Unfortunately we still haven't taken enough pictures for our film, so we are using this time wisely to go out and shoot more images. We are currently having meetings to discuss when we are going to take the pictures; we still also need to make titles for our short film and finalise the title because we did have several ideas.We have found a few pieces of music that we think will suit the style of the film, however we cannot for sure pick a piece because we haven't finished yet.
Recap
-Titles
-Music
-Finish pictures.
Monday, 29 November 2010
Changes to our original idea?
The setting for our film was changed at the last minute due to weather conditions. We kept an eye on the weather forecast on the week leading up to the shoot, it was said there was to be heavy rain and thunder storms so we discussed other locations for the shoot and came up with my house for the majority of the photographs.
This meant we also had to adapt the script and story board due to the change of location, it was difficult to start with and we had to sit down and properly think about how would re-write, we wanted to be creative so we brainstormed ideas about props to use in the background for the opening scene.
We came up with everyday props like
-Tissues
-Remote control
-Cushion
We used this because we wanted a natural approach and we found this added comical effect.
This meant we also had to adapt the script and story board due to the change of location, it was difficult to start with and we had to sit down and properly think about how would re-write, we wanted to be creative so we brainstormed ideas about props to use in the background for the opening scene.
We came up with everyday props like
-Tissues
-Remote control
-Cushion
We used this because we wanted a natural approach and we found this added comical effect.
Thursday, 18 November 2010
Edit- Week Three
We wanted to record our voice over first before we added more pictures so were knew how much space we had to contend with. Our teacher suggested auditioning more than one person for the voice over so we had variety of voices and then we could chose.
We spent the first lesson of this week getting a camera out and finding a room to hold our voice over auditions, Our first person was Sam Ab his voice was an excellent "teddy bear voice" it was mature and fitted the style of the bear we was using for the film, we spent the whole lesson going through the script; highlighting sections we wanted him to say differently.
The second lesson we uploaded the voiceover from the day before, we listened and edited sections before we held our second set of auditions for the voiceover. We chose Alex for my second voice, he had a lot of enthusiasm and gave a dramatic edge to the voice of teddy, we uploaded it and edited sections.
After listening to both it was a hard decision but we chose Alex for the teddy.
We spent the first lesson of this week getting a camera out and finding a room to hold our voice over auditions, Our first person was Sam Ab his voice was an excellent "teddy bear voice" it was mature and fitted the style of the bear we was using for the film, we spent the whole lesson going through the script; highlighting sections we wanted him to say differently.
The second lesson we uploaded the voiceover from the day before, we listened and edited sections before we held our second set of auditions for the voiceover. We chose Alex for my second voice, he had a lot of enthusiasm and gave a dramatic edge to the voice of teddy, we uploaded it and edited sections.
After listening to both it was a hard decision but we chose Alex for the teddy.
Edit - Week Two
We wanted a second opinion on the photographs we had already taken and if the style of the film was acceptable due some sexual references. We was told that the photographs appears too quickly and the pace was far too fast and the audience weren't able to focus and follow the story. So we changed this and slowed the pace down because we also had to think about how the voice over would fit into the rhythm of the film.
Edit - Week one.
When we uploaded our photographs we soon discovered we had no where near as much as we needed.
All together we took 360 photos, most of them we had to get rid of because of how they looked once they were uploaded. As we put them on the time line we had a shock that the whole film only came to 30 seconds. This meant we would need go out again and take more pictures and re-plan our film to bulk out what we already had. However we decided to do what we could with what we had and properly plan days to go out and take pictures.
On the thursday we decided to choose music for our film to save time at the end, we searched through soundtrack pro and found some tracks that would be suitable for the film. We had to think about the pace of the film and how in certain parts its "touching", we needed music that would emphasis this.
All together we took 360 photos, most of them we had to get rid of because of how they looked once they were uploaded. As we put them on the time line we had a shock that the whole film only came to 30 seconds. This meant we would need go out again and take more pictures and re-plan our film to bulk out what we already had. However we decided to do what we could with what we had and properly plan days to go out and take pictures.
On the thursday we decided to choose music for our film to save time at the end, we searched through soundtrack pro and found some tracks that would be suitable for the film. We had to think about the pace of the film and how in certain parts its "touching", we needed music that would emphasis this.
The Shoot - Day 3
This was our final day of the shoot, We had spoken on social networking site and discussed we wanted to take night-time shots so I arranged to take pictures separately and we would look at them the next day and discuss whether or not they would work for the film.
I used dim lightening and was given natural shadows by the darkness to create our "wifey" sexy photo-shoot, this in the long run saved us time because we wasted a lot of time the day before "creatively" planning. We spent the rest of the day perfecting our stop frame animation to make our photographs flow.
I used dim lightening and was given natural shadows by the darkness to create our "wifey" sexy photo-shoot, this in the long run saved us time because we wasted a lot of time the day before "creatively" planning. We spent the rest of the day perfecting our stop frame animation to make our photographs flow.
The Shoot - Day 2
I fully charged the camera up for the shoot today to save the problems from Day 1, We filmed the second half of the script however we encountered some problems with creativity, finding props for the party seen and “teddy being beaten up” caused us to stop for an hour to think about how we would film this. If we had thought about it before hand we could of properly story boarded this and brain stormed ideas about what props we had available. We also had problems trying to make smoke appear effective on pictures, we spent a long time blowing smoke onto the camera we wasted a lot of money on cigarettes we would of tested this method before the shot. Our pictures did not come out effective so we had to cut certain shots out of the film, this was a disappointment because we had planned for this, so we spent a lot more time thinking of how to fill the gap.
Thursday, 11 November 2010
The Shoot- Day 1
We arranged to meet at 10-am due to bus times we was 10 minutes late but this didn't hold up our schedule because we allowed time for lateness. We had slight problems with our camera before we left, We weren't able to take out a SLR camera so we had to do with a compact camera so we decided to use Katie Louise's personal camera because it had higher mega pixels.
All the photos used for the films were taken in my house, we used this location because it looked urban and was convenient for the equipment. However we did have difficulty with the lightening because of the position of the my flat, it is shadowed with the flats above so it was hard for us to take pictures without the sun going in and out. We decided to do a bit each other spitting up the story board into 3 days, we had to take into account charging up the camera because the battery seemed to go quickly.
We overcame the lighting by attaching torches and small lamps to clothes hangers above the teddy by doing this also created shadows which gave our images depth. We found it really useful completing our story board CORRECTLY before going to shoot because we didn't get stuck and mess around not knowing what we was doing, we looked the story board for help
All the photos used for the films were taken in my house, we used this location because it looked urban and was convenient for the equipment. However we did have difficulty with the lightening because of the position of the my flat, it is shadowed with the flats above so it was hard for us to take pictures without the sun going in and out. We decided to do a bit each other spitting up the story board into 3 days, we had to take into account charging up the camera because the battery seemed to go quickly.
We overcame the lighting by attaching torches and small lamps to clothes hangers above the teddy by doing this also created shadows which gave our images depth. We found it really useful completing our story board CORRECTLY before going to shoot because we didn't get stuck and mess around not knowing what we was doing, we looked the story board for help
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Script
Teddy Script:
Teddy is sitting on a bench, with a small lunchbox next to him and a blackberry in his hand, focus on the facebook update: Teddy is on the bench alone again. The teddy then has a sandwich in his hand ready to eat it.
Harry: Hmm that was nice sandwich, cheese and pickle (nom nom nom – sandwich disappear which the nosie is being herd)
I don’t really feel like going home, life isn’t what it used to be. Liam; my best friend, well he always was, I suppose now he just see’s me as Harry the teddy that gets in the way. It wasn’t always like this mind you; I’ve been there for Liam when he’s needed me.
(Cuts to the scene of the Harry and the Sex scene)
Harry: Sophie was his first love; He would talk to me about his feelings for her and how he longed to have her, unfortunely I misunderstood what he meant
(Noises banging)
Harry: He clearly didn’t know what he was doing or how to treat a real lady but near the less I had to sit through it ‘ HUFFFF’ even covering my eyes weren’t enough
(Condom falls on his head)
Harry: Its not easy being a teddy
(Head falls down as if in shame)
Harry: I knew things were getting bad when he took me to a party, it wasn’t like previous ones I’ve been to where the girls and boys played pass the parcel and musical chairs, it was very dark and the girls and boys were dancing strangely together. I tried a sip of beer but it made me feel terribly sick
(Show a puddle of sick next to him)
My head was spinning, there was only one thing I remember though and that is a couple of Liam’s friends stole my blackberry now how will I update my twitter and facebook?
(Tear rolls down his face)
Harry: Harry loved to experiment with different things, I remember when he made a peanut butter and ham sandwich or when he washed his hair with fairy liquid but this time he wanted to experiment with something a little stronger
(Smoke gets blown in teddy’s face & his paw covers his mouth)
Harry: the smell was unbearable and it gave me a little cough but Liam loved it so I had to put up with it, I hoped it was a phase but it wasn’t
(Teddy drops his head and lays on the floor)
Harry: Liam seemed to have a lot of friends, he enjoyed his “hobbies” however I certainly didn’t and I couldn’t wait for Liam to grow up so we could get involved in mature activities but deep down I knew this was never going to happen
(Teddy looking at a picture of him and Liam)
Harry: But luck would have it my small prayer was answered, Liam wanted us to go on a trip to “Sophie’s” again her mother had gone away for the weekend and she was “lonely” so goodness knows why we had to go around
(Teddy in the rucksack half hanging out)
Harry: and then I saw her, she was beautiful, I’d only ever seen something that beautiful when Liam brought a home grown rose from nursery class, her paws looked so soft, her fur so sleek
(Close up of female teddy lying on the bed with sunglasses on doing a SEXY POSE)
Harry: Now here is a woman I would like to spend a little time with, but how to start
Hi I’m teddy, yes that’s right teddy bear ;) no no maybe I should try where have you been all my life? Nope that’s cheesy okay relax
(Teddy lies next to Female Teddy)
Harry: But I didn’t use any cheesy lines, I just planted a single kiss on her lips and she was mine
(Teddy kisses Teddy)
Harry: This meant it was goodbye Liam and hello Wifey!
Prop List
3 – Desk lamps
1 – Cardboard box
Glow sticks
Empty beer bottle
1 - Rack sack
1 – Condom
Blackberry mobile phone
Teddy Bear
Female Teddy Bear
Small lunchbox
Half a cheese sandwich
scramble eggs/sweet corn/baked beans - to make SICK
Friday, 8 October 2010
Synopsis
A lonely teddy bear named Harry has to watch firsthand, as his owner Liam grows up and embraces teenage life. He is exposed to youth culture today such as partying, drinking and smoking. Harry finds himself in many unfortunate situations such as being robbed, being ill and feeling unwanted.
After witnessing and experiencing several alien activities, Harry learns to accept that he no longer fits in and Liam doesn’t need him anymore. It is his time to seek a companion of his own.
After witnessing and experiencing several alien activities, Harry learns to accept that he no longer fits in and Liam doesn’t need him anymore. It is his time to seek a companion of his own.
A tale of loniless told through the perspective of our greatest childhood companions.
Planning Sheet
| Monday 18th | Tuesday 19th | Wednesday 20th | Thursday 21st | Friday 22nd |
| Day off Give time for Extra Planning | Filming 10am to 2pm | Filming 10am to 2pm | Filming 10am to 2pm | Evaluation of Filming (Discuss If we need more filming) |
| - | Lunch break 1pm till 1.15pm | Lunch break 1pm till 1.15pm | Lunch break 1pm till 1.15pm | - |
| Text/Call to discuss work | Location: House | Location: House | Location: Park | |
| Pick up from Ashley: Camera – KL Tripod – CK | Katie-Louise Camera Carla Katrice Tripod | Katie-Louise Tripod Carla Katrice Camera | Katie-Louise Tripod Carla Katrice Camera | Katie-Louise Tripod Carla Katrice Camera |
Monday, 4 October 2010
FISH TANK - Official Trailer
This is Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank; it is very similar to 'About a girl', the style and focus on her life is the same, however this film doesn't break the 4th wall. This is feature film but it has inspired a lot of short films. Andrea Arnold is very good at connecting with the audience, in the trailer we feel for the young girl and want to know more about her life; the film has a twist within it but what I like about the trailer is theres no hint about it.
Short Film Director Case Study - Andrea Arnold
( This computer suite 104!? will not let me upload images and videos so it's just boring text but i'll add some colour!)
Andrea Arnold is a British film director and actress, she made her deubt came in 2006 when she made Red road in 2006. We worked for childrens television for many years gaining experience for TV and knowlegde about what makes a audiences want to watch programmes she used this and started to create her own films.
Her first short film was WASP in 2005 which picked up a
Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film after watching the short I fully understood why she won the award, the film was touching and was filmed in a way that made me believe something awful was going to happen and the ending surprised me yet had me wanting more, I was angry there no was third or four part because I felt I needed to know what happened after they he dropped them home, but then the idea of what a short film means hit me, ITS MEANT TO BE SHORT. She knows exactly how to reach out to audiences, working on childrens TV must of influenced her to write WASP and she hit all the right buttons with the emotion of the mother.
Her 2009 film Fish Tank premiered at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, where she once again won the Jury Prize. The film also went on to win the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film in 2010.
Fish Tank needed to be funded by BBC films and UK council to be shown on 35mm film, the production of the film was unusual it was filmed in chronological order. At the end of each week the actors were given the scripts for the scenes that they would perform the following week so that when they performed each scene they were largely unaware of what would happen to their characters later in the film.
Andrea Arnold is a British film director and actress, she made her deubt came in 2006 when she made Red road in 2006. We worked for childrens television for many years gaining experience for TV and knowlegde about what makes a audiences want to watch programmes she used this and started to create her own films.
Her first short film was WASP in 2005 which picked up a
Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film after watching the short I fully understood why she won the award, the film was touching and was filmed in a way that made me believe something awful was going to happen and the ending surprised me yet had me wanting more, I was angry there no was third or four part because I felt I needed to know what happened after they he dropped them home, but then the idea of what a short film means hit me, ITS MEANT TO BE SHORT. She knows exactly how to reach out to audiences, working on childrens TV must of influenced her to write WASP and she hit all the right buttons with the emotion of the mother.
Her 2009 film Fish Tank premiered at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, where she once again won the Jury Prize. The film also went on to win the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film in 2010.
Fish Tank needed to be funded by BBC films and UK council to be shown on 35mm film, the production of the film was unusual it was filmed in chronological order. At the end of each week the actors were given the scripts for the scenes that they would perform the following week so that when they performed each scene they were largely unaware of what would happen to their characters later in the film.
Festival De Cannes
"The Festival is an apolitical no-man's-land, a microcosm of what the world would be like if people could contact each other directly and speak the same language." Jean Cocteau
Festival De Cannes Or as we know it 'Cannes film festival'; Cannes Film festival is the biggest film festival in the WORLD it started back on the 20th of September 1946, it was the first great international cultural event of the post-war period;the event was organised so it would gain no profit. The festival has become an important showcase for European films.
In 1998, the Festival de Cannes created the Cinéfondation to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers. Since then, with the help of the Festival, the Cinéfondation has developed complementary programmes to help achieve its goal
The festival has a massive media exposure, the non-public festival is attended by many movie stars and is a popular venue for film producers to launch their new films and attempt to sell their works to the distributors who come from all over.
In 1998, the Festival de Cannes created the Cinéfondation to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers. Since then, with the help of the Festival, the Cinéfondation has developed complementary programmes to help achieve its goal
The festival has a massive media exposure, the non-public festival is attended by many movie stars and is a popular venue for film producers to launch their new films and attempt to sell their works to the distributors who come from all over.
Film Festival Short film - Case Study
Whore by Fyza Boulifa
Fyzal Boulifa's short film 'Whore' won the 'Grand Pix Du Jury' in the European Short film festival in France last week. The film depicts a story of a young girl being labelled a 'whore' because she is socially lonely and wants to please boys for company. The film is not available on the Internet for audiences to watch because it hasn't yet been commissioned, we are only able to see 1 minute of the opening scene. For me this was enough it had me hooked from the opening lines, it's a real nitty gritty British film with characters that I'm sure audiences can relate to; it's content is real and the situation the young girl is going through is seen in every school.
The film nearly didn't make it to the festival because it needed to be made 35mm film and for the director and his budget that was not possible, until UK film council and Film London and many more independent film companies supported this project and made it possible for the film to be sent off to the festivals. What makes this film interesting the background of the director, He is only 24 years old and he is a self-taught film maker; to accomplish a film that was made in 2008 but finally gets to make it to a film festival in 2010 is an achievement.
Short Film Festivals - London Short film festival
London Film festival has been happening in London for around 7 years, the festival lasts for 10 days in 10 major parts of the Capital. It all happened back in 2003 when Philip Ilson and Kate Taylor organised the first Halloween Short Film Festival at the ICA. This continued on as The Halloween Short Film Club which Philip had been organising since 1994. In 2008 the festival became the London Short Film Festival and has been expanding year after year to take in more films, live music, industry and training and diverse, high quality venues.
Why are Film festivals popular?
Some people may argue that film festivals are the fashion, and that with the growing trend for indie culture experiencing film festivals is a must see. The festivals offers audiences films that they are not likely to see in their ordinary cinema, it creates a buzz.
Facts & Figures
These are the facts and figures for the last film festival from 2009
Over 6000 tickets sold
• 42 events across 10 days and 10 venues
• 75% of events sold to capacity
• 8 major media partners and 16 creative programme partners
• Over 200 films screened
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Silver Films - Case Study
Silver Films founded in 1996 by producer Janey de Nordwall and their moto is:
We believe that if you talk to people, rather than shout,
they listen. If they’re listening, you can connect with them.
Sliver films is a company dedicated to show casing short films their website allows users to watch short films freely but unlike BBC film network the website is also a standing ground for advertising, Silver films shows charity short films and community projects, they want to affect change as well as fulfilling criteria for socially responsible brands. An example of one of their films is ‘about a girl’ this film was designed to make an audience socially aware of children’s thoughts and how their environment can affect their lives.
Silver films have produced five award winning shorts including the BAFTA for ‘about a girl’.
Silver films give clients and audiences 5 reasons to choose them to market their short films;
Silver films give clients and audiences 5 reasons to choose them to market their short films;
Number One: we are a catalyst, we make things happen
Number Two: Conduit; We make connections
Number Three: Malleable; we are felxiable
Number Four: Craftsmanship; we are good at what we do
Number Five; Polished; apples look better when their polished
Using short films to market a charity is a clever way of connecting with your audience, using the correct visuals can change a person's opinion on the subject quickly and it's much more effective.
Where can we find short films?
Short films?
BBC Film network is a website dedicated to short film, it show cases a range of film set out in categories. The website also helps new and upcoming directors by having pages with lots of advice on how to create effects within your shorts, what makes a good short film and how to be creative with script writing.
What I like about this website is the diverse range of films, anyone can upload and share their films it’s a platform for talent, I like the fact you can search for the directors and find a lot of their films not just the odd one they have done, and I also like that there is no opportunity to write comments this adds the excitement of the film, no being able to write a review helps you make up your own mind.
Coffee Shorts is a slightly different to the BBC website, it showcases film festival short films and award winning shorts, the website was designed to attract audiences and their opinions on the films. The films shown here sometimes may not be edited correctly and do not have shiny finishes, this makes the even more worthwhile watching.
The Internet re-invented the short film, websites like this have the set the trend to make short films “cool”, and it seems to almost be fashionable to be into the indie culture of being different. Short films are certainly different and are the increase because of commercial websites like the BBC film work.
James Pilkington Director Case Study
James Pilkington is a unique director, He has not done many short films he concentrates on Television dramas and adverts, and it is extremely hard finding information and pictures about him because he is not well established.
James is a British film Director, who works for independent film Production Company “The sweet shop”. His first short “pocket” won the BBC Best Short film award 1998 and was sold all round the world. In 1999 Pilkington was commissioned by the BBC to do a 10/10 short resulting in the acclaimed kids film 'Disco’; during this period James ventured into commercial directing filming tvc's for AXA, Playstation (TBWA) and a test for Volkswagen. In 2000 James' short comedy 'Sweet’ won the Empire Magazine best short film award, was a runner up in London Film Festival and was nominated for a BAFTA.
Friday, 1 October 2010
Unfortunately I couldn't get a video without subtitles because the BBC film network had copy right.
Pocket is a short film by James Pilkington, I love the style of this film it's unique to anything I've seen, He starts the film off in an old fashioned style of depicting 80's with the use of clothing and gender attitude this is the beginning of what looks like a nitty gritty film, Just the same way as Shane Meadows began "This is England". However we soon realise it is far from anything Shane Meadows does, the film is set in Nitty Gritty style but the added advantage of comedy, a ridiculous story that makes you smile in a setting where someone should be getting beaten up?
The story is set out almost as comic strip, and is like many Hollywood films that use silly situations in real life settings. There are a lot freeze frames and stop frame animation in the film this doesn't normally happen in a drama short film. I chose James Pilkington because he's different, he made me think about what I was watching.
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
SNAP!
Through my love of Guy Ritchie and his films, in my research I came across this short film "SNAP" it was also made by a bunch of students our age doing a project similar to ours. They had created a short film in the style of Guy Ritchie, I really like their camera techniques; there's a lovely pan shot on a country lane road following cars it adds detail to the story they are telling. They have used voice overs just like Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, at first I thought it would be cheesy but I liked it.
I got a lot of ideas from this short film, it helped me develop some inspiration.
E39 M5 "Star" Guy Ritchie
I love Guy Ritchie films, so i decided to research and see if he had done any shorts; just as I thought it was very difficult to find one but I came across this short film "E39 M5 Star". The film lasted 9 minutes and had me gripped from the opening line his style is unique and often involves unsavoury characters that turn out to be the hero, the locations are always gritty and unpolished. However I was surprised to see upmarket sophisticated characters, it was only at the end of the film I discovered it was a film to promote BMW cars.
I still enjoyed it and was interested in his camera shots and I felt involved in this story through the use of direct speech, the opening line is a voice over a rough "Ray Winstone" type that kept me watching because it was typical of Guy to use that to grab audiences before throwing them into a "upper class" atmosphere.
Michel Gondry - Smirnoff Advert
This advert is where Michel Gondry used his 'bullet' effect, the advert is very interesting and unique to him, it adds exciment to advertising and in it's own way it's like a short film. The editing of this advert is clever and reminds me of a comic strip.
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry is a French film director, screen writer and music video director, he is famous for his visual style and manipulation of mise en scene.His film making career started with making music videos for Rock band "oui oui" which he was a part of, the style of the video got the attention of artist Bjork, she asked him to create a music video for her. Not only did he create one he then went one to do many more, his style went into a category of his own and many artists wanted him to do theirs, as well as doing music video's he experimented in television commericals. He pioneered the "bullet time" technique which was then later adapted and featured in the film "The Matrix".
The Execution of Mary Stuart
This film is was made by Thomas Edison in 1895 and it's the story about the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. This is may have been first film in history to use actors to depict a story not only that but special effects have been used and editing for the purpose of the story. When the executioner raises his axe to chop her head off the it is edited so the actress is removed and replaces with a mannequin.
This is my favourite video, it shows how far forward directors of film at that time were, and how they shocked and fooled audiences for entertainment.
Avant Garde
Avant Garde means "ahead of the crowd" its cutting edge or experimental short films,
they were considered an art movement in the late 1940's to 1950. Avant Garde dirctor Maya Deren created short films that were had a anti mainstream stance, within her films she promotes the idea of artistic license and creative freedom.
This film was originally a silent film, but later after the film had been made her husband Teiji played instruments to accompany the moving images this became the soundtrack, the music adds mood and atmosphere helps us as the audience to understand fully the messages she is displaying.
The film gives us a sense of dreaming the character has a floaty walk about her and the idea of her falling asleep and not waking up suggests this is a dream. The camera trickery used is well before its time we can see how people have developed technical special effects from this film, the slow motion running and the stop frame animation is basic but still very effective.
The imagery in this film is about death and choices, this would of been a sensitive subject because of the era taking into account world war two, this just shows how many boundaries and creativity is being used in this film.
they were considered an art movement in the late 1940's to 1950. Avant Garde dirctor Maya Deren created short films that were had a anti mainstream stance, within her films she promotes the idea of artistic license and creative freedom.
This film was originally a silent film, but later after the film had been made her husband Teiji played instruments to accompany the moving images this became the soundtrack, the music adds mood and atmosphere helps us as the audience to understand fully the messages she is displaying.
The film gives us a sense of dreaming the character has a floaty walk about her and the idea of her falling asleep and not waking up suggests this is a dream. The camera trickery used is well before its time we can see how people have developed technical special effects from this film, the slow motion running and the stop frame animation is basic but still very effective.
The imagery in this film is about death and choices, this would of been a sensitive subject because of the era taking into account world war two, this just shows how many boundaries and creativity is being used in this film.
Short Film History
Short film has revolutionised the film industry with each new advancement in film there has been a short film that sparked it off, 1895 saw the first short film to be publicly exhibited "La sortie de l'usine", short due to technical restrictions. It wasn't until 1910 when films got longer that the term "short subjects" was coined.Short subjects because quite popular amongst audiences because people could go to the cinema and see 3-4 short films rather than just 1. This was important at the time as there were just a few forms of entertainment for the masses.
In 1930's Hollywood block booking was introduced this was were big Hollywood studio's forced small production companies to sell their short films to them so they could make feature films. Supreme court of US declared block booking illegal but the damage to short film had already been done.
Feature films lasted 90 minutes or more and had a classic narrative, they were more profitable for film exhibitors there could be a 2 hour turn around of a film. The invention of TV was a mass medium and short films were aired right up until the late 1960's until they became unpopular.The 1980's reinvented the short film however they were much darker and gritter, no longer about commerical success but about content and converging messages.
This still is from a short film from 1980 that used to play on nickelodeon in place of a group of commericals. We can see from this that its a cartoon comedy sketch aimed at children, after watching the video I can see it has no real message or understanding it's simply their for entertainment purposes.
History of Short Film- Lumiere Brothers
"La Sortie Des Usine" was made in 1895 by the Lumiere Brothers on the 28th of December 1895, it was the first short film to be displayed to a paying audience. The "cinematographe projects" only lasted only 50 seconds, and combined a camera, printer and projector all in one.
Their films content mainly contained moving images of everyday life, however the brothers feared that audiences would get bored with this and it was nothing new that they haven't already seen if they walked out on to the street.
Far from boring audiences " L'arrivee D'un train la ciotat" made in 1896 gave something interesting and thrilling, the short film had audience members screaming and hiding behind their seats because they believed the train was about to plow straight through the screen.
The films are vital historic evidence of life in the 1900's and include basic filming techniques this shows us how far cameras and the way we film have developed.
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Post Secrets
This is was my second choice for post secrets, I chose this because it had a mysterious element to the writing and it looked like magical. I wanted to do something serious with this one so I had a variety of synopsis's, this postcard seems to be light and quiet fun but it took it differently.
My synopsis:
A young girl finds out she's pregnant and wants to keep it from her friends she so isolates herself and finds comfort in her school library, she finds herself lost in books which takes her away from her problems. Every book she opened she found a small post-it note with a small drawing of a baby she becomes freaked out and worried people have found out this continues to happen everyday, she finally finds a book without a note and takes it home. When she gets home she flicks through the book and finds a huge note saying: I KNOW YOUR SECRET.
Post secrets
I also liked the secret, it actually very common among teenagers however my synopsis isn't serious it's weird and imaginative because I wanted to make a hard hitting bullying subject light hearted.
My synopsis:
A girl is trapped in her female body and wishes to be male, she visits a wig makers and asks for a male wig when she puts it on she hears voices telling her this is the right decision and she should be a boy, she buys the wig and hides it from her parents at a bag at the front door, every morning on the way to school she puts it on. One day a huge gust of wind blows the wig off in the middle of the playground and she is revealed to the whole school as a girl, filled with humiliation she picks the wig up rubs it and wishes to be taken away to a world where she is free to be a boy and magically the wig whisks her off to a land where she can be happy.
Bouncer
Bouncer was one of my favorite short films, It had a unique style about it; that kept me engrossed from the opening scene. The first line to be spoken is a question directed to the audience ' what do you see when you look into the face of a nightclub doorman' this keeps our engaged and feel involved in the film, the voice over helps us understand the visuals better. The film happens in chronological order so we get an understanding of how it all started, however there is a twist that makes this film a little less predictable, as an audience we gather that the doorman is in training for his job at the begining but the at the end we understand he is telling the story from prison this a clever effect.
The music in this short film gives the voice over some meaning, and also illstrates the video, the sound softens when the doorman is about to be killed we unnderstand what is happening before it has happened. The film is very nitty gritty the lightening is natural darkeness and the edit cuts help us to understand time has pasted.
Monday, 27 September 2010
Rubber Johnny
My opinion on this film was poor, I really didn’t understand it or its purpose, we later researched it and discovered it was for the purpose of a television advert to promote a band. It was banned and now I can understand why it was not suitable for viewers, The film opened in darkness which kept me as a viewer in suspense wondering what was going to emerge the title was written on a condom which was pulled from a penis straight away this hinted to me that “Rubber Johnny” was not a small rubber character about to embark on an adventure, it was going to be a video with a sexual nature. The music that accomplished the video was erratic and reminded me of a song that might be used in a hardcore rave.
Filming Task
I am Married from BDC on Vimeo.
In small groups we were set a task of filming a short film with a simple narrative:
- - Character opens the door
- - Walks across the room
- - Is met with another person and begins a conversation
It was then up to us as a group to expand on this idea and be creative with shots and play around the camera, it was a experimental task.
From the start my group had problems, we had a person down due to a university open day so it was difficult to film this with only two people but we managed to get something. As a group we were not focused and became distracted by other groups easily, we paired up with another group who also had team members missing but this just added to us being unfocused and we not good for both groups, the little footage we had was workable and with some special effects could of been OKAY.
When it came to logging and capturing we didn’t use our knowledge of how and where to save, so unfortunately we lost all our work and the tape was left at home. The communication between the group was poor, and attendance of people was difficult to work with. After losing our work another group kindly offered to give us their tape to work with their footage, at this point we really pulled together as team to work hard and use our editing skills to produce something unique. Our group was made up of people with different abilities, We really showed our final cut pro knowledge by including stop frame animation and cross fading shots the other group failed to get, We used photo shop to make opening titles were we researched images of Africa and used a map to introduce the film.
Where have I been all your life
This is the short film I showed to my class, I chose this film because I really enjoyed the dry sense of humour. It was put under the drama category so I made the assumption it was going to be a serious film, it was but it had elements of comedy and ended up to be nothing I expected it to be.
As the film opens we are introduced to the main character straight away we presume that he is disabled or his ability to do things alone is very small, the opening scene is shot in a car with him as the driver, his girlfriend seems to be the carer she is very patience with him and guides him to do thing, the lightening is natural and the background just a urban streets. As the story progresses we see that there is nothing wrong with the boy he is just sometimes incapable of doing things for himself and we soon catch on that his girlfriend is very similar, the film follows a story of a young man finding his dad after 23 years. The storyline is very serious but the characters reaction to him adds comedy for the audience, the films gives a twist that drags it away from the normal drama genre, at the end we discover that he has knocked on the wrong door and that man is not his father it’s the man at number 24. This is great ending to what was meant to be a predictable film.
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