Learning about short films

Learning about short films

'The Lunch Date' (1990)

This week, I started to look at some short films myself and try to analyse their structure and narrative so I understood them a bit more. I compared the short film 'The Lunch Date' (1990), directed by Adam Davidson, to Todorov's 'linear narrative', the idea of events having in chronological order with the story. This is also known as classical narrative. 

Todorov's narrative is structured in the following way:

1. Equilibrium - all is in order, 'normal' and happy for the characters.

2. Disruption - a disruption to the equilibrium by the means of an event or action.

3. Recognition - there is a recognition amongst the characters or world that a disruption has taken place and this drives the characters to move forward in the story.

4. Repair - an attempt to repair the damage caused by the disruption.

5. New equilibrium - the problem is solved and we return to a 'new' type of equilibrium where things are happy like before, but with a 'new normal' twist.

I made some notes on the short film in the Three-Act structure, which is a structure that divides a film into three separate acts, with act one being the 'set up', act two being the 'confrontation' and act three being the 'resolution'. This is a very simple structure to a film which I enjoy because it helps separate the story easily and it also helps identify the different conflicts and resolutions of the film. This is a structure I may consider applying to my music video project.

The Ellington Kid  (dir. Dan Sully)

I also looked at a selection of short films and used what I had learnt about narrative structures in previous lessons to write about a chosen film. I chose 'The Ellington Kid', a short film that features two characters in a kebab shop, with one telling the other a story about a kid who was stabbed in that very shop. The film ends with one of the characters suggesting that the gang who stabbed the kid was cooked into the kebab meat by the cooks at the shop, with it initially being played off as a joke, but then finishing with the camera panning across to the kebab owner eyeing them, while he sharpens a knife - suggesting to the audience that this is actually true.