DepicT! Favourites

Hello everyone!
Here is a list of my favourite short films from the DepicT! competition. I will give a short list of them followed by an in-depth analysis of why I enjoyed them such as what they got right and anything I think could be improved.


Nati:
http://www.depict.org/2014/nati/?category_request=2014


Cool Unicorn Bruv:
http://www.depict.org/2013/cool-unicorn-bruv/?category_request=2013


TAP:
http://www.depict.org/2010/tap/?category_request=2010






Nati:
Nati is a documentary about a 90-year-old Italian man named Nati going about his average day, chopping down an old olive tree to plant a new one. He discusses how he is happy with his life as he is healthy and happy despite the huge amount of labour he has to do each day tending to his plants. The piece uses a wide range of camera shots of Nati doing his work. There is a very good use of narration as the voice of Nati talking about his work is edited onto the video after it has been filmed. There is also an excellent effect of taking the noises, such as Nati shovelling the land, laid on over the top of the narration. There are lots of wide-shots to show Nati hoeing, digging and chopping away at the land. The use of ambient lighting added to the reality and the display that Nati was just going about a normal day and it wasn't staged.






Cool Unicorn Bruv:
Cool Unicorn Bruv is about a young man attempting to sell a bike to another man when their friend walks past. They all have Multicultural London English (MLE) accents which add to the charm of the video as it is a comical mis-matched juxtaposition to have speaker of MLE with a unicorn. There are some excellent camera shots using wide shots then cutting into close-ups of the characters. The dialogue is incredibly well thought out, my favourite line being "It (the unicorn) can channel all the energy of the cosmos and travel in the 4th dimension" to which the man attempting to sell his bike chips in with "This has 10 gears so it can basically do all that, and it's well fast up hills." The way that the man with the unicorn is so relaxed when he says "it's just a unicorn, innit" adds to the hilarity. The use of ambient lighting added to the effect of them just being normal people on the street.






TAP:
TAP is a short about three students in a pub discussing ideas. They say you should write about what you know and this is the perfect example! There is only one camera shot, the camera does not move and there are no transitions. All you can see of the students are their hands and their drinks. As they discuss different things animations appear on the space on the table between them. This has been very well thought out with nice animations. There is a slight camera motion, however, as the camera is placed on the table and the table wobbles as the subjects move around. This piece used artificial lighting from the top which added shadows and made the impression that they were being lit from building lighting above - like would be in a pub. The sound is well used in the way that there is background noise of chatter to make it seem like a heavily populated pub.