Short Film Primary Research #9 - 'SOLUS'

'SOLUS' is an A2 produced short film by some students. The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic world and follows one man who is a survivor looking for help and other survivors.

I think this short film does a great job in implying and suggesting the realm of loneliness and zombie infested world the protagonist is living in. This is done through the use of sound effects, dips to black, character emotions and so on. For example, the short film utilises stock sound effects fairly well and makes for a good, eerie zombie world with realistic zombie sounds. This makes for a more respectable zombie short film because of the well selected sound effects.

The mise-en-scene is also considerably good and equally effective; all locations are made to look abandoned and post-apocalyptic. Such as, the male protagonist is walking along the side of a road and everything around him looks dead and bleak. This is done well and it makes the tone of the film more believable. because the mise-en-scene adds to the theme of isolation in the short film. There is also a scene where the protagonist is investigating a dead body in a run-down area. The grass is long and looks like it has been un-kept for years. This is also good location scouting and selection because the area very much suits the idea and characteristics of the short film well.

The cinematography in this short film is also carefully shot and meets the conventions regarding post-apocalyptic zombie films. Such as, 'SOLUS' has a large amount of hand-held footage. This is quite a common convention of such genre films and it makes the film look more personal,and connects to the audience more due to the fact that the camera presents a more personal relationship between the character and the audience. However not all the film is shot using hand-held. there is also a mix of tripod shots that are in a fixed position. They change appropriately and mainly use fixed shots to help establish locations and character actions.

The short film also has a good soundtrack that helps engage the audience with differing points of action, whether its's shock, danger, emotion and so on. Such as, a very tense, danger themed soundtrack plays over whilst the character opens the garage door expecting to find danger. This is suitable non-diegetic audio that perfectly meets the content on screen; being danger and suspense. Similarly, in times the character is in despair and a miracle has happened, such as when the helicopter appears and supposedly rescues the protagonist, an uplifting, heroic piece of soundtrack plays. This would suggests the character has experienced things and gone through them in the worst of ways, but is now being rescued and he deserves it as he is a heroic character, which is reflected in the tone of the music that plays over the sequence.

Overall 'SOLUS' is a good A2 student short film that utilises conventions well and mixes non-diegetic and diegetic audio to create a sustained realm of post-apocalyptic action.