Review of a short film

Shortcut:

The escalating footsteps at the beginning increases alongside with the man’s breathing building a trail of suspense. Each turn is followed by footsteps surrounding the man wherever he goes. In his journey he is exposed to a mystery person who he wants, to uncover its identity. As the journey comes to an end as he meets the mystery person eye to eye discovering a shocking twist that shows that the person he is running after is really him. The unanticipated ending halts to an end.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Establishing shot: Dark setting, hint of light on the ground and a shadow figure. Establishing shots are commonly used in a horror/thriller film to show the ‘monster/mystery’ person figure, posture and the background setting to set the mood. This shot is used to show the setting of where the character is and gives a profile of that character. For example in a horror film if the character is in an alleyway alone at night walking it gives the impression that the character may be dangerous and a threat.

 

This shot is trying to set a wary atmosphere. In a horror film the settings that is commonly used is an area where there is an alleyway. In an alleyway the director is able to create and build suspense as the use of light is dimmed and gives a scary effect to the scene. The black shadowed figure gives a chilling feeling as it gets the audience thinking who the mystery person is, what he wants. 



Close Up shot: Low key lighting; the characters face is half dark half light, this could suggest that the man has a sinister side to his character that is yet to be unrevealed.
 

The medium close up shot shows a close up of the characters facial expression, his eyes are wide open showing that whatever it is his saw it has surprised him. This part of the film is interesting because the character meets eye to eye with the mystery person

 

 

 

The use of panning shot shows that the character is running, this gives the impression that the man is maybe running from someone and is scared because he is out of breath. In a thriller/horror film there is always some sort of chase scene to build up suspense in the film. This short film does this by making the character run at a fast pace building anticipation.

The footstep of the character is louder each time, this shows that the character is alone in the area and there is no one else sighted on the streets. This is to give an eerie atmosphere. Also non-diegetic music is used, when the man is running eerie music is inserted to illustrate that there is something bad about to happen.