Review

'A Favour' and 'Spring Clean'
Task: For this task I was asked to watch two 'Virgin shorts'. I had to look out for components I felt were successful within each film and the areas that could be improved, whilst explaining the narrative. 
(Virgin.co.uk)

A Favour: An encounter in a car park questions the assumptions of characters and audience alike.

What I liked- The story followed the two men from when they were at home with the family at breakfast getting ready for the day ahead. 

It was quite simply done using cross cuts. The twist at the end of the story was quite simple yet very effective. I liked that we do not have any hint as to what is happening in the film and we are unaware of the true narrative right up until the end of the clip. The sense of drama is added to by the twist at the end.

Area of improvement- Something that could be improved upon would be that they could have cut out the car/ traffic noises in the background as it was very distracting and meant you could not clearly hear what the characters were saying.

http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/film/4122/a-favour#.UlUXRHPAquM

Spring Clean: Tells the story of a man whose drab existence in his dreadful flat is about as exciting as the same dreary tie he wears to work every day. But one morning, eating his toast alone, he spills jam on that tie. Little does he know but that lump of sticky preserve is about to change his life forever.
What I liked- I liked the concept of this film. Using editing and a wide range of camera shots, the film became more interesting. It was a comedy I think because the man whilst 'spring cleaning' uses his cleaning spray to make the things he needs to clean up disappear. He then takes full advantage of this and makes a list of all the things he would like to disappear and goes out with his spray and makes them disappear. The funny part comes at the end when he finds all of the items and people he made disappear in his cupboard. 
I liked the use of sound in this clip because it worked well with the narrative. For example when the character 'zapped' each item, we would hear a 'zapping' sound, much like ones commonly used in sci-fi films. 
Area of improvement- If I could identify one area for improvement I would say possibly the acting could be improved on. To me it seemed a little forced as he used a lot of statued facial expressions to show his emotion. Which seemed a little forced. 

http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/film/5175/spring-clean#.UlUXp3PAquM