Strangers

This short film starts off in a dark train station platform as the train zooms past, showing to the audience that the short film is based in a train, there is also a non-diegetic sound of drums to show to the audience that this is film is based in somewhat of a tradition. The camera then shows a mid shot of a man walking into the train door as the train arrives, he is a normal guy wearing sports clothes and a gym bag(possibly coming from the gym). He then proceeds to sit down, and then he glimpse towards the guy sitting opposite him giving him an awkward look, this somewhat creates an awkward tension between these two characters, the camera then tracks the train as it slowly passes past.

The guy sitting opposite him is wearing smart casual clothes and reading a newspaper, it clearly shows Muslim extremist on the front page suggesting to the audience that he himself is also a Muslim (not an extremist). The other character starts playing with his necklace of the Jewish star, to show the other guy that he is Jewish, there is a close-up of the other guys face as he realises the Jewish star, this shows his reaction towards it and clearly shows that there is a small tension building up.
The drums starts to thump play loudly as we see 4 men walking down the train (they are a racist group, this can be recognised by their skinhead and tattoos), this suggests to us some sort of trouble is going to be caused. They proceed to sit down, as it shows an over the shoulder shot of them spraying graffiti onto the the guy's newspaper.

As the tension slowly rises by the loudness of the drums and whispering, we see each of the character's close-up face reaction as they are looking at each other with confusion, however the skinheads have a very angry evil look towards the Muslim guy, not acknowledging the fact that there is also a Jewish guy sitting opposite him. As the train stops at a platform, the Jewish guy proceeds to leave until his phone starts ringing a Jewish theme song, this automatically breaks the tension towards the Muslim guy as the skinheads turn towards the Jewish guy, we see mid-shots of all the characters turning towards the Jewish guy as he hesitates to find the phone in his gym bag. We see a close-up of the skinheads face as they are all angry and starts to stare at both religious characters. We then hear two loud non-diegetic drums as the two religious guy nodding at each other, this shows us a sense of teamwork and unity as they both proceed to run for the exit as the doors start to almost close. The unity is shown when we hear a non-diegetic sound of traditional middle eastern drums to show us that they are both from the same country. They quickly rush down the train as the pace of the drums builds up alongside the the quick cuts, this raises the excitement within the audience.

The non-diegetic music stops as soon as they escape and the door shuts on the skinheads, showing that the two characters are safe. As the train leaves, they are now both in the opposite side of the platform facing each other, they then swap the bags. They both nod at each other and leave.

Again this short film is conventional, as it has minimum dialogue, this short film speaks alot about the issues relating to the trouble in the middle east, such as the conflict between Jewish and Muslim religion. In a situation like this, it shows that the two religion can work together in a team. The film is based in a underground train station, as the diegetic sound of the train is loud and aggressive this raises the tension and awkwardness within the audience. The sound used in the film is non-diegetic, using a constant humming noise which again raises the tension and awkwardness within the film.

By Shayez

Black Button

The short film starts off with a quote from the bible, this raises questions for the audience as they are puzzled, this is a good technique to attract the audience as they will be more willing to find out more about the film. There is also slow paced eerie music, this allows the audience to think and reflect upon the quote that has been given at the beginning of the short film. The colour theme throughout the short film is a simple black and white (white mostly), white can sometimes represent a colour of dream therefore creating a dreamy effect, it is also known as the colour of death in Chinese culture.
It then starts off with a mid shot of a man in a business suit sitting on a chair behind a desk talking to a terrified man, the business suit and the bigger chair represents the power and a bigger importance against the man in an "employer type clothes" and smaller chair.
As the terrified man starts asking question about why he is there, the somewhat business man starts to explain that there is a black button in front of him and if he presses it, someone will die. As the over the shoulder shot zooms in on the black button, dramatic non diegetic music is played to give a more intense effect and also to emphasise the importance of the black button.

As the business man tries to persuade the other man to push the button, he then shows a briefcase with $10million, this is an over the shoulder shot from the business man, we see the employers reaction as he stares at the briefcase having second thoughts. He is also given another choice of leaving, the business man shows him a key, the camera is tracks and zooms in on the key, again emphasizing the importance of the key.

We then see a particular moment, when the employer asks the business man how many people die in car accidents, the business man gives a precise answer, there is a close-up shot of the employer confused. This is a very important scene as the audience start to realise there is something mysterious and unusual about this character. He also does not deny about being "evil".

As the business man becomes more persuasive, the employer gets more uncomfortable, there are also quick cuts of the black button, both characters face, the key and the briefcase with the money, showing to the audience that the character has a choice of leaving with nothing or killing someone for $10million. As the employer rises up and presses the button there is a close up of the business man's face who is eager to find out if he will push it. As the employer presses the button, it is slow paced and the music tension rises up and then cuts out, creating the effect of something has happened. The employer then proceeds to take the money and leave, but the business man tells him he is dead, suddenly there is a drums playing in the background to show the shock-ness of the character. The business man explains to him that he had a car accident, there is a blurry clip and a sound effect of a car crashing, while the blood pours out of his head, this creates a shocked feeling within the audience.
The camera movement on the employer is quite shaky and tracks the blood as it flows down his clothes, this shows the character is uncomfortable and extremely frightened. However on the other hand, the business man is very calm and this is reflected to the steady camera as he speaks clearly. The short film ends with the close up of the business man's face as he tells the employer that he will be seeing the person he killed (by pressing the black button) next, it ends with a loud scream.

This is a very conventional short film, the whole film is based in a bright dream like white room. The ending of the film is a cliff hanger leaving the audience stunned and shocked, this is a main trait of a conventional short film as it emphasis the message of this story is similar to the Black Hole, again with the whole "whatever goes around comes around". Therefore making a successful convtional short film. However, there is a lot of dialogue used within the film which is a unconventional for a short film, this brings out the story further more.

The Black Hole analysis

The Black Hole:

This movie is about a sleep deprived office worker finds a Black Hole whilst photocopying late one night Suddenly the possibilities seem endless. We can immediately realise he has sleep deprived by his behaviour and the way he dressed, he wears a simple smart dress clothes which is worn out and is quite messy, his body language also suggestion of him being deprived as he starts to get frustrated when the photocopier machine does not work.

The film starts off with a Hole expanding fast, this reflects upon the title of the movie and gives the audience a sense that the black hole is an important element in the movie. The camera tracks diagonally towards the lifeless character daydreaming as he starts to use the photocopier, as the camera tracks it gives the audience a better sense of the setting which helps the audience to be part of the short film. The only noise that is being used is the photocopier machine, this emphasis the importance of the machine. There are close up of his hand and leg movement to show his frustration and anger as he hits the photocopier, this suggests to us of a deprived character.

We see medium and close-up of his face as he starts to discover the purpose of the black hole (which allows the user to go through any solid object). There is somewhat of an "Eerie Electronic" noise as he touches the black hole, this shows us that this is unusual and something new and attracts the audience into the short film more.
He then starts to experiment with the Black Hole on the paper, by stealing the food from the vending machine, we see a close up of his enlightened face as he finds successfully steals a chocolate bar. There is a slow zoom of a door, there is also low lighting which suggests to the audience that this area is banned from the public, and dangerous. As he slowly enters the room we see a mid shot of his face as he plans to steal the money from the vault, his reaction is one of feverish joy, showing his excitement at this unbelievable opportunity, whilst also being accompanied by a flash of greed. We then hear the digetic sound oh heavy breathing, which again shows excitement and greed within this character as he pulls out more money through the black hole of the vault. As he digs deeper into the vault for more money, he some hows goes inside the vault, we a mid shot of the paper falling off as he is still in the vault. There is a couple of second pause, we can hear the photocopier machine beep with error throughput the short film, this again shows the importance of the photocopier and constantly reminds the audience the cause of the black hole. As the camera zooms out, we hear the character tapping within the vault as he is unable to get out. This creates a sense of amusement for the audience, it also gives the message of "whatever goes around comes around", so being too greedy isn't always the answer no matter who you are.

The short film is very conventional, this is due to the fact that there is no dialogue but instead diegetic sound played throughout the whole short film, such as the error beeping of the photocopier. The isolationism is also a main convention of a short film, the sound created by the character such as heavy breathing of excitement etc, this creates a sense of isolation of the setting which allows the character to do whatever pleases him without getting caught (stealing money from the vault is an example). A cliffhanger is also left in the end leaving a moral for the story, this follows a strong conventional rule for a short film.