Research into existing professionally made short films

Research into existing professionally made short films

Notes

We watched these short films and made some general ideas about the name of the piece and what it may include. We watched many short films ranging from 5-25 minutes. Below are my general notes about the piece.

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The Operator (2015)- 6 mins

This short film about a Fire Service 999 Call Taker, out of all that we watched was my favourite due to the suspense and emotional connection it included. The short film was extremely successful in showing the conversation between an alarmed lady and respondent. the short film had a quick pace, but due to the way in which it was recorded included many elements of suspense, e.g when the phone call goes silent. We as the audience are in the potion of this operator and feel immersed in what she can hear from the call.

I feel the way in which the film is recorded and uses a range of camera shots adds a more intimate feel to the piece. The short films abrupt end adds emphasise on how the operator is left hanging in terms of not knowing what happened next, the operator then has to move on to the next call. The use of only two voices in this piece also adds the element of a personal , desperate call for help. Within the 6 minute phone call a bond is seemed to be formed in hope to calm the lady phoning. i find this short film very moving and emotional.

The Ellington Kid -5mins

Another short film which i found extremely clever, was The Ellington Kid. This short film had cuts between present day and past, and a narrator. The film is extremely engaging and interesting. The short film is reliving a story in which a young man who has been stabbed outside the kebab shop and his desperate flee to the lit up kebab shop where his attackers then follow, the young man is left on the floor bleeding and the attackers are trying to get to him but the kebab shop workers are standing in the way. The three attackers become agitated and start threatening the workers. The three kebab shop owners then come out behind the counter, with stern faces and the large meat carving knives. The sequence of the 7 men in the kebab shop comes to a close with one of the kebab shop owners locking the door. This then leaves a sense of mystery to the clip. It then results back to the 2 young men eating food from the kebab where the narrator says "thats why i only eat the chips". This then adds a sense of humour the the film, however he does add he is only joking, but the cameras focus then turns to the owner of the shop who has overheard the conversation and we as an audience see him sharpening the meat cleaver. The short film starts and ends in the same way, with this piercing sounder of the sharpening knives. 

  

There is lots of creativity within the film, from the way the sequences have been edited together and the original ideas behind the film. One of the most interesting and intriguing part of the film is the setting, both the separate sequences have both taken place in the same setting of the Kebab shop. The two young men who are narrating the storyline of the past experience are based sitting and eating food from the kebab, the memory/past experience is based in the streets outside the kebab and then inside the kebab shop itself. The use of the local kebab shop idea adds a sense of familiarity to the audience. Both the characters which are narrating the piece are dressed in normal causal clothing. The men who are part of the brutal stabbing are dressed in black wearing bandanas and the kebab shop workers are dressed in typical catering work clothes. A key part of the film which i find the most successful is the use of sound which builds tension in the film, the use of the typical objects such as the carving knives in the kebab shop which adds an element of sespence to the film.