Name: I Had a Heart Once
Genre: Short, Drama
Released: 2013-07-27
Duration: 7 min
Rating: 7.5
Cast: Rohan Mead

Making a good short film is harder than it sounds. You have to tell a story that should be as effective as watching a feature, only with a tenth of the running time (ideally speaking, 7-12 minutes). Within the first few seconds, you have to capture the audience's attention, or else they'll check out. What usually makes or breaks a short is the script. You can have the best production value and cinematography ever, but if your script sucks, no bells and whistles can hide that.

In this case, "I Had a Heart Once" has an interesting premise, but it plays out in a heavy-handed and uninteresting way. You've seen it before: Struggling protagonist goes off on a monologue about life, which gets intercut with shots of him in his new lifestyle, topped off with a melodramatic soundtrack in the background. It's been done before, and the performance by lead Rohan Mead isn't particularly convincing or moving to pull off the film's emotional angle. I'm not saying this to be harsh. As a film student myself, I understand how difficult it is to make a good short, but I would be lying if I said this was refreshing, new, and bold.

Director Josh Lewis obviously put his time and effort into the film - the cinematography is especially nice - but I can't quite say the film worked. However, that's perfectly fine. Lewis still has many years to learn his craft and to improve as a director.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

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The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

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I Had a Heart Once

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