Validation is a light hearted and uplifting romantic short film about a man who validates tickets and gives free compliments with them. He meets a photographer who opposes his happy views and slowly wares him to depression. However after he becomes himself again he helps people to smile and unaware of his actions helps the girl he loves smile again.
The film is shot all in black and white and has many comedic elements throughout. It is uplifting with a satisfying ending and has won many short film awards. The black and white is significant due to the 'colourfulness' of the main character who throughout the film pleases everyone who he comes into contact with. There are a lot of over the shoulder shots and straight forward mid shots that show expression of the characters as Validation focuses so much on emotion and expression throughout.
The two main characters above are cleverly designed to give opposition to each other. They work in opposite jobs and, at the start have opposite emotions. Throughout the film we see the mise en scene revolves around the media. Photography props are used within some of the scenes and the globe of the universal studios logo is used to show the mediated symbolism that the sincere smiles of photography represent when the main character complements people for pictures and inevitably leads to the girl he loves.
Altogether the film is a great short that shows the uplifting and dramatic side that drama shorts need as well as a narrative that suits the short genre. From a filmic view Validation cleverly constructs shots to give the most drama they can and gives a fast paced edit to keep the audience within the film.
