Having looked at various short films, I thought it would be pertinent to share those that I've thought have been executed well, shorts that I admire and have enjoyed myself. First of which is One Man's Loss -directed by Philip Sansom- a fable-like story of fate and the unexpected nature of destiny. Take a look:
The film begins by intercutting between rich and poor, two men (who appear to be of a similar age) who've gone down totally different paths. This is made clear by mise-en-scene; one wears rags, has no footwear and wears a straggly beard, whilst the other is dressed well and is more conscious of what he looks like, as revealed by the shot in which he looks into the car's rearview mirror. We then move into a shot of the homeless man looking upwards, looking towards a pair of shoes hung on a wire; this acts as a metaphor for our protagonists feelings of desparation, looking upwards at the unattainable, as well as showing the superficial nature of the more wealthy, a theme reinforced later on in the film. The films setting, in a sunswept city most likely to be Los Angeles, creates the ironic idea that this is a place supposed to be full of happiness and vibrancy. Sansom perhaps uses this setting to create a sense of ostracisation for the homeless man, an idea which, again, is reinforced throughout the entirety of the short.
The man looks up, unaware of the rich mans car, a sequence which has connotations of this idea that hope often makes us blind to our reality. The camera-work in the stand-off between the rich and poor is also significant. The use of a wide shot showing the gap between the pair emphasises their difference. Moreover, shot-reverse-shot also highlights a lack of connection between the unlikely pair. The diegetic words of the rich man ('Idiot!') makes him come accross as impatient and indignant, an idea reinforced by his insistent honking. Comparatively, the homeless mans lack of words emphasise to the audience where the power lies- firmly in the hands of the rich. Our allegiance is very much with the homeless man; in terms of editing, long reaction close-ups of the homeless man are used to make the audience connect with him more. Indeed, the rich mans sunglasses indexically connote a sense of secrecy and seediness- a clever use of foreboding. The anticipation of conflict is further heightened with a quick one-second shot of a woman smoking, which has indexical connotations of stress. Moreover, the colors within her flat are dark, full of shadow, which could be seen as pathetic fallacy, reflective of her darkened mood.
The place then slows down considerably, allowing us to connect further with our protagonist; the rocky, intense music from the rich man's stereo is replaced by non-diegetic piano music, which adds a dour, darkened tone to the piece. Moreover, police sirens and cars in the distance add to the idea that admidst all this action, the protagonist is lonely and isolated. An idea reinforced by long tracking shots of the man on his own, who has to deal with the difficulties of living on the street, such as a shard of glass in his foot, until a shoe falls out of nowhere. I say nowhere because, cleverly, the window and the ensuing argument is off-screen, and so it could be interpreted that this twist in fate is an act of an omniscient God. The flat is directly above the homeless man, connoting a sense of a divide in class. This is idea of class is further emphasised by a panning shot, moving upwards to the wealthy peoples flat.
From the opening shots its clear that our allegiance between the couple are expected to lie with the woman. Her dress is white, symbolic of purity and inncocence. On top of this, she has a foreign accent, which makes her appear more vunerable. Comparatively, the man appears rather provocative, dressed in just a towel, which sub-consciously gives the woman's accusations more depth. The scene in the flat appears raw and emotional, as shown by the handheld camera and the woman's constant movement, making the action feel unscripted and improvised. Moerover, the use of over-the-shoulder shots give us an insight into the emotions of each of the characters. Meanwhile, we see the dark comedy of the woman's actions, as the clothes fall out of the window, straight into the hands of our protagonist. Continual juxtaposition between the argument and the homeless person's bewilderment creates a sense of humour and lightness to the piece.
The scene within the apartment then reaches an emotional climax; the volume of the argument dissipates to a more sinister whisper, making the audience apprehensive. An intense close-up of the man whispering into the woman's ears reveals a demonic expression, revealing the sub-text behind his soft voice. Out of nowhere, the pace between shots is increased and the use of foley sound as she slaps him breaks the scene up, a culmination of their argument for the past few minutes. The pace then halts, revealing a medium shot of the man's look of rage, a glint in his eye that will make his slap all the more aggressive and concerning than hers. Blood appears on her lip, a metaphorical connotation of the destruction of innocence. The camera hangs on the man, who you can tell feel's bad about his actions; however, his lack of trying to win her back emphasises how much of a loser he is.
By this point, both the woman and the homeless man have had transformations in appearance. Her hat and sunglasses age her, making her appear less naive, whilst the homeless man looks dapper in his new outfit. This part has an abundance of dramatic irony; we know that the mans clothes have in actual fact come from the woman's recently-made-ex, which makes the film all the more amusing. The ending emphasises the films ultimate them of fate and following your destiny, the woman driving away from her past, quite literally as the man runs out in chase of her. The film also carries the message that one should be acceptant of fate, however random it is- 'surprise me...' The final image of those shoes hung on the wire emphasise the irony of the entire film: the unobtainable, with the help of fate, is, well... obtainable. The non-diegetic rocky music makes the audience smile, these two characters both having escaped their less-than-reasonable pasts, bound by fate.
I really liked this short film. It carried some great messages and themes, as well as developing some characters that we liked and loathed, which is always special given the films short running length. Also, I loved the cinematography and how sun-drenched LA was captured on film, the city clearly having its own unique colour palette. Therefore, I enjoyed this film and it's given me ideas as to film my own short film.
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