ASFF l Aesthetica Short Film Festival Clara Rugaard

1. On Loop (Eksperimental) - Christine Hooper This comic portrayal of the sickness of insomnia in a photomontage style film is very cleverly made. It has a sort of cartoon feel to it as well as a voice over throughout the film. However the constant POV shots even with "opening and closing eyelids" gives it a sense of realism and makes it relatable in the sense that the audience actually feel as if they are laying in the bed observing the room.

2. The North Side (Thriller) - Andrew Ryland Even though I found the Thriller genre quite poor, this film appealed to me. The main reason for this is because of the absolutely stunning and fluent cinematography as well as it being handled so skillfullying successfully being able to portray a man in a deserted city (London). Another intriguing thing about this film is how easily you can visualize the storyline developing and how we as an audience are left with many unanswerable question.

3. Merge (Artists') - Erin Coates A 10 minute long video in slow motion illustrating a car gradually being filled up with some sort of red inflatable bag and eventually it merges perhaps simply representing a car crash. An enjoyable aspect of 'Merge' is how open it is to interpretation, and that I guess is basically the whole point behind artistic films anyways.

4. Butcher & Sons (Comedy) - Simon Wade The Comedy section was quite strong and this film used comedic elements to cover a serious matter, which I liked. The storyline and message behind this film had me leaving the viewing still bearing this in mind.

5. The Free Man (Drama) - Quah Boon Lip I thoroughly enjoyed the techniques within this short. One element that instantly caught my attention was when it suddenly switches to low key lighting as the antagonist reveals his identity to reflect or empathize a change in the protagonists mind or a change of mood occurring as well as a swift building of tension. I liked this as it has a great impact on the audience and fulfills it job or purpose. Yet another element I found specifically interesting was the use of metaphorical shots (mainly close-ups) to represent feelings taking place in the scene and activates viewers minds and make the think for themselves. Such as, a slow zoom on the protagonists roaring tiger tattoo conveying this rage building up inside of him. Another significant part is after the action and goriness has come to an end, there is a shot of a working tumble dryer representing a cleansing and starting a fresh/ washing away the problems.

6. Last Call (Drama) - Camille Delamarre I started off not liking this film as i immediately thought it being overacted and i found the storyline a little too cliche, but that changed as soon as I noticed how generically innovative it was. A man in war steps on a mine and awaits his death but takes out his phone, grabs a cigarette and talks to his ex-wife and daughter who are totally unaware of the situation, making it rather humorous which I found brilliant.