Student-made short films: textual analysis

Man's Best Friend

This student's short film is a documentary about a teenage boy as he makes the transition to become a dog. I quite like this film because its different and unique, as well as being very well produced. The film features multiple characters, many of whom being family members of the main character, Jonny. The actors for the characters are well chosen and they all make the film realistic and entertaining. The short film is short in multiple locations, some of which include the park, hospital and Jonny's home. 

Networked

This is an A grade piece of A2 coursework about the effects of the internet and social media on the lives of teenagers. In the short film we see a male character who mysteriously dies after opening a message from a friend on Facebook. The film uses a range of camera angles that help to tell the narrative and show the actions of the characters. This is something that I will consider when it comes to making my own coursework piece as these shots used are interesting. I also think that the story behind this short film is intriguing and well-thought out as the majority of the target audience for the piece will use social media in almost every day of their lives, and so they can in some ways relate to the main male character. There are only three male characters in this short film and the casting of them helps to identify with the target audience, as they are of similar ages. There is only one main location used in this film, which is the boy's bedroom. This shows that for a film to be good and effective, it does not need a vast majority of locations, but instead an intriguing plot and a mix of camera angles.

Alone

This coursework piece follows the activities of a young girl after she wakes up to find that her entire family, and the rest of world, have died after an outbreak of a deadly flu virus. I think that this short film has been shot very well and a lot of thought has gone into the production of this piece. I also think that the use of a young girl as the 'abandoned' character is very good as it attracts the audience's attention as we want to sympathise with her and the fact that she is all alone. The use of various shot types helps to tell the story well and to show the emotion of the little girl. I also like how towards the end of the film we see the little girl being reunited with her family on the beach, where we assume that she too has become a victim of the virus.