The short film tells the story of a man who is told by his doctor that he has only 1500 words left before he dies. He wastes most of the words in the doctor's office in a panic, leaving him with only 50 words. He considers how to tell his wife but decides not to, believing their relationship can be sustained through nonverbal communication. When his wife presses him to talk, he spends a night alone in the woods drinking and yelling at ducks. He is left with one word and calls an emergency number to send his wife a final message, but shouts his last word in frustration at the phone booth.
2. The Plot
The short film tells the story of a man who is told that he has 1500 words left to use before his
death. Whilst in the doctor’s office he expires the majority of his words in question and panic,
leaving him only with 50 words left.
The main character wonders how to tell his wife about the issue and we see the various
approaches that he comes up with. Eventually he disregards all of these and decides not to tell
her at all, saying that all he needs to sustain a loving relationship is ‘winking, long meaningful eye-
contact and playful punches on the arm’. Additionally, he occasionally treats her with exotic and
unusual words like ‘beatitude’ and ‘soliloquy’.
Finally, his wife gets frustrated at his silence and tells him that ‘they need to talk’. He panics and
spends a night in the woods, drinking and ‘yelling ‘why?’ at ducks’. When he wakes he is left with
only one word.
With only one word left, he decides to ring the emergency number which his doctor gave him
and it allows him to choose words and send a final message to his wife. The short ends with the
man getting so frustrated at the phone box that he shouts his last word in anger.
3. Personal Response
This Andrew Chaplin’s work stood out to me because I think the way it’s filmed is very
professional, I believe that the characters are relatable and believable, but also I think that the
dark-comedy genre is highly appealing for an audience. There are so many short films which
explore the horror genre or play on people’s heartstrings with sad storylines because this is easy
to do, nevertheless I believe that the bitter-sweet, comedic storyline of ‘1500 Words’ is
impressive and entertaining without relying on what is easy to do.
This short film proved to me that it is possible to make a comedy short-film that also looks
professional and impressive. Whilst creating my short film this year I hope to take on board some
of the techniques used in this film to produce a product that challenges my ability and that I can
be proud of.
