Short Film's Analysis

I feel like analyzing other short films is important. Firstly to see what short films are, as I am making one myself therefore I need to look at some in depth and as I am new to short films this is quite necessary. Furthermore, It's interesting to find out the structure of short films and the techniques they use within short films, as this is different from an actual film I need analysis both.

I'm Beautiful.

This short film is very short and it keeps within our attention spans because of this. It tells a very important message that is not needed longer than it is In the opening, It immediately gains our attention from her saying 'look at me'. This brings the audiences input from using direct address as it makes us feel involved. Then she goes and says do you think I'm beautiful' making us feel involved again, asking us questions. The lighting is very dark throughout the short film and the instrumental played in the background adds on the effect of sadness from the piano playing in low keys, then it gets more intense when a violin is played gradually louder and she gets more serious and louder in her voice. As the music gets intense, she then explains all the things she does to feel beautiful, as the expectations and standards of beauty is so high at this day in age. She shows a powerful message visually of her journey of this, containing graphic images, close ups of her face of her emotion of what the 21st century expectations is doing to her. She ends it on a message that is powerful, making us feel sympathy towards her and all girls. The short film is short, effective and tells a very important message. It is a great short film.

The Present Short.

I've decided to analysis a completely different short film, this one being animation. This film is more slow paced and longer, which is a lot more effective for this story. The whole reason it is so great is that the suspension of the end of the film. Straight away we see a close up of him engaged in the video game, like every teenager. Then the mother walks in with a present and says to open it which intrigues our interest to see what's inside. He carry's on playing the game and then eventually opens it. He finds a dog inside and realizes that it is 3 legged, and he gets frustrated and pushes him away. It makes us wonder why he is so annoyed and unhappy with his mum getting him a three legged dog. Moreover, there is a lot of angles throughout the short film which keeps us engaged and the use of POV shots of the dog is really used well. Then leading to the end when he finally pays attention to the dog, we eventually see why he is so annoyed of his mum getting a three legged dog. He picks up his crutches and the shot is still and above his legs, he moves away from the still shot and we can finally see he has also a leg. We then get the message that he didn't like the dog because it reminds him of himself and how much he hates his condition of having one leg. In the end he learns to love the dog and decides to play with it.

She's Lost Control.

There is firstly a slow movement in the opening shots that are slow paced or either still with little action, showing the scenery, making us wonder what is wrong. Then after seeing her face showing little emotion engages us more. The next shot shows her body and dermatillomania, which leaves us shocked. The soft, sad music begins to play whilst she does her morning routine whilst a narrative starts and questioning her why she started doing this to herself. We start see close ups of her face which make the scenario more dramatic and also to her picking her skin, making us barley wanting to look at the screen. We are hearing the narrative as like whats happening in her mind, questioning herself of the reasons why she did this to herself. We see how her condition affects and disrupts her morning routine on a daily basis, and how she is loosing her mind from it. It is a really smart and professional short film that is quite engaging to watch and explains the struggles of having this condition very well.