The Ghosts Eddie O’Keefe

The Ghosts This short film is about when a mysterious

gang rolls into town and a young girl falls into that momentous kind of love that only hits the naïve in this homage to the rough and tumble 1950’s.

It reminds the audience of films like grease but with more of an air of mystery. Where did the ghosts come from? What are they here for? And are they actually ghosts? These questions go unanswered as well as the question who is the girl in the narrative voice overs.

The Ghosts The film starts like an old movie in a

cinema; instantly telling the audience the time period in which the short film is set.

The director has used a montage of old black and white clips, with the voice over linking them all together and telling the story.

The only sound is the voice over and the sound of the crackling film.

The Ghosts Because there is no speech expect from the

voice over, it can be hard to get an understanding of all the characters but O’Keefe does this perfectly by using changes in music for example, when ‘The Ghosts’ arrive a more fast pace music starts telling the audience they are different to everyone else. Furthermore when a new character is introduced the shot freezes and text appears like a collectable card telling the audience there best and worst attributes.

The Ghosts The use of shot reverse shot is used to create a

western feel to the ending of the ghosts. O’Keefe also used binary opposites with the two gangs

but like many short films there is a twist and the person with the gun is not the one you expected, showing that just because you look clean cut doesn’t mean you are

As the action is taking place at the end, the film jumps between the present and when the boy and girl where together. Illustrating to the audience this was all she was, which is highlighted by the fact that the audience never know what the girl’s name was and who was the girl in the voice over was.