Short Film Primary Research #7 - 'Exposed'

'Exposed' is a short film made and directed by AS student Harvey Wise. The films plot revolves around a young photographer who goes into the woods, and whilst taking pictures he unknowingly captures a figure wearing a gas mask. The gas mask then starts to appear in his very home, causing the character to become paranoid and then he has to dispose of the mask somehow. The effects become more sinister, and the last shot is of the character burying it with the figure jump scaring us all at the end.

The film utilises the theme of the missing 'mask' man well, and so the titular villain remains a big mystery through the short film. Such as, after we see the masked man in two frames the photographer takes, the protagonist walks past a missing persons sign, which we as the audience can only assume is the masked villain. This is a nice, clever little plot twist/development that the viewers can then get drawn into.

The short film also sustains a very good use of audio and sound design. Each sound effect for every diegetic piece of audio sounds very good and respectable. That's the main thing that establishes this short film's technical quality, is the audio. Such as, the opening shot of the wind chimes and it's diegetic sound in the first 10 seconds, had me in an extremely engaged state of mind. The sounds of the birds in the background too, all the small things and details that make the opening shots so mesmerising for the audience, which I found at least. And then after this you have the shot of the tap and the clock, simple shots with effective diegetic audio can be very engaging when done well, like in this short film.

Another thing the short film does very well is the cinematography and its use of almost black and white scenes such as when the male character is in the woods. I believe this semi black and white lighting was done to help achieve a more sinister, paranoid and bleaker mood whilst the character is in the woods, given the fact that the woods is where the main thrills and mystery take place. The use of over-the-shoulder shots in this short film are very good and I think that they were used to try and create a more up close relationship with the protagonist, given that the camera is handheld during the shot. In general the camera shots and movement is very well done in this short film and I would aspire to have my short film look something like this on-screen.

I am also going to use this short film as inspiration for my film's sound design, as this ones was done very well and creates an atmospheric mood which I would like to try and reciprocate.