Short Films

Hard little man- The films about a young kid whose denied childhood, as his mum leaves him at home by himself he’s left to live a life of alienation and isolation. This is developed through the constant use of close ups which express his face of depression and misery, we consequently make us sympathetic towards him. Whilst he’s left at home he acts as a soldier and fights an imaginary person (he’s dad), through his sheer imagination he eventually defeats him. The film uses a hand held shot to express this, this moment is a private one as the character is fighting an imaginary ghost he wouldn’t do this in front of his family, however the fact that the film uses a hand held shot makes us more drawn into his emotions and makes us feel as it were part of this moment. The film expresses the theme of childhood which is constantly denied to this child, the young boy burns the rabbit house as form of retaliation, the fact that the father has made him so upset has built up his anger and forced him to burn the house. The film uses a close up of the flame in the rabbit’s house in order to highlight the boy’s distress and anger. The film refers to sunlight in order to show how time is flying bye, despite the fact that the film is 5 minutes it feels like much more due to its technique.

For the love of, is about the harsh effects of being a migrant living in Britain. The film is the most sympathetic, it’s about a character who has lived his life trying to be hero for his son, who lives in foreign country, however in reality his no hero as his firstly unable to be strong he talks about not getting bullied and how he doesn’t want him or his son to get bullied, ironically his not strong as he gets bullied by his peers and his son does back at home, this irony creates a sense of pity. This is shown in the scene where his money gets taken of him by his peer, the technique known as the panning shot is used where the migrant is sliding down once he gets robbed. This makes him look and appear hopeless and vulnerable which is further developed through the high angle shot. He is also unable to obtain a better life for him and his family, in the commentary scene the director talk about the harsh reality of this character. He begins to cry at the end of the scene where the use of the close up is used.