Short film research-will

About a girl

Release date: 25 august 2001
Directed by: Bryan Percival
Link:http:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL2z8Qzn1dc
1.Are identifiable genre/s or style/s used or combined as a hybrid and does this film use genre/style conventions uniquely?
.I think it is quite unclear as to what genre this actually is, it is kind of like a walk=through documentary of her life, with a bit of humour added in in-between some quite in-depth notions about how her parents neglect her and then a bit of horror at the end with the dead baby floating around the canal.

2.How does the film use the short film format and narrative?

.The advantages of a short narrative are that it is easy to remember what has happened in the story and it is quite easy to establish the three act structure.

. In the ‘set up’ in this narrative we are introduced to both her parents who she as the protagnoist portrays as antagonists and she goes onto explain why they are the villains.

.The disruption is where her mother throws her dog into the canal.

. And her resolution is to throw the baby into the canal, as kind of a payback to her mother who did the same thing to her dog, but it is unsure as to who the baby belongs to within the family.

 3.What do you find interesting about the use of sound?

. What I find interesting about the sound is that it is all diegetic sound, so no sounds have been added in so you can see where the sound is coming from in the shot. I think this is good because it give much more of a sense of realism about the piece. Insert picture of opening shot.
. It is good to show the realism in this case because the directors are trying to show that this girl is quite normal, but her story particularly at the end when she throws the baby in the canal is not normal at all. The reason that is so much of a shock is because the directors show the girl to be very normal at the start and I think the realism helped to achieve that allot.

4.What is interesting about either camera work, mise en scene or editing?

. The establishing shot was quite interesting; it was a still image with silhouette lighting (picture below). Maybe it symbolizes that one day she aspires to perform on stage and be a singer, but in reality she is just at the top of a hill. 

.They used continuity editing throughout the piece to keep the story going as the girl had quite allot to say about her life. Also they used the technique of a flash back to illustrate in some places what she was talking about, they have one this to give the audience a clearer image of what is going on in her life. An example of this is when she is talking about her dad taking her to football.

5.Themes and issues and representation:

. The film seems to be about the story telling of an ordinary working class northern girl who is explaining about the troubles she faces in her life and how she deals with them.
 . There is a representation of class; the main girl is shown to be lower class. Her class is illustrated in the shot where she is in the perfume shop as she has no intention of buying anything she clearly states that to the shop assistant. This representation is shown with a bit of whit because when the girl is asked about the perfume instead of shying away, she makes up a story on the spot. So this shows that she does not care that she is lower class. Insert image.
. Also in that scene you can tell that she is lower class by her clothing, mise en scene, with the big hooped earrings and no makeup. Also where she lives (location) looks like quite a lower class area.
. An issue it raises is being neglected. The girl has got allot of talent in the singing department, but her parents don’t take enough of an interest her to realise this, they are only interested in their own life’s. A moment where this is highlighted is the shot where she is talking to her Dad and she asks him if she can live with him and he says no.

Get off my land
Release date: 2007
Directed by: Douglas Ray
Synopsis:A young couple on a countryside walk meet the farmer who owns the land they're walking across.
Link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p00gs4yj

1.  Are identifiable genre/s or style/s used or combined as a hybrid? Does this film use genre/style conventions uniquely?
.The identifiable genre here is comedy it is hard to tell what genre it is there are snippets of comedy in the start like for example when the man is stumbling over the style, but as I mentioned in question five the ending proves that it is a comedy.
2. How does the film use the short film format and narrative?
.This followed a linear sequence.
.The set up was setting the scene at the start, was when the couple had a POV shot of the farmers truck coming towards them. The disruption was when they had a dispute over whether or not it was a public footpath. Finally the resolution for the farmer was when he shot the couple because it eliminated the problem that was the couple.

3.What do you find interesting about the use of sound?
.What I find interesting about the use of sound is that again as in ‘about a girl’ all the sound is diegetic. Which again gives it a sense of realism and I think it suits short films because often there narrative is very short and simple so by having only diegetic sound I think it complements the short narrative. I think i will consider having only diegetic sound because from this short film and ‘about a girl’ I think it is really effective in giving a sense of realism.

4. What is interesting about either camera work, mise en scene or editing?
. I like the use of depth of field in this shot. Insert image.

I like this because the couple are out of focus because they are dead and then it focuses on the farmer to see his reaction to what has just happened and he replies “you know what I’ve got a feeling this is a public footpath”. He says this after he has just shot the couple dead after a dispute about whether it is a public footpath or not this highlights the fact that this is a comedy.

5. Themes and issues and representation?
.Class is represented in this short film. You have the upper class farmer and the lower class man from the couple. They farmer is represented as an upper class land owner and the man from the couple is lower class and is challenging him because he feels as if the upper class man is speaking down to him by stating the law to him. So the lower class man didn’t like to be spoken down to by the upper class man. The evidence that proves the classes is a quote from the man from the couple when he says “the moral hyprococy of the land owing upper classes”. Also you can tell the farmer is upper class because of his accent, he speaks quite posh compared to the other man who speaks with a cockney accent.

The Black Hole
Date realised: 2008
Directors: Olly William's & Phil Sanmson
Link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5_Msrdg3Hk

1.Are identifiable genre/s or style/s used or combined as a hybrid?

. There is a mixture of genres used here they are; comedy, crime and thriller, but I think it’s mainly supposed to be a comedy.

2.Does this film use genre/style conventions uniquely?
. I think that the genre has been uniquely used here because instead of the conventional comedy filled with punch lines this uses his actions to get laughs, e.g looking around himself to see if anyone is looking before he harmlessly takes a chocolate bar out of the vending machine. Also what happens to him at the end is quite funny because it shows that the power went to his head and he got to greedy.

3.How does the film use the short film format and narrative?

.The film uses the conventional linear sequence.
. There is a three act structure used here. The choice of opening I thought was quite good. There is a moving shot which establishes the location, which is an office which sets the mood of depression with the lighting and then backed up by a close up shot of the main character where his facial expression tells the audience that he is depressed by work. This is the set up. The disruption is discovering the power of the ‘black hole’. And the resolution is the ending because by being trapped in the safe it solves the problem of him becoming even more evil and greedy.

 4.What do you find interesting about the use of sound?

. I like the combination of diegetic and non-diegetic sound when the main character realises that the ‘Black hole’ is special. I like it because you have the very normal sound of the printer in the backround, which kind of emphasises that the black hole is special because it shows the contrast between the two. On one hand you have the printer which is an everyday sound compared to the black hole which is a very unusual sound, but I think the unusualness of the sound gives it a certain power.

 5.What is interesting about either camera work, mise en scene or editing?

.I like the fact that there are allot of close up shots of his face because it shows the audience his facial expressions and the audience want to see his facial expressions because they want to see him react to the unusual circumstances he finds himself in.

6.Themes and issues and representation?

. A major issue represented in the film is greed. It is represented by what happens to the character at the end and It positions the audience to have a particular view on the subject that you should not become too greedy because it could come back to bite you (karma).  

Goodbye Mr Snuggles

Date realised: 2005

Directed by:

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p00593g0

1.   Are identifiable genre/s or style/s used or combined as a hybrid? Provide micro evidence of conventions used in the film in terms of style or content (eg camerawork, iconography ([props, objects), mise en scene, sound, narrative structure, themes and issues, characterisation …)
.The genre of Goodbye Mr Snuggles is comedy, with a bit of thriller added in just before the laughing points came. It could have been a thriller because you thought there is a mad clown after these two defenceless old men.

 2. Short films often use genre or style conventions uniquely. Does this film use genre/style conventions uniquely? What aspects of their use do you find interesting or inspiring?

. I think the genre has been used very well because you didn’t know it was a comedy right up until the end.

3. How does the film use the short film format and narrative??

. The film is a ‘linear’.  In the three act structure the set up was when the two old men met up together to start the day. The disruption was when we first saw the clown acting crazy because you could tell that he was headed for were the two old men were. Then the resolution was when one of the old men killed the clown because it got rid of the problem that was the clown.

4. What do you find interesting about the use of sound? Use sound terms to analyse, and consider whether you might extend any of the ideas yourselves.
.The use of sound was used greatly in this short film. It was used greatly because the music set the tone and the mood of throughout the film. Also it helped to distinguish between the crazy world of the clown and the quiet world of the two old men painting.  It did this by using non-diegetic music mainly; there was some diegetic music when the clown was playing his music through the radio. Also there this is good for the audience because it gives them an indication of what might happen next or it could tell them how to react to the film.

 5. What is interesting about either camera work, mise en scene or editing? Themes and issues and representation?

. One theme used was the old Wild West theme, which I thought was quite funny. It was also good because it got rid of the tension and anxiety that had built up with the audience as to were the two old men going to be slaughtered by the nutty clown. You could tell that it was Wild West at first because of the music and then there was a really good two shot witched showed the facial expression of both the clown and the old man and again was really funny. The two shot was good especially when the old man lifted his head to show the sunlight in his eyes. There were stereotypes used, but they were there to be taken the mic out of, e.g. the cowboy scene at the end.

I will post the pictures in the morning.