Short Film
Analysis
Losses –
FilmRiot:
Narrative:
·
The
location is not too clear until you get a few minutes into the film. We start
with a 4x4 vehicle driving up to the camera which pans round to the back and
shows a man taking a hostage out of the boot of the car. The main title shows
and we cut to the first location. It is an interrogation room that is harshly
lit. In this room, we first see the main protagonist and the main villain. Some
aggressive lines of dialogue are exchanged until the villain gives the
protagonist a chance to find him in five minutes after he un-cuffs himself with
a paper clip. The first henchman approaches the agent (protagonist) then he is
smoothly killed by the agent with the paper clip. The agent walks out into a
corridor of a large building and this is when the action starts. He disarms one
henchman, kills him then shoots two more in the same location. Another appears
who he also kills. He then enters a second location (looks like a balcony)
where a cover gunfight takes place. He does some skillful moves and eventually
kills all of the henchmen. The next scene is probably the best done. It is a
one on one fight scene. It begins with a powerful fist fight then the agent acquires
a pool cue. This is what he uses to kill him. The music here fits perfectly and
when the fight is over it seems to seamlessly move into the next scene. As the
agent walks up the stairs he grabs a revolver to kill the main villain. He
enters the room, the villain tells him that hes got the job, he doesn’t like it
and shoots him. End.
Music / SFX:
·
Seeing
as this is a short film and not a music video, multiple songs are used in
different sections of the video, however they all follow the same tune and are
all in the same genre of music.
·
The
first song is a collection of strings, drums and what sounds like a few
electric guitar notes. It is absolutely brilliant score to start the video, it
sounds very “special ops”. From multiple modern warfare games I have played
such as Splinter Cell or Rainbow Six Vegas 2, this song very much reminds me of
music from the games.
·
During
the interrogation scene, it sounds like only a bass guitar plays a few notes in
the same style as the song before. Some very faint electric guitar notes come
in again. It sounds absolutely perfect with the scene.
·
As
the action builds up, the strings and guitars become louder and louder. When
the first shot is fired, the main song comes in along with louder drums. It
really gives a sense of the action.
·
The
next scene has a similar song but with stronger guitar sounds. For the rest of
the film, the music stays like this until the end where is builds up so much
tension before the final kill then cuts off for a stylistic effect.
·
The
sound effects used in this video are all incredible. There is actually a behind
the scenes video which explains more than I could made by the same people who
made the film. It is amazingly informative: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSZvs8hecI0&safe=active
Lighting /
Colour:
·
The
colour and lighting in this film fits to the codes and conventions of other
action films. The first shot is very dark and desaturated to build the tension
and to show the genre. There was also a faint cyan filter over the image.
·
The
interrogation scene was very well lit. For all shots, there is a warm back
light for the actor and a cooler font light. This is a very generic convention
of almost all films if there is an object in a darker space. The contrast is
also very high and the grading is done very well.
·
The
lighting is constantly very harsh on the actors and room to show the gritty and
urban environment.
·
When
the first scene ends, we move onto where the action first starts. The lighting
here is just practicals (lighting that is shown in the shot) from the hallway,
however the muzzle flares are very detailed when broken down. Again, there is a
great behind the scenes video on how they do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDx83vsLLKk&feature=bf_next&list=SP5F218CF0B697F371&safe=active
·
In
addition to the green/blue tint to all the clips, some faint and realistic lens
flares have been used to give the stylistic effect of an action/sci-fi film.
Characters:
·
Similar
to “Dubstep Guns”, none of the characters have names, if they had names it
would be too much to remember for the narrative and would take you away from
the elements.
·
The
main protagonist is dressed in a black leather jacket, dark trousers and black
shoes. Seeing as the first time me is introduced he is in the trunk of a car,
we assume that he has been captured by villains and forced to kill his way out
of the building.
·
He
keeps a serious expression throughout the whole film and nothing seems to phase
him.
·
The
next character appears to be the boss of all the henchmen that attempt to kill
the main protagonist. He is wearing a suit and smoking what seems to be a cigarette
holder. He acts very casually and treats the main protagonist like an item
talking about the “money” he put into him. He acts the same in the two scenes
we see him in.
·
The
other characters all appear to be henchmen who one by one are killed by the
main protagonist apart from one. He is still killed but gets far more screen
time that other characters.
Genre:
·
Being
an action short film, there are multiple codes and conventions that the film
follows. First of which being the use of guns and over exaggerated muzzle
flares for a stylistic effect.
