Review of Ten Minutes: The Film Makers Guide

Introduction

Ten Minutes is a short film made in 2003, but only just having made it to DVD. Ten Minutes set out to fulfill the challenging task of producing a glossy Hollywood look on a shoestring budget of only £20,000.

The story focuses on a young editor-in-chief of a magazine (Nick Moran), who, after finding he has broken the CD containing all the pictures for the next edition, struggles to beat the ten minute deadline to printing. However, the unique selling point of the DVD is that it includes substantial behind-the-scenes action and interviews aimed at educating the viewer on the making of a low budget short.

Video

Much is made during the documentary about the making of Ten Minutes of the effort made to create a high budget look, and it works. The lighting, camera action and set design all lead the viewer into believing the film is a quality production. The video quality is likewise surprisingly good: the level of detail is consistently high, and the colours and black levels remain strong in the night time scenes which form the bulk of the movie.

Audio

The Dolby track is, like the picture quality, a very satisfactory affair with good separation amongst the speakers and clear dialogue throughout with no sign of background hiss. I did think that the track lacked some impact in the louder scenes (mainly the last scene), but as this is a budget film I wasn`t too disappointed by this.

Features

The extras is where the disc contains most of its value. A lot of effort has been made in documenting the filmmaking process - obviously with the intention of releasing this DVD. The documentary is by all accounts an outstanding insight into the making of the film, clocking in at nearly 50mins long. A narration of sorts is provided by various members of the cast and crew, and footage is shown right from preproduction all the way until the premiere at Cannes. Everyone involved is very honest and informative about the process, and the documentary is blissfully free of star egos who only just gush at their cohorts.

Likewise, the interviews included are all-encompassing, and involve everyone from the Heads of Department and director, to the marketing manager at Kodak who helped source the film stock for Ten Minutes. The running time for each varies, but all are pretty meaty pieces that run on for ten, twenty minutes, or more.

Finally, the film`s trailer is included, along with `resources` of interest, such as the call sheet. Overall, an outstanding range of extras.

Conclusion

Ten Minutes is a short, and as such it is rare to find it on its own without being accompanied by other shorts to flesh out the DVD. However, this disc is most impressive using the documentary and interviews as a tool for teaching viewers about the budget filmmaking process - and the quotes on the casing in fact states this. As a film, Ten Minutes is an entertaining affair that cracks along at a good pace thanks to its simple, pressure-driven plot and cameos from recognisable actors. The movie does seem to fall away slightly at the end as Nick Moran`s harangued character seems to act inexplicably odd, but otherwise it is a quality script with very impressive production values for its budget.

If the film provided good return for its investment, the DVD surpasses that with an amazing number of extras to look behind the making of the films. I highly recommend this DVD for anyone with the remotest interest in short films or the filmmaking process in general.