Here are 9 short films that i think have all or maybe some of the conventions of a short film:
1. Inside: This is about a man in the mental hospital. It shows the audience the different characters in his head but at the end the show a twist, which would be one of the conventions. The number of characters used wouldn't normally be found in a short film but it really shows the audience the way they have though about it. I would say the genre would be typical, and every short film is a horror or a thriller film. You couldn't relate to the main character, but it shows a surreal life and this would be one of the conventions also as most films I've seen are not what you would expect in real life that you would see but they do occur. This inspires me as they've thought about the mise en scene and this brought the whole film together. You could actually believe that they're in a mental hospital. They've used a mixture of digetic and non-digetic sounds and this is affective as well. This film was between 1-5 minutes.
2. Noise: A man who listens to the millions of every day sounds loses his hearing and is lost in the vast emptiness of sound. This is similar to 'Stolen Life' as its about struggles that people go through everyday, and this film is very inspiring as they've shown what I believe is a typical short film. They've use non-digetic sounds-voice overs and music to show the emptiness the man is feeling in the film. This I would say is a real life even that deaf people go through, shows a message to the audience of how people live. There wasn't a twist in the film as we see that he was deaf to begin with. This film was also between 1-5 minutes.
3. Temptation: Is it possible to live beyond the reach of temptation? This short film really inspires me to make meaningful films that would show the audience a message that would make them think, this film exactly did that. The dialogue used, I think is in his mind so I would believe that would be a non-digetic sound. It shows the way people go through all the temptations everyday. This film was 3 minutes long which fits in the short film conventions. There is one main character and a lot characters that come and go, this is affective as it helps show what he is feeling and thinking.
4. The Plan: A man quits his job, leaves his girlfriend and drives to Vegas to put all of his money on red. This film was less than 5 minutes long which a short film should be, it was also affective as the other ones. It had a message in the film that you shouldn't drop everything and run off to do something crazy, which makes an audience think and also draws the audience in. They've used a lot of quick cuts and this kind of editing skill is mostly used in short films, this helped me with my film as long cuts wouldn't tell the story in less than 5 minutes.
5. Teeth: Two men fishing and one loses his teeth. This is a very sweet but funny film its just over 2 minutes long and I think they've shown a lot in just two minutes. I love the way the filming was done for this short film, showing two old men in the middle of a lake fishing and laughing and messing around, it feels like their in their own world, it shows a beautiful meaning of friendship. This film would challenge the conventions of a short film, as it is it what I've seen before in a short film. They are mostly serious and show a sad side to life, but this film just makes me smile every time I see it, and I think this is a really affective film.
6. The Box: About people's curiosity getting the better of them. This would be a horror film and this film is good as it made me think about the box and wanting to know whats in there, it draws an audience in and this what makes a affective short film - you need to get the audience attention from the start other wise they drift off. This film conforms a short film conventions as it uses all the quick cuts and shows a big twist in the film.
7. Invisibilities: A short film inspired by the stories of four people who are suffering from silent disabilities. This is about 4.30 minutes long. This is a film to show what some girls go through everyday, they can't do what 'normal' kids can do because of their disabilities, and this is really inspiring for a lot of girls. This confirms the convention of a short film, showing quick cuts and showing every thing in a little time, its really good. The music used really comments the film really well and I like the way they've put the whole film together.
8. The Black Hole: A sleep deprived office worker finds a Black Hole whilst photocopying late one night Suddenly the possibilities seem endless. Will greed get the better of him? This film is really good because of the illusion they have created to show that a piece of paper can help you get chocolate from a vending machine. I love the way they have shown how greedy people can get in a split of a second. This film is defiantly a short film convention - has all the short cuts, its 3 minutes long, the genre is thriller, it portrays a real life situations and it's between 1-2 characters.
9. The Switch: Animation about a box making people into boxes. This short film is really affective as it uses simple objects to create a funny but cute film. This has all the convetions of a short film also - it has only one character, they've used editing in a way to create an audience wanting to watch on, its about 3 minutes long as well. This would be a lot of work to do as its animation, I would love to make an animated short film.
1. This shows two main protagonists side by side in one frame, this is challenging the conventions of short films as its usually one main instead we have two in our film.
2. There are also other characters in the film in order to tell the story of the two main protagonists, this is challenging the conventions as most short films have one character and thats it but most of the short films I've analysed have used more than one character and is as good as having one protagonists on its on.
3. This is one of the central protagonists in the film, we have used more than one protagonist as its a story about two different people with the same passion.
4. This is one of the central protagonists in the film, I would say she is the main one as the story the ends, the audience seems more simpathetic with Tina and would have the public talk about her more and the way she is being treated.
5. This scene is the started of the twist in the film, Sandra is lowering Tina to think that she is genuinlly being nice and making her feel good about her art work, she also helps Tina out by giving her a new pencil so she can carry on drawing.
6. This is where you see the real reason why Sandra is interested in Tina and being nice to her, this shows one of the conventions of a short film as this would be the twist in the film, the audience thinks that there is nothing going on at the moment but when Sandra pulls her phone out, the audience then sees a bigger picture of what to expect next.
7. This is showing Tina on the streets looking for food or shelter, this shows the difference in lifestyle as its showing typical themes for a dramatic short film.
8. This is another character shown in Stolen Life and this also challenges the conventions of a short film. I think having some extras helps tells the story that we are targeting to our audience.
9. This shows that we used non-diegetic music over most of our film as Tina is in shock. Even though the mood of the film changed especially in this scene, the music had mellowed down and ends the plot and sums up the film.
Question Two - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Here is the script for this evaluation task:
Here is a video of Me, Vanessa and Rebecca talking about our products we've made:
A2 practical projects/Short film/Evaluation for film, poster, trailer from Jemma Goulds on Vimeo.
This is our radio trailer:
Radio Trailer by niisha
Question Three - What have you learned from your audience feedback?
I decided to upload our short film on to YouTube as I wanted to get a public response to our film and get constructive feeback. One person said that they loved how the music is connected with the film, this shows that the music that we composed our selves worked and is perfect for our target audience. Another person got the idea and the message that we wanted the targeted audience to understand and feel the contrast between the two artists, one being a well know artist and one being a homeless. This is a better way to show off the hard work we put into this film and this will be up on facebook for everyone to see and maybe I can get reponses to those that i wouldn't consider being the targeted audience we was going for.
Audience feedback
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Question Four - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Question 4
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