Short Dystopian Films

Due to my film opening coming from a short film I decided that I should have a look at some short films on youtube, finding three that I liked. 

RUIN

I know I've already talked about 'RUIN' but it is an amazing short film by one of my absolute favourite directors: Wes Ball. He also did an adorable short film called 'A Work In Progress' which can be found here - it is by far one of the cutest short films I've seen. 

In 'RUIN' I like how there is a sense of mystery at the beginning. We are only introduced to the main character who is obviously in danger or somewhere that he shouldn't be - therefore capturing the audiences full attention. I like how the music at the start is very calm but has a sense of mystery behind it. The first few shots are examples of the world that the main character is in. Then the audience's attention is immediately captured by the loud noises of a metal container being pushed from a skyscraper cutting straight to a mysterious, rugged figure standing of the container. By 1:55 the action is already taking place and the main character is seen running, with the sound of his footsteps enhanced so that the audience's attention is focused on the necessity of his escape.

Dead Zone

The story behind this was very deep. It told the story of man who's mother had left him the only survivor in camp after she died. The only company he had was his dog who eventually ran away, leaving him on his own. However the story gets deeper when 'the crows' find him and he crosses the 'Dead Zone' to get to safety but finds a different world on the other side. 

In this film the electronic music is very effective and the loud boom gives effect on focusing on the actual world. I like how it again focuses on the main characters surroundings instead of him at the beginning. The monologue afterwards is also very effective with the light music in the background. However by 2 minutes the action has not started and I find that after a while the monologue is too long and you begin to loose interest. 

Breakdown

Although this was in German - and let's face it, my German is not very good (thank goodness for subtitles) - I thought this was very well done. 

In this film the science-fiction humming is very effective and the writing at the beginning really sets the scene. The action although not very much starts immediately between the two main characters: Lisa and Dan. I like the link to the past which is the time we, the audience, are living in now. It's very effective as they are calling our world a time of peace whilst the future that they are in is full of anarchy and chaos.