SHORT FILM ANALYSES

What is a short film?

A short film is a film that isn’t long enough to be considered a feature. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences consider a short film to be “an original film that has a running time of 40 minutes or less including all credits”.

These typically have no budget or very little budget. They can be funded by sponsors, non-profit organizations or funds from the actual creators of the film.

Short film conventions

Non-conventional storytelling Usually have underlying themes Very few characters with very little back-story Twist – without this, the film would be

uninteresting. Begin with relatable everyday situations Have mysterious objects which aren’t entirely

explained to hold the audience’s interest – enigmas

Short film history

In the early days of film, short films were usually showed alongside feature films. They were either second features, short comedies, 5-10 minute cartoons or a newsreel.

In the 1930s, the distribution system changed in countries affected by the Great Depression. The studios sold packages centred on a main feature, a supporting feature, cartoon and little else. 2-reel shorts went into decline as the double feature grew in popularity.

By the mid-1950s, because of the rise of television, live-action shorts were almost dead. Short films had become a medium for students and independent filmmakers.

Short film history

Animated shorts were more popular partially due to the introduction of cheaper animation techniques, but it they became less popular during this period.

Warner Bros, one of the most popular animation studios, shut down its studio permanently in 1969.

ABOUT A GIRL ANALYSIS

Features This short film as a whole Particular shots and sequences

Genre (type of film) Drama

Storytelling codes and conventions Story progresses as the girl walks up the canal; told mainly through flashbacks (maybe not in chronological order, just to define character and relationships)

Representations Working-class people; particularly young teenagers

Likely audience Festival-goers,

Locations Canal, field, pub, street

Character Fast-talking protagonist,

Intertextual references Struggles of working-class; mentality of “I’m still gonna get a 99”

Cinematography

The establishing shot is a long shot of the protagonist standing on top of a hill during sunrise, singing “Stronger” by Britney Spears while doing the dance routine. Nothing is currently in focus, and nothing is actually affected by light. The only thing in the shot that isn’t black is the horizon. It makes the protagonist more prominent. The camera is at level with the subject (the protagonist) and is static for the entire shot.

Sound – Task on this PDF

1. Music is never actually used, but some characters sing, including the protagonist who does it quite often.

2. “I’m not that innocent” is often repeated by the protagonist to foreshadow the ending, which really makes you question the harsh reality of her life.

3. There are some shots that are silent which are cut between shots of the protagonist walking along the canal

4. The sound is almost always diegetic; the few examples of non-diegetic sound are at the end of the short film. The protagonist’s singing of “Stronger” by Britney Spears is added to the credits.

5. Sound almost always gives the impression of being close to the protagonist. There are very few situations in which sound suggests distance, but a particular one is when after the protagonist dumps the baby in the canal, the camera ascends while keeping the view on the protagonist. You can still hear her singing perfectly clearly however.

6. No sound effects are used. The closest thing to that is playing the sound of the protagonist singing over the credits.

7. Sound is never used to bridge edits between scenes.

8. Sound is always synchronous in this short film.

9. The dialogue is easy enough to hear, but if you can’t understand the protagonist’s accent, it will be tricky to understand.

10. Very few sound effects are added to the film, if at all. Instead, either the sound of The Protagonist talking or silence is more prominent that any other sound.

11. The protagonist sings “Stronger” by Britney Spears quite often.

Editing – Task on this PDF

1. When she’s walking along the canal and talking, multiple cuts are usually used so that words are strung together quickly with very few/small gaps in-between.

2. When she’s walking along the canal and talking, multiple cuts are usually used so that words are strung together quickly with very few/small gaps in-between. However, flashbacks are usually done in one continuous shot and when they’re not there are one or two cuts.

3. Shots are edited rapidly together when she’s walking along the canal so it emphasises her pace of speaking. During flashbacks, if there is a cut, there are usually few and they’re spread out.

4. The way that she looks at the camera while walking down the canal reminds me of Big Brother.

5. There are no other types of transition other than straight cuts.

This is probably because the editor wanted to emphasise how quickly she talks when walking along the canal.

6. There are no crossfade transitions in this short film.

7. The film cross-cuts between the protagonist walking along the canal and to different times in her life which explain her social relationships with her mother, father and friends.

8. The film can be divided up by scenes where the protagonist is walking along the canal and when a flashback takes place.

There are quick edits which get rid of any periods of silence when she is walking along the canal and talking to emphasize how quickly she talks. In flashbacks, there are hardly any cuts and when there are, the editing is not nearly as rapid as the canal cutting is.

9. Sound is not used for transitions.

GRAVITY ANALYSIS

Character is darkened by lighting of the scene; plot takes a darker turn from here.

Hand in strange pose; character’s not taking things

seriously and doesn’t

understand the power of the gun.

Character in middle of shot, centre of conflict

Visual motif of the sky throughout this scene;

He could very well hit this object, could he actually hit someone with the gun?

1st person view while pretending to

fire the gun; he may be imagining

this is a First Person Shooter

video game and thus not thinking

about the consequences of

having a gun.

Tom says “Just wait 5 minutes”, which means that something is going to happen with these three. This establishes the plot thread involving the gun, and the struggle to get it under control.

There is a baby using a swing

here. You wouldn’t t be

focusing on this character much

at the beginning, as it simply creates

background noise. That’s

why the ending has such an

impact on the viewer.

In the background of the shot, there is a big building with a lot of windows, probably hinting

that this could be a council estate.

MY SHORT FILM - ANALYSISTwo & Two

Two and Two

Two and Two is an Iranian short film directed by Babak Anvari. Set in a classroom, it makes a statement about the “absurdness of dictatorships and tyranny – and the resilience of the human spirit”.

Synopsis

A teacher walks into a classroom full of male students wearing white shirts. The PA system comes on and the Headteacher announces that 2+2=5. The class begins to do maths, with the teacher telling the students to repeat “2+2=5” until one student, raises his hand, saying “But Sir, surely two plus two equals four?” to which the teacher replies “You have been told that two plus two equals five. You will not question this. Do you understand?” and the student sits down. Another student stands up and questions the teacher’s logic, refusing to believe the sum. He continues to say that two plus two equals four, asking other students how they don’t see it. After silencing the student, he briefly leaves the classroom. The teacher gets back and brings the three top students with him, all of which have a red band on their left arm. All three say that two plus two is four. The teacher tells the student walk up to the board and do the sum “correctly”. After a reluctant pause, the three top students raise their arms, as if brandishing rifles. The student writes 4 instead of 5, and then turns to face the three students who kill him. They carry the student out of the classroom and the teacher begins to write 2+2=5 on the board while telling the other students to write it down. One student writes 2+2=4 in his notebook.

Mise En Scene – 1st Picture

Mise En Scene – 2nd Picture

Mise En Scene – 3rd Picture

The rubbing out of the blood is a

metaphor for the past being erased for

the benefit of those in power.

The blood signifies the idea that fascists

will simply reject anyone with an

opinion different to their own.

Cinematography

The camera’s position depends almost entirely on which character is speaking. When the teacher, for example is speaking then there will usually be a mid long shot of him while he talks. When a student stands up, there will be a mid shot of them.

Camera movement is almost always panning across the classroom. Sometimes there are tracking shots of characters, and in one case, the PA speaker.

Sound – Part 1

1. Music is only ever used during the credits. 2. No song is ever sung during this short film. 3. When there is silence, it’s usually between lines of dialogue. However,

there are moments where it is used to establish tension. 4. Sound is often diegetic, except for when a ringing ear sound is used after

a student is shot and at the beginning, when you can hear the class talking despite the fact that there is no current shot.

5. After a student is shot, the sound of ringing ears is played. This gives the impression of being close either the teacher or one of the “top” students. At the title sequence of the film, you can hear the sound of the class talking, but it’s suppressed.

6. Sound isn’t used to create any particular meanings. 7. The sound of characters talking often bridges cuts, particularly when there

is conflict. The sound of ringing ears also bridges 3 quick cuts.

Sound – Part 2

8. Sound is usually synchronous, but the sound of dialogue often bridges cuts, it often draws focus to whichever character is talking. In some cases, it’s not that there’s a completely different activity happening on screen, it’s just that you can’t see it.

9. The dialogue is always understandable except for the title sequence and the point at which a single student decides to cross out the 5 in 2+2=5 and write 4. Sound is suppressed at both of these points. In the title sequence, it’s suppressed because the camera gradually draws itself away from a blackboard to show the class conversing. At the ending, the sound is suppressed so that the focus is on a single student, and their resilience.

10. When a student is shot, the sound of ringing ears is played so it makes the death more believable and shocking to the audience.

11. The only repeated sound would be the class continuously repeating the answer to 2+2 at the end of the film.

Sound – Part 3

11. The only repeated sound would be the class continuously repeating the answer to 2+2 at the end of the film. It was used to establish the monotony of the new regime forced upon the class.

12. The filmmakers use the suppressed sound of the class and gradually make it more clear while drawing the camera back from a blackboard to give a greater view of the scene. They also suppressed the sound of the class while the camera focused on a single student correcting the sum presented by the teacher to highlight his own resilience, and the resilience of the human spirit. The sound of ringing ears is used to make the death of a student more effective, and it does manage to shock the audience due how barbaric it is.

Editing – Part 1

1. Every single shot changes with simple cuts. Towards the end, when the teacher is getting students to answer the sum 2+2, the shot changes a few times when the students say five.

2. The editing pace is quite slow throughout, except for when the students brandish their “guns”, at which point there are two quick cuts back to back to create a sense of urgency.

3. Editing is never so fast that it creates a montage. 4. The editing doesn’t remind me of any other films or television

programs. 5. There are no other types of transition. 6. There are no crossfade transitions in this short film. It 7. Cross-cutting is never used, as it all takes place during a single

lesson.

Editing – Part 2 8. The film can be split up into sequences

these 3 sequences. Horizontal lines indicate how long the sequences last, and diagonal lines indicate which one comes next. In the 1st sequence, cuts are somewhat far and few between and are used to call attention to certain elements of the scene (students, teacher, etc). In the 2nd sequence, editing is slightly quicker due to the confrontation between the 2nd student and the teacher. Cuts are increasingly used after most sentences after the three “top” students come in, as the tension increases. In the 3rd sequence, cuts are sometimes used after a character speaks a full sentence.

Editing – Part 3

9. Sound is often used to bridge cuts. Dialogue is often used to bridge cuts, especially during conflict between characters. Also, the sound of ringing ears is used at one point to bridge quick edits to establish urgency.