I Miss You - Textual Analysis

The first thing we hear within the short film is diegetic sound as the characters are seen at a party. There is a mid shot of the main character who could be represented as a stereotypical typical teenager as he is seen smoking a cigarette and holding a bottle of alcohol in his hand. The camera then focuses on another main character, which is a young girl that could suggest a type of love interest between the two as it cuts back the boy again. There is the use of a dolly as the camera follows the young boy towards the girl in the scene. The smile on the boy’s face connotes he is happy to see her and could suggest certain feelings he may have for her. Then a voiceover begins over the shots, which tells the audience this isn’t actually he is saying this is only what he’s thinking.

It then cuts to a mid shot of the two characters in a cinema, which tells the audience that these two people must be a little more than just friends. Also, the voiceover of one of the characters says, “I miss you” and looks towards the girl, which gives away they were previously in a relationship. In the next scene there is a long shot of the couple sitting by a lake, which is quite a romantic setting so it helps establish that they are together. Also, the camera zooms in when the couple starts kissing as it highlights the emotions felt between the two characters. There are a frequent amount of jump cuts used that could suggest that time is passing by and how their relationship has progressed over time.

The voiceover that is heard in the background seems to juxtapose the shots of the couple seen throughout due to the fact the shots of them are very positive, whereas what the boy is saying comes across very negatively. There seems to be a variety of mid and long shots of the couple spending time with one another and then the shots begin to fade into darkness, which creates a negative atmosphere. The non-diegetic music changes into a much lower pitched and slower tone, which matches with the dark lighting to show that something has gone wrong. There is a mid shot of the couple arguing and then a long shot of the girl leaving, which continues to portray the darkened mood and atmosphere. Then there is jump cuts that go back to the previous shots of when the two characters were at a much more positive stage in life.

Towards the ending of the film there are long shots of the boy on his own, which suggests he is feeling lonely and a sense of sadness as the boy’s voice also changes tone throughout the voiceover. The use of editing as the shot fades out into a shot of the boy typing on his computer suggests it has been a long while since the two separated. The close up of the message being typed reveals that even though it has been a while his feelings have still remained the same. As the camera pans out of the boy on the computer we can see there is a lot of the colour white seen within the room, which has connotations of emptiness. This could also symbolize his life without the girl and how she is a part of him that will always be missing. The titles of the film were left until the very end of the film and photos and videos of the couple were seen behind the titles to make the audience sympathise with the character throughout until the end.