Looking at Short Films

To help us create a short film, I've looked at popular short films found on the internet to see what they include and how they are made. 

"I'm a pumpkin. Hello."


'The Life and Death of a Pumpkin' is a five minute comedic short film about Halloween traditions from the pumpkin's perspective, from it being taken from the field to being hollowed out and then thrown away. Despite being very low budget and without any sort of effects, this film is very effective in getting humour from the juxtaposition of the style of a horror film and the light-hearted subject matter. Many aspects of the film reflect the horror style, especially the dark lighting, ominous non-diagetic music, sudden cuts to "shocking" imagery, and the melodramatic voice over of the pumpkin. This creation of a intense atmosphere in an unusual context could be useful for our short film, as it involves a man staying at the scene of a murder he committed due to his growing frenzied obsession with destroying any evidence, while characters usually try to escape. 

“Well, Mike Birbiglia, thank you so much for joining us on this bank heist.”

This 6 minute film by comedian Mike Birbiglia is very funny, fictionalised look at his interview with real life radio show host Terry Gross that veers into absurdity as he tags along with her to post interview coffee, dinner at her home and a violent bank heist with her husband. The realistic style of the film feels appropriate for the grounded events of the first two thirds but are humorously out of place with the bank heist and shooting at the film's conclusion, as is Terry Gross' famous low-key, friendly "interview" with Mike Birbiglia as he lays dying. However, the film's style does change somewhat as the heist begins, with non-diagetic generic action movie music playing and a change of setting to include a darker mise-en-scene until Mike shoots himself and the previous style returns. 

This is a highly inventive five minute film about a prank played on a friend, tricking him into thinking he only has five minutes left to live and leading him to reunite with his girlfriend. The execution of the film is unique and very effective, presented in reverse, showing the audience the film's conclusion and then how the character reached that point. This interesting use of structure could influence some aspects of our film; we chose to use a framing device of shots from the end of Acton's story at the beginning of the film to engage the audience and make them wonder what caused him to become that way, which will then be revealed. 'Tick Tock' is especially impressive due to it being filmed in one shot, emphasising the value of time in the character's last five minutes. Colour is also used effectively, with the optimistic ending of his story at the beginning of the film in full colour, which fades as it progresses back to earlier events and the threat to his life.