Short film research: Crack Shot/Thriller

                     Welcome back to my blog reader! As a way to research the thriller genre for my short film, I watched the short film “Crack Shot” by the filmmaker Alex Cohen using the short of the week website and I will be analyzing it's Mis-En-Scene, different camera angels, sounds and editing that are commonly used in the film. Further, the story is about a young man Justin Huang, who is an elite junior squash player that works at location where they train children, he then becomes entangled in an intense game when a wealthy father offers him a deal to help his son. Beginning with sound, some diegetic sounds that I found were those of hitting the ball and the sound of the boy Tucker hitting his skin with the racket, the sound of the racket hitting the floor, the loud sounds of the shoes against the floor as well as the sound of counting money.  Additionally, there were also non-diegetic sounds such the suspenseful instrumental music that was subtle but became more intense in the scenes that required such as when they are deciding who is going to serve the ball first and when the wealthy father is offering the deal to Justin. There were also voiceovers, such as of the young man speaking at the start of the film and towards the end where the young man was remembering what the wealthy father said as well as hearing a girl’s voice while there is a sound motif of the ball hitting the wall. In addition, there was also dialogue for the young man Justin, the wealthy father, the boy Tucker, and the two little children he was training. Moreover, now looking at the Mis-En-Scene from the short film, the location consisted of a training squash court and its resting area with some relatively dark surroundings in order to make the setting appear isolated. Regarding the costumes, all the characters were in sport-like attire which could be an everyday look therefore making it seen as their casual clothing. This is in order to add realism to the film and to make it relatable to the viewer as well as to make them feel that what they are watching could happen to them or to the people around them. Moving forward to the makeup, the actors were given a natural look of little to no make in order to make them appear as if they don’t have any make up as serve as another way to add realism to the story therefore allowing the audience to relate which is a common method found in thriller films. Further, there was a main style of lighting used throughout the whole film which was to keep a relatively bright light over where the action was happening and their surroundings to have low lighting to pitch black. For instance, when the young man Justin and the boy Tucker are inside the court playing a match, there was bright white light over them whereas outside the court where the wealthy father was standing, there was very low light. This could possibly be in other to focus on where the brighter lighting is which is where the main action is happening, also the mix of low and brighter light help create shadows which aids to create tension within the film therefore adding to the suspenseful tone overall, something commonly applied in thriller films. Moving onto editing, there were cutaway shots in the short film such as when the boy Tucker and the young man Justin were playing the first match and the shot kept changing between the boys and the wealthy father that was watching them. Moreover, looking at the camera angles, movements, and shots, there were point of view shots of the father looking at the young man and the boy playing the match. In addition, there are shot reverse shots such as when the young man Justin and the wealthy father are having a conversation in order to show the continuity of the interaction. There were also tilts such as when the camera is focused on the boy Tucker's feet and then tilts upwards. In addition, there were long shots, medium close-ups, and close-ups. Additionally, there were also two-shots and three-shots. Moreover, elements within the film that I found appealing were mainly the lighting that was used in the short film as it did not used low lighting for the whole film but rather used a mix between light and low lighting in order to highlight certain areas of a scene while maintaining its tone. Further, an element that I did not find appealing within the short film was that it did not have as many editing techniques as I would have liked. Moreover, this was my analysis of the camera angels, shots, movements, Mis-En-Scene, sound, and editing from the short film in the genre of thriller “Crack Shot.” Well this is my cue to leave, till next time reader!