Short Film Analysis 2

Get Off My Land

Get Off My Land is a dark comedy which was recently written and directed by Douglas Ray, and was supported and funded by the UK Film Council and Screen South. The film features Robert Glenister (Hustle, Spooks, Dr Who, George Gently, Spartacus), which might draw the audience into this short film.

The film is about a couple going for a walk as they make their way overland on a hike but are halted by a man who claims they are trespassing. The couple and the man argue about whose land it is, and the man goes to his car, gets a rifle and shoots the couple. At the end he turns to the camera and says ‘I think it was a public footpath afterall’. The purpose of this piece is evidently to entertain the audience, but it’s quite a horrific and very dark humour, definitely not intended for children.

The editing and continuity between each shot is fantastic in this film with some smooth fades between some shots and some jump cuts. The jump cuts really help build up suspense, and connote that something bad is going to happen, because each cut speeds up between the final gunshots. In terms of special effects, there is only a gun flash and some light blood splatter effects. These really help to make the film even more shocking, gruesome and feel a lot more real.

This film is a dark comedy, leaving the audience in suspense and shock when we hear the gunshot, but the only comedic element is the final comment from Robert Glenister. The film is shot really well, and the movement of the camera in the establishing shots is fantastic. I thought the shot of the couple walking through the grass was interesting, as the foreground was out of focus and the background was in focus, creating an interesting depth of field. This could connate that someone is watching the couple from a distance, creating suspense until the climatic ending.

This film has very little dialogue, and most of it is spoken between the farmer and the man. The farmer has a very rough and aggressive way of speaking, whereas the man doesn’t which connotes that the farmer has the high ground and more manly authority over the couple.

This film is only five minutes long, much like the one that I have to create but I feel that this is a good length of time for it to be because the audience doesn’t lose interest and there is still enough time to go into brief detail and show the relationship between the characters through strong dialogue and acting.

From this film, I have discovered that even though I have to make a short film in 5 minutes, you can still make a film that provokes, interests and stimulates the audience. The cinematography is well thought through, much like in my previous analysis and I can now see how important it is to frame your shot and create movements and angles.