Pitch Black Heist
Pitch Black Heist (John Maclean, 2011) is a 13 minute long short film about 2 thieves who plan with another unknown person to rob a safe in a London Office guarded by a light sensitive alarm system meaning they must learn the layout of the office off by heart. We see the 2 robbers learning the layout at the beginning and the younger of the 2 doesn’t seem to like the older one. As time goes on while they are waiting for a phone call, the two bond over music, smoking, drinking and arm wrestling.
They get the phone call and they head to the office. They set up their equipment and they go in. The lights were off and the two robbers make their way to the safe following the route they memorised beforehand. Once they get there, Michael cracks the safe and takes out what is inside. Liam (Played by Liam Cunningham who is the older robber) gets lost in the office and Michael (Played by Michael Fassbender who is the younger robber) lights a cigarette activating the alarm. He then escapes as he memorised the route and leaves Liam behind to take the fall.
The short film won a BAFTA for the best short film in 2012. One way to interpret the twist at the end of the film is that Liam is Michael’s father who left when he was young and this is Michael’s way of getting revenge. The film was noticeably shot in black and white which is a choice from the director rather than a lack of technology.
The sound in the film is important especially in scenes like the actual heist where the screen is pitch black. This means the sound has the role of telling the audience what is happening. The short film is quite comedic which is achieved through jump cuts and performance. The comedic performance is done through the juxtaposing characters. Michael is quiet and sensible while Liam is loud and immature.