Black Button

The first short-film I am going to analyse is a 7 minute long video called “The Black Button”. Its main awards are, YouTube Awards 2007 – Top six finalist, best short film, winner of Fitzroy Film Festival and winner of Dear Cinema Fest. The film may have influences from other films of the same genre such as The Twilight Zone and The Box which both incorporate a similar storyline.
The film’s mis-en-scene is rather simple in that it uses a white backdrop with a few simple props such as a desk, the button and some chairs. The background may be simple due to the directors’ budget or simply because it fits in with the stereotypical view on what happens after you die, seeing a bright light etc. I believe the white effect was created using Sony Vegas on a PC.

The clothing the actors are wearing are of formal nature, both wearing a suit and tie, however the antagonist or the “judge” is wearing a black jacket in contrast to the protagonist wearing a white shirt, this could connote death or innocence.
The language used by the two characters is in direct contrast as the protagonists is Australian and the colloquialisms could help him seem less formal than the English “antagonist”, the speech seems to be of teacher to pupil nature, this could perhaps help get the “moral” of the story across to the viewer better and brings out the seriousness of the characters decision helping to increase the films verisimilitude.

The camera angles in the film are predominantly extreme close-ups of the characters to help evoke emotion in the viewer and allowing us to feel closer and more understanding towards the characters feelings. However it is important to notice that the camera is almost always on the same height as the characters face with no high angle shots, showing us that neither of the characters is supposed to be seen as a “victim”. There are also a few insert shots of the films namesake, the Black Button; this is most likely to allow the audience to feel and see what exactly the character has to press, allowing us to relate with them.

The lighting being used in the film seems to serve two purposes, the first is the obvious one of making the scene brighter and easier to watch, however I believe the other reason is to help the surroundings and mis-en-scene as they are surrounded by white which seems to give off a “glow” of white light, again connoting life and death.
As this short-film is almost entirely based upon dialogue the background music is very quiet so it isn’t hard to hear what the characters say, however it is still possible to hear the music in the background and it is quite eerie and surreal as expected with the genre of this film. Also the actors’ voices seem to echo complimenting the empty space the characters are supposed to be situated in, all of these help the verisimilitude of the temporal and special setting of the video. At 4:53- 5:02 the music changes as the character makes his decision creating a sense of unease and urgency, this in turn grips the viewer and makes the film overall more enjoyable. When the button is pressed the music stops and is replaced with the sound of a gong being struck signifying the end of the characters decision making and perhaps; his life, again connoting death.

There is also a shot-reverse-shot structure throughout the short-film as the characters converse, this allows the viewer to see both characters reactions and facial expressions in an unbiased way and from both of their perspectives; these types of shots are done in many professional T.V. programs especially soaps such as Eastenders as dialogue is an important aspect of that genre.

The Black Button follows the same codes and conventions of its partner films, the thing it picks up on the most is the actual storyline of a person being asked a question and being given a reward upon their answer, this is seen in The Twilight Effect and The Box which also have their protagonist answering a question to prove their selfishness or selflessness.
Some theories that could be implemented into this short film are;