Short Film

5 Minute Short Film

Short Film title: Rage
The main character is facing some problems at home and as he comes to school he confides in his friends but as he does that someone hears what he is saying in the background and makes a joke of it. As this is offensive the character's anger increases which gives him the idea to have a fight with the person who makes the joke however as he approaches him after school whilst his walking home he hits him from behind with a weapon which kills him following by which he runs away then there is a heart rate monitor to indicate his death.

This short film is going to be non-linear. Therefore the start will be the target getting attacked and the main character running away followed by a rewinding scene back to the start then the film playing from the start of the story to the end.

Script

Within our short film the start will be the main character hitting the person in which he has anger towards. This will then be followed by the film start scene as a flash back will occur in which it will show the main character walking into the classroom and going towards his friends. As he goes to his friends they will start having a conversation that lead to him explaining his issues at home. This is when the problem evolves as one of his friends laughs at him therefore causing him to be enraged. As the character continues his tasks during the day is anger increases and decides to fight his friend after school. However as he tries to attack him things get out of hand as he kills his friend.

Misc En Scene

Within this blog I am going to state what the camera will be seeing. Therefore I am going to look at all the different aspects of our 5 min short film meaning that I will look at the characters and the way they will be portrayed.

Clothing/make up

Firstly the clothing is a very important part of the storyline as this is the representation of the environment that the characters will be in. Therefore as the short film will be based in a school environment and sixth formers the characters will be wearing formal clothing or casual due to this being the form of clothing within the environment of the film. In terms of make-up this will not be required as the characters will be trying to convey the look of being normal day to day students.

Locations

The locations that will be used within the short film will be firstly Cox Street in which the main scene will occur were the main character attacks another student. Another location will be a scene within the school in which a conversation will be shown between the students.

Props

The props that will be required will be:

· Weapon for the scene in which the student will be attacked

· School environment props for example computers, tables, chairs etc.

Lighting

As the main aim for this short film will be making it come out as a natural image no lighting will be used therefore the film will be filmed during the day as it will also make sense due to students attending school at this time.

Actor movement/expressions

This will be a slow paced movie and also looking at the expressions there will be a range of expressions used in order to show the emotions of the characters depending on what will be occurring. Therefore as an example when someone says something offending to another character within the movie they will have to interpret their anger through their expressions.

Treatment

The video type will be narrative as this will be based on a storyline. However it will be non-linear meaning that the events will not be in a sequential order. The overall look and feel in which the short film will be aiming to make the audience get will be different reactions as there will be a range of events in which will be shocking and there will also be some funny scenes and in terms of the overall look the short film will have to look like an actual normal school environment and the scenes will have to look natural meaning that it should not look like the characters are acting but actually carrying out their daily lives.

Camera shots

The camera shots within this short film will be very important as one of the important things will be trying to show expressions and the feelings of the characters. However consideration of introduction to the environment will also be implemented as they will have to be aware of were the characters will be and what they will be doing therefore meaning that they are aware of all the things that will be occurring meaning that use of long and close up shots will be important overall along with other shots.

Context

The purpose of the video will be mainly to express the lesson to the storyline which is that people should learn to control their anger. However also looking at the angry character’s point of view another lesson that should be learnt is the cause of anger meaning that people should try not to offend others.

Risk assessment

Location	Risk
Cox Street	Cars, bikes and Props
School	Computers ( cable electrocution risk) and running students

Crew list

Name	Role
Haris Zulfiqar	Actor and Directing
Munashe Mukandi	Actor and Editing
Curtis Fletcher	Actor and Camera work

Budget:

Equipment/ other	Cost
Camera	£800
Tripod	£50
Editing software	£ 650
Stationary (for planning)	£20
Actors	£50 for each actor

Tick Tock Short film

This short follows up on events in which happened to the character by use of reverse.Therefore the storyline is non- linear.At the start of the short film the character is shown trying to make up with his girlfriend as the clip then reverses and shows the events that occurred before he came to her room as the short film is based in a University campus.The short film then shows what caused this sudden panic as it shows him taking the wrong pills in which will further cause him to die hence why he is trying to resolve the issues within his life due to the lack of time. Therefore the message that this puts across is then shown within Steve Jobs quote which says :

This therefore gives the overview of the video as the character procrastinated in fixing his problems hence why he did it last minute which is negative as those things should be resolved at an earlier date.

Single camera overview

Single camera production- is a mode of production where one camera operates at a time and shots are done in the most economically efficient order. Therefore within single camera the camera will be facing towards one direct position meaning that in some cases when there is one actor they will be directly faced by the camera. However as the shots within single camera will switch from one angle to another is further edited to ensure that it comes across to audience as one scene. Overall single camera is based on recording each short separately then further putting the+ shots together in order to make a structure in the form of a short film etc.

Single Camera Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages	Disadvantages
Cheaper due to less cameras required	Only get one angle at a time (less activity is captured)
A small amount of crew is required	More editing requirements
Offers more control	Single camera has less angles shots to choose from

Some examples of use of single camera techniques are within dramas such as ugly Betty along with music videos, documentaries, commercials and films.

Sci-fi

Sci-fi movies show science fiction in which things such as aliens and time travel is used therefore defining what it is (fiction).

A good example of a successful Sci-fi program is the Big bang theory in which shows a range of things including the character mentioning unrealistic things etc. Within Sci-fi programs other things are also shown such as futuristic figures for example robots and space crafts. Use of different shots is done within Sci-fi programs s as the scenes should draw the audience in and amaze the audience that watch that certain program.

Comedy	The Royle Family- There are a number of close ups to show the characters faces and other shots as they show how the characters are feeling and their reactions. The lighting is mainly the natural light produced in the setting and the sound diegetic sound which is mainly the character’s voices and other non-diegetic sounds.
Crime	CSI – There are a range of shots used as CSI has mid shots, wide shots etc. Looking at the lighting the scenes are set in dark settings as this makes it more extreme and creates tension. Lastly there is a range of sound used including non-diegetic in the form of mood music etc.
Period drama	Coronation street : The camera shots differ depending on the character’s activity however as they are having conversation different shots are used such as over the shoulder shots, close- up and mid shots etc. Lighting is different depending on the time of the day however as it is a night scene there are lights within the building in which the scenes are based therefore making the lighting natural. The sound differs as there is diegetic from radio and characters etc. There is also non-diegetic mood music is applied at the end scene etc.
Thriller	The vampire diaries –Shots there are a range of shots in which are used in this programme  such as close up shots and mid –shots as illustrated: Lighting- the lighting is highly used in this Program as some scenes are based in dark places therefore requiring a low amount of lighting. As vampire diaries have many scenes in which the lighting is dark the setting is based around with lamps etc. In terms of sound there is a range of diegetic sounds used as it is made through the use of objects used by the characters etc.

Friends

As a brief insight friends is a comedy based on friends who are flat-mates. Friends uses a range of camera shots as it aims to show the different occurrences and also different expressions in which the characters have. For example,

This is a mid-short therefore showing the subject but also the occurrences surrounding her. Another example of a shot within friends is the following:

This medium close up therefore shows more detail of the character in terms of their face expression and also what is occurring within the overall scene. Besides the camera shots friends also uses a range of lighting techniques in order to show the different settings and also the mood that the character are in. Lastly friends uses a range of diegetic sounds which are natural as opposed to non-diegetic in which the source is not visible for example sound effects etc.

Single strand narrative

Single strand narrative is telling a story from one person's point of view. Therefore this shows a single story or a description of a series of events. Therefore the story in which is shown is enforced from start to finish and it usually uses the state of equilibrium-disruption –equilibrium.

Multi-strand narrative

This shows a range of stories alongside each other. Therefore in order to make this effective the scenes are then made to cross over in order for the sequence of the video to be understandable. Also, within other videos mainly advertisements there is also use of voice over (narration) therefore helping the audience in understanding the range of scenes within the advert. Overall this is telling a story from more than one person's point of view. Therefore this is several story-lines within one film.

Within a single camera format different shots are used to maximise the advantages of a single camera recording. The Master Shot is a wide shot of a scene that establishes the scene as this is the main shot that shows the occurrences. Narrative Structures can single strand or multi strand narrative. However both have different ways in which they lead as single strand focuses on a single main character. An example of use of single strand in which a central character is placed then focused upon is Iron man. Narrative Structures can also be Multi strand in which characters form the focus of the narrative for example in Friends. However despite both having a focus different characters are also shown within the series or movie. Within on going episodes different characters or groups of the characters may be the main point of the focus therefore meaning that it is multi strand but focusing on different characters within each episode.

linear

This is sequential meaning that the scenes follow the state of starting with equilibrium them destruction occurs in which equilibrium then occurs as the finishing scene.

Non- Linear

This is non-sequential therefore an example of the process in which the scenes undergo is when the starting scene is the middle then the beginning scene is shown followed by flashbacks then lastly the ending. Therefore as the scenes won’t be in order this is what forms a non-linear video.

Narrative devices

There are a range of things in which directors enforce when making narratives for example the directors can include things such as flashback and cliff-hangers etc.

Todorov's Theory

According to Torodov's theory all narratives follow a structure of Equilibrium, Disruption and resolution. An equilibrium is the point in the film where everything is calm and normal traditionally a film starts with an equilibrium then move to disruption were there will be a scene in which a problem will be caused but then further solved or attempted to be resolved as the narrative then moves to the point where the story is brought to a finish.

E.g. - A murder occurs and people are terrified, someone vanishes and the characters in the movie solve the case.

Todorov conventional narrative structure complete with five stages 

Stage 1

A state of equilibrium is defined.

Stage 2

Disruption to the equilibrium by some action or crisis

Stage3

The Characters recognition that there has been a disruption and then they set goals to resolve problem.

Stage4

The Characters attempt to repair the disruption

Stage5

Situation is resolved, a conclusion is announced

Overview

Camera Angles/Movements/Shots and Sound

Introduction
I am going to make indication of the different forms of shots and how certain things such as sound effects should be used.

Types of shots

Within adverts there are a range of camera shots that are used in order to make the interpretation of the advert have a certain impact and in order show things that are important in a certain way therefore meaning that the audience recognise them.

Long shots

Long shots are highly used within adverts as they show the full image of what is occurring therefore meaning that the audience are informed of the surroundings within the advert.

Mid shot
This shot is effectively used when the camera is within a close range of the product but not too close hence why it is called a mid-shot due to the shot's requirement to be in the middle. If applied to a character within a mid-shot this will be the indication of their waist upwards.

Close-up
This shot shows a range of detail therefore providing enough imagery for the audience to make analysis of the product. As a close-up shot this is therefore close and when it’s the character their upper image above the shoulders is shown.

Extreme close-up
This is a very informative shot as it shows a particular part of an object or when referring to the character their nose or eyes.

Level shots

This is a straight shot towards something. Therefore this shot is direct and provides a clear image of the object or other things it may focus upon.

High angle shot
This is a shot that is done at a high level meaning that the image focused on is at a low level. Therefore this is looking down on something.

Low angle shot
This shot is mainly used to make something or someone to be enlarged. Mainly used to make emphasis when differentiating men from women. Therefore within this shot something is looked up to.

Speed of
This is the speed of the different shots in which are used when doing films. Therefore the speed can be high or slow to even slowmotion. Speed of films make emphasis of certain things for example when high speeds are used this shows an exciting and energetic scene. As opposed to a high speed shot a slow-motion shot is used to put audience at ease and for them to get in to the moment and clearly see what the advert wants to emphasise. Furthermore when both are used mainly starting with a slow to high speed this shows a rise in something for example excitement.

Transition from one shot to another

Transition from one shot to another is highly used in as the audience can be withdrawn from the film if it focuses on one scene without change. Transition can be used to show the change in occurrence or to simply set a different image. In order for the transition to be professional effects of the image dissolving or fading is shown.

Shot duration

The shot duration is effectively used in order to ensure that the advert does not lose the audience in terms of their attention span.

Voice overs

This is mainly used when narrating a certain film. The voice can be done by males, females or children depending on the target audience.

Sound effects
Sound effects are used in order to show the impact that something has etc. The sound effects mainly used are songs in which has a relation to the film. If sound effects are not used this may be to show how serious the subject of the film is or to allow non-diegetic (natural sounds) sounds to be heard by audience.

Unit 22 task 2

Identify audience

·         Determine what you are trying to tell

·         Story needs to be imaginative and creative

·         Clear objective

·         Proposal-overall idea of what it’s about (treatment)

·         Storyboard (For both the 1 and 5min short film)

·         Beginning, middle and end

·         Use equilibrium

·         Genre/mood e.g. comedy (mood-feeling (mysterious)

·         How is the character going to be conveyed

·         Misc en scene (what props, setting/style, costume etc.)

·         Narrative structure (linear or nonlinear)

·         Shortlist (time and shots including camera angles)

·         Location list (find other locations besides the school)

·         Be imaginative

·         Shooting schedule (date, when you are going and where)

·         Equipment list (sound and lighting required)

·         Tripods, camera, SD card etc.

·         Risk assessment

·         Budget (predict cost)

·         Timeline

·         DIARY UPDATE EACH WEEK

Budget

Equipment cost	Equipment cost
Camera - Sony hdrcx190eb full HD camcorder  £139	Camera - Sony hdrcx190eb full HD camcorder  £139
Tripod  £29	Tripod  £29
mac £1000	mac £1000
Editing software  £699.95	Editing software  £699.95
Lighting  £20	Lighting  £20
Setting	Free

Risk Assessment

When carrying out the filming for the 1 minute short film there may be a range of problems that may occur in terms of injuries within the locations that we will be. However as our locations do not have many hazards injuries will be least likely to happen. However in order to ensure that the injuries do not occur we should have precautions beforehand for example wearing the appropriate clothing to go within the certain location etc.

People who may be potentially harmed:

Curtis Fletcher

Haris Zulfiqar

Munashe Mukandi

Risks

Road:

Cars

Bikes

Badly surfaced or damaged roads

Home:

 Unattended objects on the floor

Falling objects

Loose or trailing cabling.

Concept: Our Proposal and Treatment
Our shot film is going to be an action short film which will be aimed at an age range of 16 to 40 year olds. Our film is going to be based on the presidential campaign in which Obama and Mitt Romney will be participating in through doing their speeches. Therefore we are going to start by creating the first setting of our scene through them saying their speeches followed by one of them getting shot in which a news report will occur only to find out the news reporter is the assassin.

Equipment
Video Camera

Lighting

Microphone

Props

Picture frames

Chair

Bottle

Cast and Crew
Curtis Fletcher
Haris Zulfiqar
Munashe Mukandi
Other characters

Misc- En Scene
Within our short film our aim will be to create a image that will go with the sound effects and we would like to ensure that it has a modern look therefore we will use a mixture of dark and colourful colours to convey this. The characters within film will therefore wear modern clothing in which will be formal as this will be a presidential campaign.

We will also use props in helping us to convey the message behind the story and to help us do certain things such as the performance .We will also use effects such as therefore making the overall look of the film professional and adding a good effect to the graphics of the video

Short Film Schedule

Duration	Equipment	Location	Cast/Crew
1 week	Camera, tripod and lighting	Munashe ’s house	Munashe Mukandi, Haris Zulfiqar, Curtis Fletcher	Scene 1-2
	Camera, tripod and lighting		Munashe Mukandi, Haris Zulfiqar, Curtis Fletcher	Scene 2-3
1 week	Camera, tripod and lighting	Outside School building road.	Munashe Mukandi, Haris Zulfiqar, Curtis Fletcher	Scene 4-6
2 weeks	Camera, tripod and lighting	Haris Zulfiqar’s House	Munashe Mukandi, Haris Zulfiqar, Curtis Fletcher	Scene

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Invenon of Love (2010) - Animated Short Film

This short filmti came across as elegant and was an interesting film. The storyline within this short film is conveyed in a very good way therefore informing the audience what the storyline is as its story of a doomed romance is conveyed it through shadow puppetry with excellent contrasts of black and other simple coloured backgrounds of which each colour shows some aspect of the world the characters live in and highlights the film’s theme of love.

The storyline is therefore effectively conveyed as an inventor looks for love for his mechanical gadgets and goes in search
of it. He finds the girl of his dreams in the country, they marry and he takes her to his home in the city. But she is ill-adapted to life in the city where people’s pets and even vegetation in public parks are present, and the air is polluted with the wastes of industry, and the wife begins to be troubled. Overall this short film makes good representation as the story is conveyed well to the audience therefore making the storyline engaging and the short film also has a good plot with a range of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds.

Diary Logs

15/11/12

Within this lesson there we learnt the different types of shots and angles that are used in order to create a successful film that will show the audience aspects of what will be occurring within that certain film. Listing the different shots these include close up, over the shoulder, extreme close up etc. Looking at angles we looked at the different angles in which a character or an object can be filmed from may it be a high angle, low angle shot etc. Therefore looking at both angles and shots this is what determines the view that the audience get in terms of how the film is conveyed.

Moreover looking at other things that can be done to make improvement to the film these include pan, tilt and zooming in which is done when the object is moving therefore ensuring that the camera is steady and still. Lastly this helps in making sure that the film has a continuous angle but still facing the target.

22/11/12

This week I was identifying all the things that I need to do in order to make a successful short film. Furthermore we also discussed more on what we have to do in order to improve our idea for our short film in which is a presidential campaign in which one of the campaigners is shot with a mysterious character then having done that a news scene is shown with a notification that of the campaigner's execution only to realise that the assassin is the news reader as his gun falls out while doing the news broadcast.

Beginning:

Start with speech 1st campaigner followed by 2nd campaigner

Middle
2nd campaigner is shoot and chaos occurs

End
News broadcast and reveal of the assassin

29/11/12

Within this lesson we have decided to enforce another idea for our short film as the previous storyline would have been hard to interpret. Therefore we have decided to a short film on the journey on life based on the saying YOLO meaning you only live once. Therefore the short film will show a range of events that occur in someone’s life as they grow older and all the things in which they do which express someone being fearless.

Beginning

Short scene showing an explanation of the video in which is followed by imagery in which will show the idea of growing up in life.

Middle

A range of events showing the actors doing things that someone may not necessarily do due to fear.

End

The character at an old age as they still remain living their life to the fullest therefore ending the journey.

6/12/12

Within this lesson we attended to some of the things that are required in order for us to finish our pre-production. Therefore we ensured that things such as our mood and word board were done at a good standard. Furthermore we looked at how we could improve our short film and then applied this onto our storyboard.

13/12/12

Within today's lesson we completed our pre-production in which we had to cover all the things that were not finished. Firstly we ensured that our storyline was in order and organised by making sure that we had a beginning, middle and end scene within our one minute. We also covered Misc- en scene meaning that we knew how to convey our video in terms of use of props, setting/style, costume etc. Lastly we also did our location list and our shooting schedule in order to know where and when we had to film.

17/01/13

Within today's lesson we looked at our plan in order to see what the schedule indicated therefore giving us an insight as to what things we had to carry out and film. Therefore having done this we went filming for our first part which was the introduction. Therefore we went out and filmed the part then further inserted it into the computer in order to edit it however some of the videos in which we got were not good quality hence why we deleted that scene.

24/01/13

Within today's lesson we started to do our editing for our one minute film by doing the opening sequence of credits and inserting the background music (Drake ft. lil wayne and tyga - Motto).Furthermore we added the main title of the film (YOLO) in which went on with the lyrics that are within the song. Finally we also added our logo in the video and added roll effects to our titles therefore making the video more visually appealing.

31/01/13

Within today’s lesson we thought of different things to include within out video such as quotes hence why we researched the following: Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfil it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.”

Therefore this gave us an insight into the different things we could include within our short film in    order to make it interesting.

7/02/13

Within this lesson we thought of other music that we could add to our short film. We also did further editing to improve our short film. Lastly we thought of other ideas that we could use in order to make our video more interesting which lead to the idea of adding still pictures within our video along with some quotes and we also did some final things for our short film.