Short Film Review One

STRANGER DANGER

Stranger Danger was created by Johnathon Connolly in 2016.

Reviewing Stranger Danger

Stranger Danger was a simple concept that was quite predictable with little twists however I thought that this worked as as an adult watching it I could see straight away that she was not talking to someone her age due to the stock image of the young boy and the messages sent such as "I need to delete these texts" and "don't tell your mum" it is obvious she is talking to an adult. However it is also clear that she as a child would not realise it is an adult due to the 'One Direction' references. I liked this as it told different stories if I thought about it from the girls point of view compared to the man she is talking to's point of view.

How did Stranger Danger impact my work?

Stranger Danger impacted my work in a few ways, firstly I liked the use of contrast between light and dark. For example int he shots where she is sat at the table everything is quite bright with the use of high key lighting, then when we see the adult male character there is very little lighting which highlights he is the danger. This is something that influenced my screenplay as I have moments where everything seems okay for example in my extract just before May screams there is a moment of calmness so the lighting is bright but then after she says she has been touched there is an older the shoulder shot of May and the lighting is very dark. 

I also liked how there is very little dialogue and it is mainly action, I will use this in my extract when May walks through the park and out of it there will be no dialogue and just her action s no sound is needed to show what is happening, so this is similar to Stranger Danger.

I like how Stranger Danger uses pans, for example there is one near the end where we follow a car and then pan to a small stream next to the road, this gives the audience a wider perspective on the location and it is something that influenced me to use pans in my short film therefore there is one near the beginning when May exits the park and one halfway through just before May screams. I feel these create a better perspective of the whole location as the setting in the park is very key to my story, rather than just showing some medium shots of the equipment.

Finally I liked the use of music in Stranger Danger, the dark drone sounding track is something that I use in my screenplay as it creates tension and leaves the viewer on edge.