Looking at Short Films (British)

Looking back on my last post about some short films I had researched for some possible inspiration for our short film, I am now going to begin looking at some examples of British short films which I particularly liked and could help generate new ideas for our story line to our short film.

THE HEIST / Short British Gangster Film - TrueMOBSTER

I first researched a film called "The Heist" which is gangster film about a gang who terrorise the Atlantis Club in South London and steal anything which belonged to the club. In the end the gang stole a large sum of cash from the cashiers and injured the staff working at the place too. One of the gang members eventually double crosses his whole team and takes the stolen cash to the boss he works for, who physically beats him up when he asks to leave. 

My general thoughts on the short-films' plot is pretty poor since the story isn't really grasping and interesting. The gang terrorise a night club with the intention of robbing a few objects from the property as well as harming a few of the staff which they did do nonetheless, however there were no gritty or violent combat scenes to match with the gang members fierce muscle builds' and their weapons used to assassinate the staff. As soon as they finish talking to the owner of the club and gunned a few of the staff down they escaped from the premises, which in my opinion makes the plot seems unsuitable for a short-film. If this was a scene in feature film showing the daily work of these criminals, then I think I would have liked the scene a little bit more.

The pros on the contrary of this film is firstly the camera work. I really liked the use of tracking shots when the cameramen where following the gang members around the night club as they shot the staff. There was no shakiness to the footage which is factor I need to consider when I shoot our short-film. The props used are very realistic as they used airsoft guns for the interrogation scene and the members each had a plain masks to cover their faces up which is a unique costume design idea rather than using the typical balaclava we see in most gangster films. Despite the poor storyline, the actors did a very good job in their performance as they played each of their roles to a high standard.

OUR FATHER - World War II Short Film - Smashing UK Productions

This next film which I had researched is based during World War 2. In this short film, the war is experienced through the journey of Private Cole, a dramatic study of the contrasting nature between the innocence of childhood and the reality of war, and the emotional struggle that accompanies it. An odyssey of sorrow, friendship, innocence and adventure set against a canvas of war-torn France. 
This short film's storyline compared to the previous short film I had analysed is very emotional due to it's simulating experience about the lives of soldiers during World War 2. A story means the films is more interesting to watch since the characters emotions are expressed through their friendships and sorrow as they are making their way to their mission. Unfortunately, the soldiers were caught in action by group of German soldiers. A bloody gun fight takes place, and sadly several of the British soldiers get killed in combat. The friendships slowly break away as one by one they get killed by the Germans. Private Cole makes the quick escape after all of his friends are dead, however he shortly decides to commit suicide before he was murdered by the Germans with their machine guns. The sad ending makes this film have a unique feel to it to match with the sorrow theme of the war. 
There is a range of camera shots used in this film and were all very carefully made to fit every scene. Some of the shots include the shot-reverse shot, close up shots, wide shots as well as them all being colour corrected beautifully. There is a extensive use of shallow depth of field which in my opinion is a major factor is used effectively in this film too since the camera is only focusing on the characters rather than the having a deep depth of field and including the background as well. In many ways, shooting the background would have helped the audience understand where the location of this scene is (war zone). Enigmas like the sign post to Caen hint to the audience where they are which replaces the need to use a deep depth of field within the scenes. 
As far as I was aware, there were no real negatives I felt this short-film had since its covering a very powerful theme about World War 2. The short-film has won 5 awards including the Cannes Film Festival 2016 and Rhode Island International Film Festival 2016.

Room 8 - Winner of the BAFTA for Short Film 2014 - James W Griffiths

The last film I researched a BAFTA Short Film Winner called Room 8. This film explores the event of a prisoner being thrown into jail in Russia with another prisoner. The new inmate questions his other inmate about his identity, however the inmate answers briefly to his questions. The new inmate eventually points to a suitcase and asks the other inmate what it is, by which he responds with another brief answer "you will regret it". When the new inmate opens the suitcase he sees a mini version of the prison constructed inside the case. Amazed by this object, he begins to play with suitcase by sticking his hands into the case which results in a giant hand entering from the ceiling of the cell. Shortly after playing around, he finds a way how he can escape from the cell by opening the suitcase box and jumping out of the cell from the ceiling. The new inmate makes his way before he is then trapped by a matchbox by the old inmate who then locks him away in the desk draw with the rest of the other victims trapped in matchboxes.The matchbox acts as an enigma to determine the prisoners fate from the beginning. The cycle continues with the old inmate asking for another prisoner. 

This short film is undisputedly the best camera work I have seen in any of the short-films I have analysed, even compared to some of the American Short films I have analysed. The quality of the footage is very high considering this is a short film made by a very small team. There is also a variety of different shots used throughout the film ranging from shot reverse shots and close up shots of the characters faces. The use of visual effects is very impressive too considering this is a short film once again. Overall, it is very hard for me to criticise this short-film since it is as expected a winner from many short film competitions around the world.

Now that I have completed my research on both British and American short films, I am ready to begin brainstorming my ideas onto paper and consider the filming and storyline techniques I have explored in these short films.