I chose to present the short film titled One Man, written by Tony Pipes and directed by Matt Rhodes. The link to the film can be viewed here:
https://vimeo.com/66804044
The central message of this film is that “no matter how alone you may feel, there is always someone that will love you for you.”
This film is driven by music, sounds, and visual elements. The director wasted no time with revealing what was in the main character’s head, how the character was feeling, and the character’s intentions to commit suicide. The opening scene ended with the man lifting his foot off the building painting the picture that he was indeed ready to jump. Before cutting to the next scene, the man’s foot never came back down. That shot design was very creative setting the tone for the rest of the film. The curiosity of who this man was immediately evoked emotions.
The following shots with the toothbrush, statue shots, and other items in main character’s house were shot with a shallow depth of field. Afterwards, the director reintroduced the main character, as he lay in bed lonely. He was a lonely man.
“A lonely man on the verge to committing suicide in a world where people can’t seem to except him for who he is.”
The basic dramatic structure of this film is built on music and facial expressions. The inciting incident is underlined as we see the man’s facial expression after the female storeowner insisted that he leave the curbside. The extreme close-up shot of his expression allowed the audience to feel the man’s hurt emotions. People are yelling at the main character as he walks down the street with his band equipment strapped to his body. The climax is reached when 4 men began chasing the main character through the streets. The successful resolution occurs on the rooftop as the he stands at the edge of the building. The extreme close-up shot of his face as he turned around followed by the OTS shot of a woman standing behind him revealed that he was no longer alone.
This film has an intense dramatic appeal established with the use of extreme close-up shots, scrutinizing the emotions from the man’s point-of-view. The fades to black before opening a new scene really gave the film a cinematic look. Hand held camera movements authenticated the emotions of each scene. Sound ultimately drove this film.
Each time the main character walked, the audience could hear the instruments strapped to him clashing. This diegetic sound added emphasis to the character showing the audience that he was a one-man band. The sound effects of birds, footsteps, and clothing were all elements that enhanced this film. There was no need for dialogue. The non-diegetic music at the end once the woman appeared was placed perfectly in the film. The main actor did an amazing job by carrying each sequence of this film. His acting skills were inspiring and the closest to real life as it gets. His clothing color was not bright but rather dull which described his character immensely. He did not dominate the film but did allow his emotional responses to stand out as dialogue replacement.
The main character’s point-of-view was revealed in the opening scene as he stands on the building’s edge trying to find the courage to jump. The style the director used to tell this story persuades the audience to cheer for the main character. What made this film successful overall is the woman at the end of the film. The film served its purpose, which is: No one should be sad. Be happy. Not alone.
In our zero-low resource film, The Exam, our team wanted to show our audience the mind-set of a student taking a final exam that did not study for it. To get this point across, we froze the entire classroom when the test time expired. We employed this in our film because in order for a student to actually retrieve all the student’s answers from their test, they would have to be frozen.
The practical challenges I overcame as the Producer of The Exam was finding equipment, actors, and locations to film. Organization was important. By keeping all the talent’s paperwork in order resulted to less stress, relaxation, and allowed me to spend more time on the production. Initially, I was not organized but came to terms fast once I realized that the Producer could be the reason the film fails if he/she is not organized.
