Short Film Analysis

Darkened Room (Dir. David Lynch, 2002)

Darkened room is a short film by David Lynch, I find this film has a similar tone to what we want in our film as it creates a very tense and dark enviroment in an isolated location (i.e. a single room) which is why I have chose to analyse it. Also, it has a lot of elements similar to ours such as genre, as it blends noir, thriller and experimental, exactly like our film.



 We can also draw inspiration from the fact that Lynch shot Darkened Room on a Mini DV camera. We also have limited equipment (although not bad, its also not 'industry standard') so we can look at this film and see how he has utilised the low quality camera to create a nevertheless great short film.
In the first shot, we see a woman sat down talking about 'her friend'. She says that her friend is crying and is sat in a darkened room. She also comments on how she 'cannot see her friend'. This monologue is typical of Lynch as there is no context or clues as to why she is 'sitting in a darkened room' or why she has been crying. This experimental nature in regards to dialogue/monologue or any other forms of speech can aid us in writing a script to fit our intended experimental style. Despite this, experimental film is, obviously, supposed to be experimental, so experimenting in our own way rather than trying to stick closesly to a 'formula' from someone elses work. Another feature of this film that is experimental is that characters throughout look and talk to the camera, breaking the 4th wall. This is uncommon in films apart from documentaries/mockumentaries, so adding to the experimental and frankly strange tone of the film.

Mise-en-scene is also utilised to create a surreal tone. For example, a ventriloquists dummy is on the pouffe with no explanation as to why or what it means. It is a very creepy looking doll which also adds to the horror element of the film. The messed up room is also unexplained, in fact everything in this film is unexplained, which again creates a sense of mystery and surrealism.

Eventually after various long takes with very little dialogue, we see the appearence of another character - another woman. She comes out of the door on the right of the sofa and confronts the woman who has been crying. When she comes out of the door we see another person - a man it seems - just standing in the other room. This creates a very eerie environment as yet more is unexplained.

This film leaves everything unexplained, but the unexplained and convoluted plot and narrative creates a very mysterious and creepy environment. In our film, we would love to create a similar tone in an isolated room as Lynch has done in Darkened Room.