1. Story Elements:
In the “Elevator” short film the protagonist was the normal looking man who first enters the elevator. The crisis that starts to happen to him is more and more heavy set people pile into the elevator he is in. He realizes that the maximum capacity is 2000 lb. And he quickly realizes that they are soon about to reach that cap. He changes the situation by when given the opportunity, he quickly leaves the elevator and gets into the next one. However, the new one he joins seems perfectly normal, except for the fact that they are all very sick.
2. Manipulating Light:
The “Elevator” scenes are fairly dull when it comes to color. The lighting is normally lit to where everything is easy to see. However, something that enhances the film is the short close ups of the floor numbers lighting up to show a change in time and place. Overall, the dullness of color in the elevator show how mundane the situation is. However, it contrasts well with the “crisis” the man is going. Also, it works with how nobody else but the protagonist is worried about the weight or the sickness.
Framing:
A couple of the shot framings work very well to make a more interesting story. For example, the close ups of the buttons and floor numbers add to create a sense of time and a movement of floors. Also, the pov style shots from the protagonists position looking out at the other people add to show how cramped the elevator is. Also, the tightness of the shots work well with showing how cramped the protagonist feels.
Visual Style:
A visual style that I found effective was the contrast of tightness of shots when the protagonist is in the first elevator, compared to openness and breathability of the shots when the protagonist is in the second elevator. Outside of the story, the visual elements give the viewer a sense of relief that the protagonist has escaped his “crisis”. However, once the sickness of the people starts showing the shots get tighter and the relief goes away.
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