Jenna Fontaine- "Black Button"

I watched the short film "Black Button." The story tells itself, although the old man sets everything in motion by telling the young man his options and persuading him to make a decision. The old man tells the confused young man that he can either take a key and leave or, in exchange for a life, press a black button and receive 10 million dollars. The old man pressures the young man into pressing the button. The old man then tells the young man that it is his own life that he took. The viewers supply the suspense gained throughout the film. The viewer also provides the information that judgment of the young man is occurring when the old man explains the options.
Time starts after an event that led the young man to be in the white room. Time flows in order from then until the young man is told about how he came to be there. Then there is a flashback of the young man getting into a fatal car accident. It then jumps back to the young man in disbelief. I think it is formalistic because of the emphasis on the interesting way they show the white room along with the young man in a white shirt. It is also interesting how the white becomes tainted with the blood of the young man. I would say this short film is under the genre of fantasy and suspense. The setting of the film in the white room acts as fantasy. The tone of the old man and the choosing of the young man between the button and the key add suspense.

It says about social context that anyone at any time can die and that they will all end up at this time of judgment. It says about the time period it was created in that there are many more possibilities of dying with all of the cars on the road, and that with advances in technology, the film looks much more surreal. The film involves the mythological aspect of being judged after death to go to heaven or hell. It also involves the human trait of choosing between right and wrong.