1. HORSE
BROTHERS
S H O R T F I L M A N A L Y S I S
A L E V E L M E D I A S T U D I E S

2. FILM INFO
Title: Horse Brothers
Genre: Dark Comedy
Directors: Fabian Velasco and Milos Mitrovic
Producers:Fabian Velasco and Milos Mitrovic
Origin: Canada
Film Duration: Around 8-9 minutes

3. FILM OVERVIEW
Horse Brothers, narrated by a horse named Anton, is a seemingly ridiculous story about the
paranoia that builds a wedge between Frodo and his brother. As the plot progresses towards a
violent conclusion, we realise that nothing is more illogical than paranoia itself! Milos Mitrovic and
Fabian Velasco, co-writers/directors of their nine-minute SXSW short, produce a humorous and
strange narrative that shines with its uniqueness, humour, and distinct visual style.
When the filmmaker couple began writing The Horse Brothers, they sought to explore "familial
drama, sibling or friendship rivalries, and paranoia." The two admit they were "in the mood to make
something of an insolent homage to the great Italian filmmakers," citing Pasolini, Antonioni, and
Argento as influences. This devotion is visible in the film's visual aesthetic, with even the title cards
in Italian, adding to the film's general tonal oddity and making it even more enjoyable.

4. The contrast between the emotional gloom of the idea, the craziness of the actual narrative,
and the overall tone established by music and imagery is what makes the picture so
compelling to watch. It's evident from the start that this is going to be a wild journey, but also
a picture that doesn't take itself seriously. "We wanted to make a film that would primarily
allow us to have fun both on set and during post-production, and to be weird and unfiltered,
without being bound by any expectations of how it would turn out or where it would show,"
the filmmakers revealed. And it's obvious! The Horse Brothers seemed to be a film that
allowed them to not only have fun, but also to experiment with the flexibility that the short
format provides, allowing them to go wild with their imaginations without any constraints.
Surprisingly, the circumstance they described is a perfect parallel for paranoia, as fear can
drive you insane and defy reasoning. However, if you delve deeper, you will learn that the
film's entertaining and surreal dimension also uncovers a more deeper element that
touches on problems of mental illness. However, despite the unexpectedly genuine darkness
towards the end, the film is designed to be light, and this is maintained by its visual style and
score, which combined create a cosmos that is far from bleak and guides us into a certain
amount of suspension of disbelief.

5. STRUCTUARL STAGES OF
THE FILM &
CINEMATOGRAPHY
We can assume that the plot is set in Italy as Anton- the horse ‘speaks’
Italian. This is however is done, not through verbal language, yet
written text on the screen in the colour red and black attached with a
frightening sound adding to the dramatic aspect of this dark comedy.
The brother who owns the horse - Frodo, occasionally speaks in Italian
but mostly uses English just like his brother. Frodo lives on a ranch with
Anton the narrator. Although owning a ranch is expensive this could
have been inherited or similar as the house he lives in seems quite old
and simply not very expensive which tells us their financial situation.
The reason why this short film can reach a number of audiences is
because it can be found entertaining by probably anyone over the age
of 12, whatever gender or race. Dark comedies can especially be
entertaining for teens or people in their 20s.
What’s also interesting is that the film, as mentioned before, acts as a
metaphor which means that it doesn’t literally represent what is
showcased on the screen. This adds value and variety to the film which
could make it more popular.

6. MISE-EN-
SCENE
Mise-en-scene has been used to create effects
on the film due to the location that has been
used, the bathroom for example is a typical
setting where you would expect something
horrific to happen. The overall gloomy-old film
vibe that we get from the film could also
potentially indicate a horrifying story line and
does add to it.
In theatre when an actor wears red shoes- that
usually represents the fact that that character is
about to die ; this film contains a lot of red which
could be to show pain, death and/or suffering.
The costuming also shows how diffrent both of the brothers are.
While Frodo is dressed into some typical ranch/farm clothing, his
brother arrives to the scene in a white elegant shirt with a tux and some
white jeans.
Their farm clearly tells us that they are somewhere rural- potentially
Italy as I've mentioned; the cloth on their kitchen table which is a bunch
of small squares in red and white could be a mere representation of
their Italian roots as well.
An interesting set of props they used to make the film was a bunch of
electronics such as tablets which Frodo later uses to electrocute his
brother in the bathtub wishing to kill him.

7. EDITING
The editing helps to realise the story being -that the two
paranoid brothers are consumed with murderous fantasies
after a horse convinces them that they are each others
enemies.
The 'old' filter over the shots was a big story teller.
The thing that stuck out the most however, was whenever
Anton communicated with one of the brothers, in editing a
red background was added with big black text (in Italian)
that would represent whatever the horse was saying.
Another thing relating the horse was the ending where he-
Anton pulls out and fires a gun at Frodo, which could be a
metaphor saying that your paranoia kills you.
Aside that no special editing or effects were used other
than the ordinary switching from take to take -EXCEPT for
one scene where we see Frodo's brother suffering by being
electrocuted where we see tablets falling around his
screaming face behind a red background creating a
horrifying visual.

8. SOUND
The sound was a big part of this film. Music can help make a
situation seem pleasant, happy, dangerous, scary, sad... It can also
sometimes how us what a character is thinking without them
saying a word.
In this case, the music made the entire experience WAY more
freaky.
It started out more quit where we could really focus on the setting
and could hear birds and just some farm, outside noises.
Once there was more of a close up on the horse we could hear a
gentle tune which originally tricked us into being calm around an
animal which could actually not be trusted. Voice overs were used
for Anton's narration.
Sometimes silence can be really freaky and scary also- the
directors used a combination of both intense sounds and music to
make us feel this 'fear', regardless of the fact that this is a comedy,
a dark comedy still makes you feel the feeling of
uncomfortableness; and silence to stimulate this feeling.

9. CAMERA
WORK
The camera work in this film really made the
audience feel like they're there in the moment.
The method they used to film was something I
found interesting- some of their shots are very
shaky and are all also 'old school' making the
frame look really aged which made me pay a lot
of attention to what was happening in front of
me.
There were also some interesting camera angles
like when we see Frodo's reflection in the tablet.
Making it seem like someone is always watching
giving us another possible hidden metaphore of
paranoia.
There are a lot of close ups while following Frodo
which creates a more intense environment up
until the last scene where we see an extreme
long shot of Anton killing Frodo from his brothers
point of view.