Feedback on Teacher Collaberation and Cat Nap

To make sure I get honest and varied answers for feedback I will create a small list of questions to ask my viewers after watching both videos. I will then combine their answers into a video. This will help me when producing my 5 minute short film and enable it to be as professional as possible whilst still showing all the camera angles, editing, mise en scene and sound I need. Some questions I have thought of to ask my audience are:

• What was the film about?
• What did you like about the 1 minute short film?
• How could I improve?
• Did you know which genre this film fell into? (Short film documentary)
• Who may be a possible audience for this film?
• Where abouts would this be shown? (film festival)

1 Minute Short Film Also?

After asking my media teacher, I have been allowed to also create a 1 minute short film along side the rest of my class. I will post this short film onto my blog but also a short snippet of the Teacher Collaberation video I am currently working. Why? I feel both films show different strengths. My 1 minute short film shows how I can use my camera and build a short story board of shots which is key for a longer short film. The Teacher Collaberation video however shows my professionalism as an editor when given enough time. This contains transitions and layers, such as logos.

For my 1 minute short film, given the fact I have less time than my peers, I needed to create a simple yet interesting thing to film. The theme of these videos is 'A day in the life of...'. This could be a person, animal or even an inanimate object. I chose to film 4 kittens that have recently been tearing up the house. I thought this would make a good 1 minute short film as:

• Easy to go back and re-shoot if any problems occur
• The subject of filming can be entertaining
• Perfect opportunity

I created a small but effective story board for different camera shots (not of a story as 1 minute is far too short), and this included:

• Racking shot
• Multiple close ups
• Long shot
• Mid close up
• Match on action
• Birds eye view

These could easily be achieved with a hand held camera or DSLR. Next I needed to know what equipment I would need. Unlike the Teacher Collaberation I didn't have to have the best lighting or sound as that could easily be adjusted later, so I used a Sony 5N which was light but also excellent for close ups.

Editing was difficult. I decided to learn about FinalCut Pro and so editing my 1 minute film would be good practice. The application however kept crashing, therefore not saving work. This made a 15 minute task more like 1 hour. FinalCut Pro was very temperamental, maybe because my files where too big or because I had uploaded too many. This was a bad experience but through practice I can easily adjust to it as FinalCut Pro is far better in the style of editing than iMovie.

I also added my own music onto my 1 minute short film, something I didn't want to do on the Teachers Collaberation. For this short film I didn't know how my recorded ukulele would sound. As it turns out, it didn't sound too bad, but not professional enough to put on the Teachers Collaberation video or on my longer short film.

And so your probably wondering... where is this 1 minute short film and Teacher Collaberation? Well, just scroll down.

Analysing my videos will help me understand what I could add in and how to improve my own work. Camera work was used with varied angles and shots. A low long shot was used towards the beginning to show space around the kitten and place emphasis on the fact that the kitten is so small in a large world. This is also my establishing shot which enables the audience to understand that A - this film is a day in the life of a kitten and B - filming will take place within the household. Next, a slow racking shot was used to show that the kitten's focus is wandering else where. I also added in close ups of the kitten playing, this makes the audience focus on the kittens daily habits. Lastly, a high angle shot was used to represent again how small the kitten really is.

Next, editing shows match on action and towards the end a title. A match on action is shown twice, once when the kitten is beginning to pounce, and secondly when the kitten is climbing and finally reaches the top. This helped me gain different angles and add variety to my short film.

Mise en scene was used majorly through prop, location and lighting. Due to the shortness of the film and the subject being based on kittens, clothing was not needed in this short film and therefore cannot tell us anything about the characters. I picked this location within the house as it held the best natural light which is best when making a short film with limited budget. Without proper lighting even the best of films can look poor. Props used where the jumpsuit pile and the green stool. These where used to get the kittens to interact with their surroundings and make for a more interesting short film.

Finally, sound was used through the music. I didn't want background noise so muting the film became the best option, also no speaking was involved. This then gave me the opportunity to create my own music to fit over the top. After experimenting with a few instruments, the ukulele seemed to fit best as it was a light and cheerful instrument which matched the characteristics of the cats. I then layered this over the top before exporting the film.

Classical Hollywood Cinema

Most films made today follow the same conventions. These are called Classical Hollywood films. The word 'classical' makes me think of the old and 'classic' black and white films in the 1940's, but that appears not to be the case. All the classical hollywood movies follow the IMR conventions I have previously blogged about that involves camera work, sound and editing.

According to Bordwell and Thompson, the 6 main principal characteristics of Classical Hollywood cinema are:

• Individual characters as causal agents - The character doesn't have to necessarily need to be human. Now with advancing technology, CGI (computer generated images) can re-create characters for a movie. The last alternative for a character is an animal and this can be found in movies such as Babe.

• Desire - This represents a goal someone has or needs to achieve by the end of the movie. Harry Potter has goals and sub-goals within the movies and therefore makes for an interesting storyline. Some movies end in a disequilibrium where the character doesn't reach there final goal

• Change in characters - Within the film the characters personality can change due to the events that take place within the film. A good example of a film that shows a change in characteristics is Handcock, where the hero starts off not caring for the cities people but finds purpose.

• Appointment or deadline - E.g. Within the Hangover they need to find their friends before the wedding. This is the type of movie where the equilibrium can or cannot be met. Within the first film the ending is left on a 'cliff hanger' and the equilibrium isn't met.

• Opposition that creates conflict - This is one of the biggest themes for Classical Hollywood films. Usually there is an enemy that needs to be defeated for life to become balanced once more. In Pacific Rim, aliens destroy cities at any given moment (the conflict) and so they must stop them from appearing on earth.

• Closure - Within this theme the character has to find closure to something unknown. Within the film Sherlock, he needs to find who commits murder. This isn't solved until the end of the film.

Editing (the good and bad)

When editing the teachers collaboration video, I didn't quite realise how much editing I would need to

do. To make this video look as sleek and professional as possible I needed to adjust lighting, sound and colour just the videos themselves. I also needed to add simple yet effective transitions so I don't keep using jump cuts, which is used in basic video editing. To allow consortium students know the names of each teacher, I have placed an iMovie overplay which p

lays for 5 seconds. This says who they are and what they teach. Another overplay I used was a PNG formatted logo of the school. To do this I took the original logo of the rose, opened it within Adobe Photoshop, selected all the white background, deleted this then saved it into a PNG. This allows the background to be clear when placing it onto the video. iMovie isn't the best application though for applying this to videos as did raise some complications. When trying to edit the PNG file on the movie, the background would turn to black. Because I am unable to use FinalCut Pro at home ( I don't own the application) I will leave this part till I can edit at school with the Macs there and watch a tutorial previously to ensure I know how to place the logo over the top. Another complication is that the overlay of the PNG image doesn't allow transitions into other videos. This means that I make the image fade in and out every time a new clip of video started. This meant for longer editing.

Things to still do, however, is to film one final teacher, edit that to the rest of the video and then apply the media logo I made a few posts ago. I will then export this and edit the logo over the top exactly where I want it. I have previously learnt that FinalCut Pro is cooperative with iMovie, so the transition from each application should work smoothly.

Story and Plot

Aren't these the same thing? I believed this before discovering that plot and story is actually very different, even though many people use them in the same terms. The story or narrative is what we see on screen and what is shown to the audience. The plot includes what we don't see, the characters lives outside of the film.

 

Conventional narratives follow the same basic pattern in terms of the way they construct a story. Tzvetan Todorov defined the 3 main parts of a narrative structure (the beginning, middle and end) as:

• Equilibrium - the balance of normality
• Disequilibrium - the problem and climax
• New Equilibrium - return to normality, world at a balanced state.

This basic three point narrative can be looked at in more detail. This is sometimes called the narrative arc. For instance there may be more than one disequilibrium, or more than one equilibrium. Too many of these though can leave a movie boring as the same story line might be used. E.g. The good guys always defeate the bad guys, so therefore the movie becomes predictable. Some narratives end in disequilibrium to discomfort the viewer. For instance, although not a movie, one Sherlock series ended with Sherlock presumably dead, leaving the views distraught.

 

Classical Hollywood narrative usually follows a similar pattern to the previous. This is a little like an equation for Hollywood script writers to follow and there for ending up with an interesting story line. The structure is:

 

• Situation - Understanding quickly who the characters are and where we are. This is ALWAYS at the beginning of the movie. If not, this leaves the viewers confused. This can also take too much time up within the movie, leaving the viewers bored, so the balance of timing is essential.
• Complication - Events which occour to make a problem. This could be part of the plot, something going on before the story was being filmed.
• Climax - This is the moment where the problems are being solved. In action films, convetionally the problem is solved from a battle scene which should take a reasonable amount of time to solve but not too long to solve so the audience doesn't get bored.
• Resolution - Returns to some point of normality (equilibrium).

Markers

 

A marker is a media language choice which provides information to audiences quickly and economically = Economy of Presentation.

Location Georgraphical marker shows where abouts in the world this film is taking place.

Historical Marker -  The time or era the text is set in. This allows the audience to understand what rules and laws may have been aroudn then and will help the audience understand why actors act a certain way.

Generic Marker - The genre of the text. This could be action or comedy and is usually established within the first 5 minutes of the film.

Character Marker - Information about the characters. This will be given throughout the film, but alot before the end so the audience can either sympathise or understand the character.

Adobe Illustrator - Designing a logo

Now that I'm creating a teacher collaboration project instead of a short film, logos are needed to show the producer or in this case, the school it will be representing. Southfield School does have a logo for the entire school but not one for it's Media department. Recently I have subscribed to a 30 day trial to Adobe Illustrator, and after following a few tutorials and adding my own flare, I created a logo which I could then use at the end of this piece of filming or for my short film. The name was inspired by the subject 'Media' and the name of the school, South'field'. 

This logo was created by firstly creating a triangle shape. The shape was inspired from the 'play button' from old YouTube videos. The triangle was then rotated to one side and the line with made thicker with curved sides. The next step was to create another triangle within this so there was separate colour and variation. This was done my copying the original shape, making it smaller, then fitting it within the original triangle. At the moment, this new smaller triangle is blocking the space in the middle, so I place  a third and final black triangle within the middle to cover any over lapping shapes. The then fill the triangles accordingly, add a curved rectangle to the top to give it gloss and then apply the writing later on Pixlr.

The Caterpillar and Fly (Short Film)

When creating a short film, the best way to get ideas about camera work and editting is by watching other short films made by professionals to give yours a more professional look. The Caterpillar and Fly is a short film which involves the two main characters of a grandchild and his grandpa. One day the boys hamster dies whilst he is at school and the grandpa comes across this. He then goes outside to capture a butterfly, place it into the hamster cage and tells the boy that his hamster has turned into a butterfly. The boy has to then let this butterfly free, teaching the boy that sometimes you have to be brave and let things go. The next day when the boy comes home from school the grandpa isn't in his usual seat, giving the idea that the grandpa died, but before had taught the boy a vauluable lesson in letting things go and setting them free.

 

Now in the beggining scene there is a sound bridge. This technique is good as it could be used to show continuous life outside of the short film and that everyday is like the following. This is usually used from the title of the screen to the next scene. Next an close up establishing shot was used but not on a place, but the main character (the boy). This would be handy, especially is the cast of a short film is a little bigger than usual. For this instance his family did play a part, but the establishing shot helped us focus on this one character.

An editting technique used which was different to what I have seen before was the use of 'fade to black' cuts. These were used to establish a new room or situation for the boy, cutting out useless filming of him running upstairs or walking through halls. And finally, jump cuts were used in a whitty way for the grandpa when catching a butterfly. This showed a long period of the same movement happening, making us realise that the grandpa spent a long time trying to catch a butterfly for his grandson.

 

I hope to put as much thought into my editting techniques and camera shots as much as the director and script writer did with this short film as this was a perfect example of profesionalism for a short film.

1 Minute Short Film Situation

At this point I would be creating an idea and scripting for a short 1 minute film based around the idea of 'A Day in the life of...' like the rest of the members in my Media class. This, however, is not the case. I have been asked specifically by my teacher to film teachers talking about each of their subjects for consortium students next September. Although this doesn't allow me to explore my ideas creativly, it does allow me to demonstrate my skills with a camera, editting techniques, sound and image mulipulation with the layering of logos and so on. This task began last week but I am blogging now as now is the time when the members of my Media class will be uploading and scripting for their 1 minute short film.

I realise now that even for this film for consortium students requires alot of planning, even though each teacher only has to speak for about 30 seconds. I begun by sending an email to all the teachers I was told to film, but of course it was never going to be as simple as I had first thought. Some teachers couldn't be filmed as they weren't in school and some recomended other teachers. All of this seemed to back track me a bit to make sure I had a confirmed list of teachers willing to be filmed. Some teachers where prepared where as others made their speeches up on the spot. It was also difficult filming some of the teachers due to the location and times they were available for filming. Of course in a school it was never going to be quiet, so I have learnt that with this camera I have used for filming these teachers (Sony 5n) to use a boom which when tilted toward the person speaking it only picks up their speaking, leaving it with a much more professional sound. As with lighting some classrooms were very dark, so a reflector was needed to brighten their faces more. I also tried to get some different angles of the teachers speaking, but due to the majority not having a script and thinking from the top of their heads I wouldn't have been able to sinc up their speech.

I have a few more teachers to film before I am complete and 3 will be filmed tomorrow. Due to the ammount being filmed tomorrow I will bring in all of my camera equipment. This includes:

• DSLR (Sony 5n)
• Boom (separate sound recording)
• Reflector (for enhancing light)
• tri-pod (for stable filming)

A free lesson tomorrow will allow me to film two of the 3 and so I have a small crew of two to help with setting up and holding the boom. This task has helped me identify how to hand out roles and how much time and preparation is needed to film even a small documentary or movie.

What Is The IMR?

The Institutional Mode of Representation means that parts within the process of a movie such as camera work, sound and editing is done and produced in the same way in the majority of films. This includes continuity editing. Continuity editing hides the process of editing and therefore makes it look as if time is flowing in a 'real' way. These cuts are done in a logical and in a chronological order. As previously stated, the majority of movies produce films in this way as it is easier to produce and easier for the audience to understand, especially if the plot of a film becomes detailed.

However, there are challenges to continuity, and one of these challenges is called a montage edit. This isn't done in the same style as continuity but will be mixed with it. Montage editing is produced by cutting backwards and forwards to different items or previously mentioned scenes for a symbolic reason. This can ruin the flow of continuity editing and therefore leaving the average audience confused, but giving a more in-depth meaning to the film. A good example of this is shown through the film adaption of 'Wuthering Heights'. Scenes cut to objects to symbolise relationships. One that expresses the relationship well is a cut to a rotting apple, which represents the rotting of the relationship. Another movie that shows montage editing is 'Battleship Potempkin' directed by Einsenstein in 1925. Many quick and jumpy cuts are used to give a more emotional response than a symbolic one. And finally, 'Psyco' ,directed by Hitchcock in 1950, shows montage editing within the scene when the woman gets stabbed. You never see the knife attack her, merely close to her body. This then goes to a graphic match of the plug hole of the shower, suggesting that her life is being drained away with the water then matching onto her eye which graphically matches linking her to the blood washing down the drain. All of this gives a symbolic or emotional point which continuity editing doesn't give as well.

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.