MAKE IT SHORT | EPISODE 14

09.01.24 11:14 By Luiz Villar

THE BUNKER


 

Make it Short - The Bunker - A Deep Dive - - Centerframe

MAKE IT SHORT

EPISODE 14

THE BUNKER

DIOGO  BRÜGGEMANN

CenterFrame Team

Greetings and a warm welcome to Make It Short, the show that invites experts from the film industry to provide valuable insights and constructive feedback to aspiring creators, while delving into the multifaceted aspects of producing, directing, and writing a short film. 


Today, we are bringing back Bernhard Pucher, filmmaker and co-founder of CenterFrame, and we are thrilled to introduce once more writer-director, Dagmar Scheibenreif, hailing from Austria and currently based in London, with an impressive background in cinematography. Together, we will have a conversion on The Bunker and provide valuable insights to help our viewers understand the nuances of creating a successful short film. 


So, sit back, relax, and get ready to be inspired!


The short film selected for today’s episode, The Bunker, is an apocalyptic thriller which depicts a world on the brink of an extinction event, where two women are faced with the difficult decision of either battling for their survival or coming to terms with the inevitable fate of humanity. The movie is directed by Top Tarasin and co-written by Tatjana Anders and Petra Lang, who submitted the film to us. She also shared two screenplays with us - a very initial version and the finalized one. The two versions of the script tell very different stories with some elements in common, and that, naturally, was one of the main topics of our conversion.


THE BUNKER - Written by Petra Lang & Tatjana Anders

While we all liked the final result of The Bunker, with its chilly atmosphere and very creative premise, I myself was left with a feeling of wanting more. 
It is a very short film, less than five minutes long, and we don’t have enough time to get to know its main characters as much as I would like. Bernhard agreed that it was a very well-made high-concept short SciFi film, but he also missed more depth when it came to character development. Dagmar, in turn, mentioned that some narrative elements in the story could have been more convincing, and also thought that the sci-fi aspects were overused, like the lighting effects in the last part of the film.

One thing we all agreed on is that the first version of the screenplay was completely distinct from the final version, as if we had two different films in front of us. The genre and the themes were basically the same, but the story, its characters and, more importantly, its conclusion, were heavily modified for the final version on the screen. 
We tried to guess the reasons why the script had to be so heavily adapted; It may have been due to budget constraints, or the requirements of some film competitions, for example. 
Unfortunately, Petra couldn’t be with us to shed light on that, so we must remain guessing…
It is certainly interesting to imagine what kind of film we would have had with that first version of the script.

In the end, The Bunker managed to engage us in various ways, which shows that despite the many concessions sometimes needed in order to successfully finish a short film, it can still tell a compelling story.

As usual, our conversation was both intriguing and enlightening, so why don’t you jump in and watch the episode now? Make use of our panel's proficiency and constructive criticism on filmmaking to shape your own debut short film. 


And if you are a filmmaker or have contributed to a short film as a writer, director, cinematographer, sound engineer, editor, or in any other role, we invite you to submit your work for consideration on our show. This is your opportunity to be featured on our program and share your unique perspective while learning from film industry experts from all corners of the world! See you next time!


WATCH THE EPISODE NOW

DIOGO BRÜGGEMANN

Film & TV Critic| CenterFrame Team

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Luiz Villar