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Contextual studies: short film reviews


This short film is only just under 4 and a half minutes, but there is enough story set up for it to be engaging for the audience. It follows a teenage boy who h just broken up with his girlfriend, and he is depressed because of it, but finds a secret note in his locker.

I had watched this before and it helped me to think of ways that I could make sure enough information was in the story so that it would make sense for the audience, as I was planning on filming the opening two minutes. There is also a twist in this short film which I found very funny, and I wanted to try and add something like that into my short film. The camera work is also majority handheld, which adds to the casualness of the story being set in a high school. The only part that isn't handheld is when Adam is thinking of who wrote the note, where the shit is steadier, showing his way of thinking.



This short film is only just under 7 minutes long, but it manages to still tell us the entire love story of two people, from how they met to how they broke up and the feelings that follow. It is a very powerful film that chooses its words perfectly to give the biggest impact in the audience. All of the words said can only be heard in the narrator's head, and the music cannot be heard by him. For the majority of the film, all of the sound is non-diegetic, as neither the boy or the girl can hear him talking or the music playing. It is only when we are with the boy at the computer that the narration becomes diabetic, as we are hearing what he is thinking. Throughout the relationship, they are constantly in bright places lit with sunlight or are outside in sunny days, showing that their relationship is good. However, when they break up, they are in a darker room, and when he is typing an email, he is in an even darker place, suggesting his loneliness.

This short film was closer to my idea of what I want my film being like, as I want to make a thriller. This one may be a horror, but there are elements of thriller in it. There are also techniques that I would want to put into my film, such as the main character looking down on someone, and another character showing up behind them. This is a good technique as it causes the audience to become startled, making it more engaging for the audience. The lighting of the film really helped create an atmosphere for the story, along with the costume of the demon. One technique used that was very effective is the cracking of the actual video, which is typical of a lot of ghost films, but is still very effective in immersing the audience in the film

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