3rd short film analysis

The third one we watched wasnt as strong as the last but did have very good ideas behind it. The planning must have taken a long time and everything was set out perfectlt there was just a few problems with the story telling. They took risks using childern in their final peice but luckly it mainly worked apart from the little boy stumbling on a few words. The characters fitted very well too the lead girl is just how you'd imagen fitting with the story line. The grade we over all gave this short film was 26  which would be low level three.

Most of the problens were down to the editing and camera shots and angles. There was a few really clever camera angles that worked really well to capture reactions although there were many wide shots meaning you couldnt always see what you wanted to. Also the editing was a little jumpy in places meanying it didnt flow very well for example when it got dark very quickly this was proably on perpous although there should have been some diogue to back this up rather than it suddenly going dark. The actual idea though was very cleaver and i would love to try something simular in my own work.

2nd A2 short film analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pdZVYXX21A - Link to short film

The next short film comapred to the previous one was at a much higher standard. This was given a high level four, the story was very clever as it has a big twist at the end and its very orignial. All the planning gone into the film worked really well and you can tell that he went the extra mile to get props and go to the right place to shoot so it all flowed and looked perfect. This film was also in black anhd white but looked much better as it fitted with the old fahsioned look unlike the first one we watched. You could have mistaken it for a real short film created by a film company.

The desaturation effect has grown on me and im thinking about involving it in my own film as if used correctly it works really well and becomes really effective. Especially if its a short filom withgout diolouge as it helps set the scene and tell part of the story. Also ive learnt from watching this short film that camera angles and shots can really effect how well the final peice looks as capturing rections and emotions is really important.

-RM

comparing and contrasting some A2 short films

As a group we did an activity where we all analysed some different short films off the internet created by A2 students as their final peice. Watching a variety of different ones with the mark scheme infornt of us meant we could look out for what looked good and what would get them marks.

The first short film was called 'love hurts' (displayed above), this was created by a girl which was obvious in the romantic genre. The over all idea was very cleaver and everything worked well although the camera angles and editing didnt always work well together which has made me realise how imporant it is to use different camera angles in my own and not stick with the same kind of ones. I also found using different camera angles on the same scene made it flow better rather than just having a really long shot of someone as if it goes on for too long it doesnt look right or flow properly. Also this short film was very pradictable and all the others which had twists to them seemed better overall as it drawed you in to watch futher or added to the comdey genre etc. Using a black and white filter also added to the effect well and the music used over the top with this old fashioned film. Even though it didnt look totally right as it was a modern setting in a city
therefore took away the feeling of 'the past'. Over all I gave this piece a low level three.

-RM

Short film write up

We watched some short films for inspiration of our final piece, the one I have chosen to write a review on is 'schwarzfahere' which is a French short film with a comedy genre.

It has classic start middle and end, there characters are established very quickly; the main women was an offensive racist old lady with very traditional norms and values the male lead is a passive and easy going black teenager. 

There was a lt of low angle shots of the black man and I think his would have been to make him look like the 'better' person out if the two as the women yells abuse at him. The personalities are made very clear and the camera angles help. The young people at the begging flirting and joking could symbolise the way young people in this generation don't have a problem with people from other countries etc whereas the old woman quite obviously does because of the different times they were brought up and how society has changed. Most short films have the comedy genre and this short film relys on that one comedy moment. 

Mise-

-costume links with characters very closely along with their personalities. 

-His clothes are laid back and link with his ethnicity and stereotype

-facial expressions showed emotions a lot like when the lady smiled at herself a couple of times like she's pleased with herself

-it's like you saw the whole thing through the eyes of the guy on the motor cyle as he had no real reason to be there and you weren't seeing it through the eyes of one of the two main characters

Sound -

- non dialectic sound was used to make the scene look busy and bustling 

- when the main character steps onto the train everyone turns quiet which is a contrast to what had just been, this is probably to show people thoughts (especially the old lady) that people stop and state when someone of another race appears almost like their judging. 

- jazz music may be to link with the old lady meaning it was taking you back in time, along with people's views like the nazis from ww2. 

- most sound was mainly diabetic of her voice making her sound powerful and controlling, almost brain washed. 

- everything seems serival when she mentions something about 'Aids', this could be because people may have agreed up to this point then when she went too far no one knew what to do yet everyone was getting angry. The zooms on people reactions showers their facial expressions and it was almost like they were talking with their eyes. 

Editing- 

-long shots on woman (panning shots)

-low angle shots used a lot to show who is in the right and wrong 

-camera following the train as if it's following the story 

-point if view shots used a lot to tell what people were thinking endeared of duo dilougue along with shot reverse shot

- RM

Narnia recreation

RM&CM&BW

Narnia clip

As a small project for when we got back to school we got in out groups that we will be working in for the next year throughout A2.

We were given some of the script from narnia where Lucy meets mr tumnus. All the camera angles and directions were up to us. This task was hard as we couldn't find many people to be in our film as it was such short notice for people to give up their time so we ended up using two members of out group and I personally did all the camera work, we created a story board of all the angles etc we wanted to do so all the planning was from all of us and not just me doing the camera angles and making the decisions myself. It was also hard to come up with original ideas as we had all seen the clip before so we knew how it was supposed to look so everything we tried to change didn't look right or fit with the script. 

Over all I'm pleased with the final video as I think the editing done to it did it justice, the music also helped as the original sound wasn't very clear because of the school sport field being next to where we filmed.

-RM

Character type

Protagonist - leads the narrative, usually looking for something (on a quest) or trying to solve something resulting In a happy ending.

Antagonist - the villain. 

Heroine - usually a prize or reward for the protagonist. 

Father - an authority figure to the protagonist who offers a reward to the hero for completing the quest, that reward may be a prince or princess.  

Helper - helps the hero and offend acts as a sidekick. 

Donor - helps the hero out in some way like getting a clue or a special power. 

Mentor - teaches and guides the hero. 

For example you can use this process for the film shrek... The protagonist would of course would be shrek himself; the antagonist lord farquaad; heroine Fiona; helper would be donkey; donor could be shrek himself again as he helps himself out and mentor donkey again

-RM

Third idea for my short film

All the ideas I have had so far have been really different to one another which is what I'm aiming to do so I have a wide range of different themes Etc to choose from within the group I'm working in. 

After watching one of my favourite films 'love actually' I have had some ideas for a similar genre for my own short film. The problem is having a romantic comedy genre it's hard to fit a whole story in the way they do in usual films. Therefore I had the idea to make a stop motion film using like a Barbie doll and action man or cuddly toys. This is just a quick idea I had and I will develop onto this idea soon.

-RM

new short film idea

I just had another idea for my short film as I was on a public bus, a man got on the bus that looked as if he was homeless, I immediately found myself wondering about what his story was where he was going and where he had come from. I got the idea that there could be a bus ill of people and the main character imagining all these people they never met in their every day lives. The thoughts that the main character is having fade in and out after focusing in one of the passengers.

This idea may be hard to be able to film but the main idea is there so I may try and play around with the idea and find another way of doing it that's more practical to film etc

-RM

Ideas for my own short film

I have had many different ideas for my own short film after watching some for myself. The genre thats used a lot seems to be the comedy genre. I think this may be because its eaier to tell a story in a short amount of time if its mainly about the humor as it doesnt need to make perfect snese.

My first idea was to stear away from the comedy genre and base it on a guy who can travel in time, this ideas came off the film 'the butterfly effect' which is one of my favorite films. The main plot would be this young boy who writes a gernal everyday but on writes a few words to sum up his day, this would only be a short introduction to the film which may confues some of the viewers. Then when he is older about the age of 25 he finds these gernoals that take him back to the day that the page was writen. Problem is it takes him back to the day his parents split up and as he begins to understand this power he has he tries to change things thinking that it would make things better when infact its just messing up the future. This sounds very similer to the film butterfly effect but i aim to make more changes as my ideas progress.

computer geek

In the summer term I did short project with a small group of people to create a comedy short film. My group was made up of three people, myself and two others. We were given a prop which is what out short film had to be based on, out prop was a badge which said 'computer geek' on it. We began to story boardour ideas and our final dessicion was to base it around a boy in a school whom was known as the 'computer geek'. But to give it a twist we made this guy the 'cool' kid. Stearing away from the steriotypical school cliques to go with the comedy genre.

we found this task challenging as we didnt habe very long to plan it or find people for the cast etc although i think in the time that we had we did quite well. The setting was not a problem as we wanted it to be in a school anyway sop that wasnt a issue like other tasks we have done during the school day. we split the filming and editing up evenly so we could all put in our ideas to the finished peice.

here is a link to our final finished quickly made short film 'computer geek' -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDbgiukfACI

-RM

Telling a whole story in a few minutes.. difficulties/benefits

benefits-
 - You do not need a lot of money to produce a short film meaning all most anyone can give it a go.
 - Its not very time consuming
- Short films chould be made as a 'trial run' process - you dont need to have proper film equpiment and rental would be less.

 Difficulties-
 - Some actresses and actors may not want to take part in a short film as they are not seen as a 'proper' film so people who are making them may find it hard to find poeple to be in the films.
- They are not looked at as 'real' films so if youre trying to create a short film and make profit this may be a problem.
- Its harder for a film to make sence if there is a lot of meaning to it and trying to tell a whole story in less than 40 minutes.

-RM

What is a short film?

A short film is a film short enough to not be classed as 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 can be seen as 'armature' films and nonprofessional although this is not true as there are many professional short films out there. Short films are usually shown at film festivals all over the world. They are often made by independent film makers for non-profit.

-RM