Isolation - Evaluation

I think our short film ‘Isolation’ was fairly successful as it has an interesting narrative and shot types. The film opens with an establishing shot of the beach, the films’ location, before the actor comes into view. Later, shot types – such as a POV shot – are used to better display the feelings of the person on screen, adding to the tense atmosphere and making the audience feel more involved with the events of the film. The film cuts between shots of the actor on the beach and the actor screaming in a dark room, which I think is effective as it reveals what he is truly feeling inside even though he appears calm. These shots cut in more often as the film progresses. The film also doesn’t have any sound, apart from the wind howling, and static in the dark room shots. This gives an uneasy atmosphere to the film, as they are unpleasant sounds contrasting with the peaceful scene of the beach. This is also effective as it reveals the actor’s inner emotions.

However, I also think there were some flaws in the film regarding the shots and editing. For example, shot two is out of focus until the foot comes into view, which is quite disorientating. Shots twelve and fourteen also don’t make much sense when viewed, as shot twelve has the actor on the far left, and when it cuts back to the beach from the dark room in shot fourteen, he is on the far right. Finally, the time lapse in the final shot isn’t as effective as it could have been, as the camera is quite close to the actor’s face, which draws the attention away from what is happening in the background.