Audience Theory

Uses and Gratifications Theory

• audiences are active receivers of meaning/ideas/values/messages - they do things with the text for their own gratification/satisfaction.
• Music videos

Many audiences watch music videos for the following reasons, most of the below reasons are due to the passiveness of absorbing information.

1. seeing what you like
2. to update your phone or ipod to have the latest music.
3. human desire to know what was new
4. story telling - entertainment
5. the dress and attitude - associations.

• Short films

1. moving poetry - a limited time to create a meaning.

Hypodermic Needle Effect/Magic Bullet Theory

• the mass media s so powerful that it can target the audience directly with an messages it has.
• argues that media audiences are passive receivers of meaning/ideas/values/messages.

Digital Technology

To produce my short film I will be required to use forms of digital technology. Each item of digital technology that I use will ensure that my short film will be produced to the highest standard possible.
I will use a Digital Video Camera to record my footage.  To ensure that my footage is of a high quality I will also use a Camera Tripod.  The below images are similar to the items that I will use in producing my short film.

To edit my shot film I will upload my footage to an Apple Mac, on this I will use the programme iMovie.  This programme will allow me to edit my footage so that I can create a professional looking final piece.  As can be seen in my preliminary task final product I have grown to be adept to using iMovie and creating an affective and well put together piece.  As I have more time to complete my main task I feel that this will work to my advantage and allow me to create an improved and better short film. Below are two images which illustrate the Apple Mac and iMovie programme, both of which I will use to my advantage so as to create my short film.

Short Film

I plan on having the following poem read alongside the short film.

A teardrop fell upon my hand

Another followed soon

We met when we were schoolgirls new

and our friendship quickly bloomed.

We’d spend our days arm in arm,

When the September leaves did blow,

These were our carefree friendship times

and our happiness did grow.

Hours we’d spend together,

a friendship flourishing upon the basis of forever.

We’d promise our friendship for all eternity,

Knowing it to be true

We had so much in common, were always able to talk,

Yet, 

Some things you couldn’t tell me,

You chose to face them alone...

The world was your only friend

and your summer leaves did blow.

I wish now I’d knew.

Knew of your likely demise,

I’d have prepared myself,

Learnt that every second with you was precious,

Learnt that I would soon be lost of a friend. 


The idea of two friends, they have been friends since childhood, as they reach a momentous point in their life a tragic accident kills one of the friends.  Throughout the reading of the poem it will show the other friends memories of their friendship.


The majority of the film will be of the friends memories.  Below is the list of the memories that will be included however they are not in the order that they will appear in the film just yet.

• The two girls sitting next to each other at a desk - it is their first day of primary school together.
• The two girls in a school playground.
• The girls shopping together.
• The girls at each others houses - sleepovers etc.
• Clips of the birthdays the two girls have celebrated over the years.
• Walking to their first day at secondary school together.
• The girls at each others houses getting ready for parties etc.
• The girls together at prom.
• The girls are now grown up, they both have jobs but do all they can to see each other.
• One of the girls has a baby.
• The other is planning on getting married.

The accident that kills the friend.

• The two girls are out together two weeks before the girl is due to get married.
• The girls are walking back home together, as they take their separate routes home the friend that isn't getting married dies - she has unknown heart problems and with no one around to see it happen has a heart attack and dies.

Throughout the film there will be shots of the friend that was due to get married mourning her friend.  Such scenes will include:

• Close-ups of the friend crying.
• The friend laying flowers on her friends grave.
• The friend being given her friends baby to look after.

Famous Directors of Short film

Pinny Grylls

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JFTGBmX19VQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

• an award winning documentary film maker.
• she founded the Birds Eye View film festival in 2002.
• in 2001, as a partnership, she co-founded Invisible Films.
• her 2007 short online documentary "Peter and Ben" has attracted over 360,000 online views.
• she was quoted as calling it a "gentle, lyrical film."
• she has won multiple awards for each of her films.
• her style has been described by fans and critics as left-field and quirky.  It has also been said that she has a unique eye for human behavioral detail.
• she has created seven independent short films and 13 commissioned films.  a small proportion of these commisioned films, "Seeing a Song" and "Bravo" were televised.
• for "Peter and Ben" alone in 2008-2009 she received six nominations for awards, of which she won five. 

(Channel 4 New Talent Award Nominee 2008 (Pinny Grylls)
FourDocs Best Documentary Award 2008 (Peter and Ben)
Vauxhall VX Auteur Award 2008 (Pinny Grylls)
Best Documentary Aspen Shorts Fest 2008 (Peter and Ben)
The Grand Jury Prize in SXSouthWest Click 2009 (Peter and Ben)Winner of The Shooting People Werner Herzog Competition 2009
Winner of The Shooting People Werner Herzog Competition 2009

COURSEWORK!!

I have decided that for my A2 coursework I will be creating a short film, I have decided that this will be the bets option for me as it is the one that most appeals to me from the three options.

I have not set a genre yet, although looking at other short films on Youtube has shown me that many have a deeper meaning to them, so I will take into consideration this when I do set my genre.

I have considered the best way to create a dramatic short film and have looked at how other short film producers have done this.

One idea that I do have is to have a silent film, much like an older short film and the one I put into my textual analysis post, "Memories", both these however use music and sound to replace speech as the way of describing actions and emotions. I plan to do similar, should I choose this idea, by having a narrator reading a poem or passage alongside a silent film.

Conventions from short films that I may include in my own work.

• I feel that the short film "memories" has a very powerful emotional effect on the audience, I think that this has come from the fact the film is silent apart from the music and sounds that can be heard; there is no dialogue but you still know the emotions that the main character is feeling.

• Also in the film "memories" the shots that are the flashback scenes are saturated so that it is easily distinguishable what scenes are present and past.

• I will use a tripod for the majority of my filming as this will ensure that my shots are clear.  However I will use handheld shots for effect.

• As in Black Button I do intend to have some scenes of suspense, however due to the genre of the short film I will not use this is excess.

• As in many low budget short films, I will have minimal locations.  This will allow me to create an effective piece without having to diversify into a lot of different locations.

• I will use camerawork, such as the types of shots, that reflects the mood of the moment in the film.

• As in the short film tick tock I will fade in my music at the start of the film.

• I may also reverse some of the footage, as in tick tock.

• In tick tock there is also a restricted and an unrestricted narrative, this is something that may help to improve my short film.

• In the film black button there is an enigma code happening from the very start of the film, this will be reflected in my short film.  The enigma code will be the opening scenes of the graveyard.

• Black button also makes references to what the film is about (hell/god), this is something that I will use in my short film also, making the references to the past and present.

• I will also use an altered saturation for scenes to make more of an impact and differentiate them from other parts of the films.

• Furthermore I will use fast cuts so that I can create a build up of tension in my short film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w14v4vGUDdg - ticktock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrKnhOJ-R80 - black button

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85HDu87TGy0 - memories

The Dogme Collective

• The Dogme collective movement began in 1995, it was started by two Danish directors, Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.
• The duo produced ten rules to which the Dogme films must conform to, these rules were also referred to as "The Vow of Chastity".
• The genre gained international appeal due to its accessibility. 

The Ten Rules

1. Filming must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in. If a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found.
2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. Music must not be used unless it occurs within the scene being filmed, i.e., diegetic.
3. The camera must be a hand-held camera. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. The film must not take place where the camera is standing; filming must take place where the action takes place.
4. The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable (if there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera).
5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.
6. The film must not contain superficial action (murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden (that is to say that the film takes place here and now).
8. Genre Movies are not acceptable.
9. The film format must be Academy 35 mm.
10. The director must not be credited.

This website below I found really useful when I was looking for more information about short films.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/dec/19/short-films-documentary-animation-viral

Function at the Junction

During a media lesson we watched, as a group, a short film made in 2002 about a Northern Soul dance competition in the 1970's. The main story line is of a northern soul dance competition in a club, the owner of the club is doing bets for the winners of the competition, to make sure he makes lots of money he tries to sabotage the chances of the favourite.

This film had a large budget in comparison to films such as the Lumeire Brothers, at £14,000. This budget helped to ensure that the film was professional looking. The film was made in 2002, and consisted of fairly unknown actors, typical of short films and ones on a smaller budget.

The Lumiere Brothers

In a media lesson yesterday we watched some videos that were made in the late 1800's and early 1900's by the Lumiere Brothers. The Lumiere Brothers, from France, created the first ever films upon the invention of the cinema camera. Most of the original footage, as can be seen in the video below, was just of everyday life. However, in 1895 when this footage was shot and viewed, as it was new technology people were still impressed.

The cinematographe itself was patented on 13th February 1895 and the first ever footage to be recorded using it was on 19th March 1895.

The longest recording they had was just 49 seconds long.

Textual analysis

On this post I am going to analyse three short films.

Memories.

• This short film is very similar to many of the older short films in which speech wasn't used, instead all emotion, and action is described through the use of the moving image and the music playing along with the images.
• However this short film differentiates from the old short films such as the Charlie Chaplin ones as it includes the sounds of the moving street, such as the traffic, the rustling of negatives and some of the actors actions, such as the key in the lock.
• The producer has cleverly edited the saturation of the shots which are supposed to be flashbacks and this works well because it clearly defines what is past and what is present.
• Some of the sounds, such as the traffic would have not needed to be added on in post production, however over diegetic sounds such as the key in the lock and the rustling of the negatives would have been added on in post production so as to give a clearer and more defined sound.
• The camera handling is mainly hand held however some of the shots would have been on a tripod.

Alice in Wonderland 1903.

• This film has been restored recently by the BFI.
• It was the first cinema adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, just 37 years after Lewis Carroll's novel was written, it was adapted by Cecil Hepworth.
• It is evident that it is an original film, however the colours have been enhanced when the film was restored.
• The film has very little sound at all, with very minimal music even.
• Due to the lack of sound throughout the film it is sometimes very hard to watch as it is hard to follow the story line, even for an audience member that knows the story written by Lewis Carroll.

The Black Button

• This short film, is fairly modern and was made in 2007.
• This short film follows the conventions of other modern day films by having moments of suspense and action.
• The film had a very low budget of just 200 australian dollars. Things within the film that reflect this budget are the minimal locations (the white room and the car), the minimal actors (the two males in the room) and the very few props that are used (only desk, chairs and briefcase). The car crash shot would have been the most expensive scene to shoot.
• Although the film has a very low budget it works well. The lighting acts sometimes as an intensifier of emotion or action. The light grows brighter when the male that has to decide to press the button or not is thinking about the consequences of his actions.
• The camera shots, especially towards the end of the film become more effective. At the point in which he realises he is dying the camera work and editing effects reflect the disorientated state of mind.

The history of the short film.

The Short Film Before...

The very first films were presented to the public in 1894 Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope.

They were usually films depicting celebrities, royal processions, travelogues, current affairs and scenes from everyday life.

In the early 1900's to 1930's short films were considered the normal length of a film, although none lasted longer than usually twenty minutes in length.

They were often part of a long running series of films, which to a modern audience would resemble a television sitcom.

Some of the most famous people in these films include Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and, Laurel and Hardy.

Animations usually were short films, as were newsreels.

Many major film production companies had specific units to which short films were assigned.

During the silent and early sound period of films nearly all films would have been short films.

The Great Depression in the 1930's led to short films becoming almost obsolete in cinemas, distribution changed so that studios only sold packages of one main and one supporting. This led to a rise in double features and a decline two reel shorts.

Due to this many of the big name actors were put into feature length films instead, one example being Laurel and Hardy being moved into feature films by 1935 and losing their roles in Our Gang, although MGM still continued with this series until 1944.

This short film is one that helped to make Charlie Chaplin famous, it is called "Making a living", as you can see upon watching it has no speech and the only sound is from a band playing along with the action.

The Short Film Now...

Animation studios such as Pixar and Dreamworks Animation, frequently create short animations either to run before a feature film in the cinema or as part of a video release pack.

Disney have also began to create short films since joining with Pixar in 2005.

There is also annual music awards held by Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures.

There is very few short films in cinemas nowadays and frequently rely on festival exhibitions so as to gain an audience.
Furthermore, the production of "home made" short films have begun to become a phenomenon on the internet, through websites such as Youtube and Vimeo.  This is where I was able to find a lot of the short films that I have used for inspiration for my own short film.  

This is an example of one of Disney Pixars short animation films they create for the beginning or ending of one of their feature films. This short film would have been shown in cinemas before the feature length film was shown.