RESEARCH: other short films

Today I have been given my A2 task. During the course of these weeks upto January I am going to be posting the pre-production, evidence on the production and the post-production on the film I am making. I have started by widening my knowlege on short films as I have no experience in making short films. Last year in my AS I had made a title sequence for a horror film. This year my skills and knowlege will be developed which I will talk about in the up and coming weeks.


I have started off by researching short film producers such as; The Quay Brothers, Sam Raimi, Visual communications, Douglas Buck and Elizabeth Sung.

The Quay Brothers are two identical twins who were very iconic in the short film industry.

Above is an image of The Quay Brothers (Stephen and timothy)

The two brothers were born in 1947 and were named Stephen and Timothy Quay. They became famous for their unique and ‘nightmarish’ take upon films. 

They created their own sets, controlled the arrangement of the lighting and the camera work. Their mise-en-scene was very unusual and the Quay Brothers work is easily identified. Enigmatic visuals are preferred by the brothers and music plays a dominant part in creating tension and the wanted atmosphere.
The Quay Brothers were so significant because they created there very own world as if ‘frozen by time’ The mise-en-scene in his films were designed by cobwebs, conventional mirrors, bizarre machinery, old rags and clothes.

Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi is an American producer who is also known as a director, actor and writer. He can be more commonly identified for directing the series of new spiderman films which have been recently out, over the past few years. Sam Raimi is known for his ‘cult-horror’ genre of film such as ‘Drag me to hell’. In 1977 Sam Raimi directed his first short film called ‘It’s murder!’ and the year after brought out two more films called; ‘Clockwork’ and ‘Within the woods’

‘It’s Murder’ was the first very successful short film which Sam Raimi made. It is noted to be under the genres of; comedy, short, horror and crime. It stars the famous American actor who starred in many short films called Bruce Campbell. Bruce Campbell plays a comical cop on a bike. It is a very detective inspired film.

‘Clockwork’ is another successful short film which Sam Raimi directed. This film fits into the genre of horror and short. The film stars Cheryl Guttridge and Scott Spiegel. The plot is of a homeless serial killer who stalks a lonely rich woman. It is grippinf and a reviewer describes as the mise-en-scene as “grainy” and “unpolished”.

Douglas Buck

Douglas Buck, an American Director first launched his career by producing short films. His short films include; Cutting Moments (1997), Home (1998), Prologue (2003). All three of these short films were collected together to produce an anthology ‘Family Portraits’.   He is famously known for his preferred genre of ‘horror’. 

Cutting Moments

Douglas Buck produced, directed and wrote the short film ‘Cutting Moments’. This short film has a running time of 25 minutes. With a cast of three people; Nica Ray, Gary Betsworth, Jared Barsky.

Sypnosis of Cutting Moments

This film’s is about a couple who have kept their feelings packed away for a number of years. In a desperate attempt to get their relationship back on track the woman tries to do everything in her power to get him sexually interested, this turns into a very twisted and horrifying story.

Elizabeth Sung