Eye Contact - Film Critique

Eye Contact

I would give the short film Eye Contact a 3 out of 5 stars review. The film takes place in a forest at the shore of a beach, a lighthouse, and a house. Here we are introduced to an unnamed female jogger. The jogger seems to be taking a casual jog to a lighthouse. Once she arrives at the lighthouse she sees a shadowy figure on the path she was just on. She decides to go down, and when she does she notices that the figure is where she was at lighthouse. This implies that she is being followed so she decides to get to an open area, from there she goes home still being followed and decides to call 911. Only to be caught by the shadowy figure. The film makers wants viewers to feel a sense of suspense throughout the whole film. They want viewers to feel sympathy for the jogger while also anticipating what's going to happen next.

Throughout the film, the film maker uses a soundtrack to create suspense. There is a switch in the soundtrack when the chase starts and when the jogger notices the shadowy figure following her. The film maker uses imagery to show the intensity of the chase by showing obstacles in the joggers path to create suspense. Also, in one scene the jogger seems out of breath and the path she is running on seems to stretch creating a sense of anxiety. The film, while it be short, has a plethora of camera angles and close ups which effectively create a suspenseful atmosphere.

The film has a strength of building up suspense throughout the film, especially with the use of the soundtrack. However, the film does change the camera angles a lot in such a small amount of time that it gets confusing. I would recommend that the maker tones down the amount of time that they switch the angles. The most memorable part to me was when the jogger looked back up at the lighthouse and saw the shadowy figure exactly where she was. The soundtrack had spike in it that actually caused me to jump.