Short Film

Brian Percivals', 'About a Girl' (2001) is a short 9 minute film, shot mainly in the form of a monologue by a young girl aged 13 as she walks along a canal bank in an industrial area. Whilst walking along the canal she talks almost constantly about random topics from her idols and ambitions to her family. The canal scenes which take up most of the film are intercut by scenes of the girl with her family and dad. As the film pogresses the girls happy and upbeat retelling of her life seems to not match the topics of poverty and social troubles and an underlying uncomfortable tone is created. Only in the final scene in which shockingly the girl throws a bag contianing her baby almost carelessly into the canal is this tone made a realisation.
This film was very cleverly shot both technically and artisticly. Thorugh the whole film a cooling light filter has been used which greys and belaches the colours making the light very dim. This effect added to the mood of the film by matching the underlying tone of the film, only at the very end of the film in the last scene where she throws her baby in the canal does the filter come off and the film brightens visibly. The camera angles and viewpoints are also clever and interesting. Most of the video is shot looking directly fromt on of the girl, this could make the film very boring. This has been avoided by the camera moving in and out on to the girls face and body. Camera angles I liked that were used in the film were; the panning shot that moved out and up into the air looking down on the girl which was shot on a crane and also the underwater camera shots.
Overall i liked the film for its creativeness technically and its twisting storyline. However I do not think I would be able to create a movie with such complex storyline or of such length.


Ridleys Scotts', 'Boy and Bicycle' (1958) was the first film Scott made, was shot on 16mm black and white film, and lasts around 27 minutes. The content of the film itslef is, to summarise a day in the life of his brother where his brother misses school and spends the day alone around the town and down by the docks. It is a fairly upbeat film and there are not any hidden meanings or underlying tone that I can see which can be associated with it.
Some of the camera angles in this film I found particularly interesting and creative such as the close up to wide angle shots of certain sections of his brothers bike to whole areas of scenery with the bike in. Also the shots when Scott is filming from the back of his parents car with his brother riding his bike behind. I also like the use of black and white film as this gives the movie a certain vibe and feel just by being so.


Stefan Nadelmans', 'Terminal Bar' (2002) is a film made up entirely of thousands of still black and white photographs which depict the life of this particular bar in New Yorks' suburbs and its customers over a time period of around ten years.