This is me - Holly Stone

This is me

Genre

The initial ideas for what the genre of the short film "this is me" are that of objects which we associate to have meaning, or in media language, a syntactic code. This theory was created by Rick Altmann, other syntactic codes may include:

• Binary oppositions
• Themes
• Character Relations
• Narrative Structure

All of which are typical.

In the beginning shots our protagonist begins to narrate the story in a comical way. He explains how he is paralyzed all over his body, but then lifts the mood as he jokes about his "iron lung" and how he has more tubes than the London Underground. Initially when the audience would have seen him laying in bed, pale and on a life-support machine, typically we would begin to sympathies, but as the protagonist narrates us into a comical atmosphere, the syntactic codes initially put forward are broken. 

Above is an example of a syntactic code. The paleness of the protagonist, the life support machine behind him and the tubes running into his nose would automatically make the audience sympathies and question as to why he is in that position, and what put him there. This could also be a foreshadow for what happens later in the short film.

The protagonist continues to be comical about his background 2 years ago in his back garden, and how the "urban outskirts of London" are actually the "heathrow flightpath." 

Although our protagonist is currently paralyzed and in hospital, the genre of the film would typically have fallen under drama but now it appears more comical. Many syntactic codes could lead us in the beginning to believe it will be an emotional drama, however, the audience is surprised by the fact that its actually a comedy.