The document provides analysis of three short films:
1) The Black Hole (2008) - About an office worker who discovers a black hole in a photocopied page that leads to mischief. Shots show his frustration at work and greed when using the hole.
2) Batman Dead-end (2003) - Follows Batman as he fights the Joker and is then confronted by alien predators. Atmospheric with dark lighting and point-of-view shots.
3) Inside (2002) - About a man with multiple personalities in a mental institution. Shots introduce new locations and characters. A twist reveals one character was just in his imagination.
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Screen writers only
1. Jonathan Ward
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production
Assignment IG1
Codes & Conventions Research:
Task 1.1
The Black Hole is a short film lasting just under three minutes. It was created in 2008 and is
distributed by Future Shorts who are a specialist short film label. The film stars Napoleon Ryan and
was written and directed by Phil Sansom and Olly Williams.
The film centres a round an office worker who
is routinely photocopying as part of his job.
The camera then zooms in to a close up shot
which is used to show that the everyday man
is in fact quite bored. He looks like he is sick of
his job and is wishing for something amazing
to happen.
The close up shot shows that he is tired and
frustrated, when the photocopier breaks he
takes his anger out on the machine bashing
the buttons and kicking out..
The machine goes quiet and then prints out a single page with a solid black circle on it. The worker
places the page to one side and continues his drink but after placing his plastic cup down he sees it
disappear through the hole in the paper.
2. Jonathan Ward
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production
Assignment IG1
The framing in this low reverse angle shot
tells us a lot about the black hole, giving it
depth.
This eye line shot brings the character down
to the audience level showing us that it is just
paper on a solid surface.
The use of props and special effects from this point leaves us believing that the hole is real. The low
profile close up shot of the worker examining the hole and then lifting the page to put his arm
through the hole, are particularly effective.
Having discovered that the black hole has powers he tries to use it on the vending machine, stealing
a bar of chocolate. He enjoys his chocolate before deciding that on a bigger crime to rob the
company. Close up shots showing the characters facial expressions enables good communication
with the audience at this point. The shots below show his enjoyment whilst eating and reaction to a
sudden idea.
Using the black hole to break into a locked room, he moves towards the safe.
3. Jonathan Ward
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production
Assignment IG1
Lighting plays a part in this section of the film
the darker surroundings in the room with the
safe giving a dark side both in what the
worker is going to do and indicating the room
is isolated. In this shot backlighting causes the
worker to be silhouette.
After successfully removing a large quantity of cash the worker is overcome with greed, he reaches
further and further into the safe finally climbing right in, in search of extra wads of cash. This
extreme close-up shows the real greed in his eyes. A medium shot is used as he goes in the safe.
The final scenes shows the sellotape holding the paper with the black hole on it coming loose and
the paper falling to the ground leaving the worker trapped inside the safe.
Continuity is quite good. Care has been taken at the beginning of the film, particularly when the
clock is in the scene but later on when emptying the safe some editing has moved the scenes around
and two bundles of cash disappear.
The film initially looks very simple it has only one character, there is no narration or dialogue of any
kind but there are special effect noises for the black hole. The location looks like a dull everyday
office.
4. Jonathan Ward
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production
Assignment IG1
==================================
Batman Dead-end is a short film lasting just over eight minutes. It was created in 2003 and is
distributed by Collora Studios who are a small independent label. The film stars Clark Bartram as
Batman and Andrew Koenig as the Joker, it was written and directed by Sandy Collora,
The film starts off with a number of extreme close-up shots showing Batman getting dress and
preparing for his next mission. The dark background and focussed light gives a strong effect.
The file continues with a long aerial shot in
which an important looking tower block is
shown and also revealing the rest of the dark
night time scene.
5. Jonathan Ward
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production
Assignment IG1
A medium shot is used which frames batman
and shows his bat symbol. This suggests that
the batman is a powerful character in this
film.
The film is very atmospheric using dark
lighting, rain and a number of high and low
angle shots.
The film uses a lot of point of view (P.O.V.)
shots, this one shows Batman’s surprise as the
Joker is snatched away over the roof top. The
close up of the angle of Batman’s head
Batman finds the joker up to no good and a indicating the height of the building, with the
fight starts. These two extreme close-up shots second shot showing the jokers legs
shown close together are used to show the disappearing.
expressions on their faces, this shows how
much the two rivals hate each other.
6. Jonathan Ward
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production
Assignment IG1
This eye line shot shows that Batman has
immediately spotted the alien and he is
looking straight at it.
This is a different type of P.O.V. shot it shows
what the predator is seeing when Batman is
stood in front of it. It uses a heat sensing
camera to give a colour negative effect. It tells
us that the aliens are nothing like humans.
In contrast to the dark mood of the film, the
fight scenes use very high key light to show
power.
More Predators join in the fight.
The final scene uses a wide angle and is taken
from outside the fighting group it shows us
the trouble Batman is facing being
surrounded with no possible escape between
his captures. It leaves us thinking this might
be the end of Batman.
I think the film is really good it brings together characters from two different films that I have seen
and makes them fit in and look right. It has a lot of good action scenes and looks like a real Batman
Film. There is a small amount of dialogue in this film but most of the audio is special effects noises
to signify the predator and alien.
==========================
7. Jonathan Ward
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production
Assignment IG1
Inside is a short film lasting just over five minutes. It was created in 2002. The film stars Jeremy Sisto
as the main character, Daniel. It was written by Eric Giz Gewirtz and Trevor Sands who also directed
it. The film is about a mental patient with a multiple personality disorder based in a mental
institution.
The film starts off with the patient in a
padded cell. This high angle shot shows his
isolation.
This is an over the shoulder shot to show that he
is being taken down a dark corridor by the guards.
This shot is a long shot to show that this is a
dark creepy place, the low key lighting helps to
put this in place. As this shot takes place there
is a sudden scary audio track that plays, this
creates a horror theme to the film.
As Daniel is taken down the corridor on his way to an office to be interviewed by a doctor he is
joined by more and more people on his journey there.
He goes inside an office where he is interviewed about his problem by a doctor. As the shot starts it
is a pan shot which introduces a new location and character, the camera then moves right the way
round the back of the doctor to create an over the shoulder shot as she talks to Daniel.
8. Jonathan Ward
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production
Assignment IG1
As Daniel talks to the doctor other people in the room speak at the same words at the same time.
The people are all from Daniel’s personality disorder.
Mid shots are used to show this. There is a lot of noise in the room as all the people speak this shows
the confusion of Daniel’s mind. Some people speak angrily others are quite calm.
As the doctor calms Daniel down all the people
start to disappear until only Daniel and the doctor
remain. A Two-Shot is used here to show that all
the people have disappeared and shows that the
doctor and Daniel are having a one on one
conversation.
As the door opens another doctor enters the
room he sits at the desk and then there is a twist
in the story as we realise that the first doctor was
also from Daniel’s imagination. This low angle
close up shot shows Daniel’s facial expression and
also it makes the first doctor look as if she is a
powerful touch to the story as this is when we
realise that she is on his side.
I think this was an odd story and it me took a lot of time to understand what was going on. It was a
good concept as towards the end of the story there was a shocking twist to the story which I would
not have not suspected. The film consisted of dark light and horror sounds to make the film a bit
more dramatic. The characters in the film had very different personalities some times quiet but
other times really angry and loud which added another interesting element to the film.
I enjoyed watching each of the films and was inspired to recreated similar camera angles within my
own short film see the treatment for Isolation. Although detailed I think that each film could have
9. Jonathan Ward
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production
Assignment IG1
been made using a single camera. Good picture and sound editing has helped each of the films
keeping the story flowing successfully.