Research into Short Films: Gravity

Plot

The Short Film 'Gravity' carries a moral message about the existence of gun crime amongst youths today. The Film demonstrates the seriousness of gun crime and tells a message to teenagers about how they are not a toy to be played with, as doing so may have disastrous effects.

Link to the Short Film:

Camera shots and angles

A variety of camera shots and angles are used within the film 'Gravity' and an example of the most prominent frames are shown above. These shots are crucial to allow the audience to build up a relationship with the characters. The close ups present within the film show are featured as reaction shots and show the facial expressions of the characters. The extreme long shots and crane shots demonstrate the widespread impact of the plot and shows the characters to be insignificant.

Edits

The majority of editing in this short film is cuts from scene to scene. This gives an indication to the pace and tension that builds up during the film. Also, indents are used to show the credits and the name of the Short Film. The credits at the start of the film appear against a black background so that they stand out in the foreground and the title of the film that appears at the end (see image shown above) is set against the backdrop of the sky and demonstrates 'gravity'.

Mise-en-scene

As can be seen from the images above, the mise-en-scene within the film suggests that the film is set in a rough council estate. The costumes worn by the actors are iconic of that considered to be worn by gangs and youths in today's society. The props used such as the gun represent the fear of gang culture. The images above suggest that at times there is low key lighting to create an uncomfortable and disturbing atmosphere.

Sound

At first the non-diagetic sound presented accompanies the credits. It seems to be the sound of the creaking door. Then it becomes apparent that the creaking sound is actually diagetic and is the sound of the swing that the toddler is playing on.

The majority of diagetic sound within the film is conversation between the three main characters. At points the language used becomes aggressive and on occasions the characters swear. This adds to the uncomfortable feeling of not knowing what the situation is escalating into. When the character messing around the gun imitates the sound of the gun, it shows how young and naive characters are, as he doesn't comprehend the drastic consequences that playing with the gun could have.

In my opinion, the most important diagetic sound in the short film, is the noise of the swing creaking. When initially heard at the beginning, it doesn't seem to be an important aspect of the film but when it returns towards the end its importance is revealed.