Short Film analysis

Film: The offering - A father and son travel deep into the woods to make an offering to a mysterious force, but soon realise a key element is missing.

This is the opening sequence for the film. The lighting of this sequence is very dark giving a ambiguous effect as what is shown on screen inst very clear for the audience. With only the car headlights and outlines of a few trees being seen with the rest of the shot being enveloped by darkness.  This already conveys that the genre of this film is horror as darkness and the unknown is one of the main themes in horror.

The next shot shows a man that looks  like he is in his mid 20's driving the car in the earlier shot. His face looks weary and anxious like he is anticipating or preparing himself for something ahead. The sound and music is very subtle and sounds atmospheric which i think is used to create slight tension within the scene. The narrative is restrictive as the audience does not not what is going to happen in the scenes ahead and only speculation as to what could. This fits to the horror genre as the film doesn't want people to know what is going to happen as if they did fear and tension would be lost. The camera then cuts to another character who looks older than the one driving and looks tired and agitated.

The next couple of shots is of is of the pair of characters in the car with a few exterior shots of the car driving in the woods. The pair begin to argue as the older character forgot the "meat"  and the younger character stops the car to a halt building tension between the two.


There is a long shot from outside the car which now shows that it is snowing and there is a layer of snow on the ground. This implies that the season is winter which explains why the characters are wearing large coats. This weather adds to the atmosphere as it can alter the characters movement but also contrast against the darkness of the woods.

The same long shot is then used but this time the younger character can be seen with a bowl walking towards the tree stump and kneeling down besides it. The weather has gotten heaver and the headlights of the car illuminate the path. The young character begins to speak saying that it was a "mistake" and a low grumbling can be heard. This add more to the omniscience of the story as the audience do not no where this sounds is coming from which may represent how the characters feel too.

The next few shots show the characters struggling to open the door as he tries to get back in the car in a panic however the older character has locked it unbeknown to the younger man. He places is hand on the window as he fails to open the door and the older character does the same  which implies that they may be father and son or related in some way as they show some compassion to each other even though he locked him out of the car.

The younger character then gets pulled off screen in an instant and the camera cuts back to outside of the car of the same long shot of the tree stump with the car begins it but this time with the older character knelling besides the stump. This implies that he feels guilt for what he has done as he caused his sons death by not oping the car for him so conveys that he cares more about his own safety more than others.

The character then goes back into the car and the camera cuts to a mid shot of just him sat in it with his face ridden with anguish and guilt for what he has just done. He then drives away and the credits roll with the long shot the tree stump. The same subtle music plays throughout the whole film and many things imply that it is horror which it is so i think it does well at what it intended to achieve which was keep many questions for what was happening unanswered as it leaves the audience talking and theorising after the film has come out.