Institutional Mode of Representation (IMR)

The 'primitive style' of movie making predicted classical Hollywood's continuity system (or the IMR). These techniques include frontal staging or a tableau style, exaggerated gestures, hardly any camera movement and no point of view shots. Early cinema was silent and unsophisticated, more like melodramatic mime.

The Lumiere Brothers were one of the first group of people to make film with meaning. Although their first movies were of people walking out of work and into towns, they started to begin comedy sketches, such as the 'step of the hose pipe' sketch. They worked from 1895 to 1897. It wasn't until 1902 that film began to really take shape with story lines and backgrounds with purpose. Georges Melies created 'A Trip to the Moon'. This demonstrated that only a few years after film had really begun, people were already imaging new and greater things.

In film theory, the institutional mode of representation (IMR) is the dominant mode of film construction, which developed in the years after the turn of the century, becoming the norm by about 1914. Later on from here, one of the first movies that shows the conventions that are used today in all film text and used by directors. D.W. Griffith (1915) was known as the creator of modern film. He used appropriate cutting, subtitles, panning, close ups, and cross cutting.

By 1927 sound emerged alongside film which, combined with previously stated techniques by D. W. Griffith, created the conventional style of films we have today. One of the first films to show sound alongside films was 'The Jazz Singer'. Movies like this would have never been able to be created if it wasn't for the development of sound along side film.

Codes and Conventions of Short Films

As with the majority of things, everything has typical conventions and codes that go with producing something, whether this is a magazine, feature film or a short film. After have watching 10 short films I have come to the conclusion that the majority follow these rules of convention. Some of these short films were: Umbilical, Slinky, Project: Library, PJ Tiny Planet Explorer, Office Space, Smokey Saloon and Super Glued . 

Within the wide varity of short films you will always come across unconventional films, but the majority of films these following codes:

• Minimum character/cast

Conventionally, within a short film, due to the lack of time minimum characters must be used otherwise the plot could become too complicated and leave the audience confused. By having a minimum cast it allows more attention to be focused on the main character/characters.

• Limited costume changes

Due to the limited amount of time, the story line must be kept simple, therefore there is no need for costume change.

• Simple cuts
• Twist in the storyline

This keeps the story line short and interesting, maybe even leaving the the audience wanting more.

• Voice overs (cheaper than using a boom)
• Steadi-cams (for peoples point of view)
• Normal life situation with a tweek in one aspect
• Running time usually between 1-5 minutes long
• Low budget compared to feature films (if there is any budget at all)
• Actors of a young age (16-24)

Getting actors between these ages are the easiest due to the free time and participation. The majority of teenagers and young adults are more willing to participate in new things and also are more willing to do this for free or a minimum wage, making them excellent candidates for filming.

Watching Short Films

To get to grips with what a short film looks like and how long they are, we needed to watch a few short films ourselves. Two short films I watched were 'Slinky' and 'Umbilical'. Slinky was a short comedy film which didn't hold a meaningful message but was interesting to watch. Umbilical on the other hand contained a meaningful message through the art of 2D animation.
The message I believe was portrayed through 'Umbilical' was the idea that children are so caught up in technology that they have an 'umbilical' connection to the technology, and therefore cannot pull away. This doesn't allow the children to grow as a person and doesn't allow them to explore their creativity.
I hope to take this inspiration and apply it later to my own short film. I'm obviously not going to have a full 2D animated film as I don't have the skills yet, but I hope to create a logo for my 'production company' through the use of Adobe Illustration and an animated title for my short film through the use of Adobe AfterEffects. I also hope to use special effects with either the use of Adobe for maybe the use of fire or smoke. I shall hopefully be able to create a meaningful short film with a message while still keeping the audience entertained and my film original. I don't particulaly want to go down the route of comedy for a short film as comedy isn't my strongest point and can end badly if jokes aren't understood. I found this with 'Slinky' and didn't really find it entertaining. I hope to pursue the route of action adventure.

I can, without the use of applications, use some of the camera shots that were used in 'Umbilical'. The child was being portrayed as innocent, so a high angle shot was used. I can use this in my own short film to portray certain characters. To convey the idea that a character is evil or has authority then I could use a low angle shot looking up to the character. Wide angle shots were used to show the emptiness of the room and how lonely the child must get. I could use this to portray the space around a character if they become alone. This shot would give more emphasis on the space and emptiness around them.

With the use of Mise en Scene I can set my location if it's in doors with intentional symbolism or style my characters to fit the message I'm trying to get them to portray. This could include maybe a poster as they are easy to make or colourful clothing to show that a character is happy or wild.

For sound I could use diegetic and non-diegetic sound to create ambience or create music that suites the style of my film. This could be created in Garage Band or recorded from a phone or boom mic. Thing I may need to record are feet walking, cars, door opening, re-record speech etc.

Overall I preferred 'Umbilical' than 'Slinky' as the first had meaning, a thought out plot, good use of angles and camera shots and was interesting to watch. 'Slinky' on the other hand didn't entertain me, I became bored and lost interest. Although there were bits of good camera work such as shot reverse shot and good use of angles the genre that this film was trying to fit in didn't work and became immature very quickly, making the film seem unprofessional. I hope to follow the work of 'Umbilical' more so to make my film have meaning but also to come across as professional as possible.

 

 

Which Is Most Important?

There are many different elements within creating any film but finding out which are the most important can be difficult, especially for someone who has never made a short film before. A few of the processes that I will have to go through to make a short film are:

• Script writing - A screenwriter or scriptwriter is a writer who practices the craft of writing screenplays on which mass media such as films, television programs, comics or video games are based upon. This is the foundation of any film and without it there would be no idea to create a film to start with. The script usually includes stage directions, character lines and queues for lighting or for another actor to perform an action.


• Producing - Film producers prepare and then supervise the making of a film before presenting the product to a financing entity or a film distributor. These people or person help get the film MADE, making sure all jobs are done to create said movie. Without them the movie itself, although having the ideas there, would never get made.


• Directing - A film director is a person who directs the making of a film. Generally, a film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, and visualizes the script while guiding the technical crew and actors to create that vision. Each director has a different opinion on how a character or scene is produced and each have the own style, making each movie unique. Some film studios employ specific film directors for their certain use of camera work.


• Cinematography - The word itself defines as 'the art of making motion pictures'. Cinematography itself is the technique of film photography, including both the shooting and development of the film. The cinematographer could also be referred to as the film director's main visual collaborator.


• Sound - Sound is used within films to portray emotions, to enhance sounds, to create distortion. Originally, when movies where shown on film reels separate music had to be played over the top, which limited the techniques that could have been used. Now everything is converted to digital and no longer analog, everything, from music to filming, can all be placed under one file. Without sound we wouldn't hear the actors, listen to the music or acknowledge the ambient sounds. Anything that makes a sound within a movie, from foot steps to drinking water, has to be dubbed over with another for a prime film.


• On its most fundamental level, film editing is the art, technique, and practice of assembling shots into a coherent sequence. Originally, film had to be 'spliced' if a scene wanted to be removed or joined onto another. Now editors use a mass of applications to edit scenes together, such as FinalCut Pro, Adobe or Avid.

Feature Films and Short Films

Although both feature films and short films produce similar outcomes, these two are actually more different than many people realise. On this post I will explain how these are different from one another and how they appeal to different target markets.

 

Feature Films:

 

Feature films are produced yearly with a new blockbuster in every cinema every month. These films make the most money in this case, even low budget Indie films compared to a short film. Due to the higher budgets these films can afford special effects and Hollywood actors and enable them to use all the lastest equipment and distrubute their posters and trailers well. These films are targeted towards the general public, people who don't want to particularly go looking for niche artistic short films. These films last well over an hour and have intrecate story lines that can contain subplots and a multitude of characters. These films can also lead on to a series of films, such as Harry Potter and can then go on to gain more money from this.

 

Short Films:

 

Short films are usually produced by either new and upcoming directors or by members of the public. Anyone can make a short film and this is mainly because of the lack of budget it needs (if any). These films, due to the low budget, would be filmed on DSLRs and then later editted at home on applications such as FinalCut Pro or Adobe. These films are targeted not at the general public but at members of film industries to become recogised amongst them and therefore creating a name for yourself. Short films are simple and to the point, not containing any subplots and very little cast. These short films can be entered into competitions or film festivals, such as SunDance Film Festival in America or Festival De Cannes in France.

Movie Genres

Movie genres establish the type of film. But to decide which genre the movie falls under it has to be judged by different factors of the film. Take comedy for example, if there are not any jokes in the film and is actually quite depressing, then obviously the film needs to be classed under a different genre. But it isn't just the film content that has to be tested, it's also the actors. Some actors are renown for a certain acting style. Jim Carrey is one of these actors and his most famous films have all been comedies. So if a member of the target audience sees Jim Carrey in a new film, they can almost automatically assume that this film will be a Comedy.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. Within this niche corner of the internet I will be exploring and learning about techniques and theorists that will inevitably help me create a short film at an advised time of 5 minutes. Along side this short film I will produce a film poster and/or a radio interview about the film and/or a magazine article about the film. I will also be investigating into GarageBand, FinalCut Pro, iMovie, and possible 2D animation. I hope to be able to portray my imaginative and creative side through out this coursework and throughout my short film, taking inspiration from conventional short film trates but also creativity from other short film producers, such as KickThePJ or comedy duo OMFGitsjackanddean. For my short film I will make the props, assign roles, direct, film, produce, edit, screenwrite and photograph the entire process. I will ask my audience for feedback every step of the way, enabling my short film to reach target markets but to also improve on things I might miss. Finalising everything will be difficult, as there is always something that could be changed, but by the end of this I will hope to have created a short film that best describes me as an artist and director. Enjoy the journey.