Short films are difficult media products to class and identify as, apart from the fact that they are obviously short in duration, they do not necessarily follow any other forms or conventions.
* Short films can vary in a huge range of genres, just like normal feature length films.
FOR EXAMPLE; Drama Shorts, Horror Shorts and Comedy Shorts
* Short films will also follow a similar narrative to a feature length; even a short film will have a beginning, middle and an end.
It is important to bare in mind that short films are a diverse media product that enable immense creativity and are fairly unconventional.
The one main convention of course defining a short film is that it will be considerably shorter than a feature length and short films can range from anything at 2 minutes up 20 minutes.
However of course there common features in short films that can be discussed that have inspired us in the production of our media product.
Features that we have adapted for our own piece.
Feature 1: Use of Narration
How narration is commonly used in short films to assist the relation the audience has with the main character in a short duration of screen time
* The film 'Courier' uses narration throughout from the male protagonist (featured above) and he tells his side of the story of how he and his friend get wound into working for a drug dealer. The narration (used commonly in short films) allows the audience to relate to the character and also to understand the story as it unfolds.
* We have used this technique in our film as well as our male protagonist narrates over the piece throughout allowing the audience to understand why he sits on the bench watching the passers-by. It also helps to build a relationship with the main character as well.
Feature 2: Characterisation
How characters are portrayed and put across in media products. Whether the audience is made to sympathise with them.
Above are two screen grabs. The top is from a short film called 'About a Girl' click HERE to see my previous analysis of this film) The bottom s.grab if from our own piece.
* In 'About a Girl' we are made to feel like a friend to the female character in the film as she talks to us on a whole range of subjects. It depicts her as a chatty, confident character.
* We decided to use this technique but to invert it on itself. Our male protagonist doesn't speak during the film, you only hear his internal monologue. This lack of speech enables us to relate to him as a quiet, secluded character.
* Characters are usually depicted in a straight forward way in short films as It allows the audience to gain an understanding of a character in a shorter space of time.
Feature 3: Colour and Decor
These two elements of mise en scene are common in short films as they help to depict the mood of the film. A range of darker colours and inviting decor of a room would suggest a dark and unnerving film.
Above are two screen grabs. The top is from a short film called 'Waiting for the End of the World' click HERE to see my previous analysis of this film) The bottom s.grab if from our own piece.
* In Deanville's 'WFTEOTF' he uses a lot of dark colouring in shots to depict the night time mood of the film. Whilst the supermarket scenes are bright, the scenes for instance here where he is clocking-in/out, are a lot darker in colour which suggest the loneliness the male protagonist is pushing through everyday and this is further supported by the bleak decor in his surroundings; the wall, the machine.
* We similarly used this technique in our film. In the bedroom scenes of our male soldier character the colours all mould together. He doesn't stand out against the wall and this could as well suggest how alone he is.
* The room is also very bland. No pictures, photos or posters on the walls and yet again reinforces how alone he is in his surroundings.
Feature 4: Sound
Sound is a wide term for any diegetic or non-diegteic sound used in short films.
* In 'Bulb' there is heavy use through out of diegetic machinery sounds. Which most likely were added in the post-production stages or recorded in a foley sound workshop. This helps to depict instantly tot he audience, given the setting as well, that the film is set in the future; an age of robots and dependence upon machinery.
* Similarly in our piece our location was Brighton sea front and we wanted to make thorough use of the sounds of the sea surrounding us. We made sure that all the scenes shot by the sea would have the on-going soundtrack of the sea behind it.
* We carried the sounds of the sea on into the credits as well. (Pictured below) This helped to enforce the significance of the sea to the film. The sea being a thoughtful place. This use of diegetic sound meant that it helped emphasise how thoughtful our male protagonist was being and the points he was trying to make.
Feature 5: Camera Movements
Camera movements help to emphasise a point that a shot is trying to make. These could be Point of View to let the audience empathise with the character or it could be to reinforce the particular significance of character
Above are two screen grabs. The top is from a short film called 'Goodbye Gone' click HERE to see my previous analysis of this film) The bottom s.grab if from our own piece
* In 'Goodbye Gone' the film opens with a brilliantly constructed extreme high angle shot of a truck driving on a quiet road. The shot follows the vechile continuously into a car park where the camera gets lower to display the male protagonist as he walks out of his car.
*I thought this was particularly effective in displaying the significance of that character. He was depicted as being very small from such a high angle and was made to look insignificant straight away.
* Similarly in our piece I wanted our camera movements to be able to relate to the characters in our piece.
* We used a several POV shots of our male protagonist on the bench watching his passers-by walk past so that the audience were able to empathise with our male protagonist being able to relate to his perception of strangers around him.
Feature 6: Lighting
Usage of lighting is a common feature in short films as, much like colour and decor, it helps to depict the mood of a piece very quickly. Bright lighting depicts and happier, more positive mood whereas darker lighting will suggest there is something sinister afoot!
Above are two screen grabs. The top is from a short film called 'Bulb' click HERE to see my previous analysis of this film) The bottom s.grab if from our own piece
* The lighting in 'Bulb' is very dark throughout. Even lights featured in the piece seem ineffective in shedding light upon the scenes.
* This dark lighting helps to depict a moody and sinister depiction of the future. This method of using lighting to display mood was something we wanted to use in our piece.
* In our piece the scenes of our bullied male teen he is walking through a park at night time and this very dark lighting outside enabled the audience to feel the sinister mood surrounding the teens victimisation.
Feature 7: Shot Size
Differing shots sizes will display how close and personal we are to a character. A long shot will display our distance from a character whereas extreme close-ups will display the close encounter and detail we see with this character.
Above are two screen grabs. The top is from a short film called 'Waiting for the End of the World' click HERE to see my previous analysis of this film) The bottom s.grab if from our own piece.
* In 'WFTEOTW' Deanville uses a variety of close-up shots to display our personal relationship with the male protagonist, Petr.
* I thought the use of close-ups were particularly effective in building a relationship for the audience with the character and decided it was a good idea to use in our own piece
* In our film there are a variety of close ups, for instance with the shots of the traumatised ex-soldier character. These big close ups allow the audience to get very close and personal with the character. In his short screen time it helps to create a relationship with the character and the audience
Feature 8: Pace
The speed and pace of a short film is another variable to the short film genre. Short films can either be very fast paced due to eh short amount of time to convey a story or can be a much slower, more thoughtful slice-of-life pace.
Above are two screen grabs. The top is from a short film called 'Goodbye Gone' click HERE to see my previous analysis of this film) The bottom s.grab if from our own piece
* In 'Goodbye Gone' the pace is very slow and the thoughtful shots are lengthy and the lack of cuts enables the audience a long time to dwell on a shot.
* I thought these long shots were particularly effective alongside the narration to depict a thoughtful, slow pace mood.
* In our piece we use quite a few long duration shots of the sea and the locations surroundings. Other long shots include the ending tracking shot that follows our male protagonist away from his bench and this enables a very slow pace ending where a narration over the top is able to depict the thoughtful sombre mood.
Feature 9: Facial Expression
Facial expression is a common feature to short films from the arenas of mise en scene to similarly depict a mood or emotion that a character has.
Above are two screen grabs. The top is from a short film called 'Courier' (click the title for a link to the film or click HERE to see my previous analysis of this film) The bottom s.grab if from our own piece.
* In 'Courier' there are particular shots where characters in the film bare facial expressions that allow us to empathise with the character. In the opening scene of 'Courier' particularly the male protagonist looks concerned and worried and the audience already understand there is something on his mind.
* I thought this use of facial expression was particularly effective in depicting a the mood and emotions characters are having during the film. In our piece our pregnant teen character has a worried facial expression on her face and before the audience even see the pregnancy test in the bathroom they already can understand something is wrong.
HOWEVER it is also vital to include that we have also researched, developed and challenged the forms and conventions of film posters too!
An example of this would be analysis conducted on several British film posters such as 'This is England' and 'Submarine'
THIS IS ENGLAND, Shane Meadows, 2006
From the poster we can gather that T.I.E is...
* It doesn't really look dark but does look threatening. This costume and make up makes the line up of characters look dangerous, you wouldn't mess with them. This could suggest the film was within Crime genre.
* The representation of the characters in the T.I.E poster is they are working class, renowned in the 80's when the film is set for working in factories or in manual labour. This is evident by the scenery round them, what looks like a run-down council estate in a big city. Areas of mise en scene also help connote this working class image with the use of costume; jeans and jackets and hair cuts; very short
* This appearence is related to the Skinheads of Britain in the 1980's. Skinheads were a strong, laddish culture that usually occured in working class areas during the 80's when T.I.E is set. From the Skinheads we can also assume the film will include common stereotypes of a lad culture; alcoholism and having a laugh. This could further suggest the social realism side to the film.
* The positioning of the characters in a line makes the poster look like a police line-up. A police line-up connoting crime. The narrative could therefore contain elements of crime. Could be; murder, theft, burglary or violence.
* This film would also appeal to readers of film magazines Empire and Total Film who have positively reviewed the films. The film has also won several awards displayed at the top so film fans of all genres would be likely to watch T.I.E as it meets the high standard to British Film Making.
- In terms of how we have developed these ideas for our own poster:
* Like the T.I.E poster we have made the location of our film, the bustling city of Brighton, a prominent feature of our poster much like the appearance of the council estate with flats in the T.I.E poster.
For full blog post on 'This is England' poster analysis click HERE
Submarine, Richard Ayoade, 2010
* Comedy/Drama genre
* The colour in the poster is bright.
* The title uses red, yellow and white as well as light blue and these lighter colours depict the lighter mood in the film. This could be used to depict a comedy
* The male protagonist is represented to look fearful. His facial expression provides an expression of not great fear but maybe concern of the daunting events ahead in the story.
To see the full poster analysis of 'Submarine' click HERE
- In terms of how we have developed these ideas for our own poster:
* Like the 'Submarine' poster we are using facial expression of the main character to elaborate on the genre and themes of our film. Where the male protagonist in 'Submarine' looks concerned it suggests the weird/scary or traumatic events that will unfold in the film.
* IN our poster our male protagonists stern and thoughtful expression will evoke the serious emotion of drama in our film.
* Similarly to 'Submarine' we have used lighting to depict the mood. The ambient lighting is darker than brighter and this darker side suggests the slightly dark, sinister undertones of the film.
* The representation of our male character shows him in full view and he stands out against the blurred background. This positioning makes him stand out and signifies his importance to the piece as the other figures rush past.
It is also important to bare in mind...
that film reviews from the film magazine; Little White Lies are also an important media product that we have analysed and challenged it's conventions for our own product.
Little White Lies articles follow a strict layout, not just in presentation but in font, size and language.
Above is an example review for 'The Artist' featured in Little White Lies
Key Features include:
* A rounded edge still from the film itself.
* Large title in bold font
* Director, Stars and Release date all aligned under the title
* Names and dates are in bold and italics
Below is the text from the article for 'The Artist'
Key features of a LWL review is...
* The first letter of the review, in this case, the 'I' is in larger font and is bolder
* The text is displayed in three columns
*The reviewers name is in bold
* There are scores given at the end according to; anticipation, enjoyment and retrospect
* The numbers and scoring titles are in bold
* The review will always have a paragraph or two at the beginning explaining the initial plot without giving too much away to let the audience in on the films plot.
* The review is showered in lots of adjectives describing as much as it can. This is to build a broad picture for the audience of the film.
* The language in a LWL review will mention all aspects of film production; plot, acting, lighting, camera work and sound track. This display the educated audience with film knowledge that LWL targets.
How have we applied this research to our own review?...
The full blog entry upon our review is available HERE
Our review includes as many of the key features of a Little White Lies review as possible to make it look as if it could be from the genuine magazine itself!
* I have inserted a still from our piece as the mast head image with rounded edges like a LWL mast head.
* I have also made sure that the review follows all the rules of which areas of text are in bold or in italics if not both.
* Our review has the same scoring system at the end as a LWL review.
* The page numbers in bold at the bottom feature a 0 before the digits if it is below 100
* The first letter of the review: 'A' is in bold and larger font.
* The review is cut into 3 columns that follow on from each other
* The reviewers name (a fake alias as I am already credited for directing the film) is in bold at the end
* IN some issues they have a particular theme; eg. 'The Road Issue', 'Kickass Issue'. We are imagining our film has gained it's own issue and has a small drawn eye at the bottom of the page next to the page number.
* Our review covers differing areas of the films production such as the plot, acting abilities, setting and (non-diegetic) soundtrack
These key features have all been met in order to represent an accurate review from a copy of Little White Lies.
IN CONCLUSION
I have used a range of media products, short films, British film posters and film reviews from British film magazine; Little White Lies, which have been analysed in order for me to use them in my short film.
Our short film displays elements and conventions of a range of short films.
Our poster (when finished) will display elements from a typical British film poster
and my review bares as many similarities in layout, presentation and language as possible to an actual Little White Lies review.
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and your ancillary tasks?
I have made my answers to my question 2 as videos.
The first (featured top) is my longer and first answer. The second is my condensed version (9 mins)
3. What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
Throughout the process of making our film audience feedback has been a great way to monitor how successful our film is going and whether it meets the appeal of our target audience.
We based our target audience around certain features:
* Our target audience is those aged between 25-35 and mostly male similar to the main readership of film magazine, Little White Lies. * Our film is aimed at an educated audience.
* Even though our film is not easily defined to one genre and results as a genre Hybrid (of two or more genres) it's aimed at an audience who are likely to watch a psychological drama.
* For those likely to enjoy a huge range of films, a range such as that shown on Film4 which shows from the most popular classic films to the unheard underground gems of cinema.
When working on our film and ancillary products we asked for audience feedback to see the reaction we got from an audience.
Below is an example of feedback where we asked over Facebook for friends to give reviews or discuss their points about our poster (below)
* This meant that we could easily post up a picture of our poster and get feedback quickly.
What have I learnt from this feedback:
Successes:
* Overall this piece gained large amounts of positive feedback. I learnt that our poster was generally successful and there were a lot of positive things people mentioned about our poster this could therefore suggest our poster was successful in appealing to an audience.
* The effects we used on the poster were particularly effective. As it seemed to draw people in. The blurred effect on the poster sparked a bit of curiosity. I learnt the significance of post-production effects in constructing a sposter that stands out to an audience.
* The layout of text and image seemed to work well and our male protagonists position central helps to draw the audience in. I learnt fromn this the importance of layout; our poster arguably may not have been so successful if it was not for our planned poster layout.
* The description of the film looking: 'arty" would suggest also we have appealed to our target audience as the film is trying to appeal to those who would watch a particularly thoughtful psychological film.
Room for Improvement:
* Some of the text doesn't stand out as well. In particular the film's tag line (positioned below our male protagonist) which says: 'Don't turn a BLIND EYE' could have been in a different colour, e.g. white to match the fest of our text like the studio block. From this I learnt that whilst we did have a good layout in our poster some elements of the text could have done with more care to make sure they stood out.
* However it is important to remember that whilst this mostly contains positive feedback on our film most of those who gave feedback were not old enough to be included in our films target audience. 18 and under is Little White Lie's smallest demographic which would suggest that 18 and under would be the least likely to actually consume our film when distributed. From this I have learnt that whilst Facebook is a great way to get feedback on a product fast it may not be the site that people of our target audience may nessaceruly use to comment on a text. Our feedback in this instance is lacking in comments from anyone above 18 and does not directlys how the response of anyone in our target audience.
* Below is a diagram of Little White Lies' demographic readership to help illustrate that minority under 18's have on our film whereas the significant chuck of 34% made up on 18-24 year olds and the majority (same as our target audience) of 25-35.
* From this we have learnt that when conducting audience feedback it's important to anticipate whether those who give feedback will be relevant to our work as they may not be of the target audience age gap that we aimed our film for.
* However from this we have also learnt that our film poster is definitely appealing and likable (not just from the number of 14 in total people who 'liked' our poster on Facebook) and all comment bore a significant amount of enthusiasm and constructive yet positive feedback to our poster in such a short space of time.
* We have learnt social networking is a great way to obtain feedback quickly but also have learnt to keep an eye on the audiences that inevitably review our work and whether they're comments are applicable to our product.
ON THE OTHER HAND...
I have managed to obtain some audience feedback on our film and our poster from someone who is within our products target audience (25-35)
Below is a recorded interview with one of my participants I took feedback from...
(Caution: If the interview does not play when clicking the play button on the tab above, click the text saying BLIND EYE FEEDBACK INTERVIEW which will take you to a page on soundcloud which plays more easily)
WHAT I'VE LEARNT FROM THIS FEEDBACK...
* From this feedback I am able to understand how someone of our target audience would perceive our film at first glance and how they felt after watching it.
* I have learnt that concerning our poster it really does help to draw an audience in and the effects achieved through Photoshop, blurring the photography on the poster, help to capture an audiences imagination. From this I've learnt that on first impression our poster is rather successful in it's aims, making the audience ask question nd analyse the poster.
* However there are some criticisms on smaller issues such as the size of font and how it blends into the back ground making it slightly not as easy to read.
* From this I have learnt that our poster could have been improved by more time making sure that all text on our poster was readable to those looking at it especially an audience reading it for the first time.
* Our film poster does also appear to have achieved the impact of suggesting deep 'meaning' surrounding the film. From this I've learnt we have successfully presented our film in the right way and desired effect in our poster to allow an audience, who would otherwise not have seen the film, to display our film is a dramatic genre and holds a significant meaning.
PREVIOUS AUDIENCE FEEDBACK AND HOW WE'VE LEARNT FROM IT...
In the earlier production stages of our film we conducted some audience feedback on 5 participants all who were within the films target audience (25-35) reading to them the plot line and asking some questions of how well they understood the film
To see the full blog post on this audience feedback please click HERE
Below is a screen grab from the audience feedback we conducted back in December 2011
* Our main concerns at this point in the production (the editing stages) of our film was that our complex plot may not make sense.
* Therefore we used audience feedback to gather information on how well different participants reacted to the plot. In confusion or understanding the film.
* From this audience feedback we learnt that some elements of the film's plot were too confusing and we from here decided that a narration was needed on our film from the male protagonist in order to help the audience decipher the complexity of our plot.
FEEDBACK ON THE FILM
All previous feedback had been prior to the screen of our film. Participants who watched our film commented on our blog on what they thought about 'Blind Eye'
From these comments we were able to understand what the audience thought about the films target audience:
"I would say the target audience is aimed more towards males however because of the twist females would probably also be interested in watching."
(Comment by Fran, Michael and Jamie Film blog)
This piece of feedback is particularily useful as it fits the catagory of target audience we set out to target; mostly male, but also I can learn from this that we also included females in enjoying our film. Even though we had not set out to target females they could also be argued to find our film interesting.
The non-diegetic soundtrack and voice over FROMour piece also was commented on in some feedback about our film:
"The music backed up the type of thriller hybrid feeling" (Comment by Fran, Michael and Jamie blog)
"I particually like the music, I think the ending music fitted well with the film and was well written." (Comment by Joe, Jack and Lianne Blog)
"Having the voice over allowed the audience to relate to the boy and his view on things" (Comment by Fran, Michael and Jamie blog)
* From this feedback I learnt that the non-diegetic soundtrack and male protagonists voice over that was added in the post production stages of our film really aided our film. The soundtrack made the film more enjoyable as both comments praise it and it's uses contributing to genre.
* The voice over similarly helped the audience to understand the film. From this I learnt that factors such as non-diegetic sound track and voice overs have a significant importance in how an audience will understand and enjoy a film. Without the voice over in particular I think our film would have struggled for our audience to understand.
Further evidence that our film succeeded in our audience understanding the plot can be found in this comment:
"I think your film very very good, I understood the storyline" (Comment by Joe, Jack and Lianne Blog)
I would suggest that from this feedback I learnt the ways in which a complex plot of a film can be made understandable for an audience. We used large amounts of sound editing through a non-diegetic sound track and vitally a voice over from the male protagonist to illustrate what was happening through the film.
From this I have learnt that the fact they UNDERSTOOD THE STORYLINE was paramount to the success of our film and that this could only have been best accomplished through our use of sound editing of our non-diegetic soundtrack and male protagonists voice over.
IN CONCLUSION
Overall I've learnt a huge amount from our audience feedback from various stages of our production.
* I have learnt the importance of audience feedback as it allows you as a creator of a product to understand how your audience would really react to the work you have created.
* I have learnt that it's very important to develop on feedback. For example where in our audience feedback early on in the stages of our film many of those asked said the plot seemed very confusing.
* From analysing our feedback we thought a good way to help make sure audiences wouldn't be confused by the complex plot would be to include a narration throughout our film so that audiences had a voice to hold on to through out the film explaining the products content.
* I have also learnt about the different methods and platforms for gaining audience feedback. I have used a variety of different methods of gaining our feedback; in person (writing or recording an audio interview) or digitally over social networking sites such as Facebook.
* These differing methods allow me to understand and evaluate which methods of gaining feedback are best for what I want to achieve.
* Asking participants about the poster over social networking site, Facebook, meant that I could get people's reactions to the poster on very first glance, exactly how people would respond to our film poster in the real world of film distribution.
* Doing a written or audio interview allowed me to delve into what specific participants thought about certain details of a film and if i required more information on a certain topic (e.g. my audio interview) I could create more questions for the participant to gain better understanding for our products.
4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction, and research, planning and evaluation stages?
IF BELOW IT SAYS THE PREZI DOESN'T EXIST PLEASE CLICK THE TITLE BELOW IT AND THIS WILL TAKE YOU TO THE WORKING PREZI!
For my answer to question 4 please watch my Prezi below...
