The Black Hole

The Black Hole is a short film directed by Olly Williams and Phil Sansom that offers a portrait of temptation and greed from a humorous point of view.

The film is staged in an office environment and features one character with an external conflict. An unexpected plot point gives the directors a great setup to test and play with the behavior of an office worker (performed by Napoleon Ryan) while he is left alone and unobserved.

The Black Hole uses desaturated colors to transmit the emotional state of the office worker and his dull, repetitive job, as does his initial performance and characterization. The excitement brought by the discovery of the supernatural element leads the main character to become more energetic and expressive.

Visual rhythm in the short is handled mostly through fast cutting and motion within the frame. When the office worker enters the room where the safe is located, visual rhythm increases, with more frequent use of camera moves, in line with the character’s excitement as he steals the money from the safe. Medium shots and close-ups are employed frequently to transmit the expressions and emotional changes of the character. Sound plays an important role, it is used for expressive effect and to help create a supernatural element in the perception of the audience out of common daily office items.

An external conflict shows up towards the end of the film, as the main character ends up imprisoned in the safe.

What makes it work so well? Surprise, humor, supernatural elements, a creative script and a great portrait of how human beings can lose control in the face of temptation.

The Black Hole is a good example of how a great film can be made with a few elements and little resources when there is creativity.