First Draft Film Pitch

I have presented the pitch for my short film idea 'Snow' in the video below:

Media film pitch

More PowerPoint presentations from andrew larkin

First Draft Synopsis

Snow (working title)

It’s a cold, dull January morning and Boy is back to the usual routine of a mundane life. The snow has covered the industrial northern town in a bitter blanket, the atmosphere is slow and distant causing him to mark the shape of a sad frowning face in the snow. Boy stares bleakly at his artwork then clambers onto his bus, unbeknown to him, his small actions have signaled the start of an unconventional companionship between two strangers. When communication is dependent on the elements the messages of a budding romance can only last so long.

Short Film: Audience Research

As part of my research for my short film i conducted a questionnaire to gain useful information about the needs of my target audience and presented the findings in the video below:

Mise en Scene

The significance of Mise en Scene in films

Careful thought and consideration is put into every shot of a film to create a mise en scene made up of small details from costume, prop proximics to the types of lighting used to build up a certain atmosphere and feeling.

Lighting is a very effective way to highlight a specific tone for a film, the way in which the themes of the narrative are illusrtaed depend highly upon the types of lighting used.

The Decent, directed by Neil Marshall in 2005 is a caustraphobic british horror film about a caving expedition that goes drasticly wrong. It's an excellent example of how lighting is used successfully to get across a desired feeling and atmosphere.

The low key lighting creates dense shadows to highlight the cave location and signify the growing sense of caustraphobia and eerie threat, forshadowing doom.

The use of night vision for the camera distorts the images, creating a contrast of vivid white skin against a stark black background - this becomes particulary effective when the audience first witnesses the 'creature' as it's an eerie, frightening image filmed for shock value and is also unexpected.

The contrast of colour filters is also effective, the light from the glowstick casts a frightening green cover over the rocks, creating an effective texture and forshadows an 'alien' presence.
The use of harsh red glow contrasts boldly against the green lighting and signifies bloodshed and death. The Lighting used in the descent is a classic convention for films under the horror genre to create suspense.

Sin City

Sin City, 2005 is a film directed by Robert Rodriguez based on Frank Miller's graphic novel.

It incorporated the graphic novels stylish animated apperence through the use of colour and lighting. Using the green screen effect to create a gritty black and white appearence which compliments the films adult, sophisitcated narrative.
The flashes of colour such as red and yellow are kept to a minimal which is very effective, coinciding with the graphic novels theme which sets the film up as unconventional, gritty and abstract.

The Importance of Narrative

The narrative of a film is very important as it must maintain the interest of the audience whilst being cohesive.

An example of a typical narrative structure is that of Todorov who established there must be first an Equilibrium followed by a Disequilibrium/ Disruption and finally ending with a Resolution / New Equilibrium.
This narrative can be applied to many films, one example is Mean Girls (2004)

Equilibrium: Cady is introduced to her first American public high school where the students get along being segregated in their stereotypical groups: the jocks, art freaks... but above all the plastics. Cady who doesn't really fit in becomes good friends with the 'art freaks'.

Disruption: Cady becomes noticed by the 'plastics' and befriends them, in time turning them against each other, loosing her true friends and becoming corrupted by the fake plastic lifestyle.

Resolution: In the end Cady changes her ways: her inspirational speech on prom night joins all groups in friendship - all the cliches of the high school now seem to get along harmoniously .

Character

The Characters in a film also take on a generic structure as studied by Vladimir Propp when considering Russian fairytales. Fairytales are useful to analyse because they contain stock characters and structural ingredients.
Propp was able to identify seven main character roles:

the villain
the donor
the helper
the princess (or sought-for person)

the dispatcher
the hero

the false hero

These character traits are identifiable in any film and can be easily applied to Star Wars (1977)

the villain - Darth Vader
the donor - Obi-Wan Kenobi
the helper - Han Solo
the princess - Princess Leia
the dispatcher - R2-D2
the hero - Luke Skywalker
the false hero - Darth Vader

It is the functions and actions of these characters that construct the narrative.

Time

Most films can represent many weeks, months or even years in the short space of 90 minutes or less and there are many conventions that allow the narrative to do this such as

flashbacks

flashforwards

montages

dream sequences

repetition

using a different characters point of view

The passing of time can also be effectively illustrated through use of the seasons: shots of snow for winter, leaves for autumn ect

As well as shots of a clock speeding up or the classic calender moving on.

The passing of time can also been shown through location: the same house becoming decrepit over the years as well as a change in costume or actor to illustrate how the character has aged as seen with the film 'Atonement' which takes place from before the second world war to the present day.

Time can also be expressed through major events in history. This can be best seen in the film 'Forrest Gump' in which the title character comes across many influential figures of the 20th century and is also involved in many events such as the Vietnam War, meeting Elvis Presley, Johny Lennon as well as John F Kennedy.

The Effectiveness of Viral Marketing Campaigns

Viral Marketing campaigns have become a unique phenomenon to sell modern films to a young 21st century audience that can now engage in the world of film as an active, personal experience beyond the screen. This specific type of marketing shows how simplistic and ambigiuous techniques can sell fairly low budget films to make huge profits in the industry.

The Blair Witch Project

The 1999 hand held camera film 'The Blair Witch Project' is an example of one of the first movies to incorporate the internet in it's marketing campaign and managed to fool an entire generation of cinema-goers into believing the film's shocking storyline was real legitimate footage using 'hyperrealism': the snippets of mysterious shaky camera footage posted online intrigued audiences and the three starring actors of the film did not even attend the premiere to keep up the pretence they were indeed 'missing'. The unique campaign was so successful the small budget film made a profit of millions.

Cloverfield

J.J Abrams Cloverfield was released in cinemas in 2008 after a year long marketing campaign which progressed from a teaser trailer previewing before Transformers in 2007. The clip gripped veiwers as we witness the head of the Statue of Liberty spiral down the streets of New York to the horror of onlookers - all filmed using a shaky camcorder to stress the confusion and chaos.

The interesting trailer sparked an online buzz as more clips began to surface on Youtube with views reaching up to 1.5 million hits.

http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/845/845649p1.html

This article delves further into the secrets of Cloverfields marketing campaign, with fake websites revealing subtle photos from the film and also a website for a fake sponser, the drink brand 'Slusho'. This viral marketing process enabled viewers to interact with the film on a more personal level - using the internet as a base to piece clues together about the mysteries of the film and discuss via online forums.

The homepage for the Slusho website.


Hyper Realism

The Hyper Realism effect for film trailers is largely used for those which come under the Horror Genre as seen with films such as Quarantine and Paranormal Activity





Using a hand held camera is very effective for the horror genre as the shaky techniques used create a suspenseful atmoshphere and the audience can relate to the characters and narrative in a far more personal way than they could with an average Romantic Comedy or Sc-fi blockbuster.

I could consider the horror genre in relation to the short film I will be producing as Hyper Realism is a very simplistic yet effective way to engage the audience with a believable personal narrative.

District 9 Poster

The Sc-fi film District 9 used a distinctive poster campaign to advertise the film and sell it to audiences.

Hyper realism is used here effectively as details about the film itself are only small, causing the audience to be intrigued and start to question the main plot outline. The posters gave the effect that the events in the film were ongoing in reality with the only reference given to a website "D-9.com" which will attract the young target audience viral marketing campaigns reach out for.

I could consider following a similar theme poster for my short film, this would epsecially be effective for horror films as it creates a sense of threat and delievers with scaring the audience which is the main ethos of the genre.

Creating A Radio Trailer

Trailers are exceptionally important in ensuring a films success, capturing the attention of audiences of cinema, television, the internet and radio.

Using the computer programme 'Garage Band' I contructed a Radio Trailer for the Spike Jonze short film 'I'm Here'.
I believe it's successful as a simple yet effective hook for the target audience of young adults interested in the hybrid romance/indie/sc-fi genre, but also widens the audience as presenting the film as an intriging love story with gentle soothing music and a short ambigious voice over that reveals:
"A timeless tale of love and its sacrafices...
The new short film by Spike Jonze...
I'm Here"


I'm Here - Radio Trailer by helen_melon92

Creating a Film Poster

I think the original film poster for the Spike Jonze short, 'I'm Here' Is very effective: The soothing autumn colours create a tranquility which immediately sells it to the audience under the romance genre along with the main focus being on the 'robot' couple. They are an example of one of the films enigmas as it is an interesting concept to see robots and nature combined - it's a very unusual and abstract premise that will intrigue the wide target audience who will appreciate the Science Fiction, Romance and Indie genres this poster reveals the film will cover. It's simplistic with an ambiguous tagline: "Ordinary is no Place to Be" which I believe is an effective hook, attracting an audience with it's unique intrigue.

I produced a poster for the same film - marketing it under a completely different genre. I've used a close up of the robot head to establish it as Sc-Fi, it is a lonely, independent image signifying the tragic narrative of the film and so the audience sympathies with the protagonist. Using the editing programme Photoshop I've distorted and contrasted the colours of the original image using a main theme of purple which I think gives it an abstract, futuristic appearance that will stand out and attract the audience. An enigma is created by this poster as no details of the films romantic storyline is given except for the title and obscure abstract image of the robot protagonist - setting it up as an entirely different film and attracting a wider audience who will be intrigued by its ambiguity.
I think both posters are effective in attracting audiences under different genres - a romantic, science fiction, tragedy.

Short Film Research: I'm Here

'I'm Here' is a short, 30 minute film by acclaimed director Spike Jonze, fmaous for such hits as 'Being John Malkovich' (1999) and 'Where the Wild Things are' (2009).

It was made in 2010 and stars Andrew Garfield as a lonely robot, Sheldon who discovers love and freedom in a futuristc world through a free spirited female companion.

The visually unusual film projects a thought provoking message through it's themes on segregation and love. Ultimately it signifies the sacrafices that come with literally giving your entire self to another; a timeless tale with a quirky modern edge.

I found the film especially entertaining, it had a certain unqiueness in its blend of soft music, emotional narrative and use of realistic special effects and costume.

Spike Jonze has a diverse number of creative works under his belt including advertisements and music videos as well as being a co-creator of MTV's 'Jack-Ass'. It's therefore apparent that unlike the directors of 'Across the Hall' and 'George Lucas in Love' who created their short films to amplify their reputation in the business leading them to produce feature films, Spike Jonzes creates short films out of his passion and creative mind to do so.

Jonze's latest work is another short film with a running time of 30 minutes that stemmed from the Arcade Fire Music Video: 'The Suburbs'. The short is entitled 'Scenes from the Suburbs' and is set to premier at the Berlin Film Festival in 2011.

Short Film Research: Across the Hall - Short Vs Feature

Across the Hall is a short film with a running time of 25 minutes, it was written and directed by Alex Merkin and was released in 2006 as a download in two parts. The Film is now accessable on YouTube.
It is a thriller that takes place in a seedy, mysterious hotel room where Terry is stalking his unfaithful fiancee, June, from 'across the hall' a loaded gun ready in his hand. Whilst soaking in the bath, Julian - played by Adrian Grenier recieves a phonecall from his friend Terry informing him of his plans to confront June and her lover, unfortunately it is soon established that Julian is in fact the man June is being unfaithful with: both appear trapped and as Julian attempts to comfort and persuade his friend Terry over the phone time begins to run out.

The success of the film became apparent when director Merkin converted it into a 93 minute feature film in 2009 starring Brittany Murphy. This shows how Short films act as the 'first platform' for directors, as they gain more attention and praise for smaller work they can amplify their talents on bigger budget films with more established Hollywood casts, reaching out to mainstream audiences.

Short Vs Feature Film



For a feature film more marketing has been constructed for the movie to appeal to a mainstream audience as made apparent with the trailer.

The film is considerably longer and has therefore incorporated more characters including a sinister hotel worker who adds a further edge of creepiness.

Being longer in running time has also caused the narrative to change: the film no longer takes places in a simple chronological order but skips from different times and from different peoples perspectives, this can be be viewed through the choppy cuts in the trailer, creating a heightening tone of suspense and also making the narrative slightly more complex and intriging for a sophisticated audience of the thriller genre.
The music is also more dramatic and louder than that of the Short: increasing the tension and projecting the action within the film.
I believe the lighting is less effective for the feature version of the film: it is more natural and typical with few instances of shadows whereas the short had a creepy atmospheric tone of contrasting green and red creating an artistic appearence perhaps more associated with short, indie films.

The Film posters also highlight the generic differences between Short and Feature films. The bottom poster is for the original short and uses the actor Adrian Grenier as the main focus as he plays the main protagonist. It is a simplistic image using an ordinary yellow corridor with no significance yet perhaps for the red floor connoting danger.

In stark contrast the feature film poster uses the most famous actress as the central focus: Brittany Murphy thus attracting a wider audience of her predominantly female fans whilst the male audience is attracted through the use of sex appeal the poster hints at. It's a far more glamorous image, signifying the higher budget of the Hollywood film and also uses colour in a far visually superior way contrasting the glamorous white lighting of the central, almost angelic-like female character with the opposing dark vertical shadows of the male characters, establishing it as a mysterious thriller with an edge of danger and action.

Short Film Research: George Lucas in Love

'George Lucas in Love' is an 8 minute film written and directed by Joe Nussbaum, it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 1999 receiving great critical attention and a number of awards. The Film is a comedy and centers on a young George Lucas as a college student suffering from writers block - he encounters many familar faces which encourage and inspire him to write his Star Wars series.

The Film was director Nussbaum's 'big break' as it recieved regonition from Hollywood, eventually leading him to sign a deal with the studio Dreamworks which ultimately lead him to direct feature films such as 'American Pie: The Naked Mile' (2006) and 'Sydney White' (2007)

It is conclusive, drawing upon the example of Joe Nussbaum that directors decide to create short films to gain positive attention quickly and efficently, which utilmately propels them further into the limelight of the film industry if prosperous.

The Importance of Hybrid Genres

Films which include the stereotypical codes and conventions of two or more different genres are described as having a hybrid of genres. For example the 1988 feature film 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' combines elements of a stereotypical slapstick animated childrens movie with a more adult mob/crime plot filmed in live action. The effectiveness of this and with all hybrid genre films is that it appeals to a wider audience: the animation appeals to a child audience whilst the adult crime elements for the plot and comedy will also attract parents and adults in general to watch.

Instead of targeting a specific niche market, Directors and Producers use hybrid genres to create a more commercially successful film that will appeal to a wider audience and in result produce a larger profit. Hybrid genre films are also important to the cinematic experience as a whole: the majority of people that go to cinemas are usually in a group of individuals with different tastes, so watching a film that contains elements to suit these diverse preferences will be considerably more successful at the box office.


Another example is the Star Wars franchise which first hit screens in 1977, the films all come under the Sc-Fi genre including conventions such as spaceships, lightsavers and ailiens. Science Fiction Films stereotypically appeal to a male audience - the action sequences and adventure/ quest narrative of these movies also build on this however the franchise also incorporates a Romantic plot line between the two of the main protagonists: Princess Leia and Han Solo.

Films which come under the Romance genre with a strong female character falling for the dashing hero stereotypically appeal to a female audience so by using a hybrid genre Star Wars has widened it's viewing figures to both genders who will apreciate the cinematic experience as the film is tailored to their tastes.

The film poster here illusrates the film comes under the Science Fiction Genre but appeals to a female audience with the presence of a female protaganist and hero love interest.

Typical Superhero Films such as Spiderman and Superman are also largely marketed towards a male target audience with a strong predominant male protaganist swooping in to save a ditzy 'damsel in distress' love interest.
The 2010 comic book style superhero film 'Kick Ass' completely turned this stereotype on it's head featuring a little girl as a strong, potty mouthed independent hero with her own trailer campaign.



This film widens it's audience to females which will appreciate a strong young girl character and also brings in elements of the comedy genre.
I think challenging stereotypical genres will always be an interesting and effective way of attracting new audiences.

Who watches Short Films?

A short film is described as a motion picture which lasts no longer than 40 minutes, orginating from the comedies of the 1920's-30's: works from such as Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
Modern 'Shorts' of the 21st century are rarely distrubuted in the mainstream, instead they offer a creative platform as the typical first stage for young filmmakers.
The audience for Short Films are generically people that are passionate about film: independant filmmakers and companies who simply don't have the budget to fund a feature film production. It is also fair to say the audience of modern short films are young as a majority: film students who take passion in their subject and look for entertainment and inspiration.

Animated shorts of major studios such as Pixar and Dreamworks still find life in the mainstream film industry: Pixar, famous for animated hits such as 'Toy Story' and 'Up'
have screened a short film with the thearetical realease of all their major movies since 1995. A recent example of this is the short 'Day and Night' which was screened before film showings of the monumental box office hit 'Toy Story 3' in 3D: reaching out to a diverse audience of families and a new generation of movie-goers.



However general short films, both animated and live action find their audience through film festivals.
These exhibitons take place all over the world, showcasing the upcoming talent of new film-makers to an audience of movie-lovers.

Sundance Film Festival: http://www.sundance.org/festival/
The Sundance Film Festival is the largest cinema festival in the United States and takes place annually in the state of Utah every January. It has gained many filmakers mainstream recgonition over the years, producing hits such as 'Donnie Darko' 'Resvoir Dogs' 'Napolean Dynamite' and 'Clerks' which premiered at Sundance in 1994:



Cannes Film Festival: http://www.festival-cannes.com/en.html
The Cannes music and film festival is a well established event that takes place every May in the southern French town. Each year a well respected member of the industry plays the role of the dury President, who decides which films earn the coverted awards such as the Palme D'Or and the Grand Prix. The president for the 2011 Festival is due to be reknowned actor: Robert De Niro.
Cannes has thrown many 'unkowns' into the limelight, most notably perhaps is Quentin Tarantino for his superb 'Pulp Fiction' in 1994:



Another reason for short films having a relatively young audience is that they are mainly distributed via the Internet.
An example of this is 'Across the Hall', written and directed by Alex Merkin in 2006, the short film was available as a download to mobile phones and distributed by Samsung. It later became a full feature film in 2009.

The internet also includes sites such as YouTube, BBC Film Network and Newgrounds which encourage the submission of user-created content such as short films, through these websites Short Films have became accessible globally at all times to all audiences.

Short Films: An Introduction

Intro

The subject for my A2 Media coursework is: Short Film.

I must produce an original Short Film lasting no longer than 5 minutes.

Aswell as 2 Ancillary Tasks which must be either:
A Film Poster

An Article about the Film

A Radio Trailer

The theme must include elements of Time and Technology.

To begin, I have researched into different short films found online.

Montag



Montag is a short animated foreign film by Reid Hildebrand about an unhappy guidedog whos outlook on his job changes drastically after the death of his former owner.
It was the winner of the Bridge Film Festival Judges Choice award in 2010 for best narrative film and also won Best Animation for the 2010 Future of Cinema International Film Festival.
I admire it's simplicity - the narrative is basic yet thought provoking on an emotional/ personal level, it's also quite unique: the perspective of a talking guide dog is not usually adressed in commercial films.
The animation is also minimal yet attractive and effective in it's basic monochrome pencil sketches which works well with the tranquil music, supporting the subjective narrative, I also enjoy the uplifting ending - it works as an effective conclusion after a sense of emotional build up.

Try




The Short Film Try directed by Jonas Åkerlund in 2000 is a graphic depiction of the lives of a homeless couple addicted to heroin.
Despite being a short, much was accomplished in portraying the film's message. The images portrayed many of the physical darker images of the world in connection to the more psychological aspects, and there was much foreshadowing. I overall found these images very appropriate and contributed to the film's power. Despite the two characters fateless life of drugs, prostitution, stealing, there is still an emotional feeling for the two, as they hang on to each others love to move through the torture they go through.
I admire that the film is fearless in it's approach to such a dark topic, the use of the peaceful quiet music contrasted effectively as did the use of a young female narrating with no other dialouge which creates a sympathetic atmoshpere. The tragic ending is very powerful with a strong message for such a short film.

Brink



The film Brink was written by Dan Lovett, a british teenager. It was the winning film idea for a competition in 2009 devised by the channel E4 by the makers of British teen Drama Skins.
I can relate to this film as it it aimed at my target age group and I like that it's entire production team was made up of unknown budding teen film makers. The narrative is very abstract and I admire it's use of mise en scene such as sophisticated dark lighting and eerie forest setting contrasting with the modern beats of an inner city night club. The plot outline involves 17 year old Dean coping with OCD, he meets the mysterious and elusive Rachel who offers to take him out one night - he is reluctant claiming he thinks the 'world will end' however an impulse for adventure takes over with unusual consequences. The music involves more contempary indie sounds which compliments the quirky narrative well and appeals to the target audience, the ending is ambigious and completely abstract - it's left to the viewer to decide what has happened. I admire the eeries mysterious of the narrative however I feel more could have been explained.