I came across this short film on Vimeo and I assume it was made as a student film rather than one doing the rounds on festivals, because it is pretty limited in terms of resources and people involved; not that this is a problem by any means but it does put pressure on the makers to do as much as possible with what they have. The plot of this short sees a man walking into a rather tired looking park, sitting on a bench and opening a birthday card (from himself), eating a bit of cake and then considering his next move. In essence it is a study of a lonely guy who clearly just wants a small amount of human affection that shows that someone at least cares or knows a little bit about him.
In terms of idea it is a very simple one but one that had the potential to work very well simply because many people can relate to this – perhaps through one short period of their lives, one bad day or due to the isolation of modern city living, however the film has an audience and done well it could strike a chord. The key thing for me was that the film had to not only draw on that potential empathy but also produce it by bringing a lot out of the central character – quite a big ask if you consider the film is barely 3 minutes long and consists of still photographs and no spoken dialogue. Unfortunately for me it was too much of an ask and the film doesn't really manage to capture the sense of what the main character is feeling – it just captures the basic events that stem from it.
In regards this capturing, it is reasonably well done. The device of using still photographs reminded me of La jetée in terms of the construct and the use of music over the top, but unfortunately the shot selection isn't anywhere near that quality; OK you do need establishing shots and so on, but there aren't really any that captured the heart or the feelings in that image. The music was well selected though and I though it worked well over the images. One thing I did like was the one brief interaction between James and a random guy – the film makes little of it but I liked that it led to nothing and that it was met with bemusement by the man, it sort of backed up the life James was living, although I would have liked the film to have made of it in terms of comment or delivering that feeling.
The idea of the short is simple and pretty well delivered in terms of events but it really needed to have more. The music does a good job of delivering some feeling, but generally the shot selection and the telling of this short tale doesn't do much to bring out the heart. It should have been delicate, touching and moving but sadly it isn't. If it is a student film then it is a decent try from a straight "events" point of view, but it really needed much more in its heart to make it work.
In terms of idea it is a very simple one but one that had the potential to work very well simply because many people can relate to this – perhaps through one short period of their lives, one bad day or due to the isolation of modern city living, however the film has an audience and done well it could strike a chord. The key thing for me was that the film had to not only draw on that potential empathy but also produce it by bringing a lot out of the central character – quite a big ask if you consider the film is barely 3 minutes long and consists of still photographs and no spoken dialogue. Unfortunately for me it was too much of an ask and the film doesn't really manage to capture the sense of what the main character is feeling – it just captures the basic events that stem from it.
In regards this capturing, it is reasonably well done. The device of using still photographs reminded me of La jetée in terms of the construct and the use of music over the top, but unfortunately the shot selection isn't anywhere near that quality; OK you do need establishing shots and so on, but there aren't really any that captured the heart or the feelings in that image. The music was well selected though and I though it worked well over the images. One thing I did like was the one brief interaction between James and a random guy – the film makes little of it but I liked that it led to nothing and that it was met with bemusement by the man, it sort of backed up the life James was living, although I would have liked the film to have made of it in terms of comment or delivering that feeling.
The idea of the short is simple and pretty well delivered in terms of events but it really needed to have more. The music does a good job of delivering some feeling, but generally the shot selection and the telling of this short tale doesn't do much to bring out the heart. It should have been delicate, touching and moving but sadly it isn't. If it is a student film then it is a decent try from a straight "events" point of view, but it really needed much more in its heart to make it work.