The Art of the Short Fiction Film: A Shot by Shot Study of Nine Modern Classics

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.

About the Author

Richard Raskin teaches courses in screenwriting and video production
at the University of Aarhus in Denmark.

Booknews

Raskin (screenwriting and video production, U. of Aarhus, Denmark) examines and compares nine short fiction films representing a broad range of storytelling approaches. Each chapter is devoted to one film and includes a shot-by-shot reproduction of the film with a still from every shot. Some of the works analyzed include Roman Polanski's (Poland, 1958), Jim Jarmusch's (U.S., 1986), and Liz Hughes' (Australia, 1991). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)