Loosers

Director: Everynone

Year: 2011

The film begins with the sound of precision clapping which accompanies the film through out. This seems to underscore the tension of the editing which is fast cuts.

The film opens with a POV of the tool bar of a Facebook page which shows a blank profile picture and letters which appear as though being typed whilst we watch the word , ‘Losers.’ appear. It then cuts to an overweight teenager eating alone in what appears to be a school cafe. This is then followed by a series of jump cuts showing teenagers persevering with various pursuits from weightlifting to painting. What gives the film it’s sense of isolation is that, with a few exceptions such as the the footballers and the skate boarders all the teenagers appear on their own, even a shot of a couple shows them physically in touch, (they are holding hands) but emotionally alienated, the boy looking as the girl is stares in the opposite the opposite direction.  

   A lot of the pursuits we see are motivated by the desire to overcome the oppression felt by being harassed. For example the lone boy in the basketball stand trying to score a hoop but keeps missing denotes a sense of not being ‘good enough.’  

   Half way through the short it changes pace and the editing becomes even faster. This starts with a close up of a boy in what looks like a school corridor,  there is very little depth of field the  background is blurred this camera technique increases the sense of isolation and we here a voice saying ‘Faggot’ he turns as though fearing it is being said about him. There then follows in rapid succession a series of close ups of expressionless teenage faces staring back at the camera. At the same time the nondigetic sound of rhythmic clapping is over laid with V.O’s of teen voices shouting insults, there is also a build up of experimental orchestral music which increase the tension. 

   This sequence ends with the sound of mocking laughter and a serious of shots of below the raider bullying, for example a close up of a boy spitting into someones face, as well a jump-cut to a Facebook message reading, ‘I hate you.’  The Final frame is one of the longest, lasting approximately 30 seconds. It shows an extreme close up of a girl crying. To further express the sadness of the shot there is no nondigetic sound and we can only hear the sound of soft tearful nosies. The film then cuts to a Facebook message reading, ‘Don't Bully LOOSER.’ 

Personally I found the film a touching and compelling message. It shows the undercurrent of the reality instead of animations on school walls showing a crappy sketch of the typical bully and a helpless character instead it goes deeper to the real heart of the matter. 

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

Director:  Joseph Pelling, Becky Sloan 


Year: 2011 






 The film is made in shot motion. We open on a kitchen which has all been made in soft bright colored fabric. There are various close-ups of things you would typically find in a kitchen. The lighting is high key and the whole feel is very small children T.V. However we do see a newspaper with the words ‘right wing on it’ which is a little out of sync with the general tone. We see three characters sat at a table and then a closeup of a notepad/face who starts to sing in a flat dull child's voice very typical of the voices used in most children’s learning programs. I.E lifeless but fake enthusiastic, similar to how children are forced to cheer when in a studio audience, there is a terrible desolation to the sound. The song as well as the cheerful music is all very techno and robotic, which again perfectly duplicates the children’s genre. The pad begins to instruct the three characters on ‘being creative’ just the instruction is enough to flatten all creative urges. However, she goes on and on telling them they must be creative. As soon as one of the characters attempts to be creative by painting a clown the note pad destroys it by pouring black ink over the painting since the act was too independent for her liking. The characters seem to then become more and more anarchic and the filming suddenly becomes less like a kids t.v show and more like a horror, briefly seeing shots of blood and organs as well as the words death. Finally we return to the calm of the kitchen table with the note pad announcing ‘now lets all agree to never be creative again’.

Still Life with Smoke and Mirrors

Director :  Graham Young
Year : 2009 


We open with a still shot of a window which looks through to an indoor pool.The camera begins to slowly pull back revealing that the window is in fact a mirror which is reflecting the pool back to us which slowly as the camera continues to pull back makes sense. All the time this is happening there is non digectic sound of classical slow music with ghostly echoey sounds of children, and also water dripping, evoking the sort of sound quality you get inside a indoor public swimming pool. The visual is quite static except for passing shadows that come in through both the skylight and the windows. We see a white flicker gliding across the space which reappears nearer us; each time becoming more recognizable as a paper airplane this is also supported by the shadow of an airplane passing over head with the sound of distant plane engines. The Paper airplane is an animated image. Surprisingly we see the slow gathering of what looks like red rain, blood? but as it begins to gradually fall it becomes clear that the rain is actually red petals which fall both into the abandoned pool which is devoid of water and instead houses a pink container, and of the sides of the pool. Again the red petals look to of been put in after the film was shot and are animated. The film ends. All the time there is the sounds of echoey children voices denoting a sense of a super natural presence also evoked by the paper airplane. The scene conjures up a sense that something terrible has happened and we are looking at the aftermath.

Droom

Director : iloobia 

Year : 2011


The film is shot in black and white with a very hight quality sharpness. As the film opens we can hear the non digectic sound of a needle on a record before the music has started, together with the black and white film it denotes a mysterious retro effect. The film quality is very contrasted and this too makes the images seem more potent. The camera is also quite static with it pausing over objects almost like a stills camera. This stillness imbues the film with a feeling of ambiguity. However the quality of film changes dramatically as our protagonist picks up a 16mm camera and begins to film. Suddenly we are seeing as if through her camera, we are no longer in the sleek environment of her hotel room but out in the woods, the quality of the film is jumpy (time lapse?) and fast with the sounds of an old fashioned camera supporting this. We also hear amplified and distorted unknown crackling sounds of nature. the story jumps back and forth between the two styles of film, the hotel appear to be HD and the woods something more like old fashioned home movie. This could of been achieved in the edit. As we enter the fantasy or pandora’s box we see a naked woman being painted and amplified sound of sploshing paint. curious sounds are constant throughout the film, either amplified digetic or strange strands of sound, bells, stringed instruments but nothing really allowed to flow. This uncomfortable sound works well with the story which also feels unnerving and disconnected.