Analysis of short horror film ‘Bedfellows'

The short film opens up to a black screen with the film company logo at the front with a slogan at the bottom stating ‘we create nightmares’, although this may seems like a very conventional, typical thing to occur in the beginning of any media production, it links to the fact that many short films are created by independent film companies. The ‘we create nightmares’ slogan is effective as it sets the mood for the short film, making it very clear and easy for the audience to recognize the genre of the film and in a way preparing them for the horror elements that are about to occur.

In the background you can hear non-diegetic, incidental music of what resembles generic horror sounds such as a deep base, high pitched sounds that resembles a scream and almost sounding like a chamber, this linking to the horror genre as all of these sounds have connation’s of fear and vulnerability. This works well as the low, ominous tone from the sound suggest an impending startling event.

We are then introduced to a blue screen with the title ‘Bedfellows’ appearing on the screen, this being an actual technique from the director of the film to create a false sense of security for the audience. This is because the term ‘Bedfellows’ simply means “a person who shares a bed with another”, alongside that, the colour blue is often associated with depth and stability, symbolizing emotions of trust and confidence. This is manipulating for the audience but also effective, as the use of colours and word play will have them assuming that the film isn’t actually that much to fear and would make them feel comfortable, when in fact the use of the colours and word play completely juxtaposes with the actual narrative.

This links to conventions of horror films as the intentions of horrors are simply to fear which is what the short film ‘Bedfellows’ is achieving as created a false sense of security makes it more effective to scare someone in the long run. The fact that the short film is called ‘Bedfellows’ makes it quite clear to the audience on the context of the narrative, this linking to short films as they tend to make there narrative very obvious and easy to follow.

The camera then cuts to the next scene, this being a medium shot of what just appears to be a couple sleeping in bed, a scene which just appears to be a very normal, everyday activity. The ‘everyday’ scenery or ‘relatable narrative’ is also a very common convention of short films, this is because short films tend to avoid having a very complex, complicated storyline and stick to situations which start from a very normal situation but then end up having a ‘twist’ to it, something which is heavily demonstrated within this short film.

The lighting is low-key as it is set in the night time, however the scene appears to be giving off slightly ‘blue tone/lighting’, this further helping on creating a false sense of security for the audience. This links to horror conventions as low key lighting is essential in creating an atmosphere as it creates a feeling of the ‘unknown’. This is also effective as it creates more suspense as the audience are aware the genre of the short film is horror however nothing is appearing to be actually going on, so at this point many enigma codes would be going through the audience’s head. This working to the directors advantage as it builds emotions of nerve for the audience as the audience approach the climax. This also links to horror as the overall purpose is to create fear.

After a short while we start to hear diegetic sound of a clock ticking, this being effective in the sense it adds and creates suspense and tension as the audience have to wait for the events to occur, the clock ticking emphasises how long we as the audience have to wait. To add on to that, the fact that the clock sound is paired with complete silence creates fear and anticipation. Very soon this diegetic sound is paired with the sound of a phone ringing in which extremely short dialogue starts: “Danny can you hand me my phone?”

The dialogue is clearly coming from the woman within the bed, so as an audience we assume that ‘Danny’ is the guy (in most cases being a boyfriend/husband) on the other side of the bed, which gives us a false sense of security as we know as an audience the character is not alone (as seclusion/isolation is a major convention from the horror genre) however, this short film within the horror genre, so most likely it will stick to horror conventions by having a big twist.

After being clearly frustrated over Danny not acknowledging her, the female character picks up her phone from the other side of the bed herself, which is when ‘The Big Twist’ horror convention is as it is revealed that the person on the phone is actually Danny himself, explaining to the woman as to why he will be home later than usual, this giving the audience the realization that the person on the other side of the bed is not Danny, clearly now introducing the audience to a possible antagonist. This not only opens up a door of enigma codes for the audience such as “Who is on the other side of the bed?” but also is effective in creating anxiety for the audience as now they uneasy as the horror convention of “fear of the unknown” is clearly being introduced.

Within this part of the short film, when she picks up the phone blue light appears to be reflecting her face (blue having connotations of security and safety) which quickly fades away from her face when it hits her that something unknown is in her bed, this meaning the narrative and lighting link, this also being a way for the producer to indicate to the audience that the short film is about to take a dark turn.

We are then introduced to a close up shot of the woman with her eyes moving towards the other side of the bed, the close up emphasizing the fear and anticipation in her eyes as to what is on the other side the bed, this adding more to the suspense as the audience is still unaware of what is on the other side of the bed.

The camera then cuts to a medium shot and here we are revealed to the antagonist in the main focus, the antagonist (who represents your stereotypical supernatural antagonist, looking significantly abnormal and almost dead, with sunken black eyes and white ghostly skin) being in full view of the audience but not to the woman as the antagonist is covered by sheets. This is a form of dramatic irony within film as the audience is aware of the antagonist but not the actual character. As the climax approaches (the climax being the woman taking off the blanket so she finally sees antagonist) the music increases in tempo, volume and pitch thus becoming incidental music as it increases the suspense and tension.

Within this medium shot, binary oppositions are also clearly demonstrated as we can identify the good to the evil, when although the woman doesn't necessarily have the label of a 'protagonist', we as an audience can clearly distinguish who out of the two has a bad intentions vs good ones. A bit can be said also about representation in this shot as the woman is obviously a blonde, light haired females, and typically in horrors (and in fact most films) blondes are stereotyped as naive and dim. The behaviour of the woman within this clip suggests those stereotypes are correct because instead of acting more logical by leaving the room and a clear potiental threat, she puts herself in more danger by attempting to confront the antagonist. Despite this, this can be seen as general stereotypical behaviour of someone within the horror genre as people in horrors tend to act very non-logical in particular situations.

When we as an audience finally reach the climax all we see on the screen is a montage of close ups and extreme close ups of the antagonist doing typical actions of a supernatural antagonist, like having screaming at the scream, this clearly being matched with the synchronous sounds of the actual scream. this linking to typical horror conventions as it is a jump scare, a jump scare being a technique common in horror, intended to "scare the audience by surprising them with an abrupt change in image or event, usually co-occurring with a loud, frightening sound."

Overall in the narrative itself, the short film stuck to narrative conventions of short films by having a short duration of time, the film actually only being around 1 minute 50 seconds, but by also having a completely normal, relate-able situation (a couple in bed together) and creating a big twist to it.