Textual Analysis of 'Room 8' (James W. Griffiths, 2011) by Chayana Forde

Room 8 is a short film about a criminal taken into a prison cell in a foreign country, where he finds a mysterious box that he could resist opening.

The film starts with a series of handheld establishing shots which show the exterior of the prison. From the wormhole camera angles, the viewer can assume that the shots are POV shots. We then cut to the main character who is forcefully being led to a location. The guard who is walking with him is speaking in Russian, and there are no subtitles, which means that the viewers are supposed to feel the disorientation of the character.

This is also shown in the CU tracking shot that is also handheld, which shows that director wanted to show the harsh way in which the character was being handled. The colouring of this sequence is very grey and void of colour, and sets the tone of emotion in the setting.

After this short sequence, the title appears with a black background and simple text saying 'Room 8' for a couple of seconds, before it disappears with the loud slam of a door. We are then greeted with a match box that appears to be rattling on a desk due to the commotion on the outside and a calm hand reaches out to stop the movement and places the match box in a drawer. The duration of the shot suggests that the matchbox has significance of some sort.

There is then an over the shoulder shallow depth of field shot that shows the character entering the room, that is followed by an eye line match to a shot of the man sitting on the chair. The exchange between the two characters is shown through shots that have long duration, which creates a pace that is slow. This paired with the unsteady camera create a atmosphere of uneasiness, as slow but unsteady camera suggests that somebody is trying to be careful in situation that they are unfamiliar/anxious with. This makes the audience match this feeling through empathy, and in turn, makes them also feel uneasy.

The decor of the room follows the theme of being grey and dull, all for the exception of the match box that had elements of red, and the red box that is placed on the bed, which suggests that the items are connected. As red is a symbol of danger, it suggests that whatever is in the box is harmful. Moreover, the contrast of red to grey brings it to the viewers attention and then acts as an enigma code.

 Before the guard leaves the room, the main character says 'happy birthday mate', which shows that this character likes to have the last word, even if it is only to make himself look tough this situation, despite the fact that he is getting locked up, a situation that means that you have less power of the guards. This reveals his brash nature, and contrasts to the calm and quiet composure of the other character in this room.

When the main character attempts to start a conversation, he is quickly shut down, but then proceeds to look around his new surroundings and picks up a 'penguin book' and asks how long his cell mate had been there. The prop of the penguin book shows that the cellmate is intelligent and enjoys classic literature.

Once again, the main character's attempt at conversation is cut short, this time with a scolding for touching this book, that is likely dear to the cellmate. Dejected, he decided to just sit down on the bottom bunk, where the red box is located. This time he hesitates before asking another question, but does so anyway, which shows that he is one to give up very easily, and asks what inside the box.

Despite the fact he was told that he might regret it, the man opens the box to find a smaller replica of the cell that they are in. It is when he goes to reach the chair in the box that he sees a large hand reach into the room. It is clear that his hand is his hand, which makes the