The Art of the Short Fiction Film

by Raskin, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780786411832
• ISBN10: 078641183X
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781476616124
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-05-01
• Publisher: McFarland Publishing

Summary

This work is the first of its kind to single out individual short fiction films for comprehensive presentation and close study. Two Men and a Wardrobe (Roman Polanski, Poland, 1958, 15 min.), Coffee and Cigarettes (Jim Jarmusch, USA, 1986, 6 min.), Sunday (John Lawlor, Ireland, 1988, 8 min.), Cat's Cradle (Liz Hughes, Australia, 1991, 12 min.), Eating Out (Pal Sletaune, Norway, 1993, 7 min.), Come (Marianne Olsen Ulrichsen, Norway, 1995, 4.5 min.), Wind (Marcell Ivanyi, Hungary, 1996, 6 min.), Possum (Brad McGann, New Zealand, 1997, 14 min.), and The War Is Over (Nina Mimica, Italy, 1997, 7 min.) are the nine short fiction films studied. The films represent a broad range of storytelling approaches and a number of very different film cultures. Each film has a chapter of its own, including a shot-by-shot reproduction of the film with a still from every shot. In most cases, an interview with the director and an original screenplay and storyboard is also included. The book also describes a new conceptual model, derived from the films studied in the work, which can be used both for analyzing the ways in which a short fiction film tells its story and as a set of guidelines for student filmmakers writing their own screenplays.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Preface	xi
Introduction	1	(4)
Two Men and a Wardrobe /Dwaj ludzie z szafa	5	(31)
Roman Polanski
Coffee and Cigarettes	36	(15)
Jim Jarmusch
Sunday	51	(14)
John Lawlor
Cat's Cradle	65	(17)
Liz Hughes
Eating Out	82	(14)
Pal Sletaune
Come / Kom	96	(12)
Marianne Olsen Ulrichsen
Wind / Szel	108	(11)
Marcell Ivanyi
Possum	119	(31)
Brad McGann
The War Is Over / La guerra e finita	150	(15)
Nina Mimica
A Conceptual Model: Seven Parameters for Story Design in the Short Fiction Film	165	(8)
Conclusion	173	(2)
Appendix A: Contact Information for Obtaining Copies of the Films	175	(2)
Appendix H: Other Highly Recommended Short Fiction Films	177	(2)
Bibliography	179	(4)
Index	183