About

 

Genre: Action/Crime

Duration: 5:55

Production Company: Visible Damage Studios

Producer: Visible Damage Studios

Director: Rigo Donat

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Plot Summary

 

A car pulls up at an abandoned wasteland with masked troops surrounding the area and a man in a silver car and shades waiting for him. Both men exchange packages and check the contents of what they've been given. Whilst this is happening one of the troops begins to walk at the man that turned up to the area. Before the man that turned up can react to seeing him, he is shot dead. The plot is twisted when this troop immediately shoots his own man giving him the title, 'The Outsider'. The surrounding troops are shocked at what they have seen and begin to shoot the traitor but miss the shots. This breaks out into a civil war in which the surrounding troops are all on the hunt for the outsider. After several intense scenes and the outsider killing off all the troops (from what he knows), he ventures back outside to steal that packages from the beginning of the story. As he crouches down to look inside, we are cutaway to a sniper that has the traitor in his sights - target down...

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Conventions

 

This short film is a crime/action, similar to genre that we've been studying in depth and thinking about using for our final production. It starts off fairly sinister and suspenseful which is represented by the diegetic music mainly as well as the slow tracking shots that focus on one particular action. When the troop begins to walk towards them this tension is increased by the camera only showing his feet. The audience are left wondering who he is, and what side he's actually on as he approaches. From his outfit we are unsure of this. He is wearing trainers, jeans, a leather jacket and glasses, which portrays him as some kind of agent that doesn't want their identity to be revealed and purely does actions for himself. He is evidently experienced with a gun as throughout the film he kills with ease, even when he's in the trickiest of situations, for example when the man is behind him but he steps on a shard of glass which gives his position away to the outsider. 

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The small amount dialogue draws you into the story so, as it allows the action to come through and tell the story. Because of all the suspense and tension, we don't know where the story is going which is what makes this short film so good, allowing the audience to stay engaged. The first and only dialogue comes from one of the surrounding troops that is watching the action through his binoculars. In reaction to the traitor shooting his own man, this troop says "What the...", which shows his confusion for what he has seen. Despite him only saying a few words, a great amount of meaning can be generated from this about how he is feeling. Diegetic and nondiegetic foley sounds have been used to enhance certain effects e.g the gunshots and the smashing of glass, which both have connotations with danger however all of these sounds or outweighed by the fast-paced, upbeat. The tempo of the music increases as well as the volume as the short film continues on which as a result builds up suspense. 

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Frequently we are cutaway to one troop that is shown at the very start of the film. He is meant to be watching the red car, as instructed by this team member that is a part of the package swap, however leaves his area in order to go to the toilet. Whilst the fight breaks out we are shown the late reaction of this troop who hurries off out of the shot. At the very end of the film, he is watching the traitor as he looks into the package. The tension increases as the audience are left wondering whether this man will take the shot, after a number of close ups on the trigger and the man in full concentration - he is spotted by the traitor. The sniper fires and a black screen appears, leaving us on a cliffhanger. This effect allows for the audience to be left with perhaps a question or two allowing them to build their own conclusions as to what they think might have happened; this strategy feels a lot more inclusive toward the audience too. We look to include this in our film.