Initial poster images

Initial Filming

We were able to have access to an empty class room in the college that was a perfect large empty space so we set up the green screen to film the scene of Mario first 'coming our of the television'.

From filming this clip we have learnt that getting rid of shadows is very important when using a green screen because it disrupts the editing process by not being the same colour as the rest of the background that we were trying to edit. We have also become more aware of how long setting up the equipment actually takes. from this we can now allow ourselves more time for our next filming session.

We took photos of Emma's Tv so that the continuity will not be effected when we film.

Sam was able to capture real game footage to put behind Mario as her comes out of the Tv, this will make our film seem much more realistic as we can include game footage before he 'escapes'.

 

This is how we captured the footage...

News Segment Editing Process

We used 'Final cut pro' to complete or greenscreen effects and give it a news studio style background.

By using the BBC font and Photoshopping out the BBC's original news logo we were able to produce our own take on the classic news headline scroller at the bottom of the screen. This allows our film to look much more professional.

 

This is our basic green screen clip...

During the filming and editing of this clip we learnt alot about how to use lighting correctly with a green screen, there cannot be any shaddows behind the subject as this will disrupt the editing prosses.

and this is the final clip ready to be inserted into our final film with the scrolling headlines and our Nintendo news logo inserted at the bottom of the page. We have also added a musical introduction to the clip that will initially draw our characters attention to the news:

We chose to add images of Princess Peach and Bowser to the side of the clip to help the viewer understand what is being explained, this also relates to other examples  of news clips in comedy programes such as The Simpsons.  

Creating our story board and Animatic

Script

Gamer (Jonah)

Mario (Joe)

News reader (Emma)

Phone rings from other room, Gamer leaves to answer it. he can be faintly heard from gaming room
G- Hello….

Comes back into room and sees Mario

G- what? … Who? How, how did you get here?

In kitchen while M is ‘exploring’ looking at mushrooms -

M- I just couldn’t do it anymore, the routines, saving Princess Peach every single day! I’ve had enough of her and the whole of mushroom kingdom!! …

News reader can be heard from another room, they follow the sound and watch -

N- BREAKING NEWS JUST IN The population of japan are in great distress as Mario from the world famous ''super Mario bro's'' franchise has been reported as missing. with the absence of Mario, Bowser has been left unchallenged leaving Princess Peach hopeless to his sinister plans. I've been Emma Lambert, reporting for Nintendo News.

G- Mario, You need to go back!

M- No, I can’t do it anymore, the routines, saving Princess Peach everyday! I’ve had enough! …

G- But they need you Mario! you are the only one that can save her!

M- i dont want to save her, she gets herself into this trouble all the time!! 

G- .......

M- .......

G-FINE, but how?

M- theres a ledgend that if you play Mario … for 12 hours straight, the portal opens and you are sucked in!

M-seriouslyyy??? woah! 

G- We need to me prepared though!....

Risk Assesment

5 key concepts for our short film

1. Representation-

We will be representing the middle classes, this can be seen by the locations decor, this can also be seen by our characters accents, the gamer has a southern accent which is typically seen to be middle class. we will also be representing young people as they are are a main part of our film. We will be using the issue of reality vs. fiction in our short film by having a fictional character escaping his fictional world and having to adjust to real life. 

2. Narrative -

Our short film will either follow a linear narrative with our ‘human’ character coming home from work/school and beginning to play a game. Our other idea is to start our film with the ending of the narrative with our ‘game’ character being out of the film and in the real world.

3. Genre and style-

Our short film will be a hybrid of genres including comedy and social realism. One like to other feature length films would be The Ring and we are also thinking about using the filming techniques during Shaun of the dead 'quick cut' sequence.

4. Audience-

Our expected audience would be male teenagers, of working and middle classes, as the gaming industry is hugely dominated by males. This has recently changed though, with more and more girls beginning to play video games casually such as Wii Sports. The audience would not initially see what comes out of the television screen; we will have the gamer leave the room before Mario appears! Our film will end with our character having to go back into the gaming world. 

5. Media Language-

The production of this film will involve a lot of green screen and post production technology. We will also be using animation to create game play. this scene from Scott pilgrim vs. the world shows the kind of on screen game levels/health levels we want for our film.

Our location and lighting

 

We will be using Emma's house to film in (permission above) we will only need the kitchen and living room of the house as our character does not leave the house. the lighting will be very improtant when filming, we need bold and bright colours throughout the film so that it relates back to th gaming origin. even though our location is naturally brightly lit we will also need bright lighting to make sure our green screen effects work properly. 

Props

It's Me Mario speech Bubble Test

after experimenting with hand made speech bubbles we have decided to use digital ones in our final film, instead of creating multiple paper speech bubbles. this will allow us more freedom with what our character says and we will be able to change it during post production as well. 

We have ordered a Mario costume from Amazon for our main character to wear.

We will also need Mario games as props in the 'gamers room' Mario will see these and want to go home.

Sound Design - Initial idea's

Sound Design

Our short film involves the character Super Mario, this will include both diegetic and non diegetic sounds this will involve a few sound samples taken from the game to create the realism and connection between real life and the game. We have found a website called The Mushroom Kingdom which has quite a few sound samples taken from each of the many super mario games which we will be using.

To sync the sound onto the movie we will be using apples Logic Pro 9 to create and arrange all sound which will include sountrack and sound affects. We do not have to pay to use these sounds because they are from a free licensed website.

Mario actor agreement

We have confirmed an actor for our character for our short film, Joe Horsfall (a drama student) will be our Mario throughout the film.

Name:  Joe.

Age: 17

Performing arts student at Central sussex college

This is an example of Joe's previous acting experience:

Experimenting with Green screen

We created this example to show how our character will come out of the television. we did this by Jonah crawling over a wooden box that we had covered in green fabric with a green background, We editind the footage together with an image of a television and this was the outcome:

initial ideas for our Narrative

Our first idea is a character coming out of a video game and having to adjust to real life.

Our character will 'come out of' the television like the character in the classic horror film 'The Ring' mario will then see a news report stating that he is missing from the game world and is needed there to save princess peach, with some convincing Mario agrees to go back but the only way her can do this is by playing for 12 hours!

throughout the film we will include game play on screen with Levels, score time and heath measurements. Our film could include props from the game such as mushrooms, glowing boxes for points and a full costume for the main character.

Alex - 4 Short Film Analysis

A DEAFENING STORY, Directed by Matt Lightstone, Produced 2012, Virgin Media Shorts

http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/film/3466/a-deafening-story

A deaf man gets his hearing back, he can’t quite believe that it had happened so I he tests by clicking and clapping his hands. He enters a news agents, browsing the chocolate bar aisle, walks to the counter to pay. The female at the counter seems like she is ignoring him as he asks how much, after a few attempts the film twists where the female suddenly shouts ‘can you hear me’ this is when his hearing vanishes, he’s startled and walk out the store, clicking and clapping in his ears but he can’t hear a thing.  I chose this short film because it didn't have a complex storyline or narrative and the fact that it wouldn't be so hard to replicate some of the camera/editing techniques within this short film.

Representation

The main male character is a representation of a young adult, middle class with a disability. The location is not very clear but my understanding is that it is in a town or city.

This short film represents social realism. This genre is one that can be related to by the audience, it normally replicates peoples everyday occurrences but a emphasised to make it interesting.

• The male character represents a modern dayl young adult, one difference is that he has a disability-being deaf. His costume implies he is working class as he is dressed well in casual clothes which aren’t scruffy and linked to various sub cultures.
• The targeted audience for this short film may have shaped the representation of the film, the female character in this short could be a stereotypical urban teenager, accent and costume emphasise the assumption.
• This film deals with the issue of a deaf disability, the beginning emphasises how much he lives In his own ‘buble’ represented by the shallow depth of field, the sound muffle and distortion gives the audience an insight on how the male can hear.

 

Narrative

• From watching the whole film you can tell that this is an un restricted narrative as we know as the audience everything that the character knows.
• A linear narrative is used for this short film, this means that the story line continues in a straight line, by comparing with a non-linear narrative which means the story line can go off expectantly you can conclude that the narrative structure Is linear by analysis that the plot doesn’t end up something unexpected. Although the character gains then loses his hearing, the narrative is still Linear. The storyline infers that the male character developed or was born with the disability of being deaf, as an audience we assume that he was born with the disability by seeing the reaction that he gives when he develops hearing.
• The plot shows how the male was deaf but then miraculously developed hearing, all the sound had been enhanced to emphasise that these noises were new and unheard of, suddenly whilst in a store the ability to hear vanished causing him to feel confused and suddenly leave.
• The difference between storyline and plot is storyline you don’t always see event as you assume they have happened before during or after the film, plot is the events you see within the film which creates the narrative
• Todorov’s narrative theory could be applied to this short film, the equilibrium is the ability not to hear, the disruption is the ability to hear, the resolution is unfortunately losing hearing again. Although disruption is a harsh word to explain this part of the theory, it replicates a change of course from what could have been expected.

Genre

• The obvious genre to give this short film is drama. Dramas replicate everyday life but exaggerate certain aspects. Drama as a genre is easily identified within this short film by following the codes and conventions, the setting is an urban town, maybe a city which audiences can relate to, as well as the characters, a young adult and a stereotypical teenager woman. 
• Short films can typically use genre to follow the codes and conventions of one certain genre and then maybe create something unexpected in the plot, this would be effective as short films have a shorter amount of time to make an impact compared to Hollywood blockbusters.
• Rick Altmans genre theory can relate to this short film by following the semantic rule where it follows the codes and conventions which communicates to the audience about the characters and location. For example you’d expect to have some sort of British accent within a British short film drama. A more obvious example would be within a western film you’d expect a shoot-out.

Audience

 

• Virgin media short film website is a competition which allows people who create short films for a living and people trying out for the first time attempt and enter a competition to win. The prize is £30,000 of filming funds for their next film. The target audience for this website ranges from the keen film maker or enthusiast or students like us.
• The audience may be pleased by this type of film as It has a sense of realism and gives the audience a first person view of the character and his world.

Media Language

 

•  Shot one of the selected section of film uses a medium shot with character centre of shot, a unique sort of distorted/warped shallow depth of field for the edges is used to compliment the use of sound. Sound is a vital part of this short film because it puts the audience in the shoes of the character. Here, the sound picked up by the camera has been wiped off and replaced by layering atmospheric as well as muffled voices and street noises. This is a great way to add a sense of realism as using the camera sound wouldn't give the same effect as muffling the audio.
•  As mentioned before Todorov’s theory could be applied to this short film, the equilibrium is the ability not to hear, the disruption is the ability to hear, the resolution is unfortunately losing hearing again. Although disruption is a harsh word to explain this part of the theory, it replicates a change of course from what could have been expected.

ANGRY BIRD, Directed by Isaac Tomiczek, Producted 2012,Virgin Media Shorts

A female character enters from first observation to be a males apartment, she looks around first, then enters bathroom and then starts to trash the house, throwing cd’s out the window along with clothes and shoes, after go through the wardrobe she find something in a box which makes her feel guilty.

Representation

• There’s only one visible character within this short film but there is also another male represented within this film. The film suggests that the location is in his apartment. The female character represents a young adult, middle class, you can assume this as her costume is colourful and quality clothing.
• The film is defiantly replication social realism as it focus’ on the insinuated problem in relationship between the female character and the male character (which doesn't appear in any shot) A negative stereotype is shown within this, showing an un trust worthy and un approving character shown by her actions of throwing objects around and out the window.
• This film could be seen as action comedy. The comedy coming from the actions the female character is taking.

Narrative

•         This film represents a subjective narration, we as an audience don’t know why the female is trashing an apartment, we make an assumption as a view that she is unhappy with a possible relationship with a male character by seen laughing and throwing comic’s around.

 

•   The plot of this short film is as follows. A female character enters an apartment, look’s around, enters bathroom and urinates on males tooth brush, she then goes on to start throwing around comics, throw cd’s and clothes out shoes out the window and then after going through the wardrobe, she finds something that makes her feel guilty.
•   None of the theories that I know of match up to this short film, neither do any enigma codes or action codes suggest any predictions of any activity throughout the film.

Genre

• The genre I’d class this as is action comedy, the comedy factor comes from certain factors, the urination on tooth brush and the expression of emotion at the end along with the text narration.
• Short films can typically use genre to follow the codes and conventions of one certain genre and then maybe create something unexpected in the plot, this would be effective as short films have a shorter amount of time to make an impact compared to Hollywood blockbusters.
• All genres are always changing and adapted in certain ways, without change and different interpretations of genres, all genres will be boring and all the same. Steve Neal’s theory of repetition suits this short film as it keeps the audience hooked knowing where the storyline is going but not quite sure how.

Audience

 

• Virgin media short film website is a competition which allows people who create short films for a living and people trying out for the first time attempt and enter a competition to win. The prize is £30,000 of filming funds for their next film. The target audience for this website ranges from the keen film maker or enthusiast or students like us.
• Audiences may be pleased with this film as there might be a wide range of viewers who can relate to it personally or know an event similar that has happened, this cementing the effect of social realism and showing it has worked well.

 

Media Language

 

• The use of a text narration intro sets the tone of the film from the first second. It points out that the female character is ‘acting like a plum and will go out of her way to prove it to you..’
• The second shot above is a very well used two shot overlap both close up’s where one fades into the other, she’s first seen putting the key in the door then actually opening. This shot doesn't really relate to any codes or conventions but it does highlight a variation of shot types and editing techniques .

Love Sick Directed by Kevin Lacy

I found this short film very appealing as it was fully narrated with no dialogue between any characters, this technique is used to represent what the main male character is thinking within his head. 

Representation

 

• Social classes are very difficult to pin down a definitive definition as a lot of people share different idea's as to what characteristics each class has.
• From first observation you can get to the conclusion that the main male character throughout is from a working class background, this applies to all the characters featured during this short. 
• You can tell that the characters are definitely not middle class as they don't match any of the stereotypes which follow that class, well dressed in a suite and expensive costume.
• The start of this short is constructed to represent a break up of a relationship, the way the film has been constructed contradicts the stereotype of the male dominance in relationships by the female take most control by ending the relationship.
• The representation of feminism through out this short has been re presented during the narrations as he relates to both girls as 'the girl of his dreams' this insinuates that they are beautiful and perfect.
• The image bellow shows the audience that the character is upset using body language, he is looking down removing any human contact or conversation which send out the message he doesn't want to talk. 

Narrative

• This short film follows a non linear narrative structure, it jumps around using flashbacks or flash forwards or daydreams whereas a linear narrative has no sort of off cutting scenes, it has a clear start middle and end. 
• Using a linear narrative would give the audience an understanding of what the character is doing in the present so they understand his emotions and gives it the simplicity which makes it easy to follow and understand what is happening. 
• By telling the events through first person the audience can relate to this character as they can hear everything he is thinking whilst not just reading his body language which may not follow is true feelings. 

Repetition has been used within this short. The male character is twice rejected and received the use of physical contact rejection, once by his now ex girlfriend and secondly by the partner of th

e girl from the cafe is went hunting for. 

                      Genre     

• I personally believe that this short film is a romantic comedy,  but it contradicts the usual codes and conventions of a romantic would have in it. The film represents the male character going through a break up which is a big code and convention within romantic films but it contradicts by the repetition of heart break and unhappy endings. The end of the short leaves the audience on a cliff hanger which isn't a usual code and convention for romantic comedies. 
• Short film genres are most commonly hybrids which means it is more than one genre. This film is following the codes and conventions of a romance as it entails relationship and i believe the comedy factor is represented in the narration, the failed proposal and through the use of sound throughout.
• Altmans theory applying the syntactic approach doesn't fit this short film. The syntactic approach as romantic films expects the two suspected loves to first hate each other but then at the end fall in love.
• By not following the codes and conventions of a romantic comedy which would mean the audience would know what would happen gives the film anticipation as know one  knows what's going to happen. This is a risky approach but leaving it as a cliff hanger makes the audience think up their own ending of what they'd like to happen.

Audience

• As i found this on one of the most popular video upload websites, this film could appeal to anyone who enjoys films. The suspected age of views could range from as low as 16 to as high as 50 or over. I say this because a lot of people can relate this film to themselves by past events. The use of social realism helps this film be more appealing to a wider audience than just one specific class or age. 

Media Language

• Throughout the whole of this short the film relies on sound through soundtrack and narration to convey messages and feelings.
• The use of major key's in the soundtrack suggests happiness and excitement. From 0:34 seconds a lot of emotions and hinted feelings are insinuated just by using a few instruments, the use of bells at 0:49 suggests the dream of marriage.  
• The use of shallow depth of field gives the scenes at the start a sense of the characters isolation. It conveys that its just them in the world and nothing else is happening, totally oblivious to the world that is actually around him. 

Themes and ideologies

• This film is based around the romance and break up theme, it's common in both short films and feature length films. Its obvious that you can tell a story of a break up in just a few minutes effectively enough to get a reaction of sympathy or anger to characters.

Believe by Richard Addlesee 2012

This short film appealed to me as it uses a lot of dark filters for lighting and run down bland locations to convey sadness which can easily be replicated. Musically it is simple but effective as the minor key's help create the sad depressive mood which compliments the film.

Representation 

• The representation of the family could be seen as working class but at the lower end of the scale. The flat estate seems gloomy and uninviting which suggests lack of money compared to other social classes. 
• This may represent social realism in parts as it shows locations we can all relate to and themes such as families and running away we have witnessed or heard about.
• The young girl who's age could be around 4-5 is used as she children are seen as innocent and the audience wouldn't want anything bad to happen to the character. 

Narrative

• The narrative structure follows a linear narrative as there are no strands or paths leading of to flashbacks etc. I believe this is used as it doesn't tell us why the young girl is leaving. This causes the audience to ask questions from little hint given by the parents, "are they ignoring the child?" and "what's going to happen next."
• The plot leads the audience to believe that the little girl is running away from home; we can say this from the little clues during the film, the letter/drawing left behind, the packed bag, and the scenes of her walking away from home. From the very last few seconds the audience are stunned and confused to what is actually happening and asking questions as to why the little girl is there and to what she is doing. 

Genre

 The genre of this film is a thriller. Thrillers main trait is to make the audience ask questions to what is happening which this does very well.

Audience

This short film was posted on the Virgin media short film website, this means it is easy to find, but as its on a comepetion site it may be aimed at the more frequent and analytical film viewers as it gives a lot of room for the imagination and for the audience to create their own versions of endings and own assumptions as to what she is doing. 

Themes and Ideologies      

               

• The theme through out this short film is social realism as it can be related to in so many ways by different groups such as parents. It may have happened to themselves or heard or seen similar  stories.
• It follows the codes and conventions of a thriller as it leaves the audience asking questions; what is she doing?, where is show going? and why is she going?

Jonah Short film research - 4 Short films

Applying the 5 key concepts to short films

Title: Dream Girl

Description: An unexpected encounter on an early morning tube journey

Director: Alice Seabright

Dream girl is a happy and simple story which makes it fun. Because of its social realism, it makes you think this could happen to you and what would you do, making it quite interesting and enjoyable to watch.

Representation

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The social groups represented are gender and possibly age, masculinity and femininity. It’s hard to definitely say masculinity and femininity as the agenda of the male character can be interoperated as ambiguous. Gender is represented quite clearly as the woman sits down and starts to sleep on the man’s shoulder. Stereotypically speaking a man would avoid doing this at any cost as it would look emasculating but a woman would not care as much. Representing the characters this way adds to social realism and makes the film that more enjoyable as you know this could be real.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->It’s set in a underground train, possibly France or another French speaking country as of the poster inside the carriage are in french . Dream girl is interesting as it deals with the global problem of awkward social dynamics of public transport, the fact that no one talks to each other and we are all afraid of “invading “ others personal space. There is a man sitting across for the two main characters to which the male character looks for “Advice” and “Recognition” of what has happened to him and the man sitting opposites looks at him as if to say “What a funny situation, And get in there”.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->I would say Dream girl is a realistic comedy as it implements styles of comedy via camera work and zero dialogue. The male character is represented in a positive way as he does what he thinks is the right thing to do by getting out of that situation but then changes his mind to spend the time with this woman.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The male who is black/African is represented as being shy in the beginning by acting very awkward and alarmed at his situation to which most men would be too making this seem very realistic.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Dream girl does deal with the issue of public transport and the social dynamics at play when we partake in it. And for many people public transport is their only way of transport and is a regular thing for them to use and be a part of. It shines a positive light on public transport making it a fun film to watch, if it represented public transport in a totally realistic way, negatively, it would not be interesting to watch.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->In whole Dream girl sums up the ideology of and beliefs of what is right and wrong when on public transport and turns it on its head, essentially, by having the male character going back and placing a strangers head back onto his shoulder.

Narrative

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The plot of the film is very linear and fast paced. Obviously the plot does not reveal everything about the characters and only allows the audience to see the events that occur in the underground. This impacts the audience by showing them what is important to the story, that the two characters met on the train and shared an experience. It also leaves the audience guessing to what happened next? Did she wake up and apologize and that was that or did something more happen? And this sparked a relationship or friendship.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Because the film is socially realistic it makes sense to show it in pure chronological order to make it clear what happened and adding to the enjoyment of the film.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Narrative theory: Todorov

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Equilibrium

The normality for the characters is getting the tube, working to work. 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Confrontation

The male character gets into a awkward situation with the female character and tries to remove her head from his shoulder.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Resolution

After failing quite a few times he decides to leave the train entirely. But decides then to enter the train again and place the female characters head back onto his shoulder.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->New Equilibrium

Where he is happy to have this strangers head on his shoulder and has learned that it wasn’t all that bad.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Using this structure of narrative makes the story flow naturally and realistically. It does end in some closure as the male character has overcome his, you could say “Shyness”, and created a new norm.  But altogether it does not have full closure as the audience if left wondering what happened next.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The ending of the film is very much a surprise as the ending titles already appear and you would think the film has finished but at the very end he turns around and enters the train into a new equilibrium which is striking and acts as a happy twist ending.

Genre

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Like most short films this cannot ultimately be categorised into one genre, and is more likely a hybrid genre. I would class this short as “realist comedy”.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Shot films by their nature are short and do not have the time required to set up and full winded story with a dynamic story and detailed characters instead short films are very unique and individual. Because of this pretty much all short films cannot be categorised into one genre but instead fall into hybrid genres or sometimes they are so unique and obscure they cannot be categorized.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Steve Neal – “Genre are instances of repetition and differences “ But this cannot be applied to most short films as styles and conventions are not systematically repeated and are different all the time. But on another level this can be applied to Dream girl as it does follow Todorov’s narrative theory and the audience have an idea to what is going to happen and will anticipate a twist ending, for some this is a lot of the fun of watching films as you know what will ultimately happen and you almost reward yourself with a sense of intelligence that you worked out what is happening.

Audience

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->I found Dream girl on the virgin media shorts homepage where it had been shortlisted into the finals of best short film of 2012. From browsing the website its clear to see this is a niche place for niche audiences and being quite a modern website with lots of access to social networking sites it’s fair to say that the demographic of Dream girl and other shorts are properly of the younger age bracket.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->With the majority of people now living in cities and having to take public transport everyday it’s easy to see how young and older audience of both genders would enjoy this film because it shows a little bit happiness and joy to the generally boring and uninteresting daily commute.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->On the virgin media shorts website this film has been categorized into “Other”. The film is also featured on YouTube, but has no category.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The film hasn’t won any awards as yet but it was uploaded Jun 13, 2012 and the virgin media shorts of 2012 have yet to be announced. Dream girl has already been shortlisted and is in for a chance.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Alice Seabright is currently working for a media production company called Brilliant Films. Brilliant films launched officially in May 2008 and are based in London. (But because of the sheer amount of small production companies this may not be the right one).

Media Language

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->I find the ending particularly creative as the cinematography is very interesting a nice to look at. The sequences of shots below are showing the twist ending and the close camera work. The end shot of a mid close up showing the pride on the man’s face communicates meaning across the screen invoking a happy response from the audience that share his achievement and joy.  

Watch "Dream Girl" - Via Youtube

Title: Sprockett

Description: Freddy is faced with a double-dare. Will he face his fear and enter the world of Old         man Sprokett.

Director: Hazel Meeks

I find this short quite interesting as it is another feel good story but this deals with peer-pressure and the misconception of old people that children have.

Representation

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Age is relevant in this short because the children are daring their friend to “Enter the world of old man sprockett”. The gap between their ages has stereotypically made the children think because he is old he is some sort of monster. Sprokett deals with this issue nicely by having the old man and the little boy make friends.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Again this short cannot by defined by one category as it is very unique, but virgin media shorts has listed it as family/adventure. It shares conventions of classic kids adventure stories so if anything Sprokett is an adventure film.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The boys friends are represented to be horrible and brutish, through the dialogue of the “Leader” of their little group its hard for the audience to sympathize with and quick find it easy to emphasise with the young boy who is dared to see old man sprokett.   

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The old man Sprokett seems to be some sort of crafts man/watchmaker of some sort. In the beginning he is represented as being an angry old monster of a man. This is a stereotypical representation of old people in a lot of children’s film. But later on in the film it is discovered that he is really a friendly old man that has been unfairly represented.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Overall the representation of the old man is a positive one as he befriends the child and rewards him with one of his crafting tools so he can impress his friends.

Narrative

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The plot and story are tied pretty tight as the story has complete closure. The narrative is linear to build suspense and to conceal the truth about old man Sprokett.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Narrative theory: Todorov

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Equilibrium

Sprokett doesn’t really start with a complete equilibrium as the plot starts slightly ahead of the story so the equilibrium is part of the initial action of the children daring their friend to find old man sprokett. 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Confrontation

As the boy enters old man sprokett workshop he confronts the old man.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Resolution

After finding out old man sprokett isn’t a villain the boy and the man reach a resolution by working together and scarring the boys friends who are waiting outside.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->New Equilibrium

The man gives the boy one of his crafting tools and a new equilibrium is made as the boy started where he was before but better of.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The boy ends up in the same place as in the beginning of the film but with new knowledge after his journey. He is better off from his experience creating a happy ending.

Genre

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Sprokett is primarily a family adventure film, and I feel it describes the film perfectly.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]--> Steve Neal – “Genre are instances of repetition and differences “ sprokett being a family adventure film is a good example of this, I think even watching it the first time you can pretty much guess what is going to happen. This makes it even more enjoyable for the audience as its nothing out of the ordinary.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->From the establishing shot its clear to see the children are up to no good, and the scenery adds to that. Its set at night which tells the audience straight away “Something exciting is gooding to happen”.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The style of this film follows normal adventure/family conventions, nothing scary or unexpected and generally easy to understand. In short films its essential really to follow pre-made codes and conventions of genres to help the audience understand what is happening and to immerse the audience in the story because they are so short there’s no time to create a dynamic story or unique conventions.

Audience

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->I found Sprokett on virgin media shorts it had also been short listed to win best short of 2012. It was tagged family action/adventure, so the main audience of this type of short would be for children and adults with children.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Audiences would have been pleased by the film from the resolution, as it represents over coming fear.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Sprokett has only been screened on virgin media shorts, but again it is early days for this film. Virgin media shorts only contains the best of the best and Is quite an award to obtain so choosing just to screen Sprokett on virgin media is quite fair.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Hazel Meeks is a school graduate and is currently working in corporate film. Sprokett is her only film so far and has been short listed to win virgin medias short film award.

Media Language

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->During the disruption low key lighting is used to make the old man seem more scary then he really is. He moves into the low key lighting shading most of is face as he leans his head down, which creates quite a powerful shot encapsulates the fear the boy has for this old man sprokett. The clothes the old man is wearing does make him look like some sort of a monster with a tool strapped to one of his arms and head gear covering a lot of his face. The use of camera work helps to create empathy for the boy as the camera is at a low angle during the shot reverse shot when on the old man, and high angle when on the boy.  

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Title: Table 7

Description:  A couple are on the brink of a breakup, unaware that their every word is being closely monitored and not all is as it seems.

Director: Marko Slavnic

Representation

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The social group being represented through the two main characters is sort of irrelevant to the story as they could be any age, as this film on the surface deals with relationship issues and how they can be overcome by a few simple words.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Again being a short film it is hard to label this into one genre but as a hybrid it would be a comedy/drama as the story follows many conventions of both genre through the use of non-diegetic soundtrack and the narrative of the characters.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The film represents young people, and their relationships. A social group that would not have been represented, not too long ago, due to social change in the norms of our society. 50 years ago one would be expected to marry immediately without being in many relationships at a younger age, because of this it could be said that this short represents the fluidity of relationships now-a-days and how they can so easily swing one way or the other.   

Narrative

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Narrative theory: Todorov

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Equilibrium

The equilibrium of this film starts off very negative as the couple are on the edge of their relationship, and are arguing.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Confrontation

The Asian fortune cookie writer intervenes by writing a “fortune” that is eerily related to the couples situation which stops them arguing and starts to turn things around.  

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Resolution

The resolution happens when the couple read both their fortune cookies and realise what fools they had been and apologize to each other, and start fresh.   

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->New Equilibrium

The new equilibrium is the opposite of the original equilibrium as the couple are now happy and the issue has been resolved.

Genre

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->It is easy to say that this film is a drama but the term “Drama” can be applied to any film because it is so vague. This short film doesn’t apply to any main heading of genre because of its uniqueness.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->David Buckingham argues “genre is not simply given by culture: Rather it is a constant process of negotiation and change”. This applies nicely to this short as the text on the male characters fortune cookie “A simple sorry between lovers can prevent life-long regrets” suggests this couple will last a long time, even a life time, which is a modern ideology of our culture. The idea that there is the “One” partner that will be perfect for you and therefore you should find that person. 50 years ago people would find the closest person to them and get married as it was seen as it was the dominant ideology of the time.

Audience

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->I find the film on Vimeo, which is a fairly recent video hosting website primarily used by the younger generation, therefore the audience for this film would most likely be adolescents or young adults.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The film will apply of young adults the most as their social group is being represented through the use of the main characters. Because a large number of young adults would be in relationships a short films like this is a friendly reminder to take a step back and just say sorry for the little things, which will be appealing for that age group to watch.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The film can also be found on Youtube and variety of small short film hosting website, reinforcing the fact it will most likely be seen be a younger audience.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The film has been categorized as a “Drama” by Vimeo and a Comedy by the official website.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->On IMDb Table 7 was rated 7.6 out of 10, and has been shown at over 10 film festivals and won awards at all of them.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The director also wrote and produced the film, Marko Slavnic has produced a few short films all award winning. Including a favourite of mine “One Second” a short film showing the importance of time and to “Go for it” when a chance comes your way as the tiniest detail, or second, could create or destroy a life.

Media Language

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Camera work is used to reinforce the tension between the couple and create suspense around the Asian man as his device stops working and by using camera techniques like tracking in and the use of a dolly adds to the suspense and importance placed on his job.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·     Shot/reverse shot is used between the two characters to further add to the drama of the situation by seeing the facial expressions of the two characters.  

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Title: BOY

Description:  The grieving process of a bereaved father. His son was a professional cyclist who harbored hopes of performing for Great Britain in the Olympics before dying in a road accident near his family home.

Director: Justin Chadwick

Representation

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Age is a relevant social group represented in this short film. The short film deals with the death and bereavement. Working class is also represented as the father is a carpenter at the Olympic stadium.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The son was young and very able as he was training to cycle in the Olympics unlike his father who is old and physically unfit but still able. This adds to the emotion of the film because, despite the fact the father cannot ride he still tries his very best to honour him, in his own personal way.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Social realism is the general style used for this short and it influences representation by using realism to create characters that are easy to relate too.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The home of the father and wife is typically working class along with the father’s clothes and body language it builds up a very clear representation of the family and their working class background. I feel this is a positive representation as this is a heart warming short film and because of the actions of the father and how much he obviously loved his son.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The film is a lot different to feature length films on the basic level because there is no dialogue throughout the whole film so it relies a lot more on the diegetic and non-diegetic sounds such as the soundtrack that can be heard continuously.

Narrative

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Narrative theory: Todorov

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Equilibrium

It’s hard to apply this narrative theory directly as the confrontation and resolution is the theme throughout the entire film. But the beginning equilibrium could be the father continuing to go to work and live life without his son.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Confrontation

The father confronts his bereavement by honouring is son in his own personal way. By crafting a block of wood with the words “Ride on” and placing it in the Olympic stadium.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->Resolution

The resolution is the theme throughout but the spark happens when the father gets onto his sons bike and starts to ride around the stadium, just like his son, and the soundtrack picks up a pace and works in parallel to what is happening on screen.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->o   <!--[endif]-->New Equilibrium

The father can now move on after confronting his bereavement and honouring his son.

Genre

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->No genre is identifiable in this short film as it tells more of a realistic story, or experience, rather than a fictional story. Again it would be easy to call it a drama as most films can be labelled that way, but that is not a specific category of film.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Short films by their nature are rarely categorized into one genre as each one is so unique and personal, which tell stories, experiences and explores wild concepts and ideas.  

Audience

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->This short film is more niche in its audience compared to most other short films as it was shown on aircraft, because it was created as an advertisement for British Airways and inspired by the London 2012 Olympics.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The film is hard to find online and Youtube seems to be the only video hosting site that has it showing. Suggesting younger audiences would be the demographic but because of the area issues and themes of the film it would be more pleasing to the old audience, of middle aged social groups. Older social groups may find it easier to relate to in terms of bereavement and lose unlike the much younger audiences.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The script written by Prasanna Puwanarajah won British Airways Great Briton award, and was then turned into this film – BOY.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Justin Chadwick oversaw the project and had directorial input, he is known for “The other Boleyn girl” and “The first Grader”. Chadwick has won a BAFTA TV Award and nominated for many other awards as well as winning a variety of other awards.

Media Language

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Because there is no dialogue BOY relies on camera work, Sound and editing. All of which come together to create a emotional understanding for the characters and helps bridge the gap to social realism.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->One shot of the father can be interpreted as very symbolic as half of his face is blurred and the other is clear as if the lose of his son has divided him, split him in two, and in this close up you can very clearly see the emotion in his eyes and facial expressions which creates an emotional atmosphere.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->The non-diegetic soundtrack tells a story in its self as it follows the fathers “mission” to honour his son. This generates a very powerful response as sound and music tell you how to feel even if you understand what is happening on screen.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->One sequence, and one shot in particular, is especially powerful because of the use of slow-mo or “Bullet-time” when the father in a flash back drops his coffee, because he missed his son who was racing by staying inside the cafe. By slowing done time it puts an emphasis on how important it was for the father to see his son race.

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