A Millennial Job Interview by Dream Reach Media

This is about a young woman who turns up for a job interview. She is very rude, and barley makes any eye contact with the interviewer. She thinks that s he is in control of the meeting and what ever she says goes. When she gets told otherwise, she is not happy and cannot handle an 8 am start.

There is a good use of camera angles and shots, some including medium wide shot, close-ups, and cross cuts. I do not like how either they are missing the tops of there heads to the frame or there is only about a cm above their heads even in the wide shots. I think there needs to be some room above there heads to separate them from the frames.  

The shots are well lit from behind and from the sides from the key light and backing light. The audio is very crisp and clear, this makes it easy to understand. The background is not messy and create a nice visual. Very good acting and good use of natural sound as she walks away. You cannot see her, but her footsteps create a great visual.

Wake - 3 Minute Short Film by Lin Oeding

This short tells a story about two siblings who have had a rough go of it and used to train together, boxing and fighting before the brother got sent to prison for murder i think or at least knowing where a murder victims body is. 

It looks like there father or uncle maybe has died and they meet at the Cathedral where he is buried. They want to be close to one another but there is no touching allowed. They share a moment and then the shooting starts. You get the feel that the brother was working for someone that he shouldn't be and he knew something that his boss on the outside needed. He then gets shot after handed his sister a note. Then the time is ticking to get the information from her instead. It then depicts a whole showdown between the woman and these men trying to kill her. She gets away with the information.

The establishing shot opens with a pan and tilt showing the vast size of the Cathedral. There is close up shots of there past lives, giving you some context. It then zooms out through an over the shoulder shot to the woman and then volley's between the man and the woman. The volleying consists of medium shots and close ups. Clean cuts. Once the shooting starts is when you get to see a vast range of shots. The music plays through out but it dips in and out of range when the emotion heightens.   

Tearaway - Multi Award-Winning Short Film by Seb Cox Films - 3 Minutes 

I've got mixed feelings about this short. I think I understand what is going on and then suddenly I have no clue. For instance she starts on the race track so I understand that she is a runner? It seems like she's having issues with running and her coach. I feel like maybe this is portraying her mental health and what is going on in her brain. Her brain is doing one thing where as her body is doing another.

Its the animation that really confuses me. I'm not really sure what the animation represents. Some of it seems like she is battling herself but then I don't understand why the coach is in a whole room of crumpled up paper, then its raining paper outside as well as paper being released from her. 

However I do think that there is a brilliant use of animation and clean shots. There is a wide range of shots from, establishing to extreme close up to pan. The shots are being used to show the emotion and the battle that is being portrayed. I think she is trying to tear her self away from the norms going on. Trying to show her coach she can di it her own way. The animation really shows how she is feeling.

I asked for opinions from other people about what they think is going on here and this is one of them:

'The video in my opinion is that he is holding her back, and I feel like at the start when you see the fragments coming towards her its all the people that are trying to tear her down. And don't listen to her dreams etc. I think the man in the video maybe represents that the world is always working against her. And even though she signs it, there are still going to be people that are tearing her down, and telling her that she cant do anything. And when the man is in the changing room with all that paper, for me I think that represents that those papers are all the people that are saying that she cant do something. But she knows she can so she "breaks" free.

Lockdown | One Minute Short Film Challenge | Film Riot by Fran Films

This short is about enduring life through Lockdown. 

• Starts with a black screen and tense music, it begins to build
• Counting the days - Morning through to night
• Time seems to stand still, slow down
• Life itself repeats and repeats
• Showing how our mental health can be affected and how the loneliness creeps in
• Life before lockdown overwhelms his thoughts and feelings
• The cuts tune into the music, the speed and build up
• The angrier he gets, the faster the music goes and so do the cuts

Overall this piece is a brilliant build up to a climax short. He uses his expressions and empty shots to express his emotion and boredom. It shows how he is cut off from the world. He can look out at the world but cannot touch it and enjoy it. I think he portrays this well through the use of short hard cuts and medium shots. Even though most of his shots are the same, the man himself changes angles.

Perfection - (1 Minute Short Film) for Film Riot's Stay at Home Challenge by JAGIFILMS