Looking at Short Films (American)

Beginning my research for our A2 Media Film, I wanted to look at some examples of previous and popular Action/Adventure films to help give Alex and I some inspiration for our short film. The selection I have researched here are showing the typical conventions of American films. Eventually I will make a follow up post showing some examples of British short films which I might like.

Sharp Fires - happyfoxproductions

I first looked at a short film called "Sharp Fires" which was about an assassin who holds a very powerful stone that the Elite Research Corporation is looking for. This film in my opinion was shot beautifully as the directors used a variety of camera shots including shot reverse shot and medium/long shots to film the fight sequences, and medium close ups to film the interview scenes. The film also incorporated a mix of high key lighting and low key lighting for different scenes. The lighting was something I felt we needed to improve in our Opening Sequence from AS because the footage had a bit too much low key lighting, which was perfect for the interview scene, however not so perfect for the fight scene as it was hard to see some of the movements which were happening throughout the fight. 

Sleeping Dogs - pwnisher

This next short film is one of my favourites out of the 3 I have researched. The camera work in this short film is excellent as the camera is moving around the actors and fight scene for the benefit of the audience, rather than using still camera shots between sequences. This helps to build atmospheric tension and makes the audience more involved in the film, which was a technique that we applied to our AS film. The film also has surprisingly a very simple narrative. The story was easy to follow and was similar to our narrative we used for our AS film. The use of props in this action film are also very good which is something we need to consider for our short film since this will make our fight sequences realistic, bloody and more like the ones of a real Action/Adventure film like "Kingsman". The use of lenses and camera equipment as well in this film helps to achieve a film look to the footage which is also a technique which we need to consider in our short film.

Retribution - juicified83

The last short film which I had researched was one of my other favourites behind Sleeping Dogs. The narrative of this short film is very engaging because of its similar plot to films like James Bond, or 24. The use of different camera angles and techniques like close up shots and shallow depth of field help to show the characters expressions better, particularly when the protagonist character is aiming to shoot the victim on top of the building. The use of CGI in the scene when he is finding the documents about the victim is also very good.

These 3 opening sequences have now given Alex and I some perspective into what ideas we could both generate for our short film. Improving from our Main Task at AS, we both think that we need to improve the lighting, quality of the footage and include more filming techniques into the film. We also need to come up with a better narrative which will include more connotations and enigmas to help us gain more marks.