Textual analysis of Leeroy Jenkins

I've spent a lot of time analysing these short films and I've purposely tried to use five films with very different features, genres and themes in order to form more of an idea about what type of film I would like to make. For my final analysis I am looking at a film that is based on a viral video called Leeroy Jenkins. But before I talk about the sort film it may help to explain the origins of the story. 

Background information
The original video has amassed over thirty one thousand views on Youtube since being uploaded in 2006. The three minute long video is footage of game play from the online multiplayer game World of Warcraft. In the video a group of players are concocting a very detailed battle plan whilst one of the group (Leeroy) is away from their computer. Leeroy returns  and oblivious to the proposed strategy he storms into the battle roaring his own name. In doing so he jeopardises the attack causing the whole team to die in battle much to the annoyance of the other players.

This short film takes that situation and characters and applies it to a real world situation.

Title: Leeroy Jenkins: Reimagined as a short film
Diraector: Finn O'Hara

Narrative
In this short film four characters are undercover outside a bank planning a heist. Leeroy, disguised as a hot dog vendor is asked by a member of the public for a hot dog, not wanting to break cover revealing he isn't actually who he is posing to be Leeroy serves her. As he does this he drops his walkie talkie (his only means of communication with the other three) into some water, causing it to malfunction. Jamaal, Ritter and Abdhul are discussing the plan whilst Leeroy serves this woman and is attempting to fish out his walkie talkie from the water. When he finally retrieves it it's not working properly and only emits some of what his accomplices are saying. Leeroy hears the word "Go" thinking it was a signal to move when in reality it was part of Jamaal saying that he would go in first. Leeroy pulls a balaclava over his face and as he runs past the two security guards and lets out an almighty battle cry, screaming his name he enters the bank and alarms go off. The other three guys can't quite believe what he has done and leave the scene.

Characters
I'm going to split the numerous characters up into three groups to analyse: the gang, the others and then there's also Leeroy, he is a group of his own.

The gang
 This group consists of three characters: Jamaal, Abduhl and Ritter. These are the men who along with Leeroy are planning to rob the bank.

• Jamaal - Jamaal is the ring leader organising the heist, he is instructing the others through his walkie talkie making sure they have everything and know everything they need to for the plan to work. This character is out of sight on a rooftop all dressed in black - a typical representation of what you would expect a bank robber to look like.

• Ritter - Dressed as a street sweeper he is undercover on the street. Not only is he in place ready for action he responds to Jamaal and is attentive to the job in hand. 

• Abduhl - Dressed as an electrician working outside the bank he also is the one in the group who works out a success rate, showing he is a useful member of the team. 

Leeroy

From the start the audience can tell even without any prior knowledge that this character may be the downfall of the team. He is presented as unprofessional though his costume, from the first shot if him panning upwards we see his shirt is too small exposing his stomach. Unlike the others he has to reach for his walkie talkie rather than having it as part of his outfit and within hearing distance. He also has an overly excitable expression on his face as he responds to Jamaal. 

Leeroy could be identified as the antagonist in the film as he is the character who disrupts the plan, albeit in an unconventional way is at was not his intention to do so. 

Other characters

The guards are the authority figures in the film which the robbers need to overcome to ensure the robbery is successful. They represent law and order and also power in the film as they are what will ultimately ruin the plan if it were to go wrong. 

The over the shoulder/two shot shows one of the security guards facial expressions and feelings towards Leeroy running into the bank, he is less thank impressed. The guards don't even bother chasing after him because they can tell how unplanned and laughable his attempt at robbery is. 

Finally there is the woman who orders a hot dog from Leeroy, believing he is a real vendor. She is a very minor character only featuring in one shot but her involvement results in the failure of the plan: because she talks to Leeroy he accidentally knocks his walkie talkie into the water causing it to malfunction. There is nothing particularly eye-catching about her, she is a passer-by dressed in everyday clothes. 

Locations

The film take place in a typical city street, with the characters stationed at different points. Jamaal is on a rooftop overlooking the street whilst the other members of the gang are at their designated undercover spots at ground level. The location as a whole looks very grey, the lighting is quite low-key. This reflects similar films particularly of the action and thriller genres.
Having one location but making it an intricate one with multiple levels reflects the amount of planning the characters have undergone within the narrative, it shows how well thought out the plan was. 

Cinematography

• Lots of camera movement - Not many of the shots are completely steady, this give the impression that the filming was done under over. Of course, it wasn't as this is a planned film with actors, but it reflects the undercover nature of the characters within the story. 

• Half in focus shots & Concealed action - Similarly to the unsteady shots these shots also reflect the fact that the characters are undercover. This shot depicts what Jamaal is looking at and in turn showing that he is hidden from the view of the guards. 

Similarly as Ritter is making his 'casual' exit half the shot consists of an out of focus wall or drainpipe (I can't quite tell) again obscuring the view of the character keeping with the theme of being undercover.

• Close ups - Close up shots are used of the characters face to show their emotions. In this film a side on close up of Jamaals face is the final shot, this amplifies to the audience his disappointment along with his disbelief over what Leeroy has just done. 

Editing

• Eyeline match - The eyeline match is a continuity technique used to show what characters are looking at. In this sequence Jamaal is shown looking through some binoculars and the following shots shows the audiene just what he sees. This technique along with other continuity techniques helps the narrative flow and the film appear continuous to the audience. 

•  Quick cuts - When Leeroy runs towards the bank letting out his battle cry lots of quick cuts are used and the shots don't last more than a second. This conveys the pace of the action to the audience along with perhaps the confusion of the other characters. 

• Slow cuts - Slow cuts and shots that last longer are also used in the film, again they show the pace of the action but instead it being fast (like when Leeroy is running) it conveys a much slower pace. The leisurely speed of the shots reflects the time taken to plan the heist and the amount of thought and planning required to pull it off. 

Sound

Subtle non-diegetic backing music is present throughout the film. Its very similar to the type of music featured in spy films: it's not melodic and features mainly percussion instruments. The music starts out barely audible and quite slow but gains speed as the film goes and the plan is constructed before becoming silent as Leeroy enters the bank. At that point the alarm sounds. As the other characters leave the scene similar but differing music starts up again accompanied by diegetic police siren sound effects.

Titles
The only titles in the film appear at the start and do not include anyone other than the director Finn O'Hara. This is followed by information on the video: "(Finn O'Hara) Took a viral video and turned it into a short film" and then the title. These minimal titles do not detract focus from the film but at the same time failing to follow such conventions seems a bit unprofessional to me. Not only that is seems a bit self indulgent, creating the impression that only the director created the film when it took a whole team of people to make.

My thoughts
This short film primarily appealed to me because it was based on the viral video but it turns out it was a good short film by itself. It was well made and appears to be well thought out..  I'm not sure the genre really appeals to me as something I would like to make, although it was successfully done here I think making a spy/thriller type film would prove difficult for me. This comes down to one main reason: it would be really hard to make it look genuine. Failing to make it realistic would result in it being unintentionally laughable, which quite frankly would be a disaster.