Deconstructing Media: Short Films

THE LAST GUNSLINGER

By Alessandro Dominico

This spaghetti western short film has been directed by Alessandro Dominico and is set up in a vacant industrial space.

'The Last Gunslinger' is an Italian short merged with film noir. Low key lighting throughout the 9 minute short signifies the time when the short film was shot and also adds up to the suspense that is consistent throughout the film.

The short begins with various numericals on the old wall.This is the first thing that strikes in our heads as odd and something unusual.

                                        

                                     

The costume of the only character in the film might not be so odd but the various other accessories do spice up the drama. His gun holder, his gun, his leather boots are not very modern, hence we may presume the short to be filmed somewhere in the 60's.

                                                                           

           
                                                                             
The background score is very noticeable because, not only is it suspenseful but it also keeps the audience attracted. The mixture of the old 60's instrumental and the suspenseful effect merged together gives a dangerous thrilling effect to the short.
The character's expression through almost half of the 8 minute film is very vague and remains complacent. However, the sharp glint, the malicious glee and the relieved, satisfied expression through the last 45 seconds after the bullet is fired are quite suspenseful and add so much to the drama as to where the bullet was fired at and who did it aim, that it is quite revolting to finally understand the direction of the bullet as it enters the main character's body himself.

 

                          
                                                                                                                                                                                 

The suspense is consistent even at this point. It is only when the folded paper in the character's hand falls with lifelessness that one can understand the connection between the physical numerics and the directions on the paper. The secret code in this short film is decoded only at the very end of the film.

 

 The title 'The Last Gunslinger' may be answered to as a gunman firing his gun for the last time, only the title does not identify who the last bullet was fired at.

GONE GOODBYE

By Keith Rivers

Gone Goodbye is a 4 minute short film by Keith Rivers that is based on human emotions and how separations may be sad, hence it can be categorized under 'drama'.

 The film begins with an L Cut whereby the transition of the audio comes in before the visual. The soft lighting and the sad element of separation with Catherine represents the genre of drama. The film starts with a very sad and low-volume background score that is over-lapped by a sad yet mature, manly voice. The audio is in a monotone which depicts the lethargy of the character that he didn't care about expressing himself.

Most of the camera shots are static and capture full shots or vista shots. The establishing shot in this short followed the car from a bird's eye view as it went its long course. The vista shot of the parking lot where the character parks his car is quite huge while two turns need to be taken in order to get dropped off. The long travelling  space may be signifying the long and slow pace of life as it is dragging on without any purpose. 

 This is again a full shot, however it signifies the helplessness of the character through his slouched down shoulders and the slow pace with which he is walking. The color scheme used is basically autumny and very dry. Also it is giving a sad effect to the outlook of the short as it is pointing towards reality. The color of he character's clothes are also not very cheerful, hence, signifying, again, a sad situation.

The stick has been used as a prop in this short film, signifying no particular usage at this point, however, one realizes later why it had been added and given so much attention. The cracks outlined by the stick may represent the hard and tough life the narrator has gone through in life and how it has absorbed all life from within.

These two shots may be defined as cross cutting whereby a certain object is shown from both sides in preceding shots. However, lack of head room in both the cuts give an uncomfortable edge to the shot but this may be a deliberate attempt by the director to give the effect of discomfort that the protagonist in the film is feeling.

This is the very climax of the film and needs to be seen with undivided attention as the usage of a balloon that is descending from the sky, yet managing to stay away form the character is quite surprising. Also, the purpose of this shot is also something to ponder over because one can not tell at this stage, exactly why, the balloon doesn't want to be in he character's hands.

This shot whereby the balloon and the character stand in companionship is very  effective as it tells the audience that the balloon is not exactly trying to maintain distance from the character but is only trying to stay away from getting into the hands of this man who it doesn't recognize. The usage of yellow in the balloon might signify sorrow, however, the director has used the colors so welly that the two elements of this shot put together look not only 'sad' but also 'sad in unison'. The de-focus of the background adds to the smoothness of the shot and gives the sea a very  calm feel about it. The point of view of the second shot and the character's facial expression adds to the drama of the shot whereby one can easily tell that the character is amused at the balloon.

                                     
                                          

This shot shows that the character finally catches a glimpse of the letter hung by the balloons strings and as the character tries to reach for it, the balloon flies away, however not fast enough to fall prey to the stick in the character's hand, hence, it stabs itself before it could actually be in another man's hands.

Now, it is again in the very ending that we actually find out the real context behind the entire short. As the character reads only part of the letter before smoldering and shoving it in his hand, one can easily tell that the ;letter was not meant for him to read. While the balloon comes to this part of the beach for the companionship of the sea and not the man, while the man, too, is only there for the companionship of the sea and not the balloon. The balloon turns away from the man because it doesn't recognize the man and doesn't want to be touched by anyone other than its own man. Now as the surprise element opens up, we finally find out that the balloon is basically 'Katherine' and she is looking for peace so that she can get over her break-up.

RUN

By Hunter Peterson

'Run' is a 1 minute short film by Hunter Peterson that, again, revolves around the genre, 'drama' as the content of the brief is based on naughtiness and the strong desire to obtain something.

The film begins with an establishing shot as it can be seen. The shot has been contained in equal amounts of lead room on both ends while this long shot shows the setup as to where the shoot is taking place. The sports bag represents a football stadium or a sports club while the timing as to when the shoot was taking place is daylight as equal amount of light is illuminating the entire shot.

The first shot in this sequence is a mid-shot of the character while enough lead room/nose room gives the shot a very relaxed outlook. The second shot is an extreme close-up of a shoe while the third shot is a worm's eye view, medium-close up whereby the character's facial expressions hold yearning and a desire to wear what he is holding. We don't find out in the very beginning why the shoe is unwearable unless close attention is being paid on the short.

This is a point of view shot of leading lines whereby an object/subject is being seen in the very far distance. This shot attracts attention, however, it looks like more of a buffer shot as the shot doesn't hold much significance except that it is a connecting shot between the character as he wears the shoe and the preceding shot as the character passes through this expanse of the track.

The usage of laces as a prop is quite significant while the simplistic ye neat nature of all the shots is commendable as they still manager to produce the desired impact to the audience. It  is now that we actually figure out why the character's facial expression changes a he sees a pair of old shoes and uses them for the sole purpose of laces. It also explains the yearning expression of the subject as he looks at the new shoes when he takes them out of his sports bag. 

                    

                                         

                                         

This are the various expressions that the character underwent, from realization to a malicious glee and then to the concentration of putting in the laces properly. These expressions explain the character's feelings in the most visualisable way. We can also find a lot about the personality that the character is undergoing for example in this short one might ponder as to why the character did not use the laces from his white pair of shoes if he so wanted to wear the new pair. Now, hereby, one can easily configure that the character is quite particular about his outlook. This is, further confirmed, by looking at his white pair of joggers that look really good with the red laces .