Amy Sharp- Pre Production Research "Burning Ambition" 2013

Burning Ambition - giantdwarf 2013
Virgin media shorts

Burning ambition was a short we made as an inspirational piece for aspiring female firefighters. A young girl trapped in a burning building decides that night where she wants to take her future - See more at: http://virginmediashorts.com/profile/giantdwarf#.VfvxTUZSW3Y

Burning ambition was a short we made as an inspirational piece for aspiring female firefighters. A young girl trapped in a burning building decides that night where she wants to take her future - See more at: http://virginmediashorts.com/profile/giantdwarf#.VfvxTUZSW3Y

Burning ambition was a short we made as an inspirational piece for aspiring female firefighters. A young girl trapped in a burning building decides that night where she wants to take her future - See more at: http://virginmediashorts.com/profile/giantdwarf#.VfvxTUZSW3Yv

'Burning ambition was a short we made as an inspirational piece for aspiring female firefighters. A young girl trapped in a burning building decides that night where she wants to take her future.'
http://virginmediashorts.com/film/5327/burning-ambition#.VfvwMUZSW3Y

The title 'Burning ambition' alone makes an impact along with the synopsis, they link together exceptionally well. The title is displayed at the beginning of the short, it is burning into the wall out the front out a house that we see, as the camera pans up, is on fire. There is a non diegetic soundtrack of a piano that creates an atmosphere of sorrow and emotion, diegetic sound of the fire crackling and the fire alarm shows realism but they are foley sounds because we can see the flames and edited in. The combination of sound carries on as we pan up what looks to be a toy, with a young girl holding it. The camera cuts to a close up of her face, it is neutral showing little emotion even though we can see she is in the house, this is cleverly shown by using a light source to flicker on her face to portray the light from fire. In a long shot we see the little girl standing in a living room, we can see she is in a green screen room for this scene due to the line on the bottom edge which shows the line of where the green screen start/ends. The outcome is realistic, and an easier way to have the effect of a house burning. A fire-fighter saves the girl and as she is lifted we see the toy fall, a close up captures it bouncing to the ground which adds to the emotion in the short. The film maker has thought out the detail in the editing as we see as the fireman leaves the walls are burnt and black and they have included having rubble fall down behind them. As the camera pans round outside the house we see the girl being carried out whilst other firemen work on the house behind, a medium close up using the same lighting effect shows the girl being taken away from the house but she still stares with a slight smile which at this point we don't know why. As she receives help from medics we zoom in, her eyes focused on the house, the camera zooms into her eye and the screen goes black.

There is almost a graphic match when the camera then moves left behind a girls head, revealing a classroom. A medium long shot shows a young girl in the classroom that we can assume is the little girl from before as they have similarities. She is then climbing on a play area, it is winter as the sky is dull and there is snow on the floor, she is the only one there and the camera focuses on the actions she makes. She jumps down and kneels on the floor, the camera zooms in. A second graphic match is used to see an older woman, again we can assume this is the same girl, she lifts her head and begins to run there are common running shots used here: hand held close ups, extreme long shots and pans. When the camera pans across the scene changes to a fire-fighter but there face isn't visible they walk across to a group and the camera pans out. There is a final quote at the end 'I have no ambition in this world but one and that is to be a fireman' - Edward F Croker.

Just as you think it is finished, there is one final shot of the fire-fighter, the camera pans in the bow their head to take off the helmet. In a close up we see the young woman and she smiles at the camera as it continues to zoom in on her eyes. We can now see why the little girl at the start was slightly smiling it was at the fire-fighters who saved her and she had a 'burning ambition' to become one.