Short Film Analysis

Short Film Analysis

I am going to be analysing two short stories that have a relevance to mine. I have searched two short films that involve knife crime and typically that of teenage knife crime. Both of the stories have a moral to the story to all of the audience which I would like to influence my work. 

Film One - 'One life, Many victims' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvC884FdpqM (5 mins)

PLOT- The film begins with the main character named Mark. The only noise able to be heard is his music in his headphones. It then leads to his mum walking in, she says that she is going out. She says "Be safe and don't come home too late". He then sits down on his bed and we see a text appear on his phone, this clip fills the frame which allows us to read sections of the text. whilst he is on the phone we can only hear the light music he is listening too, this makes it more emotive.He goes on facebook and we can see that he sees someone is going to the park later. The music in this slowly gets louder and he seems more agitated. The scene then cuts and the music cuts out as he opens a can. He looks at facebook again and the scene pans to him looking at the knife block. He a knife out his pocket , the scene remains silent which rises the tension. One of his friends knocks on the door and the silence is broken. One women probably close to mark calls his name and asks where he is going they have a Small conversation and she says "watch yourself". They walk and chat to a scrap yard, we then meet what we assume is marks dad. He asks for money and the day finishes with "stay out of trouble, you hear me".The scene cuts to swings in the park where there is a group of people. everyone is joking around but there looks like there is tension in the scene. The boys look as if they are squaring up to each other, the main one being mark. The scene flashes between the two groups a majority on the two boys. There is a loud scream from the girl who is trying to stop it and then it looks down to the boys stomach who mark has stabbed. Blood is puring out but the scene remains quiet with small remarks from individuals. Mark drops the knife and it pans up to his stomach. Blood also pours out whilst soft music plays in the back. the scene cuts to where his mum is in a shop, she drops her stuff and grabs her stomach, blood is also pouring out. The scene cuts again to the dad, he too is bleeding, this is repeated with the women he spoke to earlier as well.At the end of the scene you can hear the baby crying the the following words appear 'pick up a knife and who knows how many lives you'll ruin'.

The storyline effectively shows the effect that knife crime has on the person and everyone around them. There is minimal dialogue but all dialogue that is used represent being safe and staying out of trouble. The tension in the film slowly builds up which lets the audience know that something drastic is going to happen. Another key element in showing the effects of knife crime is having the scene where blood comes out of everyone. This is dramatic and intense but effectively presents the effect that it has on everyone and how there is not only one victim. 

CHARACTERS - The main character is Mark. Throughout the whole of the short film we rarely see him speak and he seems to be a reserved and quiet boy. We are shown that he is loved by his family and that they all want him to be safe. His wealth and class status is not said but the area he lives in presents that he is working class but this does not effect that this Can happen to any age and class. When he placed the knife in his pocket he did it quickly avoiding his friend seeing, this could present that he knows it is not the right decision and that it is bad. When it comes to the actual stabbing taking place, he seems still quiet relax but it escalates until the boy is stabbed. Mark does not say anything but his facial expressions show that he was shocked and instantly knew that it was the wrong thing to do. 

DIALOGUE - Minimal dialogue was used in the duration of the film. Some being just background noise and some that you have to pay attention to and is deliberately added. One of the key phrases that is used is when each of the characters that is effected by marks actions says 'stay safe' or 'stay out of trouble' this foreshadows something bad is going to happen. His mum used the phrase 'dont come home too late' which is ironic. He has stabbed someone and probably wont be home for a long time do to his actions. 

Overall, this film well presents knife crime. I liked how this film was minimal and that it did not focus on the actual fight but the effect after the event had taken place. I also liked how it allowed us to see what his life was life before and we got to know marks family and the closest too him. I also liked how this story could be relate to a range of lives in different social classes and races. 

FILM TWO: 'Deep It' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIydCG8lFYQ (16 mins)

PLOT - The film begins with locations shots, these last around 20 seconds until dialogue is used. shots are still used and the dialogue end. The scene then flashes to the back of someone sitting down, in front of him we can see that there is four teenagers. The dialogue 'hopefully you will learn something from what I share with you today' is used and scene ends. The next scene begins with the group all laughing together and making jokes, small talk is made, a lot of what is not relevant to the storyline but makes it more realistic. it ends with three of the boys walking off and we see the camera focus on one of the characters named Miles. we see him going to work and the music plays over the top. He gets to the shop which he works at and the owner complains how he is late. We learn that the owner is his dad as miles corrects what his dad is saying. The scene then cuts to more location shots. It then focuses on the two other boys in the group, we see them sitting on bikes eating, a car pulls up next to them and the driver asks if anyone has seen his sister. They said that they didn't realise he had a sister and he replies with you didn't know Lara who is in there group. They act like they don't know her and then he asks which one of them is Kadz. The driver of the car begins to become heated and he is getting annoyed how the two boys lied to him. The scene cuts to the boy at the table again that is sitting down. You can see the boy’s face but he speaks with wisdom and is teaching the kids a lesson, the story of what happened has not yet been told. We then cut to Lara and miles walking together to meet the group. They walk around the corner and Lara brother is there, he confronts Miles thinking it was Kadz. Kadz sees that Miles is being confronted and he runs away before he is seen. Miles gets hit and the two other boys video him.  Miles becomes angry and walks off. Location shots follow him. We then see that it flashes to the table which he is siting on. After this we see Miles sitting at homes , he is screaming to him self about how he is worth it and he begins to become violent.We see that he watches the video of himself being hurt, he then gets up and goes downstairs, he looks at the counter and picks up a knife. His dad walks in and he runs out the back door. As he walks a song plays over the top of the film. Some of the previous clips flash up as he walks. The music stops and we see Kadz in the distance. He is calling for the miles to stop and that he is sorry. He talks bout how he has always been there for him and that he was not there for him. He explains that he does not want to be pushed over. Kadz arrogates Miles and he then pulls out a knife, Miles starts shouting to Kadz saying that he should try and start a fight and that he thinks he is all big. It becomes heated and Kadz starts to get angry, he is trying to get miles to drop the knife. KAdz speaks about how he has nothing to lose and that Miles should stab him. At this point Miles looks scared and Kadz starts to say how he wants to be like Miles and that he felt sorry for what they did, this made it a lot more heated. The car pulls up again and Kadz tells miles to give him the knife. Lara's brother is angry and begins to be aggressive, he pins Kadz up on the wall oblivious to the fact that he has a knife behind his back. Kadz screams out in pain and the driver stops him looking worried. Kadz falls to the floor and Miles and corrie( the driver) realise what has happened, corrie heads off and Miles screams out for help. Mellow music begins to play over the scene. A brief shot of the knife in his back is shown to allows the audience to know what has happened. The scene ends and cuts to the room where the boy is sitting down. One of the boys says did he die? It then turns around and we see that the boy sitting on the table is Miles. It then focuses of a boy in a wheelchair and miles explains that it cut his spinal cord and that he survived but is now paralysed. We feel sorry for him and explains that He cant look after himself. This then leads to Miles saying how he got a criminal record and how it has effected his life. He says how he let down his family and how it effected his relationship with his family. He says how he hopes they learn something from this. The scene ends and we see two boys walking together. They talk about how it was hard hitting, one of the boys slows down and pull a knife out his pocket, he then throws it away. A wide angle locations shot follows the boys out and looks over the city. At the end of the short film statics flash up on the screen to allow the audience to know more about knife crime.

CHARACTERS - There are two main characters in the film. Kadz and Miles. Kadz is deemed the popular boy in the group and we can see that he is close to his girlfriend. We learn that he has had a hard background and that his mum is ill and we feel sorry for him. Miles is reserved and we see that he is always taken the mick out of. We see that he holds alot of aggression. This is shown in the scene where he is shouting and becoming violent when he is in his bedroom. Another character that is key in the storyline is Corrie. He is the person that drives around and is tormenting the boys, as one of them is with his sister. We see that he is tough and has a lot of power.

DIALOGUE - The storyline is made up of predominately dialogue. The slang terms used allows the target audience to understand the storyline and is aimed towards them.