Ideology of the genre & Audience pleasures

Ideology of the Genre

Short Film Posters

Below are some examples of short film posters.  As one of my ancillary tasks is to create a poster for my short film I have decided to deconstruct some of the current posters for other short films.

The poster below is for  2008 film about a girl struggling to mask the pain from years of sexual abuse, she finds herself trapped in a secret addiction.  But when her mother refuses to believe the truth about her father, Joy tries to find her own way out.

Below is the image of a 2008 film called Le tonneau des Danaides, it is a french film, however I found that the poster was very effective.
In the desert, a man is buried to his neck in the sand.  A brunette dressed in red walks away without paying any attention to him.  After escaping from the sand, he will head to the horizon to meet his woman.
Le Tonneau des Danaides translates into English as the Bottomless Pit.

Editing and compression of time.

Continuity editing creates an illusion of things happening in real time.  Very few texts choose to have screen time and real time matching.  This is mainly due to the time frame being so short.  Music videos and short films unfortunately have even tighter time frames.

Montage editing
Montage editing is a style of editing which brings together related clips and juxtaposes them to an event of something that is taking place at the time of filming.  This style of editing often is accompanied by music to add to the drama of the scene.

I have decided to use a little bit of montage editing in my final piece as this will add to the dramatic effect that I aim to create for my film.

First draft

Below is a first draft of my media coursework.  I have not edited on a voiceover of the poem as yet but will do for the final piece.  There is also some clips missing that I originally planned to include in the film, these again will be added for my final product.

Shots.

• For the scene by the graveside I realise that I need to have a long shot of the whole group of friends, followed by a cut to a close up of the best friend being comforted by another friend.
• The first shot in the graveside scene will show the whole group of friends around the grave but will include a close up tracking shot of the faces.
• The scene with the two younger girls making friends during school will be a mid to long-shot.  I will work so as to incorporate both of girls into the shot throughout the whole scene.  This will mean that the whole scene will show the two friends together... as they were throughout their entire friendship... not split up.
• With the scene of the two friends walking towards school down the steps I will use a zoom towards the top of the steps.  This will allow for the two girls to be recognised as those in the previous scene but will also show them to be happy together but also nervous... it is going to be their first day of secondary school together.  The camera will zoom out as they walk down the steps and follow the two girls into the school.
• I plan to include a scene showing the two friends to be older, once they have left school and are catching up with one another, and this will be a mid to long-shot.  However I may plan to include a point of view shot that will show each friend from the others point of view... this I feel may work better than the mid-shot as it also helps the film to have a variety of shots but will also show the friends from each others point of view.
• The scene of the two younger girls playing, having fun etc, will use a long shot of the two girls skipping.  They will skip towards the camera so I will not need to zoom.  I may include a shot of the two girls sitting and playing together "hairdressers" this will further promote the fact that they have been friends for a long time and show that they have always been close.  This will be a long shot.  This scene also includes the two girls sitting playing clapping games.  This I feel will look best as a long shot which zooms into a mid shot and finally a close up of their clapping hands.
• For the extended scene of the friends together then one of them dying I will use a lot of close ups and tracking shots.  My first close up will be of the friends getting ready to go out.  This will be shot as similar to the draft piece with the girls using the camera as a sort of mirror for putting on their make up.  I may also include a mid shot of the two girls comparing dresses, outfits.  I have reconsidered the idea of the shot of the girls walking down the road together, this shot will now be a tracking shot from the side then to the front, this will extend the shot but will also allow me to experiment further with the handling of the camera for different shots.  I feel that for the shot of the friend falling down and dying I will use two different shots for this.  I will have a camera at the bottom of the stairs which she falls down, this will help to capture a shot of the friend falling as I feel this also would be more dramatic.  I will use a second camera to capture the fall from above, this will then show the fall more clearly. I also anticipate to have a close up of the friends face after she has fallen, this I feel will add more drama and effect to the final shot of the scene.
  
• Close ups of the mourning friend will have to be varied.  I have decided this as I have the same shot repeated in places throughout my draft.  I will hope to include a close up of the friend being comforted.  I will also include a mid-shot of the friend laying flowers on her friends grave.  Furthermore I will use a close-up shot of the friend alone crying.

Other stuff

• Costume
• Young girls
• skirt/jeans
• tshirt
• hair in bunches/ponytail
• Teenage girls
• leggings and top
• hair down, styled
• flat shoes
• older girls
• smarter wear
• trousers
• smart top
• black shoes
• sleepover girls
• pyjamas
• dressing gown
• slippers
• hair up
• mourning friend
• black dress
• hair down
• going out as friends
• skirts
• heels
• fashion tops
• school
• school uniform
• prom??
• prom dresses??
• party dresses??

• Transitions
• I will use a variety of transitions during my short film.  I plan on using the idea of fade to white and fade to black transitions respectively of whether it will cut to a happy memory of the friendship or a cut to the friend mourning or a graveside scene.
• I will use a cross zoom transition when the memories change to the night of the friends death, the transitions from here will then be cross blurs, this will emphasise the confusion and lost feeling that the friend would now be feeling now that her friend has died.

call sheets

My Target audience.

Mood Board

This short film, which I found on youtube, gave me a lot of inspiration for my short film.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/85HDu87TGy0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The following quotes that I also found gave me inspiration.  I will likely have some of these shown within my short film.

• God gave us memories that we might have roses in December.  - J.M. Barrie, Courage, 1922
  
• What we remember from childhood we remember forever - permanent ghosts, stamped, inked, imprinted, eternally seen.  - Cynthia Ozick
• A happy childhood can't be cured.  Mine'll hang around my neck like a rainbow, that's all, instead of a noose.  - Hortense Calisher, Queenie, 1971
• Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.
• They taught me how to imagine, and how to dream. They gave me wonderful memories, and left footprints on my heart.
• Friends are the most important part of your life.  Treasure the tears, treasure the laughter but most importantly treasure the memories. - Dave Brenner
• Friendship is like a violin; the music may stop now and then but the strings will last forever.
• We are our memories. Our memories underpin every thought we have, every fact we learn and every skill we acquire.
  
  

  This image is one that shows that from a young age the two were great friends and enjoyed being in each others company.

  
  

  

  This image shows the two together at an older age still enjoying each others company and sharing hobbies.

  
  

  This image is one that I feel shows the close friendship of the two even when they are so much older.

  
  

  The above images, I have considered to replicate in shots of my of my short film as they represent the close friendship my two characters will have together.

  
  

Research Methods

There are four types of research methods.
The first is Primary Research, this research method requires the research to be carried out personally.  This  research method is one of the better ones to use as you can find reliable information and also you are guaranteed to get an answer.  This information can be gathered in the forms of:

• questionnaire
• interview
• textual analysis
• survey
• online poll
• focus groups
• email
• text
• letter

The second method of research is Secondary Research, this method of research gathers information from other people and sources.  This research method is one that is good to use as it allows you to gather the information that you may require but don't have access to find the information yourself.  One disadvantage however is that the information you may find may not be reliable.  Places you can find this information can include:

• internet
• books
• newspapers/magazines

Qualitative Research is largely based upon smaller numbers of people, which helps to gain a perspective of peoples opinions.

Whilst quantitative is research that finds any patterns or trends, it involves asking large numbers of people. generally in a questionnaire.

Back to Solitude - A short silent film with narrative voiceover.

Back to Solitude
http://vimeo.com/27764822

This short film does incorporate some of the ideas I have had for my short film.  These include the flashback, and quick editing clips.  Along with this I am hoping to include a voiceover, although mine will be a narrative poem and not of the short film.
My poem will be used as a narrative for the short film, however will not describe all of that which is happening within the film.

Ferry Poetry: A Short Film by Anna Bing

Ferry Poetry: A Short Film by Anna Bing

This short film is similar to the style that I want to have for my own short film, even though the language is foreign and therefore I do not understand it, the short film is a silent one with a poem voiceover.  This is the style that I had originally planned to use, and although I will not use the Bob Dylan style with the boards with the lyrics on, I will use the silent film aspect with voiceover.

Final screen play ideas.

1. Friend standing at her friends graveside.
2. Two young girls making friends.  At a desk, drawing together - sharing pencils.  Close up of them together.
3. The same two girls playing after school at a park.
4. Close up side shot of an older girl crying.
5. The two girls walking to school.
6. The two girls together at a sleepover.
7. The girls in a bedroom doing make up etc.
8. Another close up of an older girl crying.
9. The two older girls meeting for coffee.
10. The two girls shopping (wedding dress?????)
11. The two girls out together, walking home.
12. One of the girls alone walking towards home - collapsing.
13. The older girl at her friends graveside laying flowers.
14. Credits

At intervals throughout the piece I will include four quotes.  These quotes have been chosen for their effectiveness during the scenes they are included within.  They have been placed strategically within the screenplay and will come onto the scene at the bottom of the screen.

The four quotes I have chosen are:

1. Friendship is like a violin; the music may stop now ad then but the strings will last forever.
2. A happy childhood can't be cured.  Mine'll hang around my neck like a rainbow, thats all, instead of a noose. - Hortense Calisher
3. Friends are the most important part of your life.  Treasure the tears, treasure the laughter but most importantly treasure the memories. - Dave Brenner
4. Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.

I have highlighted the scenes in which the quotes will occur.

I need to do...

Costume
Young girls

• skirt/jeans
• tshirt
• hair in bunches/ponytail

Teenage girls

• leggings and top
• hair down, styled
• flat shoes

older girls

• smarter wear
• trousers
• smart top
• black shoes

sleepover girls

• pyjamas
• dressing gown
• slippers
• hair up

mourning friend

• black dress
• hair down

going out as friends

• skirts
• heels
• fashion tops

school

• school uniform

prom??

• prom dresses??
• party dresses??

Locations

• classroom in school
• bedroom/medical room
• lewis road/school grounds
• park

Props

• flowers
• paper
• pencils

I NEED!

• somebody to read my poem - with emotion
• two people to be the older friends

Possible titles

• Friends forever
• a true friend
• friendship
• angels apart...friends together
• never forgotten

Trial shots.

The following scenes are only trial shots.  They have allowed me to choose which camera shots would work best for my final product.  I have considered the angle of the shots more throughly now and know which shots I will use.  For example I will do a lot of the crying/sad shots as a side shot of the people.