Chloë's Short Film Analysis #2: My Beast Friend

• My Beast Friend is a 2 minute comedy by Ewan Torrance, made in 2009. Its simply about a foul mouthed cat whose owner, who can talk to him as if he wear a human, tries to get rid of, only to have his plan foiled by his new girlfriend.

My Beast Friend film

• This film uses the comedic style to perfection. Having a fully grown man in a cat suit makes the film funny for all audiences. Its 'out of the box' apparel appeals to the humour of many people.

•  The film is a full story in its own right. It has a set beginning middle and end with a clear to follow linear plot. This allows the comedy to flow, especially at the end, where the cat is cut off from swearing with a sharp, straight cut which takes you to the credits.

• The sound used in simple yet it aids the comedy of the film. The opening titles are accompanied by the non digetic into to a indie pop song, which fades out slowly as the digetic dialogue starts. This soundtrack is used again over the end credits to tie the film together.

•  As the director uses a real cat as well as the man in the cat suit, there are a few, clever uses of match on action. One of the best is seen when the the female character picks up the real cat, and once the camera has panned up her body, the audience can see that it is now the man in the cat suit. Another example is when the female character leans in to tickle the cat then cuts to show her tickling the man in the suit. The setting in entirely naturalistic, as are the male and female protagonists costume, makeup and props. The only item in the whole of the film that breaks the naturalistic form is the man in the cat suit. However this fits with the comedic style. Plenty of CU are used to she the emotions on the characters faces, and to also aid the humour of the man in the cat suit. 

• The theme of this film is simply comedy. The cat breaks the stereotypical mould of a cat by being fouled mouthed with human characteristics.