Film blog

Phillip Van's science fiction short film, taking place in what seems to be matriarchy, explores the idea of robotic partners. The opening sequence shows a couple having a romantic candlelit dinner. From an over the shoulder shot we see the husband in his work clothes, they suggest that he is quite uptight and not very relaxed because of their formal nature. As the scene progresses, the wife gets annoyed with the lack of romance coming from his end, gets up and turns him off, revealing the fact that he in fact a robot. After ordering an upgraded model with customised features the earlier scene begins again, this time with her ideal man. As the film is a science fiction short, the audience is expecting a twist and we see a repetition of an earlier shot, showing the new husband as almost entirely identical. suggesting that the situation will play out in the same way, leading to the wife's continued frustration. This theory seems to come true as he refuses a drink for the second...

Tilby and Forbis' short film uses animalised characters making it an allegory of everyday urban life. The film starts with a rooster eating toast, after watching him butter it we see a mid-shot of the animal, who is quite clearly meant to represent a man. From the mise-en-scene of the braces, the wrinkles under his eyes and the old-fashioned glasses we can tell that he is meant to represent an old man. The fact that he's been animalised sets the film up to be a children's cartoon however, from the fact that the colour scheme is so worn out and dull, we can conclude that this will be a more serious portrayal of life that isn't as vibrant as a children's cartoon would be. As the film continues, we see a mid-shot of two rodents smoking, this feels uncomfortable to watch because as a society it is deemed wrong for animals to smoke. The fact that these rodents represent humans, forces the audience to explore the idea of smoking being wrong for all animals, including...

Chris Marker's dystopian short film, told by narration and a photomontage of stills, focusses on a time traveller's ironic love affair. When the time traveler takes his date to the museum we are given the chance to explore the effect of using stills. The shot where he looks at her neck is on screen for five seconds, allowing the audience to inspect the mise-en-scene. From his eyelids being partially closed we know that his gaze is fixed on the girl's neck, he is observing her as if she is in a glass box herself. To him she is an exhibit, as he realises, she is long dead in his time. We can also see that she is enjoying the date as she seems intrigued by the museum's exhibit, much like the time traveller is with her. By having the still last five seconds, Marker is allowing the audience to study this scene like a museum exhibit as well. making three parties study a different time: we are studying him, study her, study the exhibit. The technique used means that the fil...

Alan Clarke's short film about the Northern Irish troubles, compiles a series of brutal executions, which all focus on the assassin. The film opens with an extreme long shot, where the assassin is barely visible, this becomes a tracking long shot as the camera follows the man walking into a swimming - baths. The mise-en-scene has a dull colour scheme and the assassin's clothes are bland, reflecting the fact that the film takes place in the real world and the setting is quite ordinary. This suggests that murders were commonplace at the time in Northern Ireland. It also creates an almost documentary style feel to the film, which is fitting given that the events were recreated from real police reports. The sequence continues with more tracking shots of him walking through the swimming baths , searching for his target , before shooting a caretaker with a shotgun. After he has left the scene with another walking tracking long shot, we get a whole body shot of the victim...

How does the aesthetic quality of ‘Trainspotting’ depict ideological issues of youth and addiction?​ The opening shot of "Trainspotting" is a close up of Renton's lower half, beginning with his feet, as he runs down the street, then through a straight cut, a close up two person tracking shot of Renton and Spud as they are pursued by police. Followed by a close up of stolen goods falling off them as they try to escape capture. Throughout this sequence the colour scheme is mainly brown and grey, and there is a lot of dull mise-en-scene, showing the social realism elements to the film, reflecting the fact that life is often dull and boring, juxtaposed by the idea of a fast police chase through the streets of Edinburgh. However, the dull colours could suggest that the norm for Edinburgh is young men getting chased by the police and that because it happens so often that it too seems dull and boring. This sequence establishes the fact that whilst understanding that robbe...