Research Tasks - "Connecting" - Gareth Allen

Connecting

The genre for this short film I think is social realism and drama. The reason for this is because, it is set on an overcrowded bus that people will get on in their day-to-day lives. You see how people are just minding their own business by listening to music or talking on their phones. The audience are led to believe at one point that the main character, Gaz, looses his cool, and decides that enough is enough on this bus that has stopped. The audience see him hitting people and stamping on mobile phones and holding a gun up at an innocent bus rider. This makes you think that he has done something and is trying to get away from it. We then see that he has just come out of a day dream, and everybody on the bus is looking at him, waiting for him to answer his phone.

The genres of social realism and drama I think have been portrayed very well in this short film. I believe this because, you see Gaz sitting on the bus and feels that things are making him more and more agitated. You see what appears to be what he is seeing at one point where you see the middle of the bus and the camera is getting blurred and zooming in and out of objects. This seems to be something that doesn't seem to be that ludicrously outrageous. It is normal to have an overcrowded bus and to have others on phones while others are around.

This film I think uses the short film format very well. The reason that I think this is because, you see how Gaz is at the start of the film, and then you see how he changes his mood after some mintues with the bus stopped at traffic lights. I also think that it is good how you see what he day dreams he was doing, to stop that phone ringing. Then when you see everybody looking at him, realising that it was his phone that was going off, is a very good way to end this short film. They keep the story going aswell as, when he starts to get more annoyed at everybody, the shots of others on the bus get shorter and quicker cuts start to appear in this film.

The sounds during this film I think are also very good. Mostly throughout the film, the sounds are diegetic with the rain beating down on the bus and the road. You hear also once in the bus, the music that is playing on the boys ipod next to Gaz as if you are listening to it. You hear other peoples phone conversations aswell when they start to have a conversation. Then they blend all of these sounds together so you can hear them all together at once. They do include some non diegetic sounds at points where he is getting more and more annoyed. At this point, the beat of the music is getting quicker and quicker, possibly the same speed as his heart is going.

The themes that seem to be included in this short film seem to be about peoples day to day lives and the realism that people have coming home from work at night. This film seems to position the audience in Gaz's shoes. They do this by letting you hear what different people are like whilst on the phone, and how loud they are. You also see what he is day dreaming at the time, to see what he is thinking about. They also have used a steriotypical boy that sits next to Gaz on the bus. He has his hood up and has his ipod on loud, whilst playing about with his phone. This could be there to show how realistic this short film is meant to be.

I think that this film is targeted at adults who go to work everyday. I think this because, it is just an ordinary bus that is on it's journey one night taking people home. this will appeal to people who make a similar trip to this of the characters on this film because, they will be able to relate to how Gaz is feeling throughout this journey, which will make them enjoy the film more.

Crew
* Director - Dan Turner
* Producer - Craig Lawson
* Editor - David Stirzaker
* Director Of Photoography - Jorge Luengas
Cast
* Gaz - James Midgley
* Businessman - Andy Quine
* Girl - Elspeth Rae
* Townie - Nicky Bell
Funded By
UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund in association with North West Vision under the Digital Shorts scheme
Related Links
Damyan Filmworks site
BritFilms.com profile

Gareth Allen