For this assignment I watched ‘Embrace’ and ‘Bridge.’ Both very short films. It’s impressive that a mini-story could be told in such a limited amount of time. With that being said, I feel that ‘Bridge’ had a story line that developed much more that ‘Embrace.’ There were many deliberate techniques used to tell each story, but I thought ‘Bridge’ was much more successful.
The first editing technique I noticed in ‘Embrace’ was the black screen at the beginning coupled with the audio of the girl breathing heavy. It sets the tone for the story in the sense that you don’t know what is coming next, much like the characters. The film was filled with tight, close-up, intimate shots for obvious reasons. The couple was in the midst of a very intimate conversation and embrace, so the intimate close-up shots were fitting. I thought they were successful in making me feel like I was almost in the embrace with them. However, there isn’t too much variety here. The only development in the story was the siren at the end and I was really not sold on the girl’s acting in this short.
I was much more impressed with ‘Bridge’ mainly for the character development and how the shots coordinated with it. It starts off as a story about two friends having a conversation, so the shots are further out. But as the story progresses, and the characters begin to realize there may be feelings between them, the shots become much more intimate. I enjoyed the shot where they were performing the bridge and the camera swung back and forth between their faces, coordinating nicely with their realization.
Both films were very well done. And I appreciated the creative close-up techniques as well as the focussing techniques to bring attention to certain details which I wouldn’t normally have focussed on, adding depth to the story. I have a great amount of respect for people in film after this year – and telling a short story in film is quite impressive if it is well done.