Short Films Research

Here I have complied a few of my favouite short films which I have reviewed, analysed and commented on.

• Animated (Digitally)

Feast is the story of a romance told through a stray dog and the food he eats. The lack of dialogue is not a detriment to the film, rather than an asset to the sense of realism, despite the animation  the verisimilitude is strong throughout the storyline. As this is a Disney short film the budget would have been a lot higher and others in its range,and this money has been used effectively to create a story that is engaging to both genders, and to multiple age ranges. The style of animation and character used is very characteristically Disney and therefore links the film inconstricabley to them. Because of the lack of dialogue the rest of the soundtrack including score and sound effects was very important t get right. Fortunately Disney's skilled sound designers have done it again and have produced an emotive and effective sound track to compliment the other features of the film. As the film's main character is the Dog the camera shots are often of the lower half of his human companions. Despite this being a strange choice, it works well within the context of the film.And it is varied when the dog is on top of various pieces of furniture. The pacing is well constructed and is kept up throughout the film.  Overall the use of the main character being the dog to engage audience is effective, and emotive narrative produces a positive emotional response in the audience. 9/10

• Spanish

"The Most Beautiful Thing" is a film about a mute girl, and the lonely boy who brought her out of her shell. The story is heartwarming and emotional, and the character development within the 10 minute film is extraordinary. The plot was believable and kept the audience within the diegesis. It was a amateur film, with a reasonable budget, but it looked like it was shot professionally as it was so flawlessly done. The camera work and editing while basic, did the necessary job and effectively created a realistic diagnosis. This was helped by the really good acting from the two main leads, both of their characters felt real and emotionally complex. While set at a stereotypical student film location, a university, it provided a good back drop to the centre action of the film. The music and soundtrack were put together really well as it was in the limelight due to the lack of dialogue. The high key lighting, while easy to achieve was consistent throughout. The pacing kept up through out, through use of montages. Overall I was pretty impressed with the film, and even though it wasn't my favourite genre it managed to keep me engaged and interested thought. 6/10

• Low budget indie 

In REC the protagonist finds himself in the middle of a war zone, and in a attempt to survive he forms an unstable alliance. Although I liked the film I found it difficult to remain with the diegesis as a viewer due to the lack in continuity, mise en scene, and attention to detail. Unfortunately the real world slipped through the cracks and showed throughout the film. For example I thought it was nice of the terrorists to take off their shoes before breaking into a house. The extreme low budget was obviously a set back, resulting in amateur cast and crew and limiting the film from what it could have been. Having said that the sound and visual effects were really believable and effective, and were one of the films best features in my opinion.  However it lacks some of the most basic things that carry an film to be believe able to keep the audience in the diegesis. Although I liked the soundtrack, on closer inspection it seems to have been ripped from the popular TV show lost. This disregard for copyright won't with stand once these filmmakers enter the professional film world. I actually really liked the plot, and I think it was let down by some shoddy acting. More emphasis was really needed on locations, costume, and make up, but very realistic looking props were used. Some clever shots were used, I especially  like the very first and last shots. Overall, I thought that although this film had a clever plot, it was outweighed by mistakes and cracks in the diegesis. 3/10

• University Student Made
 

Identity is about a brave girl who encounters the truth that sets her free from living in a world where everybody wears masks due to their lack of self-identity. While the film is largely metaphorical and symbolic the basic storyline still makes sense. The self discovery of the little girl is the main point of the film and her character arc is what drives the narrative. The use of reversing the footage is effective as an intriguing opening to the film. The telling of her backstory through the pictures in her notebook is very effective too. The film has a lot of weight in just 5 minuets. However, the high school kid is clearly an adult when she takes her mask of, this unfortunately takes the audience out of the diegesis and kinda ruins the film for me. Apart from that the casting is really good as the acting is well executed even in the emotional scenes. The backdrop of the school, while stereotypical, fits the character and plot. The masks were very strong in terms of symbolism and I think they were a good idea that was well executed. The soundtrack is strong, and was a driving force behind the narrative. Clearly some clever film making, and I think the crew will go on to do great things. The message pf the film is clear.  Don't let society define your Identity, or to tell you who you have to be. The truth is already inside of you. Don't lose who you are. Overall I really liked it but I think it was let down by a couple points. 5/10

• Fantasy/ Not of this world (Only the trailer can be viewed online without paying)
 
In the distant future, the world is blanketed in a dense man-made fog. In this post apocalyptic world, a father and his son build a flying machine to try and get above the clouds to escape their daily struggle to survive on the ground. But the son, Blue, is wearied by a lifetime of unfulfilled promises and has lost faith in his father, Gideon,'s crazy dream. Their flying attempts are becoming too dangerous and he is sure there is nothing but cloud in the sky. So Blue hatches a plan to keep his father on the ground, but their differing ideologies threaten to break them apart as a family. Made by a National Film and Television School student while studying at the school. It was nominated for 3 different prestigious awards, and rightly so as its wonderful mis en scene and use of language gives it its uplifting feel. Its use of miniatures intermixed with the life action filmed on a stage and on location.
The character arcs are well paced, heartwarmingly inspirational. The unique use of language connotes that this setting is not of this world, and provides a unique aspect to the film through its made up colloquialisms. The sepia, saturated colour correction gives the film a dream like feel to great effect.  Finding good child actor is no easy feat, however the crew seem to have done a amazing job casting for both the characters. The acting made the strange setting of the film seem real through the human emotion displayed. The art direction was pretty flawless in creating a believable world unlike one are know and transporting the audience there as a set on a stage. There are virtually no wide shots, the concept of the world with dense fog everywhere wouldn't allow for establishing shot. But this is more than made up for during the dream like sequence above the clouds. Overall I think its pretty clear that I'm singing this film's praises, and well deserved too in my opinion! 9/10


• Award Winning 

Father and Daughter is a 2000 Dutch animated short film, made by Michaël Dudok de Wit. It won the 2000 Academy Award for Animated Short Film.The film also received over 20 awards and 1 nomination and is considered the most successful in the series of works by Michaël. It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows. The music is really annoying but it fits the genre of the film, and was clearly composted to and for the film as it perfectly fits throughout.  The symbolism of the bike/ wheels/ and boat is tastefully used and creates an emotive and deep meaning to the film. The use of black and white is effective, and of corse this is because of the way it was made but it gives the film an extra dimension. The change in style of animation changes up the film and maintains audiences interest. For me the film is too slow moving. The film noir style adds shadow and depth to the otherwise plain visuals. The happy ending created emotion and fulfilment within the audience. The high budget allowed the filmmakers to craft their diegesis with the skill and time it needed. The varied range of camera shots mixed up the film and kept it interesting for the audience. Overall, while clearly a well made film, the very slow pacing let the film down and didn't keep me interested throughout. 2/10

• Surrealism


Stanley's life runs like clockwork until a mysterious girl turns his world upside down, is the tagline of the film, which I feel is quite cleverly written as it sound like a regular romance film, but when you watch the film you realise that while the statement is true it is so far from it. This tag line, like the film kind of leads you down a path and then pulls the rug from under your feet but in the most heartfelt way. This is a refreshing animated short that will entwine you into the mysterious life of the main character. An exploration into a fantastic art direction with an abundant burst of colour and texture that compliment an already brimming story. The film catches you by surprise right from the start using an unusual filmmaking technique. Pixilation is the art of animating people using stop-motion instead of puppets or clay, a very challenging thing to create, but if perfected can give you a surreal sense that is impossible to find in regular film. Vicky Mather created the film with a still photo camera on two sets and two locations at the NFTS. The approach to Stanley Pickle was to make a film which was technically challenging, with strong art direction, and most importantly a clear and heartfelt narrative. The story line is rather unusual and imaginative, even a little creepy, but it raises heartfelt issues that are brilliantly exposed through pixilation. The same narrative would probably not be as wistful if it was filmed regularly, and not as credible if it was a claymation or cartoon animation. Her use of markedly dark comedy lightens the mood in the rigid but colourful clockwork characters.Aside from the excellent use of camera the other things that stood out for me where the set design, the careful mise en scene, the and editing. The acting was faultless, which is good because the film really needed it to bring the narrative to life due to the strange shooting style. The overall film is very effective and is one that I don't think I will forget for a long time thanks to its unique shooting style. 8/10




Documentary 
In "A place Like This" a war veteran explains some of the experiences he had during the war and how they lead to him creating his garden that he loves so much. The film's very low budget but that didn't seem to matter as it was still very well made. The story was unexpected, as the title doesn't elude to the main focus of the film, but it was touching and uplifting despite this. However the sound design was annoying, they needed more nature and less weird gong noise in the background. Having said this the audio of the dialogue and nature sounds were very well recorded and put together nicely. The camera work was visually very nice, even if the shots were quite basic.  The editing put the film to ether well with good pacing. Overall, a very nice gentle film, but for me it the link between the garden and the war story seemed forced and unnatural and lowered the standard of the nicely shot documentary.  5/10




"Youtuber Professional"
This short drama last 9 minutes and was published on the 14th May 2015. The director and writer is Seth Worley. This short film is about a man named Elwood Holler who, after a brief glimpse into the great beyond from nearly dying, can’t give up on life. No matter how hard he tries. It is rated at 8.3/10 stars on IMDB. The start of the film opens with suggested viewing age of 13+, on a black background. This could suggest some dark features in the film or to simply make the writing stand out, be bold. It is shown though a quick fade and we see this for about 4 seconds. The fact that they state ‘13+’ clearly tells us that their target audience are people aged 13 and over, this to me suggests that the nature of this film is not too shocking. The films next shot is of a production called ‘Triune Films’. The colours have changed brighter and calmer. I found that the way they introduced their production logo really interesting because it was zoomed into from a green dot and then it almost jumps out and back in again and the triangle is then drawn with the production name with it. After that the logo starts to become darker and smaller and then eventually fades into the shape of the sun which is graphic match.

The amazing thing about this short film, is that in theory it should be completely depressing. But it isn't, its facetiously funny. Its about a man who keeps on trying to kill himself but no matter what, just keeps failing at it. This juxtaposition of its concept and outcome creates an amazingly member able and effective short film. It had to be extremely well written to keep the balance on the fine line between the theme of suicide and its comedic tendencies. Being a relatively low budget short film presented challenges in its creation as the crew were not able to make and do some of the things they wanted to. The cast and crew were made up of entirely professionals, but were small business local based people. The acting though was seamless, and as a audience I entity bought into the character and his plight. The  bleak setting perfectly fit the tone of the film. The desaturated colour correction also contributes to these feelings. The camera work was very expertly pulled off, with sophisticated looking techniques and visuals. The high end cameras used, were used very effectively. The pace of the film was kept up though out, and left not dull slow moments and spaced out the different acts with precision. I expected to love this film as I have never yet been let down by Film Riot or their associates film's. As I thought I would I did thoroughly enjoy and engage with the creative and thought provoking film. 9/10




Stop Frame Animation (This one is a personal favourite of mine)
Butterfly is a film about a man trying to overcome and find closure after his brothers death. The stop frame animation was made painstakingly over the course of 5 years. The labour of love shows in its quality. Each frame is a complete masterpiece, as each has been hand crafted to be perfect. The gripping storyline makes your heart wrench as you empathise with main character and his plight to get closure after his brothers death. This feeling of companionship with the desperate main character keeps the audience on the edge of their seat throughout this slightly longer than usual short film. The lack of dialogue in the film except from the two brothers interaction clearly shows that this scene is a pivotal part and moment within the narrative. The character arc and development is the main focus point of the film, and was effectively used as a plot devise. The film was reasonably high budget, considering the writer/ director/ producer was fresh out of a MA Film degree when he started. This lack of experience however is not evident in his work as the whole piece skill full made and feels very professional. The voice acting is superb and in combination with the excellent model making the characters feel flawlessly human, despite being caricatures made from modelling clay. The sound design was less noticeable to me than the visuals, however they were very competently constructed to compliment the other aspects of the film. Overall, I loved this film and felt very touched by its message and loved its visual construction. For me it deserves a 10/10 rating.