Ciaran Davis - ‘The Huge Snooze’ Exploration

To make the best possible short film, it is necessary to see what has come before to develop knowledge of the medium - You have to be able to know the rules before you can be break them.

I’m looking at a previous piece of coursework - a short film called ‘The Huge Snooze’.

The Huge Snooze - Ciaran Davis from Haydon Media on Vimeo.

The film comes across as an authentic homage and ribbing of the film noir genre as it plays with the tropes of the ‘femme fatale’ and the sleazy private detective.

Opening with a beautifully appropriate soundtrack and title card, the film’s progression into opening credits reminiscent of those included at the start of many film noir movies the viewer could be fooled into believing this is simply another entry in the genre. 

However, by the time the protagonist declares proudly that he is ‘a dick’ the humour and affection for the genre is seen.

This is continued with the visuals. The atmospheric opening shot of Mr Mallow lighting a cigarette surrounded by darkness sets a precedent for the rest of the film which thankfully is consistent.

While there does seem to be a necessity to accommodate the pre-written monologue - with a few shots that linger a little too long while the narrator describes what he and the viewers can see - the humour is ever present lighting the noir tone.

With great lighting, set design and cinematography The Huge Snooze fits comfortably amongst other film noir movies.

Looking at his ancillary tasks, what I appreciate most is the acceptance (and embracement) of the film’s existence as a short film with no attempt of presenting it as a feature. I would consider that to be a fallacy as the distribution and viewing of short films is completely different to features.

This is why Ciaran has chosen one of his reviews on his poster to be by Sight and Sound as opposed to Empire which would not regularly review a short film.

The main focus on the poster is a still from the short film which has been edited slightly. The visual of a man looking through a window surprised fits in well with the film noir genre and definitely would encourage someone who saw it to enquire more. The use of a single frame as the main image is likely something I will do for my poster too.

The review page looks effective as if it was from a magazine. The choice to focus on the actor’s career as opposed to a review presents it as a film that already has a presence in the reader’s mind, with the writer referencing made up events to create that illusion.

Looking at the work Ciaran has done for his Media Coursework has definitely helped me put thought and consideration into making a high-quality short film with accompanying tasks that appear genuine and consistent.