My first textual analysis: The Phone Call

Since the beginning of Media Studies AS classes, we have been watching a short film The Phone Call (Mat Kirby, 2015).

The story presents two people, Heather, a young volunteer in a call centre, and Stan, a depressed old gentleman who is calling to relieve him of his problems. Throughout the film, we see these two people bonding over the phone and we learn a lot about Stan’s difficulty from the past two years. We also find out that Stan has overdosed on prescribed depression pills and as Heather tries to find out his number, she tries to talk him out of it and talk about the good things in his life, like what he used to do with his wife and his jazz music. At the end of the film, it ends sadly with the death of Stan, however there is a moral, of which Heather follows. The phone call with Stan encourages her to spend time wisely and not waste any precious moments in life as they could be easily taken away from you.

Camerawork

During the film, we see Heather on eye level in the camera, which shows that she is like us and we can relate to her when we see her reactions to Stan’s life. At the very beginning, there is a crane shot where the camera moves from a view of the sky and an office building to Heather herself at a bus stop reading a book which is a technique used by a lot of directors to introduce the character at the beginning of the film. Throughout the phone call, we see a wide shot of the office Heather walks into. This shows us the empty area in which she sits in and it shows that she is isolated. This also implies that the only relationships she makes are only on the phone she uses to comfort people. The low angle of us, the audience, looking up at the door in Stan’s house elevates the importance of anyone who walks through it. So when we see, who we assume is Stan’s wife, come through the door her importance in the film is raised making her seem like a significant character. As Stan’s story progresses and tension builds, Heather is seen on the screen and we hear Stan over the phone. As his story goes on the camera gradually moves closer to her face to make her seem in focus and to show the slow pace of the dialogue.

Sound Design

When Stan tells Heather that he used to play Jazz music, the music in the background of the dialogue is Jazz. It s a slow and sad song and also shows age because the genre goes back to when he was a child. The music is also representing his youth and happiness of when his wife was alive. The sound of the clock ticking in Stan’s house symbolises Stan’s life ticking away. It also shows us that he is lonely and that the only noise we can hear in his house (other than him talking on the phone) is the clock. However, the clock ticking in the office is louder than Stan’s clock and so it indicates the Heather is watching the time tick away at Stan’s life and it shows us that she is more worried about his life than he is himself. When Stan tells Heather about Joan and that she “volunteered” round the corner, she tries to find out who Joan was to find out where Stan lives so she can call an ambulance for him. During this time of finding a clue, the music in the background begins to speed up to create tension and keep the audience’s attention. The heavy breathing of Stan over the phone means that he is struggling for breathe and echoes the idea of being old and time. Throughout the film, we see Heather in the office and we hear Stan’s voice and vice versa. This shows us different points of views of their location and allows us to see their life and hear them talking and link them together. At the end of the film, we see Heather and her co worker. in the background there is a “happy” song to show them going out for a romantic meal. This clears the moral of spending time wisely and shows us that Heather took Stan’s advice of going out to take opportunities.

Editing

The blue hue of the city at the start shows a lonely, cold location because of the cold colour palette. Between shots, there are very slow, fading transitions. This indicates the progress of time and shows us old age because it is going slowly. The sound bridge of seeing Heather in the office and hearing Stan over the phone links the two scenes and the two people together. During the time when Heather finds out about what Joan did, the pace of the transitions speed up compared to the slow transitions at the beginning. At the end, in the restaurant, there seems to be a filter over the camera, as if it’s a dream or it’s a secret relationship.

Mise En Scene

The location is very urban, cold and impersonal which is echoed by the office. In the office, Heather is also sat by herself and is lonely and isolated from everything else. The office colours are blue and the walls are quite plain which juxtaposes the impersonal setting of the office with the job which is talking to people about personal situations. Stan’s house however is bright and white which symbolises Heaven and peace. Although, white is also a very clinical colour and can represent his bad health condition. Stan’s house can be seen as very old fashioned because of the old ornaments and the carriage clock on the mantle piece. The layout of the house can also be seen as very feminine, which can tell us that he kept it this way because it reminds him of his wife and it makes it seem more homely to him. The clothes that Heather wears are very normal and baggy which is very basic and emphasises the fact that she is “nothing special”. The folders and the files and even the office itself is very old fashioned, as everything is written on paper and the phone has a cord instead of a modern wireless cord phone and this also echoes the symbolism of age in the film. At the very end of the film, Heather learns her lesson and when she goes on her “date”, the palette of the film is bright and has warm colours as opposed to cold. Heather also tries to look nice instead of looking plain like before and reminds us of Stan’s story and how she followed his advice.