The way in which people access media has changed. Now we have a number of products that converge different types of media together so that you can do everything you need to in one place or on one device, examples of popular convergences are,
Modern Phones
Apple iPhone- Applications, Internet, Messaging, Calling, Games, Music, Videos, Camera, Pictures.
Blackberry- Internet, Applications, Messenger, Calling, Games, Music, Bluetooth, Camera, Picture.
Game Consoles
PS3- Games, TV, Music player, Internet, Pictures.
XBOX- Internet, Games, TV.
Wii- Internet, Games.
Dsi- Games, Camera.
CD/DVD Players
-DVD, Music, Online music,Bluetooth, Games, iPOD player.
Digital TV boxes
SKY, Virgin Media, Talk Talk- TV, on demand TV, Games, Internet, Recording.
Friday, 29 January 2010
Sport Short Films
Mountain film festivals specialise in adventure and environmental short films and are held all over the UK.
The Edinburgh mountain film festival (EMFF) runs over 4 days in October and enlightens outdoor enthusiasts with short films on outdoor sports like rock climbing, ski-ing, snow boarding and kayaks.
To enter your film for the competition you have to fill out the online form and then send your film on DVD or VHS to the given address. The prize for the best film is £250 and for the best climbing film their is a prize of £150.
This film was shown at the 2009 festival based on climbing in Morocco.
The Edinburgh mountain film festival (EMFF) runs over 4 days in October and enlightens outdoor enthusiasts with short films on outdoor sports like rock climbing, ski-ing, snow boarding and kayaks.
To enter your film for the competition you have to fill out the online form and then send your film on DVD or VHS to the given address. The prize for the best film is £250 and for the best climbing film their is a prize of £150.
This film was shown at the 2009 festival based on climbing in Morocco.
The Short Film Industry
Development Stage:
The development of a short film is a very important stage in the making, the way in which the story is told is the key to its success. Planning periods of short films are extended and reworked to meet the demands of different investors.
Production Stage:
Coffee films is a British independent short film production company established in 2003, since 2004 they have released 7 short films. 'Last of the Scottish wildcats', 'Under same sky', 'A plaster, a paper and a cheese & pickle sandwich', 'Jake Stigers; Out of Idaho', '3', 'How to disappear completely' and 'Televisual man'.
There work has one them the title of Europe's best young film production companies. The company is made up of senior staff, 6 producers/directors and 12 contributes.
Exhibition Stage:
Atom formerly known as Atom Films is an American website that showcases comedy media eg) television programmes, sketches and comedy shorts. They in the last ten years have used there power to find talented new film makers to show there work on the Internet. Atom are not only using the Internet as there innovative platform but also are have there own late night slot every Monday at 2.30am on the comedy channel 'Comedy Central' with a series called 'Atom TV'. Audiences can watch these short films on here televisions, Internet, mobile phones and iPods.
Distribution:
Short films rarely secure distribution deals but a popular and profitable way of distributing is by selling compilation short film DVDs like 'Cinema16'.
'Cinema16' is a compilation DVD that showcases award winning shorts and classics that are impossible to find. Most of the films have commentaries from their directors and there are 3 types of DVDs,
1)CINEMA16-AMERICAN SHORT FILMS
2)CINEMA16-EUROPEAN SHORT FILMS
3)CINEMA16- BRITISH SHORT FILMS
You can buy these DVDs on the website and http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/distribution/dvd#compilations
Also gave some links to some good DVD compilations, 'Best V Best' is a short film DVD with a combination of award winning films from around the globe. You can buy there DVD from this website http://www.britfilms.com/newsandevents/bestvsbest/
Another distribution technique is through free magazine giveaways.
The development of a short film is a very important stage in the making, the way in which the story is told is the key to its success. Planning periods of short films are extended and reworked to meet the demands of different investors.
Production Stage:
Coffee films is a British independent short film production company established in 2003, since 2004 they have released 7 short films. 'Last of the Scottish wildcats', 'Under same sky', 'A plaster, a paper and a cheese & pickle sandwich', 'Jake Stigers; Out of Idaho', '3', 'How to disappear completely' and 'Televisual man'.
There work has one them the title of Europe's best young film production companies. The company is made up of senior staff, 6 producers/directors and 12 contributes.
Exhibition Stage:
Atom formerly known as Atom Films is an American website that showcases comedy media eg) television programmes, sketches and comedy shorts. They in the last ten years have used there power to find talented new film makers to show there work on the Internet. Atom are not only using the Internet as there innovative platform but also are have there own late night slot every Monday at 2.30am on the comedy channel 'Comedy Central' with a series called 'Atom TV'. Audiences can watch these short films on here televisions, Internet, mobile phones and iPods.
Distribution:
Short films rarely secure distribution deals but a popular and profitable way of distributing is by selling compilation short film DVDs like 'Cinema16'.
'Cinema16' is a compilation DVD that showcases award winning shorts and classics that are impossible to find. Most of the films have commentaries from their directors and there are 3 types of DVDs,
1)CINEMA16-AMERICAN SHORT FILMS
2)CINEMA16-EUROPEAN SHORT FILMS
3)CINEMA16- BRITISH SHORT FILMS
You can buy these DVDs on the website and http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/distribution/dvd#compilations
Also gave some links to some good DVD compilations, 'Best V Best' is a short film DVD with a combination of award winning films from around the globe. You can buy there DVD from this website http://www.britfilms.com/newsandevents/bestvsbest/
Another distribution technique is through free magazine giveaways.
Short Film Festivals
Short film festivals are a great way of getting your films shown, there are festivals held all over the UK and worldwide. There are many different types of festivals with different entry requirements eg) Student film festivals, extreme sport film festivals and short documentary festivals. When coming up with ideas for a short film you must consider your target audience and type of short film as you may only be able to enter into certain festivals, the entering process can be quite a long process but could be worth it in the long run.
Entering short film competitions-
Release and promotions strategy.Some festival websites have an online application that you have to fill out before hand, then the festival will contact you if you have been successful and then you will have to send out your short film. You will have to edit our short film to make sure it meets the specific entry requirements and work hard on the packaging of the film, you should use photo-quality paper for a DVD cover with a short blurb on the back along with your contact details and name of the festival or competition you are entering. You should also write a detailed letter to go along with your film that includes information about yourself and you cast and crew and information that would go in a press release for your film. Making sure you do these things will give you a better chance of being considered.
Legal requirements-
"1. Music. If you plan on charging for your film, entering it into contests or festivals (different contests/festivals do set slightly different rules) or any other profit/official distribution, you must use your own music, use royalty free music or get the artists permission (must be in written form, not verbal). This may apply regardless of your intent with the film. You may have to do this just to post it online. Check into local laws as well.
2. Actors/Actresses. Make sure you look into getting the right legal forms for employing/using actors in your film as this may also vary by State.
3. If you plan to use a script that is of your own concept, get it copyrighted. If you plan to use a royalty free script, make sure you fill out the forms/purchase it correctly.
4. When filming in public, make sure you follow the rules when it comes to liability. When doing still photography for example, if the person in the background is identifiable, you must have their written permission on a photo release form before using that photograph."
Web Cinemas-
When my short film is finished I may think about submitting it to a web cinema, here are some examples of websites that may except it,
www.ifilm.com
www.exposure.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork
Film Festivals
Sundance-
The Sundance film festival started this year on the 21st of January til the 31st of January in Park City, Utah, United States of America. It is a festival showcasing the best U.S Documentaries, U.S dramatic, World cinema documentary, World cinema dramatics. The Sundance festival is a American/ International higher class festival aimed at professional short film makers.
To apply you fill out an application online but also make a payment towards it, there are 3 entry dates,
Early entry= $35-$45
Official entry= $50-$75
Late entry= $75-$100
Exposures Festival-
The Exposures film festival is over 3 day and starts from the 17th of November to the 19th, it is based in Manchester, England and accepts work made by students who are studying at a UK institution between August 2009- July 2010. Exposure is a UK wide festival for students and new talent. There is also a smaller festival by the same organisation called 'Underexposed' which is specifically for under 19's.
Edinburgh Film festival-
This is an International film festival showcasing short films and feature length films, it is over 13 days from the 16th-27th of June. Some of the awards are,
Standard life audience award
Best documentary
Best British short film
Skillset new directors award
To submit your short film to the festival you have to fill out a online form from there website and post your DVD screener along with it. Just like Sundance there are 3 deadlines with different prices to pay,
Early Bird £20
Regular £30
Late £35
This does not include short animation, experimental and Scottish short documentaries that are under 20 minutes as they are free to submit. All films cannot be older than 12 months by June 2010 and cash prize awards are given to winners of the categories from around £1,000 to £20,000.
http://www.withoutabox.com/ is a website where you can submit your film to all film festivals in different continents in one go instead of picking individual festivals. On this site you can complete a one form along with uploading your film trailers and promoting your films. Film festivals can also use this website to manage their festival ticket sales and submissions.
Entering short film competitions-
Release and promotions strategy.Some festival websites have an online application that you have to fill out before hand, then the festival will contact you if you have been successful and then you will have to send out your short film. You will have to edit our short film to make sure it meets the specific entry requirements and work hard on the packaging of the film, you should use photo-quality paper for a DVD cover with a short blurb on the back along with your contact details and name of the festival or competition you are entering. You should also write a detailed letter to go along with your film that includes information about yourself and you cast and crew and information that would go in a press release for your film. Making sure you do these things will give you a better chance of being considered.
Legal requirements-
"1. Music. If you plan on charging for your film, entering it into contests or festivals (different contests/festivals do set slightly different rules) or any other profit/official distribution, you must use your own music, use royalty free music or get the artists permission (must be in written form, not verbal). This may apply regardless of your intent with the film. You may have to do this just to post it online. Check into local laws as well.
2. Actors/Actresses. Make sure you look into getting the right legal forms for employing/using actors in your film as this may also vary by State.
3. If you plan to use a script that is of your own concept, get it copyrighted. If you plan to use a royalty free script, make sure you fill out the forms/purchase it correctly.
4. When filming in public, make sure you follow the rules when it comes to liability. When doing still photography for example, if the person in the background is identifiable, you must have their written permission on a photo release form before using that photograph."
Web Cinemas-
When my short film is finished I may think about submitting it to a web cinema, here are some examples of websites that may except it,
www.ifilm.com
www.exposure.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork
Film Festivals
Sundance-
The Sundance film festival started this year on the 21st of January til the 31st of January in Park City, Utah, United States of America. It is a festival showcasing the best U.S Documentaries, U.S dramatic, World cinema documentary, World cinema dramatics. The Sundance festival is a American/ International higher class festival aimed at professional short film makers.
To apply you fill out an application online but also make a payment towards it, there are 3 entry dates,
Early entry= $35-$45
Official entry= $50-$75
Late entry= $75-$100
Exposures Festival-
The Exposures film festival is over 3 day and starts from the 17th of November to the 19th, it is based in Manchester, England and accepts work made by students who are studying at a UK institution between August 2009- July 2010. Exposure is a UK wide festival for students and new talent. There is also a smaller festival by the same organisation called 'Underexposed' which is specifically for under 19's.
Edinburgh Film festival-
This is an International film festival showcasing short films and feature length films, it is over 13 days from the 16th-27th of June. Some of the awards are,
Standard life audience award
Best documentary
Best British short film
Skillset new directors award
To submit your short film to the festival you have to fill out a online form from there website and post your DVD screener along with it. Just like Sundance there are 3 deadlines with different prices to pay,
Early Bird £20
Regular £30
Late £35
This does not include short animation, experimental and Scottish short documentaries that are under 20 minutes as they are free to submit. All films cannot be older than 12 months by June 2010 and cash prize awards are given to winners of the categories from around £1,000 to £20,000.
http://www.withoutabox.com/ is a website where you can submit your film to all film festivals in different continents in one go instead of picking individual festivals. On this site you can complete a one form along with uploading your film trailers and promoting your films. Film festivals can also use this website to manage their festival ticket sales and submissions.
Friday, 22 January 2010
Short Film Analysis- Goodbye To The Normals
Goodbye to the normals is a short film added onto a Robbie Williams song, This relates back to Rubber Johnny in 2005 as they both emerged from music videos. 'Goodbye to the normals' stars and was made in 2007.
I'm going to analyse mise-en-scene in this short film. The first shot is of a man dressed in a suit walking out of his car towards his house where his partner meets him with a kiss. We can tell the man is a well off business man as his fancy car is on the right hand of the screen and he is carrying a briefcase in his hand. The couple both walk into the house and there is a long shot of the shut door and outside of the house. Next is a black screen with the text 'Goodbye to the normals' in white writing which zooms outwards giving it a Hollywood blockbuster look which could be a pun as this is only a short film.
Next to set the scene we see a close up of a teddy bear on a chair, the main colours are reds, browns, yellows and cream in the scene, setting a very comfortable, homely and warm atmosphere this is ironic as the little boy is then sat down saying that he is leaving home. We get a close up of the man talking to his son 'Magnus' then the camera cuts to him sitting on a big chair re-enforcing the fact that he is too young to be leaving home. We then see an over the shoulder shot of the two was they are having a conversation but the son is talking to his father as if he is an adult.
Next is a medium shot of the son sitting in a lounge chair with a little ragged suitcase by his side and a big backpack on his back but he seems very stern and prepared to leave, his shoes are undone but he says he is "Ready to leave" which is comical for audiences. The camera then switches between close ups and over the shoulder shots during the conversation.
The mother then walks into the room and there is a medium shot of the mother and father, she is wearing a blue shirt which contrasts with the rooms red and yellow colours suggesting that she is a more cooling person, she then speaks softly and offers the son a sandwich, he asks if they are fair trade and she says they are organic and he then reply's "is that what I asked you?" and we see a close up of the mothers expression, she looks hurt but does as she is told. The audience are now confuse as too why the parents are letting him go.
We then cut to a low angle shot of the little boy empathising his size by the mum and dads arms higher at each side of the shot. They say goodbye by shaking hands. Then a high angle shot from the boys perspective, we see a medium shot of the mum and dad saying goodbye. Next the camera is at the boys level and he runs off down the road, the camera then tilts upwards and we watch a long shot off him run off to the distance, the camera then cuts to a medium shot of his parents watching him anxiously. The camera cuts back to the boy then back to the parents and then we see a wide shot of the boy turn around after a build up of tension, he then smiles and starts running back, the Robbie Williams song then starts.
A shot of the parents look relieved then is shown and they bend down with their arms out waiting for their son to run to them, the camera then cuts back to the boy running right past his parents and into the house. The parents then stand up with the camera tilting with them, they look confused and the camera cuts back to the low angle shot of the road, we hear a diagetic bang of the front door and the boy then says "I forgot my f***ing passport" and runs back off into the distance then the camera cuts back to the parents looking angry and upset.
The credits then run and we still see the little boy running and then fades to black with the Robbie Williams song plays on.
This short film was funny and showed me how you can build up suspense and then break it effectively. I would like to do a comical short film but will consider other options as the actors have a big role in the comical side of things.
Short Film on TV
The 21st century changes how short films are broadcasted, in the 1960's and 70's TV provided short films for minority viewing scheduled into 'fillers' and late night slots. An example of this is from the 90's when BBC 2 aired a series '10X10' which was in association with the BFI who showcased short films.
'Video Nation' was launched on BBC in 1993, this was a populist mass observation on the close up straight to camera. Video cameras became cheaper and smaller. The video diary was to influence the generation of reality TV online in 2001.
People are able to upload videos of themselves or other talking about a variety of issues. They are filmed in a home video style, on the website I found a feature dedicated to teenagers called 'Talking Teens' this has videos by teens talking about issues that effect us, here is an example,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/videonation/articles/m/manchester_braces.shtml
Another short film channel is an online 2 digital cable speciality short film channel 'MOVIEOLA' headquartered in Toronto launched in 2001. The channel displays the best in short films from every genre the website has a section for films that are 'coming soon' just like a real cinema would.
'Angry Kid' is a great example of a short film that emerged from mobile phones to TV. It first started as a video that school children and workplaces shared around via bluetooth with friends and now is played late night on BBC 3 and Dave. It is an animation series about an angry teenage boy and has shorts about different scenarios in his life.
'Video Nation' was launched on BBC in 1993, this was a populist mass observation on the close up straight to camera. Video cameras became cheaper and smaller. The video diary was to influence the generation of reality TV online in 2001.
People are able to upload videos of themselves or other talking about a variety of issues. They are filmed in a home video style, on the website I found a feature dedicated to teenagers called 'Talking Teens' this has videos by teens talking about issues that effect us, here is an example,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/videonation/articles/m/manchester_braces.shtml
Another short film channel is an online 2 digital cable speciality short film channel 'MOVIEOLA' headquartered in Toronto launched in 2001. The channel displays the best in short films from every genre the website has a section for films that are 'coming soon' just like a real cinema would.
'Angry Kid' is a great example of a short film that emerged from mobile phones to TV. It first started as a video that school children and workplaces shared around via bluetooth with friends and now is played late night on BBC 3 and Dave. It is an animation series about an angry teenage boy and has shorts about different scenarios in his life.
Video Activism
Video Activism= Short films as an agent of social change.
Video activism has a symbolic relationship with short film as they are short, to the point and deliver a message that someone is passionate about. Company's like Greenpeace and Amnesty International commission specialist short films.
Protest groups use 'Witness video' as a common stragedy to show viewers reality, for example Fox hunting, animal testing, whaling and the brutal beating of Rodney King by police officers in America.
Video activism is an area that interested me so I looked on the internet to find some more examples of videos and found that 'Michael Moore' was a well known video activist and I found these short films by him,
By looking at these short films I have realised that when making my own I don't have to stick to the usual content of a film but can use my thoughts on what is going on in the world today and shoot a short documentary or even use animation.
Video activism has a symbolic relationship with short film as they are short, to the point and deliver a message that someone is passionate about. Company's like Greenpeace and Amnesty International commission specialist short films.
Protest groups use 'Witness video' as a common stragedy to show viewers reality, for example Fox hunting, animal testing, whaling and the brutal beating of Rodney King by police officers in America.
Video activism is an area that interested me so I looked on the internet to find some more examples of videos and found that 'Michael Moore' was a well known video activist and I found these short films by him,
By looking at these short films I have realised that when making my own I don't have to stick to the usual content of a film but can use my thoughts on what is going on in the world today and shoot a short documentary or even use animation.
Protest and Free cinema
This type of cinema was post war 1950's it was a protest/movement against the dominance of the mainstream.
Free Cinema= A black and white documentary, fly on the wall type of film which are mainly short length. They have style and attitude and have an experimental approach to sound. The films would feature working class people at work in society and were funded by the BFI experimental film fund.
Protest and free cinema films had a shoe string budget so were usually filmed handheld using 16mm Bolex cameras by an unpaid crew. In film different sizes of camera films are used for example for protest and free cinema, a 8mm or 16mm camera would be used as they are for a home movie quality whereas a 35mm would be the industry's standard eg)for still photography and feature length movies and a 52mm would be used in the IMAX cinemas.
We are the Lambeth boys
This short film was by Karl Reis made in 1959, this was a documentary on society and people, modern versions of this are 'The Family' on Channel 4 and '7 Up' on BBC where they would visit and film a group of people every 7 years to examine there progress in life.
Free Cinema= A black and white documentary, fly on the wall type of film which are mainly short length. They have style and attitude and have an experimental approach to sound. The films would feature working class people at work in society and were funded by the BFI experimental film fund.
Protest and free cinema films had a shoe string budget so were usually filmed handheld using 16mm Bolex cameras by an unpaid crew. In film different sizes of camera films are used for example for protest and free cinema, a 8mm or 16mm camera would be used as they are for a home movie quality whereas a 35mm would be the industry's standard eg)for still photography and feature length movies and a 52mm would be used in the IMAX cinemas.
We are the Lambeth boys
This short film was by Karl Reis made in 1959, this was a documentary on society and people, modern versions of this are 'The Family' on Channel 4 and '7 Up' on BBC where they would visit and film a group of people every 7 years to examine there progress in life.
Experimental/Avant Garde/Arthouse film
Avant Garde- "any creative group active in the innovation and application of new concepts and techniques in a given field (especially in the arts)" http://www.thefreedictionary.com/avant-garde
Art House cinema- "A film intended to be a serious artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal."
These types of films were created as short film could not compete with Hollywood/Mainstream cinema so it found its own home as art.
'Maya Deren' is an example of an avant garde film maker, she made experimental films in the 40's-60's which displayed a highly individualistic sensibility towards short film
"Meshes of the afternoon" was a start for American avant garde film making using surrealism and manipulation of time and space. Her use of anti mainstream sets a stance in her "artistic license and creative freedom"
Art House cinema- "A film intended to be a serious artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal."
These types of films were created as short film could not compete with Hollywood/Mainstream cinema so it found its own home as art.
'Maya Deren' is an example of an avant garde film maker, she made experimental films in the 40's-60's which displayed a highly individualistic sensibility towards short film
"Meshes of the afternoon" was a start for American avant garde film making using surrealism and manipulation of time and space. Her use of anti mainstream sets a stance in her "artistic license and creative freedom"
Monday, 18 January 2010
Short Film Analysis- Alienated
Alienated is an 2.50 minute animated short film created by Hertfordshire University students, they entered the short film into the short film festival in London http://www.shortfilms.org.uk/. This personally is my favourite short film along with 'About a girl'.
The first shot we see is a wide shot of the main character AL who is an animated alien, the short film is a video diary for him and the camera acts as a documentary on him. In the first shot the character is blue and is sitting on a sofa in a front room, the colours are neutral and fresh, light purples and creams. Next there is a close up of Al talking and on the bottom left hand corner of the screen text says "Day 1, Al's house", the camera shots switch from close ups to medium shots of Al throughout the conversation giving the audience an idea of the characters feelings. The shot then cuts too 2 portrait pictures and then a still of Al and his family pushing him away, this is playing on what Al is saying as he says he has a lot of friends.
The screen then goes black and the setting changes to a medium shot of outside Al's house, the lighting looks like natural sunlight. Next Al is at a bus stop and we get a wide shot with a car driving past and the bus stop on the other side of the road. The setting has been filmed realistically but the animated character has been placed in the real life scene. Next there is a close up of Al's face wearing a joke mask. The colours of the setting are greens, whites and blues they very peaceful and set a relaxing mood.
After the bus stop shot the setting moves to a still long shot of outside a job centre, we see Al walk in. Then we see a shot of out side Al's house but it is in a sepia tone of colour ad then inside his front room also changes to a darker tone of lighting but we see the same wide shot of Al sitting on the sofa. He then picks up a remote control and turns on the TV this changes the lighting to a purple glow. The shot then fades into Al lying on the sofa, showing that time is passing.
Then Al gets up when you hear an advert from the TV talking about an exciting theme park, a close up of Al is shown. The screen fades to black then there is a scene of Al again outside a theme park, the sky is bright blue with white clouds with a colourful building behind with red and yellow painting. You can see real people moving around in the background with non-diagetic sounds of there talking along with a louder audio of Al's conversation. Next there is a long shot of the outside of Thorpe Park with Al walking across the shot and into the park, then we have him taking a picture with 2 young boys with his arms around both of them.
The short film ends with a non diagetic photo flash sound and then a shot of a Polaroid picture of Al and the two boys, with text saying "alienated, the end". Sound in the film is non-diagetic, starting with a jazz like music introduction and then Al's dialogue and an interviewers dialogue, in the outside scenes we here cars moving and a car beeping sound effects along with screams when Al walks into the job centre. When Al is watching TV there is non-diagetic sound of known TV programmes that change when he changes the channel. The film then ends with the same jazz soundtrack.
The first shot we see is a wide shot of the main character AL who is an animated alien, the short film is a video diary for him and the camera acts as a documentary on him. In the first shot the character is blue and is sitting on a sofa in a front room, the colours are neutral and fresh, light purples and creams. Next there is a close up of Al talking and on the bottom left hand corner of the screen text says "Day 1, Al's house", the camera shots switch from close ups to medium shots of Al throughout the conversation giving the audience an idea of the characters feelings. The shot then cuts too 2 portrait pictures and then a still of Al and his family pushing him away, this is playing on what Al is saying as he says he has a lot of friends.
The screen then goes black and the setting changes to a medium shot of outside Al's house, the lighting looks like natural sunlight. Next Al is at a bus stop and we get a wide shot with a car driving past and the bus stop on the other side of the road. The setting has been filmed realistically but the animated character has been placed in the real life scene. Next there is a close up of Al's face wearing a joke mask. The colours of the setting are greens, whites and blues they very peaceful and set a relaxing mood.
After the bus stop shot the setting moves to a still long shot of outside a job centre, we see Al walk in. Then we see a shot of out side Al's house but it is in a sepia tone of colour ad then inside his front room also changes to a darker tone of lighting but we see the same wide shot of Al sitting on the sofa. He then picks up a remote control and turns on the TV this changes the lighting to a purple glow. The shot then fades into Al lying on the sofa, showing that time is passing.
Then Al gets up when you hear an advert from the TV talking about an exciting theme park, a close up of Al is shown. The screen fades to black then there is a scene of Al again outside a theme park, the sky is bright blue with white clouds with a colourful building behind with red and yellow painting. You can see real people moving around in the background with non-diagetic sounds of there talking along with a louder audio of Al's conversation. Next there is a long shot of the outside of Thorpe Park with Al walking across the shot and into the park, then we have him taking a picture with 2 young boys with his arms around both of them.
The short film ends with a non diagetic photo flash sound and then a shot of a Polaroid picture of Al and the two boys, with text saying "alienated, the end". Sound in the film is non-diagetic, starting with a jazz like music introduction and then Al's dialogue and an interviewers dialogue, in the outside scenes we here cars moving and a car beeping sound effects along with screams when Al walks into the job centre. When Al is watching TV there is non-diagetic sound of known TV programmes that change when he changes the channel. The film then ends with the same jazz soundtrack.
Short Film Analysis- About a girl
About a girl-
About a girl was created in 2001, it was written by Julie Butterford and cinematography by Geoff Boyle. The budget for the 9 minute,50 second short film was 33,000. There are 102 shots and 92 flashbacks. I enjoyed the content of this short film and the way it was shot, the build up of tension is clever and the ending is sharp and hits the audience straight away.
The title of the film is a play on the 'About a Boy' title, this is opposing a blockbuster movie as there is a massive contrast between the two films. The text is appealing to a youth audience as the design of the text is like an sms message, this draws in the target audience immediately.
The framing of the first shot is a silhouette on of a girl on the right hand side of the screen dancing in a field, this is maybe showing the type of life she dreams of having, her standing on top of the hill makes her feel superior as there is a low angle shot of her.
The pretty greenery in the background shows escapism but the dark clouds are pathetic fallacy as something bad may happen. The Britney Spears song she is singing is ironic as she grew up to fast, from a pure innocent girl to a sexy image. She sings about people thinking she is young and innocent but really shes 'rebelling'. As an audience we have immediate laughter and smile as we identify with the character.
The next shot is in an urban looking estate, with walks and bricks giving of a feeling of her being trapped. She is a 'chav' looking girl wearing hoop earring's trying to look older. Her character is a 13 year old girl from a broken family. She has a strong accent and she is working class, she hasn't got much to say when she is with her family as she is silent in the scene with her mother but she always talks to herself which shows that she may be lonely and not get attention.
Camera movement in the film focuses of the main character, it zooms in and out of her and is handheld showing her feelings and how we don't know what is coming next. When she is left on the bench outside the pub, the camera pans away and leaves her looking small next to an adult world showing she is lonely but sings to herself which keeps her happy. The pace always changes and there is silent shots of her alone that are really powerful.
At the end of the film the colours change to greys and blues giving off a cold feeling, she becomes silent and then the dead baby floats out of the bag in the water. The camera then pans out of the bag and then the water, then she walks on and then we see a low angle shot of her singing the Britney Spears song.
At the end the it makes the audience want to think deeper about the situation it makes us feel guilty as we don't notice her situation and we were oblivious to it the whole way through.
Short films can be exhibited in a very broad variety of places for example, Youtube, Vimeo, Channel 4 and the 'Short films' channel.
"The less effort and cost required to produce a film, the less the economic pressure & financial risk. Economic freedom for experimentation & innovation. That is the strength of short film." Short Film.DE
About a girl was created in 2001, it was written by Julie Butterford and cinematography by Geoff Boyle. The budget for the 9 minute,50 second short film was 33,000. There are 102 shots and 92 flashbacks. I enjoyed the content of this short film and the way it was shot, the build up of tension is clever and the ending is sharp and hits the audience straight away.
The title of the film is a play on the 'About a Boy' title, this is opposing a blockbuster movie as there is a massive contrast between the two films. The text is appealing to a youth audience as the design of the text is like an sms message, this draws in the target audience immediately.
The framing of the first shot is a silhouette on of a girl on the right hand side of the screen dancing in a field, this is maybe showing the type of life she dreams of having, her standing on top of the hill makes her feel superior as there is a low angle shot of her.
The pretty greenery in the background shows escapism but the dark clouds are pathetic fallacy as something bad may happen. The Britney Spears song she is singing is ironic as she grew up to fast, from a pure innocent girl to a sexy image. She sings about people thinking she is young and innocent but really shes 'rebelling'. As an audience we have immediate laughter and smile as we identify with the character.
The next shot is in an urban looking estate, with walks and bricks giving of a feeling of her being trapped. She is a 'chav' looking girl wearing hoop earring's trying to look older. Her character is a 13 year old girl from a broken family. She has a strong accent and she is working class, she hasn't got much to say when she is with her family as she is silent in the scene with her mother but she always talks to herself which shows that she may be lonely and not get attention.
Camera movement in the film focuses of the main character, it zooms in and out of her and is handheld showing her feelings and how we don't know what is coming next. When she is left on the bench outside the pub, the camera pans away and leaves her looking small next to an adult world showing she is lonely but sings to herself which keeps her happy. The pace always changes and there is silent shots of her alone that are really powerful.
At the end of the film the colours change to greys and blues giving off a cold feeling, she becomes silent and then the dead baby floats out of the bag in the water. The camera then pans out of the bag and then the water, then she walks on and then we see a low angle shot of her singing the Britney Spears song.
At the end the it makes the audience want to think deeper about the situation it makes us feel guilty as we don't notice her situation and we were oblivious to it the whole way through.
Short films can be exhibited in a very broad variety of places for example, Youtube, Vimeo, Channel 4 and the 'Short films' channel.
"The less effort and cost required to produce a film, the less the economic pressure & financial risk. Economic freedom for experimentation & innovation. That is the strength of short film." Short Film.DE
Friday, 15 January 2010
Short Film History
Definition of 'Short film'-
"A short film is defined as a motion picture that is not more than 40 minutes in running time (including all running credits)."
Short films have no precise criteria or characters they can be documentaries, animation, colour experimenting, drama, fiction, horror or art & experimental. Short film is NOT part of mainstream cinema, you can go and watch short films at film festivals, art gallery's and museums.
The first short films were due to technological restrictions "experimental sequences" for example people would go to the cinema to watch short films of something very simple like parents feeding a baby or men walking out of a factory. The Lumiere Brothers were the first commercial people involved. Cinema started in 1895 and played short films, a few of the first short films shown were, 'Workers leaving a factory- Lumiere Brothers'
and 'Journey to the moon' the first ever sci-fi film.
The Lumiere Brothers=
Auguste and Louis Lumiere were the pioneers of film making, they created the first short films in 1895. To do this they used the 'Lumiere camera' a machine for film making and development this was a box weighing 12 pounds, it functioned as a camera, projector and printer in 1 this was where the small experiments started for example, 'workers leaving the Lumiere factory'.
1930's Onwards
Production of short films was a marginal activity. Hollywood no longer follows the studio system and sees short films as laboratory for experimentation and innovation at a cut price. Studios have developed a system of scouting new directorial and alert using film festivals.
For budding film makers there are loads of opportunity's for your work to be showcased for example you can submit your films to film festivals around the country or even on the Internet here are some websites I have researched,
UndergroundFilm.com
iNetFilm.com
www.brighthub.com/multimedia/video/articles.
Scorsese is now a highly respected director/producer and has made many high profile blockbuster movies like 'Goodfellas' 'Casino' and 'Taxi driver' he studied film directing at NYU in New York and here is an example of one of his first short films called 'The big shave' 1967
The film has hidden meanings relating too the Vietnam War and how pointless and stupid it was. The continuous shaving is symbol for the blood of all the people being killed in the war eg) The layers of shaving gel he keeps applying relates to the layers and layers of people involved. Also at the start there is a main focus on the bathroom and how clean and pure it is this empathises how shocking the contrast of blood as, the audience is shocked at the mans actions, the blood splattering all over the clean white sink is a symbol for the mess and destruction of the war.
"A short film is defined as a motion picture that is not more than 40 minutes in running time (including all running credits)."
Short films have no precise criteria or characters they can be documentaries, animation, colour experimenting, drama, fiction, horror or art & experimental. Short film is NOT part of mainstream cinema, you can go and watch short films at film festivals, art gallery's and museums.
The first short films were due to technological restrictions "experimental sequences" for example people would go to the cinema to watch short films of something very simple like parents feeding a baby or men walking out of a factory. The Lumiere Brothers were the first commercial people involved. Cinema started in 1895 and played short films, a few of the first short films shown were, 'Workers leaving a factory- Lumiere Brothers'
and 'Journey to the moon' the first ever sci-fi film.
The Lumiere Brothers=
Auguste and Louis Lumiere were the pioneers of film making, they created the first short films in 1895. To do this they used the 'Lumiere camera' a machine for film making and development this was a box weighing 12 pounds, it functioned as a camera, projector and printer in 1 this was where the small experiments started for example, 'workers leaving the Lumiere factory'.
Short Film and Hollywood.
Going to watch short films at the cinema became very popular but Hollywood started the 1st long length films eclipsed the short film by Hollywood's dominate mode of film production. A feature length film (The classical narrative) will last 90 minutes however cinema exhibitors require films to be longer than 100 minutes as there is a business behind them, this comes from the food and drink sold before the film and the advertising.
Hollywood vs Short Film
1930's Onwards
Production of short films was a marginal activity. Hollywood no longer follows the studio system and sees short films as laboratory for experimentation and innovation at a cut price. Studios have developed a system of scouting new directorial and alert using film festivals.
For budding film makers there are loads of opportunity's for your work to be showcased for example you can submit your films to film festivals around the country or even on the Internet here are some websites I have researched,
UndergroundFilm.com
iNetFilm.com
www.brighthub.com/multimedia/video/articles.
Scorsese is now a highly respected director/producer and has made many high profile blockbuster movies like 'Goodfellas' 'Casino' and 'Taxi driver' he studied film directing at NYU in New York and here is an example of one of his first short films called 'The big shave' 1967
The film has hidden meanings relating too the Vietnam War and how pointless and stupid it was. The continuous shaving is symbol for the blood of all the people being killed in the war eg) The layers of shaving gel he keeps applying relates to the layers and layers of people involved. Also at the start there is a main focus on the bathroom and how clean and pure it is this empathises how shocking the contrast of blood as, the audience is shocked at the mans actions, the blood splattering all over the clean white sink is a symbol for the mess and destruction of the war.
Codes & Coventions
Short films have no real set codes and conventions, they can be any genre and are mainly for a niche audience as young aspiring directors create them to make a name for themselves and develop their style. Short films are under 50 minutes, 'Micro shorts' are under 5 minutes.
All short films have small casts as they are on a lower budget than Hollywood blockbusters, this means they have a more realistic, gritty look about them. You can watch short films at film festivals, art gallery's, Internet, TV eg) Channel 4 and the cinema.
Catherine Des Forges-
"Spare economics narratives, interesting storytelling, well structures work which draws in the audience quickly."
Gareth Evans-
"Short films are long films that finish earlier."
"a good idea, sufficiantly told, less is more."
All short films have small casts as they are on a lower budget than Hollywood blockbusters, this means they have a more realistic, gritty look about them. You can watch short films at film festivals, art gallery's, Internet, TV eg) Channel 4 and the cinema.
Catherine Des Forges-
"Spare economics narratives, interesting storytelling, well structures work which draws in the audience quickly."
Gareth Evans-
"Short films are long films that finish earlier."
"a good idea, sufficiantly told, less is more."
Bibliography
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Alchemists. (2010). Lumiere Brothers. Available: http://www.alchemists.com/visual_alchemy/lumiere-x.html. Last accessed 15 January 2010.
Free Dictionary. (2010). Avant Garde. Available: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/avant-garde. Last accessed 22 January 2010.
Answers. (2010). Avant Garde. Available: http://www.answers.com/topic/art-film. Last accessed 22 January 2010.
Chess-Theory. (2010). Maya Deren Image. Available: http://www.chess-theory.com/images_blog. Last accessed 22 January 2010.
Matthew Grinter. (2010). Tea Leaves. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p0059021 . Last accessed 22 January 2010.
Wikipedia. (2010). 8mm film. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_mm_film. Last accessed 22 January 2010.
BBC. (2010). Video Nation. Available: www.bbc.co.uk/videonation. Last accessed 22 January 2010.
MovieOla. (2010). About Us. Available: http://www.movieola.ca/. Last accessed 22 January 2010
Wikipedia. (2010). Angry Kid. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angry_Kid. Last accessed 22 January 2010.
eHow. (2010). Experimental Short film. Available: http://www.ehow.com/how_4502197_experimental-short-film.html. Last accessed 29 January 2010.
Edifilmfest. (2010). Edinburgh Film Festival. Available: http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/submissions/awards-2009. Last accessed 29 January 2010.
Sundance. (2010). Sundane Film Festival. Available: http://festival.sundance.org/2010/. Last accessed 29 January 2010.
Exposure. (2010). Exposure Film Festival. Available: http://www.exposuresfilmfestival.co.uk/. Last accessed 29 January 2010.
4RFV. (2010). Production Companies. Available: http://www.4rfv.co.uk/brieflisting.asp?scategory=216. Last accessed 29 January 2010
Cinema16. (2010). Dvd. Available: http://www.coffeefilms.com.html/http://www.atom.com/ http://www.cinema16.org/dvd.php?dvd=3. Last accessed 29 January 2010.
BBC FILM NETWORK. (2010). Compilation Dvds. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/distribution/dvd#compilations. Last accessed 29 January 2010.
Edinburghmountainiff. (2010). Edinburgh Mountain Festival. Available: http://www.edinburghmountainff.com/index.htm. Last accessed 29 January 2010
Youtube. (2010). For all links. Available: http://www.youtube.com/. Last accessed 29 January 2010.
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