Short Film Research

Shame By Tom Geens

• There is a voiceover throughout the film, the main character narrating about her situation.
• There is a range of camera angles used, from a long shot to establish the setting and a close up of her face to show her emotions but it as ironic as she is covering up her face with her hands because she is ashamed of her big hands.
• There is a twist ending which is a common convention in short films. Her mother has put her in a cage because of her big hands.

Coin Bandit

• A mix of real-life and animation. In this first scene they both work together simultaneously, when the umbrella turns inside out to collect the water for example.
• Use of non-diegetic musics is in time with the pace and feel of the film and because the film is shorter than two minutes it uses the same song throughout.

10 Seconds by Tim Clague

• The set is very minimalistic, just three walls and the camera shoots straight on almost most of the time.
• There is hardly any dialogue in the film, instead there is a voiceover throughout; the character talking about his situation.
• There is a overlay transition effect in the film, where the characters eyes help identify his talent for seeing 10 seconds into the future.

A Fairytale of Forgotten things by Toby Meakins

• Again like quite alot of the short films I've watched this film consists of a voiceover throughout the duration of the film but in this film the voiceover is a whisper.
• The shots stay in the frame for a long period of time for example the medium-long shot where the man is standing against the doorframe.
• The opening of the film is a panning shot of objects in the table with non-diegetic sounds coming in to add to the dramatic effect. Then the voiceover comes in shortly after.

A Warm Welcome by Will West

• It starts off in black with the titles in white then gradually fades into the opening shot which is a long shot of a field with a car driving towards the house in the background.
• The non-diegetic music fits into the setting of the film, it is folk, country guitar music which fits into the genre of the film.
• The converstaion between the two men uses the 180 degree rule as to not confuse the audience.
• It has a funny ending as when talking to his next door neighbour he has been invited round for a party thinking there will be other people there, when infact it is just going to be him and his next door neighbour.

AVOW by Tony O'reilly.

• The opening of the film is silent, there are no words or music. It flips between a still of a window with a view and the a black background with white writing.
• Then a over-exaggerated diegetic sound comes on suddenly and the blackground quickly changes to white with black writing.
• This film is a confession and the main aspect of the film is the writing as it conveys the whole narrative of the film.

Black or White? by Debbie Howard.

• This film is in a documentary style, there is a women behind the camera asking questions to members of the public, of all age ranges and ethnicities.
• The camera angle is always straight on, mostly cutting of the lower part of their bodies.
• The narrator asks numerous questions for example, 'more of less?' and 'yours or mine?' or leading up to the ultimate question at the end, 'black or white?'.
• This film is portraying the well-known issue of racism in society.

ButterFace by David Mclaughin

• This short film is basically just one long shot; a medium shot on a train of a girl and a boy sitting next to each other on the train.
• There is a voice over, from the boy character to presume as he is talking about the girl sitting next to him. He is talking about how he can never get a girl and how she would never go for him.
• Towards the end of the film the boy gets up and goes to the toilet, we then get new camera angle for the first time in the film. It is a medium-close up of the boy's reflection in the mirror. When he gets back to his seat the girl is gone.
• The twist is at the end when the train is pulling away from the platform the girl is standing on the platform waving at him and has left a lipstick mark on the window.

The State we're in by Ne-o

• This film subverts the repetitive daily life on office workers and transcribes their activities to the repetitive beats of hip-hop music.
• There is a range of camera angles from close-up to low angles, the camera always seems to slowly move in towards the recipient.
• The characters movements are in sync in with the rhythm of the music for example when there is the sound of a scratchy record there is a guy moving left to right on a office chair.

Deja Voodoo by Zadoc Nava

• Déjà Voodoo is a strange, dark, haunting story of a man who has a premonition of what the future holds in store for him.
• This short film is a dark, unnerving film with a lot of dark humour with a dark twist at the end.
• There is hardly any dialogue in this film, instead it relies in the visual imagery.

Envy by Sam Hendi

• This short film is a documentary-styled piece of drama that deals with the relationship and jealously between two friends. It is structured as a narrative story by two friends who discuss their feelings for same man.
• The non-diegetic music helps build the tension as it helps the audience react tot he the climax of the film, It also fits into the pace of the film which is important.
• There are close-up shots of the women when they are talking into the camera, in the style of an interview.

Family Portrait by Rob Brown

• It starts off with a still, a photograph of a man and a woman. The camera steadily moves in closer towards the woman's face which signifies she is the main protagonist. After 30 seconds it then goes into the titles, which is white against a black background. There are bits missing within the letters which could also signify that things are not right.
• There is a diegetic ringing noise in the background and this turns into a woman on the speaking into the phone soon after the titles are on. It then goes to some more still shots and what looks like footage of home videos. There is binary opposition as the pictures and video clips are of people smiling and laughing and she is talking to the police about her husband having a gun, unstable.
• As her talking becomes more rushed, there is a bigger sense of urgency as there was before. The opening still of her and her husband is now flashing in the Montague of stills and ends with that still moving out from her face, the opposite of the beginning.

Fence by Matthew Murdoch

• A short film about a young boy's reaction against the pressure to conform in a new environment.
• It starts of with a long shot of a man and a boy trailing after him, struggling to keep up. The titles are in white and the letters are largely spaced out, signifying that there may be gaps in this boys life.
• When the boy is at the fence, there is a medium-close up shot to identify the boys emotions, the camera then goes into a POV shot to show the audience what the boy sees. It then goes into a close-up shot up a a dug up hole underneath the fence which signifies that he wants to escape. This is given further ancourage when the boy starts to dig up the earth.
• When the boy is on the other side of the fence all the pupils that were busily playing and ignoring him are now stood completely still in order, staring at him which gives a eery feel to the film. It then fades to black.

Whats Virgin mean? by Michael Davies

• This short film starts off with two close-ups, one of a persons hands stirrings something in a pot and another of a girls hand colouring in so it helps the audience identify straight away that it is a family situation, a mother and daughter.
• The Mother is talking out load about the recipe, being interrupted by the little girl asking what does 'Virgin mean?' The camera is sticking to the 180 degree rule where the camera flits from one character to the other when they are talking or to see the characters response and this also helps to not confuse the audience.
• This short film is a comedy as it is humorous to watch the mother try and explain the process of making a baby and what a virgin is. At the end however, it comes apparent that the girl was asking about 'virgin oil' that was on the table.

Thrush by Gabriel Bisset Smith and Graham Turner

• This film is told entirely by photos and the audience get to witness the birth and death of a relationship through visual images.
• The fact that it is all in photos is important as there is a voice over right from the start talking about the meaning of photos and how they are important. The Montague of photos quickens in pace and the audience hardly get to see the images when he is listing what you can capture in a photo but it fits well into the pace of the music.
• He then goes on to identify the last picture ever taken of his and his girlfriend so the audience know the narrative has changed to him and his personal life.
• Whenever he talks about a certain aspect, the photo that resembles that aspect comes on in sync to his voice, for example when he mentions childhood, pictures of him as a toddler and school pictures come on screen.

The Artist and the Canvas by Richard Simpson

• This film is a documentary about a tattoo artist, who explains hows its done and Damien, the canvas who tells us what it's like to have needles pierce your skin.
• The film consists of them sitting down and talking into the camera and also clips demonstrating the process of getting a tattoo. There is also a 'voice over' throughout the clips.

Slap by Uriel Emil

• The opening titles is in white against a black background and when the word 'slap' pops onto the screen there is a quick but harsh slap sound which we find out is a diegetic sound as the next shot is of a woman with her hand to her face.
• This shot is then moved out so the audience can see the setting; she is sitting at the table with her husband who has obviously just hit her and is carrying on like normal. It then goes to a flashback, where the camera is very shaky and you get the feeling it is a POV shot as the camera quickly falls to the ground which could signify she has been hit and fallen to the floor.
• It then goes back into the present day where there is the sound of the man choking, the woman however is looking out of the window. It then goes into another flashback of blood dripping into a sink, then to an over the shoulder shot her her reflection in the mirror. This is to create sympathy for the woman.
• The twist is, is you thought she walked out and left him to choke and die but actually she didnt she saves him.

Say Sorry by Camille Griffen

• This film is about a young girl being thrown out of her car because she would not say sorry to her step-dad. She is abandoned on the side of the road and has to apologize for her mistakes.
• It starts off with a long shot of a car driving toward the camera, it then goes quickly into a shot from inside the car, a medium shot of the step-dad talking to her mother about her. The mother lets the step-dad throw the liitle girl out of the car and then drive off.
• At the end they come back to get her and the mother runs up and hugs her and whispers that she loves her more than him. The end shot is the little girl down the road looking back, it looks like she hasn't got in the car but i think it signifies that she has left part of herself behind and is looking back on it.

Press* by Tim Doubleday

• The light-hearted, up-beat music at the beginning signifies that this is a comedy, it is not a dark romance or a horror.
• Every time he re-records his message the camera jumps to another angle. This is also reinforced with an over-exaggerated diegetic phone noise every time he starts a new message. This quickens in pace towards the end of the film which shows his frustration as he can't seem to be able to leave the correct message.
• The film ends with him throwing his phone away aggressively.

15 seconds of fame by Do'wan Ahmet

• 15 seconds of fame is a short satirical comedy that looks at lip service within the media industry and people's willingness to say the right thing to get on TV.
• The whole film is 15 seconds long and the whole film is shot with a director in seat, firstly shot at a close-up so all you can see is his face. This is also the end shot with him turning towards the camera.
• It is ironic as he is talking about the media discriminating and how this should change and at the end he is persistant to tell the audience that he is NOT gay.

Mascara by Selina Steward

• It starts off in the style of an advert, there is a mascara brush being spun around and there is information about fibre strength and maximum length.
• There is comical non-diegetic music which fits into the pace of the editing and the film.
• It is a look at the female tendency to abandon common sense when targeted by the far-fetched claims of beauty advertisements. Her eyelashes grow so long that they grow around her and tangle her up.