(This is Causation short film review, which is a story related to the Butterfly effects that was released on Vimeo)
Sometimes, the little randomness in life will have big impact in the near future, even though they should not be technically. Causation takes this concept and turns it into a short film that tries to portray such event in its own way.
It is directed by Gian Niggili, with music by Ryan Taubert as well as starring Selina Dubacher, Simon Illitz, Alina Ehrle and Matteo Visini. What’s more, it is part of a pre-graduation work by these students in Zurich. Now, without dragging your time, let’s jump down into the Causation short film review below!
Premise
What happen when two young women accidentally bump into each other? Well, such random thing begin to morph itself into their respective lives. What would happen eventually when they connect again?
Causation Short Film Review
Premise
The overall story is a simple one that aims to tread the connection of a random event, which leads to an unexpected ending. It’s not an original idea, to be fair, as I have seen many others with similar themes or story. And I would say that the randomness here is pretty random, with the story not as tight as the best ones I have watched.
I feel that the overall premise is handled well, even though it’s cliché
But, the execution is quite good in establishing the connection and revealing things at the end through a time-reverse. It’s not great and some parts are needed to smooth it out, but I feel that the overall premise is handled well, even though it’s cliché.
Another point to add, is the use of mystery which they never show the phone is dropped. This actually gives an unexpectedly better surprise than I thought. So kudos to the director for this!
Pacing/Visual
Pacing is pretty good with the soundtrack helping to move the scenes along. There are many great fast cuts that makes normally mundane scenes interesting. It also helps that there are constant movement in each scene to up the tension along the way.
It makes the whole story world felt like something is lost, but the soundtrack introduces the urgency into that lost
Visual wise, it looks like it’s shot on film. It has that classic grainy look, and with muted colours. The colours remind me of some sci-fi stuff, especially with some uses of lens flare. It makes the whole story world felt like something is lost, but the soundtrack introduces the urgency into that lost. Perhaps it’s a kind of foreshadowing?
Characters
There are 3 characters in the film, of which only 2 are connected directly. The main protagonist is the unrelated young woman who happens to hit over someone. The main thing of this film is that the characters are not really the central key to the film.
Instead, it’s the relations of the random encounter that forms the theme of the whole story. I quite like the way each is portrayed. Though, the acting for some of them could be improved, none of their actings actually make the film worse.
The wonderful use of the soundtrack to cut the film and pacing it, makes this a visual as well as an aural delight
Soundtrack
The soundtrack is that of increasing pace and urgency. Together with the great sound effects, this short film stands out in this department. The wonderful use of the soundtrack to cut the film and pacing it, makes this a visual as well as an aural delight.
