Film is a 2020 Irish Short Film about...well...a film. It is written and directed by Liam Boland.
Or rather, it follows a group of teenagers trying to make a short film called 'Mist'. The writer/director (and it's implied editor as well) Yvonne seems to have a personal connection to the material.
It can be watched here
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Tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Dean the boom operator responds to a reprimand for talking with "was I not supposed to comment on how hot Thalia is?" - prompting said Thalia to burst out laughing.
- Alcoholic Parent: The mother in Yvonne's film revealed to be based off her own mother.
- Almost Kiss: Ty goes in for a kiss while waiting to be collected from Yvonne's house. She pulls away last minute.
- Amateur Film-Making Plot: The group are a bunch of teenagers with aspirations to possibly be filmmakers one day. We don't see enough of the final cut of Mist to know how it turns out - but Yvonne seems quite happy with the results.
- Author Avatar: In-universe. The heroine of Yvonne's film is based off herself.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Yvonne (blonde), Ty (brunet), Kevin (redhead).
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Gender-flipped. Yvonne is the slightly combative and angsty protagonist, grieving for her father. Ty is a kind, nurturing presence who's usually there for her.
- Copiously Credited Creator: In-universe. Yvonne is the writer, director and editor. And after the cameraman leaves, she fills in for him too.
- Disappeared Dad: Yvonne's father appears to have passed away not too long ago.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Everyone seems to become quite close in the process of making the film.
- Gilligan Cut: Yvonne assuring everyone that tomorrow's shoot starting at 9:00 pm "shouldn't take more than an hour". Cut to Dean checking his phone at 12:40.
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Natalie at one point sings comically badly into the microphone.
- Hostility on the Set: In-universe. Yvonne clashes with her cameraman Kevin.
- Ironic Echo: Early on, Yvonne jokes that Ty "knows nothing" about film. Later when she's worrying about how it'll turn out, he reassures her that since he apparently knows nothing about film, he won't notice if it's bad.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Kevin the cameraman ignores Yvonne's direction in the first scene based off something he saw in a YouTube video essay.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Kevin's rage quit is motivated by the fact that Yvonne has kept them filming for longer than the planned hour, and she ignored his suggestion to do it with only one shot - and she's kept them so long, the memory card is out of space.
- Last Minute Hook Up: The last part of the film is Yvonne sitting next to Ty and Holding Hands, implying they might become a couple.
- Letting Her Hair Down: Done the other way around. Yvonne's hair is down at the start, but it's worn up as she gets more stressed. After completing the film, it's now partly down again. Notably in a picture from when her dad was still around, her hair is down too.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: The actress playing the alcoholic mother in Mist seems nice and friendly out of character.
- My Girl Is Not a Slut: The girl in Yvonne's film slut shames her mother for bringing different men home every night.
- My God, What Have I Done?: In a flashback to an argument with her mother, a bottle gets smashed on the floor and the mother is seen looking horrified at their row.
- Oh, Crap!: Both Dean and Natalie have this reaction when the memory card gets full during a scene taking forever to film.
- Platonic Declaration of Love: When the film wraps, Yvonne sincerely tells her friends that she loves them.
- Precision F-Strike: Yvonne shouts "fuck you!" at Kevin when he quits.
- Prima Donna Director: Downplayed. Yvonne is quite hostile to some of her crew, and the cameraman walks out after a scene planned to take an hour still isn't done after midnight. But everyone seems to enjoy making the film.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The protagonist of Mist delivers one to her mother intercut with Yvonne delivering the same to her mother in real life.
- Romance on the Set: In-universe. There's an attraction between Yvonne and Ty, her assistant.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Kevin walks off the film after a scene takes forever to film, and Yvonne refuses to listen to his opinions.
- Security Cling: Yvonne hugs Ty as she worries about whether the film will work or not.
- Set Behind the Scenes: Following the director and crew members, the story focuses on their attempts to shoot the film.
- Slice of Life: The story is just observing the filmmaking process and getting to know the characters.
- Those Two Guys: Dean and Natalie, the two sound people. They're always together and with their own in-jokes. They also notice the attraction forming between Yvonne and Ty where no one else does.
- Tsundere: While Yvonne is a little angry and stressed out, there are moments where she is laughing and joking with her friends too.
- Two Girls to a Team: Besides the actresses, Yvonne's crew has her and Natalie, with three boys.
- Wag the Director: In-universe. Kevin changes a shot impulsively because he thinks it looks better, earning him a reprimand from Yvonne.
- When She Smiles: Yvonne is usually stressed out or flashing Kubrick Stares at her crew. But whenever she's happy, particularly when they finally wrap, Kate Feehily smiles in a way that lights her whole face up.
