"Lucy's Cycling Treasure Hunt" - Directed by Edward L Dark

Storyline

Lucy's Cycling Treasure Hunt is the sweet (yet somewhat corny!) story of a girl who is set on a cycling treasure hunt by her boyfriend, which ends in a marriage proposal. A series of post-it notes and a navigation system on a phone guides Lucy to different locations relating to her relationship with her boyfriend. At each location there is a post-it note, and  Lucy remembers why it was significant (first date etc..) through a series of flashbacks. After "reaching her destination", she looks back onto the navigator on her phone to see that she has travelled in a shape, the shape making the words "Marry Me?".




Narrative

The story is told in a linear narrative although jumps regularly to each destination Lucy visits. The sequence manages to show the key points in their relationship from their first date, to getting through and argument and moving in together - these are flashbacks shown in black and white and are shown at each location as the post-it notes help Lucy to remember.

Enigma codes

There are a few possible questions/engima codes throughout the sequence that allow for the audience to question certain parts during the film:

• Where will Lucy end up?
• Does Lucy know where she is going? 
• Is Lucy used to this sort of thing?
• Has Mike always been this romantic?

 

Characters

Lucy is the main character, who is set on the "treasure hunt" by her boyfriend, Mike. She is seen to be more confident than Mike in the flashbacks, such as when she approaches him and catches the wasp pestering him whilst he shyly leaves. This makes the ending even more significant on Mikes part as we see him take a leading role (bravely proposing) - showing how Lucy has changed him into a more confident person. Lucy is presented as fun-loving and seems to really enjoy her adventure. 

She clearly loves Mike which is shown through her excitement throughout and how emotional she becomes in location such as the boating lake.

Mike is Lucy's boyfriend. We don't actually see him in the present day until the last scene where he has proposed. Throughout the flashback we see him as a normal guy, not presented as overly romantic - the argument flashback shows him to have a normal relationship with Lucy and its not until the end we see how romantic and thoughtful his character is. Mikes revealed character gives the film a less realistic tone. He is presented as an intellectual, quiet guy which is shown when he is reading over a cup of coffee in the cafe. Later on when he spends time with Lucy, we see him come out of his shell and a more fun character is revealed - throwing popcorn in the cinema etc. The camera really manages to capture some footage of Mike looking at Lucy and from this the audience are able to see that he really loves her - making the ending seem quite inevitable.

Mise-en-scene

Costume: Both characters are dressed casually throughout in order to present them as just an ordinary couple setting a more realistic tone to the somewhat unrealistic sequence. Through dressing casually, in denim jackets, jeans and unbuttoned shirts, the audience may find it easier to relate to the characters making the narrative seem more realistic to them. The costume of Mike changes slightly at the end after the proposal where he is dressed in a tuck's. This makes the ending more "fairytale-like" and romantic, reminding the viewers that this type of thing probably doesn't happen to everyone!

 

Locations: The locations used are similar to what you would find in a normal town/city - a small cafe, green areas, a cinema and boating lake. The couples apartment looks large, new and modern making their life appear more desirable to the audience. However, it still presents them as a normal couple, sharing a flat in a small town. This makes the audience think "all this could happen to me", making for a more pleasureable watch.

Lighting: The lighting is relitively bright throughout to represent the "happy" topic and it's unique quirkiness. A lot of this is natural lighting which shows how refreshing the outdoors and the memories are. The black and white toned flashbacks are used to represent memories and the long duration of time the couple have spent together.

Props: The props used during the film is probably the most significant part of it's mise-en-scene. The first significant prop we see is the use of post-it notes to direct Lucy around the town and to trigger memories such as "first date". These are used throughout the sequence as a quirky way to represent the personality of the characters (such as a romantic gesture from Mike) as well as an indirect way to inform the audience of the significance of each location - making the film more of an "easy-watch". Another prop by which I believe to be significant is the wasp during the first flashback. Mike is seen to be flapping the wasp away, prior to Lucy having the confidence to walk over and dispose of this. The use of the wasp presents Lucy and confident and Mike as shy and timid, making the ending less predictable as it's Mike who dominates through proposing. Through the duration of the sequence we see Mike becoming increasingly confident and it is fair to say that this is a result of Lucy's company. The relitively vintage looking bicycle (having a basket), makes the film seem more of a representation of "old-fashioned love" which targets its clear female audience who stereotypically would like this prospect. However, the satellite-naviation system on Lucy's smart-phone brings the story much more up-to-date allowing for the audience to relate to the film much more than they would have without such props.

Cinematography

Establishing shot: The use of the establishing shot is to show a wider view of the location, such as with the cinema, which gives the audience the "wider picture" allowing them to consider the location as they watch - in this case the location lets the audience know that the couple do ordainary things such as visiting the cinema, making the film much more realistic.

Close-up: Close-up/medium close-up shots are used in order to show the actors emotions. These are mostly of Lucy as she is presented with a series of emotional memories - we see how emotional she finds reflecting upon these memories and from this the audience are able to establish her relationship with Mike.

Upwards tilt: There is not much in the way of camera movement in this film, although the ending gives a vertical upwards tilt as an original ending. The camera tilts vertically from the newly engaged couple to the sky which then fades to white. The movement upwards, to the sky, I feel gives the film a more "fairy-tale" ending, which ultimately will appeal to the target audience as romantic.

Foreground/Background focus composition: There is an interesting shot in the sequence whereby the character of Lucy is seen to be placed in the background out-of-focus, with a viewpoint from the flowers in the foreground, in focus. I feel that this shot emphasises the flowers to show symbolisim of the "sweet" situation, as though the flowers are "looking on" on Lucy attempting to reach her desitnation, and ultimately, her "destiny".

Editing

Cross-dissolve transition: The use of cross-dissolve transitions during some flashback parts allows for all Lucy's memories to "blend"together. There are two shot sequences whereby cross-dissolves are used in order to show the memories quickly as different time frames in Lucy and Mike's relationship. Through using this technique rather than typical straight cuts of fades, the memories are presented as a collective, all relating to eachother to build up one big memory of that particular time in Lucy's life.

Split screen: Also to show more in less time (something compulsory for short films), the split screen technique is used. In the example shown here, there are three shots - one of Lucy travelling, one of the satellite-navigation showing where Lucy is travelling, and one of a sign post showing what location Lucy is travelling to. These shorts work in combination with eachother to give more information to the audience.

Black and white: The use of black and white enables the audience to distinguish between different frames of time. Scenes edited in black and white are used to show "flashbacks" or "memories" that Lucy is having, showing that they are in the past. Through doing this, the audience have a much more passive viewing of the film without the confusion of when certain parts are set. This is a frequent editing technique used in film.

Satellite-navigation: I'm fairly unsure about whether this belongs in the "editing" section, as I don't know whether it was edited or actually achieved. The "marry me" ending marked on Lucy's satellite system on her phone has most likely been edited on a computer, although I don't know, it may have really been done! This ending gives meaning to the use of the prop and the audience become aware of the real need for a navigation system. Through this, the ending is given a twist which is unexpected for what is considered a somewhat predictable genre.

Sound

There is a musical score played for the entirety of the sequence which shows to be well-suited to the story. The song chosen has lyrics of the same romance genre such as "loving you is the greatest thing, I get to be myself" which can be interpreted at the viewpoint as one of the characters through the clear romantic genre shown throughout. There is no diegetic sound over the top of the score although there is a small section where the music stops and ambient noise can be heard - this takes place when Lucy reads the words "marry me", the sudden stopping of the soundtrack correlating with the audience, and Lucy's, shocked reaction.

*a personal note - Although the score was well suited to the visuals, I personally felt that the use of mainstream music made the sequence seem more like a music video than a film. If music was composed without lyrics (such as a piano track), audiences may not consider it as a music video as the track may sound unlikely to have one (an issue with using mainstream music).





Titles

Lucy's Cycling Treasure Hunt contained no titles, which I feel adds to it feeling more like a music video and less like a short film. The maker may have thought titles plus the use of the post-it notes may have been a little confusing, which I can understand, although I feel that credits at the end would suit, and not hinder this film.





What have I taken from "Lucy's Cycling Treasure Hunt?"

I thought that the concept of this film was really quite sweet and well related to it's genre - created for its target audience. The idea of using locations and post-it notes in order to trigger memories I thought made for an original narrative, particulalr with the shocking "marry me" ending which I thought was genius! A few things I liked/may consider..

• The idea of a split screen was really effective and suited the quirky storyline. I feel that I could manipulate this idea when it comes to editing my short film, through showing three or so clips in one sitting, which will save time in the short duration allocated for a short film
• I liked the idea of using black and white in order to distinguish time frames - this allows for the film to cut back and forth in time without audience confusion
• Throughout watching the film I did start to feel as though I was watching a music video and I put this down to the use of mainstream music and a lack of titles. To make sure my audience don't feel the same whilst viewing mine, I will carefully consider chosen music and the positioning of titles