Andrea Arnold director

Andrea Arnold is a film director former actress. Her short film work has lead her to win numerous awards one being an oscar for her short film titled 'Wasp'. Andrea is 49 years old and was a actress/presenter at the age of 23 after making short film 'Wasp' in 2005 and recieved such a amazing response by winning awards from the film her acting and presenting days were older. Her style is hard hitting and topic on harsh reality which people can relate to one way or another. Andrea's style is more on the storyline in my opinion but does show 2 sides of the story in numerous shots back to back which highlights the different atmosphere amongst the 2 scenrios. As a director she uses a lot of tracking shots and shaky camera work. She puts her stories well and use foreshadowing a lot to allow the audience to think whats going to happen through camera angles and camera techniques. All her films portray a deeper story and meaning which leaves the audience to think about life and the harsh scenerios that go on in life.

Check out her short film 'Wasp' thats already posted previously. If you can't find it heres the link anyways :)

Wasp (part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rL0lq4fxpQ
Wasp (part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rL0lq4fxpQ

Michel Gondry and short films

Michel Gondry born May 8^th 1963 is a French film maker that specialise in creative short films and commercials but his distinctive style allows him to branch into making music videos. Michel is also an award-winning screenwriter. He is most famous for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scene.

Quotes from Michel Gondry

‘Sometimes it’s better to have less money and more freedom’

‘Being surrounded by people who are creative makes you want to be creative’

‘Every great idea is on the verge of being stupid’

‘Back to the future is one of my favourite films, and if I was offered a quirky, funny, big-budget movie. I would do it!’

Michel Gondry has made many video/film projects.

And seeing a few example of short films and commercials and music video he has done in the past I gather that he is very quirky, niche and different. All his films have a dream-like element to them which allows him to be as creative as possible because as we all know that dreams can be as wacky and crazy in parallel to reality. After watching some of his work I’ve noticed that he likes the idea of appearing in his own work so you get a real sense of what kind of person he is on screen. He is quite weird but oddly funny so most of his works contain humour in one way or another. Also a lot of his work includes a lot of editing techniques as well as camera techniques. Editing techniques are used effectively and helps keep the audience entertained. 

The Stairwell by Shane Meadows

The Stairwell by Shane Meadows

‘The stairwell’ is a very short film that has the duration of 40 seconds. It was filmed on a Nokia phone and was filmed with Shane’s two friends.

The narrative is a male walking down the stairs at a fast pace and a female walking up the stairs at a slower pace. After turning the corner the characters bump into each other violently and the film ends.  The narrative is very simple but Shane Meadow normally uses these opportunities as a creative playground therefore he experiments with camera techniques and styles and if they work they are often portrayed in his full-length feature films or future short films.  

Analysis

The music throughout was very tense and had a dramatic feel to it. The pace of the music built up dramatic which makes the audience assume there’s going to be a big climax.

When the two characters bump into each other the music cuts out and are now diegetic sounds of them being moaning and being hurt. The cut of the tense and exciting music makes the climax a anti-climax as it doesn’t deliver the big climax that everyone expected.

I noticed that Shane meadows uses a lot of titled shots and plays with angles which make every shot visually interesting.

Throughout this film both characters are in dark lighting so the audience don’t get a clear view of each character so throughout he create mystery in both the characters and narrative.

Also as a director he likes to play with the audience’s perception. The whole build up of having titles made it seem like it was going to be a longer short film.

The lighting used in this particular film is lighting that Shane Meadows often uses in most his film so he has created a distinctive look that is recognizable to an audience.

Shane meadows also put titles and credits with a background that doesn’t necessary have a direct link to the narrative.   

Shane Meadows - Short Film Director

Short film – Directors

Shane meadows

Shane Meadows was born in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire on the 26^th December 1972. He is a self-taught, British film maker who hails from the Midlands.

Shane Meadows is a famous film director that built up his reputation by making short films with a group of friends. In 1994, Shane started off by volunteering his services at Nottingham based Intermedia Film and Video Ltd. He was allowed to borrow camcorders and use the editing facilities in exchange for working there for free. Shane’s friends were hesitating whether to appear in his films but gained more confidence when he put together more and more short films that were made at a high standard. Shane’s friends became frustrated that Shane’s work wasn’t getting recognized because there weren’t any real film festival to exhibit film makers work therefore took matters in their own hands and started their own film festival event  titled ‘Six of the best’. The event allowed any inspiring film makers to show their work for a small fee. The event grew popular and eventually became a international video festival called Flip-side.

Shane meadows went on to make films that caught attention from film industry. Shane made a short documentary titled ‘Smalltime’ which won many awards from European film festivals. This created a platform for investors to invest and fund Shane’s future products. This lead to Shane to make his first full length feature film which was titled ‘Twenty Four Seven’ through to ‘This is England’  Shane continued to make films that are heartfelt and attract an ever growing fan base. ‘This is England’ was a huge success and done well at the UK box office. Despite his huge success, Shane Meadows still carries on to make short films and future full length films as well. Shane Meadow also wants to inspire new film makers through his work and documentaries. Through the raw energy he brings puts a message across to inspiring film makers that with a little bit of talent and some borrowed equipment and a small budget you can make a short film to a high standard. 

Prey from BDC on Vimeo.

I picked ‘Prey’ because personally I thought it told the story in a unique way that worked really well. It portrayed a strong and serious message that was heartfelt. It left a cliffhanger to allow the audience to guess or predict what happens next which is one of the key things that make a short film good. It brought you through the story and the emotions she felt at the time that is effective as it positions the audience in her shoes. I really liked the way the story revealed itself. The camera shots were good as well; shaky and blurry which was effective at times. My only element I would change was that fact it was to illustrative at times or too literal at times as the voice over would say a scenario and the next scene would show exactly what the voice over said which got repetitive at times.  Apart from that the short film works well and I can tell a lot of effort and teamwork was put into ‘Prey’ which is shown through the success of their work. 

Skin Deep - Excellent BAFTA Nominated Short Film (Part 2)

Skin Deep - Excellent BAFTA Nominated Short Film (Part 1)

This short film was selected by Jerome Golding. The film is a story about racism in UK how difficult  it is to fit in. The main dilemma is ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ and that’s exactly what the main character does he joins being a racist to his own culture and nationality just to fit in. It’s a sad story that shows what life is like on the receiving end of racism which is a subject that everyone can relate to because a least once in everyone’s life has been discriminated against. The short film touches upon a deep subject that matter and the story is told well.

Throughout the film the lighting is low key which creates a dull atmosphere throughout that’s relates to the whole subject matter. The lighting also adds a gritty atmosphere and from the atmosphere we gather that it’s set in Britain. The story is told through a typical day and it shows the reality on how frequent racism effects him and his families lives. Constantly the director shows a insight of decision he has to make to fit in and by filming for a second longer on a situation  or close up of a particular item makes the audience wonder whether he will go with fitting in or telling the truth which is effect as the audience know the serious dilemma and problems that would come with telling the truth for him but also want him to be comfortable and proud of his race.

 For example He asks his co-worker who thinks his full British for a lighter but the only lighter he has is a full British bulldog lighter and it’s a split second decision whether he is going to use a lighter like that.

Throughout there is a lot of close up of people’s faces which is effective in two ways as it shows people facial features and skin colour which is a constant reminder to the audience that people are different and also close ups of people faces  show there facial expression which gives the audience of what people emotions are.

The film includes interesting camera techniques that help tell the story more effectively. For example having a visual display of his thoughts which are also his past memories which shows how racism can mentally effect someone. By having a visual display makes the thoughts even more powerful and acts as a sound-scape which creates a feeling through sound. The sounds-scape is loud and goes on for long as the audience the name calling become too much and we want it to stop which puts us in the exact position as the character which is hugely effective.