FILM - Research & Planning: Short film deconstruction

WHAT IS A SHORT FILM? 
This question is a fairly good starting point for my project, seeings as my project is to create a short film.

Ken Dancyger and Pat Cooper wrote a book called 'Writing the short film'. They believed that :

"The story is dynamic, the character is moved in the course of experience of the story, there are few secondary characters or subplots".


"The story must be set up fast".


"Often the story will revolve around a choice that presents itself to the character, who never returns to his or her former state; closure is obtained by making or avoiding that choice".


"The freedom of short film relative to long lies in the possibility of using metaphor and other literary devices to tell the story".

These ideas are of course huge generalisations, and only give a small idea of what short films can be. To find out more, I will analyse some short films for myself.

Link to film: 'Stiffy'. 

'Stiffy' is a straight 8 film. A straight eight film is a type of film where there is only one, non-editable film cartridge. Because of this, part of the appreciation (as well as the entertainment itself) is its level of production - as it is extremely difficult to create a convincing film.

Stiffy from 'Stiffy' - as lighthearted but sinister take on a 

slightly unorthodox relationship.

The film 'Stiffy' is a creepy short story of a lonely man who finds love in a 'stiffy', (an unusual term for a dead person). We see this dead person in the opening long shot of the hospital. The lighting throughout is very dark, making the film much more creepy and sinister. The soundtrack emphasises this; its dreamy, childlike vocals cleverly simultaneously make the film all the more so, whilst highlighting the protagonists loneliness/madness.

The film also shows a sped up, simplified version of a relationship, with jumpcuts used to show a prolepsis of time. The scenes are repetitive to show the progression through the relationship between the two, to show the mans affection grow for the corpse as the relationship deepens. The lighting stays dark to remind us of the sinister undertones of the film.

The dance sequence at the end is well executed in a dark room. The camera pans around the room and follows the two, who are in a spotlight in a pitch black room. This could suggest the mans/couples seperation from the rest of the world, and the dark background reminds us that he is still very lonely.

The final scene plays on our prior knowledge of films, specifically romantic comedies. In this scene the camera lingers on him outside the room with a ring. The suspense and anticipation created by this foreshadows trouble he may find in the room.

The last scene is sad but humourous, finishing with a twist. This is a typical feature of short films: a twist at the end, for the better or for worse. This is a feature of short films I would be keen to use for my short film: it makes a short film feel more like a story, with a concluding ending: some sort of finishing emotion.