Dissection, Definitions and a Dead End: Pete's Loglines, ending and 6th short film

This dissection and reflection post was originally written as a part of a communal blog - Making a Film 2011 - a blog that is no longer online - and this is the second assignment I contributed to that blog in week 2 of the module. This was done for the Planning and Making a Film module I undertook in the penultimate year of my BA (Hons). The module's practice was undertaken between October 2011 to June 2012 and it provided me with a hugely enriching experience. For a more detailed overview of the module and the projects I undertook as a part of it, see Planning and Making a Film: The student filmmaking experience.

Teeth

3 things I liked:

How in the opening shot (0:08 - 0:14) the lake, the sky and the surrounding hills are captured in the camera to appear like the inside of a jaw line.

How the boat and the fishermen appear as a silhouette in the long shot of the lake. This immediately singles them out as being an integral factor of the film and looks awesome.

The performances from the two actors are completely sound; they perfectly express the smugness of one and the annoyance of the other.  This is a short film that is very much dependent upon performance, and if it had contained an inadequate one then the whole film would have fallen flat on its face.

2 things I did not like:

How un-obvious it is when the first fishermen’s teeth fall out. It would have been better if there had been a sound effect when they did fall out to make it more apparent and convincing.

The shot continuity of the second fishermen, between the cut, (1:54 – 200) is completely off.

1 way I would improve the film:

I would put an extra twist at the end where, after throwing the second fishermen’s teeth into the lake, the first fisherman manages to reel in his own teeth. The film could then end with the first fishermen replacing his teeth, looking smug and laughing as the film fades out. Although, saying this, I do think the ending the film already has works fine as it is.

Loglines

Memories

Strolling home, an old man stumbles across the memories of his youth and embarks on an odyssey into his past. However, the rekindling of his past might just bring about the unravelling of his present.

The Black Hole

A bored office clerk inadvertently causes the office photocopier to print out a black hole - imbued with the power to bypass any barrier. He soon realises that nothing can stand in the way of what promises to be a very lucrative future; except, perhaps, his own haste.

I Hate

A troubled, young woman makes a confession - a confession concerning four other young women: a spoilt brat, a sport freak, an artsy bore and a business woman. But this troubled, young woman already knows how the other four will enact their revenge.

Blind Luck

For an unmotivated shop worker it is just another day, until salvation enters in the form of a blind shopper. Faced with a moral dilemma the shop worker will go on to learn that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

First Press

A brash wannabe sets a shady society in his sights, but to gain membership he must first pass “the trial.” A trial which will call for all his skill, ingenuity and delicacy; which, if passed, will launch him into a world where nothing is what it seems.

Teeth

In their fishing boat, a pair of old fishermen are plunged into a state of imbalance when one loses his false teeth.  After mocking and jesting the first fishermen, the other comes to learn that a turn of fate can always lie just beneath the surface.

Where will it all stop - Alternate Ending

After the montage at the conclusion with the Chuck voiceover: “That’s always been my chair,” it could then cut back to a new scene in the pub. However, instead of having Chuck sat in his chair there could now be sat Joe, wearing Chuck’s cloths and drinking from Chuck’s tankard. The End.


Next up, a bit of an overview reflection on my initiation into the module: Three Weeks In: Planning to make a film