Stanley Gordon

Throughout the short films I have seen, many different approaches to structure and narrative have been used, form viewing the events in reverse, to a single act with no clear development, or even a completely unconventional approach with no clear distinct acts involved. In film there are many well accepted and commonly used structural archetypes put forward by different practitioners being Propp, Todorov and Levi-Strauss. However the earliest and most widely accepted is that of the Three Act Structure. As the name suggests this theory suggest a story must contain three acts:- Set-up- Essentially exposition. Establishes the main players and their relationships as well as their world. Within the first act, the inciting incident often occurs which begins the quest and transitions into Act 2. Confrontation- Also known as 'rising action', the protagonist attempts to put right the inciting incident, but finds the situation only gets worse. Just as things are looking down, a way to...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKFToZzqyZA Slap is a short film by Nick Rowland focusing on the main character of Connor, a boxer who attempts to hide his love of wearing make up. No direct explanation is given for his enjoyment, other than that it makes him feel good and free. When his gay friend Archie is beaten outside his house he is forced to leave in his dress and make up to help Archie. He then goes to a party, invited by his girlfriend Lola, and wears his dress and make up in an attempt to finally show himself. He is laughed at an berated, and after an argument with Archie, Archie reveals his secret to Lola who he similarly argues with. The following day he enters the ring, and with his pent-up rage, beats a man brutally. The camera cuts away before we see the damage caused. This short film primarily explores sexual and literal identity, as well as juggling social realism, coming-of-age and being a beautiful character study piece. The representation in this film is arg...

Over is a short film following a true crime from 2014 where a refugee (hidden in a planes landing gear)fell to his death over London. Shot in reverse chronology, the film begins days after the incident with a lengthy extreme long shot of the road, which cuts away to the morning of the same day where flowers are seen at the roadside marking the site of the incident. As the film progresses details are revealed to the audience through visual cues as there is no (necessary) dialogue throughout. We are introduced to evidence snapshots, interweaved with various stages of the clean-up process. Virtually the whole film is shot from an extreme distance with slight panning movement, always to the right. This disorients the viewer when combined with the camera moving up and down the street so that the audience never really get their bearings until mere minutes from the conclusion. It could be argued Over makes political statement on the refugee crisis, strongly against the r...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SWNMjBchC4 Arrival is a short film about a nervous woman waiting for the father of her unborn child to arrive. She is waiting for an arrival in two senses, that she is pregnant and that he is on his way. However, she deliberates getting an abortion and throughout considers responsibility and choice. This is primarily social realism, and acts as a monologue, but is very much a stream of consciousness, taking various tangents and failing to focus on anything in particular, which seems realistic to me. The entire film is held on one shot, as we are positioned directly opposite the woman who sits uncomfortably. Perhaps this positions the audience as the other half of her conversation, the listener to her troubles. The representation is interesting here, as she is shown to be a fairly strong protagonist, not relying on what he says and very much making decisions for herself, even if they are uncertain ones. She does however seem to perk up the minute he ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d561hjcaROo Operator is a short film that focuses on a single phone call in a fire department call centre. A short introductory montage introduces us to the panicked and hectic environment of the call centre, highlighting a couple of conversations, but rushing us toward Laura, an employee and the only main character. She engages in a phone call with a stressed woman who explains her baby is trapped upstairs and the fire is up there with her child. The vent is entirely experienced form Laura's point of view, as we can only hear the screams and the cries of the woman on the other end. A single camera angle is held virtually the whole way through, placing heavy reliance on the performance of the two actresses. This film certainly shows the tension something so simple can create and manages to keep the viewer entirely gripped for it's full length, never once losing its high stakes and tension. The representation in this film is interest...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcPBCrUc8YI&t=460s Tight Jeans is a short film created by Ekharaga to go against the stereotypical representation of black people in media, as at the time (2008) nearly all black people were shown to be criminals in film. Throughout the single scene film, three black teenagers are seen sitting on a wall, primarily discussing why they cannot wear tight jeans after watching an emo walk by. There is a heavy sense of naturalism throughout and a sense of repetition, as the film ends on the line "Why can't we wear tight shirts?". This acts as both a final punchline and informs us that these three could be waiting here forever and continue to talk (for want of a better word) 'shit' eternally. The three characters are very appealing to the audience, all are innocently oblivious and ignorant but it is this ignorance and unknowing that spawns the comedy as we see what we perceive as ridiculous viewpoints on the question, spanning in...

Echo is a short film about grief and the way people cope with its effects. In the film Caroline, a teenage school girl, is seen playing out the same con at three separate points. Using the previous experience of her fathers passing in a bike accident, she prays on the sympathy of the public for money for taxi rides which she then uses to buy cigarettes. However, the more she repeats the con, she tries to lessen it's emotional impact on her as an echo lessens in noise. As the film continues we begin to view the con from a more subjective point of view, seeing that it is more of a form of self-harm for her, descending her further and further into sadness and loneliness. The film is in the style of social realism, with naturalistic acting and set, literally shot in the street with non-acting civilians. In a way it is also a coming of age drama, and a character study of Caroline and the pain she suffers. We see her self-harm through her use of the lighter, which she permanently grat...