First film

The Blood Samaritan (1^st short film)

As part of remaking my own Slasher film I am going to watch two short Slasher films to give me some ideas on what I would like to include within my own Slasher film. The first film I have looked at was The Blood Samaritan.

The film begins with non diegetic music which is a heavy pounding noise with a heart beat including which is meant to make the audience nervous about what is happening and make them tense as the film has only just began. It is unusual to see part of the action taking place before the credits and the name of the film are introduced although this is used which I thought was an interesting effect. The first scene begins with a black and white image of a medium close up showing boy whom is walking down a street. By using the black and white scene at the beginning of film it is creating the impression that the place is rustic and old.

There is a variety of shots used within this film which are meant to create tension and create a climax. One of the shots used that is creating tension is at the begging of the film where we are introduced to one of the characters (a tramp) who is begging for money of the central protagonist. A medium close up is used to show the protagonist kicking the boy away as he is begging for money off him. This shows the first real tension as the protagonist is being slighting violent towards the tramp as he is sat on the pathway and the character will continue on his way. Another effective shot is when we are introduced to the killer who is wearing all black and his face is covered by a balaclava which only shows his eyes. This is something that happens a lot within Slasher film as it doesn’t allow the audience to see the killer’s emotion as he is capturing/killing his victims. As the beggar begs money from the killer he presents a knife and a high angled shot is used to show as he is presenting the knife to kill his victims. The editing within this moment is slow and stops as it shows that the knife is significant object. After the beggars hand is chopped off the music stops abruptly to hear the victims scream although I feel this could have been better as the scream isn’t realistic enough. Another thing which I feel shouldn’t have been included is when a close up shot is shown of his hand after it has been chopped off lying on the floor which is not convincing enough and would have been more realistic and freighting if they just showed the point of view of the boys facial expression and heard the scream instead of seeing the hand.

The setting is accessible and easy enough to be able to use as it is in set in a deserted area in a time of day where there isn’t a lot of action taking place. The action takes place within a variety of places although in a close vicinity as the audience is shown the path the central protagonist takes and some of them take are within a block of flats, a tunnel, a room within a house and a building. I thought by using these types of places which are common within Slasher films made the film more realistic. Some of the conventions that were used which I thought were effective were the use of close up showing the protagonist getting nervous and anxious as he knows the killer is getting closer and the continuous pressing of the lift button is showing how much he wants to escape from the killer although because he is nervous he is confused. This is something simple although I thought worked well. Another shot was within the second scene where the killer is holding the boy hostage and is looking at all of the ways in which he could kill him and a close up of each object is shown to create a fear of nervousness. Low key lighting is also used within this scene to highlight the importance of the character that is being held hostage whom I feel is important.

The use of mise en scene is important within this short film as it enables the audience to get a better insight and shows hidden meanings behind what the characters are wearing etc. The use of the colour red is repeated throughout the film and is a colour that symbolise danger and death. An example of this is the film production “Blood pictures presents” and this will make the audience feel slightly nervous and could indicate what is going to happen later on due to the title and the graphics. The title is then faded in to show the title “The Blood Samaritan” which is in a black font. There is a flashback shown at a interesting point of the film which is showing the killers thoughts and background about how he became a killer which I feel works effectively although the film is a little confusing due to its non linear storyline makes the overall effect not as convincing.

Overall, for a short film I thought all of the concepts worked well and the idea was simple and allowed for sequel to be made within the short time that they had.