For the first short film, I picked "A TV movie" which was a DepicT! 2009 winner. The movie itself is an animation, using a similar style to that of Wallace and Gromit by Aardman Animations. I believe it stands out from the others that year for its unique but professional looking art style that the film used.
Narrative Structure
Although the narrative in this short film is fairly simple, it does do a good job of making you want to watch the film. This could be down to its very bright art style however. The narrative does follow the "Classic Realist/Classic Hollywood" style. This means that the story generally revolves around one main character and lives an everyday type of life until something happens, this is known as an "Agent of change" or an "Enigma". The main character here is the TV itself as there are no other notable characters. The everyday type of lifestyle comes from the TV being plugged in to the mains in the wall, suggesting his owners use the TV like any other.
However the "agent of change" comes from the fact the TVs owners are out, so he/she is able to move around freely. Strangely enough the TV wants to watch TV, so it decides to get comfortable until it forgets the remote so it cant change channel. The quest here being that the TV set must find the remote to restore normality. Closure is found when the TV finds the remote, but instead looks out and finds that the outside world is a better TV program, this is also the underlying message or "Hidden message" in the story.
Identification
Since the main character is a ordinary TV, and is hard to make a believable and likable for the audience to connect. For this the film makes use of identification by using shots like the reaction shot, as seen below for example as well as other shots also seen below.
Another shot type the film uses is the close up shot type as seen below. This shot reveals the character and shows the emotions of the TV set.
Point of view shot
This shot shows the eye view of the TV set and shows the audience what the character might be reacting to and looking at.
Suspense
Although this film doesn't contain much in the way of suspense, it does however create feelings of curiosity. It does this by making you wonder whats next, and what is the TV set going to do next. Since the room in which the short film takes place has not got much in the way of interactive items, it does make you think back to the point of "whats it going to do next?". Curiosity is also seen when the TV set drops the remote and opens the curtains.
2 - Schatzi (Darling)
For the second short film i chose "Schatzi (Darling)" which was in the shortlist for 2013 entry's. Much like "A TV movie" the film is simple in idea and execution. The film has been described as "garnished with typical British humor, a sharp view on a typical German family of our modern times". It stands out for its professional look and great acting and dialogue between the characters.
Narrative Structure
Much like "A TV movie" the story is simple, yet effective at making you want to watch the whole film. This is mainly down to the overall professional look of the film, which looks like its straight out of a drama from TV. The film for the most part follows the "Classic realist structure", expect that it doesn't have any closure at the end of it. Instead the film seems to end around the time of the "Enigma" part which then leads to the "Pathway to resolution". The beginning or "normality" as its known in the Classic realist structure comes from a family, which is having its family photo taken together (Mum, Dad, Baby, Dog).
The agent of change or enigma as its sometimes called, can be seen in the the argument the mother and father are having among themselves. The argument then escalates into the mother telling the father that its not actually his baby. This then causes the father to leave the room in what could be anger or disgust toward the mother.
Identification
The short film makes use of various shot types to help the audience identify the characters. These shots include the reaction shot first seen in the opening to the film. This shot in particular shows all the characters that are in the actual short film excluding the extra which is the dog sitting on the floor. Images below.
The film also makes use of close ups, this helps to show each characters emotion and reaction to what the other person is saying to them. Examples of close ups can be seen below.
Suspense
While the film does not contain much in the way of suspense, it does however make use of a varying editing pace and also Mise-en-scene. The editing pace seems to get slightly faster as the film progresses i noticed, cutting between shots more frequently. Mise-en-scene isn't manipulated, however the general setting for the film is rather odd as its just a white plan background for the most part (as its a family photo).
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