Sync ★★☆☆☆

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

Length: 04:03

Written & directed by Chris Ashton 

Genre: Music Video

Date: 2011
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Logline: Music video for Johnny And The Giros track 'Sync'

There's not much in the way of narrative in this film and it's more or less a traditional music video, which is completely made up of the band performing their song. (In a small room with the odd shot of a woman waving about in front of a light) Four minutes is a long time to watch when the only other visual variation comes from some coloured strobe lighting. The visuals do at least kind of mimic the mixed style of the music, which is part dance track and part indie track. 

Lighting is done well and it's a nice crack at constructing an atmospheric setting. There's plenty of different camera shots and the edit keeps good pace although you can tell that even the editor gets bored half way through as it's just the same thing over, and over, and over again. (No wait, there's a wee bit where the band stand in the dark in black and white)

Am not sure whether the camera quality isn't up to scratch or whether the video upload may not be the best grade. Probably the camera, as when it moves about really quickly, the slow shutter speed creates picture distortion. Overall, the uninteresting visuals aren't complimenting the up tempo track and the repetitive nature of the shots makes for quite monotonous viewing.  

Best Bit: Nice music track.

Worst Bit: Repetitive imagery gets boring after a while. 

Final thought: Ironically, it sometimes looks like lips are out of sync. 

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Capture ★★★★☆

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

Length: 01:48

Written & directed by Liam Treacy

Genre: Fantasy

Date: 2013
Rating: ★★★★☆

Logline: A photographer uses his unusual camera to stop criminals. 

This looks good and it sounds good. I've pegged it as a fantasy though rather than a sci-fi (although it's tagged as being an Action & Adventure?) as to me, the camera has more of a magical power than a scientific one but without reading the logline first, which describes this film, I'm not entirely sure I'd be one hundred percent clear on what is actually going on. That's not a good thing. 

The part that flummoxed me was the wall of previous polariods taken by photographer, Ben Clegg. The camera lingers on these blurred photos. You struggle to read how they're labeled. You strain to see the images. But when focus is finally pulled, there isn't a great deal to suggest that this is a collection of criminals caught in the act. They have obscure titles, some even look like family photos and you don't get long enough for a good look without pausing the video. As this is a fairly short film, it's quite important that information is delivered quickly and clearly. This set-up exposition (nicely delivered in a visual way) isn't giving the audience any real useful information on who this character is or what he's doing. That may be the downfall of this piece. 

As mentioned, this looks good. It's very atmospheric with out of focus perspectives, great use of lighting on a night-time shoot, and interesting shot compositions which pull the viewer's attention into important details. The special effects are done well. The contrasting bright flash of the camera is a good way of highlighting the sfx to its maximum potential. A delicious soundtrack also adds weight to the quality production and the good sound design and sound effects all add to the dangerous mood of the film. 

It feels like there's some important pieces of information missing from the plot so while informed viewers will enjoy this, people without any knowledge of the film may struggle. Maybe re-shooting that one shot would help. 

Best Bit: Special effect freeze frame. 

Worst Bit: Plot unclear unless you read up on it before hand. 

Final thought: Terrible handwriting. 

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Joe And The Genie ★★★☆☆

Review of 'Joe And The Genie' which can be found here on YouTube.  

Length: 14:11

Written & directed by Kieran Moore. 

Genre: Comedy

Date: 2013
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Logline: A jilted boyfriend thinks a weegie genie can help him win back his true love but that's against the rules of magic, apparently. 

If you can get past the shoddy opening sequence, where a tripod certainly wouldn't have gone amiss (apply that to the entire film btw), this is actually quite good fun. This is typical Scottish humour and the good dialogue reflects that. Sean Howie and Bobby Graham play wish-maker and wish-granter respectively and both get into their roles with gusto and are entertaining to watch. Graham stands out as the more comedic but then, he does have the better lines. These two work good together on screen and the Glaswegian banter flows well between them. The terrible sound recording and constant wind blowing into the mic is compensated by the fact all the actors seem to be shouting out their lines. 

Music is used to great effect too, the fantasy jingle works especially well and the music quality helps counteract the bad audio. The exception being that rotten introduction, where no music is used and it's so quiet you can practically hear the camera recording. Visual effects are cheesy but work surprisingly well within this piece where the nice camera quality and vibrant colours help lift this out of the usual drab and dull colour scheme that Scotland often has to offer. The edit is competent enough to keep a good pace as well as accentuating some of the comedic moments. 

With clear attention to structure, good use of the rule of three, and a well defined arc, the work put into writing the script means that all the technical difficulties and not so great camera work are quite forgivable, showing that if your story's good enough, you can get away with a lower level of production no problem. The ending is corny as hell and could maybe have done with more of a comedic punchline, but overall, this isn't as bad as you think. 

Best Bit: Good dialogue and story. 

Worst Bit: That opening sequence isn't a good start for the film.

Final thought: Look at the state of that white van parked next door to the girlfriend. Bringing house values down immediately. 

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Coward ★★★★★

Review of 'Coward' which can be found here on Vimeo. 

Length: 28:27

Written by Terry Donnelly, Steve Handley, Mark O'Halloran and Dave Roddham. Directed by Dave Roddham

Genre: War

Date: 2012
Rating: ★★★★★

Logline: Two Irish cousins brave WWI trench warfare at its worst.          

You only need to look at the video still above to know immediately that this is a five star film. This harks back to the traditional style of short film making where folk literally made cinema quality movies but shorter than feature length. 

Needless to say, production values here are to a very high standard. Pulling off a period piece is no mean feat never mind creating a realistic battlefield with war torn trenches and extreme weather conditions. The attention to detail in the costume, set design and makeup departments is evident and the crews passion for the project comes through clearly on screen. The lighting, sound design and cinematography are all of a superb calibre and everything gels together well to make for an outstanding visual treat. A nice soundtrack bookends the piece but the sound of battle as well as the good use of silence are as effective as any music could be. 

Martin McCann and Sean Stewart play the lead roles of two small town country boys who predictably look forward to joining up only to quickly suffer the crashing realities of fighting on the front line. Performances (by all cast) are powerful, emotional and raw. That might have something to do with the horrible conditions they're acting in mind. Everyone does well to maintain form while being subjected to torrential rain, engulfing mud and bitter snow. Dialogue is realistic, evocative of the period and has a morose poetic tone to it. Heavy in subtext, there's a lot to like about this. 

Structure-wise, there's a kind of mystery subplot regarding which member of the division is up for being shot because they deserted. I'm not sure if keeping the audience continually guessing about who this character is was the best decision. It could provide to be a distraction from the emotional content of the film. War genre pieces are usually driven by a 'who will survive and who won't?' question anyways, and that might have been enough to carry this plot forward without adding in the mystery element. 

Overall, this takes (for me) a compelling topic and treats it with the respect it really deserves. There's a lot of heart in this and the tragic ending is by no means a negative. Very much a visual masterpiece, they haven't scrimped on providing excellent emotional content as well.  

N.B. If you're listening to this with headphones, be prepared to jump out of your skin a couple of times with all the unexpected gun shots and bomb explosions. 

Best Bit: Creates an excellent emotional impact and looks fantastic.   

Worst Bit: The introduction sequence at the start is a bit long and slow paced. 

Final thought: I well thought that the wifey at the beginning was giving her son the precious iPad mini that his father would want him to have. 

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here and an interview by the film's cinematographer Stephen Murphy here. 

Short of the Month - May 2013

A belated monthly award goes to...

'First The Worst'

I didn't have too much to say about this short as it's all good. Great performances by a young cast, superbly written, and a fine production. Find it here on YouTube.




Logline: Two school pupils argue over which of them is the least popular. 

Length: 02:14

Written & directed by Bevan Walsh. 

Genre: Comedy

Date: 2011
Rating: ★★★★★

Read the original review here or read a condensed review on Twitter here.

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.

A Film About Poo ★★★★☆

Review of 'A Film About Poo' which can be found here on Vimeo.

Length: 01:30

Written & directed by Emily Howells & Anne Wilkins

Genre: Animation

Date: 2009
Rating: ★★★★☆

Logline: Musical animation about the do's and don'ts of doo doo.

There's a nice mixture of styles in this quirky cartoon, which tells us to wash our hands after dropping the kids off at the pool. Stop motion, hand drawn sketches, text, paper craft, and graphic art all blend together well to make this continually visually interesting. 

A catchy little acoustic guitar ditty accompanies the imagery, which is both appealingly harmonic and humorous. Similar to the animation, there's variation between singing and talking which gives a good change of tempo and tone. The home recorded sound quality and innocently delivered lyrics goes hand in hand with the childish fun of the animation and they compliment each other well. 

It's very simple in concept and will no doubt be appreciated by both adults and kids. Lyrically, this feels underwhelming and could perhaps have been written stronger but musically it hits the right note. The collection of styles on screen is a nice way to show off the animation skills, there's a good flow of movement without it ever feeling overcrowded. Good effort. 

Best Bit: Breeks round ankles. 

Worst Bit: Lyrics not always perfectly clear. 

Final thought: A few little germs never killed anybody. 

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.

DEADline ★★★☆☆

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

Length: 07:03

Written & directed by Malcolm Rumbles.

Genre: Horror

Date: 2013
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Logline: A stressed out student suddenly has a good excuse for not doing her essay when a masked attacker goes on a killing spree on campus. 

This is a fairly good example of what can be achieved given a limited time period (or deadline!) to work with. There's a clear 'Halloween' influence going on here which flies straight off the bat with the introductory John Carpenter-esque soundtrack which neatly establishes the tone. The comparisons don't stop there; with a silent masked killer on the loose chasing a likely virginal young lady around and teens having their necks snapped right left and centre, it's a classic film to look at if you're filmmaking on the fly. 

Katrina Allen plays the diligent student who immediately starts typing her essay without first logging in. There's a nice switch to her looking bedraggled and stressed later on but there's too much time spent on these establishing shots and pacing suffers slightly at the start. Once the killer turns up, it gets much more interesting. Allen carries the role well given that this is purely a physical performance as no dialogue features. I really felt that fall in the corridor and her breath holding scene becomes quite powerful thanks to her acting. 

Sound is an important feature of this short. Silence is used to good effect, builds tension and makes the end sequence very effective. There's some nice visceral sound effects added in but the guy with the music blearing out of his headphones was a bad choice as it ruins the built up tension and takes the viewer out of the story momentarily to wonder why we cant hear his voice even though his lips are moving. Similarly, you might feel the silence becomes a little unnatural as there's a lack of screams to be heard, which is a slasher staple. 

Considering the constraints of the limited location which makes this visually uninteresting, not having the greatest lighting, and the sometimes too silent parts means that this is a good effort which is perhaps worth re-shooting with more time spent on it. 

Best Bit: Hold your breath scene. 

Worst Bit: Headphones guy. 

Final thought: Another example of my review process accurately portrayed on screen.  

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.