Edith Cooper

This was my initial 5 act structure The next step was to question this world. What makes it a dystopia? But also, who are these other characters? Why don't they seem to see the problems of the world they live in? Or perhaps they do, but they chose not to. I also began to question the radio. What sort of news stories might be able to come through? Are there any?  

On the 13th of January 2025, Keir Starmer gave a speech in which he proposed a change to the copyright laws regarding AI usage. This speech, along with a lifetime love of dystopia is what sparked my ideas for my film. On the 5th of February 2025, I asked ChatGPT the question 'Can the use of AI in art ever be ethical?'. This was part of it's response: ' Artist Displacement : There is concern about the potential for AI to replace human artists, particularly in industries like design, illustration, and even fine art. If AI can produce high-quality art at a faster rate and lower cost, it might devalue human-created works and put artists out of work.' I asked it to follow up - 'Tell me more about artist displacement.' Here is how it concluded: 'The fear of artist displacement comes from the growing accessibility and capabilities of AI tools that can automate artistic production. However, it’s important to recognize that AI, when used ethically and thoughtful...

 DIRECTED BY CAROLINE BARTLEET 'Operator' is about a woman and her son trapped in a house fire, but it is told through a phone call she makes to the emergency services. We never see the action, we only hear it through the phone. Being able to hear but not see the action helps to raise the tension. There are moments of silence where we have no way of knowing what is happening with the fire. Similarly, when we hear screaming or the coughing of her child, we have no way of knowing what has happened. The contrast between the panic of the Gemma on the phone and the calm voice of the operator also helps raise tension. The operator is calmly doing her job, but as an audience, we want her to panic just as we are, and to do more to help, even though she can't. The film ends with a moment of gorgeous acting and silence as the operator takes a moment to pull herself together before the sound comes back in and she has to answer another call. Life goes on.

 DIRECTED BY DANIEL MONTANARINI What makes 'The Arrival' particularly interesting is its lack of dialogue - it is all told through a voiceover. In the film, Anna sits at a table of a cafe and worries about revealing the fact that she is pregnant.  The film begins with the camera behind the door, obscuring our view of Anna, and as the film goes on, the camera slowly zooms in, becoming more and more personal as we discover more about her. In revealing her thoughts to us, we get a clearer picture of who this woman is physically as well as metaphorically. Throughout the film, people move in between the woman and the camera, entering the cafe. This makes the viewer feel like passive observers; while we get insight into this woman's most intimate thoughts, the world moves on around her. Her coffee spills and people move around her as her thoughts become more frantic. At her most vulnerable moment, a train passes -  the outside world reflecting her mental state. This is also the...

 DIRECTED BY NICK ROWLAND 'Slap' is a coming of age film about Connor, a teenager grappling with conflicting sides of his personality. It deals with his relationships with his friends, his own self identity, and also confronts the perceived ideals of masculinity. It is this juxtaposition between Connor's two worlds that defines the film. Often a handheld camera is used, and the shakiness caused by this is used to represent both Connor's emotional fragility, and the violence of boxing. In the boxing scenes, the camera moves quickly, and the shakiness is therefore suggestive of the fast movements of the sport, as well as having to move practically to avoid being punched. In contrast, when Connor is alone in his room, the lack of stability of the camera reflects Connor's lack of stability. He isn't confident in himself, and is desperately trying to keep part of himself hidden. This juxtaposition is also seen in Connors room. He has not only boxing advertisements an...

 DIRECTED BY OLLY WILLIAMS 'The Fly' is a film about a bank robbery. Or rather, it is a film about the getaway driver, waiting for the bank robbery to end. This is another short film that uses genre conventions to surprise the audience. It is not the bank robbery that the film focuses on, but the drivers attempts to squash a fly. 'The Fly' uses many conventions of action or heist films but in unexpected ways. The driver chews a cocktail stick, which then becomes stuck in his lip. The masks that are used for the bank robbery are also used to try and squash the fly. The driver pulls a knife from his pocket, and uses it to cut open an airbag. As the driver attempts to get rid of the fly in increasingly ridiculous ways, his attempts are intercut with a shot of the door to the bank, accompanied by screams. However, in comparison these screams are much quieter and less intense than the scream of the driver when the cocktail stick is stuck in his lip. This is yet another examp...

 DIRECTED BY LEWIS ARNOLD 'Echo' opens with a teenage girl receiving devastating news over a phone call, but all is not as it seems. The film delves into Caroline's grief and questions the decisions she makes, but what makes 'Echo' stand out as a short film is the performance of Lauren Carse in the lead role. The use of phone calls in this film is very interesting. We only ever hear one side of the conversation, which makes it incredibly easy to trick the audience, and therefore subvert our expectations. The film also has a cyclical structure, ending as it began, with another phone call, which again we only hear one side of. Although Caroline is probably playing the same trick again, there is always the chance that in the final scene something tragic really has occurred. Throughout the films, there are many shots of Caroline alone, but positioned on one side of the screen, as if there were someone next to her. This highlights her loneliness, as even when she is the ...

 DIRECTED BY DAN SULLY 'The Ellington Kid' works by constantly subverting the audience's expectations. It features two men sat in a kebab shop with one of them telling the other the story of a stabbing. In the story, a man gets stabbed and finds himself in the very kebab shop that they are currently sat in. The film instantly engages the audience with a shot of a man sharpening a knife followed by an intertitle featuring the words 'Based on a true story'. However the next intertitle somewhat undermines this tension with the words 'sort of'. This sets up the tone of the film from the start. We are never quite sure whether to be scared or to laugh These two shots follow on from each other, and in them, you can clearly see this juxtaposition. As the story is told in the kebab shop, we see the story happening. The bright colours of the shop are replaced by dark muted tones and low lighting. The static, long shots with fast moving, quickly edited ones.  When the ...

 DIRECTED BY DESTINY EKARAGHA 'Tight Jeans' is perhaps the simplest of the short films, but it is its simplicity that makes it so effective. It features three young black men sitting on a wall in an estate talking. Their topics of discussion range from the tightness of a passing man's jeans to the causes of slavery while maintaining a comedic tone throughout. The opening shots introduce us to the characters of these three men without showing us their faces. We see the backs of their heads, their feet, and also the front of their bodies (with the heads remaining out of shot), and through their clothes and mannerisms, we get a sense of who these people are. They play with their hands, have a slouched posture, and kick each other. There is an ease about their movements, but also a sense that they are waiting for something, and this is all set up before a single word of dialogue. When the dialogue does start, it is incredibly naturalistic. The film addresses social issues and e...

 DIRECTED BY J ö RN THRELFALL 'Over' is brilliant at slowly building the picture. It tells the true story of a man who fell from a plane in his attempt to come to England from Angola and is told in reverse order, showing the aftermath of the event itself. The non-linear storytelling is supported with the use of time stamps. We begin at 7:30pm, after the body has been removed. The first scene involves a couple leaving a car and discussing a bouquet left on the street. The first indication that something is wrong. Each following scene is slightly earlier in the day, and uses a different camera angle of the same location. Although the majority of the film takes place at the scene of the death, we also see shots of the man's possessions, and through this we build an image of a man we never meet. His clothes, his phone, and most significantly, his family portrait are all we have to know this man by.  The film is surprisingly slow for the investigation of a death. We see and hear...