The Smiling Man

Short Film Example

'A little girl home alone finds herself face-to-face with pure evil

'The Smiling Man' is an example of an affective short film. It follows a relatively simple narrative that creates an incredibly creepy and disturbing story line. The main idea of it is that a little girl is left alone, and ends up following a trail of balloons that lead her to a sinister end. This film obviously follows conventions with the idea of 'Creepy kids' and what is typically associated with it; balloons/clowns ect. Consequently, the overall impact of the film is lasting, with the images and sound creating tension and fear.

Throughout the film, there are a number of shots that are particularly interesting, and this adds to how gripping it is. With it being so short, the use of different camera angles makes it far more appealing and disorientates the viewer slightly - this therefore creates the desired affect of anticipation and tension.

 How will I use this?

When I saw this short film, I was, like anyone, slightly disturbed and on edge. Then after viewing it, I re - watched it to analyse what made it so affective. The majority of the reason was of course the narrative.

However, I found that the editing, camerawork and sounds together was just as important. To the right, I have taken some of my favourite shots used throughout the film, with the intention to recreate them somehow in my own film. They are just simple over the shoulder shots or birds eye, but they are edited to make the overall frame more interesting to look at. For example, the bottom frame is a birds eye shot, and it tracks the movement as the little girl walks forward and the creature shuffles round the corner. Paired with the fact that the camera is tilted slightly, this shot shows everything, yet still disorientates the viewer as they are seeing the events in a different way.

Therefore, for my film I aim to use a range of different techniques that will compliment my story line. This is because I found 'The Smiling Man' so different as a viewing experience, and I want my film to stand out somehow.