A few weeks ago I received feedback on the rough-cut of my short film. I was told that it was shot well and edited smoothly, but the plot was very confusing and complicated, and that I should work to make it more understandable to the audience.
I took this in, and went back to editing. I added narration in key parts of the film where the situation would need to be contextualised, giving the protagonist an inner-monologue to explain huis thoughts and what was happening in the story to the audience. I also completely re-arranged the plot, so that it was still non-linear, but was told in a way that was less confusing. The film now goes from present to future and back again, rather than future to past to future to past, which is much more hard to follow for people who have not read the script or made the story.
Upon a second screening, I received much more positive feedback, being told that it was much more understandable now, and was how a short film should be re-edited to be improved. I am much happier with this result, and my coursework is near finished, as I plan now to polish the sound design and fix any issues with it, and maybe add some non-diegetic, compiled music for the start of the film to create a more ambient, less silent setting.
I recently began editing my short film. I shot the main proportion of clips on my phone, then uploaded them to my iPad. I then filmed the last section and uploaded them as-well. The filming process itself went well, I feel. The actors filled their roles well, there were no major issues with time-limits or equipment, although I do feel that I relied too much on my phone gimbal for stationary shots where I should have been using a tripod. Any focus or exposure problems were fixed through shooting with FilmMcPro, and the script/story board was stuck to throughout the process.
Although some footage is slightly shaky, I plan to fix this in post-production, and as of now I have compiled all clips into a very rough cut. I still need to record some voiceovers and collect some footage on my laptop to include in the film, but currently it is a complete, if an un-tidy, short film.
Me filming a dolly into an extreme close up during the first major film shoot.
The last thing that I did for my coursework was upload the vast majority of footage from the film from my phone, which I recorded it on, to my IPad. I have also put these clips into a half-done rough cut on LumaFusion, and am so far happy with how it looks. There are some audio and exposure issues and some moments where the camera shakes or the 180 degree rule is broken, but these can be fixed.
I plan next to organise a set filming date for the one, small scene that yet hasn’t been filmed. This should only take a short time to film. I also plan on adding some smaller, more abstract shots to the film, but these can be done by me alone and do not require much time either to film. I will then move these between my devices add all of them into the rough cut.
Curfew – One thing that i like about this frame and may try to emulate is the colour palette. The use of red communicates the character’s emotion and the direness of their situation. I will likely use cooler, softer colours to create my own theme and emotions, affecting the audience’s reception to the scene with the colours in frame, making them feel more sympathy for the audience. This shot would be taken in landscape mode, more carefully framed and with the actor more in-tune with the actor in Curfew. I also want to have the camera be higher up, so that the subject’s head does not take up too much of the frame. SkyfallAlthough the inspiration for this shot is not a short film chosen by the exam board, I still got the idea to implement light blocking and colouring from this shot. Meshes of The AfternoonI also like how this shot turned out. Although the focus on the screen could be improved, and the zoom-out could be slower, which will be hard to achieve since this is the slowest zoom out on the app that I was using, I think the final sabot looks how I wanted. I will probably paint the inside of the tube a metallic or dark colour to make the moment more surreal, and hide how I made it. I Amy also use a longer tube to make up for how fast the zoom-out was. Pitch Black HeistI think that I actually pulled this shot off quite well, probably because I was relying on natural lighting and using a steadicam/phone gimbal. I think that if I can make movements this smooth and track the subject this well in the final film, I will have pulled this shot off well.La JetéeThis is what I plan on my flashback sequence looking like, however with pictures of people having a party of family get together, likely with the protagonist in one frame or the images from his perspective, to communicate with the audience that his relationship with his family used to be much closer.Stutterer – for this shot I definitely want to emulate the lighting. The soft lighting combined with he intense focus on the subject’s face keeps the audiences focus on them, and the lighting adds a more somber, silent atmosphere to the shot. However, I may try to use a more natural light to create a more positive atmosphere, as the moment will be more positive in my film. I have practiced lighting this shot in three different ways. For the first practice shot, I used no light. For the second, I used the strongest light that I have, and for the third, the softer light. I also used portrait mode for all photos to keep the focus on the protagonist, like in the close-up from Stutterer. I noticed that the focus is slightly blurred though by the backlights, which may be fixed by using FilmMacPro, as I want to use an ambient backlight to emulate the shot in Stutterer better. I also want this shot to be footage, not a still image. I also plan to use this type of the shot-reverse-shot usage towards the end of my film. That done in Connect will be used at the start of the film where the protagonists are silently looking at each other and trying to avoid eye contact, thereby establishing their relationship, or, rather the potential for it. This usage in Stuterer involves the protagonists finally overcoming their obstacles and acknowledging their love or like for each other, giving the audience closure and emotional satisfaction in the ending. Although these perspectives do not line up, I plan on some of the final shots in my film to play out like this. I have taken the idea for this shot-reverse-shot from Connect, as the two characters will slowly look at each other until the camera has the opportunity to focus on each of their eyes. There is also some similarity between this and the ending scene from Stutterer, but I feel that connect did it better as the eye contact scene was more subtle and took more time leading up to it, as my film will do. I’ve also included a possibility for the creative delicious that I want toa include in this final scene. I want to add a flare that adds emotional depth and audience immersion by lighting or shooting the scene in a particular way, most likely by making one shot look as if it is taking place in a dream. I also plan on the subjects looking into the camera, immersing the audience more into their position, and making them more in tune with the character’s emotions. Connect – The lighting here catches my eye. It adds a neo-noir flare to the scene, which I like a lot, although I do not know if this will fit with my film or not. As this is at the start of the film, I may try to avoid making it romantic via the lighting and cinematography, instead setting up the potential for a romantic relationship. I will probably emulate this or Stutterer’s lighting towards the end, when the protagonists finally look into each other’s eyes, and it is more fitting. I am more likely to emulate Stutterer’s lighting, as it is more natural, romantic, and somber in tone, matching that of the story’s. Although I had to reverse this shot as the actor refused to do a re-take, I plan on the final shot looking like this, if a bit more drawn out.
For my film I will be using the song ‘Glimpse of Us’ by Joji. I decided to use this song as I came up with the idea for the film whilst listening to it. I also find that the name of the song matches the story of the film, as the protagonist is getting a glimpse into his future relationship with a potential co-worker. The song is also very somber, emotional and romantic if played in the right circumstances. Therefore, I feel that it adds some life to this emotionless office space, as does the man’s relationship with the love interest, and matches the tone of the film perfectly. I also expect that this song will make some scenes more beautiful than if they were silent or used diegetic sounds, particularly the scene where the two protagonists look into each others’ eyes at the end of the film. It will add an atmosphere to the film that will immerse the audience and develop an emotional response to what they are seeing.
Above is the storyboard for my short film. I have picked out the most important shots from the script and drawn them with annotations to describe shot camera movements, actor blocking or lighting specific to each shot. I used shots from the first draft of the script, as the final draft is much shorter as it focuses much less on the cinematography and more on the dialogue and actor prompts/directions. The first draft is much longer, but directs me on what shots I am going to include and how I will direct certain scenes in advance, so that I do not have to decide or improvise on set.
Above is the first script for my short film. I realise that it may be too long, so I will aim to shorten it and cut out the unnecessary detail on cinematography. I will likely follow the steps regarding how I will film this (i.e shots, camera movements, etc.), but cut it out in the final draft to create a more concise, effective and clean script.
Second/Final Draft:
This is my second and final script draft. I stripped out all of the unneeded steps on cinematography and some actor prompts. I will not improvise on set, but rather follow the steps in the first draft where I feel it necessary and possibly make changes while filming if I feel that it will create a better end product. The reason that I only did two drafts was because I felt that the first one communicated my vision how I wanted, down to each shot. I also wanted, though, to have a more concise, to-the-point script that did not contain too many specific instructions as to how to make my film. The first draft, therefore, will serve as a sort of handbook on how to shoot my film, whereas the final draft communicates the narrative and flow of the story much better.
Conclusion:
For my script, I wanted to create a likeable protagonist that could get the audience to root for them in only a few minutes. I also wanted to briefly give them a backstory to develop them to the point that they felt like a fleshed out character. I also wanted to create believable chemistry between him and the love interest. I also wanted to get across how strong his like was for the love interest by emphasising how miserable the job was, so his choice to apply for it carried more meaning. I also decided to add a comedic moment in how the protagonist realised that they had time-travelled, to add a more light hearted nature to the film. My overall aim was to incorporate a sci-fi premise, time travel, in a romantic film to act as an interesting plot-device, which I think that I did successfully.
My film will only include 5 characters. The protagonist, love-interest, antagonist, and two side characters.
The protagonist, Danny, will be played by Alistair Grant. I have chosen him as he is happy to take the role, and is also a likeable, relatable person. He is also dating the love-interest in real life, which will help to create chemistry between the two main characters. I also plan on making him look younger by giving him a wig or hat and darkening his beard. using the same actor in both periods will reduce the chance of anyone being confused as to what the match cut was supposed to signify.
Alistair GrantSam Grant, Alistair’s son, will play the younger version of him if he agrees to be in the film. If not, I will use Alistair for both time periods and find a way of making him look younger, perhaps with a wig or by darkening his beard.
The love interest, Emma, will be played by Tracy Cairns. She is a charismatic person, who can get along well with people, which makes her suitable for the role. She is also very sociable with strangers, which is something that her character, Lisa, is also, as seen in the opening scene when she meets the protagonist.
Tracy Cairns
The antagonist, Mark, will be played by Trevor Cairns, who has experience in work environments like this and in this career, so can match these manager characteristics accurately. The antagonist is not an antagonist in the sense that they create a conflict in the film or set events in motion, but rather exists and is written to emphasise the hostile work environment that the protagonist works in. The worse the workplace is, the more meaningful and powerful the protagonists depiction to take it will be as a result. A big aspect of the story is that this person sees their own future and the grim nature of it, assuming they take the job, but the bond that they built with one of their co-workers was so strong that the reality of their potential future was not a factor in their depiction to take the job. They’ve been given the chance to avoid having this awful job, but disregard its negative qualities because of this person.
Trevor Cairns
The two side characters will be played by Donovan Miles and Harry Batkin. These will be two unnamed office workers who serve as extras for most of the film, mostly for the purpose of making the office space feel more real. However, one, Donovan Miles, may have a negative interaction with the protagonist or antagonist at one point to signify the un-kind nature of this workplace and the protagonists isolation in working there.
My short film will take place in an office environment. I was planning on using light, subdued colours that were bland, emulating the sadness and boredom the protagonist feels in there. I was also going to do this for the kitchen at the start and end, as this will get across how quiet and simple this person’s life is, and why their decision to apply for the office job is so important and, therefore, how powerful their bond was with their future co-worker.
I was even planning on the outside of the office to be bland and likely hard-lit to create an empty, liminal, dead atmosphere, while the inside of the office will be soft-lit with dark shadows and an overall empty space to get across how miserable working there is. I also want my film to be peaceful, so an isolated, homogenous in design office building is what I had in mind.
I will be shooting in the Riseholme College Agri – Tech Centre, Health & nutrition building. This location contains areas that I will include in my film, such as an outside break area, desk spaces, an elevator and stairs. It’s paint scheme is also made up of soft, bland hues, with a modern and simple architectural design. It suits the atmosphere and mood of the film perfectly, allowing for me to reflect the characters emotions and the importance of the bond in the film forming here, of all places.
This hallway could be anywhere, which is exactly what I want to portray with this location. The homogeneity and unoriginal it’s of it.I may use a hidden cut as the protagonist walks up these stairs by placing the camera behind one of the bars to allow for an edited in transition to the top of the stairs. A wide shot of someone sat at this circular bench will likely be included in the film to create a more peaceful, though provoking moment. I can also let the wind rise in the mix as the protagonist falls asleep, allowing for a sudden cut back to the kitchen. I think that the amount of paper stacked here gets across in the mise-en-scene the workload that the protagonist faces in taking this job.
One of the most commonly used cameras for shooting movies is the Arrival Alexa Mini. Favoured for its portability, modular form and durability. It uses an Alex III Sensor which shoots in 28.25mm x 18.17mm.
Lenses:
The inside of spherical lenses are made up of many pieces of curved glass, called elements. Spherical lenses are called spherical because their elements are circular. When light passes through the lens elements and hits the digital sensor it produces a regular, uncompressed image. The elements at the back of a anamorphic lens are regular spherical elements, but the the elements at the front of the lens appear oval rather than circular when looked though. This produces a squeezed image when light reaches the sensor, which is then reversed through editing. Anamorphic lenses provide a widescreen aspect ratio as a result, while traditional spherical aspect ratios are more square, most commonly 1.33:1 and 1.85:1. Anamorphic lenses produce a wider aspect ratio such as 2.35: 1 or 2.39:1. Spherical lenses produced spherical bokeh, while anamorphic produce oval shaped bokeh. Spherical lenses use led glass, simpler mechanics and produce sharper images with minimal distortion across the image. Anamorphic lenses have reduced sharpness, increased distortion and falloff, where there is more distortion and softness closer to the edges of the image, and produce more dramatic lens flares.
My Equipment:
For my film I will be using my phone camera for filming. I have an Oppo A54, which contains 4 cameras and shoots in 1080p with 30fps. It is also more portable than the iPad, allowing for me to make faster and more smooth camera movements than if using a tripod that can hold the iPad. I will also be using a Hohem ISteady mobile phone gimbal. This is will serve as a steadicam for my phone, allowing for the footage to be more steady, and movements to be more smooth. It will also allow for more fast movements such as pans, crabs and dolly’s, tracking shots. However, to ensure that I can keep control of focus and exposure, I will be using FilMacPro. This will prevent obvious focus pulls or faulty exposure, making for proper lighting and focus on what is important in frame. Even though I do not plan on including any focus pulls in the film, it will still prevent any moment where the camera struggles to focus on something in frame being in the final film.
Lighting:
There are many ways that lighting can be made to work how the filmmaker wants it via homemade methods. For example, bin bags can double as negative fill. Paper can create light diffusion and mirrors can be used to bounce light. For my film, I plan on using a bedsheet to diffuse the natural light coming into the office and the garden to soften the shadows and the contrast. It will soften the sunlight’s intensity and even out the shadows in frame, to give the office a more cool and dull feeling, like it is devoid of brightness and life, metaphorically, represented through the visuals.
I may use this sheet as a light diffuser if, when they are facing the window, the subject’s face is too sharply exposed or illuminated by the sunlight coming through it. This is the torch that I will be using as a key light, as it is the strongest. It is powerful and encompasses a wide area, allowing for plenty, high quality light in my film.This torch will be my fill light to soften shadows created by the stronger key light and control the level of contrast on the subject’s face. This headlight is the weakest of all the lights that I will be using, so it will be used a back light to separate the subject of a shot from the background. To ensure that my film is not overly bright or exposed I will be using diffusion through this white, transparent fabric, serving as a filter through which the light will be made softer and more eye-pleasing. This black fabric will act as a negative fill, which I will use to increase the shadows of some scenes and create more moody, dark and soft lighting with smoother contrasts. This golden fabric will act as a filter to colour the light in a few shots, creating a more beautiful, eye-catching and aesthetically pleasing image, adding a creative flare to the shots.
Camera:
For my film, I will include both stationary and mobile shots, so will be using different equipment to achieve these movements and angles.
This is the tripod that I will be using. Despite the fact that it can be moved to track a subject, I still plan on using my phone gimbal for any mobile, tracking shots to produce a smoother movement and less disorienting shot. I will use the tripod for stationary shots only, to keep the camera completely still and steady in close ups, mid-shots, zooms, etc. Above are 3 of my favourite examples of my phone camera quality!
Lighting is crucial in film, despite the fact that it often goes unnoticed by the audience. It sets apart amateur and professional filmmaking, and 3 point lighting is the standard of lighting techniques in Hollywood, referring to the placement of the lights on set, around the subject in frame. Any combination of lighting works, such as 1 or 4, but 3 is the most commonly used. 2 cameras are placed in front of the subject and 1 behind them. The two front ones are the key and fill light, the one behind the back light.
The key light is the main one on set, as it is the brightest and covers the subjects face the most. This can be a side, frontal or high angle light. The most common key light comes from a 45 degree angle In front of the subjects face. This forms a triangle shaped light on their face, which is also known as the Rembrandt light.
The key light is on the other side of the key light. It’s purpose is to fill in the shadows given by the key light. It is common to place it opposite the key light while dimming done the brightness to avoid flattening out the subjects face. Sometimes the fill light is just a reflector board utilising the key light, reflecting it back at the subject. Sometimes fill lights aren’t used at all, if the shadows are there for a reason or do not make much difference to the film.
The backlight’s purpose is to separate the subject from the background. It is most commonly placed 45 degrees behind the subject, illuminating their shoulders and the back of their head. There is also a hair light, placed directly behind the subject giving a halo effect and illuminating the shoulders and back of head. The rim light is placed far off to the side of the subject to illuminate the chin and the jaw.
Low-key lighting is characterised by stored shadows with deep blacks with areas of highlights. It is done by using minimal light, such as using a single backlight. High-key lighting evens exposure across the frame with minimal contrast and a more illuminated image overall, often leaving few shadows. Hard/direct light comes from shining a light source directly onto a subject, resulting in defined shadows with clear separation lines between light and dark. Soft/diffused light produces shadows with softer edges and less defined shadows with less sharp separation between light and dark areas in frame. This can be used by bouncing light off a surface or shining it through a diffusion, or both! Textiles, bedsheets, shower curtains and wrapping paper are homemade ways of producing soft-light in films. Many combinations can be used in lighting to create new types, such as when the fill light is taken away to create low key lighting because the overall lighting hitting the subjects face is low. The more light is diffused, the lower the overall illumination in a film is.
Colour temperature can also be used to create contrast, such as a subject being illuminated by a warm, tungsten light against a cooler, more blue background can separate the two more, creating depth between them, even if the result is a more soft separation line. This can be done by shining lights through coloured screen to create lights with different colour tints or a hue covering the entire frame.
As there can be a realist and expressionist approach to filmmaking narrative, naturalistic and expressionist lighting can be used. Naturalistic involves using natural, ambient light to create a more realistic scene. Expressionist lighting involves altering things like light colour, shape and quality of light to create an effect on the audience, even if it is not realistic/natural as a result. Naturalistic techniques can be examining where ambient, real light exists on a set and using artificial lighting to emulate and enhance it accurately, or using black textiles to subtract light and therefore create more shadow while retaining a realistic shape to the light, which is known as negative fill.
For my film, I will need to find different methods of creating proper lighting in scenes. As the film takes place at day in a naturally well lit office, it wont take up much time, if any. However, for my other short film, which has a scene that takes place at night, this will be more important. I can use torches held behind sheets kept out of frame, or car headlights for a natural backlight. For another short film that I plan on making, I will experiment with coloured screens to shine light through to add a hue to the shot with the purpose of having an effect on the audience, reflecting emotion, or creating an atmosphere that adds depth to the shot.
This is similar to one shot from my film. I will bring a bed sheet and head torch to the set and see if the shot looks better with or without a key light implemented. However, for this scene, I will probably just use the naturalistic back light of the car headlights to add a more dramatic tone to the scene by keeping most of it in shadow. I have drawn a diffusion sheet at the right side of this frame to show where I may place it while filming for my coursework. This will soften the shadows and slightly reduce the exposure of the shots in this room, as less sunlight will be hitting the subject’s face. I found that yellow sticky notes doubled as a weak but reliable yellow light filter, although gold would serve this particular shot better, so I may look into filters or screens to shine light through. I shone light through the filter at a leaf to produce shadows on the other side amongst a soft, yellow light made more prominent by the dark background. This leaf is called a ‘dingle’, and may be propped up by a stand on set to keep it in place, although I like the idea of it moving slightly to create a more hypnotic look to the shadows, and therefore the shot. This can even make it look as if it is taking place under a jungle canopy, making the moment feel much more secluded, romantic and fantastical. This is called ‘shaping’, and I plan to shape the light on set for this shot to produce an interesting shadow and light display on the subject’s face. This is a recreation of what I plan on the shot looking like. I think that I will use a stronger light, larger and stronger, more golden filter, darker background and smaller leaves to produce a more defined shadow on the subject’s face. I also want for the shadows to be darker, creating a stronger contrast, and will possibly place a negative fill screen on the right side of the set to increase the a shadows there, thereby increasing the illumination on the other side of the subject’s face. I also plan to improve the focus on the subject’s face and decrease that in the background. This shot is what inspired me to use light shaping in my film to create a standout shot. Here is how it was done. Black screens block light from the top and bottom of the left side of the frame and all of the right side, but light is allowed to reach the subject’s eyes to add a more dramatic tone to the shot. They are separated from the background by the backlight, and the hard lighting here creates a sharp contrast, adding more intensity to the lighting, therefore giving the shot a more dramatic and tense feeling/atmosphere.
A script is the basis for what is said and done in your film. A storyboard is the graphic prompt for how that film is shot and presented. It is typically formatted as 6 rectangular boxes along a page, the shots organised in chronological order of the top to the right side of the page. There are also usually boxes beneath each shot to give information specific to the shot/box above it, such as audio cues, actions by actors, or what number the shot is. Arrows can also be included to direct actor or camera movements, which may be useful for crab or pan shots. Each storyboard shot needs to capture the shot’s subject, background, camera shot and camera movement. It will provide a basis for each specific shot that I will stick to as a manual, of sorts, while filming. It also provides a visual prediction of what your film will look like, and therefore, what sort issues It may have, allowing me to avoid them in advance.
They are made to help the author focus on each individual shot as they film, making the film more cohesive and fleshed out. I have created another storyboard for the other short film that i am preparing to make, as I created another screenplay for it. This will also serve as practice for the storyboard I will create for the coursework short film. After making this, I think that I will draw the portfolio, as it allows for me to be more specific with what shots will look like than taking pictures in advance. I can manipulate the environment more and get across what is most important in that shot, and plan on the exact framing instead of experimenting with different aspect ratios on set, so that I will have an exact template foe what my film will look like.
I have also created another storyboard for the other short film that i am preparing to make, as I created another screenplay for it. This will also serve as practice for the storyboard I will create for the coursework short film. After making this, I think that I will do this
Above is the storyboard that I made in preparation for my other short film and as practice for my coursework film. These shots are not exact, but, as they will do for the coursework, get across the overall visual style of the film.
A screenplay is the script of a film. As part of the preparation process, I’ll need to create one for my coursework. To do this, I’ll familiarise myself with screenplay formatting and conventions.
As my production idea and treatment have been done already, I will need to break my plot into arcs/components. These will be the introduction scene, which will probably last a minute. Then, the second act, which will follow the protagonists story, lasting probably 3 minutes. And, finally, the conclusion, wrapping up the plot and resolving the conflict, which will also likely last a minute.
From looking into screenplay conventions, I know that it is necessary to describe each shot and action in detail. The screenplay is the foundation of the storyboard, which will both be used to create my film precisely as Ive planned. As long as I stick to exactly what the screenplay and storyboard say, I will have each action, shot, camera movement, line, delivery, tone and expression prepared to film. So while writing my screenplay, I need to build as much detail as possible to get my vision across and help me decide on any necessary changes before filming. This is why I have been advised to write a draft screenplay.
One piece of advice I read was that I should write a first draft, read over it and make changes if needed, and then write a final draft or however many necessary until I’ve come to a final draft. I’ve read that I should not bee to critical of my first draft, and to just write what I feel I should. I should not go back and update actions or dialogue until I’ve finished the first draft. Instead I should finish, go back through it, analyse and edit where I feel its necessary. After taking a break, I should come back and make readjustment to improve the script. This may require multiple redrafts before I come to my final draft. As I will need to show evidence of draft screenplays alongside my final draft, I will do this, and take time in realising and perfecting my screenplay to match the story I’m setting out to make.
As part of my preparation for writing the screenplay, I wrote a screenplay for another short, 5 or so minute film. This one I spent a few hours writing after creating a treatment to go off. This will go into my film portfolio once it is made, but in the meantime has made me more familiar with sticking to the screenplay format and using screenplay conventions.
Above is the screenplay that I wrote. This was partly to practice for the coursework script and also to have it ready to include in my film portfolio, as I am also preparing to make another short film in my spare time. What is shown here is the second and likely final draft. I received input that the dialogue was too obvious about character emotion and intention, lacked subtlety or, in other words, was too on the nose. I went back and made it less revealing of the characters’ emotions, etc. I also made it less wooden at points, such as the long monologue in the centre. I wanted it to sound realistic, so thought about how two real people would communicate this conversation in this scenario, depending on the personality’s and backstory’s I’ve given them here, and I feel it works and flows better now.
The reception to my film was mostly positive. My teacher said that the actual plot was fine, but I should focus on trying to convey to the audience that the younger character is the same person as the older man in the office. This is something I can do easily by using the same actor and trying to make them look younger when applying for the job. However, that may be difficult, and using another, younger actor may get across the passage of time better. However, it will be hard to find a similar actor, so using the same person saves me having to include some cue for the audience to understand that it is the same person in the past and future. I will already have to do that to convey the fact that there is a jump between past and present in the film.
The conclusion that I’ve come to for now is that I should use a similar actor, or as similar as I can find, and use a match cut for when they go from past to future. More specifically I could have an extreme close up of their eyes shut, then cut to the new, older actor when they open, and dolly out to reveal that they are older now. This was the sort of visual implication I was planning on to inform the audience that despite the actor having changed, they are still the same person and, therefore, a significant amount of time has passed in that one match cut.
Today I pitched my short film idea to my class. I read an overview of the treatment to get across the whole story and the meanings of it without getting into too much detail like specific shots or lines of dialogue.
To prepare for my film, I need to organise casting, locations, script, storyboard and narrative.
Progress so far:
So far the story, plot and narrative has been organised, and I also have some specific dialogue and shots in mind that I covered in my treatment. However, I still need to find out what locations I’m using and who will be playing what characters.
Casting:
As there will be a passage of time, I was considering using actors who are older than me. However, It will be easier to get actors who are of a similar age to me. Therefore, I think that the people working at the office will be mostly interns/apprentices, including the protagonist and the love-interest. I will ask my mum if she can be the woman, and her boyfriend to be the protagonist. I may have to use a wig to show that there has been a passage of time from when we see him in the past and the future. I can also ask him to shave his beard!
Tracy Cairns
I have organised for my mum, Tracy Cairns, to be the love interest in the film and her boyfriend, Alistair Grant, to be the lead. I feel that their chemistry may play well on screen, putting less pressure on the dialogue and their delivery of it.
Alistair Grant
I also need to ask 2 or 3 other actors to play the co-workers and the office boss/manager. I was considering two friends from school as inters/apprentices, and my dad, Trevor Cairns, to be the unpleasant manager.
Trevor Cairns – The inconsiderate and passive-aggressive office manager.Donovan MilesHarry Batkin
Locations:
I will probably use my home kitchen for where the protagonist is applying for their job at the start and end of the film. I was considering using my dad’s office as a location for the office space, but I will need to check for permission by the people who own it. I will visit the location and see for myself how suitable it is for the script, as in if it is big enough, has a garden, table, etc. I will also need to organise how the actors will get there, and what areas I will be able to shoot in.
This is the sort of office space that I have in mind. This is where I got inspiration for the bench-wide shot. This is what I plan on one of the shots of the man at the start of the film on his laptop to look like.
Production Brief:
I have organised how I’m going to implement my production brief, a non-linear narrative, into the film. I am going to show a scene of two characters at the start, and these two are going to be later revealed towards the end. This will link up the beginning, is set in the future, and the end. It will reveal what happened after the final shot, and add meaning to the beginning.
Short Film Inspiration:
As part of this coursework, I need to take ideas from 90 minutes worth of the short films that we have watched. I have not planned exactly what these will all be, but some include the silent close up of the protagonist looking at the camera from Stutterer (Benjamin Cleary, 2015), the opening and ending shots from Curfew (Shawn Christiensen, 2012), the tracking shot from Pitch Black Heist (John Maclean, 2011), and the shot-reverse-shots from Connect (Samuel Abrahams, 2010).
Working Title: Self Fulfilling Prophet. (I am using this title for now as it matches the theme of the story, but may change it later to something more abstract or meaningful/interpretative)
The opening shot is a wide shot of a woman at a table in an office space. A close up of her phone screen reveals that she is listening to ‘Glimpse of Us’, Joji. She is listening to this and eating lunch when someone sits opposite to her. She takes her earphones out and says hello to him, welcoming him “to hell”, thereby revealing that this is his first day working there. He surprises her by saying that she was listening to the artist’s best single. She is taken aback and laughs awkwardly, but agrees with him. They then share headphones and begin listening to it together.
The film cuts to a man sat in his kitchen is looking at a laptop screen. He is looking at an email that he is drafting and preparing to send to a business to apply for a job there. They take a break from the computer and make themselves a drink and put on some music, which is the same song from earlier. As the song plays they consider sending the email and slowly shut their eyes as they listen to the song. When they next open their eyes there is suddenly no music playing and they are in a new place, an office. They stand and look around. They have a new phone, and look much older now. They look out their office window and see a garden outside.
They leave the building and sit outside in the garden where it is quiet and they can think. They sit for awhile, obviously confused by what is happening. They shut their eyes and suddenly return to their kitchen. They breathe heavily and quickly shut off the song, clearly disturbed by what is happening. After a few seconds of calming down and re-considering, they put the song back on and slowly shut their eyes again, opening them after a few seconds to find themselves back in the garden. They realise that wherever they are, it is in the future and a few years have passed by now. They then re-enter the building and begin walking around to see more of the place. As they walk around they come across a group of men who seem to be his co-workers. They joke about making him redundant, and one of them, who seems to be the man’s boss, takes him aside and genuinely threatens to fire him if he does not work the weekend. They then laugh at him as he walks away.
After walking around for a bit longer they begin to hear a distant song playing, the song that they were listening to in the kitchen. They approach the source of the sound, eventually coming across a woman who is playing it on her phone speaker. After a few seconds they turn around and realise that their headphones aren’t plugged in. She laughs awkwardly and apologises that it was so loud. The man awkwardly says it’s fine and that he would only be mad if she was playing bad music. They then talk a bout the song and the history of the artist. After they talk, she asks him is he’d like to listen to it with her. He does so, sitting next to her and putting a headphone in. They slowly make eye contact and laugh together, before the man suddenly return to his kitchen.
The song ends as the man sits at his kitchen table, looking straight at his laptop screen. After the room falls silent, the man sits in thought for a moment. He then moves the cursor on his screen to the ‘send email’ button. The film ends just as he sends off his application email. The final shot is of the older version of the protagonist preparing to go over and talk to the woman, which is the opening shift from his perspective.
Today we were introduced to the pre-production process for our coursework. The first stage in this process is to come up with a production idea, which I will go over in this blog post.
Production Idea: My production idea is about a man who is considering to apply for a job who, as he goes over the choice in his mind constantly, suddenly sees into his future and what the his life is like after getting the job. The things that they learn would dissuade him if not for the person he meets in his future, who he decides to apply to the job for. The Production Brief non-linear narrative, as my film will swap between time periods. I have not yet organised the locations or cast that I will use, but I am confident in my plot and plan to work around it. If small changes need to be made then that can happen, but the overall narrative and plot I am set on.
La Ricotta (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1962) follows an actor who is taking part in an adaptation of the deaths of Christ who finds himself starving to death mid-shoot.
The film swaps between focusing on the director of the movie, the actor, and the crew. It does this to put on display ones suffering juxtaposed to the other’s ignorance and arrogance, and therefore signifying to the audience the reality of this situation. It also switches from a serious, symbolic drama to a slapstick comedy, as one minute a man is dying from starvation due to the rest of the cast’s ignorance to his existence, and the next he will be ruining across a field in sped up footage to make his movements more comedic.
The themes of ignorance and class divide between working and upper is outlined through actions, as the conversation between the director and a journalist reveals his eccentricity and obsession with his own work. The film then cuts to the protagonist being forced to hoard food in a cave. The same thing happens at then end, where wealth visitors come to see the production of the film, but only find the protagonist dead on a cross. The film also uses symbolism, such as when the actresses dog eats the protagonists lunch, thus causing him to starve further. Another example is when the protagonist being put onto the cross is teased by the people attaching him to it with food and drink, emulating the actual crucifixion of Christ.
One moment that I remember is when the actors are pretending to be figures from famous religious paintings, staying completely still and in careful, planned positions and poses. The wide shot used here and the use of colour brings our attention to what the director is trying to emulate, and when it cuts back to the film crew, the film is in black and white and imperfectly framed shots. The use of the wide shot here to bring the audiences attention to everything in frame, and the potential symmetry and framing of the shot.
Night Fishing (Park Chan-wook, 2011) is a 33 minute short film that follows a man on a fishing trip who catches more than he bargained for after dragging the corpse of a woman out of a lake.
The film is interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly, the entire film was shot on iPhone. Despite this, the film only uses a unique movement once, towards the beginning where a crane shot pans right as the camera moves over the ground. Throughout the rest of the film, usual camera movements and shots are used. However, the camera is remains still and steady, and after some time I forgot that the film was shot on a phone.
The other interesting thing about the film is the fact that it begins as a music video, with a band performing a song. The film remains on them for almost 3 minutes, before eventually swapping focus to the protagonist The lyrics of the song add meaning to the film, but this music video format is a sharp contrast to the supernatural thriller/horror that follows.
Finally, the film includes a twist around 18 minutes in, the reveal being that the protagonist is actually dead, and currently transitioning to the afterlife. The woman they meet is the spiritual medium in real life who he uses to communicate with his family for the final time. This twist is very sudden, but takes a few moments to be explained to the audience, as we cut to a completely new location where the previously dead woman is now alive and screaming in front of a group of people in what seems to be some sort of ritual practice. It is then shown to us, not through dialogue but through mise-en-scene and performances, that the fisherman passed away while on a fishing trip. We see this from an image of him decorated with candles, which reflects people mourning over him, and his family being clearly distraught as they talk to him through the medium. The twist is well done, but very jarring as the camera suddenly cuts from still close ups to a handheld wide shot, and the transition takes a minute as the woman is submerged and hallucinates the lake that she was in previously. It also completely removes a character, and changes the course of the story for the final 15 minutes, which are much more emotional than the previous scenes, which were suspenseful and even disturbing at points.
Some shots that I remember in particular and may choose to include in my final film is the handheld tracking crab shot of the woman after climbing out of the bath, the close low angle shot of the woman’s face, or the arch shot that circles around the fisherman as he sits patiently by the lake with his fishing rods set up in front of him. These are all shots that I may use in my own film, although the idea of using a twist would completely alter my idea and the execution of it, as-well as a musical performance to set up the film, so I will not use them in my film.
Swimmer (Lynne Ramsay, 2012) is a 16 minute short film that follows a man who swims through rivers and lakes, listening to people along his way and finally trying to reconnect with society towards the end of the film.
The film is shot in black and white, which makes the bodies of water water look much deeper and wider, therefore more intimidating to the audience. It shows how the man, the swimmer, feels much more free in these places, as all of this space belongs to him. This is also communicated through close-ups that show how skilled he is at making his way through the water, and long shots that emphasise how deep the water is and how fearless they are of it. The film also inconsistently swaps perspective between him and people on land, which shows how others see him, and therefore how strange this scenario is to the audience, but also by swapping back to the swimmers perspective we can see more sense in his actions, as we see the skill with which he travels, and the stunning beauty of the water.
The film also relies heavily on the non-diegetic composed score, as there is little to no dialogue in it. The music is nationalistic, which doesn’t seem to be for patriotic or propagandistic reasons, but to add a powerful and grand quality to these scenes of a man swimming. They make this strange and bizarre situation more beautiful, as the musics power and grandiose adds a moving atmosphere to these scenes, accompanying the shots of rural scenery and the man swimming through it. It is very intense, and at the beginning adds a peaceful quality to the scene, making it feel more surreal and calming. Here it accompanies wide shots of the countryside to emphasise the beauty of what the man is doing. In the middle of the film, it is used to create more intense and distressing scenes for when the man is attacked by children or tries to walk on land. This accompanies extreme closeups of the man and the carnival rides, making the environment feel much more hostile and intimidating. At the end of the film, wide shots are accompanied by powerful and moving music, which makes the final scene feel more powerful and moving even if what is happening is not entirely clear. A monologue about a runner’s life being lonely is played over here to add more profound meaning to this artistic and visually stunning moment, and partially explains why the swimmer sinks below the surface at the end.
The film uses many close ups of the man swimming, and as the picture is very high quality, this brings to our attention the beauty of the environment and the man swimming in it. The film also uses some interesting techniques, such as reverse slow motion footage, first person perspectives that rise in and out of water, and extreme close of wide shots. These techniques lead to the film having a very dream-like and ethereal feel, as intensity rises suddenly in the middle before falling again in the last few minutes.
Some techniques that stick with me are the use of slow motion, sharp contrast between black and white, reliance on the non-diegetic composed score and use of close ups to impact the audience. These create a powerful, moving and visually striking short film that conveys meaning through music and actions, rather than dialogue or character. A good example of this is when the man leaves the water to see a carnival. Here extreme close ups of the rides accompanied with intense and industrial sounding music makes the audience uncomfortable in this hostile and uncalled environment, and the choice to not show any rides fully in frame makes them seem larger, more intimidating, like uncaring, industrial machines. The lack of colour also helps here, as in the water it creates a beautiful, calm and serene environment, but here illuminates the mist and bright lights, making this carnival seem like hell on Earth. This helps the audience understand the swimmers fear of this place, and therefore why he returns to the water. I may use black and white for sequences that take place in different time periods in my film, or the use of slow motion in shots where the main character is in deep thought. More likely though, the use of extreme close ups to show emotions of the characters or wide shots to bring the audiences attention to the environment. The use of powerful music to convey meaning where there is no dialogue is also an idea I will use.
Pitch Black Heist (John Maclean, 2012) is a 13 minute short film that follows a pair of thieves preparing to rob a safe hidden inside a completely dark safe room.
The film is shot in black and white, which reflects the themes of light and darkness. The characters wear all black, reflecting their professions and personalities, as both are pessimistic or reclusive. It also creates a more dark and gloomy atmosphere for the film, as the characters and environments are devoid of any colour. The noir format makes the film feel more slick and serious, as the environment is kept empty of anyone other than the protagonists who stand out clearly with their clothes that don’t match the background palette, keeping the audiences focus on them. It focuses on the relationships between the protagonists, which is developed not through dialogue, as one is vey reclusive and silent, while on is outgoing and extroverted. What small snippets of dialogue there is very carefully reveals important information about the characters. For example, the older, more sociable man talks about, earlier in the film, how he is not used to more modern robberies of things like hardware and technology, implying his age and time in this line of work. Later on, the more quiet man quickly mentions how he resents his father for leaving when he was a child, and then a few minutes later that his dad was also a vault thief, and he has followed his footsteps, in a sense. This careful choice of what to reveal and what to hide explains the sudden betrayal at the end of the film for those who paid attention earlier in the film. The actions and expressions of the characters in the pub sequence are the main way that the director signals a growing bond between them both.
One moment that I remember is when the two characters are arm wrestling in front of a white background, which illuminates them. They are often wearing dark clothes against a dark background, so when they are in a lighter environment they are easier to see. I also remember the almost 2 minute long scene that takes place in the pitch black room. This reliance on audio places us in the position of the protagonists, and as there has been lots of buildup throughout the rest of the film, this moment is made even more suspenseful by the complete lack of music in the entire film other than the ambient, diegetic music played in the pub so signify the characters’ drunkenness. The deliberate use of silence to build suspense, the careful choice of dialogue to build character and buildup to the sudden ending, the tense silence between characters and use of black and white with contrasting uniforms against backdrops all stick with me, and I may even use on or two in my own film.
La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962) is an experimental 28 minute short film that takes place in a dystopian future that exists after the nuclear World War 3, where a man is experimented on to see if he can travel through time and find the saviour of what remains of mankind.
The film is very interestingly shot, as every shot is a still image, and the editing between them is not rapid enough, or at all, to make the film stop motion. Instead, it plays out almost like a graphic novel, where each shot is its own photograph. It is a very unique method of storytelling through cinematography, and contributes to the feeling that much of what we, the audience, see is essentially a flashback . This also works for scenes set in the future, but ultimately makes the film feel like an art project that places emphasis on each individual shot which is beautiful in its own right. Another interesting aspect of the film is that there is no actual dialogue by the characters in the film. In fact, they do not even have names. What the film relies on completely to convey information as to what is being shown in each frame is a narrator, who explains the context to the film, what we are seeing, and what it means. This heavy reliance on the narrator results in constant narration throughout the film, which Chris Marker occasionally breaks up with compilations of shots that do not need explanation, such as the scene in the museum, where the audience understands what is happening and can be left to appreciate it for a few moments. These moments allow for you to become connected to these characters, despite their lack of input to the plot and the way that they are presented in the third person by the narrator. This narration and the absence of any real character, combined with the single-shot dynamic make the film feel more like a story that is being told to us with visual accompaniment than a film we become involved in as we feel characters develop and lose ourselves in the plot.
What sticks with me is the use of narration, still images, and sound design to carry along through multiple shots to create pace and intensity where the content and pace of shots does not. Despite the sometimes frustrating and slow nature of these shots, they do make the film feel unique and stylistic, and also contribute to a very interesting way of communicating a unique plot with lots of potential. It conveys this interesting plot through it’s interesting technique, which makes the film so memorable. The use of a sudden, shock ending also makes the story a tragedy, and the somber, neo-noir execution of this pessimistic and grim future scenario makes the film interesting and entertaining in its own right, even without the use of its photographic form of cinematography. It’s use of single, still shots is something that I may use in my own short film, if I include a flashback scene, or single photographs that I may cut to a close up of.
The Grandmother (David Lynch, 1970) follows a young boy who suffers through an abusive relationship with his parents but strives to cope by planting a seed that soon sprouts into a caring grandmother.
The film is immediately distinctive, as it switches between live action and 2d animation made up of paper clippings. Both aspects of the film’s form are artistic, as even the live action uses fast paced and rapidly edited together still shots to create stop motion movement. David Lynch creates extremely unnatural and sometimes disturbing moments by combining live action and 2d animation, and also uses sound design to make very surreal and unusual effects that have a lasting impact on the audience. I remember this film for its very strange and unique story, effects and animation. The performances are also very unnatural, as the characters do not act at all human, which makes the film feel more like a surreal and dream-like experience, that more than often evolves into a nightmare.
The film is artistic, and favours interesting techniques and an unconventional story told through surreal and unusual methods like 2d animation and mise-en-scene to leave a lasting impression on the audience. I remember in particular the impressive cocoon that was built to show how the grandmother came to be born from a single seed. The mise-en-scene here is very disturbing to see, as the spectacle of a human growing from a plant-like organism is hallucinatory, and very ambitious from the director. What is also impressive is how Lynch establishes characters through actions rather than dialogue, as music and performance shows personalities and dynamics between them, as seen in the opening scene where the boy’s father abuses him as the whole family act like a pack of dogs. Another interesting aspect to talk about is how the film will often end a sequence through a sudden and jarring freeze frame where audio will echo out until the shot fades to black. This is very unexpected each time, and is done to establish, over time, the living situation of these characters. It is a unique and abnormal method of showing the passage of time, and the exaggerated expressions and screams of the characters makes the film feel more like theatre, as their inhuman characters seem to echo real emotion, through bizarre screams, barks and shouting. As Lynch’s methods of portraying these themes and emotions are so extreme, I doubt that I will take any inspiration for my own film project.
Characters are established at the beginning, as Lynch uses the 2d animation style in the film to show how they came to also be born from the ground. His use of the animation here is to show what cannot be shown through live action, but his execution is very artistic and makes an immediate impression on the audience as to the tone and aesthetic of the rest of the film. It is definitely the most unique and unconventional shirt film that we have studied for our coursework, and I think that David Lynch achieved in his goal of creating a lasting impression on the audience.
Curfew (Shawn Christiensen, 2012) follows a man who is attempting to commit suicide but decided against it when he is asked by his desperate and estranged sister to look after her daughter. Over the course of one day, he connects with his niece, planning the whole time to finish his suicide after dropping her back off with her mum.
The plot is interesting, as both protagonists are established as imperfect people, as the nice is spoiled and ungrateful while the uncle is irresponsible and makes bad decisions. However, the relationship that builds between them feels genuine, as the uncle does want to connect with his niece, and the niece can tell that her uncle is unwell. As their relationship grows, you come to connect and sympathise with both of them, and understand their situations more.
The film uses focus to keep our attention on the protagonists, but this makes everything in the background are very blurred, which hazy neons colours that emulate a hallucination, which is because the main character is on drugs. The film also uses colours to match the mood, as seen in the beginning when the dark red floor matches the colour of the protagonists blood during his suicide attempt, but later on the contrast is higher when his niece is dancing in the bowling alley. Lens flares are also used here to emphasise the happiness of the moment. As the protagonist looks around here at his hallucination, the camera spins around his head to make the audience feel dizzy and therefore emulates the effects of the drugs he is on. The while dance sequence is shot differently yo the rest of the film, with fast camera movements, bright colours and a crab shot that tracks the girls movement along the alley, which is one of my fav shots from the film. This is a stark contrast to the stationary camera and dark colour pallets and shadows in the rest of the film, which reflects the relationship between the characters and the uncle’s depression. The makeup design in this film is also incredible, as the uncle looks genuinely severely ill, which can be seen most in the first 3 minutes when he is trying to commit suicide and meeting his niece for the first time. Here he is extremely pale, unclean, and looks miserable, tired, ill.
Some other shots that I like were the shot that looks down on the uncle in an extreme close up that is also at a dutched tilt while he is considering answering the phone call that could save his life. The wide shot if him shouting at the women outside the bathroom is also memorable, as it is framed symmetrically, and makes sharp and random cuts to represent the uncles mounting anger and to show the passage of time, therefore emphasising why the women are annoying him. The opening shot is also very clever, as it crabs right to reveal the blood, cigarettes and phone. It comes to rest on the phone, when a bloody and trembling hand also holding a razor comes into frame from above it to answer the phone. This slow reveal builds atmosphere and makes the reveal that the main character is trying to kill the self more shocking. Close ups of bloody cigarettes and a razor imply what is happening before it is finally shown. It also establishes this character while the phone call immediately establishes the conflict that sets the plot up.
This shot emphasises his anguish, and the phone being out of focus is symbolic of the fact that help is there, but he refuses to take it. `his face being in focus makes us concentrate on his expression of pain, and the matching colours of red create a dark atmosphere and reinforce the grim nature of this scene. This shot shows the desperate and fatigued look of the protagonist.
High Maintenance (Phillip Van, 2006) takes place in a not too distant future, where a wife gets into a domestic dispute with her android husband, who doesn’t wish to celebrate their anniversary the way she intends, making her take matters into her own hands.
The film all takes place in one room, so uses close ups to show the conversation between these two people. This brings our attention to their robotic expressions and dialogue, as they have no emotion or compassion in their voice, just saying sentimental words without any emotion behind them. This dystopian sci-fi concept is only kept restricted to how it operates within this boring relationship,and the twist that both people are androids who are both easily replaceable shows the grim nature of this fictional scenario. It uses a real format of a failing marriage but incorporates a fictional sci-fi twist to make it more interesting and imagine how these aspects would fuse together in real life. This interesting fantasy scenario implemented into a realistic one is an interesting way of telling a story, and is an aspect that I may involve in my own short film.
I also liked the moment when the wife shuts off her husband, as a close up on the back of his neck shows slowly tracks her hand movements to show that she is reaching for a miniature switch on the back of his neck. This sudden reveal makes the moment more shocking and entertaining, and this and the sequence afterwards of her buying a new husband shows the dark future of this short film. I also remember the shot where the camera dolly’s out off the room as it shows the wife at her computer telling the robotics company what she wants out of her new husband. This movement away emphasises her isolation and the inhumanity of what she is doing. This and the extreme close up of her face as she eyes her new android with an entranced, obsessed look are both shots that I like, as her obsession with this fake person emphasises the dystopian concept, and it brings our attention to her obsession. The clever use of repeated dialogue from both of the robot husbands also shows their lack of humanity, and signals that something sinister is happening without the use of music to show this.
A Girl’s own story (Jane Campion, 1984) follows a group of young girls who navigate growing up and the various challenges and changes that come with it. It deals with subjects that are difficult to approach, such as teenage pregnancy, affairs, sex and sexuality.
The film establishes its main character immediately, as we see them as their school. The theme of strict religious education is a theme in this film, but when the protagonist is introduced we do not learn their name and the cinematography makes it hard to tell what is happening, as the frame is completely filled with people and it is a close up of this crowd. The narrative is incoherent as it swaps between characters, and it is not made clear where they are or what their relationships are. The themes are also interchanged at random, and sometimes are not made clear.
There is also a swap to an expressive mode of storytelling towards the end, as the main girls sing in together about their troubles. This swap from real and serious subject matter to a more whimsical and expressive way of conveying the meaning and emotions of the main characters is quite jarring, as it is so unexpected.
The main technique that I took away from this film was the final shot, where multiple people are sat in an empty room and looking at the floor. The camera stays near the floor and dolly’s forwards, towards the girl who is furthest away but centre frame. As it moves forward, the people towards the side of the frame move out of fame to slowly direct the viewer’s attention to the girl who is centre frame, and when the camera reaches her it stops, and the film fades to black.
Elephant (Alan Clarke) takes place in Northern Ireland in the 1980’s, , when ‘The Troubles’ were occurring, and follows a number of murders that take place throughout multiple sequences in the film. Each sequence follows a particular murder case, and they all follow a similar format of a mysterious and silent person searching frantically for someone, hiding an object and holding a passive expression. When they find that person, they are shown shooting them, fleeing the scene, and then the sequence ends with the scene focusing on the murdered person.
There is only one word said throughout the entire 38 minute movie, and that is a shout of panic from someone who is about to be murdered. Each sequence lasts a different amount of time, some ending in a few minutes, some lasting for 5 minutes. They use the formulaic time spent searching for a victim to build tension, as wide, open and empty spaces are filled with silence, the only sound being the loud and fast footsteps of the soon to be murderer. The director also uses wide shots and long takes, where the person searching will often be very far away from the camera, to emphasise the quietness and emptiness of these spaces, building suspense as we presume the killer gets to closer to their victim. This time spent searching can last for minutes, which drag on in complete silence, and this is done to build tension, as the killings can happen very suddenly, and when they do, they are made to be very shocking.
The killings are sometimes shown in long shots that let us see the murders happen in explicit detail, and sometimes they are shown through close ups to bring the audience closer to the violence. The receptiveness of the murders gets the formulae stuck in the audiences mind, which emphasises the mindlessness and brutality of the killings. At the end of the sequences, the corpses are also shown in close or long shots, which forces the audience to pay attention to the extreme violence that the film is based off. The film is not fun to watch, as the subject matter is so grim and the execution emphasises the brutality of it all, and the repetitiveness keeps it cycling in the audience’s memory.
My personal favourite aspects of the film were the ways that the camera sometimes followed the killer in tracking crab shots or pans to keep our focus on them, and sometimes would show them walking through large spaces in wide long takes to build tension and emphasise that they may be the focus of this scene, but are not the protagonist. It also makes the sequence where the killer is not shown until the end, and the focus is open the soon to be victim. I also remember the shot where an over-the-shoulder shot shows a man approaching another person, who he has just shot, who is crawling on the floor and bleeding, and as he weakly up and closes the long distance between them, tension is built for around 20 seconds, where tension is built and we form sympathy for the victim, and the drawn out moment makes it all the more uncomfortable for the audience to watch, and the inhumanity and uncaring nature of the killing is made clearer through the horror of the moment.
The Wrong Trousers (Nick Park, 1993) follows the iconic clay stop-motion characters, Wallace and Gromit, in a 28 minute short film where Wallace invests in some self-walking trousers and Gromit is tormented by his new roommate, Penguin.
The film uses pre-existing characters, so does not need to take time here to set them or the time and place up, as the audience is already familiar with their relationship, situation and personality’s. The plot conflict is set up within the first 10 minutes, as the trousers, an important plot device, and the penguin, who establishes the main conflict, are introduced. However the film spends almost 5 minutes introducing the characters and showing us their daily morning routine, which is important as this provides the contrast to what their life, or Gromit’s in particular, is like after the penguin asserts himself.
The main escalation of events also occurs very early, at around 12 minutes into the film when Gromit moves out and Wallace is kidnapped by his own trousers. Since the film is so short, the exposition, conflict, climax and falling action all take place very quickly, with little space between them. Most of the other short films that we have watched have not had such a linear narrative, as they take place over a very short or un-specified period of time, and so they do not even have expositions at the start, such as Connect (Samuel Abrahams, 2010), or do not have rising action as most of the film is spent establishing character rather than comedy or plot, like Stutterer (Benjamin Cleary, 2015). The last 16 minutes involve Gromit trying to catch the penguin and Wallace being made to steal a diamond. Much of this time is spent in silence, as neither animal character speaks at all, so the film relies on dramatic music and animated body expressions to convey information to the audience. The film is also comedic, and most music, situations and jokes serve to make the audience laugh. The plot does come to a climax in the last 5 minutes, where a dramatic and intense chase scene plays out, using physical slapstick comedy that it’s made possible through the animation style to achieve comedy.
I remember in particular the moment where Gromit is looking out of a cardboard box, and a POV shot lets us see from his perspective that the penguin has noticed him, and a dramatic note in the non-diegetic composed score raises the tension of the moment. The penguin eventually moves on, and we see from outside the box that he did so because the box has a dog face drawn onto it, and Gromit’s eyes are essentially camouflaged onto it. This information is hidden from the audience at first to raise tension and keep us focused on what Gromit is seeing, immersing us in his position, but when it is revealed it makes a joke.
When The Day Breaks (Amanda Forbis & Wendy Tibly, 1999) is a 9 minute long short film that takes place in a 2d animated world where animals take the roles of humans, cooking, shopping, shaving, etc. It follows two characters in particular, a pig and a chicken, who go about their human lifestyles and come to meet at a point in the film.
The film uses a unique 2d animation style that is made up of pencil drawings that are all animated together to link up and form a stop-motion animation. There are no characters that we, the audience, connect to. We simply see these people go about their everyday lives, which are normal, except for the car accident that occurs about halfway through. However, this set up does not go far, as the main character it effects quickly gets over it, and the film switches from a dark subject matter to an interesting showcase of a unique animation style. As the film’s focus shifts from the main characters to the various systems of plumbing and electric circuits that connect their homes, we see a rapid succession of shots that outline the wires, pipes, etc. that connect these humanoid-animals. This is an extremely fast paced and rapid sequence of shots that are akin to the soviet montage movement in the way that a selection of images shows so quickly that their content do not convey the meaning, but rather their overall theme. This is a technique I remember from the film. In particular, I liked the shots where wires were followed and shown connecting to devices in rooms and between rooms, which can likely be done without using this unique animation style.
As we do not know or connect to any of the characters, it is hard to feel emotional for any of them, and although the animation style is interesting, it does not keep the film engaging or immersive. It is a fascinating visual art piece, but there is little substance to the plot or characters it focuses on. The film more so exhibits it’s very unique animation technique of pencil and paint on photocopies than it creates a progressing plot or narrative. There is little meaning or symbolism, and the animation style makes the cinematography quite disorienting and jarring at times, making it hard to interpret what you are seeing. Therefore, When The Day Breaks shows how interesting visuals storytelling techniques can give a film a unique and individual style that may interest the audience, but how actual plot, narrative and characters are also important in creating an engaging short story.
Meshes Of The Afternoon (Maya Deren & Alexander Hamid, 1943) is a 14 minute short film that tells a very abstract and artistic depiction of a woman’s dream.
The directors seemed to want to immerse the audience in a very surreal and difficult to visualise scenario, which leads to the film being very abstract and the narrative jumbled. There is no set plot, and events simply play out as the protagonist navigates a very realistic dream in the sense that it makes no sense. Events replay multiple times, which creates the feeling of a time loop, and dutched camera angles, fast, hidden cuts make the actual layout of the house feel like something from a German Expressionist film of the 1920’s, which is done here to create a surreal and express I’ve environment, like something that you would dream up.
Like Connect (Samuel Abrahams, 2010) the film does not use any dialogue, except here this is more apparent as it is a longer short film. The surreal environment and exaggerated performance by the protagonist convey meaning. I particularly remember the use of the first person to immerse the audience and make the film feel more surreal and abstract. I also remember some of the physical ways in which we are immersed into the protagonist’s situation, such as a tube that the camera is placed through when they fall asleep, showing the world through a concentrated and focused view. This and the moment where the screen is actually broken and shatters to reveal another location behind it is symbolic of distorted reality and an interesting technique to create a dream like state, which is what the director set out to achieve. The nun who is revealed to have to face was also interesting, and can be easily recreated in a similar way to make a sudden twist, and the slow and sluggish running of the protagonist also replicates the feeling of being in a dream, as no matter how fast they run, they are never shown getting any closer to the person that they are chasing. This and the repetition of different events and object changing just as they are interacted with, sudden and jarring cameras movements that make hidden cuts between locations make the feel film surreal and dream like, therefore immersing the audience in the protagonists position.
However, the film is extremely repetitive and does not use its time to create characters or plot, only focusing on its abstract and artistic meanings. This is nit something that I would include in a short film, and in a 5 minute time frame would attempt to be more effective with my conveying of meaning and building of themes, aesthetic and characters. This film had more time to do that, but became repetitive through its use of the abstract dream quality.
Connect (Samuel Abrahams, 2010) is a 5 minute long short film that follows a woman on a bus who imagines very unlikely scenarios playing out in front of her as she listens to music, and sparks up a brief and fleeting romance with another passenger.
The film does not have any dialogue at all, which means that it does not set up its plot or characters other than through what we can see through the their actions and expressions. Events simply play out in front of us and the protagonist, and the intensity of events fluctuates as the two main characters are separated by the other people on the bus. There is no actual climax or buildup, as there is little to no communication of the characters emotions or intentions other than through silent performance.
The film does show how information can be conveyed through physical actions rather than dialogue, and the performative dance at the end conveys the main characters excitement through action, rather than narration or cinematography, etc. The film relies heavily on performance and the audiences interpretation of it, and the narrative is not particularly interesting or entertaining. There are a few interesting moments where the protagonist becomes lost in their own reality, but this does not contribute anything to the story, and can be hard to interpret when the character is not set up before hand. There is no context to the character, the audience just has to see what is happening and understand it’s meaning, which is not communicated in a way that makes it clear, as there is no dialogue or set up, character development or narrative progression.
I remember shots like the close up of the two peoples hands slowly touching, as this allows for suspense to be built, and the moment to become more romantic through. The way that it cuts to close ups of their faces and shot-reverse-shots to show that they are building a connection is an interesting technique that I can use to create a romantic moment in my own short film. The sudden flicker of light in the top left corner here was a technique that I wouldn’t use, but it does emphasise the sudden sentimentality of the moment.
The film is short and uses its time effectively, like most short films, to set up a romance between two characters, but otherwise does not establish meaning or characters, and incorporates some symbolism through performance that is difficult to understand as there is no dialogue or character development to explain it. I think the directors intention was to establish a connection between two characters in a short time frame with no dialogue or context, and uses the protagonists imagination to reflect their emotions, which is not entirely clear while watching the film. The establishment of a romance in a short time frame with nothing said is what I remember as the most positive aspect of Connection, but the unconventional ways of conveying meaning did not do the film many favours.
Stutterer (Benjamin Cleary, 2015) is a 13 minute short film that follows a man living in London who suffers from a severe speech impediment that renders him virtually mute, and how he handles the fact that he may be finally meeting his online girlfriend in person for the first time.
I liked the simplicity of the plot and the way that interesting techniques were used to take the audience through it. We can hear the protagonist’s thoughts, as they struggle to communicate them with anyone else, which gives the film a very sympathetic narrator who can give the audience his thoughts and emotions without directly communicating with them and breaking the fourth wall, as About A Girl (Brian Percival, 2001) does. This brings the audience into a close and understanding relationship with the protagonist, allowing us to understand him and why he is making the actions he does in the film, and his coping mechanism to help him through his disability. This was an interesting technique that stuck with me. I also liked the way that he makes “snap-judgments” of people he sees. It emphasises his loneliness and creates a simple coping mechanism for the protagonist which makes the audience sympathise with him. It is also a good way of creating brief moments of comedy in an otherwise gloomy short film.
The film also takes time to establish its protagonist before the conflict that sets the plot in motion. This is important as it helps the audience to understand him and why he behaves the way he does, and when the conflict is established , it changes his behaviour. This change then affects the way he behaves day to day, which the plot mostly follows, his daily life. There is no dramatic buildup to the ending, and no intense climax, just an intimate portrayal of someone in an otherwise romantic situation who struggles due to an unfortunate disability. So the film shows how a plot can remain interesting just through its protagonist and the audiences connection to them, and their development in the short time frame used, and how this can be communicated to the audience in a unique and explainable way.
The climax is resolved, but only right at the ending, which makes for an ending that is partly a cliffhanger, as we do not know what will happen after, but also a happy ending, as we understand the protagonist has worked through the issue they face throughout the film. The use of silence at the end of the film is also a clever but simple use of symbolism that reflects the main characters silence, but also immerses the audience and raises tension as to what is going to happen, but also making the moment feel much more powerful and impactful, as all else if forgotten except for what is important, the distance between the two characters in that moment. About A Girl, Stutterer only follows one main character, but it shows how this can be made to work by establishing a likeable and sympathetic person in an interesting situation, and how the audience can be brought closer to them through intimate and personal narration, and how a detailed or progressing plot is not crucial to a film, as long as the characters are enjoyable and their navigation through it is entertaining.
About A Girl(Brian Percival, 2001) follows a young girl who talks directly to the audience, telling them about her interests, social life, family and dreams for the future.
An interesting technique the film uses is direct communication by the protagonist to the audience. The girl acknowledges the camera and speaks to us, which gives the audience a very personal understanding of the main character. This brings the audience into the film, and helps them to understand the character more. It is also shot in handheld, and made to look like an observational documentary, as the camera is sometimes far away from the girl, and picks up conversations that she has with other people.
The film also cuts back to points in the girl’s day to give the audience footage of the things she is talking about, such as her relationship with her dad, friends, arguments with her mum, etc. This is also done quite clumsily, as sometimes the girl is interrupted by these sudden and fast flashbacks that do not always give important information away, and this is done to help bring us closer to the main character. The film is clearly trying to create a realistic depiction of a young girl living in her circumstances, and therefore uses her narration and footage to juxtapose how she describes her life and what it looks like to the audience, and the perfect moment where this can be seen is the shock ending. In fact, the twist in this film that comes in the last 20 seconds and completely changes the way we look at the protagonist and the rest of the film, is the main thing I remember from About A Girl. It is extremely shocking and grim, which takes the already realistic subject matter and makes it much more serious and powerful. This and the footage taken earlier used to backup or juxtapose the protagonists narration, and the method of communication directly with the audience are all techniques that stick with me.
There is no particular climax, enigma or conflict set up, just the main character describing themselves to us, the audience. I did not like hoe repetitive this mode of communication felt after a few min utes, as the protagonist constantly talks to the audience, with the only breaks being footage taken from earlier, in which she may also be the only one talking. This brought the film down for me, but the film does use some interesting techniques, and also shows how a short film can be centred around one specific character who can involve the audience in their life and therefore, the film. However, it also shows how you can lose the audiences attention through constant dialogue and the lack of any developing plot or progressing narrative, as the film just follows a character describing their life, with a twist ending to add meaning and peak interest but otherwise no devices to advance the plot and keep the audience interested.
Wasp (Andrea Arnold, 2005) is a 26 minute short film that follows a mother who attempts to pretend that her four children do not belong to her so that she can go on a date with an old friend. However, she already struggles immensely to provide for them, and pulling off this stunt causes more disaster for her family than she expects to risk with this act.
The film makes use of its long time frame for a short film to establish its characters, urban setting and narrative. The mise-en-scene immediately establishes where the film takes place and we are introduced to the main character, the mother, through her first actions of fighting other people in front of her children. The main conflict is quickly set up after this event, which was done to establish the main character, and the conflict establishes the lie the mother must uphold while trying to look after her children. The plot leads up to a climax, which is when her children are put in harm’s way by her neglect, which she must abandon her date for to protect them. The plot slowly builds up to this, and the narrative follows the family only throughout this day, and does not use any unique techniques to tell the story.
One thing that stuck with me was the cinematography, as the film is shot entirely with handheld cameras, which make it feel almost like an observational documentary. This makes the film feel real, raw, like its happening right in front of us, immersing the audience. The frame composition is also realistic and cramped at times, with large object obstructing the view, which impacts the audience by making them feel claustrophobic in the pub scene. The movements are also frantic and unpredictable at times, which makes it feel like the filmmaker is following the characters, documenting them. Parallel editing is used towards the end of the film as it cuts between the mum inside the pub and her kids outside. This and the natural lighting make the film feel real and unplanned, which sticks with me after watching it.
The Gunfighter (Eric Kissack, 2014) is an 8 minute long short film that follows a group of characters in a western tavern that are tormented and taunted by a mysterious, hidden narrator who knows a surprising amount about them. The film is predominantly a comedy, as the various truths revealed lead to a comedic scenario and an unlikely situation that mimics classic spaghetti westerns in a format that is slapstick in nature.
I liked the fast pace of the film, which sets up its simple but interesting plot within around 30 seconds, from where events quickly unfold and escalate. The camera movements are sharp and fast, bringing the audiences attention to who and what is important quickly, and the use of the narrator, while a comedic and reflexive device that mocks the cliche here, also conveys information to the audience, but progresses the plot as-well, which is something a narrator does not typically do. This interesting technique and the effective pace of the film sticks with me after watching it a few times. This is created through sharp, snappy dialogue and fast shot-reverse-shots between increasingly aggravated characters, and this can be seen in action when all the characters draw their weapons towards the climax of the film.
The characters are one dimensional, and are also quickly established through the narrator’s information. The time and place is immediately established through mise-en-scene and cliche soundtrack, that establishes to the audience the fact that the film is self aware and mocks the cliches of the westerns it mimicked here. The plot escalates to a climax, rising and falling in intensity throughout as more characters, relationships and truths are revealed, and the plot is resolved through the climax, in which everyone dies. All important information, the crisis, context, humour, characters, conflict and set up are all established through the narrator, who is also an important character and plot point in the film. This shows the usefulness of a narrator for giving information directly to the audience in a short amount of time without having to imply or create meaning through key elements of film form or representation, aesthetics, etc. The film also demonstrates how cinematography can be used to convey information quickly and keep the audience constantly focused on what is most important in a particular moment, creating a pace that fits into a short time frame and how to effectively build up to a climax in 8 minutes with pacing, cinematography and the rapid revealing of information that progresses the plot through narration.
This was the first day of our A level film studies coursework project. We were introduced to the project that we will be undertaking, specifically the first of 6 elements of the production process, research. The others are pre-production, production, post-production, evaluative analysis, and submission.
As part of this stage, we will watch 18 short films chosen by the exam board and write a blog post for each one to analyse it. This will contribute to choosing a group of films that add up to at leat 80 minutes, which we will be using certain elements from to inform the production of our own film. We are encouraged to keep notes on narrative, characters, visuals and other key elects of film form and screenplay techniques. This will also help us practise evaluating our film, which will gain us marks in the alongside the actual end product we will have made by the end of the production process. We will analyse the narrative structure, cinematic influences(key elements of film form, genre, contexts of film), and the creation of meaning and effect through aesthetics and representation in short film.
We were also introduced to the production deadlines and the production brief, which outline what options of techniques our film must include one of, a narrative with a distinctive genre, a narrative with parallel stories, a non-linear narrative or a narrator, and by what dates certain tasks must be completed by. The actual production process, element 3 begins in mid-September. Until then we are researching for the pre-prodiction process, element 2, which begins in early July. I will blog the films that we watch in class and outline elements that I may consider taking inspiration from for my own film, and I will be coming up with initial ideas for my film and what option the exam board has provided to include in it also. Research for the coursework is essentially preparing for how to approach the production process and introducing us to some important concepts that will need to be included in our film and ideas to keep in mind when we come to evaluate them. As the coursework requires specific reference to films where we have taken ideas, we will need to take notes of things that stand out and keep them in mind approaching the production process. “Learners will also be exploring examples of key elements of film form and screenplay techniques during their course of study, which they can apply to their production.” We will be prepared to actually start filing our short films by the beginning of the summer holidays, and up to that point we will be exploring the short film form and what elements they may contain, which ones we may wish to include in our own work, and how to plan, prepare, produce and polish the focus of the coursework.
Finley Cairns A-Level Film Studies Blog 
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