Film evaluation

My Film Evaluation  

For my course work I decided to make a short drama Film, about the last man on earth. As part of the devising process I investigated other short films from an array of genres. I then used some of their creative and technical elements to help produce my own film. One of these films that influenced my decisions was Ollie William’s (2014) “the fly”, similarly to my own film the fly features largely only one character. Due to this there is almost no dialogue, this also means that the story must be conveyed through effective use of editing, performance and cinematography to tell a visually compelling story, as exposition through dialogue is not really an option.  

In the fly the performance of the actor is pivotal to furthering the plot particularly as there's minimal communication between actors, it is largely a man sat in a claustrophobic environment being tormented by a flying insect. Therefore, his movements and his reactions must be exaggerated, to get across how he's thinking and feeling as opposed to him sitting there and explaining how he feels. I incorporated similar techniques, as I liked the idea of telling a story almost completely void of dialogue. I did this by encouraging the lead actor, in His performance, to over emphasise certain movements, even when scenes involved another actor briefly. For example, there is an extreme close up of him staring at the supporting actor then into the distance(snapshot 1). In normal life this is a very brief and potentially unnoticeable action. But this has to be greatly exaggerated in order for the audience to understand that he was staring at two separate subjects. I simultaneously wanted to show that what he was staring at was alarming. Which lead to me also asking Him within the same extreme close up shot, to emphasize a scared facial expression. (snapshot 1) 

This concept of over emphasizing the minuet is constantly present throughout The Fly to an almost slapstick degree, from the extreme close up on the driver's constant thumb tapping showing his nerves, to his ridiculous display of violence, blasting his car with a gun. I wanted to avoid slapstick and ridiculousness, as I didn’t want the film to be a comedy, because I felt it would undermine the potentially sensitive subject matter. With regards to telling my story visually, I felt I was relatively successful because the people I have shown understood the basic narrative and no one said the performance was over the top. However, some of the people I showed, were either confused or not convinced, as to why my character chooses to end his life. It was meant to be because he is at the end of his journey and has exhausted all options. I think that because there is an adherent absence of dialogue, or not detailed enough title cards, too much is left up to the audience’s imagination which results in it being slightly confusing. If I were to do it again, I would include a title card that explains more information. 

Another film That I used for inspiration was Lewis Arnold’s “Echo”. Arnold uses cold blue tones to create a realistic and grounded effect. I felt this was effective and increases emotional involvement as it feels as if it could have happened, it is almost documentary style. I wanted to have a similar tone at points in my film. When it came to the editing of my film, in the first flashback I used warmer colours to convey a sense of life and peace (snapshot 2). 

(snapshot 2)(snapshot 3) 

 In the present day I decided to take away all colour and to have it in black and white to represent the new apocalyptic world that is damaged and is no longer thriving with life (snapshot 3). Then in the second flashback it has a similar tone to echo. By doing this I aimed to plant information in the audience's mind instead of explaining through dialogue, such as using black and white, with loud windy sound effects to show the world to be lacking any life other than my main character. I felt I was successful with this, as everyone I showed seem to get this straight away and found it to be effective. If I was to re do this, I would include more actors in the flashbacks to make it seem more alive and create a more vivid colourful world, to really stress the difference. 

 The other aspect of echo that I wanted to add to my film was the narrative twist. I felt that because of the nature of a short film character development is impossible, so one way in order to make it stand out is with a twist ending. I felt this adds to a short film well, making it more exciting and impactful. In my film for example, the twist is after my character kills himself, it is revealed he is not the last man alive. I felt thematically this contributes to the overall message of the film, which ironically is don’t give up hope. I feared this may undermine the message rather than contribute to it, but people that have seen my film seem to agree it works. If I were to do it again, I would maybe allude to the ending a bit more, maybe showing more of the mysterious character, as it potentially feels out of place. 

I also took inspiration from certain feature length films. One of these films was Stanley Kubrick's the shinning. The extreme long shot of the twins down the corridor. Not only is this visually astounding and impactful, but also incredibly symmetrical. This creates an eerie and intense atmosphere. Kubrick does this by composing a shot that conveys a sense of unity through the repetition of one or more elements, for example the wallpaper and doors on either side. I wanted to incorporate this into my film shots to create a sense of spectacle and suspense. I felt this would contribute to the rise of tension in my film particularly when the main character is searching for another person. My main uses of symmetry in my framing was when the main character is running through the arch way. I felt the composition was crucial and I wanted to create a sense of importance, the arch way, bricks and trees generate a symmetrical shot that I felt achieved this look (snapshot 4). This combined with a slow and ominous zoom of the camera, helped achieve a feeling of the main character being watched. Though I felt, based on audience feedback, my composed shots of symmetry were reasonably successful, I felt the shots themselves were rather basic if I were to do it again I would perhaps include high angled shots or something like a canted angle, to help manipulate audiences positioning and story telling. 

.(snapshot4) 

Another short film I looked at was John Threlfall's Over. This film stood out to me as it subverted audiences' expectation of the linear three act structure, as it’s revealed later on the film is played in reverse.  This is particularly effective as it keeps audiences guessing, with minimal clues, right till the last second. I found this to be an innovative way to create and maintain tension. I wanted to incorporate the idea of subverting the audience's expectation of chronological order, as it helps create mystery. I did this by starting with flashbacks (snapshot 2), though this has been done before in some feature length films, I haven't seen it in many short films. By doing this it helps set the scene for my film’s “present day”, it also spikes the interest of audience members. It gets them asking questions and can help change their perception of events, especially with the second flashback where it reveals more about the main characters past. I hoped that this would make him more morally grey, making the film less straight forward and creating a moral debate. This worked to varying degrees of success, most people saying that it was effective and added context. However, some people said it was just a bit confusing. If I were to do this again differently, I would maybe add a third flashback that emphasised my character's friendship with each other  and maybe eluded to why the world became apocalyptic a bit more. 

Overall, I did feel that my film achieved what I wanted, showing the last moments of someone who has given up all hope. My main areas for improvement I felt were largely technical, for example I broke the 180-degree rule and the 45-degree rule at points. There is also some dodgy sound bridging I did not spot. I think, based on audience response, the overall tone of the film was quite accurate, and conveyed a good genre specific atmosphere.  

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