Showing posts with label Romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Romance. Show all posts

14 Jan 2013

Monday Morning (1) ★★☆☆☆



Review of 'Monday Morning' which can be found here at MiShorts

Length: 03:03
Written & directed by Martyn Holmes
Genre: Romance
Date: 2011
Rating: ★★☆☆

Logline: A modern day fairytale where a wandering man becomes one woman's knight in shining armour. 

Without much knowledge on this piece, we have a series of varied stylistic shots depicting the story of a single man's chance encounter with a young woman in dire need of help both of which later bond after he has rescued her from two thugs in an alleyway. Over which, there is poetic text superimposed, adding a new contextual layer, while a Chopin piano piece plays throughout. 

It looks like this had good intentions but my main problem was where the audience is supposed to be looking. The text, which is in a terrible and not altogether clear font, distracts from the on screen action underneath. Another way it ruins the film is that each word is spelt out in a typewriter effect causing the viewers eye to linger on the text unnecessarily while waiting for each sentence to be written. 

There is a nice selection of camera compositions, all handheld, slowed down to give a surrealist feel and help show passage of time. Mixed in are some black and white sequences which weren't of much interest and clearly just space fillers between scenes. 

Starring two randoms, Sandy and Sonny, who do fine and look naturalistic-ish but do little to generate much entertainment, as does the rest of the film. This falls close to being experimental as I'm not sure which other audience would go for this sort of short. Again, it might have attempted at some depth but think the production side of it has let it down.

Best Bit: Classical track.

Worst Bit: Text over images. 

Final thought: Um, voiceover perhaps?

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

10 Oct 2012

A Sure Moment ★★★☆☆




Review of 'A Sure Moment' which can be found here on Vimeo.

Length: 04:18
Written by Lawrence Bourke & David Wickham. Directed by Lawrence Bourke
Genre: Romance
Date: 2011
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Logline: A visiting French student tries to find inspiration while out taking photographs. 

This is a pretty straight forward film. Slightly uninteresting in terms of subject matter but the story has a nice feel to it by the end. Two people talking at a bus stop isn't the most visually stimulating thing in the world but the edit does a good job of keeping the eye busy and maintaining a steady pace. The well chosen font on titles and subtitles gives a fresh contemporary look and fits in well with the crisp picture quality. 

Laetitia de Lafore and Jonny Purchase give equally sound performances and carry off looking freezing cold very well though not always completely naturalistic when delivering dialogue. Having the girl give voiceover in French works okay to bookend the piece as well as differentiate it from the main sequence. The choice to make her character foreign helps give her story more layers but could possibly have worked just as well if she hadn't been. 

Other aspects such as audio, lighting and camera are all consistently of a high standard and the crew certainly look like they know what they're doing. Characters can be clearly heard without background traffic drowning them out while the well lighten scene doesn't feel overly artificial within the surroundings. An ambient soundtrack adds to the mood as well as keeping the modern feel. With high production values the only thing that kept this at a three star rating was that the story didn't really do anything for me. Personal opinion of course but it makes this film easily forgettable. 

Best Bit: That you're left wondering about what will happen to these two characters. 

Worst Bit: Takes a while to get going.

Final thought: Wonder if this would look kind of creepy and sinister if the roles were reversed?

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

10 Jan 2012

Script Writer ★☆☆☆☆



Review of 'Script Writer' which can be found here on You Tube.

Length: 02:19
Written & directed by Joshua Potter
Genre: Romance
Date: 2011
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Logline: A wannabe screenwriter struggling with writers block has delusions about what it takes to write a good story.
To put this film into perspective, it is an entry to the Virgin Media Shorts competition. Some people think it's better to submit something shit than nothing at all. I've awarded half a star for effort though I'm not a hundred percent sure I should be encouraging that sort of behaviour. I can only gather that this piece didn't get very far as it fails in many ways.

We have a writer, played by the writer/director himself, who seems to know all the elements that makes a good script - originality, inventiveness etc. (though romantic definitely shouldn't be on the list) and yet after daydreaming about a romantic walk with a girl, where nothing much happens, he drones endless description and the pair reel off cliched sweet nothings to each other, he confidently believes this would transfer into a fabulous script. Any competent screenwriter will scoff at the scene description which Potter narrates to us. "I smile and gesture for us to move on", (he doesn't by the way) "the wind brushes through her hair" (no it doesn't), "she's the one" (the on screen chemistry between Potter and Felicity Murray is laughable).

There is at least a fair attempt at structure with the bookending scenes. Unfortunately, the middle part lacks satisfactory plot development, advancing stakes, conflict, interesting dialogue, likeable characters or any of the other elements that would keep an audience interested. There are a couple of nice cut away shots of scenery, and audio and camera work is acceptable too. The other half of that star goes to the piano soundtrack which is the only other half decent thing there is to discuss.

Best Bit: Probably the thin tinny soundtrack.

Worst Bit: "Man I'm good." You're not. You're really, really not.

Final thought: Yes, the motorway is a choice place to take your girlfriend for a romantic walk, isn't it.

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

1 Jan 2012

My Favourite Things ★★★☆☆



Review of 'My Favourite Things' which can be found here at Shorts Bay.

Length: 05:44
Written & directed by Edward Styles
Genre: Romance
Date: 2009
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Logline: A shy boy follows a whimsical girl and discovers a unique way of introducing himself to her.

As soon as the music starts up you begin thinking that this will be an “Amelie” rip off and you will be right. It's a romantic tale with a fairytale like quality. Sunny days, skipping children, it’s so sweet it’s sickening. That’s the twisted old cynic talking.

There is no dialogue thankfully. A wise choice which aids the mood and eliminates probably bad child acting. Amelia Cook is the more believable of the stars Theo Styles (ahem, probably family of the director) is a little less convincing as he stalks his young prey in the most obvious way possible. The dialogue isn’t missed as we have the soothing tones of Stephen Wright’s music to sweep us along instead. The soundtrack suits the images immaculately and where the film could drag a bit without it, the music enhances pacing and tone.

In one way, the film could be viewed more as an exercise in beautiful cinematography rather than the telling of an implausible tale. There is a nice variety of shots coupled with soft focus and thoughtful composition. The crane shots help give that air of quality. Lighting too is well done considering the British weather.

Best Bit: The soundtrack. Just shut your eyes and listen.

Worst Bit: Theo’s pantomime villain type stalk along the high street. The only thing missing is a long moustache to twirl between his fingers.

Final thought: Likable the first time. Bit boring the second. Not going back for a third.

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.