Advanced Portfolio

Final Evaluation - Gareth Allen

2010-04-29T21:33:00.008+01:00

Evaluation for Blog

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

· The Social Realism in our film has been used to target the audience so that they feel they can relate to the film themselves. This was done by the main character driving along day to day roads and we see him acting as if it is a normal day in his life.

· We also used thriller aspects in our film so that there isn’t just the one aspect in the film. We tried to make the unknown figure, kept unknown so the audience are questioning who they are.

· We didn’t use the technique of Mike Leigh’s where the characters are at different extremes of each other (mainly because there is only the one character and they didn’t use any dialogue throughout).

· The sounds used throughout are similar to other shorts in how we used both diegetic and non diegetic sounds in the film. This is used in other shorts such as ‘Joy Ride’, ‘Eight’ and ‘Slap’. We used mostly non diegetic sounds, such as the soundtrack at the start, middle and end of the film, except for the phone going, the car horn and the only words used at the end of the film.

· For editing this short, we felt that in traditional films, they use dissolve transitions to show a difference between time and we used this to indicate the difference between the dream world of the character, and the reality world. We also changed the soundtrack along with these transitions during the film.

• Mixtape uses music to express what is happening with little dialogue. We used this as inspiration for our film, we liked the idea of using hardly and dialogue and using music to express what was happening in our film. Mixtape uses music to show how one young child feels for another it sets the scene with an upbeat tempo. we wanted to use music rather than dialogue because it meant we could use faced paced music to make the audience feel on edge, we also sped up part of our film and we wanted to add something fast paced with a beat to it to add top the effect of going at a high speed.
• We used a variety of different editing techniques, we included a slowed down rewound clip of someone being run over. Traditionally in films this effect is used to show something that has happened or something that is about to happen. We used this effect as a memory that would appear frequently thought the film as flashbacks.

How effective is the combination of your main product and your ancillary tasks?

• I think that our two ancillary tasks the film review and the poster link both well together and with the film itself. We wanted the audience to question what was happening in the film and add some mystery to this so we felt we should do this with the poster also.

We didn’t want the poster to give too much away so we used the film Red Road’s poster as inspiration for ours we tried to keep it as simple as possible.
We used a shilloute as our main image to add the added effect of mystery which we also wanted to show in our film. Also the fact that the mysterious character that matt is chasings identity isn’t know the poster goes along with this kind of idea of no identities being known and nothing about the film is being given away.
The bright background also makes the poster stand out and catch the audience’s eye, it also goes with the idea that matt has to wear a florescent jacket in the film and the florescent jacket he is also wearing in the image used for the review.

We tried to create the review in the same format as in little white lies. We used an image from the film at the top of the page lie most of the articles have in the magazine. We also included the small colorued boxes on the left top corner above the text like the magazine does. We wanted it to look as realistic as possible like it belongs in the magazine.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

We have received several positive comments form our audience to get these comments we posted out film and a blog link on Facebook and received some comments through here and also through You Tube itself.

From these comments we have learnt that our film has worked very well using the conventions we decided on. Though many people were confused as to why our character was running around a scarp yard once we explained the story in detail to them they completely understood.
We have had many positive comments on the soundtrack of our film and our audience have said it really adds to the feeling of the film.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

During the creation of our short film we were quite successful in using many different types of digital technology. These included two digital cameras to film with using mini DV tapes. I found these quite easy to use as we had used them last year however one of them filmed in wide screen and one of them did not we had to change this in final cut which I did not no how to do but was shown.
We used final cut pro which I had some knowledge of how to use but learnt a lot of new skills on this program, these included how to slow scenes down and speed scenes up also how to rewind scenes and resize them so that they are wide screen.

http://files.lynda.com/files/finalcutstudio/index.html#fcp7

We used garage band to create the soundtrack to our film however I didn’t really use garage band much as I didn’t play a big part in creating the sound but I did learn how to convert the files into an MP3 format to add to our film. I also learnt in final cut pro how to change the volume of clips meaning we could get rid of all the background noise and add music. I also learnt how to fade the music in and out which I did not no how to use before.

The only we problem we seemed to have was with one of the cameras we were originally using a camera that Gareth had but when we went to log our work we found out it wasn’t possible as the camera was using a cassette sized tape and we should have been using mini DV’s. When we finally managed to log out work we saw it was of poor quality and we would defiantly not be able to use it so we took the decision to re-film with two digital cameras that used mini DV tapes.
The blog was a big use of new media digital technology in the creating of our short film. I didn’t need to learn much to use the blog as we had used one last year. However I did learn how to upload links to with our film such as inspiration for our film and the link to our film itself. We had trouble at first working out how to upload our anamatic onto the blog but soon worked it out and didn’t have any trouble uploading our final film onto it. I also learnt how to upload images onto the blog as I did not now how to do this before and found it was quite easy once I new. This helped as then it was easy to upload the storyboard and various images to go with my research for the film and also images for the poster research and the initial poster ideas.

Essay Evaluation - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-04-20T19:34:00.003+01:00

In what ways does your media product develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

• The use of Social Realism in our film has been used to target the audience in a way which also connects to them. We had achieved this by using a young cast who were drivers and including the dangers and reality of falling asleep at the wheel and cause major disruption to other drivers on the road.
• During our film we also included some thriller. We added a mysterious figure to the story so the audience is thinking about what is happening all the while the film is playing and hopefully sending them about the dangers of being tired and driving.
• Looking at some of Andrea Arnolds work and again at our own film I have noticed some differences at the different aspects of Social Realism some including dialogue, camera work and soundtrack.
•

• The sounds used during our film are similar to the lines of short films “Joyride” “Eight and Slap” we mainly used non-diegetic sounds such as the soundtrack (as we used garage band to make our own music to make it feel more unique and individual) which carried through the start, middle and end of the film.
• Editing our film came to be a bit of a struggle due to have a lot of different shots and then trying to piece everything together like a jigsaw to make it all flow. The similarities to other traditional films include using dissolving transitions to show differences in date and time. We also used this for the flashbacks in the film and allowing the audience to be slightly dazed and confused about the film.

How effective is the combination of your main product and your ancillary task?

• Our poster I believe to be fairly effective as it makes the audience think what the film may be about. However it doesn't give away any of the storyline. the colours contrast each other yet they work extremely well together to give the poster a more professional feel to it. Our inspiration for the designing of the poster was "Red Road" simply because of its effect and simplicity and as soon as we saw it, it caught our eye.
Not much text on either posters makes the posters much simpler and eye catching because of the colours that have been used.
The character is looking down and is silhouetted which gives the film a mysterious feeling.

• The review that was created for our film was written as though being published for "Little White Lies". We tried to be "chatty" yet formative throughout the written piece, making it personal to the reader. Also giving good reputation for both the film and magazine it was advertised it.
• We included an image in the bottom corner of the review as similarily featured in "Little White Lies" we wanted the review to be as realistic as though it would be published in the magazine, in that case we would have to include alot of detail to go into our review to make it seem enot so different from other reviews in the magazine.

• Because the target audience was aimed at males and females aged from 15 - 25, we used language that was understandable to everyone. Also "Little White Lies" do not usually include words that are challenging and want to connect with their readers in order to widen their target audience in order to boost their reputation therefore resulting in more sales of the magazine which will both give the film and magazine good media coverage.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

• Looking back at our audience feedback we had received several positive comments from our target audience as we had posted our film on YouTube, then from there we had posted a link on facebook aswell as setting up a group and asking for peoples general thoughts. We had also sent an attachment using e-mail for those who may not have facebook or various other reasons.
• Looking and discussing the comments that were made we had noticed a repeat pattern of people saying about how they were slightly confused about what the film and placement was about. We overcame this by explaining our film in full detail and also giving them the film synopsis also to read which then after being explained to they was then in understandment of what went on.
• The conventions of well known film directors: Mike Leigh, Ken Loach and Andrea Arnold. Differ in many ways in our film, these directors give out their characters lives more or less straight away. Where as we done the total opposite and chose not to show our characters lifestyles at all.
• Many positive comments were also made on the soundtrack of the film, the audience saying that was our strongest point making our film enjoyable and more effective. As the music flowed well with all of our scenes and shots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch=?v=F6bMj1kTWE
• Our audience was aimed at males and females aged from 15 - 25, because of the type of message we had put across to our audience including driving scenes we thought we would put it as a 15 due to the fact who we actually trying to target.
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and the evaluation stage?

• During the editing process i had learnt alot of different techniques and also using the same knowledge of the Foundation Portfolio. As other members of the group were able to use the best of their abilities with Final Cut Pro; i was able to learn from both their and my own mistakes and together we were able to produce a decent short film, If i were to any of it again i would perhaps find out more techniques that may of been successful at the editing process.
• Using garage band again i really enjoyed as i was able to play around a bit more freely and comfortably as i was made one of the "music makers" in the film. Mixing our own sounds gave us all a boost of confidence that we had definitely achieved a successful film and soundtrack, which all recieved positive feedback. During the process of making the soundtrack we did have a bit of a joke around with some of the sounds, but doing this we actually had included some sounds into our final piece as in a weird way it definitely flowed better.
• The blog allowed us to be responsible for our own posts giving us the opportunity to express our own feelings and opinion to what research we had done. And what work we had produced as a group. Being able to add videos and images to the blog gave it more character and gives people a feeling to our group personality with alot of information with doesn't overload people. Planning and research stages i felt were a lot more controlled and thorough as we all done our own individual research yet always come back as a group to discuss what we had watched, read and seen over the time we had. This also allowed us to talk about each others post explaining things others may not have of understood or recommended films that we had spoken about in our posts. We were also given freedom on our own drafts for what we would like our Ancillary Tasks to be like, Researching other posters and reviews gave us ideas of what we should include in our product.
• My part in the ancillary task definitely allowed me to show what i was good at. Having been studying Photoshop in more depth in other A2 lessons i did have a knowledge of what i was actually doing therefore being able to produce a fairly high quality professional looking poster. If i were to recreate the poster i may think about redoing the layout maybe so the figure is faced the other way and different colours and fonts on the poster itself.

Final Advanced Portfolio Evaluation - Matt Bull

2010-04-18T21:28:00.013+01:00

(click each section to enlarge & zoom in)

Audience Feedback

2010-04-17T19:08:00.000+01:00

‘well done, its really good! didn't quite understand the bit about the scrapyard though (I'm probably just missing something! lol)
The background music and filming were spot-on and I liked the way the scene was set at the beginning with the re-wind. Very impressed!’.- left on our video on youtube

'Good start, middle and great finish! Wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for in scrap yard..(new bumper..or boy in accident??) Loved the accompanying music. Well done'.- Left via facebook

'was very good but im not quite sure what was happening when he was running around the scrap yeard. i really liked the muisic it really set the scene and thought it was very good overall'- Danny Clough

' I didnt really understand what was happening, why was he running round bridges? it just confused me. the music was really good though. good job'- Luke Chesham

Final Ancillary Tasks - Matt Bull, Gareth Allen, Chloe McGlinchey & Hannah Sell

2010-04-01T11:25:00.003+01:00

These are the final ancillary tasks for our advanced portfolio.

Matt Bull, Gareth Allen, Chloe McGlinchey & Hannah Sell

Final Draft Review - Matt Bull & Gareth Allen

2010-03-31T14:32:00.003+01:00

This is our final draft design for our review. This is going to be the final piece we hand in, although if any tweaks need to be made we will.
We changed the size of the overall page to the same as a Little White Lies magazine (24cmx20cm), and therefore alterations had to be made to some parts of the page (picture size, layout) to fit everything in.

Matt Bull & Gareth Allen

Draft Review - Matt Bull & Gareth Allen

2010-03-30T15:22:00.002+01:00

This is the first draft of the overall review spread for the Little White Lies magazine. It includes the image we chose from the film, and the copy that is posted in a earlier post, and put all together.

Matt Bull & Gareth Allen

Final poster design - Chloe McGlinchey & Hannah Sell

2010-03-29T12:25:00.002+01:00

This is the final poster design for the film that we produced

Poster Draft 2 - Chloe McGlinchey & Hannah Sell

2010-03-29T12:19:00.003+01:00

After a fair amount of experimenting with placement and colour this was coming up to be part of our final design. we still have to add a few more details to it such as a certificate and some newspaper or magazines reviews.

First Draft of Film Review - Gareth Allen & Matt Bull

2010-03-26T09:34:00.002Z

This review is in the format of the typical reviews that you get in Little White Lies. We haven't used the font at this moment in time as this is a draft version but will do when producing for the final piece.

Gareth Allen & Matt Bull

Poster Draft - Chloe McGlinchey and Hannah Sell

2010-03-25T10:38:00.004Z

After discussions with Gareth and Matt; we decided on this to be our first poster draft. We as a group had wanted to create something like the Red Road poster which had been our main influence for this Ancillary task. The poster design was to be created to draw the audience in and focus on our main character of the short film with contrasting colours to make it more eye catching.
Chloe and Hannah

Image for Poster- Hannah & Chloe

2010-03-23T15:32:00.004Z

This is the image we have decided to use for our poster. We are going to make it look like a shilloette like on the Red Road poster. We have not decided on background or text colour yet but we are going to put the tittle over his face like on the red road poster. We have decided to use this image as it was the best one out of the five photos we took.

Hannah Sell & Chloe McGlinghey

The Final Film

2010-03-19T22:08:00.004Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6bM7j1kTWE

This is the URL to our film that we have created, click on it to view. We would appreciate any comments you have for the film to be left either on our blog or on youtube underneath the video.

Gareth Allen, Matt Bull, Hannah Sell and Chloe McGlinchey

Review Layout Idea - Matt Bull

2010-03-19T09:45:00.004Z

(click image to enlarge)This is the draft idea that I have come up with for the layout of our review of our film in the latest issue of Little White Lies in which the review will be placed. I have taken into account previous layouts that Little White Lies has and designed it around them so that it looks like it is a genuine review.

Matt Bull

Review Layout Idea - Gareth Allen

2010-03-19T09:33:00.004Z

(Click image to enlarge)
This is the layout of the review that I came up with for our review. This is the same layout as the magazine Little White Lies, which is the magazine that reviews short films, like our film. This is why we have chosen this magazine instead of the other film magazines that are out, Empire and Total Film, because they normally review major Hollywood films that are coming out.

Gareth Allen

Research - "Little White Lies" - Matt Bull

2010-03-17T17:31:00.007Z

(click images to enlarge)
Little White Lies is a magazine that for each issue, is focused on one particular film throughout through its front page, copy content, images and layout.
Within the copy it provides reviews, ratings and interviews with the people behind the film, as well as a vast amount of images showing more of the film.

Published and produced by The Church of England, the first issue was created as the final degree project of co-founder Danny Miller in 2001. The first issue was released in February 2005, printed in edition of 2500, and distributed only in UK Borders stores.

Rationale: "Becasue movies don't exist in a vacuum, we venture beyond the boundaries of the bog screen, exploring the worlds of music, art, politics and pop culture to inform and illustrate the medium we love. Bold, beautiful and unique, Little White Lies is a magazine on a mission - to reshape the debate across the movie landscape.

Other issues of Little White Lies can be seen via the link in the link section...

"Little White Lies" Review Layout - Matt Bull

2010-03-17T17:05:00.005Z

(Click image to enlarge)

Completed Film - three

2010-03-15T16:15:00.000Z

Matt Bull, Hannah Sell, Chloe McGlinchey & Gareth Allen

Completion of Short Film

2010-03-15T15:29:00.002Z

Today (Monday 15th March) we completed producing and editing our short film.
After many hours of hard work including vast amounts of filming, and editing all of the pieces together.
Overall, as a group we are very pleased with the way the film has come out. With all of us putting in our own input, as well as group decisions on certain areas, it has been put together they way we wanted it.

Matt Bull, Chloe McGlinchey, Hannah Sell & Gareth Allen

Poster Ideas - Gareth Allen and Matt Bull

2010-03-12T09:26:00.000Z

After having a few days to think about our poster design, we felt that the poster we had originally thought would be best for our film, seemed to have too much on the poster. Whilst looking through some different posters of films, we noticed the Red Road poster. This was a simple design and felt that it would be suitable for our poster. The image that there is on this poster is a silhouette of a woman that is in the film. This made us think that we could use the same style for our poster, and we could use either Matt or Gareth as the image on the poster.

Gareth Allen & Matt Bull

Poster Influence - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-03-11T10:42:00.004Z

(click image to enlarge)

The poster above of "Red Road" has been an influence to our own poster we are in the middle of producing. The reason for this is because of the style and conventions of the poster as a whole; the way the designer has layered the images and text works well together because of the use of colours that contrast against each other. The fact that they have decided to silhouette the characters face gives the audience a glance of the film being mysterious and eerie.

Decisions on Poster

2010-03-11T10:38:00.007Z

(click image to enlarge)
From the four posters we have all produced, we have decided to pick certain parts from each poster and produce the main/final design from it.
We are going to use a image of the main character looking over their shoulder from the first idea, but instead of the background being of a scrapyard, we were going to change it so that we use a light source (possibly headlights) to highlight the characters expressions, which is a style used in some posters we have researched. We will also take the picture of the main character from different angles (side-on etc.) so we can see which is best for the design.

Matt Bull, Chloe McGlinchey, Gareth Allen, Hannah Sell

Certificates - Film & Poster

2010-03-10T14:30:00.004Z

U Universal – Suitable for all
It is impossible to predict what might upset any particular child. But a ‘U’ film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. ‘U’ films should be set within a positive moral framework and should offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror. If a work is particularly suitable for a pre-school child to view alone, this will be indicated in the Consumer Advice.
PG Parental Guidance – General viewing
Some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. Unaccompanied children of any age may watch. A ‘PG’ film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. However, parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger or more sensitive children.
12A/12 – Suitable for 12 years and over
Exactly the same criteria are used to classify works at ‘12A’ and ‘12’. These categories are awarded where the material is suitable, in general, only for those aged 12 and over. Works
classified at these categories may upset children under 12 or contain material which many
parents will find unsuitable for them. The ‘12A’ category exists only for cinema films. No one younger than 12 may see a ‘12A’ film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult, and films classified ‘12A’ are not recommended for a child below 12. An adult may take a younger child if, in their judgement, the film is suitable for that particular child. In such circumstances, responsibility for allowing a child under 12 to view lies with the accompanying adult. The ‘12’ category exists only for video works. No one younger than 12 may rent or buy a ‘12’ rated video work.
15 – Suitable only for 15 years and over
No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.
18 – Suitable only for adults
No-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 18 may rent or buy an ‘18’ rated video.

Matt Bull, Gareth Allen, Hannah Sell & Chloe McGlinchey

Systems Go!

2010-03-08T12:27:00.002Z

Today (Monday 8th March) we continued editing the footage that we have picked out as the best shots. after going through the footage, there are some things we need to re-film, but they wont take long to re-do. Also, Gareth produced the radio transcript to place over the top of the first part of the film...

Matt Bull, Hannah Sell, Chloe McGlinchey & Gareth Allen

Short Film Posters - Gareth Allen

2010-03-08T12:24:00.001Z

(click image to enlarge)
These are all posters of short films that have been out recently. I decided to look at posters that are recent to see if there are any trends in what short film posters are including at the moment. With these posters, all except one of them use dark colours on the poster. This is effective I think on the posters as it gives the idea that something mysertious has happened in the film. This would be good for our poster as we are creating a thriller piece, so this would give off the idea that something mysterious is going to happen in the film. Again, all but one of these posters uses people on the poster. This is what we are also hoping to include on our poster.

Gareth Allen

Editing - Hannah Sell and Chloe McGlinchey

2010-03-05T12:53:00.003Z

During our allotted time for editing we decided to make a few changes to the idea of our short film and thinking while watching what we already had. We decided to scrap the idea of the newspaper because we thought of a better and more effective start to the film which has widened our knowledge of using Final Cut Pro. The beginning and the end of the film are more or less exactly the same however the beginning will be slightly different and hopefully give the wow factor for the film. We also have yet to record our radio interview with Gareth and Chloe in which they will be talking about the themes and issues of our films story.

Individual Poster Design - Hannah Sell

2010-03-05T10:12:00.005Z

This is my initial poster idea for our film. I wanted to emphasis the title of the film and the main point that our film is aiming to put across which is 'tiredness can kill'. The poster shows the tiredness can kill sign which appears in our film along with the tittle of the film over the top.

Individual Poster Design - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-03-05T09:42:00.003Z

This is my individual poster design.

I have taken in account the story line and issues within our short film, i have come up with a simple yet effective poster design.

Uploading of Footage - Matt Bull & Gareth Allen

2010-03-04T14:18:00.000Z

Today (Thursday 4th March) we uploaded our complete footage from the tapes onto the Mac in which we are using as a group to edit the pieces together. We are taking use of the lesson time and opportunity to get as much as possible, but there will be other times we need to meet during the day as extra time may be needed to finish it.

Individual Poster Design - Gareth Allen

2010-03-03T20:25:00.007Z

This is my initial poster idea for our film poster.
I thought that with the poster it was going to be best if you could see the main character, but I thought that it would be best if you didn't see the whole of the character. This is why I chose to only show the back of the main character. I didn't however want to show from straight behind him, on at the side so I chose inbetween these two. I think that this creates a mysterious effect, which is what we are going for in the film.
The reson why I chose to set this picture on a road is because, our film has the theme about 'Tiredness Can Kill' when people are driving. I thought that it could be interesting to use just a straight road with no cars on it or pedestrains walking by it. This is implying that this character might be in a word of his own.

Gareth Allen

Individual Poster Design - Matt Bull

2010-03-02T22:01:00.003Z

This is my individual design for our film poster.
I have taken into consideration the themes and issues within the story, and the overall genre it is trying to produce. The main genres for the film are social realism with some thriller tied in the storyline by adding a sense of tension and suspence.
The poster shows the scrapyard in the background as it is the main location for the film and where the mysterious events happen. Linking to the film title of "thr3e", 3 images are shown of the character causing confustion of the main character as a result of the lack of sleep. That is where the quote "tiredness can kill, take a break" is used as the tagline and message of the film, and appears in the film itself. As an addition, the inclusion of various awards and newspaper reviews are added.
By keeping the poster simple it targets our audience of 17+ who can drive and the issues behind it. The fact that the main character is looking behind is used to make the audience think why he is?

Matt Bull

UK Short Films Poster Research - Matt Bull

2010-03-02T21:12:00.001Z

The film posters above are of short films made in the UK and by UK based companies. I chose to take the thriller/horror style posters as they show lots of imagination to target their audience into wanting to see the film advertised. All the posters use a stricking main image in which the eye gets drawn to at the first sight and represent the story of the film. The title is also a very noticable part of the design so that people know what the film is called. Some also have the awards they have won at respected ceremonies, and therefore gives the viewer of the poster a reason to see the film if it has won awards.

Matt Bull

Re-Filming....

2010-03-01T12:45:00.002Z

As a result of our original filming work, we have had to re-film all of our footage due to the camera and tape we used the first time not being compatible with the editing software on the computers.
Although a slight glitch in the process, we have managed to keep on track with everything due to knowing what we needed to do in terms of footage and shots and with everyone being availible on most days we have almost got everything done!

Matt Bull, Gareth Allen, Chloe McGlinchey & Hannah Sell

Allocation of Roles Poster & Review - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-03-01T12:20:00.004Z

Today (Monday 1st March) we decided to allocate roles concerning the Film poster and review for our short film. We discussed as a group who would be suited for what work that had to be completed, and this is what we had come up with.

Matt Bull - Writer/editor/publisher for magazine review
Gareth Allen -Writer/editor/publisher for magazine review
Hannah Sell - Designer/editor/photographer for magazine poster
Chloe McGlinchey - Designer/editor/photographer for magazine poster

Conventions of Poster Design & Distribution

What do all film posters have in common?

Main Character(s) Image
Noticeable Title
Background Image = Hints into Genre
Newspaper Reviews & Ratings
Awards
Tag-line

Distribution

A very highly competitive business and used to gain the widest audience figures for their upcoming film(s). Because of the distributors, films become more known and to do that it is their job to find potential in that film and bring it to the market. Word-of-mouth is a result in distribution, as one person sees the poster then passes it on to someone they know, and on, and on. They create a 'want to see buzz' into the audience, just by the poster, without seeing anything from the film.

Newspaper - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-02-26T09:56:00.003Z

Whilst Hannah and Gareth were starting on the editing of the bits of filming we had done, myself and Matt thought we would make our newspaper prop for some car scenes. As our film is being based around more social realism as we have gone on we have encountered using "Tiredness Can Kill" slogan if you like. We had been researching articles and images on the internet and in the end we had produced the above. To make it more newspaper like we will cut and stick what we have done on to a previous newspaper to make it more realistic.

Chloe McGlinchey

Lights, Camera, Action!

2010-02-25T11:19:00.000Z

Camera Shots

2010-02-25T10:59:00.002Z

With our filming, we decided as a group that the shots we took for our film, looked better when the camera was hand held. We felt that this gave the shots we took a different feel to them. We also thought that we would be able to show the footage from the characters point of view, and what he can see. We felt this way would make it feel more realistic and with a slight shake, to add to the tension that he feels throughout, but some shots are made with a tripod. All of the driving/car scenes used a tripod as there is already a lot of movement in the shots.

Matt, Gareth, Chloe & Hannah

Technology Discussion - Gareth Allen and Chloe McGlinchey

2010-02-25T10:26:00.004Z

The camera that we started to film with for our short film was a camera of poor quality when it came out on the computer. This meant that we needed to use a camera with higher quality, a mini DV camera was used. Once we put this onto the computer, we found that there was a drastic change in the quality of the shots we had filmed.
We did try some different angles when it came to filming. We tried doing shots from on the ground to only show the characters feet. This didn't give away who the characters were and what they were doing except they were moving. We did this also for a match on action shot of Matt getting out of his car. We are also going to try and create a split screen with the sets of footage that we filmed at the same time.
From our work last year, we have found that we have developed other ways in which the camera can be moved to keep the focus on people in the film. For one of our shots, we went on a footbridge that overlooked a road near our filming location. We used a tilt for watching Matt driving his car under the bridge. This was an improvement from last year as we only used a pan movement for the camera.
We found that most of the shots that we came up with in the planning part of this project we were able to produce. This was good as it meant that we didn't need to think about how we were going to create some shots.

Gareth Allen and Chloe McGlinchey

Deadline Feedback

2010-02-23T15:07:00.001Z

More Filming...

2010-02-19T18:12:00.002Z

Wednesday 17th & Friday 19th February 2010

More filming was completed on the two days stated above. Although two members of the group were unable to attend due to work commitments, the other two members of the group found parts of the filming which could be done with just the two of them.
Most of the film is quite hard to do with just the two people, so these parts were left to do when another if not all of us were there.

Matt Bull, Gareth Allen, Hannah Sell & Chloe McGlinchey

Filming Continued...

2010-02-16T14:52:00.004Z

Monday 15th February 2010

Today we produced more of our film and tried to complete as much of it as we could.
Whilst deciding on the parts of the film we were going to film, we found another location along with the others named, that adds another variety of action in the film along the road of Parish Lane, near the scrapyard itself.
Once completed that filming, we decided as a group, due to the fact that the scrapyard in which we are using is only accessable at an earlier time than we want, we have added a dream element to the story which will enable us to use the scrapyard in more daylight as though it has already happened and therefore not battling with light problems.

Matt Bull, Gareth Allen, Hannah Sell & Chloe McGlinchey

First Day of Filming - 9th February 2010

2010-02-09T19:57:00.002Z

Today (9th February) we started on filming for our final project.
Due to the demands our film has of setting, we did have to wait a little bit for the right light for us to film in, as when we originally arrived, it was too light.
This isnt the only time we are planning to film. Due to many members of the group being unavailable for the rest of this week (wednesday, thursday, friday and the weekend), we have decided to continue filming as much as we can on Monday 16th February, and probably all of that week as well.

Matt Bull, Gareth Allen, Hannah Sell & Chloe McGlinchey

Mentioning on "Mixtape" Director (Luke Snellin) Blog

2010-02-09T15:07:00.001Z

http://lukesnellin.co.uk/?p=841#Comments

Film Production Logo - Gareth Allen, Matt Bull, Chloe McGlinchey and Hannah Sell

2010-02-08T12:17:00.010Z

These are a selection of different film production logos that certain film production companies have. We think that these designs are ones that we are thinking we might use with our own Ninjabread Film Production company. The 'Tough Monkey Productions' seems to be a good logo for us as it uses a picture as the main part of the logo. This is what we have thought in our initial ideas for our logo. We have also thought that we will put the title of our film production company underneath the picture. This is the same layout as the one of 'Tough Monkey Productions' and also of 'Gutz Film'.

Gareth Allen, Matt Bull, Chloe McGlinchey and Hannah Sell

Existing Thriller Film Posters (Ideas) - Matt Bull

2010-02-05T15:55:00.000Z

These existing thriller film posters are similar to the idea I have for our film poster, with the inclusion of a figure of the main character as the stand out piece. Although all of these 8 films are American thrillers, they are all based on focusing on the main character. I am also trying to incorporate an image in the background of a significant event of the film (not decided at this time).

Matt Bull

Existing Film poster Idea's - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-02-05T09:40:00.004Z

This montage of films is a mix of thriller and social realism. The majority of the thriller posters use a lot of red and black which to me suggests a fairly dark and twisted story. Though the posters I have chosen are not very colourful they still catch the audience's eye. They are very effective and give a subjective view towards the film. The film posters are quite simple yet they are very well thought out and are as well eye catching.

Exsisting Thriller Film Posters - Gareth Allen

2010-02-05T09:39:00.003Z

These films all have the genre of thriller in the film. Each of these posters include the main characters, but some of them only show one character on the poster. This could be so that it doesn't give away anything about the film with the people involved. They all do different things with the text of their film title. Some have the title at the bottom of the poster, others have it at the top and one has it covering the whole poster. The posters on the whole use dark colours except for one of the posters.

Gareth Allen

Existing Thriller & Social Realism Film Posters (Ideas)- Hannah Sell

2010-02-05T09:23:00.006Z

These are examples of some existing Thriller and Social Realism Film Posters. The Social Realism Posters use more colours like oranges and black and white they all also show the characters in the film on them. Whereas the Thriller posters use darker colours like reds blacks and blues and more shadow to create a more tense feel. These are useful to our research as we plan to combine a mixture of the two genres.

Hannah Sell

Exsisting Social Realism Film Poster Ideas - Gareth Allen

2010-02-05T09:22:00.004Z

These are all Social Realism films that have been out in the U.K. All of these posters include the main characters from the film, which is what I am thinking of doing for the poster of our film. All of these posters seem to have other people in the poster (except Take Out). In our poster for our film, we are hoping to include not just the main character in the poster, but hopefully some other characters.

Gareth Allen

''Billy Elliot'' - Film Review - Hannah Sell

2010-02-04T11:10:00.007Z

Billy Elliot is by far the most honestly told depiction of middle boyhood I've seen in years, if ever. I was in joyful tatters at the end of this story of a boy struggling to stay true to his calling in an anguished northern English mining town circa 1980. Every working class character in this film is written and uncompromisingly played with great love and understanding of both family and class hardship. Personally I view this film as the finest piece of British "intimiste" cinema I've seen since Mike Leigh's "Secrets and Lies". Yet it has epic elements as well. Billy's personal story unfolds while his home town is occupied by uniformed British strike control forces.

This is a tale of inter-masculine struggle in a family and mining town almost devoid of (and yearning for) a balancing feminine presence. Billy's gift is slowly awakened in this stressed and violent male crucible. His relationships with his brother, his father, his genderally confused classmate, and his teacher all grow increasingly charged as the movie develops. For honesty and presence, Jamie Bell as Billy far surpasses Haley Joel Osment's debut in The Sixth Sense. And if that's not enough, Julie Walters, Gary Lewis and Jamie Draven as Billy's teacher, dad and brother are all heartbreakingly portrayed. All are perfectly cast and at the very top of their form.

After all these characters have passed through the warzone of the first and second acts, director Steven Daldry delivers perhaps the most perfectly executed third act I have seen in a family centered drama from England or elsewhere. There are countless insightful decisions Daldry makes in the course of this film that other directors will study for years to come. But they're all brought to touching and masterful closure in the third act segments.

Kudos to scenarist Lee Hall for an excellent script. It should also be noted that many of DP Brian Tufano's beautifully composed shots match those of the great Chinese and Italian cinematographers. The film is brash in its musical style and forthright in its language. It is a film of specifics and the locale is not dressed up. And unlike many other local color films from England since 1985, this film has a strong, eminently compassionate narrative spine. Many audience members in the show I attended were immobilized and overcome in their seats during credits.

Despite frequent profanity, boys 11 and up should be allowed to see Billy Elliot, if only to keep them from abandoning hope. If it helps even one oppressed and confused boy keep an ear to the faint voice within that might just be his true calling, this film will have been worth every dollar spent in its making. A truly uplifting film.

Review completed by Orson5 on IMDB, Directed by Stephen Daldry

Hannah Sell

"M" - Film Review - Matt Bull

2010-02-04T11:06:00.012Z

"M" is a cinematic masterpiece of visual drama. The stunning performances define the careers of exceptional actors such as Peter Lorre and Gustaf Grundgens. Director Fritz Lang gives depth and dimension to his production by distinctly capturing the ecstasy of the film's many characters and focusing accurately on individual situations. This is an intriguing journey into the mind of a psychotic child murderer, blending terror, complexity, and malignity in one amazing motion picture.

Screenwriters Paul Falkenburg and Adlof Jansen construct the characters of "M" with distinctive personalities and three dimensional emotions. Many lesser filmmakers give their characters no creativity outside the confines of the script. In this movie each individual character has a mind of their own; they are free to roam the landscape of a inviting atmosphere.

Fabricating such an impressive atmosphere is some of the best cinematography and lighting effects that I can remember watching. This resplendent component creates the film's terrific moody ambiance. Suspense is one thing "M" contains in full context. The movie's third act is sheer peak-high tension.

Shot in black and white, "M" stars Peter Lorre as Peter-Hans Beckert, an extremely disturbed child murderer in the process of wreaking havoc on a neighborhood. Parents everywhere are living in fear of their children being kidnapped and abruptly annihilated.

This picture contains a brilliantly crafted setup. The visual setting creates a strongly developed opening. Every scene works to either complicate the initial problem or propels the story through a firm narrative through line.

The film captures the chaos of the town in terror perfectly. "M" is more about the results of a serial killer than an actual serial killer. Never do we directly witness a murder; the violent encounters are implied. This method of film making perhaps makes the movie's impact even greater. With an creative perspective through a third person point of view, the filmmakers repeatedly give us examples of a solid structure through characters and occurrences.

"M" offers a unforgettable, challenging performance by Peter Lorre. This extraordinary actor is tormenting and disturbing without embracing in extreme violent conduct. He perspires with momentum and rapture. This productions closing scenes are so deeply penetrating they entirely captivate the viewer. Isn't this what movies are supposed to do?

Review Completed by an IMDb user Blake French, Directed by Fritz Lang

Matt Bull

'Se7en' - Film Review - Gareth Allen

2010-02-04T11:06:00.011Z

Seldom does a film elucidate the culpability of our culture,of our society, in the mayhem and madness we often find in everyday life. According to Se7en, our culture is drifting through darkness. The mouthpiece for this thematic undercurrent is Somerset, a literate man who also happens to be a detective, a man who can read a clue ("This isn't going to be a happy ending") or Dante's Inferno with equal aplomb. He even provides the film's final thematic statement with a quote from Hemingway. His quirkiness, perhaps the outgrowth of a brilliant mind, is no worse than that of any prophet or seer of old, those harbingers of Biblical insight whom others always find kooky and offbeat. He is not well loved for his cynical, pessimistic outlook (such that his consuming motivation is to retire and get out of town). However, by the end it becomes clear that it is Somerset who sees our dark world with the prophet's particular clarity. (It is left to his partner Mills to find this out the hard way).

Working on us to reinforce this world as Somerset sees it is the film's astounding mise-en-scene, a disturbing film-noir setting developed by director David Fincher and cinematographer Darius Khondji. Flashlights barely illuminate the slimy walls of the roach-infested tenement of one victim and the dark bedroom of another. Rain pours down in buckets. Bird's-eye-view shots of downtown (the city is never named- a generic, everyman's kind of place) show dingy, sooty rooftops and grimy streets. Only the film's closing scene is in bright sunlight, which by then only serves as ironic counterpoint to what we see happening.

This is Somerset's vision; both inhabited and described by him. He finds a surprising fellow traveler in, not his partner, but the elusive killer John Doe. Doe shares the vision and provides an unsettling echo to the rumblings and teachings of Somerset. If one looks at life through the Somerset lens, one must admit that John Doe has a valid point. He and Somerset have arrived at the same conclusion, the difference between them being how they have responded. (Somerset longs to escape to some otherworldly realm in the country. Doe has taken action.)

Though gripping and fast moving, this is not an action film. It holds our interest through the workings of horror and mystery: a stark, film-noir detective piece. Except for one tense pursuit through halls and alleys in pouring rain, as well as the bit of ending action, there is surprisingly little violence. We see each murder, save two, after the fact, as a crime scene. This only makes the final act that much more suspenseful.

This is a very tight film. Elements within: dialogue, actions, lighting, setting, all of these tend to reinforce one another to paint a solid picture. It is a perverse logic that makes the final and seventh sin complete perfectly the circle of events begun with the first.

This is the film review that an IMDB member wrote (John Pevoto) for the film 'Se7en' by David Fincher.

Gareth Allen

"This Is England" film review - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-02-04T10:36:00.000Z

Plot
July, 1983. School’s out and 12 year-old Shaun (Turgoose) falls in with an amiable gang of skinheads and mods. Then National Front nut Combo (Graham) arrives on the scene, and being a little skinhead suddenly becomes far more than a fashion statement...

Review

Opening with a channel-hop montage that flips between images of Roland Rat, Knight Rider and one-time aerobics doyenne the Green Goddess, the first few seconds of This Is England suggest that Shane Meadows’ latest is just another exercise in first-base ’80s nostalgia and cultural-reference cheapshots. But then the hopper’s finger rests briefly at some distressing footage from the Falklands War before settling on shots of National Front marches and sneering skinheads. This isn’t a movie about nostalgia, Meadows makes clear. This is the ’80s as painful memory.

It's an era of pebble-dashed terraces, mushy-pea-green woodchip wallpaper and illiterate racist graffiti. Much like the ’80s we saw in Alan Clarke’s pugilistic social-realist cinema, and Meadows’ latest certainly owes something to Clarke’s Made In Britain. But, crucially, it owes more to Meadows’ childhood — specifically one life-changing event — and it’s this that powers This Is England’s bruising emotional impact.

If it has one weakness, it’s that the same event has influenced Meadows’ previous work; if you’ve seen the curiously neglected A Room For Romeo Brass or the chilling Dead Man’s Shoes, you’ll quickly sense where This Is England is going way before Meadows’ deft tweaking of the tension provides its own signpost. His work is preoccupied by weak-centred bullies — idiosyncratically charismatic personalities who elbow their way into his protagonists’ lives under the cover of friendship and unsettle the status quo; and This Is England utterly conforms to the blueprint.

Yet such predictability is superseded by the sheer quality of the performances. As thin-lipped, bulldoggish boot-boy Combo, Stephen Graham (Snatch, Gangs Of New York) joins Tim Roth and Russell Crowe as actors who’ve turned what should be purely hateable racist thugs into complex signature performances. Then there’s newcomer Thomas Turgoose, who, through intense workshopping, has moulded the character of Shaun through as much his own experience as Meadows’. Pinch-faced and awkward but brimming with prepubescent swagger, he’s the film’s shining core and we’ll be amazed if you see a better, more naturalistic child performance this year.

Verdict

Deeply impressive, as both a recreation of ’80s working-class England and an intimate tale of one childhood’s brutal end.

This was a film review from Empires' film reviews online.
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?DVDID=117705
By Chloe McGlinchey

Title Ideas & Colour Scemes for Poster/Review - Matt Bull

2010-02-03T15:40:00.002Z

These are our initial ideas for the title and colour scheme for our short film. We have not made a final decision on which yet, but will decide once the group have got together and discussed which is best for the use in the film, on the posters, and magazine reviews.

Matt Bull

Film walk through and planning - Hannah Sell and Chloe McGlinchey

2010-02-01T12:50:00.005Z

On the 02/02/2010, we have planned to go down to our location and do a walk through of shots that we wanted to include, and take out or add new shots we think may work. We will also work out our angles and camera shots, with this we will take photos so this can give us a brief reminder of what we wanted to do.

Genre Research - Matt Bull & Gareth Allen

2010-02-01T12:20:00.005Z

Thriller:

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television that includes numerous and often overlapping sub-genres. Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains.
If the genre is to be defined strictly, a genuine thriller is a film that relentlessly pursues a single-minded goal - to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the main character(s) is placed in a menacing situation or mystery, or an escape or dangerous mission from which escape seems impossible. Life itself is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces - the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy.

Top 5 Thriller Films:

The Godfather (1972) - Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
The Godfather Pt II (1974) - Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Pulp Fiction (1994) - Dir. Quentin Tarantino
The Dark Knight (2008) - Dir. Christopher Nolan
Rear Window (1954) - Dir. Alfred Hitchcock

Social Realism:

Social Realism is normally expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through obvious pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic.
"Better than any other genre, social realism has shown us to ourselves, pushing the boundaries in the effort to put the experiences of real Britons on the screen, and shaping our ideas of what British cinema can be. While our cinema has experienced all the fluctuations in fortune of Hollywood's first export territory, realism has been Britain's richest gift to world cinema." Richard Armstrong

Top 5 Social Realism Films:

Last Resort (2000) - Dir. Pawel Pawlikowski
Burning An Illusion (1981) - Dir. Menelik Shabazz
Life Is Sweek (1990) - Dir. Mike Leigh
My Childhood (1972) - Dir. Bill Douglas
Rita, Sue & Bob Too (1986) - Dir. Alan Clarke

The reason why we have chosen these two genres to be incorporated in our film due to the aspect that both have areas in which our film is based on. Giving it suspense and tension as well as being in a real life situation.

Matt Bull & Gareth Allen

Thoughts for Film title - Hannah Sell & Chloe McGlinchey

2010-02-01T12:16:00.006Z

As a group we thought we would go for a one word film title as we thought it may be more effective. We came up with a few ideas; going from the help of everyday words then using a thesaurus to find a more in depth meaning to the word and using that.
Here is a list of our ideas:

Oneirology
Dillusion
Disambiguation
Hypnopomic
Paresthesia
Somnipathy
Narcolepsy
Parasomnia
Insomnia

After a heated group discussion 3/4 of our group agreed on to call the film "Narcolepsy" however one member (Gareth Allen) disagreed as he wanted to call it "Disambiguation". After talking to him and asking for pros and cons for this name, he did in fact come to the agreement to call this short film "Narcolepsy".

We have decided to rethink our title and keep it to something simple. After a group rethink we have decided to change out title to thr3e. We have decided to call it this as three significant event happen to our main character in our film he also sees three figures in the scrap yard.

Planning Deadline Feedback

2010-01-28T10:30:00.002Z

Storyboard

2010-01-26T19:07:00.014Z

This is our storyboard that we created. This has also been uploaded onto Youtube but we also thought that it would be more helpful if we could look at each shot clearly without looking through the animatic that we created.

Storyboard Animatic

2010-01-26T17:20:00.003Z

Sorry its of a bad quality...

Lighting & Sound Decisions

2010-01-25T12:21:00.005Z

Lighting:
We will be using mainly natural lighting in our film due to it being set at dusk/night to add to our genre chosen (thriller/horror). We are using some additional lighting in areas, and we will hire/rent lighting equipment to help emphasise some areas of the filming where light can help define the characters.
Sound/Dialogue:
We have chosen to keep dialogue in our film to a minimum to add to the sense of tension to the thriller/horror genre we chose. We have included a script for our radio programme to play whilst our main character is driving due to licences for radio play in the film would be quite difficult to achieve.
We will also use Foley sounds to add some detail to aspects of the filming that may be lost due to background noise.
We have also chosen to include a soundtrack to the end of the film. We have no initial ideas at this moment in time about what it will sound like, but when we get to it, we'll make a decision.

Radio Transcript - Gareth Allen

2010-01-22T09:59:00.004Z

This is the radio transcript that we will have playing whilst the character is driving their car home from university. This will be played from the beggining of the film.

Gareth - Hello and welcome to this special edition of the Spencer Sector Show on Ninja 103.9 FM with me Phil Spencer. I’m with you till 10 for 3 hours of your questions and queries for our expert analyser on this week’s topic. Tonight’s show is all about driving and the risks that people face every day with driving. You can call us at any time through this show on 01293 354109 or you can text us on 84321. Our expert for tonight’s show is Dr Kirstie Allsopp who is a member of West Sussex County Council in the transport department. Hello Kirstie.

Chloe - Hello Phil

Gareth - So Kirstie can you tell us some of the more dangerous and common risks that people face everyday with driving.

Chloe - Well Phil, the main risk that people face these days is the tiredness at the wheel of the car. People find that they don’t feel tired when they really are. This increases the risk of crashing and falling asleep at the wheel. Over the past 10 years on the A23, there have been no less than 27 incidents where people have fallen asleep at the wheel. We are hoping that this number will decrease in the next few years and end up having no incidents.

Gareth - Well thank you Kirstie and I’m sure that’s not the last thing we will hear from you tonight. Well don’t be afraid to get in contact with us tonight like I said the number is 01293 354109. We will be taking your calls after this record.

Synopsis - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-01-21T12:14:00.003Z

A thriller where a teenage boy is driving on his way home from a long journey; begins to fall asleep at the wheel. As he begins to hallucinate, his dreams become an extension to his vivid imagination. As our character (Matt) thinks he see's someone sitting in his back passenger seat, he then turns around to see if there is in fact anyone there, as he does so there turns out to be no one there. He then turns to carry on driving, however he then sights a figure standing right in front of his car. He stops and gets out of the car, as he does so the mysterious person running towards the scrapyard and immediately chases after him. Almost automatically an eerie atmosphere approaches, as he thinks he can see several figures, he starts to back away and then walks fairly briskly back to his car, thinking he feels someone tap him on the back, he stops in his steps only to turn round and see no one is there. He stays deadly still. After this a car horn is heard as the character begins to awaken there are flashing lights coming towards him.
THE END

Chloe McGlinchey

Location, Location, Location - Hannah Sell

2010-01-21T10:42:00.005Z

Billy Bridges (Scrapyard) - http://www.gwbridges.co.uk/spares.html

Brainstorming...

2010-01-19T19:44:00.005Z

Brainstorming of ideas for our Short Film:

We have assigned roles for the production of the film to the following:

Matt Bull - Blog Administrator, Actor, Editor

Gareth Allen - Equipment Technician/Provider, Actor, Editor

Hannah Sell - Lighting, Camera Operator, Producer, Photographer, Editor

Chloe McGlinchey - Camera Operator, Photographer, Director, Editor, Location Manager

Discussion:

Matt Bull 07 January 21:28

Hey guys! Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts of ideas for our media coursework?

Hannah Sell 07 January 21:34

Me and Chloe have got the best idea!

Gareth Allen 07 January 21:56

I'm not sure? I thought that it would probably be best doing a thriller or horror?

Hannah Sell 08 January 10:37

Yeah, that is what we were thinking, maybe like a mixture of both thriller and horror.

Chloe McGlinchey 08 January 10:42

Oh and I have somewhere we may be able to film! :D

Matt Bull 08 January 17:33

What is your idea then? I'm personally finding it hard to think of anything...

Hannah Sell 09 January 18:28

Basically Chloe knows the owner of the scrapyard in Crawley so we could set it there? We have an idea to base it around...

Chloe's Feedback

2010-01-19T15:40:00.004Z

Un Prophete - A Prophet

"Set largely within prison walls, the film details the prison career of Malik el Djebena (Tahar Rahim), a 19-year-old man of North African origin but estranged from the Muslim community. Sentenced to six years for what appears to be violence against police (albeit denied by Malik), he is chosen by Cesar Luciani (Niels Arestrup), feared kingpin of the prisons reigning Corsican gang, to kill a prisoner named Reyeb (Hichem Yacoubi) who initially offers Malik drugs in exchange for sex. Malik commits the bloody murder, and thanks to Luciani's near-total control of the prisons internal workings - gets off scot-free. This makes him a lieutenant in the prisons Corsican gang, initially entrusted only with menial duties and disparaged as an Arab outsider.

Haunted by visions of a ghostly Reyeb, and determined to get on, the illiterate Malik not only learns to read, but teaches himself Corsican, surreptitiously learning the ins and outs of Luciani's business. Another inmate, Ryad (Adel Bencherif), becomes Malik's friend, later his ally on the outside. When Luciani arranges periods of leave for Malik, entrusting him with various criminal missions, Malik takes the opportunity to do some business of his own, setting up a drugs trade with Ryad's aid. Life gets increasingly dangerous for Malik, both inside and outside prison walls, but he seems partly through Reyeb's benign, unearthly influence - to lead a charmed life. Powers of prophecy are attributed to him after surviving a bizarre car crash an incident presaged in an enigmatic fantasy sequence. "

Hannah's Feedback

2010-01-19T15:40:00.001Z

Matt's Feedback

2010-01-19T15:39:00.004Z

Gareth's Feedback

2010-01-19T15:39:00.003Z

'Bullet Boy' - Gareth Allen

2010-01-19T14:49:00.000Z

This film seems to have the genre of social realism. The reason why I think this is because, they use an urban area during most of the film. The story itself is about crime and violence between different gangs in an urban area, presumably London. The characters in this film are Afro Caribbean and it is set in their community.

This film seems to try and mix the genre of social realism in with some thriller aspects. This is done briefly at different points of the film. The main part where you can tell that they try and introduce thriller aspects to is when the two boys are playing hide and seek in the woods. Curtis is holding the gun and looking for Rio in the woods. Whilst Rio is hiding, they use a lot of quick cuts to increase the pace that the film is going at. They also only show you Curtis untill it is just before Rio jumps out at him. At this point where they are using a lot of quick cuts, the audience can tell that something is going to happen, but they are unaware of what it is going to be. This is good as it is building up the tension that there is already, and are making the audience pay close attention to the film.

Throughout the film, they use a mixture of diegetic sounds and non diegetic sounds. This i think is done well mixing the two together. I do think however that if they used just diegetic sounds throughout the film, then it would seem to be more realistic. However, the non diegetic music is used to create different effects (sadness, tension). They also use non diegetic sounds to fill over establishing shots that they use of the green outside Curtis' house. They don't use silence in this film very much which would be why it isn't a thriller film.

Gareth Allen

'London to Brighton' - Gareth Allen

2010-01-19T14:34:00.002Z

London to Brighton

This film I think, is a very good film that uses the genres of social realism and the genre of thriller. They use these two to coincide with each other during the film, which makes this film one of many 'glued to your seat' films.

One reason why I think that this is a very good film is because they use timings in this film to great effect. They use flashbacks during the film which gives the audience knowledge of what has happened in the past few hours. For the first of the two flashbacks that we see, it goes from Kellie sitting on the beach looking out into the ocean, to using a cut to her in an urban area walking down a street. At first the audience don't realise that it is a flashback, but once you see a close up of her face (she doesn't have a bruise on her eye) then they know that it is before this has happened. At the next flashback, you see Kellie with Joanne being held at gunpoint, to using a cut to seeing car lights on a road. Both of these times are times when it seems as though Kellie is reflecting on what she has got herself, and Joanne into. These flashbacks I think are good as, you are seeing the story of the film in the real time, but you are also seeing the story of what has happened the night before.

The thriller aspect of this film is also done very well. They do a lot of scenes in this film where you know what has happened, but you haven't seen this happen. During the second flashback you hear Joanee screaming after she has been taken upstairs. Once Kellie has gone in and seen if she is ok, you hear noises such as punches being thrown about. This is while the camera is fixed on the door that Kellie has just walked in so the audience don't see what is happening, but we can hear everything.

The sounds that you hear in the film are genrally all diegetic sounds. This is giving the audience the realism of the sounds that the characters in the film are hearing. The one time where the sounds are non diegetic is when there are the two cars driving to the farm. The audience are unaware of where they are going or what is going to happen once they get to where they are going, which is why they will have put non diegetic sounds in here. The sounds you hear are eeire and it's a slow pace to the track. This I think is the perfect time to be putting music into a social realism film. This is so that you can hear the same diegetic sounds that the characters are hearing throughout the film.

Gareth Allen

"Wasp" - Funding & Promotion - Matt Bull

2010-01-18T18:01:00.002Z

Funding:

UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund (Lottery Funding)
The ‘Cinema Extreme’ short film scheme co-financed by the UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund and Film Four. The scheme was created in 2002 to encourage and develop directors with a distinctive directorial voice and cinematic flair.
The project received a total production budget of £53,250, fifty per cent of this amount was awarded by the New Cinema Fund and the remainder by FilmFour. Additional funds were made available by the UK Film Council to clear music rights and promote the film at international festivals.
The film was shot in and around Dartford, Kent. The ‘Cinema Extreme’ scheme is open to film-makers and production companies based in the UK.
The completed film has enjoyed enormous critical success and won 36 awards at international film festivals, including the 2005 Oscar® for Best Live Action Short Film.

It has firmly established director Andrea Arnold as one of the most interesting up-and-coming directing talents from the UK. At its premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival the film attracted the interest of Denmark’s Zentropa and Scotland’s Sigma Films who subsequently commissioned Andrea to work on her debut feature ‘Advance Party’.

‘Wasp’ also helped to launch the career of Nathalie Press who stars in the film as Zoe. Nathalie has since drawn huge acclaim for her role in ‘My Summer of Love’, stars in Martha Fiennes’ ‘Chromophobia’ and is appearing in the BBC’s ‘Bleak House’.

Promotion:

Director Andrea Arnold's "Wasp," a film about an encounter between a single mother and an old flame, won the Best of the Festival Award — carrying a $2,000 prize — at the 2004 Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films & Short Film Market.

Festival organizers said the seven-day event, described as the largest short film festival and market in North America, screened more than 300 short films, drawn from 2,000 submissions, and attracted 2,600 industry representatives, film-makers and media from around the world.

Matt Bull

"Mix Tape" - Funding/Review/Promotion - Gareth Allen

2010-01-18T15:13:00.006Z

'Mix Tape'

Luke Snellin was awarded the Grand Prize by host Johnny Vaughan at the awards ceremony where his film triumphed over more than 2,000 competition entries. His film was chosen from a short-list of 12 by a prestigious panel of film industry experts including Oscar-winning stage and screen actor Kevin Spacey, Bond girl Gemma Arterton and BAFTA Rising Star award winner Noel Clarke.

As the Grand Prize winner, Luke received £30,000 funding towards his next film from Virgin Media and the UK Film Council, as well as nationwide exposure to millions of people across the country. Each of the 12 short-listed films are currently being shown on over 200 cinema screens across the UK for a year, as well as on Virgin Media's TV on demand service and, on the Virgin1 channel.

Gareth Allen

Research Tasks - "I Am Bob" - Matt Bull

2010-01-18T14:37:00.004Z

"I AM BOB" (click to view)

This short film is a comedy based film, with an aspect of social realism within the story as well. The social realism is shown by the unfortunate circumstance that he (Bob Geldof) is left behind at a pub in the north. Seeking help, he meets others that treat him in the same way as a general member of the public.
I like the way in which this film is almost predictable from the events that have happened, and the ones that are going to happen. This adds to the realism of it, and how it could, and probably has happened to some celebrities.
Using the short film format, the storyline is told in real time adding the sense of realism. Being just under 20 minutes long, these events are likely to happen in that amount of time, resulting in no changes in the pace the story is told, because it is already.
Sound is used in no special way, but used in a realistic way of the chatter of other residents to the pub he enters, and the music coming form the lookalike competition. With no use of a soundtrack, or non-diegetic sound, it allows the film to be like someone has just recorded the situation as a "home movie".
On his way to a Make Poverty History gig in Scotland, Bob Geldof is accidentally stranded by an incompetent chauffeur in a run-down motel in Northern England. To his horror, he discovers a lookalike contest is taking place, and no-one will believe he is the real Bob Geldof. Just when he thinks things can't get any worse, he discovers he may not be the only Bob Geldof in the room...

Director & Writer: Donald Rice

Production Company: Clockwork Pictures

Filming Location: Hammersmith Working Men's Club, Hammersmith, London

Cast:

Bob Geldof - Bob Geldof

David Bamber - Bob Geldof Lookalike

Brian Conley - The Compare

Claire Rushbrook - Barlady

Maxine Peake - Marilyn Monroe

Matt Bull

Research Tasks - "Soft" - Matt Bull

2010-01-18T12:29:00.001Z

"SOFT" (click to view)

This film is a drama short, experiencing the life of a father and his son going through the same problems, and the son taking the responsibility.
Although a drama film, social realism plays it part in the film being the life of a character, re-living the experience with his own son and brings back many emotions and leads to a psychological breakdown.
Using the short film format, the director/writer was able to condense a life long problem into a 14 minute short covering every aspect of the story to enough extent for the audience to understand his feelings and emotions.
As with many of the other films I have chosen to study, the sounds used in the film are all from the surroundings of the setting adding to the realism of the true storyline.
A father ("Ian" played by Jonathan Philips of his own story) has a problem with raising his son the way he learns to fight for himself, father who is not able to confront, to stand up even for himself. Being attacked and humiliated by the same street gang, they are both scared. For a boy, it is natural to get terrified by older and violent kids, but the father seems even more frightened. Since his father is too weak (soft), the boy takes the role/responsibility of an adult.

Director & Writer: Simon Ellis

Film Company: BUB

Genre: Short | Drama

Cast:

Jonathan Philips - Ian (as Jonny Philips)

Matthew O'Shea - Scott

Michael Socha - ASBO

Ashley Marshall - Gang Member

Matt Bull

Research Tasks - "Connecting" - Gareth Allen

2010-01-17T17:24:00.002Z

Connecting

The genre for this short film I think is social realism and drama. The reason for this is because, it is set on an overcrowded bus that people will get on in their day-to-day lives. You see how people are just minding their own business by listening to music or talking on their phones. The audience are led to believe at one point that the main character, Gaz, looses his cool, and decides that enough is enough on this bus that has stopped. The audience see him hitting people and stamping on mobile phones and holding a gun up at an innocent bus rider. This makes you think that he has done something and is trying to get away from it. We then see that he has just come out of a day dream, and everybody on the bus is looking at him, waiting for him to answer his phone.

The genres of social realism and drama I think have been portrayed very well in this short film. I believe this because, you see Gaz sitting on the bus and feels that things are making him more and more agitated. You see what appears to be what he is seeing at one point where you see the middle of the bus and the camera is getting blurred and zooming in and out of objects. This seems to be something that doesn't seem to be that ludicrously outrageous. It is normal to have an overcrowded bus and to have others on phones while others are around.

This film I think uses the short film format very well. The reason that I think this is because, you see how Gaz is at the start of the film, and then you see how he changes his mood after some mintues with the bus stopped at traffic lights. I also think that it is good how you see what he day dreams he was doing, to stop that phone ringing. Then when you see everybody looking at him, realising that it was his phone that was going off, is a very good way to end this short film. They keep the story going aswell as, when he starts to get more annoyed at everybody, the shots of others on the bus get shorter and quicker cuts start to appear in this film.

The sounds during this film I think are also very good. Mostly throughout the film, the sounds are diegetic with the rain beating down on the bus and the road. You hear also once in the bus, the music that is playing on the boys ipod next to Gaz as if you are listening to it. You hear other peoples phone conversations aswell when they start to have a conversation. Then they blend all of these sounds together so you can hear them all together at once. They do include some non diegetic sounds at points where he is getting more and more annoyed. At this point, the beat of the music is getting quicker and quicker, possibly the same speed as his heart is going.

The themes that seem to be included in this short film seem to be about peoples day to day lives and the realism that people have coming home from work at night. This film seems to position the audience in Gaz's shoes. They do this by letting you hear what different people are like whilst on the phone, and how loud they are. You also see what he is day dreaming at the time, to see what he is thinking about. They also have used a steriotypical boy that sits next to Gaz on the bus. He has his hood up and has his ipod on loud, whilst playing about with his phone. This could be there to show how realistic this short film is meant to be.

I think that this film is targeted at adults who go to work everyday. I think this because, it is just an ordinary bus that is on it's journey one night taking people home. this will appeal to people who make a similar trip to this of the characters on this film because, they will be able to relate to how Gaz is feeling throughout this journey, which will make them enjoy the film more.

Crew
* Director - Dan Turner
* Producer - Craig Lawson
* Editor - David Stirzaker
* Director Of Photoography - Jorge Luengas
Cast
* Gaz - James Midgley
* Businessman - Andy Quine
* Girl - Elspeth Rae
* Townie - Nicky Bell
Funded By
UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund in association with North West Vision under the Digital Shorts scheme
Related Links
Damyan Filmworks site
BritFilms.com profile

Gareth Allen

Research Tasks - "Saltmark" - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-01-17T12:29:00.001Z

Saltmark (Robin Haig, 2008)

* Saltmark is mainly a drama based film, although you do see some social realism coming into it as well. It is a short film about love, courage and growing up.

* This film uses genre/style conventions uniquely because of the simplicity of the film and the subtleness of the way it has been directed. The relationships of the people that are in the film both conflict yet work together very well, as "Rowan" has been looking after her Granddad yet you can see by her facial expressions that sometimes she does not want to be there and feels embarrassed where as other times she sees the funnier side of the incidents and goes back to her Granddad.

* The film uses short format exceptionally well, you can see the bond between the Granddad and his Granddaughter. As well as feeling a little sorry for "Rowan" you also think that she may take life for granted as she spends time with her granddad, he wont be there forever. The relationship between the two characters do not seem obvious at first, although you do not know their related during the whole film, at points in the film you can see that "Rowan" feels uncomfortable and embarrassed. I was inspired between the characters relationship the way they acted towards others and themselves.

* The sound i thought intertwined with the piece very well as it was completely a diegetic soundings. The sounds of everyday life, the sea, seagulls, chip shop and the simple yet effective pieces of small dialogue. The characters and in their comfort zone as they are surrounded by their home life.

* The audience has been positioned in a way which makes you feel like you are a fly on a wall. Or almost a reality TV show as the characters haven't reacted with the fact a camera is there and are acting completely normal.

Chloe McGlinchey

Research Tasks - "Slap" - Gareth Allen

2010-01-17T12:25:00.001Z

Slap

In this short film, I beleive that the genre for this is a drama peice along with a social realistic short film. The reason that I think that the genre for this social realism is because, the film is about how a husband treats his wife badly and hits her. You can tell this from the film because, at the start of the film, you hear the sounds of a slapping noise on someone. You then see a woman who is holding her face and looks in pain and also in thought. At one point in the film, you see her standing over the sink with blood coming from her mouth. The audience are led to believe that this was done to her by her husband. It is also a drama piece I think because, you sometimes see her reaction after getting hit in the face by her husband. The two genres that there are in this film are in here because, this is an issue that happens to some people in the world today, and this film shows the truth about what it is like, which is giving the audience the knowledge of what it is like for this wide.

I think that it uses the social realism genre along with the drama genre well during this short film. I think this because, you see what the wife has to put up with from her husband and it shows you the truth about what might happen behind closed doors. The two genres work well together as they show the reality of what is happening in this short film, and the audience find that they are on the side of the wife, as we see what she has been through in the past.

This film uses the short film format by seeing what the wife is thinking about during the film. You see what her thoughts are while she is holding her face, to other horrors that have happened to her because of her husband. You see her also walking away from her husband while he is having a coughing fit on the floor. You also see her walking around, as a free woman, enjoying the countryside. Then you hear coughing again and she is back in the room with her husband. This is good for the short format of the film as you follow the wife during the film, and see what she is thinking about at the times, which shows us her prospective of the marriage.

The sounds during this short film I think are done very well. The main sounds during the film are diegetic sounds. You can hear the slapping noise at the start of the film, and later in the film you hear the wife crying in her bed. You also hear the coughing fit that her husband has at one point in the film. This is the changing point of the film as she then feels as there has been a power shift in this relationship. You hear him coughing for a while during the rest of the film untill you hear another slapping noise. But this time, you see the wife walking over to the husband who is on the floor, and see her figure slapping him. This I think is good as it starts the film with the same sound that you hear at the end of the film, espeically a sound that is as commonly known as a slap.

The themes of the film seem to be about a bad relationship that is occuring with this wife and husband. It is also about how some men hit their wives, and it shows you how the woman actually feels during this film. Even though you don't hear her say anything, you see her facial expression which tell you how she feels about everything. You don't see her husbands face through this film. The reason for this could be because, the director wants you to be on the side of the woman during this relationship and see things from her side.

I think that this short film is targeted to females and possibly males between the ages of 20 and 40. I think this because, the couple in the relationship are married so this will feel more relevant to the audience if they are in the same position as they are. I think it would appeal more to females because, you see the film from her point of view, which will make the females possibly feel as though they are in her shoes so they can relate to her a lot more than the male in this marriage. This will also appeal to males because, it shows them the truth of how this sort of thing affects women and they will respond to this.

Gareth Allen

Research Tasks - "Fade To Black" - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-01-17T10:29:00.001Z

Fade to Black (Gary Martin, 2004)

* The genre of "Fade to Black" I have believed to have identified as a comedy. Dumped and heartbroken, Emma decides cosmetic surgery is the only way to win her ex-boyfriend back.

* The film uses the genre/style uniquely as it is basically just Emma recording her thoughts and feelings about her ex-boyfriend Sean. She explains to the camera how she feels about her ex having a new girlfriend, because she is obviously a typically jealous ex girlfriend who hasn't got over her "first love". Throughout the film she says how she is looking into liposuction. However in the end she decides to go through the procedure herself with a craft knife and a hoover.

* The use of sound throughout the piece is simply dialogue, the only other sounds you here is when Emma is using a hair dryer to dry her hair. If I was to extend any of the ideas myself then I would possibly look into the works of using simply diegetic sounds and only at the opening and closing of the film I would choose to use music.

* It's like Emma is talking to the audience about her ex, making the audience feel they are there with her in the room. She makes the film seem like people from the audience; male or female can relate to her "problems" about her ex.

Chloe McGlinchey

Research Tasks - "Cherries" - Gareth Allen

2010-01-16T17:20:00.003Z

Cherries

This short film's genre seems to be a mixture of social realism and drama. I think that it uses social realism in this film by the way that it shows how the boys are at break, when they are chatting with mates and then a fight starts. This is possibly what happens on a day to day basis at this school. You see the classroom as well, where they are all talking away at the start of the lesson and being oblivious to the teacher being there. The genre for this film also seems to be drama. I think that this is the case because, you see one of the boys, James, and his emotions get the better of him when they are signing up to go into the army training and he starts to cry. You also have another one of the boys, Clint, who runs away from it all, presumably trying to get away from the fact that they are trying to get him to possibly go to war.

This short film I think uses the two genres of social realism and drama well in this piece. I think this because, you see how they are all affected differently with their emotions and how they deal with these by the fact that they may be in the war, Clint runs away from it all whilst James crys about it. I think that these two genres were mixed best in the classroom scene during the middle of this short film. I think this because, you see how they normally act during lessons at the start where they don't pay much attention to the teacher. Once they have read their letters though, their emotions take over them and they are curious to want to know if this is true or not and if they are having to go out and fight in the war. You also see how their teacher doesn't want to tell his students this information as he possibly will know how some of them might react to being told this information. He tells the headteacher that he can't do it, and you see at the start of the classroom scene, he is sitting their contemplating how he is going to tell them this news.

This film uses the short film format by using a lot of quick cuts during specific scenes. This I think works well as it increases the pace of the film and makes the audience sit on the edge of their seat wondering what is going to happen. They use quick cuts when the students have opened their letters and are showing the audience what information there is on the letters. You can see that they use quick cuts to show them the important parts of the letter to show how it isn't a joke, the address of the student and the army number. You also see quick cuts while they are watching the film. This will have been done to show how they are all feeling emotionally as you see close ups of their facial expressions. You also see the camera shaking while Clint is running on the grass outside of the school. He is on the run so they might have made the camera shake so that you feel you are seeing him there and are running along with him.
The sounds in this film are mostly diegetic. This is to show the realism that there is in this situation. Throughout the film you hear things that can normally be heard at schools, school bell, swearing, fighting etc. You hear the boys speaking in a lot of slang throughout this film so this suggests that the film could be set in an urban area in London. You do hear some non diegetic sounds however at the beggining of the film and the ending of the film. You hear the soundtrack at the start, which has words in it about running late for school (this is probably done because you see Clint running around in school uniform, presumably to his school). The non diegetic sounds that you hear at the end of the film are piano keys that are getting played. They are at first played quite quickly and close to each other. But as the scene moves on, they get further and further apart, and they are being played in a sad tone. This will be because they are signing themselves up to the army training, when most of them don't actually want to do it.
The themes and issues of this film are quite clear. The main theme is about the war that is happening at this time. The storyline is set on the war, and it is a key part of the film. Most of the talk in the film has something to do with the war and fighting. This film shows the current affairs that are happening across the world, giving it a lot of social realistic points. The students at this school all seem to be willing to get into fights however. This is in contrast with how they feel about fighting people the other side of the world, and possibly being killed fighting them. I think that this is a good contrast in the film as it shows at the start they are willing to fight each other on the playground, but when it comes to death being involved, none of them want to take that risk.

I think that the target audience for this short film is boys between 15 and 18. The reason that they will have targeted this age group is because, this could happen in the real world of today. This will have been why they have used boys from school who are 16, to show them how serious the war is. This will make the boys that are watching this as the audience realise what is happening, and that they could go through the same experience as these boys are. This will make them think and possibly be grateful for the life they have at the moment, and make them realise how lucky they are to not be fighting at the moment. Thye have done this well in the film I believe because, you can see the shock on the boys faces when they read their letters, which is presumably what the audience feels like as well, especially if they are the same age as these boys.

I think that there are parts of this film that are interesting in the way they have created the atmosphere in the scene. I think they have done this with the class all watching a film at the same time. They have done this scene well I think because, you see close ups of all of the students in the class, and see how they are reacting to this film they are being shown. They use the transition of a cut to go between shots, but they use quick cuts, so you see more of the students faces at this time. This I think would go well in our short film. The reason I think that quick cuts would look good in our short film is because, it can change the pace of the film and make the audience wonder what is happening, depending on what you are showing them.

Crew
* Director - Tom Harper
* Producer - Lisa Williams
* Writer - Fiona Kissane
* Editor - Mark Eckersley
* Director Of Photoography - Jakob Ihre
* Music - Jack Arnold
Cast
* Mr O'Brien - Niel Dudgeon
* Robin - Benjamin Smith
* James - Alfie Allen
* Clint - Omari Carter
* Headmaster - Sam Spruell
Funded By
Film London and UK Film Council Digital Shorts Plus
Related Links
UK Film Council site
Film London site

Gareth Allen

Research Tasks - "Scene 26" - Gareth Allen

2010-01-16T12:23:00.002Z

Scene 26

This short film seems to have the genre of drama and thriller. The reason that I think this is a drama piece is because, you are seeing the man on the floor being all tied up with a tube in his mouth. This deals with emotional themes as he doesn't know how he got there. You also hear a ticking noise coming from a briefcase under the bed. This is suggesting that there is a bomb in this and he is trying to turn it off. I think that this is also a thriller piece as you see somebody's feet dangling in the air in the bathroom. You also see a pool of blood on the floor around the legs, but you don't actually see the body or the persons face. This makes the audience left in the unknown about what has happened and who it has happened to. You also see a little girl come into the room while the man is underneath the bed. You don't know who she is, or what she is doing but she looks at the man for a long time. She steps on his legs, and then starts to jump up and down on the bed that he is underneath.

I feel that this short film has used the two different genres of drama and thriller well together. This is because, you are left in the unknown from the thriller aspects of the film, and are curious about what has happened to the man. You also are wondering at the start of the film what has happened to then man and how did he get to be in that position and who did this to him. These are all questions that the director, Rob Hardy, has wanted the audience to ask themselves while watching this short film.

This short film uses the format where he has a moment where he is left wondering what is going to happen and is day dreaming. You see him laying on the floor outside a hotel room presumably, and he is all tied up. You then see him crawling around the hotel looking for people to possibly help him in the position that he is in. By the end of the film, you see him under a bed with a little girl jumping up and down on the bed. You then suddenly see him back outside the room in the hotel in the position that he was at the start of the film.

The sounds that you hear throughout the film are mainly diegetic sounds. This is good because, you hear what sounds the man that is tied up on the floor is making during his struggle to find people to help him. You don't hear any non diegetic sounds during this short film however, showing how it wants the audience of the film to see what he sees, and make it socially realistic.

The themes and issues of this film are about the horror and misunderstanding that there is shown in this film. You see him lying outside of his hotel room possibly, and is tied up on the floor. You also see a pool of blood on the floor which gives it the horror side to the film.

The target audience for this short film I think is possibly people between the age of 16 and 30. I think this because, it seems to be a horror genre of a film which means that some people will prefer to watch this than others. This is why I feel that this is mostly men are going to want to watch this as they are stereotyped to prefer this film to females.

Crew
* Director - Rob Hardy
* Writer - Rob Hardy
* Producer - Ben Timlett
* Editor - Ben Unwin
* Music - Ron Wright
Cast
* Man - John Rowley
* Girl - Lily Hardy
Related Links
Bill and Ben Productions site
Clermont Film Festival site

Gareth Allen

Research Tasks - "The Black Hole" - Matt Bull

2010-01-16T10:37:00.002Z

"THE BLACK HOLE" (click to view)

This short film is mainly a drama based film, with the aspect of comedy thrown in as well, to see the funny side of the events that the main character goes through. Set in a empty work office, and all alone it adds to the mysterious side of the film, but identifies how the worker in which we see does not like his job.
The comedy side of this film is used very cleverly to show that is someone was given a way of getting things that he wants, he will take it, releasing the greed of a human. The audience know that in that same situation their need for things with the help of something that can get you that is too hard to resist.
"The Black Hole" is a short and deep tale of greed of human nature. It is impressive how the writers and directors Philip Sansom and Olly Williams were able to make a short of less than 3 minutes running time without any line and succeed in transmitting one of the seven deadly sins ( "Greed") so perfectly and with right dose of humour.
The use of sound is limited to emphasise the loneliness of the character to which we know, only hearing what he is doing (photocopying, eating, drinking). This makes the film feel more tense as it keeps the audience guessing what any consequence may be from his actions, or just what is going to happen next.
The room is atmospherically lit with the sodium glow of florescent lighting and we get a real sense of repetition, monotony and a man who is completely bored with his job - on the edge of quitting but with nowhere else to go. Without warning the copier begins to shake and make strange noises, the scanner flashes repeating over and over, but nothing is coming out of the printer.

Matt Bull

Research Tasks - "Lou Lou Lives Here" - Hannah Sell

2010-01-15T16:32:00.002Z

Lou Lou Lives Here (Grain 2003)
1. Physiological thriller genre- this film concentrates more on the restricted narration putting it in the phycollogicall thriller genre this is because the film makes the audience feel on edge whcih traditional physiological thrillers do.

2. This film uses a unique style by being edited in black and white and creating an unsettling feeling for the audience as they are not sure what is going on. Also the visual effects create an unsettling atmosphere along with the graininess of the picture creating a unique style for this film.

3. This film uses the short film format by using restricted narration. The audience is not entirely sure as to what is happening as we are not told what is happening in the film. The use of quick cuts and faced paced shots helps with this keeping the audience interested in the film.

4. The use of sound is interesting in this film as no dialouge is used apaer from lou lou. This gives the audence no verbal understanding of the film. The only sounds that are used is non diagetic sound to set the scene like the helicopter and the van.

5. i have identified this film to be about either a little girl thinks she is a dog, the dog thinks it is human or the girl turns into a dog. The audience would identify it as the girl turns into a dog as it starts as a girl then ends as a dog. I personally think the film is about a dog thinking it is human as at the start the girl shows animal tenancies and the whole thing with the van stopping because she is in the road like it was an animal in the road. Also there is alot of flashing between human and dog images.

Hannah Sell

Research Tasks - "Lou-Lou Lives Here" - Matt Bull

2010-01-15T16:18:00.002Z

"LOU-LOU LIVES HERE" (click to view)

This film is more like a poem than the narratively fixated majority. It creates a unique visual style feel and it contains some disturbing visuals and creates an unsettling tone using the digital technology to good effect.
The photography is black and white and grainy which I suppose is an artistic decision on the part of the director since it is admittedly atmospheric .
Quick cuts between shots give the film pace and tension to keep the audience interested on the main character and what is going to happen to her.
There is no dialogue from any character, so we don't get a verbal understanding of the standing which makes it harder to work out the aims of the film. The the only sounds in which you hear of are sounds with significance to what is happening. The helicopter, the wind gusts, the van pulling up and the barking/panting of the dog. All of these creates the tension for the film and could possibly suggest that the main character is wanted, hence a helicopter flying overhead and the van trying to catch her.
In my personal opinion, I think the story is about a dog that is called "Lou-Lou", wanted by certain people for reasons we the audience are not sure of. Making the dog into a little girl character makes the audience believe that its about her and maybe she has done something, or something is going to happen? Perhaps the director/writer wanted to make the dog into a female character to show sympathy towards the dog by giving it a human connection with the audience. With the director not making any comment on the film, it is very hard to work out exactly what the film is about.

Matt Bull

Research Tasks - "Lou Lou Lives Here" - Gareth Allen

2010-01-15T14:26:00.001Z

Lou Lou Lives Here
This short film the genre seems to be a thriller. The reason that i think that this is a thriller is because, you are in the unknown, through most of the short film and can't answer questions about the film. This short film is presented in black and white colours and set in the countryside, by a forest. This has the makings of a thriller except it isn't filmed at night; which could be why they use black and white through the film. Also within the film,there are points where they make the viewing seem to be distorted and blurred. The reason that they could do this is so that you can't quite make out what the character is seeing, maybe because this is what they are seeing aswell.

This film I think uses the same genre throughout the film. It uses the thriller genre throughout. This I belive has been done well as you are left in suspense at points in the film and the audience are not sure what is going to happen next. This is different to other short films that I have seen before because, in the other short films, they normally use two different styles or genre conventions within the film. This could be because the director feels that because the film is shorter than feature length ones, they are able to include another genre to what the genre in the film is primarily.

It uses the short film format by the way that they are constantly including moving images on the screen. This keeps the pace of the film going even though it is just over 4 minutes long. You don't actually find out what happens in this film at the end of it, which keeps the audience questioning what they think happened ( is the little girl able to transform to a dog, did the dog kill her, did the man with the rabbit toy let the dog loose on the girl etc.) .

The sounds that you hear at the start are diegetic. You hear the sounds of dogs barking, a helicopter flying past, and birds singing. These are all noises that you would expect to hear within a countryside on a day to day basis. After hearing these sounds at the start of the short film, you don't hear many noises afterwards. You do however hear the calling of 'Lou Lou' a few times. When you first hear this, you suspect that this is the little girl possibly, but at the end of the film, you see the dog going through a gate with a sign saying 'Beware..Lou Lou Lives Here'.

This short film has been left open by the director (Grian) so that the audience can make up their own mind about what has happened during this short film. This I think has been done very well as, in thrillers, you are meant to keep the audience guessing and they have to think to themselves what is happening or what has just happened. This film has had many different views to what actually happens at the end of the film, which is probably what Grian intended for when he was creating this short film.

This film I think is targeted at older adults. The reason that I think that an older generation would prefer this sort of film is because, it involves a lot of thinking and knowledge to try and work out what this film is trying to show.

Gareth Allen

Research Tasks - "Lou Lou Lives Here" - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-01-15T12:28:00.001Z

Lou lou lives here (Grian) 2003

* I believe this short film to be of a psychological thriller genre. It is a dark story which parodies the anxieties of a ten year old girl walking home alone. Our worst fears for her happen when she is hunted by a sinister man but this little girl has a powerful secret.

* The film has been edited in black and white, which to me gives the film a more eerie approach to what is going on. It is more unique as a while due to the film being a short narrative as you can give the audience a knowledge and knowing of your work. The shortness of this particular film works well because of what it is about and how well the film has been put together. the aspects of use that I find interesting is the point of what type of genre it is and what the director has planned in order to produce an either successful or unsuccessful piece of filming.

* The short film uses the short film format quite well. The film works very well as a psychological thriller as you don't quote understand what is going on. T he audience are given the basics which turns into a restricted narrative; where the director has decided to produce this piece of work. Quick cuts and camera shots through the film make it seem fast paced and builds up a lot of tension for the audience.

* We do not receive any dialogue from the characters which makes the film harder to understand. The only sounds we do hear are the helicopter movements at the beginning and at other points in the film. The sounds we do hear create an indescribable tension towards the audience, it creates a sense that the little girl is wanted what with the white van pulling up near her and the helicopter surrounding her.

* In my opinion the audience has been positioned to be as the camera itself. Its like the audience are following the little girl and her footsteps; almost stalker like. This is achieved by the camera man/women following the girl in her steps at a very fast pace. The whole story conception of the little girl and the dog is quite hard to connect together as you dont know whether the girl is turning into a dog or vice versa.

Chloe McGlinchey

Research Tasks - "MixTape" - Matt Bull

2010-01-14T17:55:00.008Z

"MIXTAPE" (click to view)

This short film is different from the others I have looked at so far for my research. This film uses romance and musical and have combined them to produce a very good, and happy film.
Most romantic musicals are longer films that tell a story of two people that like each other but takes them longer to be together. Being a short film, the director has made it more realistic and shows how quick of a impact one little thing like a mix tape can achieve.
This film uses the music chosen by the main character as a base to the pace in which the story is told. being a face paced song means that when they both sing at the end of the piece, it shows that even music from the 70's can be popular with a younger generation.
The mix tape is what brings the two lovers together even being separated by an obstacle(wall) between their rooms. It is powerful enough to be heard from either room bringing them closer together.
Ben spends his time listening to his Dad's old 70's vinyl and making mixtapes on an old double deck tape recorder. He makes a tape to try and woo the girl next door, Lily, the girl of his dreams. he tries to pass it on to Lily herself but is not there and is greeted by her mother. Ben asks if she could pass it on for him and does. He returns home to his room and hears the tape being played knowing that she got it and starts singing along with her although separated by a wall in which they both lean back on at the end of the film.

Matt Bull

Research Tasks - "Mixtape" - Hannah Sell

2010-01-14T14:32:00.001Z

MixTape (Luke Snellin)
1. Musical romance genre- This film uses music more than talking which puts it more in the musical genre. Music is used to set the scene and then music and singing is also used to help the audience identify that this is of the musical genre.

2. This film uses genre and style conventions uniquely this film uses both elements of musical and romance genres. What is unique about the way this film is done is it doesn't take along time for the plot to develop it cuts to the point quickly.

3. This film uses the short film format well as it is a very short film. However it contains structure and entertainment for viewers. The narritive is short and to the point it is about a boy liking a girl and him making her a mixtape and her liking it. This is all shown in the film but is straight to the point unlike traditional films it cuts out all the middle part and just shows the audience what they want to see.

4. The use of sound is intresting in this film as the sound is what makes it intresting. if there was no sound the film would not make sense. music is used to set the scene but to also make the story. The use of diagetic sound is useful as the music being played can be heard by both the audience and the characters. however at the start of the film the use of non diagetic sound is mixed with diagetic sound as he makes the mixed tape we can all hear the music the music then continues as he walks along the street however the boy cannot hear it any more but we can.

5. This film seems to be about a boy liking a girl and how a mixed tape brings them together. It positions the audience as if they are watching a music video.

Hannah Sell

Research Tasks - "Mixtape" - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-01-14T12:30:00.001Z

Mixtape - Luke Snellin

* The genre of this short film is romantic musical. Also containing social realism. Ben spends his time listening to his Dads old 70s vinyl and making mixtapes on an old double deck tape recorder. He makes a tape to try and woo the girl next door, Lily, the girl of his dreams.

* This short film uses the style conventions uniquely because it uses both musical and romance in one film. The film also gives certain aspects of their own music video, as the characters are dressed in fairly vintage clothing. I find the use of using music and interpreting the characters to connect with it is exceptionally inspiring because of how young the children in fact are, it just shows how much of an impact parents music likings can be towards their children.

* The short film format in this piece, has definitely worked the best. The advantages of this is with the shortness of the film is you can include so much or so little in order to make the piece make sense to the audience. The narrative has been structured around the character "Ben" mainly because it's obviously about him having a love for his dad's old 70's vinyl and trying to win the heart of the girl next door "Lily". The music at the end of the film where you see "Ben" and his sister singing along to the song works and intwines within the whole film as it may describe their own insites and feelings.

* The use of sound in the short film is very interesting and works very well with the piece of filming, the music is upbeat and has heart and soul into it. There are both diegetic and non diegetic sounds in the film. The use of the soundtrack, makes the characters seem like they are featuring in that particular bands music video.

* The audience has been positioned to view the film as a third person. As a film is supposed to be viewed, the audience can still interact with this piece, still thinking (if the audience were around in the 1970's) their childhood is coming back to them, with the music bring back memories and flashbacks and whether or not if they were like that with their parents music and how they felt about that era.

Chloe McGlinchey

Research Tasks - "Eight" - Matt Bull

2010-01-12T15:05:00.007Z

"EIGHT"

This short film is a social realism film looking into the daily life he lives, moving from the town in which he was born (Liverpool) to the South Coast. It also is styled in the way of a documentary, with the narration of the main character (Jonathon) for most of the film, describing his life whilst things are happening on screen. Clothing of a home-made football shirt of the team he supports has the ideology of a young boy growing up, influenced by his father who supported the same team, but died at one of the games, maybe meaning that his mother doesnt allow him to own a real one because of what happened?
Using social realism for this film creates a sense of realism to the film. With the main issues created by the story, the audience could relate to that young boy with the same experiences. The narration adds to the documentary style by expalining the situation he is in, whilst being relevant to what you can see on screen.
This film uses the short film format to make it a lot more pacey, telling a film that could of been prolonged and as a result become less interesting. But as it is a short film, information about the story is being tolded all of the time, keeping the audience informed making it more interesting.
The use of sound is used to link with the types of genre of social realism and a type of documentary style piece. The sounds that are used whilst events are happening are made to feel natural, emphasising the realism of the film. Narration is also used to emphasis the past that Jonathon had with his father. Looking back at what he had, and now what he does have in contrast.
Family is the main issue that is presented to us from the main character of Jonathon. The loss of his dad has made a big impact to his life without having a father figure, and both him and his mother feel the consequence. We know how his father died by his description, resulting in Jonathon's passion for the support of the football team (Liverpool). His mum tries to stop him from supporting that team because of his father dying at one of the matches, so stops him from bringing back memories, and possibly protecting him from the same thing in the future?

Matt Bull

Research Tasks - "Eight" - Gareth Allen

2010-01-12T12:26:00.001Z

Eight
I think that this film is in the style of a biography of Jonathon's life and his family. He mentions his dad throughout this film and the effects his dad has on his mum (makes her cry when ever Jonathon brings his name up in conversation). He is also deeply in love with football and Liverpool especially, seeing as this is where he grew up. This film has parts of social realism included as you see what he lives like without a dad and how he wishes he did (when he holds another child's dads hand as if it was his own). The way that you see him running around on the beaches, shows how he is free living and has the world at his hands and can do what he wants. This is good at the start of the film as it shows the audience what he is like as a person deep down.

Within this film, they use different styles of conventions to tell the stories. They use social realism and biography references throughout the film to tell different parts of the story. He talks about himself and what he wants everything to be like e.g. with a dad of his own. They show social realism by the use of his mum not being happy with him being interested in football. This is probably because it brings back memories for her of her late husband. This is good using two different styles as you can see different ways that they are living and how they are feeling in their hearts.

The film uses the short format for a film as it never stops telling a story. It is mostly about Jonathon and the fact that he doesn't know what it is like to have a father figure in his life. If he isn't talking about this, then he is talking and thinking about football. This carries the story along well as it never stops and keeps the audience intrigued.

The sound i feel is done well throughout this short film. At the start of the film, and at the end of the film, there is non diegetic sounds with the background soundtrack. They also use narration at different points of the film. This is showing the audience what Jonathan is thinking at different points during the film and keeping us informed about different things throughout his life. They blend this narration with the filming as you see him sitting down at the dinner table and you see him carrying on what he has been saying.

The themes and issues that there are in this short film are family issues. This is shown by the loss of Jonathon's dad before he was born so has never had a father figure in his life. These issues are shown by the way he holds another childs dads hand in the hope that he could have once had that feeling. We also hear the thoughts that he has wondering what his dad would have done for a living ( train driver, astronaut or a fireman) . We also hear that his mum cries whenever he asks her about his dad. We hear that she doesn't want him to play or be interested in football as much as he is and tries to get him to have another hobby. The reason for this could be that it brings back memories for her of her late husband who enjoyed football as well, and is worried that the same thing will happen to her son.

This film I think is targeted at a young audience between the ages of 7 and 10. I also think that it appeals to an audience of people between 16 and 30. I think this because, you hear the story of the film from a boy who is eight years old and you feel how he is feeling at times. This will appeal to these types of people because, they can relate to the main character Jonathon. this will be why it is targetted at a younger audience, because they will be around the same age as him, and they might be going through the same situation as he is.

Gareth Allen

Research Tasks - "Eight" - Hannah Sell

2010-01-12T11:31:00.001Z

Eight (Daldry 1998)
1. Social Realism/ Documentary genre- This film is like a documentary like film following the life of an eight year old boy who really likes football we see how he follows England and his reactions to what he sees also how he still supports Liverpool even though he does not live there anymore . He also trying to cope living in a new place moving from Liverpool to the south coast and also trying to cope with the loss of his father.

2. Genre and style conventions have been used uniquily through this film both therough the social realism and documentry genres. Jonathon talks about himself and what he likes and how he would like things to be. He talks about his best friend and how they want things to be and what they like to do together. He talks about his mother and she doesn't like football in the house and how she doesn't like to talk about his father and he also talks about his father and how he remembers his dad and what he likes to do like he is still around.

3. The film uses the short film format to depict the life of an eight year old child in ten minutes. if this film had been a full length film and like this all the way through the audience would have started to get bored and it would be less interesting.

4. The sound of this short film is very interesting using mainly narration from Jonathon. Lots of non diagetic sound is used to help set the scene and surroundings as we follow Jonathon through this film. Music is used to draw the audience in at the start of the film making them feel unaware as to what this film is going to be about.

5. Lots of themes and issues are addressed in this film. one of the main ones is Jonathons love of football and how that is all he wants to do. Another issue that links in with this is his mother not wanting him to have anything to do with football this could be because his father died at a football match and it reminds her too much of him and brings back painful memories. Jonathons love of football is depicted to that audience all the way through the film from the very beginning whaen he has the football on the beach all he wants to d ois play football. We see him watching football with his friend and then reanacting Michael Owen's famous goal this shows the audience how devoted he is. Also with the colouring in of his own tee-shirts that again show the devotion of this child to his home town and the football team there. Another big issue is family the loss of his father has impacted both him and his mothers lives greatly and we see this as he talks about him and how he wants to be like his father was.

Hannah Sell

Research Tasks - "Eight" - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-01-12T11:02:00.001Z

Eight (Daldry) 1998

* I think this film is based on a documentary/social realism genre. Jonathon is an eight year old boy trying to come to terms with the loss of his father. We spend a day in his company while he reveals his thoughts and love of the game football and watching and reacting the England game against Argentina in the World Cup in France in 1998.

* Throughout the film the director has approached more than one type of genre to tell different parts to the story. Jonathon talks about himself and how he wants things to be. He talks about his mother not liking football and how he makes his mother cry a lot and how is father made his mother feel. He also brings in his best friend saying how he supports a different football team however they both support their home country: England. Jonathon is almost trying to make his dad seem alive and well, the way he talks about anything and everything.

* The short film format for "Eight" is like its a never ending story with Jonathon and his thought and feelings. He doesn't know what it would be like to have a father figure in his life, so he mainly goes on about his love of football and Liverpool F.C. The story is every minute intriguing the audience to pull them in closer and get a bind with the character.

* The sound throughout this short film has been thoroughly thought out, the non diegtic noises through out make every scene important. The surroundings that follow Jonathon make his thoughts and words seem every bit more realistic to the audience. The music at the beginning of the piece made me ,as the audience, feel fairly sad and make you wonder what the film is going to be about and where the film has been filmed and located. Narration is the main sound through the film and it brings a sense of realism and hope for the main character.

* The film is definitely about family issues, as Jonathon talks mainly about his mother and father. He also talks about his best friend "Terry" and saying how he likes Terry's parents as they let them both watch football in the house as at Jonathon's house his mother does not. He goes past work places in curiosity into what his father had done as a career and whether he may follow in his steps. His mother throughout his life has attempted to get him into other hobbies other than football; reasons for this may be because she does not want to be reminded of her dead husband as she has been widowed and is left alone with the remainder of their love together to produce their first and only child. I think that the film would appeal to people of all ages due to what is going on during the film, because of the story that is being told by an eight year old boy people may be able to relate to anything that he has spoken about.

Chloe McGlinchey

Research Tasks - "Wasp" - Matt Bull

2010-01-11T19:23:00.015Z

"WASP" (click to view)

This short film uses the social realism genre to make the film realistic and of real life situations. Situations that the audience could relate to because of the difficulties they face.
This really is an extraordinary and exceptional film. Gritty, real, touching and also incredibly tense and full of suspense. The free flowing nature of the camera-work adds to the already vivid realism, almost docudrama style. As a viewer you are drawn into this impoverished and deprived world, you feel immediate empathy for the central character in her desperate situation. She shows warmth, love and humanity to her children side by side with an appalling judgement about their well-being and safety. She is contrasting yet totally believable and genuine.
What makes "Wasp" so unique is its almost seamless fusion of the two documentary styles. Writer/director Andrea Arnold scripts a fictional story intended to look so authentic that it can pass as direct cinema. This is done so effectively that not only is a casual viewer unable to tell whether it is fact or fact-based fiction, but in most cases actually assumes the story is authentic and the characters real. The acting (particularly by the children) is so well directed and edited that you feel certain that these are real people.
With this film set in a real life situation, the sounds the audience hear is of the natural surroundings of where they live. In a what seems to be a run-down area on the outskirts of a city, the sounds of traffic and the hustle and bustle of the area is normal to them. As this film is a social realism, they don't use sound to emphasise any major events, but try to make it as real as possible.
This film puts the audience in the position of the main character (Zoe) within the daily routine of her life with her kids. Living in bad conditions, things don't get any better when the other people living near have a negative approach towards her. She thinks things could change on meeting an old friend who takes her out, but doesn't realise that she has her 4 kids.

Matt Bull

Research Tasks - "Wasp" - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-01-11T12:30:00.001Z

Wasp (Andrea Arnold, 2003)

* I had identified this short film to be of a social realism genre. The style of content throughout the film was well thought out and every detail mattered in pretty much every scene. The mis en scene was particularly powerful, due to what was put into it and exactly how much. the characterisation was extremely important because of the type of people they are, it is important to stress this to the audience so that they know just basic details of the characters in ways the speak, act and walk.

* This film uses genre/style of conventions uniquely in order to connect with the audience. The way the characters act towards each other and their living in everyday life in order to succeed or fail. The aspects I find interesting throughout the piece were in fact the character relationships. The way that the Mum "Zoe" was towards the female , who accordingly hit one of Zoe's children, when she sticks up for her family she does it with violence and heart as they need to be protected by their mother in order to not be taken away by the authorities.

* The advantages of using the short narrative in this particular film word very well. My reason for this is due to the close relationships towards "Zoe" and her children, the way the director has more or less got straight to the point and views of this small but dysfunctional family. The opening of the film flows well with the film as it starts to give a taste between the female and Zoe. You can immediately see what "Zoe" is willing to do to protect her family. The ending of the film may seem disappointing to some people but to others may be the perfect ending for it. As the irony of the car not pulling away quickly, it may make you think what may happen but as "Dave" smiles towards "Zoe" he then pulls the car away and the camera then follows. It then cuts to the city lights at night with "Hey Baby" playing in the soundtrack.

* With the film being related to social realism, the sounds the audience hear are diegetic (which means characters and audience can hear these sounds), you can mainly here the surrounding area in which the family live. The sounds of traffic, and other city inaqualities are everyday life and do not bother Zoe's family. The film tends not to build up suspension during any major events as the film is meant to be viewed to seem real as possible.

* The director has chosen to position the audience behind the eyes of the main character "Zoe". This gives the audience an oppourtunity to see how she copes everyday life with poor living conditions, no job, no money and four young children to care for. As the film starts to end, "Zoe" ends up meeting up with an old friend "Dave" who takes her out (down the pub) she thinks that she can turn her life around, with just one meeting. However at the beginning of seeing dave she fails to tell him that she has four children. But as the end approaches he almost seems like her own knight in shining armour.

Chloe McGlinchey

Research Tasks - "Conversation Piece" - Matt Bull

2010-01-11T12:18:00.010Z

"CONVERSATION PIECE"

The genre used for this short film is social realism and is portrayed by the mise en scene of the surroundings of the story. Filmed in what seemed to be an apartment or small house, we view as the audience the lives of the characters within their home, and the traits they take on during a normal day.
A stereotypical view is taken on the characters themselves when you first witness the female character of the couple, working away in the kitchen preparing a meal, whilst the male character is just lounging around, reading the paper and eating food left in his pocket. From this style of film using social realism, it allows the audience to fully engage with the characters, as they themselves could relate to what is happening but on a regular basic.
Using the short film format, the film itself is able to progress through the story quickly though telling every part of the story. The music over the dialogue gives the film a comic value, as the music slightly resembles the words they are saying.
There are not many prolific sounds in the film itself, giving another perspective to the story as the dialogue from the characters is replaced by sound from the record that the male character plays, varying from pitch and volume, dependant on the intensity of their speech.
One sleepy Sunday morning, Jean notices a chip on a treasured vase. She accuses Maurice, her husband since whenever. He denies it. Employing a variety of tactics, Jean attempts to get to the bottom of the situation. This unique musical-of-sorts matches every single syllable of dialogue to every single note from jazz player Rex Stewart's 1966 improvised recording 'Conversation Piece'.

Matt Bull

Research Tasks - "Joyride" - Hannah Sell

2010-01-05T15:21:00.001Z

Joy Ride

1. Thriller/horror genre - it is set at night time, near woods which are typical conventions of the horror/ thriller genre. The music is faced paced to build tension. The themes adreed in this film are mainly violence and crime.

2. Something that is unique to this film is that it uses elements of both horror and thriller together most of it is filmed in the boot of the car and sound and props are used to help the audience to identify what is happening out side the car. When the car is pulled over by the police we do not see what happens but we do see the two men holding axes and we do hear screaming and blood drips onto the guy in the boot of the car suggesting to the audience that the two police officers have been killed. The line 'your next' also indicate to the audience that they have been killed. The film leads us to think that he will die but then he comes away from this terrifying ordeal alive but then we are lead to think that he does die from the spark on the electricity pylon but do not see him die so we cannot be sure.

3. The advantages of this format are that the film is mostly filmed in the boot of the car meaning less needs to be shown and filmed but the noises associated with what is going help the audience to imagine what is happening and to put together the sequence of events themselves. like when the car crashes we do not see it crash but we hear noises to indicate a crash and see then car wrapped around a tree at the end making the audience assumptions right. Advantages for this are less has to be filmed but the effect is still the same as if we had seen everything and the film was longer.

4. What i find interesting about the use of sound is lots of non diagetic sound has been used rather than dialouge. This helps with the tension of the film and also makes it shorter as less talking has been used. The dialogue that is used helps to set the scene and gives a break to the music. However the use of music is very effective as it creates suspense but also leaves the focus on what is happening in the film itself.

5. The film seems to be about a man being kidnapped by two men. you seem to think that there must be a reason as to why it is him being locked in the boot as they do not kill him. however at the end you find out that they are just joy riders when the kidnapper wants the police car. you also think that the man being held is very lucky because they do not kill him but the very thing that started it all kills him. The two kidnappers seem very stereotypical they have a weapon, smoke and are dressed in dark colours all of which happens in most films. However the person in distress in this type of film you would think would be a woman alone in a wooded area at night is very stereotypical for a woman to be kidnapped. but instead they have used a man.

Hannah Sell

Research Tasks - "Joyride" - Chloe McGlinchey

2010-01-05T15:13:00.001Z

Joyride (Gillespie), 1995

* During watching this sort film, i had begun to identify it to be of a horror/thriller genre, this is because of the setting where the film was placed. the film was placed in a derelict wooded area. The film is also set at night time; which gives it the extra mysterious and eerie vibe to it. The themes and issues of this short film seem to be based around violence.

* This film uses genre/style conventions in a subtle and different way to some other horror/thriller films. My opinion for this is because the way the film had started, and how the ending leads the audience to think that the victim gets away safe and alive. When the policeman jokingly says about offering him a cigarette even though the man has had petrol spilt over him, after this has happened the man walks over to the electricity pylon saying how if he wasn't there none of the previous actions had happened. The electricity pylon then has sparks flying off of it which leads the man being caught on fire.

* The advantage of the short narrative is that as the majority of the film has been filmed in a boot so the audience has been given the opportunity to have an imagination of their own. The narrative has been structured in a strict chronological story, which gives the audience a restricted narrative (which means hiding the story from the audience). so everything happens in sequence in order to make complete sense to the audience.

* The use of sound throughout the short film is fairly repetitive yet effective, it gives the film a mysterious and eerie feeling to it. The use of diegetic and non diegetic sounds makes what is going on in the film seem a lot more realistic and dramatic. The long held out notes in the music give the scene more suspense and impatience to the audience which; when music gets louder and suddenly stops all will be revealed to the audience who are waiting in anticipation.

* This short film seems to be about the term "Joyriding" simply because of the two villains who have stolen the "good guy's" car at thrown him in the boot. It also portrays kidnap, thriller and violence. It "positions" the audience in a way that makes you think twice about certain things that are going on in the film; this is achieved by constructing some scenes which make the audience think completely different things to what the director is trying to portray and show in their film.

Chloe McGlinchey

Research Tasks - "Joyride" - Gareth Allen

2010-01-05T15:10:00.001Z

First Film : Joy Ride
In the film Joy Ride, I found that the genre of this short film was a thriller. I felt that this short film was a thriller because, they include suspense at points of the film (when the captive is in the boot of his own car). It could however be confused with a horror film as there are scenes with killings involved. This film is different to a horror though as you don't see the police man and woman getting murdered, which creates the 'unknown' factor that is included within a thriller. They do include iconography in the film which is also linked to horror films. You see where the captive is in his boot, blood dripping from the outside onto his face. The film itself is based in the middle of a forest, on a rainy night. This has all the makings of a thriller based film as most thrillers are set at night time.

Within Joy Ride, they use both thriller aspects, and horror aspects throughout the film. I feel that they have succeeded in creating this affect. I think this because, there are parts of the film where the horror aspects add to the suspense and unknown. This I feel is done the best when they hijackers or the car meet the police for the first time. When you can only see the man in the boot of his car, and the screams and chopping of bodies, you know what is happening, but you can;t see it. When you see the blood dripping on his face, this brings out the suspense and one of the hijackers says "Your next". This is implying to us how they have brutally murdered the police man and woman.

The film uses a short film format well I feel. I feel this because, they make the pace of the film fast, with the use of music and storyline. They also use suspense and drama throughout the film so that you don't loose attention to what is going on at any point. I feel that they used the beginning of the film along with the end of the film well where they use the same setting under the wire poles. This would be different to how some people would finish a short film, somewhere else in the forests.

I found that the sound throughout this short film was very good. At the start of the film, they used diagetic and non diagetic sounds together at the same time, showing contrast between them. They use the same non diagetic sounds throughout the film when needed. This was a good choice of sound because it was an eerie soundtrack, and created the suspense and made us think what was going to happen next. They also picked the pace up with the soundtrack at points, and made the fade in where they wanted the audience to mostly be intrigued by what was happening.

The film seems to try and blend three different genres into one. I think that in the film they use the horror genre, thriller genre and social realism. The film seems to be socially realistic by showing how a electrician can be held captive by thugs. They also position the audience at different points of the film. They position the audience to be with the captive while he is in his boot and can only hear screams and bodies being decapitated. I think that this is good how they do this because you feel as though you are in the same position as the captive, and brings suspense to the 'unknown' aspect to the film.

I think that this short film is targeted at a wide audience. I think this because, it is a thriller peice so many people will like it and be intrigued to watch it. I think that this could appeal to males more than females because, the main character is a male and the audience who are males can relate to him in one way or another.

Gareth Allen