SKIN from SkinShortFilm on Vimeo.
This film is a bit on the long side, but after thinking about it for two days, I had to post it. It also contains some graphic imagery, seeing that its about a young boy that is a taxidermist like his father. I was first drawn to it because of the display of all of the awards it has won. (Won’t it be so nice when we can do this with our films??) But after watching it in it’s entirety, I couldn’t get it out of my head. So I invite you to see if it has the same effect on you…
Firstly, I think the opening shot is the most brilliant shot in the entire piece. The film opens with a reflection of a boy sitting on a bench and as he moves to get up and grab something in the water, the camera slowly pans up and meets his real hand as he is touching the water. Beautiful! I really admire that the filmmaker is telling you exactly where your focus should be and she directs that focus with the moving shot and action in the frame. I also really like the shot at 2:16, where the fore frame is out of focus, and the boy is watching the little girl interact with her dog and turns and rides away. The filmmaker did a really good job of letting the action play out in the scene. A lot of times, we are tempted to cut things as tightly as we can, and we can lose good moments like this that really help with the pacing of the story.