Short Film Research and Planning

Film Studies Coursework, Short Film Research & Planning

Analysing example short films- 

Ellington Kid

Mise-en-scene

In The Ellington Kid, the mise-en-scène uses knives to subtly create tension and foreshad ow violence. Set mainly in a kebab shop, the knives are visible on the walls and casually handled by staff, blending into the everyday setting. However, their presence hints at hidden danger, especially as the narrator’s story unfolds. The knives become symbolic — not just tools, but potential weapons — suggesting that the workers are more powerful than they appear. This contrast between the ordinary setting and the implied threat adds to the film’s darkly comic tone and challenges stereotypes about vulnerability and strength.

Narrative

The narrative follows a framed structure, with one teenager telling a dramatic story to his friend inside a kebab shop. This story-within-a-story builds suspense and plays on urban legend tropes, leaving the audience unsure of what’s true. The contrast between the casual conversation and the violent tale creates irony and humour. As the plot develops, the kebab shop staff are revealed as unlikely heroes, flipping expectations. The twist ending reinforces the theme that appearances can be deceptive, making the story both engaging and thought-provoking.

 

Tight Jeans

In 'Tight Jeans', the use of long, uninterrupted takes brings a striking sense of authenticity to the boys' conversation. By allowing the camera to simply sit with them as they chat, the film captures the natural rhythms of real speech - pauses, overlaps, sudden bursts of laughter. It feels less like a scripted film and more like we’re eavesdropping on a real conversation between friends. There’s not much editing at all, or dramatic camera moves but just three men on a wall, talking. It reflects the everyday realism of growing up in a London estate, where the most meaningful yet random talks, often happen in the most ordinary places. A lack of editing, and long takes make us feel more connected to the characters' conversation. 

The film's structure follows the typical structure of a conversation, with a response to a stimulus, such as a man with skinny jeans walking by, and shifts and drifts from the original topic, with the occasional sprinkle of something meaningful to talk about. 

The Arrival

In this moment from 'The Arrival', the cinematography leans heavily into a shadow and minimal lighting to create a heavy, dark and uncertain atmosphere. The use of chiaroscuro is intimate, such as the nature of her thoughts that she is sharing with us, yet unsettling, as she is scared about what he will think, and this moment highlights how our biggest decisions stem from the questions which scare us the most. 

 

Narratively, the short builds its structure around a slow and an emotionally unravelling story rather than a traditional cause and effect plot. The story follows the train of thought of a woman, contemplating why she is thinking about aborting a foetus. This form of narrative thinking-like structure helps the viewer to really connect with the girl. 

 

Slap

Narrative

In terms of narrative, Connor is shown to be a boxer who has a secret love for putting on makeup. His friend archie is getting beaten up and so he is compelled to intervene whilst wearing makeup and cross dressing. The turning point comes when Connor arrives at the party, hoping to embrace his true self and share it openly with his friends. Instead of supporting him, they mock him and turn the moment into a joke at his expense. The second key story beat happens when Archie outs Connor—this follows Connor’s quick rejection of Archie’s attempt to kiss him, right after his sexuality is exposed. Once revealed, Connor faces rejection not only from his girlfriend but also from his friends.

Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene in this film is used to outwardly present Connor’s inward feelings, whilst also pushing the narrative further along as it provides the plot points through his makeup revealing his feelings.

Operator

Performance

In Operator the performance comes from the conversation between the unseen voice on the other end of the phone and the woman we watch onscreen. The caller’s voice carries raw panic and desperation, pulling the audience directly into the urgency of the situation and increasing the tension. The operator’s performance relies on restraint and control, her calm but strained tone masking the pressure she feels. She uses subtle facial expressions to show tension, focus, and suppressed emotion creating a contrast between outward professionalism and the  emotional and physical toll she feels. Together, the vocal performance and the visible performance intensify the emotional weight of the film, making the audience feel both sides of the emergency at once.

Genre

The film is primarily a drama that carries deep emotional impact but integrates aspects typical of a thriller—most notably in its pacing, tension, and sense of danger. Key thriller traits are evident: the urgency of the fire, a child in peril, and a time-critical situation. However, the emotional depth aligns it more closely with drama, emphasizing human distress, compassion, and the operator’s psychological turmoil. Unlike conventional thrillers, the threat is never visually depicted; instead, the story relies on dialogue and sound, replacing physical action with emotional and auditory tension. These thriller features sustain audience engagement, while the dramatic elements draw attention to the human toll of emergencies, inspiring empathy, moral awareness, and appreciation for the often-unseen emotional strain faced by emergency workers.

Echo 

Performance 

The girl’s powerful performance conveys deep emotion and also cleverly deceives the audience. Her convincing display of panic through her trembling voice, tearful eyes, and believable stress makes the viewer fully trust her story at first. This emotional authenticity draws the audience into her perspective, creating sympathy and concern for her supposed situation. When the truth is later revealed, the shock is heightened precisely because her performance felt so real. By presenting such genuine vulnerability, the actress manipulates audience expectations, making them complicit in the illusion and reinforcing the film’s theme of perception versus reality.

Narrative 

The film uses a  simple but clever story structure that builds up to a surprising twist. At first, the film seems like it has a basic linear narrative, showing a worried girl reporting an accident, but as it goes on, small clues make the audience start to doubt what they’ve been told. The slow pacing and focus on the girl’s point of view draw viewers into her story, making them believe her version of events. When the truth is finally revealed, it changes how we see everything that happened before. This twist makes the film more powerful and highlights themes of honesty, guilt, and how easily people can be misled.

Over 

Cinematography 

The cinematography here is integral in creating suspense and guiding the audience's perception of this story. The suburban street, often wide and static, stays fixed as a whole in one frame, very detached and mysterious. This detached framing helps viewers focus more on the minute visual details that actually untangle what has happened. The natural light and quiet, everyday setting make the unraTvelling tragedy quite disturbingly real, while there is no movement of cameras to add to the stillness and unease. Keeping the audience distant on the sides of view, the cinematography allows the unravelling of truth to take place very slowly, which makes the revelation at the end so shocking and emotional.

Genre

The film mixes drama and mystery into a chronicle of an emotional event that builds slowly. With its realistic settings, the silent environment, and the normalcy of the details of everyday life, the movie first appears to have an observational scope. As it chronicles each scene in reverse order, it becomes similar to a mystery, inviting audience speculation on what has happened and why. The slow, methodical pace and the complete lack of dialogue break the mold for both genres. This makes the event's resolution even more powerful. Blending drama's depth with mystery's suspense, the gradual uncovering in Over keeps viewers engaged while delivering an emotionally touching and deep storyline.

The Fly 

Performance 

The performance of the lead actor is, of course, key to the impact of the film as he embodies the increasing anxiety of the driver, his body language and facial expressions communicating frustration, fear, and a loss of composure as the fly persists. The lack of big dialogue means the actor must carry the tension through gestures, micro‐expressions, and timing-the shift from calm waiting to frantic swatting and desperation makes his character believable and sympathetic, even though he is involved in criminal activity. The performance keeps the film grounded and makes the absurd situation relatable and engaging.

Theme

The Fly deconstructs the tension between control and chaos against the seemingly innocuous yet remarkably mundane tableau of a getaway driver waiting in his car. He is put in a high‑stakes situation, outside of a bank robbery, but his destruction doesn't come from the threat of law enforcement but the intrusion of a small fly. Thematically, the film plays on the concept that when people are supposed to be in control, something minute or taken for granted can turn the situation upside-down. It invites viewers to consider how situations that feel very secure and rehearsed can be jeopardized through vulnerability and distraction.

Standby 

Editing

The entire film is shot from the front of a police car, and the editing works within this limitation to convey both time and emotion through carefully chosen cuts and shot durations. The location never changes; instead, the passage of time is suggested through alterations in costume, lighting, and dialogue. Time jumps between moments are handled through subtle cuts—implying transitions between calls, shifts, or personal milestones rather than showing them directly. These cuts also mark emotional shifts, often reflecting developments in the characters’ relationship, with editing tracking their evolving journey. With such a confined setting and no external action, editing becomes the key tool for expressing both narrative and emotional progression. By focusing on small, everyday interactions pieced together through editing, the film humanises the police.

Representation

Moving away from traditional action-based portrayals, it presents officers as ordinary people dealing with genuine, everyday emotions. There are no chase scenes or arrests; instead, the emphasis is on emotional labour, urgency, and camaraderie. This contrasts sharply with the usual media stereotypes of police work, offering a more realistic depiction especially highlighting that male and female officers are working as equals. The characters’ confidence and vulnerability reflect the lived experiences of working-class public service employees. Through their conversations, the film highlights the emotional nature of their roles, showing how they support one another through distressing situations while maintaining professionalism and humanity.

Character analysis - planning for character tropes 

Film of choice- The Lego Batman Movie- Character- Batman (Bruce Wayne)

The character would drive the batmobile, would order lobster thermidor and wouldn’t listen to music but write his own, normally with a backing track but sometimes with his own beatboxing

What we don’t know from the film, is he would probably wear a very expensive cologne that isn’t sold to the majority of the public, his favourite book would be his autobiography (we know his film and his house). He wouldn’t have a favourite sport- he couldn’t care less. His favourite hobby other than watching romcoms would be adding more items to his bat-collection. His own bedroom would have lavish furniture and a huge bed with expensive paintings on the walls.

 

 Short Film Treatment 

Introduction

I developed my short film idea mainly from watching a series of different thrillers, many directed by David Fincher that have influenced my thought process when deciding on a concept to explore. I have decided on a simple but interesting narrative that should be possible to cut down to five minutes whilst also being a fully fleshed out story

Themes

The themes that I have focused on include focuses on fear and psychological confusion. I was interested in presenting an short film that firstly, has a twist and not the usual story, but secondly, leads the viewer on a journey that reflects that of a feature length film, by engaging  them in the story.

My initial ideas stemmed from the concept of having an intense whilst almost bewildering film that engages the viewer rather than isolates them in a state of confusion. This came from the film 'The Game'  directed by David Fincher, which presents a similar approach including a twist at the end after psychologically traumatising the main character. What makes mine different is that it is less focused on the 'happily ever after', scrooge-like grumpy old man to kinder person character arc that the 'protagonist' takes and more focusing on diving into a intense wave of emotion and confusion that the character feels so that the audience can feel that confusion and psychological terror with him. 

1^st Act

Main character wakes up, does classic things- so we align with the main character, maybe a picture of his family, etc- nice guy.  Main character is getting ready for an event (shown by putting on tie on a suit etc). Receives a call from his friend, asking are you on your way etc. Replies with just leaving now. Possibly upbeat or maybe uneasy music in the background. Walks outside and is kidnapped into the back of a car. Drivers fumble around try to get going quickly (possibly comedic aspect here, maybe not). Driven away…

2^nd  and 3^rd Act

Character has bag taken off his head in dark room- interrogation spotlight. Not quite fleshed out what goes on here- important that the character at no point is actually hurt. Spotlight on him- asked ‘where's the money’ random confusing questions that we don’t understand (same as character as he consistently denies knowing anything).

Cuts to same guy on the phone from the start- in suit, on phone, is it done, is he contained etc. He reveals to group of other men in suits he’s contained, they congratulate him but still seem to be sinister.

Sequence of events here that eventually lead up to sheer terror- fear of painful death or torture (use mise-en-scene here) again no actual damage. Last moment reaches for gun on the kidnapper’s side to shoot the kidnapper Nerf dart drops out- zoom into him looking at the gun seeing Nerf branding- Door opens/curtain etc- reveals his birthday party all along – anti-climatic almost

Either ends with the main character being shocked,  Possibly part explaining how he was safe the whole time, how it was done, him being angry at friends (depends on timings of the first part of the film)         

 

Use Automatic focus for crash zooms

Research into target audience 

My film will be a thriller with moderate threat, and would be rated around a 15, so therefore it is likely to attract and audience of male late teenagers to early adults (15-25yr olds). This is because it has been found that younger audiences seek more adrenaline stimulating, exciting films, including ones less grounded in realism. Additionally, there would be a slightly more predominant male audience due to research suggesting that this genre attracts around 60% male audience, but the film would certainly be suitable for the female audience as well. Additionally, it has been found that in the 'west' of the world, slightly less grounded in reality thrillers attract more of a white audience, however this thriller should be completely enjoyable for any ethnicity/race. Taking this into account, I will cast younger people to play the main characters to make it more relatable to my audience, additionally I may tailor any comedy (if I choose to include it) and other dialogue aiming more towards both genders so that the film is enjoyable for all people. However, more of the characters if not all will be male, this is because of the fact that the character's I have chosen are based off of people I have known for a long time in real life, as I can gauge and see how these people will look like in my film when I cast them, whilst also taking into account the fact that the audience that would want to see my film may have more men so therefore it makes the characters more relatable.