Short Film Review - Movie Mind Machine

DIRECTED BY MAUREEN BHAROOCHA

PRODUCED BY SILBY STREET & PHAYRE PRODUCTIONS

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The premise of this short film is something that i have always wished for.. to watch a film again for the first time, to experience the suspense and thrill, the twists and turns, the highs and lows of a film once more. I have often said that if I could have any power (Other than telekinesis) I would love to be able to forget a film and watch it for the first time again.

Directed by Maureen Bharooch this short film was made in the style of a mockumentary,  two film fanatics create a machine that allows them to erase images or in their case movies from their memory,   the short shows how the machine slowly becomes like a drug to them and they get addicted to re watching their favourite films.

This starts to ruin their lives as they then stop showing up for work and get fired and Matt goes to prison for a reason not really specified, the use of humour to get the story across worked well, most of the jokes revolving around classic movies such as when Matt gets back from prison Ron asks if he wants to watch Shawshank Redemption, Matt refuses adamantly and changes the subject.

What I liked about the short was how it showed Escapism, to me my favourite films are ones that pull me into their universe, drawing me in from the beginning until the end. So my favourite films are the ones where I can escape into their world for a few hours, to be able to repeat that experience would be addictive.

The mise-en-scene of the short film centres mostly around TV's featuring stacks of films and televisions in Matts garage, this helps symbolise how they both love films and then as time progresses the garage gets more chaotic and untidy which represents how their lives are now getting messed up.

I really did like the concept of the short, I found it easy to relate to the characters and the dialogue didn't seem out of place or boring. However I do believe that it could have been shorter, towards the end of the short I was wondering when it was going to end because they had gotten their point across yet they were carrying on.

They also left the short on a bit of a cliffhanger, ending on the same scene they started with, with Ron watching Jurassic park again, Matt remarks that this is Ron's favourite and the 20th time he has watched it.

I liked how the film ended on a cliffhanger and want to add something similar in my script, perhaps where my character is offered to run the business he was just fired from and having him say a line which indicates he will be making changes.