The Mass of Men
The Coatmaker analysis
The Coatmaker- analysis
The ‘Coatmaker’ is a 2018 short horror film directed by Scott Dale. The short won the ‘Hollywood Just4Shorts’ 2019 competition for best horror. The picture follows a coatmaker, John Jenkins, a small-time coatmaker in a twisted tale of a familiar fear, inanimate objects coming alive. As he turns off the light to lock up his shop for the night he hears the coat slip of the mannequin that he had just placed it on. He turns back around to replace the coat on the figure and heads towards the exit. Turning the light timer on, he hears sounds coming from the room with the mannequin. As he cautiously approaches the door, he forgets that the light timer is running out. As he is engulfed in darkness. Two cold, white plastic hands appear from behind the door…
The opening establishing fades in showing the short films title ‘The Coat maker’ printed on the glass window of a tailor shops. There is the soft diegetic sound of rain and the lighting is dimly naturalistic suggesting an eerie atmosphere. The shot slowly pulls towards the window showing two characters, a male and a female, separated by a mannequin wearing a suit jacket, they are both making adjustments to the jackets. The women then pick’s up her handbag and leaves the room as the Man (John Jenkins) stays at work to continue working on the jacket. A hard cut then puts us inside the shop. There is then a series of close up shots of John and his work on the jacket suggesting that he is skilled at his job and personal with his work. This is emphasised by the lighting which is very warm and full of colour. A diegetic sound of a phone buzzing interrupts his work, as he picks up the phone, a close up shot shows that it is a text from his wife reminding him to pick up his son from basketball. This is what Toderov called the equilibrium, at this point everything is as normal.
However, the equilibrium shifts to disequilibrium when Johns phone presents a notification showing that it has little charge even though he had plugged it in, he realises that it had been unplugged at the wall. A well placed worms eye view shows us that John is confused and frustrated. This is a well-positioned shot as it has the mannequins head in the top left of the and the protagonists head in the right of the shot, they are separated by a large light bulb, this is foreshadowing for later in the short film when the only thing that is protecting John is the light.
However, the equilibrium shifts to disequilibrium when Johns phone presents a notification showing that it has little charge even though he had plugged it in, he realises that it had been unplugged at the wall. A well placed worms eye view shows us that John is confused and frustrated. This is a well-positioned shot as it has the mannequins head in the top left of the and the protagonists head in the right of the shot, they are separated by a large light bulb, this is foreshadowing for later in the short film when the only thing that is protecting John is the light.
After John has left the room a close up shows him pushing a light timer that illuminates a long corridor leading to the exit. A fast paste ticking begging’s further suggesting an intense atmosphere, as if something is about to happen. As he’s heading towards the exit, he is stopped in his tracks. A slow, eerie creaking sound coming from behind the door. A hard cut to a point of view shot shows John slowly and cautiously walking towards the door that the noise is coming from. Throughout this there is a high pitched ringing emitting from the light. As John approaches the door this adds to a tense atmosphere. His concentration on the door is broken by the fact that he had forgotten to repress the timed light. The mid shot of john shows panic as the door slowly opens revealing three mannequins lit up by streaks of blue moonlight, shining through the shop window.
Two hands suddenly appear from round behind the door, a full mannequin eerily peers around and stares at John. A series of fast paced hard cuts create a chaotic scene as John knocks over boxes and other pieces of mannequins. A worm’s eye shot shows the mannequin moving rigidly towards John. This shot makes the mannequin look powerful and dangerous. A soundscape is created with diegetic and non-dietetic sounds, further adding to a sense of chaos.
However, John is able to regain his footing and turn on the lighting timer. This is relief for the audience as a focus pull to a close up reveals that the mannequin is transformed to an object again. A point of view shot shows John's keys next to mannequin. As he goes to collect his keys, the tension is then rebuilt as a close up shot shows John's thumb leave the pressure activated light. However, when John makes a break for the door, the lights time out again and he is dragged into a dark abyss.
An excellent short film that reveals a real eye for framing, beautifully saturated colour, excellent handling of narrative pace and continuity editing, satisfying narrative arc and sophisticated use of mise-en-scene and props. Your research into other shorts has informed your own production.Equally, the time invested in other types of film making such as documentary and drama during the year has paid off.
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