Short Film: Comparative analysis

What is a short film?

Explain in your own words what the codes and conventions of a short film are.  How ould you explain a short film to someone.  Is it a ‘slice of life’,a vignette, or an opportunity to offer a window into another world.  Discuss the narrative and the restrictions that come with a timebounded project. 

What is your reaction to the short films?

Tell me your opinion and provide reasons. What is happening in the narrative wand what is your reaction? For instance, should the children in ‘Wasp‘ being taken in to care?

Which shots did you think were effective?

Discuss use of the camera. For example, in ‘Wasp’ there are a lot of hand-held shots.  Ramsay’s short film is a lot more formulaic and cinematic although she can also break the rules or add editing effects to create meaning.  Pick out specific shots and use screenshots to identify these.

How is the UK represented in these short films?

Discuss the variety of representations of place, character, gender, class.  For example, the mother in ‘Wasp’ is called a ‘baby factory’ and is a divisive character even in her own community. How do you respond to this representation?  Are these representations a fair reflection of life in the UK.  Headlines like ‘Breadline Britain’ and ‘Benefits Britain’ produce reactions amongst audiences. Does film allow for a more nuanced response to these representations and stereotypes of the UK?

What do the directors have to say about childhood?

What insight have these directors provided into the lives of children in the UK.  You could refer to some wider reading and watching of other work by these two directors.

Discuss the careers and work of Andrea Arnold and Lynne Ramsay. Find out more about their lives and work and use this information to comment on the short films. 

How is mise-en-scene used effectively to create meaning?

Some people say that film cannot do metaphor but in short films you often have to show rather than tell as time is short.  In planning mise-en-scene your short film will be much richer.  Analyse how these directors use mise-en-scen in these short films. For example, how is the wasp used as a metaphor? How is dialect and accent used in the films ? What is left unsaid in the films?  What dangers are visually present in the film ‘Wasp’?  What strong images remain with you from the film ‘Gasman”? 

Identify your Research

Include a bibliography to evidence your research. Try to go beyond the obvious sources such as Wikipedia. Use our magazines in the library and the archive editions on the web. The librarian will have details of passwords to access these.

·      Sight and Sound

·      Media Magazine

Use images to illustrate your work. 

Submit this as a draft as your Summer term assessment. It will be marked and you will gain verbal feedback with an assessment feedback sheet. 

You can then re-draft and add to your web-log as evidence of research into media products.

Deadline 30^th June 2016