Week 7 H/W - Film Analysis 3

Porcelain Rising - Short Horror Film

The format of this production is a single drama as it is a short film which will not have a sequel or continuing plot for another production.

As the production soon commences, the information of whom/what the film was produced by and the title, appear on screen. A dull and evil looking background is used to reveal to the audience that the production will be terrifying. The red cracks may suggest something demonic is trying to break loose and cause havoc, this helps the audience to assume the short film is a horror. Moreover an sweet-yet-creepy doll house tune plays while the title is shown on screen to give the audience and eerie feel.

The first scene plays and it shows a young girl lying up on her bed starring at something in the distance as lightning strikes outside her house. A long shot is used to show the girl and where she is (her bedroom) but is not a master shot as the director didn't want to show her whole room at the start of the film so that the audience can see what she is focusing on. The camera zooms into the girl as the scene continues play, this is so that the camera can focus on her face showing emotion to whatever she is looking at. Whatever, she is looking at must be extremely terrifying as most children are horrified by the lightning, however when it strikes she does not flinch, move, or make any sort of reaction as she just continues to focus on something/one in her room. Low key lighting is used in this scene to create another eerie feel for the audience as they wonder if something will attack or scare her in the night.

A man enters her room (presumably her father) to check on the girl to see if she is okay. This may create dramatic irony for the audience as they may have assumed she is not alright because something is keeping her up in the late hours of the night.


A close-up is used in the next shot when the man questions the young girl as to why she is not asleep. The close-up is used to show his confusion and/or curiosity for her purpose of being awake. Mid key lighting is used on his face meanwhile low key light is still used for the background of the scene; this is to show that the man will be the young girls saviour from something evil behind him (or in the background). Lightning sound effects play-out in this scene to show something destructive will soon commence. Lastly, shot reverse shot is used to illuminate the conversation between the male and the young female.

The young girl reveals that the reason she is still awake is because the doll in her room is coming to get her. She then points to the doll and then the male turns his head to view the doll. A medium-shot is shown at first which then swiftly cuts to a close-up of the doll. This is important as the medium-shot was used to show the view of what the father was looking at. However, the close-up was thrown in by the director so that that audience can view how frightening the doll actually looks. Low key lighting is used once again to illuminate the creepiness within the scene.

The male walks over to the doll to examine it, which leads to the camera panning horizontally. A close-up is used when the male stares directly into the dolls eyes to create tension between the heroic father figure and the troubling subject (the doll).

The father picks up the doll and stores it in side a cupboard and ensures the girl that he wouldn't let the doll harm her. Electrifying music subtly plays to show that, that may have been a bad move to do which will make the audience feel uneasy as to what will happen next. The man leaves the room and places his hand over his head in a tiresome gesture as this situation has taken place several times before. A low-angle shot is used to show his grief which makes him look powerful which maybe okay to use considering he came across as a saviour to the girl, however I believe a high-angle shot should have been used to show that he's not as dominant as he believes since he is having grief with his daughters issue with the doll.

The male makes his way into the kitchen, downstairs and roams about the room. Jump-cuts are used to show that he is contemplating the situation of the young girl and has been thinking about it for a lengthy time period. This allows the audience to know that he is bothered by the girl being scared of the doll. A mid-shot and mid-key lighting is used just to show where he is, in the house (kitchen).

The young girl gets out of her bed as she heard a tapping noise. Lightning flashes maybe to show that something thrilling yet horrifying will take place. Level shot is taken from under the bed starring at her feet this creates dramatic irony as the audience may feel as if there is a monster (the doll) and her bed and shot is actually the monsters  current view.

Cross-cutting is used as the man yells down his phone to the caller saying "the treatment is not working". This reveals that the young girl has issues. Meanwhile his daughter is being hunted on and attacked by the living doll. This creates dramatic irony as the audience wants the man to know that the young girl needs saving immediately. The audience is unsure if the father will save her in time. A close-up is then used to show the doll is alive and ready to attack, meanwhile quick-flickering of shots cut from the doll attacking the girl, to the girl being attacked then to the man trying to reach the endangered girl. Every shot of the girl being attacked is a close-up to clearly show her emotion of being attacked to the audience. The man finally enters the room and questions the girl as to why she is wearing a mask and holding a knife which suggests the doll was never alive, but his daughter has psychological problems. A mid-shot is used for the last scene to show the mentally challenged girl is actually pretending to be the doll. As the whole sequence of scenes are filled with tension, suspense and horror the pace of shots cut quickly from one to another to mimic the pulse rate of the viewer as they are filled with suspense for the girl's status. It also builds more drama.


In conclusion, the beginning and the middle of the short film had medium paced cuts as the audience needed lengthy scenes to understand how the plot will develop and when it did (when it got intense) the pace of the cuts moved quicker to build adrenaline. Low key light was mainly used to build tension as it make scenes look gloomy and scary. Throughout the production the sound of rain and lightning played to make it seem realistic however towards the end non-digetic dramatic music played to build even more tension. The narrative was non-realistic and linear as the film was not relatable for real life but had a start. middle and end.