Analysing a Short Film - William Haines

The Duel at Blood Creek

I recognise that this Short Film can hardly be compared to our own chosen storyline for our own short film, there are not many similarities. However, I chose to analyse this film because it contains a similar punchline/storyline as in that the viewer is under the assumption that the film takes place many years in the past but at the end it is revealed that they are simply ‘LARPer’s or ‘Recreators’ acting out a duel for fun.

It can be said that this particular aspect is similar to our own short film, as the viewer is under the assumption that the main character is not in fact the killer, but it is revealed near the end that he is the killer.

Both our own film and the short film that I chose to analyse contains similar plot twists.

In terms of cinematography, the short film contains a varied amount of interesting shots, the camera always attempts to catch the large number of actors on screen at once. Long shots are used in an abundant amount to achieve this.

Elliptical editing is a term that is best used to describe the first few shots as the two characters that we are introduced to first are seen roaming fields, heading towards a meet up location.

After that, continuity remains relatively unbroken. Editing switches from fast to slow pace depending on the situation, either speed being used to accentuate the jokes and bits of comedy seen in the film.

Mise en scene is used to fool us into thinking that it takes place in a certain era, but in reality they are ‘Reenactors’ who are doing it all for fun. This helps the punchline hit harder, further accentuating the comedic moment.

 

The location used contains no signs of anything modern.

In terms of sound, the clashes of the swords and the firing of the guns all do seem very realistic, which reinforces the false fact that they are actually fighting to the death. The running water sound of the creek is very calming, it could be said that it juxtaposes with the tension and/or action. Of course when everything starts to go haywire, the music which comes in drowns out the background noise, leaving only the music accompanied with the enraged shouts of the group of people fighting.

There is no mistake, the genre of the short film is Comedy, even without reading a description of the film, or being introduced before watching it, when one watches the short you can very quickly pick up on the fact that it is a Comedy.

The music used, the editing, the mise en scene and the cinematography help the running gags and jokes to become effective. You would not feel the same emotions if you were to read the script, or the short film as a book instead. The four main techniques/components of a film or media help to accentuate the comedy.

The short film is linear, that much is clear due to the running continuity and a lack of jump cuts and elliptical editing.

The title sequence is very short and simple. The film starts off by introducing the film company/distributor and the director of the film. Then there are a few shots joined by jump cuts where we see the first two characters walking to a location, at the end of the short sequence, it finished with the title of the film in a simple font. There is nothing really special about the opening sequence, it is something that you wouldn’t be surprised to see in a short film.

The end credits are similar. It contains a comedic credit scene where three of the characters which we saw previously are fighting in the dirt, they are the ones which departed before the owner of the land showed up/worker on the land showed up. It is nice that we get to see them again, as some may question as to where they went or what they did after leaving in a mad rush.

The end credits sequence contains scrolling text which rises, revealing the names of actors and any other personnel which worked on the short film.

 

Both the opening and end sequences contain nothing special (EG, cinematic animated scenes), as you might expect from a short film.