Stamped - Presentation

Case Study 3

This short film narrates the story of three girls on a road trip heading to the countryside.Unexpectedly their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, a place filled with bushes and fields.As the driver of the car,(Lucy), tries to find reception to call a repair company to come solve the problem of the car, a mysterious figure kidnaps her and her reaction (which is she screams for help) frightens her friends. They then decide to run away from the car in the hope of that they will their find their missing friend; it all begins to go horribly wrong for the trio of girls.

The theme of this short film is a that it is a thriller film, as the group of friends go missing one by one, therefore relating to the thriller theme of the short film. The characters are presented as a close group of friends who are embarking on a camping trip. This relates to a common theme within the thriller genre, which is the theme of friendship, as a breakdown of this friendship can be seen as the causation of Lucy going missing. However, some would say that the disappearance of Lucy is actually a reason why the other two girls become closer and try to revive their friendship and go on the look for her, but this is the beginning of their own downfall. The kidnapping of Lucy is actually more of a pre-modern aspect of this film rather than a post-modern as thriller films in the 60’s and 70’s had a kidnapping which would have made the film more interesting at that time, but nowadays kidnappings are a predictable aspect of thriller films, thus removing the thrill aspect of this short film.


There are a number of camera angles used through out the video, as the short film starts the location and a car is introduced to us through the use of different long shot which show sceneries of the location.This is very effective as straight away the audience are being given an idea of the location of the short movie and what the mise en scene is going to revolve around. As the initial dialogue takes place in the car there is a restricted amount of space which is the reason close ups are being used to show facial expressions of the different characters when  dialogue is taking place,there is also some use of low angle shots, and some occasional wide shots when there is need for all 3 characters to be seen in the same shot.

As 2 characters exit the vehicle some tracking shots are used to follow the movements of these and over the shoulder shots during conversations. As regards for criticism the handling of the camera is not very stable at times and can cause the short film to look unprofessional and can distract audience.
Wide shots are used to show movements of the characters from a far to get a clear picture of the situation and also POV shots of the mysterious figure are used to create panic throughout the short film.
As regards for the Mise en scene the location and props used work together with the theme the short film, the location is a far away country side in an isolated area  which helps in creating that spooky`and mysterious look to it.
The short movie had use of diegetic sound such as footsteps,car engines,conversations and others which were all used to give reality to the movie by matching the actions which were taking place on the other hand the non diegetic sound used in the short movie such as all the sound effects and intonations within them were used with the purpose of creating tension.
Some of the features included in this short movie which i would include in my short movie include the use of medium shots 

Case Study 2

The genre of this movie is adventure and thriller the short films shows the story of a group of young men  who steal a prized possession from a leader of a drug empire which leads them to being hunted down by a mysterious figure who conceals his identity with a black mask.

the short film as a series of camera angles such as close ups and shaky movements of the camera in order to immerse audience into the different scenes. The Movie starts with  POV shot of the third soldier looking down on the two as one of them is treating the injured leg of another, this shot is given to the audience straight away to give audience an immediate feeling and idea of the theme and concept behind the short movie
We also have 2 shots when dialogues are taking place between two characters, being a fast paced short movie a two shot gives audience a quick look at both characters without need for change of shots such as over the shoulders.
Establishing Shots and High Angle shots are used to show audience the location in which these scenes are being taken place. Close ups of mobile phones ringing,watches, masks and attention towards detail is used to build tension and create suspense.Tracking shots were also used when there was movements of characters involved and tilt when showing POV of the characters sprinting and running.
As for editing side of the short movie there is good use of transitions which help in making the movie flow and appealing to the eye without the sudden change between scenes,also there were also changes made to the colouring of the scenes which were made darker in order to fit with the theme of the short movie. We see great editing techniques at the very start of the short movie when one of the characters gets shot in the chest as we see blood pouring from the wound which was accomplished thanks to the editing.
The diagetic sound present in the short movie was to an adequate standard and could be clearly understood through out there was also use on non diagetic sound and sound effect to build the tension during the short movie
The use of props such as guns masks and mobile phones worked greatly with the short movie as they were all used to work well in pair with the theme and the story line. The location for the short film was extremely good and fitted very well with the story line as it was rough and had lots of space for the moments and walls which were used to hide and acted as good cover during shootings.
There's a number of features in this short movie which i would include in mine some of which include the use of sound effects to create tension as also the change of tone as the sound effect started and ended. I also very much liked the POV at the very start of the short movie which immersed the audience into the scene.I would assume the target audience for this film would be aged for those aged between 13 and above, as it doesn’t have much of a necessary fear factor to make its target audience for those aged above 15. An idea that could be used for my short film project is the filming in an unknown location, which adds to the authenticity and suspense that a thriller film should consist of.

Case Study 1

This short film is a thriller which narrates the story of a  teenager who falls a victim of the social media site "Facebook" as ge us sent a request to like a page entitled “Like this and you will die” the victim to be likes the page with the thought of it being a silly page which would have had no effect on his life whatsoever. As he clicked the ‘Like’ button lots of different strange things took places which led to his instant death from CD falling down to strange noises coming from the door. 

There are a number of camera angles used in order to create certain atmospheres in the short movie in order to keep audience on their edges of their seats and fill them with tension and terror. We are welcomed into the short movie by a medium shot which is later followed by a low angle shot of these 3 teenagers walking home from what the audience might presume was a day at school judging by the uniform worn by them. The low angle shot is used throughout the journey home to focus on the steps being take and give audience a sense of direction.
Once the main character has arrived to his apartment we have a series of extreme close ups and detail after detail of each movement made by the protagonist from locks turning to doors opening, these camera angles help in building tension and suspense and hinting audience that they will need to pay attention to what is going on in front of them.
As the character seats down his glass of juice  in order to log in on Facebook we get a close up of the character's face to give audience a clear vision of face expressions, this could also be a POV from the computer's prospective. A very smart and fascinating technique used shortly after the close up was the one of including a deemed shot of the website page the character is visiting which is placed on top of the close up of the character which gives audience a POV of character.
As the character opens the message n his inbox while creepy noises are coming from the door we get a POV of whatever is approaching the character from a low angle which helps and builds the terror as we are left in suspense and with the urge to know what the thing is as we are not given a shot of it but from its prospective.
The short movie had use of diegetic sound such as footsteps at the very start, locks, door closing typing and etc which were all used to give reality to the movie by matching the actions which were taking place on the other hand the non diegetic sound used in the short movie such as all the sound effects and intonations within them were used with the purpose of creating tension.
The arrangement of scenery was allocated in order to achieve the right theme and give audience a feel and message of what the director and actors were trying to get across such as the location which was a friendly and quiet environment for the characters to be walking home from school and the computer which is an item used by most teenagers. Also the school uniform are a part of the Mise En Scene used to indicate that the teenagers were coming from a place of institution. The juice and cup was a brilliant piece of object which was clearly used to build tension during different times in the short movie.
There are various features included in this short movie which i would use in my short movie such as the point of view shots used which gave the audience a real feel of what is going on and also the use of fade in and fade out transitions in the movie which made it flow smoothly and added in making it appealing to watch.

A2 Media Production Schedule - Short Film Task