Short Film Research- DoodleBug

Camera shots
Throughout this short film the pan shot is often used, this is very interesting as it gives the audience a sense of how diverse the single character's personality is. Perhaps this is a purposeful metaphor to how the many different sizes of himself who are chasing one another are stronger as well as weaker the the one below and above himself. Although by arcing round the character we are forced to not only focus upon the emotions he is clearly feeling, but also the persona of the man, we do not need to be told that the man is weak and confused, rather through his feeble body and poor posture we can connote these attributes. In relation to this, the use of high angle shots also pushes a feeling of weakness from the man, this also emphasises the feeling if the larger and smaller versions of the man being continually above him.

Editing
The very original, climactic ending to this short thriller is one that relies upon simple editing skills, having said that i think the simple editing maybe its draw back. However, this short film is nearly 20 years old, and the software to edit with has improved dramatically since then and thus the quality of this film at the time is very good.
The title scene to this film uses the two O's in the word doodlebug as the eyes for the main, and only character in this film, this then fades into the first shot of the piece, this editing technique is a seamless way to enter the film.

Mise En Scene + Sound

Taking place in an undesirable apartment, Nolan sets the mood with sounds. The clock ticks, the alarm goes off, the phone rings. Each time, the man ignores these distractions and focuses on getting rid of the foreign object running around in the room. It turns out that the "bug" is the man displaced a few seconds--every time the man kills the "bug" he is in turn killed.
There are many interpretations of this, but to me the essence of Doodlebug is that by attempting to establish control over other things and eliminating influences (killing the bug, throwing the phone in the water), the man is sacrificing control of himself.