Examples of a few shorts I have watched for inspiration

                                                                      Big Society.

Big Society
Big society is a genuine masterpiece, it has a brilliant mix of comedy with a real life need in the world. The punishment of littering may have been a tad too much, however the importance is still relevant. So the short expresses some quality comical scenes with a mix of a real life importance in the small six minutes and forty eight seconds running time. The acting was superb, the seriousness of his face, talking, body language made the punch lines so much better. The film was very engaging and in terms of mise en scene the setting, props, lighting and camera angles it was all very effective, for example the diary type speaking into the camera works well with the comedy genre giving a sense of slight madness, and to do what he was doing a slight hint of madness is necessary. The way he used his facial expressions was very effective, widening and closing eyes when being serious made you question the seriousness of the situation.The film has just been nominated for the Grand Prix at Encounters Film Festival, which we are all very excited about. It means the film is eligible for a BAFTA. Big society is about an officer in the British army who has developed a controversial new approach to tackle the anti-social behaviour he sees on the streets.


The View: Is a short poetic film that centres around a bench overlooking the British coastline. During the film we witnessed the poignant moments in the lives of the location's fictionalised frequent visitors. Who are each there for different reasons. The film carries the narrative through start to finish. I thought The View was very unique, hence why I picked it to talk about. It is a brilliant combination of poetry and film. The mise en scene was sublime, the soundtrack, camera shots, setting, costumes and props all worked so well together. You get a real feel of the emotional connections with the location and the different people. The music and narrating sound was in perfect harmony, neither too loud or too quiet, it almost gives goosebumps listening to how harmonic the sounds are. The speed is also essential for the overall feel of the short, it sets the scene perfectly with a thought provoking opening shot of the bench. Instantly you question why, where and how is the bench significant. The sound of seagulls and waves crashing in the distance creates a relaxing stimulus suggesting the short is going to be slow and more along the lines of a serious piece. The scene with old man proposing not only signifies love, but it fits in well with the words of the poem "A life time spent alone" suggesting this is the first time he has found real love, and it is never too late to find it. The very vibrant red the old lady is wearing also suggests strong love between the two. Then it goes to a shot of a young couple, the boy holding what seems to be some old fashioned alcohol flask. The disinterest in his face also supports the need for alcohol as maybe times are bad between the two. This is also backed up in the words of the poem "But hope is dashed when I see pain on the face of the young" This again enforcing the feel of the alcohol and the disinterest being linked with the unhappiness in their faces. "But I am aware in my vulnerable self that at times we all must run" As this is said the boy is drinking from what seems to be the alcohol, this is reinforced by the words as traditionally people run to alcohol in times of need. The boy then leaves the girl with her crying, with the words "But as a sunrise soon follows a sunset" This suggesting what they thought was a good thing, soon turned out to be bad. "Hope is always fresh in the face of the young" That is the end line of the poem. This is a very powerful sentence, after all the people, young and old, all the love, hate, disappointment after everything, hope is always fresh in the face of the young. I really enjoyed this movie, not only was it thought provoking, it was simple and very effective! I believe this short will stay in my mind for quite some time, as a reminder to never give up  hope, no matter what the situation.. never give up hope.

  

All the Festivals & Screenings The Views has been in since its release in 2009.

Cannes In A Van, 2009

End of the Pier International Film Festival, 2009

Swansea Bay International Film Festival, 2009

Edinburgh International Film Festival, 2009 (Videoteque only)

Encounters Film Festival, 2009 (Videoteque only)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p00kvk62 Link to The View

Telling a story in a few minutes.. difficulties

Telling a story in a few minutes presents a lot of difficulties. First of all I need to decide who I am aiming to attract, how I am going to draw in my target audience and ultimately how I am going to appeal to them in such limited time.

List of difficulities and a solution for them.

• How to fit in a story in such a small time period... get some inspirations from research on other shorts, then develop a idea and go with it until you find a story or stories I like.
• Who/how am I going to target my audience. I will not have a definite answer to this until my idea is developed, but I know for sure I will be aiming to attract a small minority of short film lovers, they tend to appreciate shorts that make them think, challenges genre and in a way conforms to the popular opinion that shorts are a genre of its own.
• The choice to conform with the present genre or create a whole new form of genre, or just agree with the popular opinion that shorts are a genre in their own. I am determined to think of a story that will challenge instead of conforming to the "normal" genre's, instead I am going to try and make it in to its own genre and agree with popular opinon that it is a whole different genre of its own.
• What idea will work with several problems such as in the short time period, lack of resources (money,actors,settings etc) actual time for the filming on top on of all the other school work and blog work. I am planning to post at least one blog entry every night, this will manage the time needed for both the blog work and the coursework, I also hope that it shows clearly the development of my idea, blog work and overall ability in Media Studies. In the case of money, actors and settings, Its not exactly going to be a big budget action feature film, so the cost should be minimal. For actors I will try local acting clubs, classes, theatre productions and schools. In terms of settings, props and overall mise en scene, this is a problem that will have to been solved later on in the developing stage, as the idea is not really finalised yet, merely a rough idea that needs a fair bit of work.

What is a short film?

A short film is not long enough to be considered a feature film. The academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits" Short films are very diverse in genre, in fact many people argue that they create a whole different genre of film. So they do not conform with the usual genre's, instead they create a whole new genre of film. They can produce some strong pieces, considering how short they are, they still manage to leave an imprint in your life like the normal characteristics of a feature film. I have been watching a few short films recently for some inspiration, many examples such as "Spider" or "The Black Hole" or even "Get Off My Land". All three of these short films are completely different in story and delivery but they work so well.
My favourite would probably have to be Spider, due to the fact it actually felt like a feature film but with a short and sweet story, yes it may have been a slow build up, but it was done with great effect, especially the twist at the end.

Short films have one major problem, they can never make it big like feature films because they lack the mainstream appeal. Usually a short would have to rely on a film festival specifically designed for the showing of shorts. Or websites such as BBC's Film Network. There are even exhibitions for short films less than three minutes, these are called Short shorts. An exhibition called The International Festival of Very Shorts feature these less than three minute shorts. The short genre even goes as far as having one minute shorts and a whole festival for them called filminute. On the other hand there are some shorts that get a lot of publicity, such shorts created by big companies like Pixar, or simply just the people in them, for example Lady Gaga's soon to be released short called "Judas" has attracted a lot of attention due to her iconic reputation and huge fan base.

Character and Characterization

In today's media lesson we were focusing on the old aged question, what is more important? Plot or character? After reading a brief explanation by Robert Mckee, I soon realised that both are equally important, you could have the most exciting plot in the world, but if the cast was boring, dull and terrible actors, who is going to enjoy it? Conversely you could have the best actors in the world, but put them in a bad plot and it will ruin the whole film! As Robert Mckee says "We cannot ask which is more important, structure or character, because the structure is character; character is structure" They are the same thing, mine example was just a basic insight to the whole concept of which is better, but ultimately in my opinion they are equal, as they are pretty much the same thing!

But we did not stop there, we then went on to question Character versus Characterization. Characterization is simply the facts like age, gender, IQ, to things that are brought upon by stereotypes or cultural influences. For example style of speech and gesture, choices of home, car and dress, education, occupation, personality, values and attitudes. All aspects of humanity we could find out by taking day to day notes on someone. These are all traits, unique to every single individual,  this is what Characterization is about.

However beneath the surface of characterization, regardless of appearances, and all of these traits, you will find out his true colours when he/she is made to make a decision under pressure. Pressure is essential, choices made when nothing is at risk mean little, but as soon as there is some pressure in the choice, there true colours (character) appears. In movie terms its the same as a nerdy student becoming some sort of superhero to save someone he loves or someone close to him etc. For example in Spiderman he was just a normal average every guy type of "nerd" cared a lot about his education, had this boyish little crush on a girl he hardly knew but as soon as he got the "spidey powers" he became some sort of superhero and saved the world and got the girl! His true colours (character) came out, that is what the audience love to see!

There is a clear difference between the two pictures, even though it is the same person, this nerdy photographer turned into this audience attracting, beautiful girl saving, super hero!