Three Short Films for Inspiration
First Film: Double Tap by Eros Vlahos
The first short film I chose to watch follows a social-media obsessed teenage girl who chooses to ignore chain mail she stumbles upon on Instagram. The post suggests that if it is ignored, the girl will be visited by a "dickless man" later on.
Vlahos made many inspiring choices when directing this film. Firstly, I really enjoyed the way he depicted the mindless social media scrolling we are all far too familiar with. He showed the teen girl mindlessly scrolling through social media and cut to random parts of her face. The cuts were fast and made me feel equally as mindless as the character on screen. He also used a split-screen to show what was occurring on the girl's phone. Not only was she scrolling through Instagram, but she was receiving texts and other notifications as well.
Another inspiring thing he did was set the time period. You could tell the story takes place in the modern world for a number of reasons. Firstly, the decorations in the girl's bedroom incorporate album covers of recently released pop music. Next, the character is seen hitting her Juul, a vaping device known for being used by teenagers today. Finally, the social media apps she has on her phone establish her in the right time period.
Finally, I found the way the director chose to depict the intruder as inspiring. When he entered the bedroom, the camera spun in a circle, disorienting and increasing the fear in the viewer because you truly feel like the young girl is in imminent danger.
In terms of how this connects to my film, I really want to capture the realities of being a teenager/young adult in the modern world. My film explores friendship and how partying can affect relationships. I really liked the cinematic choices made in this short film that to me screams teen angst. It was similar to the lighting techniques used in the tv show Euphoria, which is a big inspiration for my film.
Second Film: Just a Drill by Julianne Donelle
This short film is about a school shooter drill at a high school that turns into a real active shooter situation. With students in her room, the main character has to think quickly and figure out how she can save their lives.
One of the main things that inspired me about this film was the performance of the lead actress. At first, she is not concerned because she believes the situation to be a drill. However, as the situation changes, the actress grows increasingly fearful for her life and the lives of her students. It is very clear what emotions she is feeling based on her facial expressions, and you would still have a sense of the danger without any audio. The actress can even be seen physically shaking during close up shots of her hands. The performance actors give is really crucial in getting the correct point across in a film, and this actress definitely delivered.
The director also used lighting to adjust the change in tone throughout the film. As the situation became more serious, the lighting became darker. Also, the director adjusted the camera movements to show increasing fear and uncertainty. As the danger grew closer, the camera movements became slower, making viewers feel like time has slowed. The background music also aided in making the scene feel more dangerous. This inspired me because it showed me how to easily increase the intensity of a scene.
In my film, the performances of the lead actors are very important because there are so few characters in the film. If the performances are not convincing, then the film will be meaningless.
Third Film: Liv by Zara Dwinger
In Liv, a young girl copes with her parent's separation and how it affects her own romantic relationship.
Something that truly inspired me about this film was the costumes. I got a really good sense of the characters instantly because of their clothes. For example, Liv's jacket in the opening scene shows that she is a quirky young teenager. Her pink hair also helps give the character a personality. Because the film is so short, it's crucial to say a lot about the character in as short a time as possible.
The director also made a lot of interesting shot choices, for example, the shot at the beginning that focuses on the chewed piece of gum stuck to the wall as opposed to the characters on screen. I think this helps emphasize the importance of small details when creating a character. Knowing that Liv is the type of person to stick her gum somewhere other than the trash tells us a lot about her. Throughout the short, the director focused a lot on objects, not just the characters.
As for how this relates to the film I am making, the director was great at emphasizing intense emotions young adults face day to day.
The first short film I chose to watch follows a social-media obsessed teenage girl who chooses to ignore chain mail she stumbles upon on Instagram. The post suggests that if it is ignored, the girl will be visited by a "dickless man" later on.
Vlahos made many inspiring choices when directing this film. Firstly, I really enjoyed the way he depicted the mindless social media scrolling we are all far too familiar with. He showed the teen girl mindlessly scrolling through social media and cut to random parts of her face. The cuts were fast and made me feel equally as mindless as the character on screen. He also used a split-screen to show what was occurring on the girl's phone. Not only was she scrolling through Instagram, but she was receiving texts and other notifications as well.
Another inspiring thing he did was set the time period. You could tell the story takes place in the modern world for a number of reasons. Firstly, the decorations in the girl's bedroom incorporate album covers of recently released pop music. Next, the character is seen hitting her Juul, a vaping device known for being used by teenagers today. Finally, the social media apps she has on her phone establish her in the right time period.
Finally, I found the way the director chose to depict the intruder as inspiring. When he entered the bedroom, the camera spun in a circle, disorienting and increasing the fear in the viewer because you truly feel like the young girl is in imminent danger.
In terms of how this connects to my film, I really want to capture the realities of being a teenager/young adult in the modern world. My film explores friendship and how partying can affect relationships. I really liked the cinematic choices made in this short film that to me screams teen angst. It was similar to the lighting techniques used in the tv show Euphoria, which is a big inspiration for my film.
Second Film: Just a Drill by Julianne Donelle
This short film is about a school shooter drill at a high school that turns into a real active shooter situation. With students in her room, the main character has to think quickly and figure out how she can save their lives.
One of the main things that inspired me about this film was the performance of the lead actress. At first, she is not concerned because she believes the situation to be a drill. However, as the situation changes, the actress grows increasingly fearful for her life and the lives of her students. It is very clear what emotions she is feeling based on her facial expressions, and you would still have a sense of the danger without any audio. The actress can even be seen physically shaking during close up shots of her hands. The performance actors give is really crucial in getting the correct point across in a film, and this actress definitely delivered.
The director also used lighting to adjust the change in tone throughout the film. As the situation became more serious, the lighting became darker. Also, the director adjusted the camera movements to show increasing fear and uncertainty. As the danger grew closer, the camera movements became slower, making viewers feel like time has slowed. The background music also aided in making the scene feel more dangerous. This inspired me because it showed me how to easily increase the intensity of a scene.
In my film, the performances of the lead actors are very important because there are so few characters in the film. If the performances are not convincing, then the film will be meaningless.
Third Film: Liv by Zara Dwinger
In Liv, a young girl copes with her parent's separation and how it affects her own romantic relationship.
Something that truly inspired me about this film was the costumes. I got a really good sense of the characters instantly because of their clothes. For example, Liv's jacket in the opening scene shows that she is a quirky young teenager. Her pink hair also helps give the character a personality. Because the film is so short, it's crucial to say a lot about the character in as short a time as possible.
The director also made a lot of interesting shot choices, for example, the shot at the beginning that focuses on the chewed piece of gum stuck to the wall as opposed to the characters on screen. I think this helps emphasize the importance of small details when creating a character. Knowing that Liv is the type of person to stick her gum somewhere other than the trash tells us a lot about her. Throughout the short, the director focused a lot on objects, not just the characters.
As for how this relates to the film I am making, the director was great at emphasizing intense emotions young adults face day to day.
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