Preliminary Task - Short Film

Short Film -Pawns from Holly Jones on Vimeo.

This is a short film I made as a preliminary task leading up to this project. Playing around with different texts meant I could get a better idea of what making each text would be like. I also found out where my strong points were. This short film is an example of one of my stronger points.

 This is a point of view shot from the opposing 'pawn two' character. The camera tilts from around a tree to focus on 'pawn one'. The way the camera tilts around suggests that 'pawn two' is spying on him. We cannot see this spying character and so it builds on curiosity.

 In this shot, the camera pans with 'pawn one' walking across the scene. In the foreground, 'pawn two' is hiding behind the tree, waiting to attack. I like this shot because the pan is very smooth and keeps a steady pace.





This shot is longer than most because it follows the action. I like the concept of this, in that the action looks more realistic instead of jumpy. However, the camera could have been held a little steadier to help the audience focus upon the fight.





When the chase occurs, it becomes quite repetitive and boring. To keep the chase interesting, the point of view has been changed frequently. The camera is placed within a bush whilst the characters run past. The way the characters brush past the leaves gives the audience more of an idea of the speed at which they are running.

I like this shot very much because it is so obscure. The low angle gives this shot an illusion of using a fish-eye lens. It also intensifies the gap of which the character has to leap across. This creates an epic-looking action shot.

Another low angle shot is used here to give an idea of which character is currently dominating the fight. 'Pawn two' (the dominant player) is given height through this angle whereas the lower placement of 'Pawn one' puts him below the opponent.




From this preliminary task I have found that short films is more my forte. I organised the filming of this well and came up with an original idea. One thing I should keep in mind is getting enough footage so there are no holes in the fluency of the film.