Content
As
this short is only three minutes, the story obviously has
to be very simple and concise, and the point of the movie
has to become clear very soon. This is done well, but the
filmmaker also showed a good amount of restraint in not
jumping into the plot too quickly; this at least keeps the
audience interested and questioning as to what is going
to happen. At first I assumed that this film might be a
comedy, as it seemed that it would be very difficult to
pull off a convincing drama in three minutes, but I was
quite surprised. This type of fight between boyfriend and
girlfriend is one that every audience can relate to, so
the storyline can move pretty quickly without having to
pause for any type of long, complicated plot exposition.
The
acting itself was excellent. David House did a good job
as the distracted, yet vaguely concerned best friend, Mat
Betteridge was also good as the dejected and dazed boyfriend,
but my favorite performance by far was Sarah Harvey-Smart's
portrayal of Jon's girlfriend. At the point in the movie
where Jon is talking to Lee about the fight, there is a
sudden cutaway to Sarah screaming obscenities and insults
into the camera (my favorite of which would be when she
says that Jon was the, "Worst shag of my entire life!").
Incidentally,
the fact that the title of the movie is "3", there
are three characters, and the film itself is three minutes
long, is a very nice touch; I definitely wouldn't have thought
of that!
Visual Look
I really like the placement of the camera in Lee's apartment.
Not only is Lee sitting on a very low couch, but the camera
is lowered to his level so that when the characters are
standing, they are cut off at just above waist level. This
is a really nice touch and it keeps the scene more visually
interesting than just two guys sitting together on a couch.
The scene between Jon and
Lee was shot on DV but treated in post to look like Super-8, while the scene with Sarah yelling
was shot on DV with no noticeable post treatment. This is why the Jon-and-Lee scene
looked a little grainy and had a slightly bluish tint. My
guess is that the director wanted to make a distinction
between the scene with the two friends and that of Jon's
fight with his girlfriend, which does in fact work (especially
since the warmer colors in Sarah's apartment are much harsher,
and the cooler tint of Lee's apartment lull the audience
into more of a false sense of security). Still, I think
that the contrast is perhaps just a bit much.
However,
if, for example, the camera was meant to be in the place
of the television, then the graininess and odd coloring
would make a little more sense (though, considering the
direction in which Lee is facing while playing his video
game, that explanation wouldn't make a whole lot of sense.)
In any case, it might be beneficial to do just leave the scene in un-cheated DV. If there's no good reason to switch format,
one shouldn't really try to do it at all, as in the end
this will lead to a very mismatched-looking film.
Use of Audio
For
the most part, the dialogue in this film is very understandable;
most impressive are the cutaways to Sarah, because even
though she;s screaming at the top of her lungs, her dialogue
is clearly intelligible. On the other hand, Jon and Lee's
audio sounds a little strange as it seems to echo a little
too much for an indoor room. Though this does create a clear
contrast between Lee's and Sarah's apartments, it seems
as though it might be a good idea to ADR the dialogue between
Jon and Lee or to tweak it and get rid of the echo. We will
be doing an issue on ADR shortly, but you might want to
check out Vocalign, a software that simplfies the synching
process for ADR.
Also,
the music in the background was good; it added to the dramatic
feeling of the story, but wasn't too overpowering. My only
complaint was that, since Lee was playing a video game,
we ought to have heard some sounds of that game going on
in the background. Or perhaps, instead of using music, to
make the video game effects the primary ambient sound, especially
if it is a particularly violent game that can make noise
throughout the exchange between Jon and Lee and continue
on even as the movie ends. I think this would add a rather
ironic twist to the story itself.
Use of Budget
The great thing about films like "3" is that they
can be shot so cheaply - there were only three actors, two
locations, minimal sets, and easy dialogue, so it couldn't
have taken much more than a day to shoot or have a high
price tag. In fact, the director said that the majority
of the £50 ($80) budget was spent on transportation
for the actors. In any case, considering that the final
project is a pretty strong movie that has already had some
showings at film festivals, I'd say that was money well
spent!
Lasting Appeal
This
is a really interesting short film, and it does a good job
at getting across a cohesive plot in such a short period
of time. Even non-indie film people can recognize this story,
and will definitely be hit hard with the ending once it
arrives. Barring a few minor technical issues which could
stand some tweaking, it's a really well-done short film.
Overall Comment
Everyone at some point in their lives has had to deal with a fight with a boyfriend or girlfriend, and understands how harrowing this can be.
Lee
(David House) gets a visit from his friend Jon (Mat Betteridge)
one afternoon. Though Lee is in the midst of playing a video
game, he can tell that Jon is more than a little depressed.
Sounding very dazed, Jon tells Lee that he's just come from
a very intense fight with his girlfriend Sarah (Sarah Harvey-Smart).
Sarah told Jon something that not only did he not want to
hear, but that Lee will not want to hear either.
