'The Fly' analysis

'The Fly' analysis

 'The Fly' is a short film directed by Olly Williams and released in 2014 with a duration of six minutes.

'The Fly' follows a conventional three act structure for films, the inciting incident of the film is the fly in the car that annoys the getaway driver, the rising action is the getaway drivers comedic attempts to kill the fly which get more and more eleaborate each time including shooting the car with a shotgun and the climax is the robbers coming out of the bank only to find the getaway driver has destroyed the car in the process. Unlike other short films we have looked at in class 'The Fly' does little to challenge narrative conventions but excels at telling an enjoyable story within the traditional narrative format. 

 'The Fly' owes a lot to silent films for it's borrowing of multiple narrative techniques from the genre. Some tropes of silent films that are used in 'The Fly' include a lack of dialogue and focus on diegetic sound effects, escalating comedic action set pieces aswell as an overly dramatic performance from the main character. Dialogue is scarce throughout the short film similiarly to silent films that were produced in a time when the technology to sync film footage with audio and especially dialogue was not available, instead the films would sometimes feauture scores or sound effects that were performed live simultaneously with the movies. Some music plays right at the beginning of the film as the title card appears but it quickly dissipates, the sound that plays for the rest of the short film is all diegetic including the buzzing of the fly that symbolises it's constant irritating presence, the screams of the getaway driver and the police sirens at the end which tell both the viewer and the driver of his failure. All the action in 'The Fly' takes place in and around the getaway car and escalates to comedic and dramatic heights in a Charlie Chaplain-esque manner with a great performance by Jack Doolan.

 The narrative of 'The Fly' as a simple comedy does not attempt to convey many different points of view but instead presents a protagonist who the viewer can probably relate to on some level and then laugh at his exploits and attempts to kill the fly as they get more and more silly. 

 I enjoyed 'The Fly' however it is one of my least favourites of the set short films we have looked at in class because of it's basic story and lack of complexity in it's narrative or portrayal of character. I do however like the comedy and it is something I would like to incorporate into my own short film.

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