Monday, 27 June 2016
Wednesday, 15 June 2016
LO1: Analysing Short Films
Rope-A-Dope 2 by Eric Jacobus (Comedy, Action)
Narrative: Overall, the story in the short film is shown very clearly, the plot being that a man is stuck in a groundhog scenario where he relives the same day every time he goes unconscious. After defeating a Mafia in the previous short film, it moves on to the next day, where the leader of the group he had defeated is now experiencing the same scenario where he wakes up to the same day, as well as the original guy does too and are both aware by halfway through the short film that they are both stuck in this together, each of them progressively change the way they fight each time they face off against each other by improving, this helps progress the story . What ends up happening is that they learn from each others own mistakes each time they are knocked out, this happens until the original guy is trained by an old man, which he then goes to the hideout of the mafia and fights with everyone. The two characters come to a mutual standing where they both fight together to defeat the boss.
Characterisation: The two main characters are stuck in a time loop and are both near enough the same character in personality, like the previous short film, the protagonist is well motivated to defeat the antagonist (the guy with the black eye in this film) and unlike what we saw in the previous film, the antagonist is also well motivated. This is because the antagonist is trying to get respect back from his boss by defeating the protagonist and so is motivated because of this. On the other hand, the protagonist's reason for being motivated is probably because he wants to get rid of the mafia once and for all. The characters do have a comedic side to them as it is a comedy, this is shown for example when the protagonist and another side character are using the common trope of a showdown where it has a close up on their faces and then on their hands which look like they're about to pull out a gun, this is done with the protagonist is taking down a skateboarder who delivers newspapers and has been smashing his windows with them every morning, just like in the first short film.
Camerawork: One of the main pieces of camera work in this film was definitely movement, the main few being tracking, tilting and panning. Because this is an action film it would definitely use a lot of movement,tracking was used for example when the antagonist is training by beating up one of the other thugs in a boxing ring, the camera tracks from one corner of the ring to the left as he does this. An example of tilting, which is the least used, in the short film is used a few times when the protagonist is beating up a few of the thugs at the hideout and it's shown in very quick shots when the protagonist is hitting them with sticks and weapons on their legs, which is at a low point, which then tilts upwards to another thug who he then hits in the face, which results in the camera tilting upwards.
The final movement is panning which is used frequently in the short film, an example being when the protagonist and antagonist are fighting and as one of them comes into to hit the other, the other dodges and the camera follows the person throwing the punch by panning from left to right.
Editing: Rope-a-Dope 2 is an action film, this of course will come with a lot of action scenes which will be edited in many ways to make it look appealing and exciting to the audience watching. We don't see much editing at the start where it's just cuts between shots, there are a few other editing techniques such as crosscutting, this can be seen when both the protagonist and antagonists are looking at their plans to defeat each other and both have a sudden realisation of some sort, this is shown by the 2 separate shots next to each other, this can be seen at the end of a montage, a montage is an example of another editing technique called jumpcutting. During the main action scene, there are quite a few editing techniques used, a main one being an action match which shows the same movement over multiple shots, this is done a lot in this film to give it a quick paste to keep it interesting. Jumpcutting is again used when an action match is not being used, we then see a shot reverse shot structure when the antagonist is looking towards the protagonist, who is taking a quick rest, and then we see the protagonist in the next shot, and then it's back to the antagonist in the next shot.
Visual Effects: I feel that there are no visual effects in this film as all the stunts and fights are purely done by the actors.
Time Trap by Michael Shanks (Sci-fi, Comedy)
Narrative: The narrative of this short is that an alien travelling through space ends up having to land on a destroyed and empty Earth after a few of it's ship's components are damaged. Using his Time travelling gadget, he opens up bubbles in time that allow him to walk into the time when Earth wasn't destroyed to find things that are similar to it's components. First it needs to replace a kind of rock that I assume powers the ship, it gets a replacement by taking a guy's engagement ring he was giving to his girlfriend. The second component is a sort of conductor used to let the energy pass through it, it opens a time bubble where it sees two kids playing with a toy shaped like the component it has to replace, but then the kid's father stops him from reaching the kids by holding the alien by its neck but then the alien and the guy's arm are out the time bubble and the guys arm is now bone, the alien closes the time bubble and so the guys arm is cut off and now the alien has the bone arm which coincidentally looks like the component he was trying to find, so he uses it and then leaves Earth.
Characterisation: The main character is an Alien that has crash landed on a destroyed Earth. He seems motivated to get off the planet when his ship crashes, when he interacts with humans in the time bubbles he is careless and is in-human as he is an alien and isn't custom to how we treat each other, this definitely makes him seem more alien even though he has a human form.
Camerawork: There are many example of camera work shown in this short, an example of an angle would be a low angle, this is done when the alien is getting a component from two kids, as he approaches them it uses this low angle, this may be used because the children are quite powerless in this case and the alien is more mature and stronger than them. A common shot type used in this film is the close up, it does this multiple times and an example is when the father of the children is strangling the alien, and his arm goes outside the time bubble and it becomes a skeleton arm, because of this pain it may be bringing the man it closes up on his face showing his distress and also anger still trying to pull the alien back into the time bubble. The final example is movement and one that is cleverly used in the beginning is the constant tilting of the camera, this is used when the alien is trying to reach a button and because the ship is going out of control, the ship is shaking a lot and the camera movement helps emphasise that the ship is out of control.
Editing: There are quite a few editing techniques used, the first being a title graphic, this tells you the name of the film, or it can be the credits for example. The title graphic they use in the short is the title of the film, and this is also synced up to the music, so when the tone of the music changes it appears. Another technique of editing used is crosscutting and an example of this was used when the alien is trying to reach the controls to the ship and it cross cuts between the alien and the ship flying towards the meteorites and moon, because this is a tense moment in the film it uses quick shots to keep the viewer interested.
Visual Effects: The film has countless CGI and special effects that are in nearly every shot, the start of the film has planets, meteorites, many other space objects and even the space ship that are all computer generated, then there also the special effects such as the lighting on the consoles and things inside the ship, the ship's rockets and an explosion that destroys a small part of the ship. When the alien is on Earth there are many visual effects, the first being the ship landing, and then ground may be CGI, but the background is definitely CGI with the destroyed buildings. When the alien checks the engine the rock that is the fuel disintegrates in the aliens hand. The main visual effect that is consistent through the main part of the short film are the time bubbles, what they have been able to do it put another video or shot on top of another shot, there's also a few shots where it shows the alien walking through the bubble and also the mans arm near the end that is being made into a skeleton's arm.
A Victim by Naseh Jrab (Documentary)
Narrative: This is a short documentary that focuses on the effect divorces have on the children of the parents, this person tells the his story on how he was effected and how in the end it made him stronger as a person.
Characterisation: The person who talks about his story is a teenager who was effected by divorce when he was nine years old, the way he tells the story and how he was effected makes the audiences sympathise with him and it also can help relate kids and teens who were also effected by divorce with him and make them feel as though they're not alone.
Camerawork: An example of the use of angles in the film is a high angle shot of a playing field full of kids, because it's high up it makes it easy to capture a group of people. An example of a shot type used is a close up and is done for the majority of the short documentary and this is when the teenager is talking about his story and is shot like a kind of vlog format and is a close up on his face, this have been done to make it seem more personal, as though he is talking directly to the audience and to also show his facial expressions and emotions. The final example of camerawork is the movement, most shots are still shots but an example of this movement is when a shot is tilting upwards, and this is when a mother has a baby in her arms and is looking down at the baby and it tilts upwards towards the mothers face slightly.
Editing: The first example of editing is a title graphic, this is when it says 'On November 24, 2005' and syncs up with the teenagers voice over saying the same thing, I think they did this to emphasise on the fact that this is a key date and that it was the day the teenager realised what was happening. Another editing technique is a time lapse and this is done in one of the shots that isn't the teen talking into the camera but the time lapse shot does relate to what he is talking about, it's a time lapse of people on a travelator in an airport and as this is showing when the teen talks about moving to a different country from his mother.
Visual Effects: This short film does not have any visual effects used. The only thing that may have been one was the user interface on the camera that the teenager is speaking into which may have been layered or edited onto the original footage.
Danny Macaskill: The Ridge by Cut Media (Sports, Documentary)
Narrative: The story for this short film is about a mountain biker called Danny Macaskill who returns to his native home on the isle of Skye in Scotland to take on a 'death-defying' ride on the notorious Cuillin Ridgeline.
Characterisation: Danny Macaskill is represented as a professional and a very skillful mountain biker, he lives up to this by doing very daring and extreme climbs up mountains and hills. Danny barely talks in this video apart from introducing his thoughts on why he's doing this but the rest of the short expresses his skills using his mountain bike.
Camerawork: An example of the use of angles in this short film is a high angle and this is seen when Danny is picking his bike out of the boat and because its on a helmet camera, it appears as a sort of point of view looking down. The next camerawork is the shot types used, an example of this is a wide shot. This is seen multiple times in the film as shots to show off the stunning landscape of the ridge such as when he is on top of a pillar like rock and it the landscape as apart of the foreground and background. There's also alot of movement in the film as the shots keep up with the actions and stunts Danny makes whilst riding his bike, an example being a mix between tracking and tilting at a low angle upwards, this is when Danny is riding his bike on a flat surface, in which the tracking takes place, and then as he starts doing some smaller stunts and turning different angles, the camera slowly tilts upwards near the bike.
Editing: There are a few examples of editing seen in this short film, the first example being jump cutting, this is used many times through the main part of the film where all the stunts and actions take place, each shot is about 5 seconds long and are mostly in different locations at different times. Another editing technique is seen at the very end and is a transition to the credits (being title graphics, another editing technique) and this transition is a simple fade to black.
Visual Effects: There are no visual effects in the film.
Elysium by Harrison Bahe (Drama)
Narrative: The story of this short film is that it follows a story of two boys who are trying to survive, at the start it wasn't clear what was happening other than that their mother died and they're dealing with trying to hide from social services and that is why they have no electricity and are always eating beans from the can, but after a small argument, it is revealed that the story is set in a zombie apocalypse and they are surviving inside their home, and the mother is also a zombie, which the older brother feeds the zombie meat.
Characterisation: The older brother is the one looking after the younger brother, the older brother is more mature and is just looking out for his brother, the younger brother on the other hand acts as though what is happening outside their home, the zombie apocalypse, isn't really a threat as he tries to go outside, despite his older brother trying to keep him safe and trying to keep him in doors, away from the zombies. They both have nightmares and flashbacks of the time when the mother wasn't a zombie, shows that they are both insecure about it and loved their mother alot. It even shows that the older brother doesn't want to let her go and so keeps the zombie in the garage.
Camerawork: An example of an angle used is a high angle where it shows the younger brother looking up towards the ceiling whilst he thinks about something. An example of a shot type would be be a close up, this is shot multiple times near the end of the film when it shows the flashbacks of the mother being bitten and turned into a zombie, between the cuts of these flashbacks, it has multiple close ups of the older brothers face, this trying to convey that this is an emotional moment as he remembers the tragic events. The final example is movement, this is shown in a shot where it uses the pan camera movement, it pans to the right from showing the mother to showing the older brother in a flashback.
Editing: The first example of editing used in the short is the eye line shot, this is seen when the big brother is getting out spoons for him and his brother to eat beans, and then he looks down, in the next shot it shows him looking down and he has picked up three spoons, this shows that he still hasn't got used to the fact his mom has gone. Another editing technique would be a transition, which was the fade to black, this was seen when the two brothers were having a little fight and then there is banging at the door, after the tense scene it fades to black.
Visual Effects: There aren't any visual effects in this short film.
Narrative: Overall, the story in the short film is shown very clearly, the plot being that a man is stuck in a groundhog scenario where he relives the same day every time he goes unconscious. After defeating a Mafia in the previous short film, it moves on to the next day, where the leader of the group he had defeated is now experiencing the same scenario where he wakes up to the same day, as well as the original guy does too and are both aware by halfway through the short film that they are both stuck in this together, each of them progressively change the way they fight each time they face off against each other by improving, this helps progress the story . What ends up happening is that they learn from each others own mistakes each time they are knocked out, this happens until the original guy is trained by an old man, which he then goes to the hideout of the mafia and fights with everyone. The two characters come to a mutual standing where they both fight together to defeat the boss.
Characterisation: The two main characters are stuck in a time loop and are both near enough the same character in personality, like the previous short film, the protagonist is well motivated to defeat the antagonist (the guy with the black eye in this film) and unlike what we saw in the previous film, the antagonist is also well motivated. This is because the antagonist is trying to get respect back from his boss by defeating the protagonist and so is motivated because of this. On the other hand, the protagonist's reason for being motivated is probably because he wants to get rid of the mafia once and for all. The characters do have a comedic side to them as it is a comedy, this is shown for example when the protagonist and another side character are using the common trope of a showdown where it has a close up on their faces and then on their hands which look like they're about to pull out a gun, this is done with the protagonist is taking down a skateboarder who delivers newspapers and has been smashing his windows with them every morning, just like in the first short film.
Camerawork: One of the main pieces of camera work in this film was definitely movement, the main few being tracking, tilting and panning. Because this is an action film it would definitely use a lot of movement,tracking was used for example when the antagonist is training by beating up one of the other thugs in a boxing ring, the camera tracks from one corner of the ring to the left as he does this. An example of tilting, which is the least used, in the short film is used a few times when the protagonist is beating up a few of the thugs at the hideout and it's shown in very quick shots when the protagonist is hitting them with sticks and weapons on their legs, which is at a low point, which then tilts upwards to another thug who he then hits in the face, which results in the camera tilting upwards.
The final movement is panning which is used frequently in the short film, an example being when the protagonist and antagonist are fighting and as one of them comes into to hit the other, the other dodges and the camera follows the person throwing the punch by panning from left to right.
Editing: Rope-a-Dope 2 is an action film, this of course will come with a lot of action scenes which will be edited in many ways to make it look appealing and exciting to the audience watching. We don't see much editing at the start where it's just cuts between shots, there are a few other editing techniques such as crosscutting, this can be seen when both the protagonist and antagonists are looking at their plans to defeat each other and both have a sudden realisation of some sort, this is shown by the 2 separate shots next to each other, this can be seen at the end of a montage, a montage is an example of another editing technique called jumpcutting. During the main action scene, there are quite a few editing techniques used, a main one being an action match which shows the same movement over multiple shots, this is done a lot in this film to give it a quick paste to keep it interesting. Jumpcutting is again used when an action match is not being used, we then see a shot reverse shot structure when the antagonist is looking towards the protagonist, who is taking a quick rest, and then we see the protagonist in the next shot, and then it's back to the antagonist in the next shot.
Visual Effects: I feel that there are no visual effects in this film as all the stunts and fights are purely done by the actors.
Time Trap by Michael Shanks (Sci-fi, Comedy)
Narrative: The narrative of this short is that an alien travelling through space ends up having to land on a destroyed and empty Earth after a few of it's ship's components are damaged. Using his Time travelling gadget, he opens up bubbles in time that allow him to walk into the time when Earth wasn't destroyed to find things that are similar to it's components. First it needs to replace a kind of rock that I assume powers the ship, it gets a replacement by taking a guy's engagement ring he was giving to his girlfriend. The second component is a sort of conductor used to let the energy pass through it, it opens a time bubble where it sees two kids playing with a toy shaped like the component it has to replace, but then the kid's father stops him from reaching the kids by holding the alien by its neck but then the alien and the guy's arm are out the time bubble and the guys arm is now bone, the alien closes the time bubble and so the guys arm is cut off and now the alien has the bone arm which coincidentally looks like the component he was trying to find, so he uses it and then leaves Earth.
Characterisation: The main character is an Alien that has crash landed on a destroyed Earth. He seems motivated to get off the planet when his ship crashes, when he interacts with humans in the time bubbles he is careless and is in-human as he is an alien and isn't custom to how we treat each other, this definitely makes him seem more alien even though he has a human form.
Camerawork: There are many example of camera work shown in this short, an example of an angle would be a low angle, this is done when the alien is getting a component from two kids, as he approaches them it uses this low angle, this may be used because the children are quite powerless in this case and the alien is more mature and stronger than them. A common shot type used in this film is the close up, it does this multiple times and an example is when the father of the children is strangling the alien, and his arm goes outside the time bubble and it becomes a skeleton arm, because of this pain it may be bringing the man it closes up on his face showing his distress and also anger still trying to pull the alien back into the time bubble. The final example is movement and one that is cleverly used in the beginning is the constant tilting of the camera, this is used when the alien is trying to reach a button and because the ship is going out of control, the ship is shaking a lot and the camera movement helps emphasise that the ship is out of control.
Editing: There are quite a few editing techniques used, the first being a title graphic, this tells you the name of the film, or it can be the credits for example. The title graphic they use in the short is the title of the film, and this is also synced up to the music, so when the tone of the music changes it appears. Another technique of editing used is crosscutting and an example of this was used when the alien is trying to reach the controls to the ship and it cross cuts between the alien and the ship flying towards the meteorites and moon, because this is a tense moment in the film it uses quick shots to keep the viewer interested.
Visual Effects: The film has countless CGI and special effects that are in nearly every shot, the start of the film has planets, meteorites, many other space objects and even the space ship that are all computer generated, then there also the special effects such as the lighting on the consoles and things inside the ship, the ship's rockets and an explosion that destroys a small part of the ship. When the alien is on Earth there are many visual effects, the first being the ship landing, and then ground may be CGI, but the background is definitely CGI with the destroyed buildings. When the alien checks the engine the rock that is the fuel disintegrates in the aliens hand. The main visual effect that is consistent through the main part of the short film are the time bubbles, what they have been able to do it put another video or shot on top of another shot, there's also a few shots where it shows the alien walking through the bubble and also the mans arm near the end that is being made into a skeleton's arm.
A Victim by Naseh Jrab (Documentary)
Narrative: This is a short documentary that focuses on the effect divorces have on the children of the parents, this person tells the his story on how he was effected and how in the end it made him stronger as a person.
Characterisation: The person who talks about his story is a teenager who was effected by divorce when he was nine years old, the way he tells the story and how he was effected makes the audiences sympathise with him and it also can help relate kids and teens who were also effected by divorce with him and make them feel as though they're not alone.
Camerawork: An example of the use of angles in the film is a high angle shot of a playing field full of kids, because it's high up it makes it easy to capture a group of people. An example of a shot type used is a close up and is done for the majority of the short documentary and this is when the teenager is talking about his story and is shot like a kind of vlog format and is a close up on his face, this have been done to make it seem more personal, as though he is talking directly to the audience and to also show his facial expressions and emotions. The final example of camerawork is the movement, most shots are still shots but an example of this movement is when a shot is tilting upwards, and this is when a mother has a baby in her arms and is looking down at the baby and it tilts upwards towards the mothers face slightly.
Editing: The first example of editing is a title graphic, this is when it says 'On November 24, 2005' and syncs up with the teenagers voice over saying the same thing, I think they did this to emphasise on the fact that this is a key date and that it was the day the teenager realised what was happening. Another editing technique is a time lapse and this is done in one of the shots that isn't the teen talking into the camera but the time lapse shot does relate to what he is talking about, it's a time lapse of people on a travelator in an airport and as this is showing when the teen talks about moving to a different country from his mother.
Visual Effects: This short film does not have any visual effects used. The only thing that may have been one was the user interface on the camera that the teenager is speaking into which may have been layered or edited onto the original footage.
Danny Macaskill: The Ridge by Cut Media (Sports, Documentary)
Narrative: The story for this short film is about a mountain biker called Danny Macaskill who returns to his native home on the isle of Skye in Scotland to take on a 'death-defying' ride on the notorious Cuillin Ridgeline.
Characterisation: Danny Macaskill is represented as a professional and a very skillful mountain biker, he lives up to this by doing very daring and extreme climbs up mountains and hills. Danny barely talks in this video apart from introducing his thoughts on why he's doing this but the rest of the short expresses his skills using his mountain bike.
Camerawork: An example of the use of angles in this short film is a high angle and this is seen when Danny is picking his bike out of the boat and because its on a helmet camera, it appears as a sort of point of view looking down. The next camerawork is the shot types used, an example of this is a wide shot. This is seen multiple times in the film as shots to show off the stunning landscape of the ridge such as when he is on top of a pillar like rock and it the landscape as apart of the foreground and background. There's also alot of movement in the film as the shots keep up with the actions and stunts Danny makes whilst riding his bike, an example being a mix between tracking and tilting at a low angle upwards, this is when Danny is riding his bike on a flat surface, in which the tracking takes place, and then as he starts doing some smaller stunts and turning different angles, the camera slowly tilts upwards near the bike.
Editing: There are a few examples of editing seen in this short film, the first example being jump cutting, this is used many times through the main part of the film where all the stunts and actions take place, each shot is about 5 seconds long and are mostly in different locations at different times. Another editing technique is seen at the very end and is a transition to the credits (being title graphics, another editing technique) and this transition is a simple fade to black.
Visual Effects: There are no visual effects in the film.
Elysium by Harrison Bahe (Drama)
Narrative: The story of this short film is that it follows a story of two boys who are trying to survive, at the start it wasn't clear what was happening other than that their mother died and they're dealing with trying to hide from social services and that is why they have no electricity and are always eating beans from the can, but after a small argument, it is revealed that the story is set in a zombie apocalypse and they are surviving inside their home, and the mother is also a zombie, which the older brother feeds the zombie meat.
Characterisation: The older brother is the one looking after the younger brother, the older brother is more mature and is just looking out for his brother, the younger brother on the other hand acts as though what is happening outside their home, the zombie apocalypse, isn't really a threat as he tries to go outside, despite his older brother trying to keep him safe and trying to keep him in doors, away from the zombies. They both have nightmares and flashbacks of the time when the mother wasn't a zombie, shows that they are both insecure about it and loved their mother alot. It even shows that the older brother doesn't want to let her go and so keeps the zombie in the garage.
Camerawork: An example of an angle used is a high angle where it shows the younger brother looking up towards the ceiling whilst he thinks about something. An example of a shot type would be be a close up, this is shot multiple times near the end of the film when it shows the flashbacks of the mother being bitten and turned into a zombie, between the cuts of these flashbacks, it has multiple close ups of the older brothers face, this trying to convey that this is an emotional moment as he remembers the tragic events. The final example is movement, this is shown in a shot where it uses the pan camera movement, it pans to the right from showing the mother to showing the older brother in a flashback.
Editing: The first example of editing used in the short is the eye line shot, this is seen when the big brother is getting out spoons for him and his brother to eat beans, and then he looks down, in the next shot it shows him looking down and he has picked up three spoons, this shows that he still hasn't got used to the fact his mom has gone. Another editing technique would be a transition, which was the fade to black, this was seen when the two brothers were having a little fight and then there is banging at the door, after the tense scene it fades to black.
Visual Effects: There aren't any visual effects in this short film.
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