SHORT OF THE WEEK - Si-Fi/Dystopian Shorts

DYSTOPIAN films are becoming increasing popular. People are becoming more aware of the looming threat of "the end" and can mankind can survive anymore or can the earth survive having mankind anymore- the matrix all futures and short films on this predict the world and bleak and undesirable. Depicting chaos and every man for themselves with barely any of these films having a good ending for the main protagonists.

The Problemless Anonymous

The problemless anonymous is a dystopian si-fi story about a world were people striving to attain perfect is illegal. Those who are deemed perfect are surgically given problems and challenges people's views on their "ideal self".

The first scene, as shown on the right, is quite similar to our own idea where through the ear piece the audience should hear a similar voice but about worded differently. The Problemless Anon is structured in the sense that everything comes full circle. In the beginning we had no idea why the female was wearing a eyepatch and what the main characters "condition" is. Yet in the end the short film reveals that his "condition" is intermittent explosive disorder, where he now experiences random outburst of violence and his first outburst is stabbing the female's eye. So now she has to wear the eyepatch.
The only rules for films such as The Problemless Anon is that the film must explain its dystopian twist and the meaning behind it. It regularly breaks the codes and conventions as the whole idea behind this short film is that instead of aiming to be perfect, like the world today, this world aims to be imperfect.
This film differs towards not only conventional films but dystopian films as many dystopian aim to take a twist on the world being too perfect, like Black Mirror, not the opposite like Problemless Anon.

Enstein-Rosen

I choose to talk about this film as it incorporates a theme which is similar in our own short film that we are planning. During the beginning of the film two young boys appear in view and only a few scenes later two men in their 30s appear. The film can convey that these two men

are actually the two young boys only years later. We find this through the two men and two boys being the only actors involved and through dialogue. Our film is also trying to convey youth and old age in the same person but we will have challenges in doing so as the characters who "change" age will have no dialogue and will not be the only characters in the film.

This film breaks certain codes and conventions as the setting doesn't change, only the characters do, making the short film quite simplistic but with a full circle and humorous ending.

Payload

Payload is set in a dystopian future where the lower class are left on Earth with only a space elevator that connects them with the possibilities of a better life.

Of all the short films I have watched so far the biggest pattern is how the future holds no hope, rules of society are diminished and everyone is left to fend for themselves in miserable world.

Payload is similar structured to other dystopian shorts as in the beginning the viewer has to gage what is happening with a fleeting introduction. This is equivalent to our own filming where the viewer must work out what is happening and myself and my group must make sure that it won't be too confusing to work out.

Personally I found the film quite confusing I found the setting brilliant, as it gave a clear view on what a dystopian Australia would look like and really helped bring the story to life. The characters were well though out as each had a huge part to play, the dad and brother sacrificing themselves for the younger sister who was dressed as a boy so she wasn't taken for human trafficking, something that was obvious in the beginning.