When it comes down to making films, it takes a variety of steps and processes in order for it to become the completed film that the audience are able to watch. The 6 typical things a film needs to take into considering are these processes:
Script-writing
Producing
Directing
Cinematography
Sound
Editing
As a class we were given the guardian "How To Make Films" booklet, which consisted of 42 pages. Our task was to condense the information page to 2 pages of important facts and information about filming. I decided to make a leaflet to show all of these 6 processes and explain them in detail with a few pages included too.
Here is the last of the short films that I analysed, which is called "Slinky". This particular short film is about a man called Eddie who is confronted by one of his best friends from school Jeremy, who at first is portrayed as immature and not to have grown up since they past met.
Camera work:
Panning shot from the sky to Eddie
sitting on the bench with a newspaper to sow how sophisticated.
Over the shoulder shot of when Jeremy is
walking past Eddie until he spots Eddie, to shows the audience can see Eddie
before he does.
Close up of Jeremy’s face to show his
immaturity.
Low angle which represents the inner
immaturity of Eddie.
Wide shot allows the viewer to see the
setting of the park, to help heighten the irony as the men are in an
environment that is normally associated with children.
Editing:
Shot-reverse-shot between to the men’s
conversation.
Natural lighting to show off the park,
that it is an environment from children, usually.
Quick cuts from character to character.
Sound:
Birds singing help to reinforce this is
a normal typical day at the park.
Dialogue between each character – at the
beginning Jeremy seems to be the immature one with the high pitch voice to
suggest he is still a child, whereas, Eddie keeps a more controlled deep voice
throughout until the end scene with the slinky.
There is a sound bridge of Eddie's
continuous laughter at the end of the clip whilst he is playing with his
slinky.
By Eddie changing his voice at the end
shows he is letting out his inner child, implying he is just as immature as he
was back at school.
Mise-en-scene:
The light bulb is used usually in
cartoons when someone has the “Eureka” moment, which suggests that Jeremy is
still in the child’s frame of mind as he is on about Scooby doo, which is a
children’s programme.
The difference between the clothes the
two men wear, shows the difference in character and social class status.
The use of the food on the bench has
slight subtleties of making reference to a pack lunch you would make for a
child back in school to help foreshadow the “twist” later on in the clip.
The use of the space hopper vs. the
newspaper again shows the level of maturity between each character
The slinky being involved is the “twist”
to the short film, making it more interesting and turning the tables on who you
think has the higher maturity level.
Conclusion:
Out of all the three that I have watched this was probably my least favourite as the particular message conveyed was rather silly and in a way kind of pointless. I think what the director was trying to express was that inside everyone there is an inner child waiting to get out, no matter how old you are. I believe the director does do this with the use of camera work, editing, sound and miss-en-scene, however, it wasn't really my cup of tea. This could have been down to the amount of dialogue con sited as compared to the other two, they didn't include much in it so it was left to the imagination and how you interpret the clip. Therefore, I think that less is more, as the less dialogue the more effective and dramatic it is. However, I have taken all three short films into consideration and they have helped inspire me and gain some ideas for my own.
Another short film that our teacher told us to look at and analyse was "Umbilical". This short animated film won the Best Animated
Short Film, as well as a variety of other awards back in 2009. This particular
short story tells the tale of a child's connection to the world.
Camera work:
A panning shot is first included to show the umbilical
cord attached to the head of the small child.
The close up of the crayons and the character's drawing help to show that he/she is alone and has no friends so he/she has to draw them inside as they are trapped inside.
Low angle of the child looking up at the window, to suggests that is where she wants to be.
A wide shot is included after you gets shocked from the umbilical cord to show that the character is suffering in the dark, when he/she could be outside having fun.
High angle of the child when he/she realises that they can't get
out, to show that he/she is trapped in a vulnerable position.
Editing:
The use of cuts helps to emphasise the different scenes.
The fact that the clip is animated is different from previous short films as they have been in human. form. Therefore, the animation helps to reflect the main
message that it is a child's story and emphasises the child's imagination.
The fade out at the end to show that the children are "glued" the the TV and that there is no turning back from the new advances in technology.
Sound:
Laughter of the child, express her enjoyment when playing with the ball. This could have a bigger message that Gray was trying to produce suggesting that due to the advance of technology, the simple things in life like playing outside with a ball is being replaced with the "cruelty" of the TV trapping the children inside all day long.
The instruments being played, such as the piano to represent her/his happiness when playing with the ball or when she/he is down and depressed.
Loud music which continues to get louder at the end when the TV is on to imply that technology is evil and "destroying" a child's fun, imagination and child hood.
Mise-en-scene:
Drawings which cover the floor, to suggest that he/she is all alone and has to create imaginary friends to save himself/herself from boredom.
He/she stands on the packet crayons whilst walking back to the TV, to imply that technology now controls children's mind and also symbolises the child's hopes and
dreams have been crushed.
The umbilical cord connected on his/her head restrains her from going any further, to imply that the character is getting held back from her true happiness.
Conclusion: Overall, I think what Rowan Gray was trying to capture the idea that children from this generation are now “attached” or "trapped" to the advance in technologies instead of going outside to play in the fresh air, which is cleverly sybolised by the umbilical cord connected to the TV. I believe this is an extremely clever short film, as it has a deeper message conveyed throughout the animated clip. Although at first glance, the audience may not appreciate what it was made for, the closer you analyse and pick the clip apart, the clearer the understanding to what point Gray was trying to create. On the whole, it shows how something simple can have such an effect on the audience, as the subtleties included unravel a wider meaning.
In today's lesson we watched a short film by Vanessa Caswill called "Pudding Bowl". This particular short film shows a simple story line of nine-year-old protagonist, Ivy who is stuck in 50s British suburbia and loses herself in glamorous images of Hollywood magazines. But when her mother gives her a traumatic Pudding Bowl haircut, her imagination takes flight as she refuses to be cut down by misfortune.
As a class we made a few notes on the camera work, editing, sound and mise-en-scene included in this short film:
Camera work:
Extreme close-up of Ivy to build an instant relationship
with the protagonist as well as building empathy towards her.
Slight low angle shot to make Jack look more superior
than Ivy and having control of the situation.
Close up of the mother preparing their meal to show how
cruel she is
Over the shoulder shot when her brother puts glue in her
hair to create dramatic irony, as the audience are able to see what
is going on whilst Ivy is clueless.
High angle (birds-eye-view) of Ivy after having her
haircut to make her look sinister and suggesting that she is going to
"stand up for herself".
Worms eye view to show the hair falling on the camera to
imply that her dreams of being a beautiful young lady is vanishing before her eyes,
just like her hair being cut away.
Shallow focus shown at the end of the film where the men
are chasing after her on her bike to emphasise Ivy's dream of having men chase
after her due to her beauty.
Editing:
Clock-wipe transition to indicate passing of time whilst
she is getting her hair cut off.
The scissors
signify the mother cutting away her happiness and dreams.
Cuts are done quickly to show how fast Ivy's losing
her dreams as well as her hair.
The blurred effects used
when Ivy takes off her glasses shows her poor eyesight, but that doesn't stop
her.
Panning shot up to the sky to show that is it the
end of the film and that Ivy is aiming high in life.
Credits edited on to show who was involved in
making the short film.
Sound:
A sound bridge to a panning shot of Ivy's magazine pages to show they are an important part to the short film.
Very little dialogue to help the audience's imagination take over.
Pause between the brother speaking to Ivy and her reply, to emphasise her lack of confidence and vulnerability in the situation.
The piano is played when Ivy goes to look at her new hair cut in the mirror, this creates a sad setting and atmosphere which helps make the audience empathise with her.
Upbeat music is included to indicate that Ivy is up to something and cause trouble.
Mise-en-scene:
The lighting of where the brother is siting is in shadow, to signify the idea that he could be "dangerous" or "evil".
The paper being crumpled could suggest the idea that her brother and now her mother are "crumpling" her dreams.
The use of the glue helps to create dramatic irony making the audience feel sympathy for her, as they can't do anything to stop the situation from occurring.
The red dress was consistent to imply she is passionate about her dreams.
The used of the pudding bowl is used as a guideline to cut Ivy's hair as well as reflects back to the title, indicating this is the main story line to the film.
By Ivy's hair being cut in a circle shape portrays her as trapped inside a body she wants to escape from. She aspires to be like one of the women she sees in the magazines she was cutting up at the beginning of the short film.
Conclusion:
Overall, I found this a rather inspirational piece, as although at first glance you may not see the point of the story line but when analysed you can tell the amount of attention to detail has been made to ensure this short film is a success.
During the early 1900's, the majority of western films (and the majority of other genres) were silent, in black and
white, with some English inter-titles.
In today's lesson, as a class discussed the differences between short and featured film. Here is a few bullet point to show what we have come up with...
One of the main differences between a shirt film and a featured film is that a short film, is shorter in duration time compared to a feature length film.
A short film has less cast and crew members than a feature length film would have.
Short films are not as complex than feature length films.
Short films have a much smaller budget than feature length films, which means that they are unable to do the amount of things that a feature film would be able to do and include.
Short films are aimed at niche audience, which is in complete comparison to most feature length films are aimed towards the mass universal market.
In comparison to short films, feature films are more likely to be shown in mainstream cinemas.
Feature films have more opportunities to create franchises, compared to short films.
Short films are generally produced and distributed by less established media institutions.
Short films usually are produced at lower quality.
Short films are more implicit than feature films, due to the fact that they don't have the time state everything that is going on, throughout it all. Therefore, there is less dialogue in the short film, compared to a featured film.
Short film also make less money than featured films.
I thought it would be a good idea to create a list of the typical codes and conventions that you would normally find in a short film to help me when I get started on my transitional piece, which is to create a 1 minute short film before starting our main piece of work for A2. Here is a list of the conventions you would need to follow to create a successful short film:
Characters - these are one of the main conventions included in Short Films, as usually the director tends to stick to 2 or 3 main characters. Being relatively
short in length, short films don’t have time to create a deep back story or history
of the characters involve; therefore, character numbers are kept low to allow the
audience to relate to the characters in the small amount of time.
A "twist" - usually Short Films contain a ‘Twist’ to make the story line is more interesting and have a new dimension to the short clip. Without a "Twist" in a Short Film the story-line would simply be rather boring and have no story to it.
A Low Budget - This is based on the fact that most Short Film Directors are
independent without the sufficient backing in terms of funding. To ensure their budget is low, they stick to one or two locations for their film as well as only using a few actors.
Having such a short film allows costs to be little to nothing in some departments, as some actors will work for free if they really like the story line.
Length - as the name clearly states "short" film, the clip will need to be made in a small amount of time, approximately 5 to 10 minutes usually.
Everyday situations - these particular story lines are created so that the audience are able to relate to them and then somehow the story will be flipped it on its head in some way. This allows the viewer to relate
to the Short Film, but at the same time intriguing the viewer.
Todorov’s Theory of Equilibrium - this is typically applied to Short
Films as a sort of guideline to stick to.
Equilibrium - Everything is Normal
Disequilibrium - A Problem Occurs.
New Equilibrium - Problem is Solved, Everything is back to normal;
However, a change is noticeable.
Welcome to my A2 Media Studies Blog! Before starting my coursework for next year, I will be doing a transitional piece of making a 1 minute short film in "A day in the life of..." This particular piece has to be set in a school environment. We are also allowed to work in pairs, so for this task I am going to work with one of my friends Sofie. Later on, I will be moving on to the main task, which is either to create a promotional music video or a short film. At this moment in time, I am undecided on which task to choose and therefore, I will be doing research into existing short films and music videos and analyse them to help me come to a decision. I will then update my work on here to show the different stages of my work and the progress I am making. Hope you enjoy reading my work:)
