'Paperman' Jordan Spencer's Short Film Analysis

Paperman was realised 2 November 2012 and was created and directed Jon Kahrs and watched on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QAI4B_2Mfc

Paper man tells the story of two people a bo and a girl, they first meet at a train station on the way to work, and they seem to share a real connection when a bit of paper flys onto her face and leaves her kiss mark on her face, but then he looks up to see she's on the train. he can't stop thinking of her all day and notices that she is in the building opposite him, and with all the papers on his desk he tries to get her attention without the boss knowing, then he misses all of them, however the airplanes all go to one alley and form this 'Paperman' then the paper man brings them together and they become a couple.

The genre of this film is Romance or Romance comedy because through the persistence of the guy trying to get the girl it becomes clear he's interested in her. and the lipstick mark is the only coloured thing in the whole film making it clear that there are signs of love throughout the film.

Narrative of this film is done well because there is no talking but you still get the story very well, the plot throws you off too because it starts off as a normal film and then the paper man comes out and your not expecting it which leaves the audience wanting more to know with the story because it has a lot of unexpected stuff, you want to know what is going to happen with the couple. 

The representation of this film shows that with the persistence of love and care the man has for her and while fighting for her he finally gets her and they become a couple so i think that the man represents the stereotypical man who's always chasing the girl and she's playing the heroine character

Post It

Post It is a short romantic comedy, the title is good in the sense that the film has a lot to do with post it notes, however it doesn't really tell the viewer what genre of film they are going to see there's no real semantic codes to give them any indicators other than post it notes.

The film is about a man who is collecting his late mothers possessions from work he then speaks to a lady who shows interest in her possessions, the man the confesses to not being able to compliment people, the woman then decides to start post it note complimenting people the two then begin running around the streets post it noting strangers with compliments and then share one last post it note with each other in the light of a sunset.

Its the perfect blend between comedy and romance that will relate to all ages and genders as they can all enjoy watching the two characters comedically fall for each other. 

Doll Face

Doll Face is a short film about a robot with a human face chasing an image on a television, this whole short is a metaphor for people in society chasing un realistic body/facial images/standards.

The title of the film is very good it gives the viewer a very rough idea of the contents of the film before watching it ensuring that only those who have an interest click on it, this is because of the semantic codes of doll face which have connotations of over done makeup and perfection in the form of a doll that has been created, this relates to the film and so gives the viewers a good starting amount of context before proceeding to the video. 

The establishing shots are of a metal crate in an empty grey room with a tv, a robot with a human face then comes out of the box, it begins to mimic the image of beauty shown on the tv screen as soon as the robot seems satisfied with its self image the tv moves further away and displays a different image. 

The robot continues to follow the tv and change its image until eventually the tv is too far away and the robot self destructs in an effort to reach it. 

This narrative is so captivating and unique because its rare to find a movie that embodies the issues of chasing self beauty as well and as perfectly as this movie does. 

It is aimed at everyone because everyone at some point has tried to improve themselves based off what they have seen in the media, this shows that they should not chase other standards and stay as they are naturally because true beauty is never reached when following the medias view of it, this relatable story means all will be enticed and engrossed in the films meaning and they'll be captured by the way it visualizes that meaning.

The Doll/robot is supposed to represent humans innate need to chase beauty based from the medias representation of it all the way until they die, this film challenges the issues with how people react to today's media and how the media reacts to them. 

Tom Verco - Love at first sight - found on YouTube

This short film is a comedy about a young man who is taking the bus home, however he is sat opposite an attractive woman who he thinks is looking at him constantly throughout the bus ride. The man sitting next to the woman is wearing glasses and his holding a stick that blind people use therefore he assumes that he is blind. However not knowing that the woman is blind and can't see him at all. She start doing all these things like biting her lip and as you would he thinks she is doing it for him.

The film starts off with a view of the bus in a puddle to which then the man steps in the puddle distorting the image of the bus, the next shot is a view of the man getting on the bus to then cut to him giving his money to the bus driver. This film has just one long scene of the protaganist thinking the woman is hitting on him. when our protaganist sits down in his seat we get lots of different shot of the people on on the bus, we get mostly close ups of the different people on the bus. This symbolises that us as an audience are seeing what our protaganist is seeing. The next part of the scene is the woman smiling at our protaganist making him feel all awkward so he starts to look around the bus trying to stop looking at her. When the camera shows the blind stick the semantic codes show us that this is going to be a comedic film.  The bus then stops and the sun light hits the woman and then the camera pans up and down and around her face, we also get a close up of her lips. while this is going on there is music in the background and it is going in slow motion, this suggest to us the audience that we are seeing what our protaganist is seeing but also feeling as the camera then turn back onto him and he licks his lips. The bus then moves and he snaps out of it. He then thinks that the woman is looking at his in a really weird way as he has just been looking at her so he turns away like nothing has happened. She then looks down and starts licking her lips again but as our protaganist doesn't know she is blind he assumes the obvious. The comedic music then starts fading in the background as they both stat looking at each other, the camera at this point is panning back and fourth showing us there facial expressions towards on another. He then looks at her breast licking his lips and raising his eyebrows at her, she then stick her chest out to stretch but he gets the wrong idea from this. He then slides down his chair slowly moving hand down to then squeeze his crotch. The bus then stops the woman gets up and gets handed the blind stick, we then see the facial expression on out protaganist face as embarrassed and a bit devastated. there is no speech in this film, i think the reason for this is because the actions that the character create are strong enough by there self that they don't need any text. Also if someone was to talk it would ruin the feel of the film and i think that is what the directer was going for. This short film is linear because it does have a story to it but at the same time it feel as if the male character is making up what her is doing from the way the woman is looking and acting around him as he is just reacting to what she is doing.
The audience for this short film are teenagers and adults as children will not get what is going on and will not find it funny. i think the audience will find this film funny as our protaganist is not really the guy that would get a girl like that and that everything that she is doing is not for him and they would find that funny. also maybe the older generation of people might not find it that amusing they might find it a bit weird so the audience i think are teenager and young adults.  The genre of this film is a comedy you can tell that from the semantic codes of the blind stick and the way the male is dressed. throughout this short film there has been all sorts of clues that it is a comedy for example the music is comedic and the actions they all do they do in a comedic way.    




















           

Tom Verco - The Gunfighter - Directed by Eric Kissack - 1st July 2014 - Found on YouTube

The story of this film is set out by the narrator, where a lose gunslinger walks into a saloon. However everybody that is in the saloon can hear what the narrator is saying and things get a little out of hand.

The opening of this film shows a gun fighter walking into a saloon to then be caught in a battle between friend which he doesn't know yet. The story slowly starts to build up to a big gun fight at the end of the film. From watching this film i can see that it was a really good film that had a high budget thee were no parts of the film that i thought were sloppy the story made senses even though it didn't really have an order to it. The part of the film i liked the most i the fact that all the characters in the saloon could hear what the narrator was saying as that brought a whole new feel to short films. its almost as if its a representation of God as back then everyone was quite religious and maybe God wanted the bad people to pay for what they had done and you find out later on what they have done, so that is maybe what this film was trying to get across.
Narrative of this short film, the film starts with the protaganist walking towards the saloon to then enter the saloon to meet other characters in the saloon. This short film is played out as it goes along, in this particular story the narrator is the one who guides the story as he influences all the choices of the characters as everyone in the saloon can hear what the narrator is saying. The plot and the story relate to each other as the narrator tells the characters things that the other characters have done that we haven't seen, but then we see how the characters react to what they have found out. This would have an effect on the spectator as they can work out the ending of the film just by what the narrator has said and how the characters are reacting to what they have found out.
The story i think is non-linier because the story doesn't really have an order to it, this is shown though what happens in the film as the narrator creates a story but not really in any order. I think that they haven't put a order to the film because otherwise the story wouldn't flow as well as it does.
From watching this short film I think the audience for this film are teenagers and adults, the reason i think this is because the film has explicit language but also it is quite graphic for children. however as it is on youtube even children would be able to watch it so the makers of the film might have been going for a different age. I think that the audience will like this film as it is different and unique as not only can the audience hear the narrator but so can the character and i think the audience will like that as its different. The film is also on Vimeo which means anyone can watch it so maybe the makers wanted all ages to be able to watch it. The film has won the Audience award for best short film at the 2014 Los angeles film festival.
This genre of film is a Western style short film, this short film has everything that a western genre should have I can tell from semantic codes (Rick Altman) that this short film is a western, for example mis en scene the way the characters are dressed, for example the gunfighter is dressed in a stereotypical way with the western type hat and scarf. Also from the props that they use for example the guns that they use tell you straight away that it is a western film. I feel as though western style films are popular now as they show you what it was like back then that is why i think this genre and style of film is popular with any age group.  

   

Tom Verco - Alone - Directed by Brock Torunski - Found on YouTube

This short film is about a man who is alone years after the human race has perished due to an apocalyptic outbreak. He is left wondering why he is the only one left how did he survive?

The film starts at an office where our man is working at his desk at this point in the story everything is normal and that is what they want you to think. To then the phone ringing to what we assume to be his girlfriend/ wife asking him to come home because everyone is dying. In this scene they use a variety os shot sizes and angles they pan across his hands typing on the keyboard. they use a lot of match on action. The one shot i think that has the most effect in this scene is the close up of his eyes when he is on the phone to his girlfriend, this shows the audience the horror he has in his eyes to what is happening outside. The next scene is our protaganist waking up in bed, as an audience we find out that all that was a dream and that he seems to have that dream a lot. There is a lot of match on action and close ups to show how the character is feeling at this point in time. Our protaganist is then seen going into the bathroom to clean his teeth, as he opens the draw all we see is a tooth brush and about 10 toothpastes this shows us that he needs to stock up on items as he can't go to the shops and buy anything as he is the only man alive. We then see our protaganist eating some food from a can which we can only figure out is because there is nothing else left in the world. The next scene is out main character going outside to look for more supplies, our protaganist then decides the turn right instead of left to then find a new house with a lot of supplies in it. In this scene there are a lot of match on action again. there is a part in this scene where our protaganist goes into the basement and he runs into a med kit from this med kit we can see semantic codes for example a gun to show that maybe this is a horror film or action film but i can tell from all the other semantic codes that this film is about the end of the world. in the basement scene they use a time-lapse to show the passing of time which i think us a really useful technique to have.

 The last part of the film is our protagonist walking home to then be stopped in his tracks by a light turning on in another house. i think the story and plot relate to each other really well in this film, the story is linear as there is an order to it and that is what the directer wanted the audience to know, it makes sense and it doesn't confuse the audience as it is like any other apocalyptic story. i think the audience for this film is teenagers as that age group are into apocalyptic type story's and this story really keeps the audience on there feet as you don't know what is going to happen next. However this film doesn't have blood or anything like that so any age group could watch this,  this film was found on Youtube which means that the maker of this film possibly wanted anyone to be able to watch it.  















 

Tom Verco - The New Politics - Directed by Joshua Wong - Found on YouTube

This is a short film based in the future in the year 2056 and there are two major political superpowers on the brink of war with one another. in order to settle their major disputes they choose to elect some of their best and most promising candidates to battle on behalf of the nation...these are The New Politics.













this short film starts with an alarm clock and straight away the semantic codes tell us that it is based in the future as the alarm clock is a hologram. When one of our female protaganist get up to go to the mirror we then again see another semantic code that it is based in the future from what is shown on the mirror its self. throughout this short film we see the two female competitors getting ready for the big fight at the end of the film. We see how they are dealing with it and what they are doing during the day to prepare. we have one where she is working out and pumping herself up and the other one who is just sitting around watching tv. To me this symbolises the different types pf personalities that we all have the determined one and the lazy one who doesn't care what anyone thinks about them. The camera in this film is really good when it comes to different shot types and angles but also techniques. When we first see the other female protaganist for the first time it pans around her flat showing us different things about her, we see from these different things that she was in the army but she is also some sort of helper form someone from the dress that is on her table.











The Next scene we see the difference in money and fame between the two as the blonde female is getting taken over by paparazzi where as the other female has no one bothering her. we also see the difference in money as the blonde female is taken away in a convertible and the other female protaganist is taken away in a Lamborghini which drives its self again the semantic codes showing us the future of the film. The next scene is them getting ready for the battle again we see the future technology as the blonde female stands on a platform and it puts her clothes on her.

   

We then see the other female protaganist just walking though the arena with her dress and some folders in her hands walking towards the battle, as this is happening there is a voice telling the audience all about her and how she won last time and that she is a fierce competitor. When this is all happening we get lots of different camera angle we get high angles and low angles to show the difference. The next scene is them in the battle pods getting ready to battle, When this is happening we get eye level cuts back and forth showing the female protaganist looks at one another. The audience for this short film i think are teenagers and adults as this is based in the future and i think children will not really get what going on and also i think teenagers and young adults will like the look of the female protaganist.  

Tom Verco - Traveler - Directed by Simon Brown - Found on YouTube

This short film is about four friends who build a Jet powered craft to teleport them across universes but when they succeed things start to go horribly wrong.

This short film is linear as it does have a story to it and the story also has an order in which things are going to happen, i think that this makes the film better overall.This short film starts with a long shot of a car moving through the desert, it then cuts to inside the car that we saw moving through the desert to which we see three friends in the car talking on the phone to a woman we find out to be called Rachel and they use cut crossing in this scene as they are talking on the phone to Rachel trying to talk her out of doing what she is about to do. The next scene is the three friend that were in the car arrive at the place where Rachel is going to use the jet powered craft. The main male protaganist then tries to find her through barnoculars when he finds her she is using the jet, the technique that they use here is panning across the screen but the audience are seeing what the main protaganist is seeing. The editing they use here is amazing as they have to edit the jet disappearing as if it has gone to another universe which in the film it has. In this particular scene they use a variety of shot sizes and angles to create suspension for example close ups and long shots. They uses close ups so we can see the look on the protaganist face and they use log shots so we can see the jet moving across the screen. the three friends then try to work out where she is and when she is going to come back, so they ego over to where she disappeared again in this scene they use editing and shots really well. They again use close ups so we can see the male protaganist face.

   They use the editing really well as when she is coming back the rocks start to float and they edited that really well. When she does come back the way they bring her back through sound  is amazing as with out the sound it would no way near be as good. The next scene Rachel gets blown up by a ship that she brought back with her and the protaganist friends get transported away and again the sound and editing on that is amazing. The next part is a strange being from the other universe drops a rock that can teleport our male protaganist to the other universe.   

Our protaganist then touches the rocks and gets teleported to the other universe where he sees the jet in a glass case which means what jet got blown up? They use a really good over the shoulder shot of our protaganist and the jet in the glass box.  

I think the audience for this Sci-Fi short film would be teenagers and adults as children will not really get what is going on and might find it boring. However as it's on YouTube the maker of the film probably wanted anyone to watch it because even though children might not get it they might think that it is still a  really good film as mostly everyone loves Sci-Fi. I can see from the semantic codes that this film is a Sci-Fi from the teleporting and the other universe but most importantly the jet as every Sci-Fi movie has a jet like that in it.    

  

2+2=5

2+2=5 is a dramatic short film that's about 7:00 minutes long. It is a short film about a school who are teaching the students that 2+2=5 and not 4 they are teaching this through fear, the students are too afraid to stand up to the teacher and so accept what he says and go along with it, however there are a few kids who question how accurate the teacher is and one in particular argues the case that the answer is in fact 4.

At its core this short film is an allegory for rigid fundamentalism and dictatorships, this is probably the best aspect of this short, it manages to capture such massively pressing problems and cultural issues such as fundamentalism and dictatorships and it condenses them and there meanings into a relatable setting where by the viewer can be shown the harsh reality of these real life issues, as well as that it visualizes it and visualize the courage it takes to stand up to these issues. 

The title of the film is very good, although it doesn't indicate to the viewer what genre of film they are watching it does create an enigma, anyone who looks at it will think its wrong and be drawn in to find out just why the title is the wrong answer to a simple maths equation. 

The structure and synopsis of the film is as follows: Set up students sitting in very run down room are then interrupted by a loud announcement informing them of changes throughout the school and telling them to listen to there teacher. 

The Inciting Incident is when the teacher comes in and writes 2+2=5 on the board and then tells the students that that is correct and forces them to say it out loud. 

Then comes the Rising action which is when one student revolts against the teacher and says he is wrong and the answer is in fact 4, the teacher then gets the top students of the school to come in and reinforce his teachings. 

Then comes the Climax the teacher tells the rebel student to write the answer of the equation on the board under threat of a firing squad, he then writes 4 and is immediately gunned down. 

And finally the Resolution of the film is when the students body is taken out and the camera pans to the book of another student who is chanting that it equals 5 but writing in his book that it equals 4 foreshadowing a future rebel.

This is aimed at everyone over the age of about 16 as the matters and allegory of the story would be difficult to comprehend for young kids as well as parts of it being too graphic, however the film is aimed at all genders and ages above 16 as it is a matter that everyone needs to be made aware of in a way that shows the severity of the issues at hand, whilst showing it in a relatable setting (school) for them to be able to fully comprehend and almost relate to, this is to ensure the severity of the message is clearly put across. 

The students are represented as being scared and afraid for the most part, this is shown through there facial and body expressions (mise en scene) we see them all stand to attention as soon as the teacher walks in and we also see how hesitant the students are to stand up to the teacher on his mistakes, this level of discipline is only gained through fear which tells the audience that the students are scared of the teacher and what he will do if they dont follow what he says exactly. The teacher is shown to be very mean looking he doesn't smile and is extremely rude and threatening to those that revolt against what he says, and this is reinforced when he has a student killed for doing so. 

The camera techniques were simple as to not distract the viewer from the most important part of the film which was the story and so any fancy cuts would have stopped the story being as impactful as it was. Most of the shots were locked off medium or long shots to make it feel like we the viewer were students in the classroom watching the events unfold.

'Two and Two' Jordan Spencer's Short Film Review

Two and Two is a short film created by Babak Anvari and was released 2011 and made in Iran, i watched it on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHAuGA7gqFU

in this short we see that there is this strange dull world where kids are being fed mis information, an example of this is 2 + 2 = 5 and they are being told that over and over again until one boys stands up to say it equals four not 5 and the teacher asks him over and over until her gets the special students in and then the boy is asked to write it on the chalkboard and the students hold up the mimed guns and the boy writes that it equals 4 not 5 and gets killed for it, as we see them take the body away the teacher says write the equation dow and one boy scribbles out 5 and outs 4, which shows along as 1 person stands up against it more will.

The Genre of this film is Thriller because of the high suspense and enigma included for example when the guards hold up the mime guns and kill him with it it makes us wonder why not real guns, also the music and close ups make it more suspenseful for us to watch an it makes it harder for us to watch too, and i think that this is good because it helps us to realise that we should be confused and not knowing whats going on.

Audience for this film i believe are people that have followed what they've been told all there life, so again i believe the audience is society and people being told what to do all the time, just gives people a heads up for what they should be like in life.

Representation in this film is used well and we are shown that the representation shown is the way that society follows all rules because they are scared to stand up to the law in anyway way incase they are put in jail or killed in some countries which is bad because no one ends up believing in what they want to.

'Too Quick To Judge' Jordan Spencer's Short Film Analysis

Too quick to Judge was realised on 29th of August 2014 and was directed by Maaz Khan, i watched it on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzn_AKN67oI

'Too Quick To Judge' tells a story of a boy and a girl, the girl of which is sitting on a park bench drawing alone when a jogger comes next to her and places his bag down and proceeds to go for a run and when he comes back he says thats a beautiful drawing and she ignores him and he stops an says it again and she says nothing again he then takes offence and states that not all men are trying to get with them and calls her stuck up and goes for a run, the girl can see she's offended him and she leaves the drawing under his bag and leaves, with the girl gone he comes back to see that there is a drawing saying, "sorry if i offended you, I'm deaf".

Audience for this short is very broad i feel and i feel that its to modern society, its a strong message that tells us not to be too judgemental and that assuming is rude, if your first impressions of someone are bad then they will always be bad. i think that the audience and most people who did watch this would be happy with the film and message that it was portraying because it really shows how bad we can be and that we give everyone the same identity when we don't even know them.

Representation is shown in this film very strongly i think that the man in this represents most of society and the louder more confident people in it, and the girl represents the shy, keep themseleves to themselves type person, and this is easily shown by that lack of conversation they manage to have and while this may be because she is dead it still believe that it shows how different two people can be but we still assume that everyone else it the same. 

Genre of this film is educational and that it teaches society and people that watch this to not be so judgemental, as jumping to conclusions and trying to make someone else seem like the bad person can easily make you look like the worse person and as this happens in the film we start to feel more sorry for the girl then the man when we find out how rude he's been. 

'The Present' Jordan Spencer's Short Film Analysis

The Present was created by Jacob Frey, and was released on the 8th of February 2016 i watch it on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96kI8Mp1uOU

The Present tells a story of a boy who sits in on nice days and place video games with the blinds shut, until his mother comes in telling him to get outside, open the blinds and to open the present she got her, when mum leaves he opens the gift to find that theres a puppy he begins to look at him and then sees that the dog is missing a leg, then throws hm away and carries on playing games. The dog starts to play and then the boy realises that his disability stops him from having more fun from playing, and this is were we learn that the boy is also missing a leg and can relate to the dog because he can go outside and play so he plays games, but the dog gives him the courage to get up and play.

Audience, for this film i feel that the audience is probably for people of youth as they may need inspiration especially the disabled, so i think they could be there own audience. i feel that the less abled people would watch this and be pleased with this because they may feel like they have no chances if they have lost an arm, or a leg or even just dyslexic, and this could give them the push to do something with there life instead of sulking or being sad about there disability it could help them to get over it and i think this film would definitely help.

Representation in The Present is used to represent the disabled groups who feel like they have no chances in life because they have the disablity, and anyone who is unmotivated too. i think it also represents friendships and balance because without the dog the boy wouldn't have got up and without the boy the dog would be unhappy and no one would care, so because of the disability they come together as friends. 

Media Language; things like Enigma is used in this film because throughout the film we wonder why the boy is so mean to the dog and we assume that he is a bully until various shots of his leg covering the other one suggests somethings wrong, leaving us to wonder what is wrong with him until at the end he is revealed to have no leg as well and we now know why the boy acts the way he does so it gets us interested in the character.