Slap - Nick Rowland

Slap (2014) is short film investigating the acceptance of a teenage boy who learns how to express himself with the use of feminine clothing and makeup. Slap confronts the standards of masculinity culture in sport, as Connor, a well respected boxer struggles with breaking the forms of masculinity. Set in Liverpool, in rough, masculine driven area, the film begins with the male lead, Connor, putting on makeup, shots of ripped up magazine photos and him through the mirror, until his father calls him. He pants and hides the makeup and what he is doing and the film cuts to boxing. We meet his best friend, Archie and his girlfriend, Lola. In trying to hide his secret, Connor tells Lola he is 'training', but instead we see him dressing up and wearing makeup. However, this moment is again interrupted by Archie being chased and beaten up. Connor hesitates to help as it will reveals his secret, however he does and Archie finds out his secret. Lola's party comes around and Connor becomes confident enough to walk in wearing a dress and makeup, as people take it as a 'joke'. Lola lashes out at Connor and Archie betrays him leading to Connor building his aggression and frustration with his situation. He ends up releasing all the anger at the end of the film, with him seriously beating up his opponent, Whitest, boxing.

Cinematography - Throughout the film, there are various hand held shots to create a sense of realism in the short, but also other connotations of instability. When out of his house, and not dressed up, the shots are mainly hand-held and shaky, however, this contrasts to when Connor is at home and dressed up, dancing in-front of the camera. This is a mid shot of him, happily jumping and dancing in-front the camera, with a steady camera representing his reflection and how stable and free he feels in this version of himself.  On top of this, throughout the film, a motif is created with the camera angles and shots, many shots are shots of Connor through a mirror and not a profile shot. This could be seen as a metaphor for his second personality that he plays everyday compared to his true personality who feels free in dresses and makeup that he has to hide. Towards the end of the film, the editing pace increases as the scene intensifies. As the scene become more and more tense, the camera begins to increase cut pace and change angles rapidly to increase tension and stress.

Mise-en-scene - Mise-en-scene is extremely important in this short, as it tells the story it self. The use of  a broken mirror as Connor looks into it, shows his broken character and how he is not happy with the way he is perceived. He is broken as he feels as though he is not whole due to not expressing his true self. The mirror also can allows us to seen different views of the character, like his split personality and difference versions of himself, the feminine side, he feels most comfortable and his masculine boxing side to himself.   The colour palette, throughout this film is dark and dingy, allowing his makeup to stand out, this could represent the joy of what his dress up does and what takes him out of his normal 'life' that he views as dark. His feminine clothing and makeup that he puts on is purposely messy and ill fitting , showing the audience that Connor has little to no direction in what he wear and does, it is only him that can guide him in this as he feels as though he cannot show anyone else. With the outfit also mismatched and limited showing how little he can get without his secret being shown. Finally, the objectifying posters of women that are placed around his room has two different perception. They show his appreciation for the female body, and shows his idealised self and what he aspires to look like. However, they are also used to try and achieve his father into thinking that like a teenage boy, he finds the female body attractive and suits what his father wants.

Sound - Somber non-diegetic music is used at the beginning of the film, showing a sense of ease that Connor is at when he is applying makeup and the calmness he feels in that personality. Until we hear the door open and his father's voice, the music stops and the clatter of Connor trying to hide begins. Finally, the defining silence in the final scene of the short show the cluster of Connor's emotion that have taken over him. The world has gone silent as he cannot control himself in how angry and frustrated he feels inside.