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Short Film Planning Ideas

Short Film Analysis- Presentation

The exam media

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Short Film Analysis- Pocoyo

Short Film Analysis- The Exam

Short Film Textual Analysis

Short film title: “The Exam”
Genre: Comedy
Year: 2007
Director:  Chris Schwager
Source (web address): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HC1ANf4L6s&feature=related

Camera angle, movement and position

The camera is positioned in many different areas in all parts of the short film,  there are many different types of shot used for example close up, extreme close up, long shot, medium shot and tracking.  Camera angles are used to suggest camera representation by showing different levels which represents status. The camera movement creates meaning by it having quite straight cuts to each different shot which shows that they’re straight forward men. There is a wide depth of field within the shot.

Framing.

The characters and locations have been framed using rule of third most of the time except when using extreme close up, the characters are also sometimes put on the edge of the frame to make it look different and show the meaning of how the characters possibly aren’t boring/like to life life on the edge.  There are many thngs inside and out of the shots like props, backgrounds, different locations etc.

Editing and special effects.

There hasn’t been alot of editing put into this short film, there are quite alot of shot reverse shot when characters are talking, there are also cuts to each different shot and this creates meaning by not messing around, it’s just straight to the point. Editing and sound work very well together in this short film, it is quite patronising music which makes it seem like the boys are naive.  The composition and shots are pretty straight forward, there are parts where the composition includes a location, and sometimes when it doesn’t and it’s just an extreme close up on a particular characters face like it was in the first few minutes of the film.

Mise en scene.

The film is set in many different places, in the first few minutes it’s set in a pub, then it cuts straight to a hotel bedroom and then it changes to a side of a road, then to a university, therefore it creates a feeling that maybe the boys are confused and muddled up and there are alot of places to be. The location has a very big impact on the film and it creates atmosphere because it makes the audience aware of what we should expect, so we expect to hear music and loud noise from the pub, and quite at the university, and car horns etc when their at the side of the road. Lighting has alot of impact as it also reflects on the kind of people the characters are, bad lighting, bad person, good lighting, good person.

Sound.

There is diegetic sound in the first few minutes when their in the pub and there is music being played in the surround sound, also there is non-diegetic sound when the boys are taken into different university lecture halls to sit their exam.  There is not a voice for narrator, just dialogue. The use of music creates atmosphere and a subtle tone creates calmness.  The use of silence in this short films makes the audience take more notice to what is happening because they can’t hear anything, it also makes them wonder and question why no one is talking or why there is no sound.

Script.

The dialogue is very important in this short film as it tells us exactly what is happening so the audience doesn’t have to work it out for themselves. If there is not a script for the character it could show that because they are of a higher status they don’t need to say anything- character representation. Or maybe they’re too much of a lower class. Although dialogue has a much larger impact on the film because people in this generation are less likely to go and see a silent film.

Titles/Institutional Reference.

The font is very small and italic, they’re positioned at the end of the short film because the director probably didn’t want them to be distracting at the beginning of the film. They are black on a plain white background- this could show stupidity which is shown throughout the whole film. The titles do not stay on the screen for very long and they are meant to be obvious by showing them at the end.

Macro.

The conventions that have been challenged would be the fact that usually there is quite alot of editing used in films although this short film has hardly any editing, just uses straight cuts. The audiences expectations of this genre is satisfied due to the ending being very comical.

Representation(s)

The film is set in present day, this would make the audience feel more involved. The characters are represented through the use of the camera because of the different shots and levels used, for example right at the beginning there is a close up on a particular actors face which could show that he is the main character as we’re getting personal to him because the camera is extremely close to his face. This also follows the stereotypes. Todorov’s theory doesn’t really apply here due to the fact Todorov thought to believe that there is a good beginning, an act of uncertainty and then a good ending but this has not got a good ending.  I think that age is being shown here that even in university some people never grow up because otherwise you’d know not to get drunk before your last exam.

Audience.

The target audience is teenagers and university students, I know this because the actors in it are university students and the film is constructed in a way to show them as students who go out and get drunk all the time and don’t really care, just think that life will come easy to them. The audience will respond well to this film and also relate to its comedy genre.

Themes/Messages.

This film is trying to give a message that don’t ever be late for an exam or go out the night before because things don’t always happen the way you want them to, and if things seem too good to be true, they probably are.

What have I learnt from this construction of this short film? How can I apply any of these techniques to my own short film?

By watching this short film I realised doing a short film based on reality and events that could happen to people would be more exciting because it could be an event I’ve been through myself or someone else that I know and it would make it more appealing for a bigger audience.

Role Distribution

Group Name: Once Heard

Group Members: Alice Fenwick, Olivia Farrell, Rebecca Cobb, Charlotte Elson

Student and candidate number	Role Allocated
Alice Fenwick	First and last part of the film, her role is to be the women working in the hearing centre, her role is to help ‘Laura’ learn sign language. She also made the poster and helped with the camera.
Olivia Farrell	Throughout the film, my role was to be in charge of the camera, the shots, the angles, the movements etc. I also did the poster analysis, made the poster and did the editing.
Rebecca Cobb	During the whole film she plays “Laura” our main character who is the person who becomes deaf due to an unfortunate accident. She also made the double page spread.
Charlotte Elson	In the middle part of the film her role was to play one of “Laura’s” friends, who is with her at the pub, she also helped me with the camera. She also made the double page spread and drew up the story board

We all played a huge part in writing the script, shot list, editing decision list, shooting script, story board, planning, synopsis and questionnaire.

Research- TRIBE

Research- Think Safe Drive Safe Campaign

Resarch- Lip Reading

Research- Email

Questionnaire Results

Prop List

Props

The Term ‘Prop’ is a shortened version of the theatrical term property. It is a word used to describe an object used or handled by an actor in a performance. Leading props are ones that are used to take the narrative to the next level or scene. This is relevant in my short film where the piece of paper passed between two characters cause a flashback which shows the events leading up to the scene.

Location 1- Office

• Paper:
• Handbags
• Name tag
• Pens
• Computer chairs
• Folders and files
• Phone
• Notice board
• Filing unit
• Desk
• Computer
• Plants

Location 2- Bar

·         Glasses

·         Cigarettes

·         Broken headlight: used as a weapon

·         Peanut bowl

·         Bar stools

·         Table and chairs

We tried to make the scenes and the locations used in our short film as realistic as possible. To ensure this we needed to pay close attention to detail which would add to the overall mise-en-scene.  In particular, props such as the peanut bowl on the bar at location 2 added to the mise-en-scene and also provided an object for characters to be based around. This was the same for the glasses and cigarettes. The paper and pen props were used to convey messages between the main character who was deaf and the sign language teacher.

Production Meeting Log

Media posters a2

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Posters

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Poster Rough Sketches

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Poster Analysis

Media posters a2

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Narrative Research

TODOROV’S THEORY – Todorov proposed a basic structure for all narratives. He stated that:

·         Films and programmes begin with an equilibrium, a calm period.

·         Then agents of disruption cause disequilibrium, a period of unsettlement and disquiet.

·          This is then followed by a renewed state of peace and harmony for the protagonists

·         Then a new equilibrium brings the chaos to an end.

The simplest form of narrative (sometimes referred to as ‘Classic’ or ‘Hollywood’ narrative).

PROPP’S THEORY –Vladimir Propp’s theory was formed in the early twentieth Century. He studies Russian fairytales and discovered that in stories there were always 8 types of characters evident.

·         These are: the hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, the false hero, the helper, the princess and her father. He did not state these characters were all separate people e.g. the provider could also be the helper.

·         There are only 8 different character types and only 31 things they ever do.

·          Once you have identified the character type (e.g., the hero) it’s easy to guess what they will do (save the maiden, defeat the villain, marry the maiden or whatever) because each character has a SPHERE OF ACTION.

This is easily relatable to films and programmes today.

LEVI-STRAUSS’ BINARY OPPOSITION – Narrative tension is based on opposition or conflict.

·         This can be as simple as two characters fighting, but more often functions at an ideological level – e.g., in Westerns, what do the cowboys and Indians each represent? What ideologies are embodied by the opposed sides in LOTR or Star Wars?

BARTHES- Action Code & Enigma Code

·         Action Code - Shorthand for advancing the Narrative (buckling of a gun belt in a Western as a prelude to the gunfight)

·         Enigma Code - sets up the problem, that is then to be resolved during the of the Narrative (Why was the phrase ‘In space no one can hear you scream’ used to promote the film Alien?)

·         He also used the science of signs to explain how meaning is created - semiotics - denotation and connotation.

ARISTOTLE'S UNITIES - Perhaps the first 'narrative theory' as such.

·         A narrative should be created within a 'unity' of time, place and action.

·         It should all take place in the same location, in real time

·         With all action moving towards a logical (and moral) conclusion.

FREYTAG'S DRAMATIC STRUCTURE- Gustav Freytag was a 19th Century German dramatist and novelist who constructed his theory from the analysis of ancient Greek and Shakespearean drama. Freytag's dramatic arc is divided into five parts.

·         Exposition

·         Rising Action

·         Climax

·         Falling Action

·         Denouement/Catastrophe/Resolution

LINEAR NARRATIVE

·         Linear is the opposite, when narrative runs smoothly in a straight line, when it is not broken up.

NON LINEAR NARRATIVE

·         Non-linear narrative is one that does not proceed in a straight-line, step-by-step fashion, such as where an author creates a story's ending before the middle is finished.

Location Recce

Location recce

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My Short Film Ideas- Generation #4

This idea I had would be a short film about a character that has split personality and is kept in a mental institution. Although he can turn his personalities on and off occasionally. He is kept in a confined space away from everyone so therefore they can’t harm themselves or anyone around them. The character would be a male who has a split personality from going to a very nice person to being extremely mean and goes as far as killing people. He would have regular meetings with his guidance councillor and doctors where he would act like he was perfect, due to the fact he can switch his personalities himself sometimes, when he’s at the doctors he would act all fine therefore he’d get let out sooner. Although when he gets let out he turns psychotic.

My Short Film Ideas- Generation #3

An idea I had for a short film is that a women would be sitting in a coffee shop and a man would walk past and pick up her newspaper she dropped. I would also make sure they get good eye contact and it’d be love at first sight. They will then sit down and have a very long conversation just them two and it’ll end with him asking her out for coffee which would be ironic because they’re already drinking coffee and it wasn’t even a date. I will use medium shots to show both characters in the same frame. I will also use a lot of soothing romantic music to create a good atmosphere.

My Short Film Ideas- Generation #2

Another idea I had if I was going to create a short film would be to have a young boy, aged 16 who tries to fit into a new crowd and does whatever he can to try and fit in, he offers to do it so that he would be cool. He beats a boy up just to try and act ‘cool’ and then gets people after him. His best friend Lucy (also 16) sticks by him and tells him not to do anything stupid yet he does. He then runs away and nobody can find him. Due to the fact there isn’t alot of dialogue it would take me a long time to figure out what I was going to do to make it seem effective without speech.
I think this would be very hard to film therefore it wouldn’t be my first choice of short films but I think it’d be a good idea.

My Short Film Ideas- Generation #1

I think if I made a short film one focus would be situations that could occur in real life so more people could relate to this, the main message/theme in my film would be don’t try and be somebody you’re not, just be yourself, and that it’s better to be hated for being yourself, than to be loved for someone you’re not. I think there will be 7 characters, 6 girls and 1 boy. They will be represented in all different was- the bad guy, the mean girls, and her true friends. The narrative of my film would be it would start with a girl walking into a new class and being stared at and having to chose between sitting with the cooler group, or sitting with her normal friends, it will then turn into a boy starting to like her from the cool group but he would pressure her to do stuff and she doesn’t feel comfortable, then she’ll realise at the end that she shouldn’t be someone she’s not. The point of view the audience will be seeing it from will be their own. The audience would be teenagers. I would try and film during college time to make sure I could get a classroom. To distribute roles I would audition different people to see who is right for the part.

My Short Film Idea- Treatment

A coffee house, set in London. Brown chairs and round tables, mostly in two’s, although some fours. Brown background with coffee bean posters all over the place. Big windows so you can see all of London, full of business women and men.

TITLE: LOVE AND COFFEE.

Unhappy with her single life, Maddie Collins sits alone in a coffee shop on her lunch break, table for one covered in newspapers that she drowns her sorrows in while reading the “wedding articles”. When all seems like it couldn’t get any worse, someone knocks his way into her life where they hit it off and talk for hours, although when he gets one phone call all seems too good to be true. Will Maddie find love within coffee?

FIRST SCENE:
Looking through the floor length windows, the audience meet a women sitting alone at a table in a coffee shop. Although an over the shoulder shot reveals a man sitting staring at her drinking his coffee, also alone. The women; Maddie Collins drops her newspaper on the floor, the man; William Hektor, is fast to get up and pick it up for Maddie. Locking eye contact Maddie asks if he wants to join her for a drink, without hesitation he accepts and makes himself at home, with a questioning expression as to what she’s reading, embarrassed Maddie quickly shuts the newspapers and laughs awkwardly. William asks Maddie where she’s from, where she works and why such a beautiful girl like her is sitting in a coffee shop all alone. While they talk in simple adjacency pairs they find out exactly what each other is like. Although when the phone rings all stops, the romantic atmosphere has been cut short and Maddie snaps back to reality, thinking it’s his girlfriend/wife ringing him. William stands up and explains he has to unfortunately leave. Maddie looks disappointed and exclaims she understands and that she’s sorry for wasting his time, she gets the picture that he has a wife/girlfriend and doesn’t want to see her again. William laughs to himself and asks her what she’s talking about. He then asks her if she’d like to go out for coffee one day, Maddie; looking confused yet ecstatic, writes her number down rapidly on a napkin and passes it to him and tells him to call her and sort out a date that will both fit in their schedules. William then explains that the only reason he has to go is because his boss is getting annoyed because he was 45 minutes late due to the fact he was too busy talking to Maddie. As William walks out the coffee shop, he turns around to get one last glance at Maddie. Without realising she does the same, as they lock eye contact once more, they both smile. William then walks out the door. Maddie being ecstatic with herself, she leaps up and squeels, resulting with everyone in the coffee shop turning round and looking at her, Maddie sits down with a big smile on her face. She then puts the newspapers in the bin and leaves on a high.

 

My Short Film Idea- Synopsis

 

·         Woman sitting down at a coffee shop

·         Shot of man looking at her while drinking his own coffee

·         Man gets up

·         Woman drops her newspaper by accident

·         Man picks it up

·         They exchange eye contact

·         Women says thank you

·         Man walks off

·         She asks if he wants to join her for coffee

·         Man agrees and sits down

·         There is a bit of awkward tension at first due to the fact they don’t know each other

·         They start talking properly

·         Get to know each other

·         He gets a phone call on his blackberry which he answers

·         She continues to read her news paper while he’s on the phone

·         He gets off the phone and says he has to get back to work

·         Woman understands and lets him leave

·         Man asks if she’d like to go for coffee one day

(ironic as they’re already drinking coffee)

·         Women finds it amusing

·         Women agrees

·         They swap numbers

·         Man walks away out of the door

·         Women looks behind her

·         Man looks behind him

·         They both smile as they part.

Health & Safety

Final Idea Generation

Edit Decision List

Edit Decision List

Shot No.	Shot Time	Shot Type	Actor(s)
1	6.23(s)	Straight cut/pan/medium close up	Becca
2	2.9(s)	Over the shoulder	Becca/Alice
3	10.4(s)	Pan	Becca/Alice
4	13.4(s)	Medium close up	Becca/Alice
5	14.5(s)	Medium close up	Becca/Alice
6	2.8(s)	Extreme close up	Becca/Alice
7	6.24(s)	Extreme close up	Alice
8	2.24(s)	Extreme close up	Becca
9	9.15(s)	Medium close up	Alice
10	19.19(s)	Close up	Alice
11	4.15(s)	Pan	Alice (Becca)
12	3.11(s)	Close up	Becca
13	6.05(s)	Pan (establishing shot)	(EXTRAS)
14	1.12(s)	Close up	Laura,Charlotte,Becca
15	7.0(s)	Long shot (Tilt)	Laura,Charlotte,Becca
16	5.7(s)	Pan/Long shot	Laura/Charlotte/Becca
17	2.23(s)	Long shot	Charlie/Laura/Charlotte/Becca/ (EXTRAS)
18	1.12(s)	Close up	Charlie
19	5.11(s)	POV/tilt	Becca
20	6.18(s)	Pan	Laura,Charlotte,Becca
21	7.23(s)	Medium close up	Laura,Charlotte,Becca
22	5.18(s)	Inward zoom	Charlie