The short opens with a burst of infamous static TV effect with the title overlayed on top. We had hoped this would induce a feeling of suspense and discomfort in the audience, but not to an extreme extent as it is something that nigh every person is very familiar with.
The opening shot is a short pan from right to left of the
set. This cuts to a POV cam of someone walking down the path. We did this to
both set the scene and to give a very domestic atmosphere, hence why both shots are at head level height looking straight. We didn’t want to
give an impressive and ominous atmosphere but a much more casual air.
From here the camera cuts to a close up of someone on their phone, which in turn then cuts to an extreme close up/eye-line match of the contents on the phone screen. After this the scene cuts to a close up from behind a different character.
The comedic short "A TV Movie" is about a TV trying to watch something. The setting does wonders to get across it's casual homey feeling with the placement of familiar items associated with comfort such as sofas, pot plants and a blanket. This combined with the bright lighting and the almost silly sound effects (a touch reminiscent of the old Wallace and Gromit animations) goes to really push the short's easy going nature.
This brings me to the animation. The animation is generally smooth and does a good job of giving the TV life. It doesn't feel static and there aren't many moments when something isn't moving. It's a bit jittery but to a forgivable level and is possibly an intentional design as it is similar to 1990s stop motion animations that aired on TV, which thanks to the furniture and TV, may be implied when this is set.
The camera angles, whilst nothing amazing, are solid choices which suits the narrative well. Most of them are shot from slightly above or on equal level with the TV in such a way where we can see the setting well, can see the TV well and avoid making the TV appear insignificant or ominous. Most of the transitions are quick cuts to different shots which helps exaggerate the effect of the fade out to the blue sky towards the end. This contrast adds weight to the eventual "big reveal."
The moral message of this piece is very simply conveyed in an unpretentious manner. The message of "don't always watch TV" is a cliche one but the short manages to somewhat circumvent said cliche but adding in the irony of it being a TV watching people. This mirror reversal of the situation brings in a comedic touch which, as stated before, helps prevent the moral message from being too cliche.
