Short Film Analysis

Margo Lily is a perfect example of a short film to look at the structure of a short and study the model of most short films. Margo Lily is a film about a struggling couple on the precipice of a broken relationship. Although that is one of the main themes the core theme of the short is their unborn baby that the mother wants to bury. If we look at the goal of the film we see that the most important goal of the film is to bury the baby, but on the other hand it is not just to bury the unborn baby, this is a collateral goal to the main goal which is the mend their breaking relationship. We see through the film that the father is not intent on actually burying the baby and see it as being very painful, so he just prevents himself from thinking of the unborn child, this is what the mother resents in him. When they begin to struggle with actual act of the burial the mother is trying her upmost to perform this and the father is trying to forget while not helping. Towards the end of the film, the father then decides to put his pain to one side to help the mother grief for the tragedy, and therefore their relationship is to my interpretation mended. This is clearly a situational narrative to bury the child and mend their relationship.

Our idea for a short film

Over summer, me and my partner Jacob have been discussing various genre and story ideas for this years short film. We thought that the earlier we started brainstorming the better advantage we would have in exploring and developing through audience feedback. So far we have received very positive feedback. Our film idea is about a collapse of a marriage through the eyes of a child. This is a very brief summary of the plot but we have spoken to our teacher about how to improve and eventually develop the idea. We were very interested in telling a story that would stay with the audience after they had finished watching it. We have audience research about divorce and how a child copes when they are going through this tough time in their life. Getting a response from someone who has experienced a divorce is very useful in portraying a realistic view from our protagonists eyes.

Our investment in films is mainly the Art house genre. We were very implicit about deviating from high concept genres. We have already planned a few shots that we are planning on including in our film. We have started test shoots to see what shots will work and could be used. Some of the shots we have tried to include have both worked and failed. By starting to look at locations and different variety of shots it will only give us more time to discuss what will be used in our final product. Having a clear idea including a 25 word treatment will only improve our story and characters.

The subject of divorce is a very common theme that young people experience. A realistic Drama in an Art house form is the genre that we want to use. Me and my partner Jacob have already done research regarding the subject of divorce. 'What Maisie Knew' set in New York City, a young girl is caught in the middle of her parents' bitter custody battle. This is a perfect example of a young girls confusion and insecurity about her parents constant arguing. Her life is very unsettled and never knows who to trust or to see as her real mother and father. My partner Jacob's parents are divorced which gives us an advantage about his view about divorce. With his knowledge and viewing of this film, it has inspired us to get deep into the theme and make it as realistic as possible. 

Narrative analysis

The Narrative analysis is the way in which a story is told. Narrating a story varies from the conventional beginning, middle and end or even starting the film from the end and showing how the ending happened. I am going to discuss the most common narrative analysis in most films.

The story starts with the Equilibrium- The state of equilibrium usually occurs at the beginning when the story is introducing its characters and a brief to their lives. Not much will happen at the start of a film, meaning that there is minimal tension.

As the film progresses there has to be a Disruption of Equilibrium- A character's story is turned due to a new character or situation that makes things difficult. This is mainly due to a problem or argument that has occurred. Another reason is the Protagonist wanting to achieve a goal and having to fight to make this happen. Tension starts to take over the film or the characters mind.

Recognition of Equilibrium- This is when the main character establishes equilibrium again. He/she must find out what caused the disruption in the first place. This makes it easier for the audience to understand why the character wants to achieve their goal in the first place.

An attempt to repair the damage- Once the main character understands why the problem has occurred, they must attempt to sort it out and return to equilibrium.

New Equilibrium- Usually at the end of the film the problem is restored and back to its calm state. The main character has achieved his/her goal and go back to their original equilibrium.

The characters who are usually in a film:
PROPP:
Protagonist
Antagonist
Helper
Heroin
Father figure
Teacher
Donor

A note on audience feedback through analytics

In class we discussed last year's films and how we can improve and develop our ideas. One key aspect of research that we looked at was our analytics on our film 'Unattainable'. We discovered that the majority of the audience only watched up to 0:44 seconds, although it was a two minute opening.

This made us realise that our storyline was not interesting enough to hold an audience' attention. This feedback is extremely useful for making sure that we think through our idea and continue to develop ideas as our tests shoots start. Our short film is between 5-8 minutes, meaning that to keep the audience captured for the entire film, we have to make our idea relatable and of course interesting. For this years film we are going to include dialogue and more than one main character. Hopefully this will keep our audience engaged and watch the entire short film.

Clichés of short films

These are a few of the most common mistakes that students make in their short film. This is very useful research for us as we can now rule out all of these techniques and make sure that we wont be going down a dark road before we've even started filming. Below are a list of the most common mistakes made in students films. Looking at previous student films I have witnessed these conventional ideas used in nearly all of them. This is probably from a lack of planning or not being able to come up with a interesting storyline that will engage the audience. This is a wake up call to make sure that none of these mistakes are made in our short film.

Dolly Zoom
Tortured Artist Film
Dream Sequences
Time Elapse Montage
Bad Audio
Wake Up Scene

The website below shows many filmmaker mistakes that are usually applied in students films:

Filmmaker mistakes

Textual analysis

These are the essentials for a short film:

Audience: Who watches short films?

Institutions: Who makes short films?

Representation: The way something is shown. Ideology: What someone believes- How is that shown in the film: Represent a character in a different way.

Forms: Construction. MES, camera, editing, sound- Narrative, Genre, Media language.

About a Girl

Mis en scene:

The setting is particularly bleak throughout, which reflects the social background of the characters and her feelings.

The majority of the shots are filmed along a canal, with the girl constantly walking along. This may give the audience a sense that they are getting a ‘tour’ of the area and form an opinion on the location.

Many of the buildings are boarded up and represent the ‘estate’ life. This adds to the social opinions the audience may have of the character.

Camera:

All shots where the girl is speaking directly to the audience are handheld, which makes the audience feel like they are walking along with her.

These handheld shots contrast the controlled shots used when the girl is not speaking to the camera. This may give the impression that she does not wish a viewer to see these parts of her life.

Many of the shots help portray her loneliness e.g at the beginning she is seen as a dancing silhouette on her own, as well as shots of her alone on a park bench etc.

Most of the shots throughout are very close and personal. At the end however, a crane shot is used to pull out from the canal. This may represent the audience’s detachment from the situation, following their false feelings of attachment.

Sound:

The use of Britney Spear’s song ‘Oops I did it again’ and lyrics such as ‘I’m not that innocent’ aid in hinting the true nature of the girl, whereas an audience may assume she is simply singing because she is a teenage girl etc. The sound of her singing is quite eerie and unsettling, foreshadowing the nature of the narrative.

The loss of foley sounds when the camera has an underwater angle puts focus onto the floating baby, adding to the disturbing nature of this scene.

Her intonation often changes from playful and amusing to serious, which shows the conflicting nature of her personality.

Editing:

All of the shots are jump cuts.

At the very end, the shots become less bleak and some colour is shown. This may be representative of her relief following the dumping of the baby.

As the girl speaks of a certain event in a particular, false manner, there are often jump cuts to the reality of that scene.

Long shots with cuts are often used when she is not speaking to emphasis her loneliness and pace the piece effectively.

Conventions of short films

When making a short film it is essential to include the codes and conventions to make a successful film.

Characters: 
Usually in short films there are only 2-3 main characters. Unlike a feature film the time on screen is very valuable in a short film. Having 2-3 characters is easier to develop a back story that the audience will engage with. For example 'The Desk' has one main character who features throughout the entire film.

Budget: 

Short films usually have a low budget. Many short films are made by young filmmakers who want to establish themselves in the film industry. Having a low budget will limit the actors and locations. The Independent market is usually defined by the budget that is available and the storyline. For example 'The Black Hole' uses only one main character and is set in one location. 

Length: 

A maximum length of a short film will range from 30-40 minutes. A film longer than this would be considered a feature film. Our short film will range from 5-8 minutes. This is the conventional time that many short films are. 

Storyline:

Short films usually show an everyday situation that when coming to an end surprise the audience. This makes a short film interesting to an audience as they can relate to the main characters situation. For example 'Office Space' shows a man working in a boring office job however there is a twist. 

Research and planning evaluation of AS

When thinking about ideas for this years short film I was very aware about what worked and what didn't in our last film. Our research and planning last year consisted of looking at five openings to feature films that applied to our genre. Our genre of 'Film Noir' was very hard to find openings that compared in an obvious way.

This was our planning for conventions of 'Film Noir'. We wanted to make sure that we followed the majority of these conventions to send a clear message to our audience about the genre and storyline.

Analysing a Short Film

Narrative Analysis in Media Studies 

Here is a short video explaining the conventional ways in which narrative is told. There are seven key components in a story. The narrative analysis defines how the story is told. 

Here are a few short films that I have analysed:

About a Girl

2001 

Directed by Brian Percival

A young girl talks candidly to camera about her life with her mum and dad and her hopes for the future. But she is hiding more than we think. Brian Percival was an established commercials director when he made his first film from a script by his wife Julie Rutterford. The film, with a standout performance from young actress Ashley Thewlis, won a multitude of awards in 2002 including the BAFTA for Best Short Film.

First person narrative of young working class girl who is determined to be in a band with her friends. Stereotypical working class family and surroundings. Mum and Dad not interested in her by showing her alone in most of the scenes. Dad leaves her outside the pub and standing in the cold when he is playing football. He also doesn't want her staying with him. Shows the parents to be un responsible and not caring. The setting is very industrial- Factories, canals, chimneys. The setting is very grotty and stereotypically 'working class' This is portrayed in a very obvious way.

The Anti-Social Network

2013

The Anti-Social Network is a comedic short film about a social media addict named Lucas (played by Sam Mac). He is so consumed, the boundaries between his real life and his virtual reality are obsolete. A chance meeting with a girl named Leila (played by Shae-Lee Shackleford) forces him to come to grips with the ultimate paradox. 

The Anti-Social Network was written, directed and produced by Shae-Lee Shackleford. She created the film to be a humorous observation of the social media driven world we live in. The film is aimed to 'poke' fun at is the obsession we have with online interaction, sometimes to the detriment of our real everyday lives and relationships.

Equilibrium- Hates his job, lives alone with two cats and spends his entire time on Facebook. Detached from the real word. Meets a girl but cannot come to terms with the real world. She dumps him because of his obsession with social networking.

Dis-Equilibrium- Facebook closes and he has a breakdown. Realises how addicted he's become and tries to win the girl back.

Equilibrium- Gets the girl and throws his phone away- Showing what really matters.

Orange Drive

2013

Directed by Mark Lester

A year in the life of a guy in his car

The Todorov Model

In class today we were looking into a few short films of our choosing and we were comparing a hypothesis that we were taught against it, this is the Todorov model. 

The Todorov model is  the theory that all stories including features and shorts all have a similar structure aka model to their story for example: this model explains that all stories have a significant beginning middle and end. In more complex terms its called: Equilibrium –> Dis-Equilibrium –> Equilibrium. So after seeing and understanding this when I go to make my film it is imperative that I use this model to a strength or defy it for a reason, because this is used in most conventional short films. Many films use the Todorov model to give their film a conventional structure of beginning, middle and end. Filmmakers will immediately discuss the start of a film, the problem in the middle and conclusion in the end. We watched a short film called 'Noah' which is a good example of the Todorov model. There is a clear Equilibrium, Dis-Equilibrium which then returns back to the Equilibrium. 

Who am I working with?

This year I am continuing to work with the same partner. We made a successful film and worked well together during AS. Working in a group is a lot easier in managing different aspects of making a film. Being responsible for filming, editing and evaluating alone is a very difficult task. Last years film 'Unattainable' was an enjoyable film to make. Both me and Jacob had the same vision on the storyline and cinematography. We are already exploring different ways to tell the story through the technical process. The structure, character and narrative conflict has already been agreed on.  During summer I did a lot of research on short films. I started watching a lot of short films which inspired me to think of an idea as quickly as possible. Coming up with an idea before returning to college would give us an advantage. This would be useful for receiving feedback and improving our initial idea. Our idea is about 'the collapse of a marriage through the eyes of a child'. This idea was inspired by my partners cousin who's parents went through a divorce.  The cinematography and shots have already been thought of to expand our vision about how we want our film to look. We are both very keen on independent film which we hope will be shown in our film. Many feature films that I saw over summer were Art House films. The audience's that were at these films are the same market for our short film.

What is a short film?

Compared to your conventional feature film which lasts over an hour and a half a short film is defined ultimately by the length. "The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science awards Oscars to short films of max length 40 minutes". My short film will be 5-8 minutes, this is the average time that most filmmakers use in their film.

Who makes them?

Making a short film is a very useful platform for upcoming filmmakers who want to show their talent to producers. Many short films have a small budget which makes it hard to show to worldwide audiences. The upcoming filmmakers who want to make it big in the film industry will usually make a short film to show their desire and capability to achieve in the business. 

Who watches them? 

The audiences for short films are usually young film fans who are prepared to take a risk in the independent market. Older audiences tend to be more conservative and want to make sure that their investment won't be wasted. Art House cinema appeals to a niche market, many whom want to start a career in the film industry. Watching short films allows you to be introduced to a broad spectrum of work. 

Here a a few websites where you can watch short films:
http://www.shortoftheweek.com/
http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/#page=1&filter=date

These are a few examples of short films:
This first short film 'Bitten by the frost' is a music video with a story. I liked the different shots showing the story told through one main character. It shows a man who's living a fairly unhappy lifestyle. This is shown by the boring office job that he has and the same routine he experiences. It follows the convention of a light hearted storyline that towards the end has a twist. 

Focus group: My target audience

The target audience for film is a very niche market. Many independent filmmakers, producers and students are my main target audience. After watching and researching short films over summer, I have analysed that people who watch Art House and independent films are a much younger audience. They are the ones who are trying to break into the film industry. Making short films are crucial in establishing yourself as a filmmaker. Short films don't require a high budget unlike the mainstream high concept movies in big cinemas. Without a high budget, a short film becomes more personal and gives the characters a more believable lifestyle. Short films are not viewed by a a large audience, as a result the praise which they deserve are not given. You can view short films on websites such as Short of the Week, Virgin Shorts, Youtube etc.

In class we had a brief focus group about short films. We went around and discussed who watches short films and where did we find them. Many people did not watch short films in out group which was not surprising. Most of our group had watched short films at the cinema before a feature film. For example short films from Pixar and Dreamwork are usually shown before a feature film. Many of our group were still not inspired to research short films even if they enjoyed the ones before a feature film.

The Brief

During our first A2 Media Studies lesson we discussed what is required for this years A2 course. The choices that we have for this years coursework are:

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, no longer 

than five minutes duration, together with:

• a cover for its release on DVD
• a magazine advertisement for the DVD

An advertising package for a new product or service, to include two TV advertisements, together with

• a radio advertisement
• a web pop-up

A short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live action or animation or a combination of both, together with:

• a poster for the film
• a film magazine review page featuring the film 

After making a two minute opening sequence last year, I felt it would make sense to continue staying behind the camera and make a 5-8 minute short film. From what I have learnt last year about filmmaking, I am already looking into different ideas about genre, characters and storyline.