Name of short film: SIGNS
Writer, Director and Editor: Patrick Hughes
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Running Time: 12:13 min
Many aspects of my short film will hopefully be emulated from SIGNS. The use of sound in their opening is similar to what I what I hope my opening will do. SIGNS begin with the sound of an alarm clock in the background, constantly dinging, signaling the beginning of a new, dull, boring day. A cut to a birds eye view of the man, lying in bed, eyes wide open, with the alarm clock still ringing. In my film I will have the sounds of a classroom come in before the actual video starts.
Jason is struggling with the stereotypical alienation of a young office man new to the big city. Work is boring, the loneliness is heart-breaking, and the false expectation of family and friends who think you’re living it up to the max is soul-crushing. But, through the window and into the office across the street, Jason spots and draws the attention of the girl who might change all that.
Signs is a classic boy meets girl in which the central concept is not too contrived. You couldn’t make a feature based off it, but it is the perfect size for a short. Many of the introductory moments that inform our impression of Jason as depressed, the photocopying at the office for instance, are inverted later on in a funny way to establish his renewed verve. Routine is presented at first in order to accentuate Jason’s dread of life, the mind-numbing banality of his existence, yet the pacing of the film and its editing, morph his morning routine into narrative development. The long-drawn out takes initially become progressively quicker to signify Jason’s energy and excitement, building to a fevered pace right before the moment he is let down at the end of act 2.
Nick Russel does a really laudable job as Jason, playing the role with the kind of earnest goofiness that has earned Hugh Grant millions of dollars. The role on both ends, the sad sack and the nervous comedy are both very easy to overplay, but he does not.
In the first three minutes of ”Signs” we see our “Hero” Jason in his ordinary, meaningless world. He is bored and loveless, his job is uninspiring, and most importantly, he is lonely. We see him on an escalator, spotting a lovely girl going in the opposite direction, in a park, shyly watching another girl, on a train watching lovers kiss, and at work, alienated from his boss and workers. Jason lives a loveless life. Even his mum and dad don’t understand him.
When Jason glances at Tracey through the window of his office is the inciting incident. It’s where the movie starts moving. All that goes before it is setting up the ordinary world, and you can get away with this set up for quite a while, if it is done with style. In a 12 minute movie, Hughes waits 3 mins and 12 secs before that fateful glance. Structural Perfection.
Jason looks away once, twice, three times. He is shy. He doesn’t want to get involved. His life may be boring, but he is too set in his ways, too comfortable in his misery to break out of his comfort zone.
At 4:19 Jason smiles. That smile means that Jason is entering the special world of his story for the first time. This is the point at which the story takes off and the real adventure gets going. The hero Jason is now committed to his journey… and there’s no turning back.
In this film, the venue is the space between the two buildings, but the challenge is clear. Jason has to engage with and keep interested this vivacious, beautiful young woman. One wrong note and all is lost. It’s dangerous. If he gets caught, then boss will fire him. He is wary and scared, but he goes for it, getting more and more confident. In a good rom com this sequence can go on and on and on as long as we like the characters and can engage with the hero, up the ante between him and the object of his desires.
Jason dares to message Tracey in front of the boss. He would never have dreamed of doing these only days before. He is risking his career, all in name of love.
At 5:20secs there is the moment when the protagonist is in deep jeopardy. It usually occurs about half way through a narrative. Here, Jason risks all. He faces the possibility of exposure, ridicule, the sack, and whatever else, and for Jason it takes place in the meeting room, where he is so intent on “messaging” his new love, that he falls backwards on his chair but he survived. He now decides to take control with his new found courage. The hero’s supreme ordeal usually grants him a better understanding of women, leading to the moment in a love story where he finally decides to make his feeling clear.
The flirting continues and Jason finally decides to commit. He is stopped from taking the final plunge and asking her out but just when he goes for it...Jason loses Tracey. The film shows the same shots from the opening scene. Showing that Jason has returned to his word of boredom and loneliness.
Soon afterwards, Jason sees that she is back and she left because she got promoted and is therefore more desirable. Also she is immediately forgiven for leaving.
It takes him an instant to suggest that they meet. The timid Jason of Act 1 is transformed, and we love it! He’s ready, she’s ready, and he emerges from the special world, transformed by his experience.
Hughes is smart enough not to make the characters have a cliché kiss at the end, but leaves us with questions: Will they get together? Ever speak? Kiss? Is she deaf?
This shows the work of a true filmmaker who understands his audience and his characters.
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