I watched a few of these short films, and overall I like them and think they are relevant to our next project. They definitely serve as a helpful reference on how to create a clear narrative in a short amount of time.
Although I didn’t think the clarity of the narrative was as strong in Circles, it was still my favorite of the short films. I love the combination of the camera angles, the music and the contrast in character attitudes and personalities. All of these elements work together to create the tone of the short story. The component of the actual ghost that is subtly present in a lot of the scenes proves very effective as well. The presence of this otherworldly figure also aligns completely with what Michael Goduti is talking about…the insertion of this figure is so indirect that at times I was wondering wait….did I really see that? Is there a profile of a face there? I ended up rewinding a couple times just to see it again. I also loved how they incorporated the profiles of faces and human figural forms in the background just to add to the theme.
One short film I wasn’t as enthralled with was Soldier. I appreciated the way it was set up. I liked the minimalist feeling of the graveyard setting as well, it added to the dismal nature of the subject matter and the tone of the piece. Overall I thought it was a bit cheesy. It did a decent job of creating a narrative in a very short amount of time. The elements of fading, both inserted in the main parts of the film and the fading of the background helped to advance the story as well. The music was also relevant. Although I did find it a bit dry in the way it was presented (I thought it could have been a lot more emotionally riveting for the subject matter) the elements of the film worked together to illicit at least some sort of emotional response in a matter of minutes. In this regard, I think it was still successful.
I’m glad we watched these short films. They highlighted a lot of things we need to consider and plan for such as casting, setting the scene, music, camera angles, script, etc.