Jury Duty
A nice nod to old school noirs can be refreshing and that’s exactly what makes the short film “Jury Duty” an entertaining – as well being well crafted regarding the cinematography and directing – piece of art that uses every technique that noirs are known to use. It slowly unravels to become a mystery of “who-dun-it?” and the actors performances alone are enough to make the audience guess and make their own assumptions by the end.
The film opens on a character who is a famous actress known as Iris Holliday as she rehearses lines from Romeo and Juliet. She drinks the potion from the famous scene, only to actually die from sulfuric acid poisoning. The rest of the film focuses on three characters giving their testimonies, each one believable in their own way. That aspect alone is fun to watch as each person contributes to a thickening plot. We are the detectives trying to piece together these bits of stories the characters give us. I won’t go into spoilers because I’d rather avoid who reveals certain information. It’s actually really interesting how this is structured and pieced together.
Another thing that really makes this work, besides compelling characters, is the fact they shot on 16mm and 8mm. The film has a very aesthetic look to it that really showcases the love of noirs the filmmakers have been influenced by. One could easily shoot this on digital and make it look like a 16mm, but instead these filmmakers went out of their way and shot on an actual film. Not only does that help embellish the atmosphere, but it makes us really appreciate the passion behind the project. Film is expensive and tends to be more risky to shoot on due to having to get it processed and the risk of having certain shots overexposed or underexposed after pulling off a fun shot.
Not only is it the “film look” that really sales this and brings us into the story, but it’s also the lighting. The lighting draws our attention to certain highlights that can easily be missed if this wasn’t shot in black and white. There’s one scene that I absolutely loved because of the lighting. A character eavesdrops on a conversation between two others and hides behind a wall. The lighting lights up just their eyes and at that moment, we are drawn even more into the characters as it’s more of a moment of conveying emotion through the eyes rather than body movements. I loved it.
The direction really helped make this short film feel like I was watching a hidden gem that I missed in film school during the history part. The fact this is a student film really impressed me as it feels like it’s something much more. The music also draws us in as the story unravels. It definitely helps add to the atmosphere of this short film and helps contribute to each scene and characters. I am interested to see what else this director can do, along with the cast and crew, because all of the elements combined really make this a fun, compelling, mystery.
