Short Film Comparison.

Reflection by Sharon Lock (click here)

My Dreams/My Reality by Jon Hardy and James Ward (click here)

Dear Foreigner by Kate Jessop (click here)

All three of these short films have very different stories with different meanings. After watching them, there are two that have obvious similarities. "Reflection" and "Dear Foreigner" are both done in stop motion art work, which I think is a very interesting touch, as the director can clearly portray what he wants in a more natural way. When using actors a director can only do so much of the work, for example you could be filming something very emotional and close to your own heart, but using actors, they wont be able to tap into the exact emotion that you are trying to display, they will be tapping in their own and using their own experiences, which sometimes doesn't have the same impact. If you are creating a piece of art work to make into a short film, you are physically sculpting and crafting using your emotions, the only tool you have is yourself and I think this can be a lot more powerful. 
The fact that all three of the short films have a narration is something I think makes a powerful piece. All three use narration in a different way: song, 1st person narrative and reading a letter, they are all very evocative portrayals and all three have a certain air of social commentary. My Dreams/ My reality and Dear Foreigner deal with much more pressing issues, issues that are extremely prominent in our society which is becoming ever more permissive. Dear Foreigner touches on adoption and parenthood, which is clearly very socially current, however its done in a very tactful way. The narration appears as 1st person narrative, however because its spoken as a letter it distances the audience, this twinned with its almost cheery tone is almost paradoxical to the issue, however displays a sense of innocence which shows a different side of the story, in the sense, often women who give up their children, for whatever reason are shunned slightly in society, however as this woman speaks about her experience in almost poetic language, you cant help but relate to her choices. However much more pressing issues are raised in "My Dreams/My Reality", and the fact that the narration is directly in 1st person really draws on the emotion. She takes the viewer through her own emotional journey and this has a larger impact compared to "Dear Foreigner" although similarly both narrators spoke with a sense of naivety, which seems to impact further. Its touching how the young girl in "My Dreams/My Reality" speaks with such openness and truth, even though the issue of sex trafficking is a bit of a taboo in society, its not widely speculated as its such a disgusting, horrid thing. 
Coincidentally Reflection is about a story of a mans life growing up. Its interesting because it connects really well with the other two films. Reflection shows a child developing through life, in a serious of images, which is incredibly similar to Dear Foreigner, however Reflection is very tame, and the way the director has used stop motion with drawings allows the viewer to relate it to themselves, because by using a drawing, it makes it fairly ambiguous.  Dear Foreigner and My Dreams/My reality are two social extremes, and Reflection perches nicely in the middle, its an honest portrayal of growth and development.