Analyzing short films

Introduction

In this blog post, I am going to analyse three different short films to help me gather ideas for our five minute single camera product. The aspects that I am going to be looking at in each of the films are;

• Formats
• Genre
• Narrative structure
• Mise-en-scene (settings, colours, props)
• Sounds (diegetic & non-diegetic)
• Camera shots

Tick tock - short film by Ien Chi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w14v4vGUDdg)

Formats: The format for this film is of a single drama, as it tells the whole story within this one product and only runs in one single time. These types of films have a start, middle and ending and don't continue through episodes.

Genre: The type of genre that this film categorizes under is the realist genre. This is because the story and settings is based on real-life events or coincidences.

Narrative structure: The narrative structures that this short film falls under is a flashback non-linear structure as the story does not happen in a chronological order and looks at events which have happened in the past. The film is also a single strand narrative, as it is based on the evens of a single character or protagonist and ends as a closed ended film as it informs the audience on what fully happened in the story.

Mise-en-scene (settings, colours, props): The settings used in this short film was on the grounds of a university or college campus. This is to show the age and innocent/stupidity of the characters as the plot is based on the consequences of life-threatening actions.

The colours used in this short film are quite gloomy and dull, because it is trying to represent an important message/moral in the film, which is quite a depressing thought. The colours and tones used help to portray the importance of the message better.

The main props used in this short film are the clock (to represent time and how we can lose control of it/how we would change it if we could), the medicine bottles (to represent drugs/the cause on what triggered the problem - equilibrium), phone (to send out his last messages or communication with loved ones), wallet (to represent wealth and greed), etc.

Sounds (diegetic & non-diegetic): The types of sound used in the film was diegetic voices of the characters talking (even though it was in reverse), diegetic sound of the clocks ticking, but the noise was altered/edited a little to heighten the volume, to signify the importance of it. The non-diegetic sounds included in the film was a faint soundtrack playing called "Anthem" by Emancipator.

Camera shots: Some of the camera shots used in the film were long shots to show the audience fully on what is in the screen/going on, close up shots to show the emotion and tension that the characters are portraying, mid shots to show what actions the character is doing (mid shot of him talking on the phone and mid shot of him running up the stairs).

A futuristic short film HD: by sight systems (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK_cdkpazjI)

Formats: The format for this film is of a single drama, as it tells the whole story within this one product and only runs in one single time. These types of films have a start, middle and ending and don't continue through episodes.

Genre: The type of genre that this film categorizes under is the Sci-Fi genre. This is because the events and plot of this film is based on futuristic themes and science-fiction effects.

Narrative structure:  The narrative structures that this short film falls under is a anti-realist linear structure as the story happens in a chronological order and looks at superficial or CGI effect themes (not true to real life). The film is also a single strand narrative, as it is based on the evens of a single character or protagonist and ends as a closed ended film as it informs the audience on what fully happened in the story.

Mise-en-scene (settings, colours, props): The settings used in this short film is a plain white room to represent clear and untouched items, as now technology does everything for them and the colour white is symbolized with technology a lot (Apple products, intertextuality to the film I-Robot). They also use the setting of a restaurant to signify romance and a dating/socializing area.

The colours used in the film are again predominantly white to help relate to technology again, and both the characters were wearing grey to represent metallic tones/technology again.

The props used in this film were mainly the eye contacts to show how they are controlled or controlling their mind and behaviour and they also used a lot of alcohol and glasses to represent intoxication, and them not being able to control their actions.

Sounds (diegetic & non-diegetic): The diegetic soundtracks used in the film were the voices and sounds (e.g. the glasses chinking) as they all naturally occurred within the scene, but there was use on non-diegetic sounds such as the soundtrack/music playing in the background and the beeps and clicks of the digital programming, which were put in for effect.

Camera shots: Some of the camera shots used in the film was a over the shoulder shot to get the camera in view from the characters eyes/perspective, another shot was a long shot to show the audience the differences within the room of when the character could see all of the technology on the screen, and what was on the wall in reality.


Stay Out Of The Woods - Short film directed by Albert Gonzalez (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NwKCTkgTmE)

Formats: The format for this film is of a single drama, as it tells the whole story within this one product and only runs in one single time. These types of films have a start, middle and ending and don't continue through episodes.

Genre: The type of genre that this film categorizes under is the horror genre. This is because the theme and techniques used resemble the features of the horror genre.

Narrative structure: The narrative structure that this short film falls under is a realistic structure as it the film is based true life events/occurrances. The film also falls under the multi-strand narrative because the film is based on more than one character.
 

Mise-en-scene (settings, colours, props): The settings used in this film are located in the woods as it relates to the name of the film. Also the woods are seen as a dark and mysterious place, which is a effective place which relates to the horror theme.

The colours used in the film are quite clear quality/bright colours, which is ineffective for a horror theme. This has made the message of horror less scary, as they have shown clear skies and bright sunlight.

The main props used in the film were masks. This was a effective prop to use in a horror as if hides the identity of a villian, which makes people more anxious and scared on who the people is.
 

Sounds (diegetic & non-diegetic): The diegetic sounds used in the film were the speech and noises (e.g. car engine) which all naturally occured within the scenes. The non-diegetic sounds used in the film was a eerie and quiet soundtrack placed behind the voices of the film to help create auditory tension for the viewer.
 

Camera shots: Some examples of camera shots that were used in this short film were close-up shots of the characters faces to show the expressions and emotions that they are portraying. They also used extra closeup shots to show that the surroundings around the characters are closing in, and they are getting confined or forced into a scary situation. The final example of a camera shot used in the film is a over the shoulder shot of when the boy is looking into the car mirror at the girls. This shows that he cant look his victims in the eye and is guilty.