Anne & Juliet ★★★☆☆

Review of 'Anne & Juliet' which can be found here on YouTube. 

Length: 13:40

Written & directed by Carmine Pariante

Genre: Drama

Date: 2008
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Logline: A woman's dream of being a professional photographer is hampered by her guilt over her sisters death and her commitment to run the family business. 

Something isn't working for me in terms of the structure of this drama. It feels like there's perhaps been a missed opportunity to really heighten both the conflict and the emotion by deciding to give more precedence to the reveal instead. While this makes for a fresh perspective on an old idea, without letting the audience in on the protagonist's internal conflict right from the beginning, it means that the effect is somewhat lessened. 

When watching for the first time, the sleeping in the water with clothes on scenes may be seem a little odd and confusing, although the concept is a sound enough way of delivering exposition about the sister's relationship. There's some nice use of symbolism and metaphor as the theme of following ones dream becomes quite literal. 

Isabelle Defuat as Juliet, is competent and engaging. She's good at adding emotion to the well written dialogue. Eleonora Pariante as older sister Anne, is more controlled and rigid but this works well with her icy character. Anne having a much heavier accent than Juliet takes a bit of getting used to but the writing makes sure that audiences can understand why this is. 

The poor lighting lets this down a lot. Internal shots are too dark and the lack of lighting makes this look washed out and dull. In contrast, the external shots, which have relied on natural lighting, are much more vivid and look better. The rest of the production is of standard quality and there's an impressive camera pan in the end sequence. The soundtrack is forgettable but sits nicely unobtrusively in the background when used.

Overall, the underwhelming arc means this remains a bit flat. We don't really see Juliet suffer enough and this means her end success isn't as powerful as it could be. She just looks a bit tired and drained and we don't see how not being able to follow her dream has effected her in a negative way. Other than that, it's okay. 

Best Bit: Second last camera shot and the death scene. 

Worst Bit: Bad lighting

Final thought: I used to like the saxophone. Now I hate it. 

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Runaway Journey ★★★★☆

Review of 'Runaway Journey' which can be found here on YouTube. 

Length: approx 28 mins 

Written & directed by Kyle-Ian Surgenor

Genre: Drama

Date: 2011
Rating: ★★★★☆

Logline: A depressed teen tries to run away from her depression but suicidal thoughts soon follow.

This decent attempt at tragedy is well written and features a compelling story. It comes in three parts unfortunately so structure analysis might be a little off I'm afraid. 

This is very much a character piece. Nicola Rainey plays suicidal Kayla and does a fair job of maintaining a look of dour dissidence throughout with Leanne White as the eternally optimistic girlfriend Leanna. Both feel natural and are very much your typical teens. There's some nice glances full of subtext between these two as Kayla clearly can't be bothered with Leanna who slowly begins to realise Kayla simply doesn't care about her or anything else. This interpersonal conflict creates an interesting plot but it's slightly unclear on whether we should be rooting for protagonist Kayla or her doormat partner Leanna. Does Kayla allow Leanna to fall down that embankment? It certainly looks that way. Turning your main character into an antagonist is risky. That single head shot of Kayla could be enough to turn the audience against her. 

This doesn't feel as long as it is due to the fascinating voice over (and the three part thing) which is played over what could sometimes be described as walking about and doing nothing shots. Saying that, the narration does turn a bit heavy poetic and audiences may tune out during those obscure word combinations. The death scene is fairly repetitious and could do with being shorter. Saying the same things over and over again diminished the tension and drama which is key in that climactic scene.  

What this film kind of keeps ramming down your throat is the fact it was filmed in a single day. Whether this is a selling point for the filmmakers or a reason to excuse the quality, I'm not sure. This is a shoestring production with no thrills whatsoever. The handheld camerawork does work in it's favour though and aids that grungy feel. Sound recording suffers at some points but the quality soundtrack, tailoring to several different moods, is good at compensating for it, although this did feel like it was slipping into music video territory on a couple of occasions. 

Overall, although this looks a bit shoddy, has some technical flaws and isn't terribly visually interesting, it's the story, which pulls this along nicely. Performances by both actresses aren't perfect but they feel real and have depth. The good writing is delivered well by these two, who work well together on screen. Some end credits might be a good idea mind. 

Best Bit: The writing.  

Worst Bit: Camera quality and sound recording. 

Final thought: Worst overdose ever. She's fine like two minutes later!

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Trust No One ★★☆☆☆

Review of 'Trust No One' which can be found here on YouTube. 

Length: 06:10

Written by Christelle A & directed by Jermaine Toublez.

Genre: Drama

Date: 2012
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Logline: Some bad gangster shit goes down between two teenage girls.

The bad audio on this will leave you wondering what the heck's going on in this urban tale of gun crime, sitting in parks and talking about fashion. That and the fast talking street dialogue which is also hard to pick up, even if you watch it a few times. Having bad picture quality is more forgivable than bad sound so don't underestimate the importance of good audio in a short. We all take it for granted but when it's poor, it can ruin a production and alienate the audience significantly. 

The plot is also lacking in this as well. Two girls hang out in a park then for some unknown reason, they fall out and one of them decides that shooting her is clearly the best way to teach her a lesson. Too much time is wasted on idle chit chat between characters which isn't advancing the plot, no matter how naturalistic it is. Christelle "Chrissy" and Lauren S play the warring teens and at least look comfortable in front of the camera even though this is fairly amateur.  The chase scene is good with a nice laugh out loud easy disarming of a gun incident too. (Yeah, put the gun in her dead hands, it'll really look like she's shot herself in the back, lol)

Adding in a good soundtrack does pick this up a little and seems to add some richness. The gun shot effects are well done and in general, the camera work is acceptable with nice colour depth. But with the plot having little in the way of arc or satisfying conclusion, this is left feeling too made up on the spot for me.

Best Bit: The behind the scenes outtakes.  

Worst Bit: Bad sound.

Final thought: I like Troubles website. It has many photos of him.

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Happy Holidays? ★★★☆☆

Review of 'Happy Holidays?' which can be found here on YouTube. 

Length: 07:40

Written & directed by Steven Patrick. 

Genre: Drama

Date: 2013
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Logline: A night of heavy drinking ends with disastrous results for one married couple. 

This is the next instalment from Scott Watson's team so let's look and see if there's any improvement. There's not much to the plot here. SPOILER ALERT - A guy gets hammered then hammers his wife to death. But the lack of arc is thankfully saved by the public awareness message at the end. Structure is clear with a nice verbal inciting incident, change of tone at midpoint and definite climax. There's a big problem with pacing tho. Everything feels very drawn out. The drinking scene could be about a third of the length and is there really any need for the camera to continue to swirl around the dead wife? Yes, it's building atmosphere, but today's audiences all have my goldfish attention span and may be put off by the repetitive imagery and lack of advancing plot. 

Elizabeth Baillie turns up again along with Craig McEwan, she is by far the more naturalistic of the performers. McEwan sounds like he's come straight from the panto. Baillie's Scottish accent feels more at home than McEwan's River City one. Audio isn't perfect. It's a bit echoey and perhaps too sensitive to movement. Camera too isn't as good as it could be. Handheld probably wasn't the best decision and the last sequence flounders due to McEwan not being in shot clearly as he lies on the sofa. The end music works very well and delivers a sombre tone. The warped Christmas jingle stuff also aids in the "getting pished" scenes where the slow-mo edit also adds to the effect too. 

Without knowing the ins and outs of where this piece was to be shown or who it was for, the long length feels detrimental to the message delivered at the end. If anything, this makes you want to have more drink, not less. Saying that, there's good emotional resonance within the second half of the film. That appears to be one of the strong points of this production unit. They just need to bring their technical skills up to that level too. 

Best Bit: Throttle scene.  

Worst Bit: Really drawn out. 

Final thought: This is quite an accurate portrayal of me watching short films and contemplating having to write a review. 

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Secret ★★★★★

Review of 'Secret' which can be found here on YouTube. 

Length: 09:49

Written by Oliver Morgan. Directed by Rob Birks.

Genre: Drama

Date: 2009
Rating: ★★★★★

Logline: A young schoolboy suffers in silence at the hands of an abusive teacher. 

A problem shared isn't necessarily a problem halved when it comes to this depressing story. Refreshingly, there's no happy ending here, although that does make it a bit harder to see the moral, which in this case, seems to imply that even if you talk to someone about being abused, they'll probably just tell you to put up with it until the fella gets bored. 

Reece Webster and Kieran Hocking are both excellent young actors and superbly cast. Webster is particularly adept at providing us with a naturalistically  oppressed performance. Each handles the well written dialogue giving careful attention to the subject matter. The handheld camerawork helps give a more intimate feel when watching and good shot composition and editing is key in highlighting the emotional story beats. A simple and economical soundtrack is also used to great effect. 

There's an immediate hook as the storyline almost immediately delves into a somewhat shocking scene which is handled very well. There's some nice symbolic imagery in amongst it all and the soft focus provides a dreamlike (or nightmare) feel to the tone. An all round professional and competent production, which treats the disturbing plot line incredibly well. 

Best Bit: Opening sequence and Reece Webster. 

Worst Bit: Somewhat unresolved plot. 

Final thought: "Just say No!", oh, sorry, that was for drugs wasn't it. 

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Dream Girl ★★★☆☆

Review of 'Dream Girl' which can be found here at Virgin Media Shorts. 

Length: 02:17

Written & directed by Alice Seabright

Genre: Drama

Date: 2012
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Logline: A stranger falls asleep up against a flummoxed guy on the train. 

It's hard to categorise this one. It's a bit of drama and a bit of romance, but mostly it's designed to simply be a sweet tale and probably nothing more. Of course that all depends on your personal outlook. Some viewers may go "awwww", others will possibly go "eughhh" as in this modern age, the unnamed protagonist, played by Rodney Ndongo-Eyogo, could also be described as being creepy in a stalkerish kind of way. Unfortunately the film ends on this character's decision to go back into the train (as he clearly has nothing better to do) and be the pillow to the immediately comatosed Catherine Dauphin, so we don't get to see her embarrassed reaction on waking up against a complete stranger, which naturally would be the more interesting scenario. 

It feels almost like we're watching candid camera here and that style of shooting adds some depth to the scenario. The film is shot so as to make you feel like you're one of the passengers on the train, and that this familiar scene is something we've likely been in or seen happen before. What adds to that feeling and works well with it, is the lack of soundtrack and lack of dialogue. The filmmaker allows the rhythmic sound of the train and the underground hum to create that sleep inducing atmosphere that all commuters are familiar with and the acting is all in the eyes of the characters here, whether it be avoiding glance out of the window or the acknowledgement from another traveller. The camerawork follows a similar pattern. You can see and feel the hypnotic movement of the train and the edit mimics the look around, blinking eyes of a fellow passenger. These small elements go a long way towards generating a well constructed piece of work but the questionable premise lets it down slightly as does Dauphin's inability to wake up when being prodded. 

Best Bit: Nice decisions of restraint used in this minimalist story. 

Worst Bit: Story had potential but didn't go anywhere.

Final thought: Aye, how come he fights his way through to be the first off the train then when he gets back on it, the place is empty?

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Michael ★★★★☆

Review of 'Michael' which can be found here on Daily Motion.

Length: 07:41

Written by Bryan Lomax and directed by Matthew Khawam

Genre: Drama

Date: 2012
Rating: ★★★★☆

Logline: A young lad asks his mum if he can go on a school trip but she can't afford it. 

This short is designed to bring a tear to a glass eye and it very well might. It starts off as a bit of a slow burner but that leaves the audience plenty of time to start building up preconceptions about where the plot is headed (especially with Michael's mum, payed by Fleur Poad, immediately looks pissed off that there's a bit of paper on the table).

This should probably have been titles 'Mike' since that's what everyone seems to call him. Newcomer Kelan Todd plays the lead role well. He's likeable, deals with the occasionally staged dialogue well and delivers a cute doleful look when necessary. Ignore the posh way everyone seems to speak and there is a nice naturalistic tone to both dialogue and plot. Pacing flounders slightly during the searching for cash in cupboards scene but on the whole scenes flow together well and this feels shorter than its actual length. 

This has all round high production values. Excellent camera quality, movement and shot composition give a professional feel. The apt piano soundtrack only comes into play during the emotional last sequence and this helps to increase the impact well. That last scene is the one that makes this short good. Realistically it's an all to common domestic drama, not really anything you've never seen before but the emotional punch this throws at the end is enough to forgive all of that. 

Best Bit: Emotional climax. 

Worst Bit: Actors speak to posh to be convincing bread line characters. 

Final thought: What's that boring programme she's listening to on the radio I wonder?

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Sacrifice ★★★★☆

Review of 'Sacrifice' which can be found here on YouTube. 

Length: 10:56

Written by Gary Looker and directed by Steve Looker

Genre: Drama

Date: 2008
Rating: ★★★★☆

Logline: An ex-con back on the straight and narrow does one last rob in order to provide his young brother with a better life. 

Good casting comes into play with the young Simon looking quite like old Simon, played by seasoned northern actor David Crellin. But it's Sean Cernow who stands out as the strongest performer here. Cernow portrays his character physically and with conviction and although he has to navigate a long winded dying scene, comes across as deliberate and professional.  

The dialogue is good and naturalistic and certainly in keeping with the regional locale but verges on being a bit overwritten and exposition heavy at the same time. The story plunges into melodrama and sentiment towards the end and although these scenes provid the emotional crux of the film, it does feel a bit hammy. 

The misplaced flashbacks early on only serve to confuse and could have been placed at a more appropriate place or cut altogether. Saying that, when we do finally delve deeper into those shots we get an emotionally engaging and well executed action sequence which is nicely juxtaposed against the quieter and darker dialogue scenes. 

Competently put together, there's minor issues with continuity and a floundering camera (or edit) but on the whole looks good on screen. The soundtrack in the intro scenes feels a little misplaced but is used sparingly and helps build tension later on. Overall, the audience may have to suspend belief at certain points but the emotional heart of the piece is clear and with good meaning if not pretty thickly laid on. 

Best Bit: The army shooting scenes. 

Worst Bit: Oh, I'm a thief, feel sorry for my terrible life. 

Final thought: Blood looks like it needed some watering down. Bit syrupy looking. 

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Just Saying ★★★☆☆

Review of 'Just Saying' which can be found here on YouTube. 

Length: 05:00

Written & directed by Dave Tynan

Genre: Drama

Date: 2012
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Logline: A young man ponders his future. 

Poetry in motion is probably a good description of this short. It's all about the dialogue here as Irishman Emmet Kirwan trawls the night streets havering on at us. Structure is important in poetry and you can really hear how those rhyming lines have translated to the screen as well as bookending via repetition as well as the change in emotional content at half point. Kirwan delivers the stanzas with enthusiasm but goes off at some speed sometimes and that coupled with the accent and the odd Irish references can sometimes leave you a couple of lines behind. 

There's a good mixture of shot compositions as well as handheld and static ones in an attempt to make this halfway visually interesting. You can only watch a person walking through the streets with nothing happening for so long, but there is good cinematography here and this will look great on a large screen. Lighting relies on the atmospheric street lights, which brings a nice warmth to the palette. Contrast comes with the cold light of day shots in the morning, giving a nice visual and symbolic conclusion. A moody instrumental track fades in towards the end and helps evoke a sense of possibility for the character and audience alike. 

Although this is competently shot, looks good on screen, adequately performed and has been well written, this only gets a three star rating due to the amount of concentration it took me to listen to the accent only to discover it's a guy just moaning about his rubbish life. Boo hoo. 

Best Bit: Bookending and good structure. 

Worst Bit: Fast talking gurn. 

Final thought: "Shut up and get on with it" would be the Border response to this lad.  

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

The Runaway ★★★☆☆

Review of 'The Runaway' which can be found here on YouTube. 

Length: 04:48

Directed by Duncan Finnigan 
Genre: Drama

Date: 2013
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Logline: A man tries to apologise to another guy. 

This is technically a Canadian film but I think the director is Scottish and a former Screen Academy student. The logline is a vague one as this film either has many interpretations or it isn't very good at telling the audience what it is all about. It's only after waiting through the end credits that you find that this piece came out of an acting workshop which lets us in on the possibility that this is a father and son character piece. 

There are some nice shots. The film looks good on screen. Dreary tinted landscapes with a lomo effect makes the good quality camera picture stand out even further. Slow shots and thought out cinematography may be the films saving grace. An evocative soundtrack adds tone and mood but the on location background sounds of traffic and wind noise lacks professionalism and distracts. 

Brendan Solomon plays against Gary Kirkham and although both performances are sincere and emotional, the dialogue makes it feel stagy and melodramatic. There's no satisfactory conclusion here either. This is more of a glimpse into a solitary moment where nothing actually changes and no character has an arc so a resolution to the drama wouldn't have gone amiss. A good foundation but feels like there's a lot missing.   

Best Bit: The way it looks.

Worst Bit: Plot line a little unclear on a first viewing.

Final thought: Looks like it could easily have been shot in the UK, same rotten miserable weather. 

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Origin ★★★★☆

Review of 'Origin' which can be found here or here on Vimeo.

Length: 14:16

Written & directed by Danny Stack

Genre: Drama

Date: 2012
Rating: ★★★★☆

Logline: A couples distancing marriage faces make or break when their teenage son suffers from a supernatural disease. 

This feels like part family drama part horror film. But where one genre is kind of rounded out not too badly, the other is left incomplete. With a great set up that points the audience quite directly into zombie territory; creepy music, creepy woodlands, unexplained bite etc, you're left expecting one thing but are delivered another. That can often be a good thing. The mixing of genres here adds complex layers and brings a refreshing outlook but what can often happen when doing this, is the lack of indecision over the overall genre can also make for a confusing film. So while the family drama seems to get resolved, the supernatural element (which is far by far the more interesting part) doesn't get nearly enough explanation or resolution. 

There's a few inconsistencies in the plot which will leave an audience asking more questions than are answered. The dad huffs about waiting till he's had his tea before taking Freddy to the hospital but then leaves half of the meal uneaten in order to get a move on. Freddy aggressively (and out of character) storms out of the house one minute, then collapses weakly on the floor the next (and again later when Freddy looks like he's at deaths door in the hospital he still somehow manages to gather the strength to go for a trek into the woods). Also the doctors unconcern for Freddy disturbing skin problems and his parents inability to phone for an ambulance after finding him in the woods make these characters come across as stupid and incompetent and therefore unlikeable. I'm a sucker for logic and things like that are detrimental to the complex emotional story that's trying to be told here. A disjointed family being brought back together through tragedy seems to be the central theme but the lack of satisfying answers means this is ultimately a lot of set up with little pay off and feels more like the first act of a feature than a completed short film. 

Well known actors Lee Ross and Katy Carmichael play the couple whose marriage is hanging on a thread but neither feel particularly devoted to the characters they're playing. Ross is the more naturalistic of the two. His character feels secondary to Carmichael's but shows more of an arc. His emotional journey is more evident on screen, I enjoyed his reminiscence scene in the hospital for example, while Carmichael's arc is much more subtle and more of an inner transformation, but which shows equal depth. 

Camera quality is good and the production is pretty competent. Quick edits and nice camera movement, interesting compositions and focus pulls help give this a professional edge. There's been good efforts done by the set designers as what could have been many a blank wall and door space has been well decorated to make it more visually interesting. The soundtrack, especially in the opening and closing sequences, is well suited and rich in atmosphere and really makes this stand out. 

Overall, the family dramatics took precedence over the supernatural element too much for me and it feels more like these characters are just about to be thrown into a much more interesting and exciting world. So this ends far too soon in my opinion. Roll on part two. 

Best Bit: (I seem to say this more often than not)  Love the soundtrack. 

Worst Bit: No supernatural explanations given leaving lots of questions unanswered.

Final thought: For a concerned mother, she does a terrible job of cleaning up that bite don't you think? 

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Showcase: Void

'Void' which can be found here on Vimeo.

Length: 05:33

Written by Neil Rolland 

Directed by Christopher L Cook

Genre: Drama

Date: 2012

Starring: Vivien Taylor

Logline: Mary is a new single mother on the brink of destruction, longing for freedom and dreaming of the past, sometimes the fall back to reality comes at a painful cost. 

This comes from fellow Screen Academy Scotland student and all round film enthusiast Neil Rolland and his film wreaks of those 80's public awareness adverts minding absentminded parents about the dangers of red hot irons and scolding mugs of coffee. The film carries an unnerving mood which is high on tension building and dread.

Best Bit: With a large cast of youngsters and sensitive themes being explored, this has been well produced and well put together. 

Worst Bit: Turn the baby off!

Final thought: Where's the 'no children were harmed' disclaimer??

Maude ★★★★☆

Review of 'Maude' which can be found here at the BBC Film Network. 

Length: 12:21

Written & directed by James Hughes

Genre: Drama

Date: 2007
Rating: ★★★★☆

Logline: The arrival of a talking teddy bear brings new light into an agoraphobic widow's life. 

This dark tale has a surrealist edge to it and centers around themes of loneliness and fear. The audience will have to guess for themselves whether the Japanese spouting bear really can make the tea or whether Maude's finally had too much booze and is projecting. Either way, this makes for interesting viewing. 

Starring cream of the crop Susannah York as the elderly, possibly demented, Maude and Tim Woodward as Danny, the (keen) gardener, both do well to give their characters an unnerving edge and don't over do the naturalism. Dialogue is minimal but Maude's lonely existence makes it believable during scenes where she is simply talking to herself. Key to the plot is Maude's character arc. She turns from a cut-off woman loathed to interact with any other human into quite the sociable murderer. The teddy bear is a nice and subtle way of showing Maude's developing change.  

Although pace is a bit slow, there is a sinister undertone which manages to be retained throughout. This is what turns what could have been a drab and depressing story into a rather intriguing one. Low lighting, which has been used to show how isolated and cut off Maude is, isn't great for the viewer though and some shot compositions look off. Chico's flashing eyes are a bit on the cheap side but the rest of the production is fine enough and a well suited soundtrack comes in to emphasise emotion at the right parts. Overall, creepy but entirely watchable. 

Best Bit: Chico likes to kill. 

Worst Bit: Low lighting makes it hard to see. 

Final thought: Of course, unless Maude has a firm grasp of Japanese, I think it's safe to say she's crackers. 

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.