Sian Williams

Discuss the short film ‘Lovefield’ in relation to key concepts of media language and genre.

Lovefield is a short film by Mathieu Ratthe that combines elements of suspense, surprise and horror to create a unique story. The clever film uses signs in such a way that misleads the audience into making assumptions about the situation and main character; in this essay I will be analyzing the short film using technical terms and explaining the effects used to encode meaning for the audience.The first establishing shot used in the film shows a large open space occupied by a cornfield. Though there are a few mountains in the distance, the audience gets the impression that the area is highly isolated and away from society. Secluded locations are a common convention of horror films as they make the audience feel uneasy. Cornfields are also a common location for horror films, as they usually signify extraterrestrial life, which gives them an eerie atmosphere. Furthermore, a cornfield is similar to a maze as there is no easy route through it and makes the audience feel trapped. A long road runs parallel with the field and provides the audience an escape route; however, there are no cars or signs of society visible, which accentuates the idea of seclusion. The use of pathetic fallacy increases tension and builds a negative atmosphere as the sky is dark and dull; this suggests that something bad may happen as the film continues. The constant whistling of wind adds to the supernatural, creepy tone of the scene. The first character in ‘Lovefield’ the audience does not see fully; we are only exposed to the character’s struggling foot and screams that indicate pain. Shortly after the apparent struggle has stopped, we meet the second character; he appears to be around forty or fifty and looks like a typical farmer. His blood-covered dungarees accentuates the audience’s impression of him, which is that he is a murderer; we come to this conclusion as the build up of events and buzz track influences us to believe the struggle of the foot previously, was an act of violence. His hard expression leads us to believe that is unbothered by what he has just committed, and leads the audience into thinking negatively about him.Throughout the film, we are tricked into reading signs in a way that suggests the farmer is panicking and trying to cover up what he has just done. However, our impression of him drastically changes when we realise that he has just delivered a baby- his face looks kind and warm due to his soft expression. The women who we thought to be a victim of a horrible attack, looks up at him thankfully and erases all our initial thoughts toward him. This scene largely changes the audience’s notion that the farmer is the bad guy and acts as a moment of relief and realisation for the audience who feels strangely silly about their initial assumption. A large part of the tension in ‘Lovefield’ is created by the sound that accompanies the image. The film is constantly interrupted by shots of the crow which builds tension as the crow ultimately represents danger, like in Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘The Birds’. The squawking of the crow is an uncomfortable sound and along with the eerie backing track makes the audience feel on edge. I get the impression that the crow represents the farmer’s conscience as it appears every time the audience thinks the farmer is doing something to cover up the ‘murder’. After seeing the ending of the film, it is possible to question the crow’s relevance, as it wasn’t representing danger after all; the crow could in fact be trying to help the farmer in the situation though it does not know how, so is calling outsiders for attention by squawking loudly. Crows are also a common convention of horrors as they are used to portray danger due to their dark and scruffy appearance. Therefore, ‘Lovefield’ challenges the usual conventions of horror films, as the crow does not represent danger in the end. The sound plays huge parts in some scenes and provokes the audience into making certain conclusions about the plot. A good example of this is when the bare foot is struggling- the crowing of the bird and screams accompanied by the buzz track build up

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the atmosphere. When the foot stops moving, the sound stops and everything is silent. This misleads the audience and accentuates the idea of death.Another good example of effective sound occurs when the farmer runs back to his car and is looking around in the boot- a crescendo is used to increase tension and then everything suddenly becomes silent; the sound of tapping can be heard on the roof of the car and causes the audience to question who it is. The uses of props in ‘Love Field’ encourage our negative thoughts, and lead us to making assumptions about the characters. Firstly, the signpost that is swaying in the wind and creaking, adds to the eerie atmosphere and emphasizes how the setting is miles from civilisation. The audience is made to feel vulnerable and alone as they are isolated from society.The mobile phone is lying on the ground and beeping with a ‘disconnected’ tone, which signifies danger as it suggests someone has been disturbed while using it. Also, the open bag whose contents are sprawled over the floor similarly suggest that someone has been disturbed or even attacked as there is a blood-covered cloth next to it. These personal items are very unlikely to have been left there by accident due to the unfinished arrangement of them on the ground- this is why the audience jumps to conclusions when the bare foot is uncovered by the camera. The foot which is dirty with mud and moving as if resisting, encodes that the owner of the previous items is being attacked or worse. Death is not only signified by the foot falling still, but also by the aggressive, sudden jab of the knife into the earth, and the silence of the crow; all these codes affirm the audience’s judgement that someone has just been murdered or severely hurt.The lighting throughout ‘Love Field’ is natural or superficially made to look natural in order for the film to feel realistic and make the audience connect with the story. Due to the setting of ‘Lovefield’ it is extremely likely that it would’ve been shot in a real cornfield and therefore lighting would’ve been hard to control. The atmosphere in ‘Lovefield’ is largely created by the dull, dark sky, which influences the audience to feel negatively about the situation and expect a bad turn of events. The last scene is juxtaposed with the rest of the film, as the atmosphere is completely different; the lighting in this scene is much brighter as the sun appears to be overhead. The scene has a ‘golden’ tone about it and the sun is shining on the character’s faces to emphasize the precious moment the two characters share. The camera shots in ‘Love Field’ code meaning to the audience and each shot is used to provoke a specific reaction in the audience. The establishing shot at the beginning of the film is a high angle shot and shows the extent of how secluded the setting actually is. The camera gradually moves down towards the corn and through it to uncover the props such as the mobile phone and bag. This use of low angles makes us feel trapped and is often used in horror films to make the audience feel like the victim, increasing tension. The way the camera slowly uncovers each prop on the ground, gives the audience time to digest what they are seeing and form a conclusion in their mind. After the knife is slammed into the ground, the farmer looks around the scene for a few seconds as if assessing the situation; he then manically runs backwards as if he is running away from something. The camera causes this effect by tracking him as he runs. A state of frenzy begins as the farmer runs around the car, wildly fiddling with the keys and trying to open the boot; the intense soundtrack along with the persistent crowing causes tension. Close-up shots are used to focus on his feet and hands to emphasize the farmer’s motive, which we believe to be hiding the murder. An inside shot from the boot allows us to see the farmer’s facial expressions which are eerily calm. The farmer emerges from the boot with a black bin liner, which misleads the audience even more into believing he is covering up a murder. The farmer grabs a big pink sheet, and this signifies that he is going to use this to hide the body. He then runs back into the cornfield and the camera cuts to a shot of the bare feet and knife once more. Back and forth cuts between the farmer and the crow are used to build up suspense whilst the farmer is returning to the body. A low angle, point of view shot is

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used to look up at the farmer who comes at the camera with a pink sheet and tricks the audience into believing he is covering up the face of the supposed victim. The audience is completely surprised when the farmer lifts up a newborn baby; this unexpected twist in the storyline makes us realise that we automatically link certain things to death. The signs and codes used throughout the film mislead the audience into believing that the male character is a murderer when in fact, he has just delivered a baby. Ratthe uses this twist to make us understand how we place judgement on certain things when they could encode meaning for something else. The sound in the film dominates the image, and influences the audience to form a negative response to certain actions. The eerie backing track at the beginning sets the tone for the rest of the film, as well as the crowing- this atmosphere is built up all the way through ‘Lovefield’ by the use of sound, camera techniques, lighting and props. The huge feeling of relief experienced by the audience at the end proves that the codes explored by Ratthe were extremely effective. Overall, the short film sets a misleading theme at the beginning by using certain sounds and eerie noises, which we link to danger. The slow tracking shots and isolated setting encourages the audience to feel uncomfortable and tense. The unique film ending accentuates the idea that you can’t always judge a book by its cover and is so effective due to the element of surprise.