1. IG1 TASK 1
This document is about the third and final short film I am analysing.
‘Amelia and Michael’
‘Amelia and Michael’ is a ten minute short film directed by Daniel Cormack. It was
released in 2007 and premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival. It was shown at a
number of film festivals and won many awards, notably the Best British Short Film at
the British Independent Film Awards.
The film is about a seemingly happily-married, middle-aged couple who have a
successful upper class lifestyle, live in a comfortable house, have a fancy car with driver
and show a great respect and affection to each other yet both keep shameful secrets.
Michael is played by well-known Anthony Head while Amelia is played by Natasha
Powell.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
There are many different aspects of cinematography available in this film.
This is the establishing shot. It is also a two shot as
both Amelia and Michael are on screen. This scene
shows us how privileged they are yet how boring and
un-eventful their life, on the surface, appears. They are
silent throughout the whole car journey, the car stops,
she kisses Michael, says goodbye and then gets out of
the car.

2. There are a few examples of close ups. The close up
technique is mostly used to capture the character’s
emotion and this shot does it perfectly. You know from
watching that her lover has just died so you know she
is upset so this next scene shows you exactly how she
is feeling. She is doing her best to hide her emotions
before she opens her front door and see her husband.
There are two examples of a point of view shot and
they both occur when looking at a mirror. A point of
view shot is where the audience can see what the
character is looking at. It is made a bit easier for this
scene as it is a mirror so we actually see the character
looking at what the character is looking at.
There are a few high angle shots that occur during this
film. This scene is probably the best example of a high
angle shot. A high angle shot is simply when a camera
is located above the eye line. This is effective because
it gives the sense that, when Michael joins the scene,
he is the dominant part of the scene and Amelia is
inferior at that moment.
There are also a few examples of tracking in the film.
Tracking is where a camera movement in relation to
the character being filmed. This scene is where Amelia
is leaving the hospital after finding out her lover is
dead. She walks from the hospital doors, down a few
steps and walks down the road, all while the camera
follows her.

3. EDITING
There are a couple of examples of good editing in this film.
There are two examples of a jump cut in this film. One
is where Michael is in the hotel room; irritably trying
to sleep and the other is the one I am showing you.
Amelia holds out her hand for a taxi, and the next
scene shows the door closing with her already in the
taxi, skipping the taxi pulling up beside her, her
opening the door and her getting in.
There is one example cross cutting in this film. Cross
cutting is the technique used to establish action
occurring at the same time is different locations. This
scene shows Michael inside their house, and then
Amelia about to walk to the front door, back to
Michael, then Amelia opens the door.

4. SOUND AND LIGHTING
There are many good aspects of sound and lighting in this film.
There are lots of examples of ambient sounds in this
film. Examples of this are when you hear background
chatter, a telephone ringing and when the bath is
running. Amelia and Michael are sat on the bed, where
the sound of bath water running is heard. Amelia then
gets off the bed to then get in the bath.
There are a few good examples of sound perspective in
this film. The best example is when Michael is on the
phone and you can hear his friend Francis’ voice
through the phone. His voice sounds all echo-ey and it
sounds just like a person’s voice on a phone would
sound like in real life.
There is a lot of incidental music throughout the film.
Incidental music is when you have music playing that
enhance or create an atmosphere. The best example of
this is when Michael is in his hotel room and the music
becomes dramatic and it suits with his guilty nature
and his failed attempts at sleeping.