of law enforcement and have authority over members of the public. This is important to reinforce because the film is very effective in showing the friendship grow that the audience actually forget that they are police officers which is a major part of the storyline. Coffee cups are another important part of the film as it is one of the first things that the pair bond over and is referenced in the end when the older officer has to learn to get along with his new partner. It is also effective because it fits well with the police stereotype as to the general public people see the police as being stereotyped for eating donuts and drinking coffee so this fits with the image of the police that many people already have.
The sound used in the film is all diegetic as the rap music used in the film itself is part of the scene as the characters are aware of it and know that is coming from the radio. As well as this the only other source of sound are the police sirens which again are diegetic as they are part of the scene and the officers are consciously aware of them. However the sound itself for this would have likely been added after the production rather than actually being recorded in time with the scene.
In terms of the editing the film only uses cuts between the scenes for continuity within the film as it is very basic footage that requires little or no editing of the scene itself. The only other editing is used in the title sequence and end credits as the title screen fades to white and also adds the red and blue filters to act as flashing lights while the same effects are used on the post film credits.
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