Category: Research

CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS – Discussing the influences in effects

South Paw:

South Paw has some Visual effects that you cant see that makes the movies stand out. I should have the same idea when creating my imagination sequences. FXguide made a blog all about Zero VFX work and how they created there VFX.

In the opening scene where you can see the outside of the stadium. The sign outside is blown up and made the building look more modern. This gave me the idea of changing the background, of some of my scenes. Such as making the houses in the background look smaller or taking them out completely and putting in some trees to make it look like the country side. Also changing the sky to a brighter blue if the day we fined at is dull and gray.

They also added blood spraying out of the boxers mouth as he gets punched. This is a great idea for when i get one of my characters to shoot the other one, i can add blood around the wound or have it come out of the whole in his head. This has just given me the idea from Shaun Of The Dead where the zombie has whole in its stomach. I could use the same effect with a bullet hole.

 

Shaun of the Dead:

This is such a good scene that has some amazing visual effects. The zombie gets its  stomach ripped out and you can see Shauns face through the whole. I this i can do this when my character gets shot in the head, i can have the other character face through the whole like in Shaun Of the Dead. I wont be hard to recreate it will just be time consuming. I will have to look at some tutorials and re jog my memory on how to key out a good green screen.

Also i was thinking about using fake blood and clay to create the effect on the acters face and then simple masking the SFX out in after effects they show you how to do this in the Film riot tutorial

Also I was thinking about using fake blood and clay to create the effect on the actors face and then simple masking the SFX out in after effects they show you how to do this in the Film riot tutorial.

 

Combining these effects with the Losses effects that i researched a while back i will definitely be able to pull of a decent effect. The tutorial i have linked above is the one i will be following however i need to create a bigger whole. I will do this but creating a larger ring on the actors head and putting some green tape or paper underneath and have the ring around it. Then i can simply take the blank shot and put that behind the actor clip. Key out the green and then add my blood insides. I am going to have to independently figure out how i can make the inside of him look real.

With this in mind before I start my first storyboard of this bullet whole effort. I must look at camera techniques because i want my shots to stand out and make the feeling that i want in the scene. I can also take a look at camera angle, not just for my imagination sequences, but for my interview aswell.

ACADEMIC THEORY – Semiotic Theory

What is semiology:

”Semiotics, also called semiology, the study of signs and sign-using behaviour. It was defined by one of its founders, the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, as the study of “the life of signs within society.” Although the word was used in this sense in the 17th century by the English philosopher John Locke, the idea of semiotics as an interdisciplinary mode for examining phenomena in different fields emerged only in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the independent work of Saussure and of the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce.”

Here’s how they said it works:

Peirce’s seminal work in the field was anchored in pragmatism and logic. He defined a sign as “something which stands to somebody for something,” and one of his major contributions to semiotics was the categorization of signs into three main types: an icon, which resembles its referent (such as a road sign for falling rocks); an index, which is associated with its referent (as smoke is a sign of fire); and a symbol, which is related to its referent only by convention (as with words or traffic signals). Peirce also demonstrated that a sign can never have a definite meaning, for the meaning must be continuously qualified.

Connotation and Denotation

Connotation and Denotation are two principal methods of describing the meanings of words. Connotation refers to the wide array of positive and negative associations that most words naturally carry with them, whereas denotation is the precise, literal definition of a word that might be found in a dictionary.

Here’s what I learned:

Semiotics is about what symbols you or the audience sees in the film that have an impact to the story. For example if a man is having a normal day and something bad needs to happen to change the whole story completely, the producers could have him come home from a day at work and he can see smoke or black cars out side his house. The smoke symbioses that there is a fire in the house and the cars around the house means that there are bad people in the house and they could have done something to the family. Semiotics tells/shows the audience an emotion or make you wonder if anything bad or good is going to happen, without telling them a word or having a character showing an emoting. This will work really well with the shocked expression on the interviewers face when the interviewee tells him that he has killed someone.

Applying to my short film:

I am going to take this into my short film by having the colours grey and dark, also having the walls and furniture modern or have an opening shot of a clock ticking in the corner of the room. This tells us the audience that this is an office and that the interview is going to go poorly or not turn out the way we had hoped.

The costumes will also be a great way to show the audience that the character is a student and want a job at the company.

I am also going to have a clock in the background symbolizing that when the time travel happens it tell the audience that the story has go back in time and we are back to the passed. This makes the audience wonder if the imagination sequences have actually happened or if he was just making them up.

Audio is going to be a key part in my short film as this can symbolizes time travel also. Having a warping bass sound with the following transition shows the audience that the character has gone back in time.

Also a young man holding a pizza boy will tell the audience that he is a pizza deliver boy. Which is also going to be tolled by the interviewer.

Further more, i am also going to be having a small document in the interviewees had showing that he doesn’t want to be there and wants to get things over and done with quickly.

I now need to take a look at Contextual analysis to get some better ideas on how i can make my final effect look better. Also to help me look into the visual effects, as a whole, that are used in films to gather ideas and ways to shoot so that i can do the visual effects.

 

Ref:

 

ACADEMIC THEORY – Reception Theory

looking at Stuart Hall theory because i need to get my head around the Preferred Oppositional and Negotiated the theory to improve my short film.

 

Reception Theory

Reception theory as developed by Stuart Hall asserts that media texts are encoded and decoded. The producer encodes messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience. However, different audience members will decode the media in different ways and possibly not in the way the producer originally intended.

Stuart Hall states that audience members adopt one of the following three positions when they decode the text:

 

Dominant, or Preferred Reading – how the producer wants the audience to view the media text. Audience members will take this position if the messages are clear and if the audience member is the same age and culture; if it has an easy to follow narrative and if it deals with themes that are relevant to the audience.

 

Oppositional Reading – when the audience rejects the preferred reading, and creates their own meaning for the text. This can happen if the media contains controversial themes that the audience member disagrees with. It can also arise when the media has a complex narrative structure perhaps not dealing with themes in modern society. Oppositional reading can also occur if the audience member has different beliefs or is of a different age or a different culture.

 

Negotiated Reading – a compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings, where the audience accepts parts of the producer’s views, but has their own views on parts as well. This can occur if there is a combination of some of the above e.g. audience member likes the media, is of the same age as you and understands some of the messages, but the narrative is complex and this inhibits full understanding.

Heres what I learnt

Media producers encode their text with meaning. They might use lighting to convey an emotion or a certain font to communicate themes. Or the clothes a character wears to tell the audience if they are a hero or a villain. There are endless ways to communicate these themes, with all this in mind the audience is then given all this information for the audience to decide what is going on in the story extra. I knew nothing about this i just thought directors just did this to fill up space in a scene or to make it look visually appealing. They don’t. everything must mean something or else it’s pointless and you are at risk of letting your audience get confused, drift off or get bored. You don’t want this to happen as you must keep your audience entertained.

I also learnt that the dominant reading is what the producer wants you to feel. for example, the jigsaw doll, the look of it makes you scared and worried just by what it looks like and what it is made of. The oppositional readying is about the audience rejecting exactly what the producer wants you to feel eg GTA 5 game some people enjoy it and some people don’t like it and despise it. The people that despise it are these sorts of people, they are rejecting what the producer is trying to achieve. The negotiated reading is just like the dominant reading however the audience adapts the info to fit with your own beliefs.

 

Designing My Short

As the director and creator off my short film, I must know how to get the audience to read the film in a way that I intend. I do this by giving certain camera angles and placing certain objects in the environment ext… a must change the camera, editing, audio, costumes, locations and mise-en-scene in ways to give a certain emotion. This is going to be tricky as my short film is a comedy and action short film.

I was thinking of having realistic comedy elements (camera, editing, audio, costumes, locations, mise-en-scene) in the interview room. On the other hand for the imagination sequences, i am going to have over the top sounds and camera angle to give a stereotypical action film (doing this make the short film have an element of comedy to it).

I must put into my short film:

Camera

The Comparison Shot

You can really shine as a director by using this type of shot. It relies on similar or nearly identical shots being shown at different points in the video or film, with their direct comparison creating the comedy. It takes a lot of planning, but viewers will continue to appreciate all the differences the more they watch it and notice the subtleties. Edgar Wright is a master at this:

The one caveat to this type of shot is that, while the camera can create the joke with a matched or mostly matched frame, the jokes can also come from the visuals within the frame. It also doesn’t have to have movement for it to work.

I think this is gonna be a really interesting way to have my start and the end of my short film to be the same. This will tell the audience that the film is a loop and the main character is playing the interviewer.

 

Editing-

In the editing process of an action comedy film there, It is crucial to get the action sequences (imagination sequences) right or else the audience won’t get where you are going with the scene.

In the eBook ‘The Technique of Film and Video Editing’ by Ken Dancyger he talks about the movement and how in action sequences this matters a lot.

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Action sequences are extremely valuable to the story of an action film. Ken Dancyger says ”filmmakers have found action sequences to be valuable device…”. In my imagination/action sequences, i must get these right as the audience will no get the story behind my short film. I want them to know that these imagination sequences aren’t real that’s why i must make them over the top and extreme so that the interview room shots look real, almost boring to watch.

Audio-

Ryan Leach an LA-based producer (has made music for The Simpsons Movie, Bee Movie and the Dark Knight ext…) revealed, in 2013, a lot of information about how audio is used in comedy. He also has links to my short film idea as my short film has time travel involved.

Use Unique Scales and Chords

The idea of using the unexpected can be applied to melodies and harmonies as well. Everybody knows the boring old major scale if you want to add some unique character to your piece you should expand your harmonic vocabulary and use pitches and chords beyond the basic major.

The Mixolydian mode in comedy is truly something to use when creating a short film. You get the happy feeling of the major third but the b7 instead of maj7 takes the edge off a little bit and makes it a bit smoother. Mixolydian can have a slightly bluesy feel to it, even in a non-blues style. This helps the audience feel what us as the director want them to feel. This stops the audience’s mind from drifting off and feeling something else.

In the openings scenes to “Time Travel App”, it takes advantage of the Mixolydian mode to keep the mood happy but not overly saccharine, the mellower feel in big part thanks to the b7. I feel that having this concept in my short film would really make it stand out from the rest.

 

Costumes-

I now need to take a look at costumes. I want to find out a little bit about how costumes can affect my audiences feelings when watching a film. I found a good on costumes and cinema book called ”Costume and Cinema: Dress Codes in Popular Film”. It has lots of useful information about costumes and how they affect the views of the audience or even to set a scene in a film.

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It says that costumes can shift a time and place in a short film. For example, if there is an old man telling a story to someone and there is a flashback the costumes the actors will be wearing will be old fashioned as the story has gone back in time. You can also shift moods in the story. I want to use this trick when creating my short film as i want my imagination sequences t look fake and unrealistic. So I will have the clothing looking neat and tidy. however, when i have my interviewer scenes i am going to have things look more realistic and have clothes unironed and creased.

Locations-

I know that my short film is going to be an action comedy. This in mind i must be careful when picking my locations. The office locations must be realistic and cluttered as this tell my audience that this scene is real and not a fantasy. However, in my imagination sequences, i want them to be fairly plain so that when something over the top happens the audience is left with very little to look at (making them laugh because it makes them think that the short film has been created with very little effort).

Having the imagination sequences heavily set on action but with some comedy elements here and there. On the other hand, have the Interview scenes heavily catered to comedy and hardly any action.

Mise-en-scene-

 

Mise-en-scene is:

”The arrangement of everything that appears in the framing – actors, lighting, décor, props, costume – is called mise-en-scène, a French term that means “placing on stage.” The frame and camerawork are also considered part of the mise-en-scène of a movie. In cinema, placing on the stage really means placing on the screen, and the director is in charge of deciding what goes where, when, and how. David  A. Cook, in his book A History of Narrative Film, points out how a mise-en-scène is formed by all the elements that appear “within the shot itself, as opposed to the effects created by cutting.” In other words, if it’s on the screen and if it’s a physical object recorded by the camera, then it’s part of the mise-en-scène.”

I found an eBook on Mise-en-scene, and i found it interesting as it says that the items in the scene can be used to let the audience no what kind of character they are looking at. Meaning if there are items that are aggressive and plain around a character it will tell the audience that the character is not someone you want to mess with.

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So it says here that the ‘decor’ around a character or characters can make the audience feel certain things. For example, if there are two characters that are in love the decor around them will be bright colours related to love. There can also be specific items to portray this like a log burning fire, candles, pillows on the floor and fairy light.

What am i going to do?

With this in mind, I am going to have an object that is completely different from the example I made up before. This is because my two characters are going to be completely different, one being enthusiastic and enjoying being in the interview room, and one being lazy, bord and doesn’t want to be in the interview. So the object i will be having will be out of place and shouldn’t really be there. For example, the two characters will be opposite a desk and i will put items on the desk that look out of place. eg pens and pen cup knocked over, paper scattered over the desk, the office chair leaning back, phone light up the desk and an overflowing bin.

I now need to take a look at semiotics and get an idea on how I can make my short film better by using it.

References:

 

Gibbs, J. (2007). Mise-en-scène. London: Wallflower.

Moura, G. et al., 2014. LIKE THIS SITE? Follow us on Facebook for updates. Elements of Cinema. Available at: http://www.elementsofcinema.com/directing/mise-en-scene-in-films/

Anon, How to Score Comedy. Music & Audio Envato Tuts . Available at: https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-score-comedy–audio-20733 [Accessed April 16, 2019].

McAfee, R. (2017, September 28). 10 Comedic Camera Techniques Every Filmmaker Should Know. Retrieved from https://blog.pond5.com/16424-10-comedic-camera-techniques-every-filmmaker-know/

Revisionworld.com. (2019). Reception Theory – Media Studies – Revision World. [online] Available at: https://revisionworld.com/a2-level-level-revision/media-studies-level-revision/reception-theory

 

CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS and 7 Rules for creating good Short Films

https://www.raindance.org/7-rules-for-writing-short-films/

1. The Shorter the Better

I thought that short films must be 5 mins or over in production for it to be stated as a short film. However this is not the case because Joalland says that they can be from ”fifteen seconds to forty five minutes in length”. The benefits of this is that the shorter it is the less costly it is gonna be however you must not make it look cheap if you intention is to spend as little money as you can. on the other had if you want your short film to be shown at festivals it must not be longer than 10 mins as people will get bored quickly and other things in the festival will catch there eyes. Plus the festival is wanting to play as many short films as possible so it must be short as sweet. Joaquin Baldwin’s short film was 4 mins long and it was a hit (Sebastian’s VooDoo).

From my planning i am certain that my short film will be in the 4-8 minute range which is good.

2. Keep the Practicalities of Writing in Mind

Here he explains how meany people loose sight into why they are making the short film and what there original intentions where going into it. ”I have read scripts with pages of chase-action scenes and car crashes, and many writers seem not to realize how time consuming it would be to actually shoot.” This is telling me to be aware of each line i put down impacts the amount of cost/complexity it will take. here is one of his examples. ”Visions of white horses galloping in the moonlight certainly look amazing in your mind but are you sure you’re good friends with a wrangler and/or a CGI specialist? If you only have access to modest resources, think small.” A really good version of this problem was done in the short film Apricot. This is because the consept of two people sat down in a cafe talking seems simple but you can tell that this wasn’t done on the cheap.

It could have been created on a much lower budget like the Asian short film Just a love story. This short film takes place entirely in an elevator the concept is interesting but very practical.

3. Make It Visual

This rule is all about showing not telling. Short films down work very well this loads of dialog as this confuses the viewer. the little dialog you use the better as long as youre still telling the story you want to tell. ”Film is about telling stories in pictures, which is the most economical way of telling a story”.

It is also imported to make the viewer understand the characters and there back story’s as quickly as possible as this intrigues the viewer at the start to the film. ”Create visual backstories for your characters. Externalize through visual images their temperament, their profession, their status, etc.”

”In the Lunch Date  the woman polishes her fork before using it. What does it tell you about her? Note the economy of dialogue in the short film, a short film that went on to win an Academy Award for best live action short film.”

This is a perfect example of showing not telling. The majority of the short film is showing and there is very little dialog however the story is still being tole. In my short film I want to use this in between each question, making sure to have lots of pauses in between each question and answer.

4. Find Single Moments

”The best short films are often a single moment that is played out, but one that has a story at its heart. What do I mean by story? I mean a conflict that has to be resolved, where there’s a dilemma at stake and a choice that the protagonist has to make.” I want to implement this idea into my short film. At the end of the short film i am going to have a big twist at the end where the main character goes back in time and repeats the same interview so that he can say the best possible answers he can.

5. Tell a Story

The short film ”I love Sarah Jane” shows a bunch of teenagers in a ghost town where adults have turned into zombies, yet at the core it is a love story about a young boy who can’t reach through to the older girl he loves. This concept links to my time traveling ending to my short film. The short film shows an classic interview scenario but at its core the short film is mainly about the main character trying to give the best answers to the interviewee. So he travels back in time to try again.

6. Engage the Reader

Here it is telling me that you must hook the reading quickly or else they will bet bored. This links with my ”The 4 Rules of Comedy Writing For Screenwriters” blog. ”Since you have so little time to make an impression the impact of page one is crucial, just as it is crucial to hook the reader in the first 10 pages of a feature length script.” Once those first ten pages are up and you have intrigued the viewer the rest of your story will flow and you wont have to worry about anyone leaving.

I now need to take a look at Academic Theory. Then see how i can develop my idea to the meaning behind the story of my short film (maybe tie it into my imagination sequences). Then i think it would be a good transition to look into reception theory, looking at the audience and how i want them to look/feel while watching my short film. Also semiotics is a key part to my research. looking at Denotation and Connotations. This would be a good area to include with academic theory as you can discuss the deeper meaning behind your creative decisions. Then some more on Contextual Analysis when discussing the influences in my effects.

Ref:

Joalland, S. and Joalland, S. (2019). Writing Short Films: 7 Rules Successful Filmmakers Follow. [online] Raindance. Available at: https://www.raindance.org/7-rules-for-writing-short-films/

 

 

 

The 4 Rules of Comedy Writing For Screenwriters

I need to do some research on writing comedy and liking it to the visuals on screen. I found this website talking all about it. (http://www.nuvotech.co.uk) written by a professional filmmaker.

Just because you can say funny things doesn’t mean you can write funny things.

In this rule they are explaining how impotent it is to make your story funny right from the start. ”You have to keep that agent laughing from the first page–especially the first page–because if she’s enjoying herself by the time she gets to the bottom she’ll definitely turn to Page two’. I will take this into account when creating my very first scene as it must make you laugh right from the start, this will naturally make you carry on watching. This is exactly what i need when creating my short film.

 

A strong story without a lot of laughs is preferable to a weak story with three jokes per page

Here it says that you mustn’t have loads of jokes in one scene. ”As we’re laughing at things your characters are saying and doing, we must care about them and root for them to get whatever it is they want (no matter how goofy). If that want isn’t there we’re not going along for that ride no matter how amusing it might be.” This reminds me back to my questionnaire. I asked everyone how meany jokes they preferred on a scale of one to ten and the majority said 5. As this subject has came up twice now i am going to keep this in mind when creating my script.

 

Two heads can be better than one

Here it says that you could be the best scriptwriter and story teller in the world and no exactly what you’re doing. However if you cant write jokes you aren’t going to create a funny short film. ”You need to get together with a certain kind of person. The off the wall, rapid fire, life of the party, grown up class clown who has the ability to write jokes, great set pieces and funny lines and is hilarious 24/7, but if his or her life depended on it, couldn’t come up with a story and write a script. It’s the perfect convergence of talent.” When creating my script i will need to collaborate with someone who is naturally funny so that i can get some ideas to put into my short film so that it has a comedy feeling throughout and not just in certain areas.

Find your genre

When it says find your genre it doesn’t mean action or romantic comedy it means what genre of comedy are you going to use in your short film. This was interesting to me as i didn’t no that there was a certain theme of jokes you can say. for example ”’Romantic comedies need laughs, but not tons of them. Take two Reese Witherspoon films. Sweet Home Alabama wasn’t a laugh a minute”. There is also ”Guy comedies (or buddy comedies) need more laughs than a romantic comedy. Think I Love You, Man, Wedding Crashers, Talladega Nights, The Pineapple Express or Role Models.” I am going to be leaning towards the ”Guy comedies” as my short film is a Action Comedy.

Now i now the basics of writing comedy i now need to do some research on writing actual short films, as this isn’t a film its a short film. This is very tricky as you must not cram tuns of information into a short film is must be short and sweet.

 

Ref:

http://www.nuvotech.co.uk, N. (2019). The 4 Rules of Comedy Writing For Screenwriters. [online] Movieoutline.com. Available at: http://www.movieoutline.com/articles/the-4-rules-of-comedy-writing-for-screenwriters.html

Interviewer questions – Linked to my effects

I got these question ideas from this website

My audience wanted me to use these effects from my questionnaire i did in my previous blog.

Here are the effects I will be using:

(Effect G) Do you have any hobbies or interests?

(Effect B) What’s your time management like?

I found this tutorial and the effect is very slimier to Effect B which is the video bellow

What was your previous job like?

(Effect A) Why did you get fired from your last job?

Before i start my script i know need to take a quick look at the tutorials about so that i can pick the key points out so that i don’t have to look back at the tutorials when editing. I can just look back at my key points.

Mythologies of Violence eBook – Codes and Conventions in the Action

Mythologies of Violence in Postmodern Media (eBook)

I wanted to get more ideas on what i should do in my imagination sequences. This book ‘Mythologies of Violence in Postmodern Media’ has lots of useful tips and tricks on the Action genre.

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This is saying that male audiences prefer a more masculine film than a feminine film. This is interesting because I thought that men would prefer a woman in movies. This work the opposite if it was a woman audience, they prefer more feminine movies rather than masculine. If i was making a romantic comedy short film I would have most of my characters and the main character female as women prefer this. With this information, I am going to make my action scenes have a male in throughout, as the Action genre is more related to men.

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This is saying that physical strength and dexterity is common in Action films. This is interesting to me because I didn’t no that most Action films had these things in them. This is related to the other paragraph above how Action films have a target audience as men because we look up to strong powerful male protagonists and we want to be like them, that’s why we watch these movies. I am going to follow this information by having a strong powerful male protagonist in m short film. However, because my short film is a comedy action i might flip the table and have the complete opposite. Have a small scrawny main character but make him do cool things like in the stereotypical Action films. This will also make the Comedy side of my short film shine with the Action genre.

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This saying that you should view Action Films as serious and real. This is because if you do this you will enjoy the movie a lot more because Action Films tend to be visually pleasing to look at and be impossible to do in real life. This is enjoyable for a lot of people because they know that they will never be able to perform like the characters in the movies that’s why Action Films are really popular. I am now going to reflect back on my previous blogs so that i can go back to them and take all my research and link it to my planning stages once i get to them.

ref:

Sharrett, C. (2000). Mythologies of violence in postmodern media. Detroit, Mich.: Wayne State Univ. Press.

CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS – Short Film inspiration

This short film relates to my idea as this short film takes place in a prison sell throughout the whole thing. My short film is going to be in an office environment throughout the real scenes. What i really like about this short film is the foreshadowing at the start leading you to the big twist at the end (Where you see the match box shaking and then puts it in his draw). This is done in big blockbuster film just on a bigger scale. I really like it when directors do this because the viewer will brush this clip off because it doesn’t seem impotent at the time but then you remember it at the end which makes you remember it from before. I wont to implement this into my short film however i must mind map some ideas down and come up with something. This is because the idea must be unique and something no one else has thought of before.

This is has helped me go more in-depth into my time travel. Having my main interviewee go back in time at the end of the short film to then revisit the question he is being asked so that he gets as many attempts to answer the questions correctly (so he can get the job). I would have right at the start of the short film my actor laughing as it he as said something funny in his previous attempt to get the job. This effect is also in this VFX short film where the man realised that he caused this big accident and not the woman in the sports car:

(I am not sure if this is understandable but i no this will work, plus it fits well with my imagination sequence. This is because these imagination sequences could have been true and it will make the viewer wonder if they were)

The editing techniques, used in the hand segment of the film, are very slow which create mystery and suspense. I want to use this in my short film, probably at the end when there is a big effect or a shocking scene. Also the way there is a sudden ending in the narrative, I want to do this in my short film because this is what sets them out from the rest.

I can also base my main big effect at the end of this short film. With my realistic the gore is within it I now feel like my idea is coming along quite well i just need to look into the codes and convention so that i can tie my time-travel cliff hanger into my short film.

‘Face to Face’ eBook – Developed Research from Codes and Conventions in the Comedy genre

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From my Codes and Conventions the data shows that in the Comedy genre there is a lot about how comedy is funny and why people find it funny. The comedy i want to show in my short film is going to be visual and a lot of fateful expressions and body language.

With this in mind I wanted to find some information about facial expressions and acting. His is because in my project the acting is going to be the hardest part of this project because I don’t have control over 2 different people. This book ‘Face to Face’ is going to help me understand how to use factual expressions as this is going to be the main sours of comedy through my short film in the interview segment.

Chapter 3 (P29-): Introducing the Language of the Face

Facial expressions are used a lot in comedy and action films because it helps create a certain mod in a scene. This research will help me in my project because it is heavily focused on these two genres.

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This interested me because in my script blog I talk about how character over views are effective. With these two things combined i will be able to tell how exact I want my actors to feel. This is because the Character over view will give then an understanding on how the character is over all and the facial expression insights will let then no there current mood and how they feel in a certain theme. I am talking about this because in my short film the two characters in the interview segments are going to clash to create comedy and if they don’t it just wont be funny.

This part of the text is describing how certain action effect peoples emotions. This will be useful to me as there are going to be some scenes where characters must react to them in a certain way.

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The examples here are inspiring me to have a character do something that is shocking and to then have another character react to his reaction. I am going to use this research in my short film because I think I can use this in a comedy sense. where a character does something shocking and then the other character is amazed but confused at the same time, reacting to his action. So having my interviewer look shocked after being told something amazing by the interviewee is going to be fun and the interviewer is grumpy and very rarely gets surprised.

I now feel like there is something missing in my short film. I have a basic concept down but i need something else. Most short films have something unique to them i just need to figure out something for mine. I need to talk a look at some short films to come up with a unique idea for myself. So I am now going to look at some contextual analysis to gain inspiration for my short film.

Ref: Jones, T. and Patmore, C. (2012). Get started in short filmmaking. London: Apple.

 

‘Getting Started In Short Film Making’ – Script Layout Research

I wanted to find out some more about film making and script layout. So I decided to go to my local liberty and have a look if i could find any tips on how to make my short film better.

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I found this book on film making and it reminded me of the books I found online. However, there was no way of reading them online as you had to pay for them.

Writing Advice

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An interesting tip that these states are that ”write scenes that interest you”. This is clever because you should write the most interesting scenes first then once you have all the good ones then script a full scrip and other scenes around them. This is what makes good moves turn great. When planning my scenes and scrip i am going to start off with the funny action scenes then write the interview to cater to that. This will make my short film stand out from them all because ill working backwards, in a good way.

 

Mind Mapping

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Mind mapping is another thing mentioned in this book. This can help you when working around your interesting scenes. You can put them somewhere in the mind map and think of ideas to work with those scenes. The example shown is a boy meeting a girl, I could replace that with the interview and add scenes around that with some dialogue.

 

Step Outline

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Creating a step outline will be beneficial to my story as it helps develop my script later on. It will be a lot easier to have his as a reference, instead of creating the script straight away.

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This is an example of a step outline. It has the scene, or in my case shot, and it has a brief description of what is going to be on the screen. I am going to use this but change it from scenes to shots as i am creating a short film and not a full one. This method is mainly for big movies but i am still going to use it as it will help me organize things.

 

Character OverView

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This is to help if you have a large list of character and you need to quickly refresh your memory on what the character’s personality is like and how they react to other characters. This will be useful for me when i show my Actors what character they are playing. This is because they will instantly know how that character feels and acts at all times.

Script

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Here is a clear script that is structured really well so that none of my actors gets confused. I will refer back to this blog when i create my script as there is a lot of useful information here that i can use. I must not do another reflection on how my idea is developing.

Ref:

Jones, T. and Patmore, C. (2012). Get started in short filmmaking. London: Apple.