Short film research

Throughout this post I plan to focus on all conventions that I need to analyse, however I may not write about each convention in each post. From this, I hope to gain a better understanding of the conventions in short films and crime thrillers, and in effect be able to begin to plan my short film.

Boy

The text I studied this time was a short film titled ‘Boy’- a drama which focus’ on gender identity. I plan to review how the film-maker aims to create a message and the effects behind that. One thing I have learned from watching short films is that they often focus on one character and one messages. There is no exception for this short film. The lead character is a girl struggling with gender identity, this enables the film-makers to present their view on the subject as well as raise awareness of people struggling with gender identity problems.

Raising awareness of a problem such as sexual orientation or a mental disorder is very common in short films and often effective in educating the audience. I believe this is due to the fact hat short films are a lot easier to make than feature length films (due to the low production cost), as well as them being able to keep a viewer interested for the full length of the short film due to the short run-time. This also enables the film-maker to solely represent a subject, making the text more direct.

One issue that prevents some film-makers from wanting to produce short films is that they are unlikely to be recognized by the general public. Film production companies such as ‘Universal’ only focus on producing feature length films as they are often much more popular- gaining recognition and more money. In effect, makers of short-films are often unable to express their views, and even if a short film does get popular, it is reached mostly by people interested in filmography.

The short film continues to assert the general message, after the protagonists struggle with expressing her personal identity in front of her family, that once people actual listen to her problems they begin to understand. This moral is a widespread message from the film-makers, insinuating that people need to be more open minded and understanding of people who are ‘different'.
This is a topic I could feature in my films, however I do not see how it could fit into the genre of 'crime thriller'. I feel that if I am going to try to create any message in my short film, it should relate to gang crime/drug use.

Bleak

Bleak is a crime thriller short film in which I plan to analyse the filming convententions, i.e. use of camera, editing, sound, and spacing in frame. This short film is not too dissimilar from British crime thrillers such as Layer Cake and Snatch which is why it peaked my interest.

I was initially very impressed by the overall scope of this film. Multiple locations are used creating a theme of constant movement, furthering this, good costume design and relevant locations ensure the film has great realism and believability. I plan on using a total of three scenes set in three locations for my film, I may use wide and long shots to express the scope of these locations. Props and costumes are also elements of this film that I liked; the guns and suits are very generic conventions of a crime thriller. Moreover, the reactions to the gun were serious and mature, unlike some portrayals in thrillers where guns are just used casually. This is typical of British crime thrillers, especially ones by Snatch director Guy Ritchie.

The contrast between gritty crime into comedy is, in my opinion, not executed too well. I blame this mostly on the lack of suspense during sequences, although this does add to some comedic element. Unfortunately, the run-time of this film is 30 minutes, so I cannot use the pacing in this as a reference for my own short film. The lack of dialogue gives the characters a lack of personality and development- something I plan to avoid when scripting my own film.

The font used in the opening titles is similar to that of Drive- hot pink handwriting on a primarily black and white background. The music during this scene is techno, also similar to Drive. This type of pastiche is too blatantly copied in my opinion, if I were to do something similar, I would add my own input by slightly altering them. The scripting is also very literal, something which I will try to avoid by getting help from teachers as I am not an adept writer.

My overall favourite part of this film are the variation of shots set with the black and white colour scheme. This mis-en-scene is similar to that of film noir pieces the the mis 20th century- a movement I have already analysed in previous blogs.

In Game

In game is an A2 action short film which relies heavily on good usage of visual effects. The protagonist progresses through multiple stages of small indie games for iOS and eventually into gameplay similar to triple A titles as a character in those games.

The ever changing plot and locations of this film deeply immerse the audience, however faults in visual effects and sub-par film-making limit this immersion. The film is ambitious- setting the short film out away from other I have viewed, and despite faulty visual work, it is till impressive. My main criticism with this film is the lack of plot, it is almost like a sketch-show, the audience is bombarded with constant gaming references which, despite being fairly meaningless, are executed well. Furthering this, the film does not move fluidly, scenes are cut together in such a way that we, the audience, are left with no direction of what will happen next and what is really going on.

I feel that this film could be adapted and improved by featuring maybe less references, or cycling through them in some logical order, rather than just mashing them all together. Even by incorporating a theme such as the Super Mario plot- a hero trying to defeat a villain to save a girl, but at the end it is revealed that she is actually in another area. I feel that this combination of gaming reference and a plot from a classic game would benefit the film greatly. Instead, the film focus' too heavily on trying to impress and excite the audience, and in doing so neglects story, resulting in a somewhat meaningless film. Despite this, I still think In Game is fun and enjoy the inception-like game cyclical plot.

Real Gone

Real Gone is currently one of my favourite short films and one which I believe will influence my project a lot, despite not being a crime-thriller.

Real Gone is a very clean and simplistic looking short-film with a very easy-to-follow narrative. I believe this narrative is achieved by running the same theme throughout the whole film, a man trying to seek peace in death but failing comically multiple times. The use of comedic timing throughout is contrasted with the controversial theme of death/suicide, which only amplifies the humour more.

The opening sequence to this film features a man being resuscitated on a beach. The establishing shot of the beach features soft colours and the peaceful sound of calm waves- connoting peace. Throughout the film cut-in-shots of this beach are used as a symbol to denote the lead characters want for this peace. This subtle use of symbolism is very effective in a short film as film-makers must be concise with their writing and directing due tot the short run-time. A further benefit of this use of symbolism is the artistic value, straight dialogue can often take away from a scene when used unnecessarily.

Proximity

Proximity is a short film in which suspense is the main factor, it follows one character in a situation where he has to fight for survival against others.
This fear of death throughout the short film isn used to fuel the non-stop tension and enable the audience to fear and sympathies for the protagonist.

Close-up shots of the protagonist are used throughout, including an establishing shot which features the lead with a bag around his head. These close-up shots are used to establish and emphasise the protagonists lack of knowledge of the location and people. The audience can therefore experience everything in the first person as he does.

Shakey-cam and quick cuts are used during tense scenes to lower the visibility and increase the pace of sequences, establishing a greater thrill. Towards the end at the re-equalibrium, the length of shots is extended to express peace and create a tone of relief.

Symbolism is heavily used in the mis-en-scene of this short film, the bad guys wearing black (evil) and the good guys wearing white (good). I plan to use colour and costume designs in order to signify my characters morals and values in the protagonists eyes. This film has very limited colours, emphasising the repetitiveness and routine manor of the plot, the only primary colours are on the tags which are green (safety) and red (danger). I have considered using these signifiers in various shots through my film to reflect the protagonists situation.

Narco

The short film Narco is a British crime-thriller directed by Connor Barbor, a former student Chalfonts Community College, for his A2 coursework. It place in multiple locations within Buckinghashire, and follows two protagonists.

The lighting in this film is exceptionally good, and my favourite aspect of Narco closely followed by the writing. This professional use of high-key-lighting greatly enhances the visuals in each scene. In my film however, I plan to use low-key-lighting in multiple shots in order to add meaning to characters and plot- I find that meaning through visuals and actions is often deeper than meaning through straight dialogue. In saying this, I plan to continue adapting my script throughout drafts in order to make the characters seem more immersive, and develop them as well as drive the plot. One problem I had with Narco was the excesive use of strong language. Although I feel this works in some films, I would argue that it is mostly unnecessary in Narco, but I still respect it's use to create more thrilling and gritty interactions between characters. Costume design furthers this character creation and works effectively; costumes used are similar to those in crime-thrillers.

My overall favourite part of the plot in this film is the start and end. The film begins mid-way through  job the lead protagonists are already pursuing, this is very effective for a short film, as it enables for there to be action without having to rush a full complex story. Narco also follows the structure of equilibrium into disruption, and finally into a stage of re-equilibrium- ensuring the audience is satisfied.

I believe this film would be graded as a bbfc 15 film due to it's use of violence and swearing throughout. This is roughly the age rating I am aiming for, therefore a lot of the content has been able to inspire my planning.