My short film script

 

SCRIPT

INT. Black screen

Opens with a black screen. Sound of car tires screeching and then sound of message receiver 'please leave a message after the tone' Loud beeping noise follows.

CLEMENTINE

(breathless, panicked)

Vi? Violet I need you to pick up, something bad happened...like a bad thing, like a really bad thing

Title card flashes on screen, then quickly disappears

EXT. Car boot in woods- afternoon

Camera is placed in the boot of a car in the pov of a dead body, boot lifts slowly and we go from a black screen to looking at two girls both staring down at the camera in a low angle shot. CLEMENTINE holds roof of car with one hand, bites nails with other. VIOLET's eyes widen as the boot lifts then runs out of frame, we hear her throwing up. CLEMENTINE turns to look then VIOLET returns, wiping her face on her sleeve.

VIOLET

(sarcastically, attempting to make a joke but clearly shaken)

You weren't joking then

CLEMENTINE

No

Pause as CLEMENTINE looks at VIOLET

CLEMENTINE

Lets get this over with, can you grab the wheelbarrow

VIOLET walks out of frame, CLEMENTINE continues looking down at body then moves to lift it.

EXT. WOODS

Cuts to close up of wheelbarrow wheel rolling through mud then cuts to a wide shot looking at them through the trees, with the body in a wheelbarrow. Then into a mid shot switching between each of them as they speak

2.

CLEMENTINE

(exhausted from the weight of the body)

Here?

VIOLET

No its not hidden enough

CLEMENTINE

There's literally no one around

Camera cuts to another wide shot, again looking at VIOLET and CLEMENTINE through the trees.

CLEMENTINE

Please I'm so tired

Cuts back to mid shot of VIOLET

VIOLET

(sarcastically)

Fine lets bury her here, you'd look cute in an orange jumpsuit anyway

CLEMENTINE gives VIOLET a fake sarcastic smile and cuts to another close up of the wheelbarrow wheel, and then the feet of VIOLET and CLEMENTINE as they push it out of frame

Ext. Grave

Opens with wide shot of the backs of VIOLET and CLEMENTINE, holding spades, looking down at the grave, an empty wheelbarrow next to them. Camera then cuts to a low angle shot of the camera in the pov of the dead body, VIOLET and CLEMENTINE looking down at it

CLEMENTINE

Are you sure it's deep enough?

VIOLET

It's fine

(pause)

Come on

They begin to shovel dirt on top of the camera, until it's covered. Then cuts to mid shot of them from shoulder up, cuts between that shot and individual shots of them as they talk

CLementine

Can you say something

(looks to VIOLET)

I'm really scared

3.

VIOLET

(Not looking at CLEMENTINE, looking straight down into grave)

What do you want me to say

(pause, turns to look at CLEMENTINE)

You killed someone Clem

(pause)

I think maybe we don't see each other for a while

VIOLET walks away, CLEMENTINE stays looking down at the body. Shot of back of VIOLET as she walks off, then close up of CLEMENTINE turning to look at her.

Int. Clementine's bedroom- night

Scene opens with a birds eye view of CLEMENTINE'S bed. Then to close up as she turns and sees the dead body lying next to her. She screams and jumps out of bed. She stands by the side of the bed panicked, then realises the body's disappeared again. As she's lifting the cover's to check it's gone, music (Violet by Hole) starts playing

CLEMENTINE turns to see the music is coming from her record player, but just as she looks the record stops spinning and the music cuts out. It then starts playing again then cuts out again. Then it starts again and CLEMENTINE begins to walk over to it. As she walks over, there's a reverse zoom shot as the music becomes more warped and distorted before just blending into the score for the rest of the scene.

CLEMENTINE then hears a knock coming from inside her wardrobe. She opens the wardrobe door and see's the body sat inside. CLEMENTINE screams and slams the wardrobe door.

Close up on her hands as she realises they've made a bloody stain on the desk. CLEMENTINE looks at her hands, which are covered in blood, she then rubs the blood down her face as the VIOLET'S line from earlier 'You killed someone Clem' repeats over and over in an increasingly warped voice. Blood begins to drip from the top of the frame

CLEMENTINE

(Screaming, hysterical)

Stop it stop it stop it

CLEMENTINE continues to weep and scream 'stop' hysterically, the sound gets louder, the score gets louder and louder until all the noise cuts out.

4.

Camera cuts sharply from CLEMENTINE stood up screaming to lying back in her bed, and waking up in a panic. CLEMENTINE gets out of bed sits there for a minute. Camera then cuts to a canted, low angle shot of CLEMENTINE walking over to the phone, then a close up of her as the phone is ringing.

PHONE

(muffled)

999 what's your emergency?

CLEMENTINE

(shaken from the nightmare)

I'd, um, I'd like to report a murder

EXT. Outside violet's house- night

The scene opens with a shot of the front door, with red and blue lights flashing on it. Two police officers walk into frame and knock on the door. VIOLET opens it, confused.

VIOLET

(stumbling over words, shocked)

what are you... is everything alright?

POLICE OFFICER

(speaking over VIOLET)

Violet Williams, you're under arrest on suspicion of murder

POLICE OFFICER keeps talking, as VIOLET is confused, claiming she's innocent. Eventually POLICE OFFICER'S voice becomes muffled as the camera dollies in on VIOLET.

VIOLET

(realisation, anger, confusion)

Clem.

 

The Ellington Kid

 The Ellington Kid

Narrative: This film is in chronological order, as the use of flashbacks all occur when the man is telling the story, so can it seen more as a visual representation of the story, rather than a flashback of what actually happened. 

Lighting and colour: A lot of this film is shot with low key lighting which creates a tense atmosphere and fits with the mood of the story being told. Colour is also key in creating this atmosphere, as even the shots taken in the day time appear gloomy, with washed out colours, even bright ones like red and yellow in the shot above look like they've had some of the colour drained out of them.

Setting: The tunnel is important in building tension, as it creates a sense of confinement, and that the Ellington kid is unable to escape. It also creates a sense of depth, which makes the tunnel appear quite daunting, as it feels as if he has a long way to go before he reaches safety, again building tension.

Cinematography: A key moment in the cinematography of this film is a low angle shot, showing the stabber. This makes the spectator feel inferior and threatened, especially since he appears to be directing his knife at the camera. This builds tension and helps the spectator empathise with the Ellington kid. Another key moment is at the end of the film, when the camera pans to a grinning shop owner, looking at the two boys. This leaves the spectator with the impression that the story is actually true, ending the film on a high tension, but also slightly comedic note, which fits with its genre as a black comedy.

Costume: Costume is used cleverly in the final scene to show opposition. The kebab workers are all dressed in red, whilst the stabbers are all dressed in black- this visually separates them into two different groups, and enhances the feeling of opposition, and that hints at the idea that the two groups are going to clash.

Slap

 Slap

Setting: The film is set in a Northern industrial setting, and has a gloomy, dingy feel, which is often supported by the lighting. The setting is important as it's not a very accepting neighborhood, which we understand from the start when we see people beating up his friend, and when everyone was laughing at him during the party. This is effective in adding a greater sense of risk to what he's doing and we understand the stakes.

The set is also greatly detailed, especially in the way Connor's house is decorated. In his room we see magazines and posters of women,  in his kitchen there's a calendar with firefighters on it, and on the condom machine in the bathroom, the word stud is written on it. These are all very archetypal male things, with the firefighters connoting the idea of heroes, providers, and saviours. These contrast with Connor's identity and show how he hides his true self, and therefore the audience sympathises more with his situation

Performance: One of the moments that sticks out in this film is the argument scene between Connor and Lola. The scene is incredibly well written, and well performed because they focus on the little things, like when Lola realsies that it's her make up that he's been using. We see the entire argument and the big picture all come down to this one token of feminine identity, which well represents the overall meaning of the film.

Lighting and colour:

The green lighting during the bathroom scene connotes a feeling of uneasiness, and sickness. And the general grey colour over the whole film feels almost suffocating. Connor's makeup stands out against the grey colour palette of the rest of the film, because he's visually coded as trying to escape from the drabness.

Operator

 Operator

Cinematography: Most of this film is shot in close up, with a shallow depth of field. The camera increasingly gets closer as the phone call progresses, closing in on the operator. This builds tension without actually being where the action is and reflects the idea of the fire closing in on the people, and the pressure of running out of time. This helps the spectator empathise with the stress that both the operator, and the woman in the fire are feeling. Then, when the phone call ends the camera cuts back out of close up to show that the situation is over and we get a brief moment of rest before going back into action

Lighting: The film is shot with quite soft, low key lighting. This provides an interesting contrast to the mood being set by the phone call, and the intensity of the situation over there. This represents that the operator isn't actually in any danger and this is just her job, so isn't shaken by it.

Sound: Sound is a very important factor in this film as we don't see any of the action, instead we hear it all. This is similar to the use of sound in The Fly, where we couldn't see the bank robbery, but we could infer it. The intensity of the sound over the phone call makes the spectator imagine what's going on and this is effective in creating action and tension, without having to actually show the action. The intensity increasingly builds, until the end of the phone call when everything goes from loud and panicked to silent and calm. The use of silence combined with the cut out of close up is successful in putting the events into perspective, as we understand that this is just another day in the life for her, which is again shown when the phone starts ringing again straight away. The use of silence and then the cut to the phone ringing again also creates empathy for the operator, as we see how hard her line of work is, and how she has less than a minute to get herself together between each traumatic phonecall.

Echo

 Echo

Narrative: This film doesn't really adhere to the three act structure as there's no clear beginning, middle and end. This flexibility makes the film more interesting, as if you put it in chronological order: it would be her receiving the original phone call, then repeating the phone call, then arguing with her family in the garage, however this arrangement isn't as interesting, and the film would have no reason to be called Echo, as there's no sense of echoing.

Ending: This film has an open ending, as we aren't sure of she continues faking these phone calls, or if she stops. This is satisfactory in some senses, because it's sort of what we expected to happen, but unsatisfactory in other senses, because the ending raises more questions than it answers. 

Main Character: The spectator's response to the main character changes throughout the film, as at first we feel sympathetic towards her, and then more angry when we find out she was faking the phone call, and then at the end we regain a bit of this sympathy, as we understand that this is her way of processing her trauma after the actual phone call she must've received

Micro-elements: In the final scene, the micro-elements are different in a way that makes the spectator feel as if they are witnessing the actual phone call. For example, she's no longer wearing a school uniform like she did in the previous fake phone calls, which makes it seem more real as she's not trying to gain sympathy from appearing like a young school girl. Her performance also changes, in the call at the end, she reacts more slowly, as if she's processing the news for the first time, whereas in the first call, she reacts quickly, like she knows what to say and has done this before. This difference in the micro elements are important in suggesting that the final phone call as the real one. 

3 act structure and proposal

Plot summary: My short film will be about two friends, friend 1 has accidentally killed someone, she asks friend 2 to help her hide the body. Later on, friend 1 experiences guilt and calls the police, however instead of turning herself in, she blames the murder on friend 2.

Act 1: I would like the opening shot of the film to be a low angle shot of the two characters looking at the camera in the boot of a car. The camera will be the body that they're planning on hiding. For this opening shot I've taken inspiration from a similar one from Pulp Fiction. So I don't have to make a fake dead body, it will never actually be shown, as in the next shot the camera will again be acting as the 

dead person's pov. For this shot I want it to seem as if the camera is the person being buried so I'll place it in a hole and have the two characters shovel some dirt over it. I'll make sure to place a clear material over the camera to protect it from getting dirty. The scene ends with the friends discussing something along the lines of how they've got to keep the whole thing a secret.

Act 2: The second act is going to show the overwhelming guilt that the girl responsible for the murder is starting to feel, and manifests in the form of a nightmare. This scene will deviate from the previous naturalistic style of the film and instead will take on a more expressive nature. I plan on using a simple form of mixed media animation to create a nightmarish, hellish, feel to the scene. This idea was inspired by the music video for Burnt at the Stake by Wych Elm, which used mixed media animation by

cutting a video into individual images and then drawing onto each image before placing them all back together in a video. Whilst making the video into multiple images makes it seem choppy when put back together, I think this will fit the aesthetic of the scene that I'm going for, as something that's quite delirious, overwhelming, and dreamlike. I plan on taking a simple video of the girl walking around looking scared, and then I'll draw on things like monsters and blood. The scene will end with teh girl waking up looking flustered, and rushing to the phone saying she needs to report a murder. 

Act 3: The third act will feature a twist, as that's a common feature of short films. The end of the second act leaves the spectator assuming that friend 1 has turned herself in. However, the scene will start with the police at the door of a house, and when friend 2 answers the door, they put her under arrest for the murder of (dead person name). Here it becomes clear that friend 1 has framed her for the murder. 

Tight Jeans👖

 Tight Jeans👖

Tight Jeans is a short film directed by Destiny Ekaragha, who said that sometimes the best way to talk about dark things is in a funny way- and this idea is prevalent in this film.

Mise-en-scene: The three main characters are all wearing the same type of jeans, and the same kind of hoodie in different colours. By wearing the similar costumes, theyre sociologically grouped together. The first man who walks past is dressed in different jeans, with a darker hoodie. He's dressed differently which shows he's part of a different group. 

This film has a satirical element, as the fact that it's written about men talking about their dicks by a woman, it gives it a sense of her making fun of them, rather than if it was written by a man, it would be less funny as that's what they're actually talking about.

Whilst still being a comedy, the film tackles serious issues in a satirical way. Within the jokes theres seeds of truth, such as when one of them says "we've populated the whole planet"- this has elements of teh truth to it, as most humanity did originate in Africa. They also discuss racial/sexual politics, talking about how white women want to have mixed race children. 

Overall, I think this film is clever in the way it discusses serious issues whilst still keeping a light, funny feel. I also like how mise-en-scene is used to visually separate social groups within the film