Analysis of a Short Film- Last Man on Earth

The last man on earth is a short film, produced by Carlo Ortu, about the last surviving human being on earth after an apocalyptic event. The film starts with an establishing shot of a road, with the distant figure of a man walking down it towards the screen. The lighting used is high key (i.e. natural light). From this shot we can deduce that the film is British- there are British street signs, the names of shops are written in English and your typical British cars are parked on each side of the street. The noises we hear are diegetic at the beginning of the film; the sound of the mans footsteps can clearly be heard as he walks along the street.

After this, the camera cuts to the inside of a pub (another distinctly British theme) shown via a long shot. (The pubs lighting also seems to be high key) As this happens a barely audible, but very relevant, score starts in the background. The score has an eerie sound to it, making the scene, and the entire film for that matter, become mysterious instantly. The audience are then shown an over the shoulder shot of the man sitting at the bar, heavily drinking from a bottle of vodka. As the camera zooms in to a key prop in the mans hand- which, at this point, is not clear to see- the word ‘Guinness’ is visible on one of the taps to the left. Although seemingly insignificant, the word is another factor that relates the film back to the British theme identified at the start.

As the camera continues to zoom in to the key prop we are eventually shown a medium close-up of what appears to be a medicine bottle (its identity is made clearer shortly afterwards). Moreover, the camera then shows us a close up of the characters hands as he begins a voice memo on his mobile phone- another key prop. The audience then hear a diegetic sound of the mans speech as he records the days events. From his accent we can tell that he is from England, most likely somewhere around London. As he speaks in to the phone he reveals that he has found a way to end his life, as he sees no reason to live on ‘without his fellow man’. He also reveals that the first key prop identified (the medicine bottle) in fact contains poison that he intends to drink and commit suicide with.

After a short while the recording is ended and the man picks up the medicine bottle. Suddenly, the score that accompanied the pub scene from the very beginning begins to get more intense and rises in volume, and continues rising as he drinks the poison. The score reaches its highest volume as the man addresses God with ‘happy now are you?’ However, as the film looks to be coming to its conclusion the diegetic sound of a phone ringing can be heard. We are then shown an over-the-shoulder shot of the key prop as it rings, and then a medium close up of the man as he realises that he isn’t alone on earth.

Potential influence on our Short Film:

'The Last Man on Earth' is a very good short film to use for ideas for our film. The twist at the end, which suddenly changes the mood from a serious one to a jovial one is very clever and turns the entire film on its head. This film is also easy to identify as being British- the pub, the actors accent and layout of the streets all point towards it being a British made and based film, this is something we can learn from and try to implement in to our film to identify it as British.