Analysis of short films

I have watched short films from Cinema 16 to get an idea of the content and how short films are made. These films do not necessarily have the same genre as the film I intend to make but it will give me greater experience in short films which will help build and develop ideas for my own film.

Cinema 16:

Joyride by Jim Gillespie (1995)
The director of this film, Jim Gillespie went on to make the film "I know what you didlast summer".

Content: An electrician leaves a job which he hasn't worked on and plans to go home. On his way he stops because there is an animal in the road and he gets hit over the head with an axe and gets kidnapped and is put in the boot of the car. Police pull the car over and the man in the boot starts banging and shouting to inform them of his presence but before the police can rescue him, the kidnapper murders the police then drives off. Later, the kinapper crashes the car and the kidnapped man manages to get out who is covered in petrol/ oil, the location at this point is back to the beginning where he'd left the job unfinished. The kidnapped man is standing with the police and a spark comes down from the powerplant and he is set alight and dies.

How it is made:
The main focus of the short film is the driving which uses a pan shot. Based upon my ideas for my film, I do not believe that I am going to use any features from this film in my own creation.


Where's the money Ronnie! by Shane Meadows
Content:
This film is about a group of men who have been involved in a crime and steal money. Following the offense, the men get questioned by the police. In this scene, the police men cannot be seen and the film has been edited so that the men narrate the story based on the information that they give to the police. This is a feature that I really like and would want to recreate a similar interview style in my own film.


I have also looked at:
Epilog by Tom Tykwer (1992)
Epilog has a slight surreal feel to the film as it is a flashback to the events that have happened and then give the actual events of what happened. I like how this is done and I may be able to use this style for my own film. I could use this idea combined with the interview scene to give a greater insight into the plot.

Eight by Stephen Daldry (1998)
This is a film set in Liverpool. The story is about a young boy who is dealing with the death of his father and coping through football. With the ideas that I have had for my film, I do not believe I can take anything from this film as an influence.


Next I have used Youtube to find short films with a similar genre to the film which I will be making to get an idea of the conventions used for a thriller film. I intentionally researched films of a similiar length to the one I will be making.

Prank Call
(Duration 5:54)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0ooByDtAwM

Content:
Prank Call is about a man who has got his victim tied up, he unties her and circles her. He hands her a phone and tells her to call somebody close who cares about her to prank call. He takes photos and laughs and walks around her, he then tells her to leave and she picks up a gun then shoots him.

How it has been made:
Opening sequence: Dialogue with the sound of phone keypad tones to match the content/title. Music plays and the camera pans around the room followed by a closeup of the victims hands which are tied up. There are many close ups of the victims face and the man which forces the audience where to look for effect. The colour of the scene is dark and the girl is in a lighter area which emphasises her. The closing sequence compliments the opening by displaying a similar dialogue for the definiton of a serial killer.


Bon Voyage!
(Duration 4:38)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Nk1qkr_4M

Content:
Bon Voyage! is a film which follows a teenage male who is hallucinating after taking some magic mushrooms. We see the hallucinations he is having. He is frantically moving around the house to avoid the character which is following him, he picks up a shotgun but turns around and the character has gone. We understand the situation of the male when he passes a television which is showing the news and reveals the story about the magic mushrooms and the hallucinations.

How it has been made:
Opening: Bon Voyage! begins with the name of a production company and a close up of the males car.
Camera: There are many close up camera angles as the male leaves his car, enters his house and puts his keys down. Many of the shots are medium/ close ups.
Music:
Colouring: very dark, black/white contract
Closing sequence: ends with the credits.

Slapen
(Duration 5:50 mins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLw0Aew1NAI&feature=related

Content:
In Slapen, a woman is on the floor who is quite frantic, she is laying over a dead body and is crying and trying to cover her wounds. The daughter comes in and the mum speaks to her in a foreign language then takes her out of the room and her teddy gets droped on the floor. The daughter picks up the teddy and cradles over the dead body and reaches for something beneath the sheet covering the dead body and gets injured. The mum then comes in and cradles her daughter and begins crying, a neighbour comes over to offer comfort and then sees the deas body behind the mum, he looks shocked when he realises that it is a dead body and the mum picks up a large rock and the scene goes blank which suggests that she strikes him with the rock and kills him.

How it has been made:
Opening: Mist over the moon which shows the title of the film, then goes straight into the action.
Camera shots: Low shots and close up.
Music: low tone, violin strings
Colours: The colour are very dark, contrast between black and white.
Closing shots: The shot goes black and after a few seconds the cast listing appears.


What I have learnt from this task?
This tasl has been very beneficical to my research because it is good to see many other short films to get an idea of features and conventions that have been used and to see if there are any that I can use. Also, by looking at a range of films, I am able to see aspects that I do not want in my own film which will help elliminate ideas. From this, I have liked the interview in "Where's the money Ronnie!" which has given me good ideas for my own film which I am likely to adapt to my own film.