"Stranded" is a short film directed by Alex La Riviere for their A2 media coursework. I thought that instead of look into a professional short film, this time I would look into something which is a bit lower down the spectrum. I'm not saying this is bad, I'm merely stating that it could use improvements, though I have seen worse.
So, what's this about? "Stranded" seems to be about three girls (that consistently look at the camera) who are travelling to an undisclosed location for no apparent reason. Along the way, one of the passengers attempts to turn on the radio (probably) and this miraculously causes the car to break down. The driver gets out, angrily, and lifts up the bonnet (which is later closed for no reason) and inspects the damage which clearly isn't there. Then they all sit in the car and the driver phones for help. The driver then gets out of the car while phoning, walks ridiculously far away and is taken down by a "Mystery Killer". The other girls, who're in the car, decide it's too dangerous to stay in the car and then go out into the area which they are unfamiliar with and run towards the danger, completely disregarding their own safety and their friend's well-being. At this point one girl runs away from the other for no clear reason and is probably killed. The other girl appears to have done a complete loop around the area (why did she bother?) and returns to the car. She then turns around to see that the killer is in fact in the car with her! DUN DUUN DUUUUN! The car then drives away, leaving it unclear as to whether the girl was killed or actually working with the killer, in which case they lived happily ever after. Which, as a twist ending, would probably be more exciting than the killer just driving away. The lack of reasoning and motives behind the characters is probably why this film hasn't won any awards. On the plus side, it's taught me a valuable lesson about how character should drive the story, not just follow it.
The sound in this film is mostly diagetic with lots of background noise... Such as wind. Lots of wind. So much wind that the characters can barely be heard at points. But apart from that it's ok, I guess.
The non-diagetic sounds are mainly music, copyrighted music. Which, despite being used without the copyright holder's permission, is actually well fitted. The opening credits are complimented with the use of the song "Stranded", the same name as the short film. It sets it up to be rather promising, as you can get a sense of what the film is about through the song lyrics, it's almost foreshadowing, if the title didn't give it away already.
The next bit of non-diagetic sound is, what I believe to be, radio static. I think. Static is often used with broken TVs and radios, which helps the audience to believe that the car is broken.
Creepy tension music plays in the build up top the first victim being taken. It makes the audience anticipate what is to come and makes them edgy, as they know something will go wrong. They just don't know when. It actually does set the scene well.
While the driver goes to take her phone call and the girls talk about her behind her back, the editing takes advantage of cross dissolves and fades to show the passing of time. This is combined with dramatic music to build tension.
Occasionally there are short jump-cuts. While these are likely to be due to poor takes, they could also show slight passes of time or used for comedic effect.
Occasionally there are short jump-cuts. While these are likely to be due to poor takes, they could also show slight passes of time or used for comedic effect.
In the beginning, "Stranded starts out with a good establishing shot. This allows the audience to get an idea of the location, however, the duration of the shots does last for what seems like a small eternity and makes you want to shout "just get on with it!".
The part of this film which I particularly enjoy is the tripod in-shot at around 2:53. I feel like it really adds to the feel of the film.
But seriously, the only mise-en-scene in this film that was thought about appears to be the clothing of the "mystery killer". The black clothing and the hood make him look dangerous, black meaning death and the hood makes the character look like they're hiding something.
-BW
The part of this film which I particularly enjoy is the tripod in-shot at around 2:53. I feel like it really adds to the feel of the film.
But seriously, the only mise-en-scene in this film that was thought about appears to be the clothing of the "mystery killer". The black clothing and the hood make him look dangerous, black meaning death and the hood makes the character look like they're hiding something.
-BW
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