Me and You analysis - Alex

Me and you is an award winning short film which was published in March 2015, and was directed by Jack Tew.

At the very beginning of the sequence after the directors name and other additional information is shown, the name of the film is shown in white writing on a black background. The font that is used is informal, evidence of this is that they don't use capital letters for the title of the film which gives us an idea that the film is aimed at a younger generation audience.

 The whole sequence is done from a birds eye view which has the effect of making the audience feel more empowered, almost god like, looking down on the characters. Another reason a birds eye view was used is to make sure the audience can see the whole space of the setting, even things that the characters can't see and this is an example of unrestricted narration.

The fact that the characters are young teenagers in a relationship is also evidence that the film is aimed at a younger audience because they will be able to relate themselves to the characters and therefore the film will be more intriguing to them. For example, the boy character we see is tidying his room and hiding pornographic magazines before his girlfriend comes round. Other teenage boys may be able to relate to this. We know this from the off -screen diegetic sound of a man calling up to him saying "there's a girl at the door."

It is obvious that the boy is really nervous and stressed out through his body language because he is tidying up very quickly, putting his hands up to his head etc. This is a good representation of teenagers. The character then looks up to the extremely high camera angle and lets out a sigh with a worried facial expression, almost like he is looking at the audience for help which again intrigues the audience because it makes them feel powerful.

There is then a jump cut to both him and his girlfriend sitting on the bed at the top of the frame with defensive body language which confirmed our earlier thoughts of them being really nervous. We then see the girl character place her hand down onto the bed which the boy reads as a signal that she wants him to hold her hand. This would be obvious to the audience as well because it is a stereotypical signal and therefore most of them would read it the same. He holds her hand very nervously which suggests that the relationship is very new for both of them because it is iconic to be nervous on a first date, again the audience would recognise this. Because the couple in this sequence are young, it is further evidence that it is aimed at a younger audience as they would be able to relate to being nervous.

Gender stereotypes are supported in this sequence, for example it is stereotypical for a guy in a relationship to make the first move on a girl an this is what happens. Then the kiss escalates very quickly which gives a negative representation on young relationships and supports views that lots of people have, particularly older people which is how we know that it is aimed at a younger audience, the older generation wouldn't approve.

When someone walks in as they are being intimate we know that the audience is supposed to have experienced this. It is typical and an iconography of a teenage relationship because most teenagers still live with their parents. Overall there is a positive representation of the couple because they are on love and are what most people want to find at their age.

The messy room is symbolic of how comfortable the couple get around each other. This happens as the clip progresses and the need to impress each other becomes less and less as we can see through their changed behaviour. A messy room is iconic of a teenager because it's what we most associate them with. The lighting used is very significant because it shows the change in time as the relationship gets more in depth. We see the difference in lighting because of jump cuts transitioning at a fast pace, highlighting the different times of day. The jump cuts also make the sequence more interesting and not boring therefore appealing to that younger audience.

The girlfriend gets scared of a spider and expects her boyfriend to get rid of it for her which is another example of how stereotypical gender roles are supported. Her body language tells us that she is scared because she hides behind her boyfriend and her voice is quivering as we can hear through the on screen diegetic sound of her dialogue. However we then see that the boyfriend actually doesn't know what to do so we come to the conclusion that he is also scared which defeats the gender stereotype of guys being emotionless and cold.

Another part of the sequence which shows that the guy defeats these stereotypes is when he outs his girlfriends needs before his own when we see them get home after being drunk. We know that they are drunk because the girl character starts throwing up and the boyfriend is chivalrous and looks after her. He even sleeps on the floor while she sleeps on the bed. This is a positive representation of a boyfriend as he is defeating gender stereotypes and making sure his girlfriend is alright but also could be seen as a bad representation of teenage couples because going out getting drunk is frowned upon by older generations and therefore this emphasises that the film is aimed at younger people.

The prop of the Polaroid camera illustrates the change in time and the fact that they are taking photos together implies love and happiness which is a positive representation of their relationship. However they then go on to get high together which the older generation would find unacceptable so again showing us that the clip was made to be aimed at the younger generations.

As the pace of the jump cuts increases the couples happiness starts to deteriorate as they start to argue more and more and the room becomes messier and messier as symbolism that the relationship is falling apart. Less effort is put into the relationship, for example at the beginning of the film the girl was putting effort into not letting her boyfriend go to work but as the film progresses she puts in less and less effort until she doesn't even wake up to see him go. Notice how only the boyfriend goes to work where the gender stereotypes are supported. The characters composition shows their proximity getting further and further apart which is further proof that the relationship is failing.

When the girlfriend realises that their relationship has failed completely she looks up the camera for help which is ironic because this is what the boy did when he was looking for help with impressing her, now she is looking for help for a different reason. She needs help because she is unhappy.

The girl doesn't come back into shot after this which tells us that the relationship has failed. The rest of the film is just the guy laying on his bed until a sentimental part of their relationship comes back into his life which motivates him to become the person he was before the relationship. He tidies his room and retrieves his pornography magazines which is a sign that he wants to be happy again on his own but then when he calls out there is nobody there and this is when he realises that he is alone. One interpretation might be that he was the protagonist and that the girlfriend was the antagonist because she took him away from his friends by spending every second of the day with him and now she has left him alone.