Short Film Analysis
High Maintenance
Opening begins with a diner sequence, there is no diegetic sound other then the crunching of the food this makes the sequence feel uncomfortable for the spectator. I can tell the relationship of the two characters through the use of mine-en-scene, the shot is lit low key with any light emanating from candles there giving the scene a romantic dinner aesthetic therefore i can conclude that the characters are married couple. The couple are also positioned within the shot at opposite ends of the long table the meaning of which is that their relationship is strained. The women is also back lit blue which could show her to be a cold person or that the relationship is cold emotionless it could also be foreshadowing for the twist later on . Within the space of nine minutes the film maker has created a rich story with a lot of narrative, the main way this was done was through the use of multiple twists. The first showed that the man was a robot this turned what seemed to be a run of the mill drama story to be a Science fiction one, for me personal this raised questioned of what life was like in the world of High Maintenance whether and made me intrigued about the women all within 3 minutes. The second twist came at the end of the film, the beginning scene was repeated was repeated but with a newer model man the narrative twist being that the woman is a robot too this raises even more questions about High Maintenance like "is everyone a robot?" "can everyone be replaced?" this the ideal ending for this type of short film and is something i will strive to recreate for my film. Other aspects of High Maintenance that has influenced my ideas for my film is the dinning aesthetic the low key lighting world suit a noir setting which is the the main aesthetic of my film, the long table and how it showed the distant relationship of the characters and the multitude of close up shots on the characters faces to show there emotions clearly.
Swimmer
The Swimmer has a non-linear narrative which is structured into short vignettes which is loosely tied together with the central character of the swimmer, the narrative creates an ambiguous response specific to each individual spectator, one meaning could be that it is an exploration of the British countryside another could be that its is memories the swimmer is thinking about. The main elements of film form in the Swimmer is cinematography and sound together creating an unworldly environment such as with the non-diegetic thunderous score and the diegetic being the waves of the ocean. Aspects of Swimmer which will influence my film is telling a story with out the use of any dialogue but to tell a much more visual story, the black and white aesthetic, the smooth camera movement and the use of a non-linear narrative for which my story would be told with a circle narrative with the use of flash backs.
Pitch Black Heist
The film has an aesthetic of black and white which puts the spectator into the world of Liam and Michael's where they are in light before heist and dark before heist, the meaning of which is to show the polar differences in their relationship at those points where they are happy and pleasant with each other before and after Michael's betrayal when the twist in the story is revealed. The short film uses a variety of editing techniques such as continuity editing which creates a naturalistic style and a natural progression of time thus a linear narrative, shot revere shot is used between Laim and Michael during their meaningful exchange where Michael discusses his lack of father figure thus creating a sense of closeness or bonding between the two men. In the bar scene you have a mid to long shot of both Michael and Liam on either side of a pool table. The shot is lit low key with central lighting on the pool table, this buts both men in half light the meaning of which is to show that they only know bits about each other this could be foreshadowing the twist about Michaels true relation to Liam more evidence of this his their mannerisms in the shot, how they stand and look down at the table with it being similar could be showing that they are farther and son because sons have a tendency to pick up on how their fathers move. Aspects of Pitch Black Heist that will influence my short film is the editing techniques of shot reverse shot to concentrate on characters individually when there are multiple characters on a scene, this would be useful in the poker scene of my short film the way i would use this is to make the game easy to follow and less confusing. I will use the black and white aesthetic in particular how the black and white is used alongside lighting.
Elephant
Elephant is a 40 minute short film with a narrative of the same scenario repeated of a man getting shot with every scene having no interconnecting tissue other then sometimes the use of some of the same gunman, the effect of this narrative is unnerving as each scene has a very rigid structure of man walks into a scene shoots a man and walks off again repeated for the full runtime. The narrative could be described as multi-stranded with each scene
Swimmer
The Swimmer has a non-linear narrative which is structured into short vignettes which is loosely tied together with the central character of the swimmer, the narrative creates an ambiguous response specific to each individual spectator, one meaning could be that it is an exploration of the British countryside another could be that its is memories the swimmer is thinking about. The main elements of film form in the Swimmer is cinematography and sound together creating an unworldly environment such as with the non-diegetic thunderous score and the diegetic being the waves of the ocean. Aspects of Swimmer which will influence my film is telling a story with out the use of any dialogue but to tell a much more visual story, the black and white aesthetic, the smooth camera movement and the use of a non-linear narrative for which my story would be told with a circle narrative with the use of flash backs.Pitch Black Heist
The film has an aesthetic of black and white which puts the spectator into the world of Liam and Michael's where they are in light before heist and dark before heist, the meaning of which is to show the polar differences in their relationship at those points where they are happy and pleasant with each other before and after Michael's betrayal when the twist in the story is revealed. The short film uses a variety of editing techniques such as continuity editing which creates a naturalistic style and a natural progression of time thus a linear narrative, shot revere shot is used between Laim and Michael during their meaningful exchange where Michael discusses his lack of father figure thus creating a sense of closeness or bonding between the two men. In the bar scene you have a mid to long shot of both Michael and Liam on either side of a pool table. The shot is lit low key with central lighting on the pool table, this buts both men in half light the meaning of which is to show that they only know bits about each other this could be foreshadowing the twist about Michaels true relation to Liam more evidence of this his their mannerisms in the shot, how they stand and look down at the table with it being similar could be showing that they are farther and son because sons have a tendency to pick up on how their fathers move. Aspects of Pitch Black Heist that will influence my short film is the editing techniques of shot reverse shot to concentrate on characters individually when there are multiple characters on a scene, this would be useful in the poker scene of my short film the way i would use this is to make the game easy to follow and less confusing. I will use the black and white aesthetic in particular how the black and white is used alongside lighting.
Elephant
Elephant is a 40 minute short film with a narrative of the same scenario repeated of a man getting shot with every scene having no interconnecting tissue other then sometimes the use of some of the same gunman, the effect of this narrative is unnerving as each scene has a very rigid structure of man walks into a scene shoots a man and walks off again repeated for the full runtime. The narrative could be described as multi-stranded with each scene
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