Textual analysis: Unknown number

Unknown number (June 2016)

 

Unknown number, directed by David Nguyen, is a short that I have looked at in my own time. It involves a young woman in her home reading at late hours, however, this is disturbed when she starts receiving calls from an "unknown number" and so she ignores the number every time it rings. After a while she decides to switch her phone off, yet it still rings regardless of its situation and she answers it, all to receive no answer and then a voicemail after the phone has cut off.  After then, the phone rings again but from a different room and the woman walks to the room, opens the door and finds nothing. At this point, the antagonist, who resembles a dead girl, is behind the woman and then it cuts to her being directly behind the protagonist, who screams once she sees the dead girl and then the short ends.

Like Lights out, this film has a similar MES in terms of location. It is set in the home of the protagonist, rather than the conventional scary setting of a creepy house or building in general. This can convey how the conventions of horror may have shifted over time and that our fears are closer than we think. And this is further supported seeing as the lighting of the film was bright and natural, meaning that rather than the antagonist appearing in the dark, they appear in the light. Which contradicts this idea of fearing the unknown in the dark.

In terms of camera work, the use of various close up shots - especially on the clock and the phone as it rings - creates a form of tension between the audience and what is occurring. A close up on the clock allows the audience to see how late it is. On the clock, we can see that this is all happening in the hour of 3am, this is significant due to the fact that 3am is known as the "witching hour". It is a myth in which at 3am things such as witches, demons and ghosts are to be at their strongest; in which all supernatural things are to occur at. So this may be a reference to that, seeing as the events of this short happens within that time. Moreover, near the beginning of the short, there is a close up shot of the clock as it stops ticking, which is effective due to the fact that it gives the audience a small amount of tension before the antagonist is revealed for the first time in the form of a jump scare.

Looking at the use of sound, like most shorts, there is a lack of dialogue.

 

However, the use of SFX is used to help build the tension. For example, the ticking noise of the clock is used throughout the film to create a significant amount of tension, seeing as ticking noises is a horror trait used specifically for tension. This places the audience on edge because of how it can be used to represent the concept of time running out for the protagonist before the climax. Moreover, the use of the phone ringing at random points is significant because the audience will already be tensed and the sudden ringing would make the audience jump, but for something that isn't really considered to be scary. Therefore, the audience will mentally prepare themselves for the next scene in case a more significant jump scare happens.

 

The editing for this film is continuous as usual to help with the simple narrative of the short and to allow a gradual increase in tension towards the climax. However, rapid cuts have been used in the intro for the film to show the frustration of the protagonist as she works which I find to be pretty bizarre yet successful in help prepare the audience for future events.

 

Personally, I find this short to be fairly good, not amazing, but good. Now it may seem harsh to say so, but I feel it's the plot that makes it good and not out of this world. I see the plot to be too generic, but that may be due to the fact that there is not enough time to create an in depth plot with backstories and such and I completely understand that. On the other hand, what I love about this short film is definitely the camerawork. The over-the-shoulder shot when the protagonist moves to the side and we can see the antagonist, the multiple close up shots onto the protagonist's face and the various props used, the tracking shot as the protagonist walks towards the closet(?), to me that's what makes the film good because of the tension it creates. More so, the lack of sound was also effective to me because when sound was present, it was best used when a jump scare occurred because of that sudden burst of sound after a long amount of time of silence. Which did make me jump the most whilst watching the short.