Soft VS Wasp

Soft vs Wasp

Soft and Wasp are both British short films. Soft was written and directed by Simon Ellis and was released in April 2007. Wasp was written and directed by Andrea Arnold and was released in August 2003.

Soft is about a young boy and his father dealing with confrontational issues when they both get into conflicts. Wasp is about a young single mother rekindling a relationship with an old friend whilst trying to look after her children.

Both of these short films share a number of similarities.

The first big similarity between the two shorts are their genres: both of them are Dramas. Although Wasp may have some minor comical aspects at some points whilst Soft does not, the main genre of both is Drama.

Both shorts also share similar themes. One of the main themes of both shorts is social class; even though the way the shorts convey the theme of social class is different, it remains one of the biggest themes in both short films.

Another large theme in both shorts is the gap between old and young generations. Again, the way the shorts portray the generation gap is different, however it is a noticeable theme within both of the short films; in Soft, the generation gap is demonstrated by the attitudes between father and son. In Wasp, the generation gap is demonstrated and portrayed by Zoe’s irresponsibility as a parent and Kelly’s responsibility as a young sibling looking after her younger siblings.

The cinematography within both shorts is also pretty similar. For example, in the production of Wasp, they used handheld cameras throughout the whole short to make the film more relatable in a sense. In Soft, they used camera phone shots in certain scenes that also makes the film more relatable.

The performance within both shorts is similar in the sense that they are believable and realistic; not once does any of the cast in either shorts look directly into the camera, creating a sense of reality.

Sound quality in both of the short films are also pretty similar in regards to quality.

Despite sharing several similarities, there are also a few differences between the two shorts.

One difference between them is the editing; in Soft, there are many cuts in the first half of the film when switching to the camera phone footage instead of the main footage of the film. In Wasp, the editing is minimal and barely noticeable due to the long drawn out shots throughout the whole film; this type of editing is called continuity editing.

Another difference between the shorts is the mise-en-scene throughout them both. In Wasp, the mise-en-scene throughout the short is way more varied than in Soft as there are more settings/locations in Wasp when it is compared to Soft.

Even though the cinematography in both shorts share some similarities, some differences in the cinematography can also be noted; whilst Wasp uses handheld cameras throughout the entire film, Soft only uses 'handheld' camera phone footage in certain scenes and makes use of proper film camera footage in the rest of the film.

In conclusion, both Soft and Wasp have a few differences between them, overall the similarities they share outnumber the differences.

Get Off My Land VS Ralph

Get Off My Land and Ralph are both British short films. Get Off My Land is a Black/Dark comedy directed by Douglas Ray and shows a couple walking through the English countryside and finding themselves in trouble with a land owner. Ralph is a Dramatic Rom-Com directed by Alex Winckler and shows a 16-year-old boy who has travelled to France alone to declare his love to his best friend Clare.

Despite being pretty different, both short films have a few similarities. One big similarity between both shorts are the establishing shots; although they are quite different shots, they are both effective in that they give us enough context and background information. In Ralph, the establishing shot is of Ralph exiting a train with his large suitcase onto an empty platform whilst an overhead voice can be heard speaking in French; this tells us as an audience that Ralph is feeling alone or isolated and is in France as we can hear the announcement voice in French, and also that he may be carrying a lot of emotional baggage (insinuated by the big suitcase). In Get Off My Land, the establishing shot is of two people walking through a muddy field, one in walking boots and waterproof trousers and one in trainers and jeans as we hear birds and trees rustling; this tells us straight away that these people are in the countryside and suggests to us that they are a couple. Also, the shot of the man in jeans flicking mud off of jeans suggests that he is unprepared since the woman in the walking boots is in front of him and not covered in mud. Another similarity between both short films is the clear difference between the characters in both of the shorts. For example, in Get Off My Land, the man we see walking with the woman seems very unprepared by the way he is walking way behind her, wearing the wrong clothes, wiping mud off of his jeans, and commenting/complaining about the wobbly gate they have to climb over. Not only do these things show how different he is to the woman, the woman’s reaction to him shows how separate or disconnected he is from her. In Ralph, Ralph doesn’t know anybody there, can’t speak French, and cannot contact Clare as he doesn’t know he is missing a number from the one she had given him; these elements show how out of place Ralph his and emphasises his disconnect and isolation from the world around him. Another part of Ralph that shows the audience his isolation is the 360-degree shot of him outside in the streets of France with the sounds of the city engulfing him.

Even though both short films have a few similarities between them, there are also quite a few differences. One significant difference between the shorts is the underlying themes of both plots; in Get Off My Land the main theme is conflict; this is because of the apparent/suggested conflict and tension between the man and the woman walking and the argument between the land owner and the man. This contrasts to Ralph as the main themes in Ralph are friendship and love, more specifically, unrequited love; these themes are suggested by Ralph’s obvious desire to find and see Clare, his own explanation/description of their friendship and his newfound interest in the waitress. The unrequited love theme is shown by Ralph's own realisation that Clare does not love him back when he tells the waitress that she calls him her 'little brother’ Another difference between the two shorts is their genres; even though they both have some elements of comedy within them, they are both quite different genres. Get Off My Land is a Black/Dark Comedy whereas Ralph is a quite light-hearted Dramatic Rom-Com.

In conclusion, both Get Off My Land and Ralph have a number of different features and elements that help to distinguish the similarities and differences between the two short films.

Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Grand Budapest Hotel is an Oscar nominated, Academy Award winning 2014 Comedy, Drama and Adventure film directed by Wes Anderson. The story tells us about the adventures of legendary eccentric hotel concierge Gustave H. and his friend, protégé and lobby boy Zero Moustafa in a hotel in the fictional Republic of Zubrowka between the first and second wars. When one of Gustave H.’s lovers is mysteriously murdered, he finds himself as the chief suspect in her murder as well as the recipient of a priceless painting and flees the authorities accompanied by Zero.

The Grand Budapest Hotel was filmed entirely on location in Germany, mostly in Gorlitz but also is parts of Saxony as well as at Studio Babelsberg. Principal photography began in January of 2013 and concluded in March of 2013. One of the main locations was the defunct Gorlitz department store which had a giant atrium, which served as the hotel's lobby in the film.
Anderson shot the film in three aspect ratios, one for each timeline.

The cast’s performance in The Grand Budapest Hotel is both impressive and entertaining, some actors’ performances being more impressive than others. One of my personal favourite performances in the film is that of Ralph Fiennes as Gustave H.; his performance demonstrates his versatility as an actor and ability to engulf himself in his character’s role. Fiennes delivers a charming, comedic and convincing performance throughout the film which establishes himself as the main protagonist and centre of attention. Other notable performances throughout the film are those of Jeff Goldblum as Deputy Kovacs, Tony Revelori as Zero Moustafa, and Tilda Swinton as Madame D.

The Grand Budapest Hotel doesn’t feature a whole lot of different editing, as Anderson’s style of film involves less ‘fancy’ editing and more focus on cinematography and visuals – however the parts in the film that are edited, even with simple editing, meshes each shot seamlessly together and results in seemingly effortless scenes.

The cinematography of The Grand Budapest Hotel was completed by Robert Yeoman, who has worked with Anderson on almost all of his films. Although Yeoman adjusts his style of shooting to suit the movie he is working on, he is commonly recognised for his simple and unassuming visuals and has created some of the most interesting visuals in film. The Grand Budapest Hotel, in my opinion, is one of his most notable works due to its captivating imagery, colour design and lighting. The film features a wide variety of different shots that are both beautiful and effectual; almost every scene has an element of symmetry, which not only helps to establish the focal point of the shot, but also helps to switch the attention quickly if something moves out of the symmetry. The lighting throughout the film remains soft and warm, even when a scene is quite bright the light stays gentle and not too harsh; Yeoman prefers to use a single source of light or prefers to diffuse the lights he is using, resulting in a gorgeous, soft glow in each scene. The colours in the film are often quite warm, like pinks or reds, but they switch to suit the feelings or emotions behind the scene. For instance, when Gustave H. finds himself in trouble or when the characters anticipate trouble, the colour design turns darker and more melancholy. All of these different elements turn The Grand Budapest Hotel into one of Anderson’s prettiest motion pictures with ornate and aesthetically pleasing visuals.

Sound in The Grand Budapest Hotel is not only unique, but also fitting; the film features only original score, no songs are used at any point. This makes the film stand out amongst others and stylises it to correlate with its beautiful visuals.

In conclusion, I would greatly recommend The Grand Budapest Hotel to anyone who has an appreciation for beautiful cinematography and visuals, as the best part of the film as a whole – for me – is its gorgeous imagery. However, I believe anybody could enjoy this film even though it is quite different to other comedy and drama films.