Case Study 1

The first short film I will use as a case study is Connection, a drama starring Jude Law. The film shows a meeting in a London airport terminal: a Belarusian, who needs a connecting flight to Minsk, meets an Englishman, who has returned back home. The English movie star helps the Belarusian to find the departure gate for the flight from London to Minsk. The Belarusian receives a telephone call and understands he can’t return home, as does the movie star.

I chose this short film because not only does it  highlight the issue of the right to live a free life by taking a situation close to home (aka the press) and a very serious issue that people can often feel detached from (aka the political persecutions in foreign countries). But it also shows a friendship between two people who somewhat become friends as they both can’t return home. In my short film I will also like to tackle political issues and show a friendship a positive way.

In my movie I want it to have a similar atmosphere in terms of the levels of intensity, the camera angles used are very simple but effective as they portray the emotions of characters and captures the ideas behind the film. I would like my movie to have this as i would like to grab the audiences' attention before revealing the moral of my film.

This shot is an extreme close up; this is the first shot we see of any character. It is used to capture his emotion.

This shot is an establishing shot it tells us the title of the short film and foreshadows the storyline as it implies that the location of this film will be at an airport.

This shot is a medium close up which introduces us to the two characters and shows us their first interaction. Also the subtitles suggest that one of the characters is a non-English speaker.

This shot is a dolly shot and it follows the conversation of the two men, it shows they develop a friendship even though they can’t speak the same language.

This is a critical over the shoulder shot, which highlights a key moment in the film, this is where they both receive phone calls saying that they can’t return home.

This wide shot shows that both these characters are upset and it highlights the connection between the two characters.

This final shot fades into white and allows the audience to figure out the ending by themselves.