2. Three Shorts are….
O Connected By Jonas Drotner Mouritsen
and Jens RaunKjaer
O Apricot By Ben Briand
O Sit in Silence By Rob Savage
3. Connected
O Connected is a Danish short film written and directed by Jonas
Drotner Mouritsen and Jens RaunKjaer. The short is a story about
survival and greed with a post apocalyptic wasteland as the setting.
Following an unknown disaster which has destroyed the world two
survivors are walking through the desolate landscape as they use
each for oxygen, connected by wires. Another survivor looks at the
two survivors hidden away in the dunes. From the outset it is clear
that this lone survivor has other intentions asides from making
friends. One of the two survivors falls to the floor possibly from a
lack of oxygen, or exhaustion. The film then takes a drastic and
dark turn as what seemingly looks like a typical cowboy stare off
between one of the two survivors and the lone survivor looking to
pounce on what looks like an easy target as their oxygen continues
to decrease. A fight begins between the two and they battle it out for
the remaining oxygen. One of the two survivors has already been
killed by his comrade as he was only holding him back from the
fight. In the end they both end up dead as they both have their
chords of oxygen removed from their suit meaning they can no
longer breathe in the inhabitable environment.
4. What we liked about it…
O We really enjoyed the futuristic appeal of the film and it clearly
depicted this short to be set a long time into the future.
O We liked seeing the theme of survival of the fittest, this is definitely
something we want to try and incorporate into our film. It shows that
we are all really striving to survive and at the end of the day were all
selfish and greedy. It also shows that a lot of us would/do not have
the strength to survive in these situations/conditions as they all
ended up dying on way or another in the film.
O The Mise-en-scene of film was superb and gave a clear
understanding of what a post-apocalyptic world may potentially look
like. The costumes added to the futuristic aspects of the film and the
setting also managed to portray a realistic and yet believable end to
the world.
O The cinematography was very good and consistent throughout the
film. Shaky camerawork was used when trying to portray feelings of
nervousness and anxiety. High angles and low angles were also
used to affect to show the different positions of power and strength
the different characters had.
5. Apricot
O Apricot is an Australian short film directed and written by Ben
Briand. This short film sees a normal date with some pretty plane
small talk from both parties. The man (Marcel) is asking the woman
a lot about her past memories, first boyfriends, first kisses, first
loves etc. The woman gives him lots of different answers however
doesn’t get anything in return when she tries to ask him some
questions in return. Getting increasingly frustrated by not getting
anything in return she begins to get up to leave, only to realise that
Marcel has been making notes on her answers. Repeating the
words I cant remember over and over again Marcel tries to
convince Madeline to stay on the date and not leave him on his
own. She angrily questions him as to why he is taking notes, and he
simply replies with I cant remember. At this point there is a large
pause and silence between the two actors as she comes to the
sudden realisation that he has something wrong with him and he
genuinely cannot remember what she wants to know. She sits back
down and he asks her again what was her first love, the remainder
of the film then looks at her reminiscing on her past and telling
Marcel about what her first love was like, as the film cuts between
the present and the past frequently.
6. What we liked about it…
O It cannot go unnoticed that the quality of sound in this is
exceptional and is something we wanted to take forward in our
production. The best part about this is that they only filmed the
sound using a H4N which is something that we have access to
within school.
O We liked the intricate dialogue used between the two characters.
There had clearly been a lot of thought that had gone into the
dialogue and it seemed so real at the same time, we could see a
proper connection between the two characters just from the way
they were speaking to each other.
O Again just like in Connected the cinematography was amazing, we
liked the use of the camera to portray different feelings of the
characters and the use of lens flares gave a more subtle and
relaxed feel to what was previously a very tense environment.
O Following on from that we loved the build up of tension to then the
sudden realisation of what was actually wrong with Marcel, this was
then also affective in allowing for the flashbacks to seem so realistic
and almost as if she was reliving the memory there and then.
7. Sit in Silence
O Sit in Silence is a very British sci-fi short film. It follows the events
subsequent to some explosions that take place in London. A woman
who is driving her car is involved in the explosions and as we see
the woman get hit by one of the explosions it cuts to a man who
innocently sits in the train station where he works. The man in his
boredom flings elastic bands at pictures of his wife, drinks tea, and
eats biscuits. The woman who was previously involved in the
accident has made her way to the station bleeding profusely and
begins to smash her hands on the screen to where the man is
working. In his panic he tries to begin to ring someone however the
phones are dead and he cannot get through to anyone. The woman
continues to scream help me, help etc however the man cannot do
anything to save her. He continues to try and ring someone again
however there is still no answer, trying to calm her down he says he
will get help but still is none the wiser. The woman then subcomes
to her injuries and falls down to the fall leaving a horrible stain of
blood over the glass she has been knocking on. An alien looking
creature explodes from her stomach and she lies dead on the floor.
The man then comedically sits back and just begins to drink his tea.
8. What we liked about it…
O We really liked the British aesthetic of the film. Despite it
being a Sci-Fi/horror short it has some really funny aspects
to it such as the final sip of the tea. It was just a very
traditional piece of British ‘cinema’ which is something we
definitely want to try and incorporate within our production.
O The sound throughout the production is extremely good,
we really liked the jump scares that were included in the
short, which wouldn’t have been the same if they had not
included the non-diegetic sound that they did. Again very
typical British Horror.
O This short is aimed at a sophisticated audience, and we
really enjoyed seeing the role reversal in the film. It was
interesting to see the man struggle and not be able to help
which a stereotypical representation of women. However at
the end we then see the man come through as he sits back
nice and relaxed care free of the situation. Typical man!
