Post 1 - Proffesional Short Film Research

Analysing professionally made short films



 

 
Tight Jeans - Destiny Ekharaga - UK - Light comedy - 2008

 

Expectations:
  • Linear Narrative
  • Jeans getting tighter on a person (linked to the name "Tight Jeans")
  • Multicultural cast (due to the name of the director)
  • Funny (Light comedy)
  • Female cast (most females like tight jeans)
Analysis:
  • Montage of outside setting
  • Multicultural
  • White man wearing light jeans - black men observing difference in culture
  • Strong mention of sex and reproduction within different cultures
  • constant movement of camera
  • Medium shots/close ups/wide shots
  • set in worn down housing estate - linked to the deprivation in black people
  • stereotypes within culture
  • Linear narrative


 

 
Arrival - Daniel Montanarini - UK - Drama/Monologue - 2016

 


Expectations:
  • Airport/house/workplace - waiting for something
  • The arrival of a person
  • Package letters
  • Baby/Pregnancy
  • linear narrative
  • moving shots
  • Wide shots/ medium shots
  • expressivce/dramatic
  • date scene
  • ordinary clothes
Analysis:
  • Café setting
  • Pregnancy
  • dieting for pregnancy/dismissive of it
  • Dark atmosphere
  • contrast of white clothing
  • one main actor
  • Internal monologue
  • Decision making
  • Train - Loud - realisation hits?
  • atmosphere changes to light - changing mind
  • Spilled coffee - changes order to decaf coffee - mind changing
  • Stationary shots



 
Operator - Caroline Bartleet - UK - Suspense - 2015

 

Expectations:
  • Thriller?
  • Possibility of something bad
  • One person cast
  • Being in control - manipulation?
  • professional setting
  • work clothing
  • Emergency department
Analysis:
  • Professional setting - fire department
  • Panic - dependency on the operator
  • Stress and emotional effect on operator
  • Order and control
  • Reassurance
  • Voice actor
  • Continuous suspense
  • Stationary shots/close ups on the actors face - showing emotion

The Fly - Jack Doolan - UK - Dark Comedy - 2014

 



Expectations:
  • Shocking
  • Slightly horror based
  • Plot twist
  • Context forgotten because of humour
  • Makes light of bad situations
  • Involves a fly
  • at least one actor
  • Dark atmosphere (dark comedy)
  • Killing a fly
  • Ordinary clothing
  • moving shots
  • wide shots/medium shots/ close ups
Analysis:
  • Set in a car - outside a bank
  • Robbery
  • Dark atmosphere
  • diegetic buzzing
  • Violent outbursts from character just to kill the fly (mental health? personality?)
  • Noise creates attention
  • Injury caused by the violent actions - taking it too far
  • Dark but average costume
  • SFX prosthetics used
  • Gun used (prop)
  • Police called
  • close ups/medium shots/wide shots of car

The Ellington Kid - Dan Sully - Social Realism - 2012







 

 

 
Expectations:

  •  Social realism - troubles within society
  • Quick paced (5 mins)
  • linear narrative
  • dark atmosphere
  • set in the streets
  • dark costume
  • medium shots/wide shots
  • limited lighting
  • fast character movement
  • lots of expression

 
Analysis:
  • Close ups
  • montage shots
  • medium shots
  • dialogue over narrative
  • non-linear
  • shock factor
  • plot twist
  • outside and inside settings
  • dark costumes that conceal vs light costumes that reveal
  • violence
  • wide shots
  • dark vs light





 
Echo - Lewis Arnold - UK - Personal Interest/True Story - 2011

 

 

 


 

 
Expectations:
  • Presence of an echo
  • cave?
  •  Multi-gender cast
  • loneliness
  • close ups/medium shots
  • True story - shocking
  • personal
  • small cast
  • lack of music
Analysis:
  •  Mostly female cast
  • set in the streets
  • everyday costume
  • wide/medium shots
  • natural lighting
  • diegetic sounds
  • dialogue
  • Everyday makeup


Slap - Nick Rowland - UK - Coming-of-Age - 2015




 

Expectations:
 
  • Coming-of-Age - celebration
  • responsibility
  • fighting? ( "slap")
  • male cast
  • small cast
  • set in a realistic setting (small town/house)
  • teen/young adult cast
  • natural lighting
  • long/medium shots
  • lots of camera movement
  • non-linear narrative
  • diegetic sound
Analysis:
  • close ups
  • medium shots
  • make up on male character
  • concealing identity/forced into being someone their not
  • medium shots
  • wide shots
  • set inside
  • boxing ring
  • female clothing
  • masculinity vs femininity
  • problem arises
  • character has to face the problem
  • Over the shoulder shots
  • diegetic music


 
Over - Jorn Threlfall - UK - Real Life Crime - 2015

 
 

Expectations:
  • Crime - suspense, mystery
  • Set in the streets/crime scene
  • Young adult cast
  • diegetic sound
  • linear narrative
  • mostly male cast
  • dark atmosphere
  • small cast
  • medium shots/wide shots
  • violence
  

Analysis:
  • Dark, EXT, street, middle class neighbourhood
  • timings on screen going backwards in each scene
  • car prop
  • 2 people male and female
  • No music
  • diegetic sound
  • non-linear narrative - going backwards
  • close up of flowers
  • cleaning the road
  • long shots
  • close up of blood being cleaned from road
  • towing car away - 5 people in scene
  • still shots
  • shoes/coat/trousers in forensics bags
  • picture shots
  • body in bag being wheeled away - 10 characters in scene
  • gloves/torch/10p coin in forensics bags
  • examination of body in a white marquee - 14 characters in scene
  • phone/sweets/blood on tissue in police bags
  • tracking shot of police man
  • diegetic sirens
  • body on floor
  • overview of forensics bags, some seen already
  • body on floor without police - 6 characters on scene
  • man with dog finds body
  • picture of family in forensics bag - close up
  • long pause before body falls from sky and onto car
  • alarming - crash and car alarm
  • Aeroplane flies past
  • summary of the true story





Doodle bug - Christopher Nolan - 1997 - UK - fantasy/mystery




Expectations:
  • black and white - old timey
  • mystery - confusion, suspense?
  • doodlebug - bug, trying to kill a bug?
  • inside location, in a room
  • contrast lighting
  • single person cast
  • close ups/wide shots
  • male cast





Analysis:
  • black and white
  • Small room, dirty and plain
  • single person cast
  • white tank top and black trousers
  • slow movement followed by quick, frantic movements
  • tracking/moving shots
  • shoe, phone and clock prop
  • worms eye shots
  • close ups
  • second, smaller version of the main actor
  • larger version of the main character








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