Media film poster deconstruction
View more presentations from Louise Adams.
Monday, 27 September 2010
Research and Planning: Film Poster Research
http://www.slideshare.net/LouiseAdams/media-film-poster-deconstruction
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0281358/ - a walk to remember
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800039/ - forgetting sarah marshall
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037558/ - brief encounter
Friday, 24 September 2010
What is a short film?
- A short film is defined as a motion picture that is not more than 40 minutes in running time (including all credits).
- My short film is only going to be 5 minutes.
- There have been many short films, by famous directors such as... Paul Thomas Anderson, David Cronenberg, Sam Raimi and Spike Lee.
- Short films are seen most commonly at Short film festivals such as Festival du Cinema de Paris 23rd Mar del Plata International Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival.
- Some examples of short films are Wasp by Andrea Arnold, Day and Night by Pixar and Snow on Saturday by Serena Gordon.
Research and Planning: Our Synopsis
As we follow the day to day routine of these two lovers, on the tube, walking down the street and even getting ready. The two seem so separate in their lives, but also connected by the demands of everyday life. We use the strenuous commute on the London tube every morning, builds to a relationship which results in the two characters falling in love.
*
The narrative begins; a woman is in her bedroom getting ready for work. We follow her out of her house and to the tube station. This is where she meets our second character; a tall attractive man dressed in a suit. They make brief eye contact but it is clear there will be a connection between the two during the story. As the day to day routine goes on through the year, the connection between the characters build stronger, and results in their final meeting at the end on the millennium bridge.
The way we will present the changing of time is hopefully through season change, if we are able to do it in our short time keeping of filming, but we can also use other motifs such as coats and umbrellas to demonstrate this, and the mise en scene of the characters costumes. These visual motifs will be effective and we will not use a repetitive action, so that we can demonstrate the passing of time, not the same day over and over.
'Small Moments' short film analysis
Tartan Shorts Production Company
by Jeremy Raison
The short film 'Small Moments' was a gripping and interesting order of events. its quick pace and high tempo created anticipation for an audience. Throughout the short film there are many different story lines that tie into one, for instance one of a little girl and her mummy meeting the dad at a restaurant and an old couple sitting down to have lunch. Having many stories intertwined enhanced the interest in foreshadowing the ending.
To relate to the codes and conventions of short films, where it works with motifs and themes sucha as the clock in the town centre to connote the theme of time. It also visually created a wonderful short film, the music along with diagetic sound, like clock ticking or skateboard noises or sounds of cars to connote a city, to bring the whole feel of the atmosphere together and forebode the end effectively to the audience. They even used suspense music along with the ticking of the clock near the end, to build up anticipation.
The camerawork and editing was very well done, it had a huge range of shots, ones that stood out to me were when a camera was on a track following along side a skateboard, or using the cars in the city as a wipe, the range of wide shots and long shot, along with plenty of extreme close ups, to emphasise the characters emotions throughout. They also used a high angle when looking up at the town clock when along with diegetic sound it ticks, and that builds the theme of anticipation.
The costume and props throughout brought an interesting motif of colour, the use of a lot of reds, like the red nail varnish, the red balloon, the red bottom of the skateboard, helped to forebode the ending, and to connote blood shed. There were also brighter colours like blue of the sky and yellow to challenge the idea of blood shed, as it connotes a happy time, in a sunny place which is to be destroyed!
The only thing about the short film that challenged usual conventions of short films was the number of different narratives, with a range of many characters. This was contrasted with normal short films 1 narrative as there is a short space of time to fit it into. This however did work very well, as the different storylines kept the audience on their toes and made the audience want to watch on and be captivated through foreshadowing.
See what else Jeremy Raison has done : http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/jeremy-raison/7/304/b13
Research and Planning: Our Pitch
Day By Day (working title) by Deema Khafaji and Louise Adams.
Our short film concept is about how a day to day commute gradually brings two strangers together, resulting in them falling in love.
Research and Planning: My Group
Our teacher said that we could chose our own groups, from 1 to 4 people. I chose to pair up with my friend Deema as she held the same interest in the genre of Romance as me, and we have worked together well in the past, so knew that we could make it effective. Deema and I have separate skills, such as she is good at photoshop and camera work, and I will contribute to the writing side of it and the acting. Our different skills make it easy for us to succeed our project while both working hard on it.
Research and Planning: Genres
(represented by icons) | |
 |  Action films usually include high energy, big-budget physical stunts and chases, possibly with rescues, battles, fights, escapes, destructive crises (floods, explosions, natural disasters, fires, etc.), non-stop motion, spectacular rhythm and pacing, and adventurous, often two-dimensional 'good-guy' heroes (or recently, heroines) battling 'bad guys' - all designed for pure audience escapism. Includes the James Bond 'fantasy' spy/espionage series, martial arts films, and so-called 'blaxploitation' films. A major sub-genre is the disaster film. See also Greatest Disaster and Crowd Film Scenes and Greatest Classic Chase Scenes in Films. |
 |  Adventure films are usually exciting stories, with new experiences or exotic locales, very similar to or often paired with the action film genre. They can include traditional swashbucklers, serialized films, and historical spectacles (similar to the epics film genre), searches or expeditions for lost continents, "jungle" and "desert" epics, treasure hunts, disaster films, or searches for the unknown. |
 |  Comedies are light-hearted plots consistently and deliberately designed to amuse and provoke laughter (with one-liners, jokes, etc.) by exaggerating the situation, the language, action, relationships and characters. This section describes various forms of comedy through cinematic history, including slapstick, screwball, spoofs and parodies, romantic comedies, black comedy (dark satirical comedy), and more. See this site's Funniest Film Moments and Scenes collection - illustrated, and alsoPremiere Magazine's 50 Greatest Comedies of All Time. |
 |  Crime (gangster) films are developed around the sinister actions of criminals or mobsters, particularly bankrobbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way through life. Criminal and gangster films are often categorized as film noir or detective-mystery films - because of underlying similarities between these cinematic forms. This category includes a description of various 'serial killer' films. |
 |  Dramas are serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, and stories involving intense character development and interaction. Usually, they are not focused on special-effects, comedy, or action, Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre, with many subsets. See also melodramas, epics (historical dramas), or romantic genres. Dramaticbiographical films (or "biopics") are a major sub-genre, as are 'adult' films (with mature subject content). |
 |  Epics include costume dramas, historical dramas, war films, medieval romps, or 'period pictures' that often cover a large expanse of time set against a vast, panoramic backdrop. Epics often share elements of the elaborate adventure films genre. Epics take an historical or imagined event, mythic, legendary, or heroic figure, and add an extravagant setting and lavish costumes, accompanied by grandeur and spectacle, dramatic scope, high production values, and a sweeping musical score. Epics are often a more spectacular, lavish version of a biopic film. Some 'sword and sandal' films (Biblical epics or films occuring during antiquity) qualify as a sub-genre. |
 |  Horror films are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. Horror films feature a wide range of styles, from the earliest silent Nosferatu classic, to today's CGI monsters and deranged humans. They are often combined with science fiction when the menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology, or when Earth is threatened by aliens. The fantasy andsupernatural film genres are not usually synonymous with the horror genre. There are many sub-genres of horror: slasher, teen terror, serial killers, satanic, Dracula, Frankenstein, etc. See this site's Scariest Film Moments and Scenes collection - illustrated. |
 |  Musical/dance films are cinematic forms that emphasize full-scale scores or song and dance routines in a significant way (usually with a musical or dance performance integrated as part of the film narrative), or they are films that are centered on combinations of music, dance, song or choreography. Major subgenres include the musical comedy or the concert film. See this site's Greatest Musical Song/Dance Movie Moments and Scenes collection - illustrated. |
 |  Sci-fi films are often quasi-scientific, visionary and imaginative - complete with heroes, aliens, distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, fantastic places, great dark and shadowy villains, futuristic technology, unknown and unknowable forces, and extraordinary monsters ('things or creatures from space'), either created by mad scientists or by nuclear havoc. They are sometimes an offshoot of fantasy films, or they share some similarities with action/adventure films. Science fiction often expresses the potential of technology to destroy humankind and easily overlaps with horror films, particularly when technology or alien life forms become malevolent, as in the "Atomic Age" of sci-fi films in the 1950s. |
 |  War (and anti-war) films acknowledge the horror and heartbreak of war, letting the actual combat fighting (against nations or humankind) on land, sea, or in the air provide the primary plot or background for the action of the film. War films are often paired with other genres, such as action,adventure, drama, romance, comedy (black), suspense, and even epics and westerns, and they often take a denunciatory approach toward warfare. They may include POW tales, stories of military operations, and training. See this site's Greatest War Movies (in multiple parts). |
 |  Westerns are the major defining genre of the American film industry - a eulogy to the early days of the expansive American frontier. They are one of the oldest, most enduring genres with very recognizable plots, elements, and characters (six-guns, horses, dusty towns and trails, cowboys, Indians, etc.). Over time, westerns have been re-defined, re-invented and expanded, dismissed, re-discovered, and spoofed. |
 |  A sub-genre for the most part, this category shares some features with romantic dramas, romanticcomedies, and sexual/erotic films. These are love stories, or affairs of the heart that center on passion, emotion, and the romantic, affectionate involvement of the main characters (usually a leading man and lady), and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story the main plot focus. |
Web
Definitions of Romance genre on the Web:
- As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_genre
While most films have some aspect of romance between characters (at least as a subplot) a romance film can be loosely defined as any film in which the central plot (the premise of the story) revolves around the romantic involvement of the story's protagonists. Common themes include the characters making decisions based on a newly-found romantic attraction. The questions, "What am I living for?" or "Why am I with my current partner?" often arise.
The appeal of these films is in the dramatic reality of the emotions expressed by the characters. The following is a list of recent romantic films. The most successful romantic film is the 1997 blockbuster, Titanic which grossed over $600 million in America and $1.8 billion, worldwide.
Another prerequisite is that the film has a happy ending (or at least bittersweet) and many would argue that no film with a sad ending may be correctly defined as "romance;" however, this second prerequisite is admittedly disputable and many screenwriters and directors will push the boundaries of the genre in this aspect.
Why I decided to make a romantic short film?
The popular genre is engaging to a large target audience, so I would be able to get my film out there easily and attract to a lot of people, manly 16-25's usually women. The romance is also a nice idea for a narrative as the coming together of two lovers is always a nice thing to see, on a happy day.
I think my short film will be effective as a romance through the emotion drawn between the characters, the kiss at the end and the development of the characters finally coming together.
BFI day out
Our media class took a trip to the 'British Film Institute' on the 16th July 2010, we watched many different genre short films on our own private screens with personal headphones, which allowed us to analyse the films in great detail and gain ideas from them, to start our own project of making a short film!These are some of the following films that we watched:
Borderline by Alex Chandon (4 minutes)
Milk by Andrea Arnold (10 minutes)
Project One (5 minutes)
Sundial by William Raban (1 minute)
Girls' Night Out by Joanna Quinn (6 minutes).
We then were told to take our own cameras and walk about Southbank to capture moments and find ideas for our projects. We went along the river and that is where Deema and I got the idea for a city romance, with the river, a bridge and london aspects included in it, such as public transport and daily lives.
After lunch we then had a lecture about short films and how they are made and go through production and the codes and conventions of short films, along with discussing our own ideas for our short films and what we had thought of the short films we saw in the morning and what had inspired us.
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
'Wasp'
Directed by Andrea Arnold
Within the 24 minute short film of real life story of a young single mother with her 3 children and a baby, and the problems she has to face living her life. Arnold demonstrates a negative view of this lifestyle through lack of money and dirty surroundings.The director herself, developed an interesting and clever camera sequence to correspond with the mood and themes throughout the film. Through hand held camera shots, such as in the establishing shot, when the children and the mother are running down the stairs of the council estates, this shows a real life feeling of the situation, which establishes a type of documentary style.Other edits like quick cut-aways and swift transitions between scenes. The film was visually fantastic, the use of extreme close-ups, such as crane shot over the woman, Zoe's, bare feet on the road with her red nail varnish and that of the wasp on the window.The stereotypical single mother is demonstrated efficiently through her clothes, in the first scene she is wearing a long nightie with bare feet, hair down and messy. Then later she wears heels, a really short skirt to reveal her arse, and a tight skimpy top, with her hair up in a pony-tail, and lots of make-up. This shows her to be tacky yet troubled which can connote a woman of that background in the area, and in the time of the 90s. This can also demonstrate the prejudice of her having lots of children due to her showing off her body and also the lack of care and concern.The style of this short film is appealing to work with, the real life settings and hand-held camera work to make it seem more personal with a slight documentary feel. This has inspired me to create a story of real life and show all the feelings involved through brave camera shots and frames and not be afraid to use a hand-held.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388534/ - Internet Movie Database about the film 'Wasp'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN6BSVl1zQY - a clip from the short film.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Arnold - About the director Andrea Arnold.
Within the 24 minute short film of real life story of a young single mother with her 3 children and a baby, and the problems she has to face living her life. Arnold demonstrates a negative view of this lifestyle through lack of money and dirty surroundings.The director herself, developed an interesting and clever camera sequence to correspond with the mood and themes throughout the film. Through hand held camera shots, such as in the establishing shot, when the children and the mother are running down the stairs of the council estates, this shows a real life feeling of the situation, which establishes a type of documentary style.Other edits like quick cut-aways and swift transitions between scenes. The film was visually fantastic, the use of extreme close-ups, such as crane shot over the woman, Zoe's, bare feet on the road with her red nail varnish and that of the wasp on the window.The stereotypical single mother is demonstrated efficiently through her clothes, in the first scene she is wearing a long nightie with bare feet, hair down and messy. Then later she wears heels, a really short skirt to reveal her arse, and a tight skimpy top, with her hair up in a pony-tail, and lots of make-up. This shows her to be tacky yet troubled which can connote a woman of that background in the area, and in the time of the 90s. This can also demonstrate the prejudice of her having lots of children due to her showing off her body and also the lack of care and concern.The style of this short film is appealing to work with, the real life settings and hand-held camera work to make it seem more personal with a slight documentary feel. This has inspired me to create a story of real life and show all the feelings involved through brave camera shots and frames and not be afraid to use a hand-held.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388534/ - Internet Movie Database about the film 'Wasp'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN6BSVl1zQY - a clip from the short film.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Arnold - About the director Andrea Arnold.
Straight 8, short film analysis
Stiffy:I thought the short film was entertaining yet sinister. The soundtrack of a young girls voice as if like a nursery rhyme added a feel of happy times and love. Yet the story of the man falling in love with the ‘stiff’ was quite peculiar and not something that you see everyday.The camera shots were quite interesting; as the creators, Jacqueline Wright and Alice Lowe, used a wide range of editing, such as zooming in and fading out. Plus the low lighting and soundtrack adds the strange feel of pain and confusion of love.
Straight 8 have there own 'rules' when filming. They use a single camera and don't usual edit the film after production. This short film was very fascinating and quirky but I don't think the style and genre of the film would appeal to me and might not be a technique to follow. One good aspect of the film that I was inspired by was the lack of script and words, with just a soundtrack. I felt this ensured the audience to make their own conclusions of the actual story and feel more involved in the circumstances. I would like to use that type of technique in my short film.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p004pyzt - Watch the film online.
http://www.alicelowe.net/index.php?page_name=reviews - A good review of the short film 'Stiffy' with reviews of other short films also. (scroll down)
Straight 8 have there own 'rules' when filming. They use a single camera and don't usual edit the film after production. This short film was very fascinating and quirky but I don't think the style and genre of the film would appeal to me and might not be a technique to follow. One good aspect of the film that I was inspired by was the lack of script and words, with just a soundtrack. I felt this ensured the audience to make their own conclusions of the actual story and feel more involved in the circumstances. I would like to use that type of technique in my short film.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p004pyzt - Watch the film online.
http://www.alicelowe.net/index.php?page_name=reviews - A good review of the short film 'Stiffy' with reviews of other short films also. (scroll down)
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