What not to do in my Short

I dont want to sound too mean but below is an example of an A2 short film called "Stranded" and it is literally terrible, but by watching it I have managed to pick up on things not to do in my film which should hopefully make mine better.

What I learnt:

• They use alot of copywrited music which isn't proffesional
• The characters often look at the camera for a split second, which takes away the feel of it being a film, so I need to tell my actors not to do this and if they do, redo the shot
• Their is a lot of wind and car engine noise, if I have this problem I should record the lines seperatly and dub it over the top
• A lot of the actions don't really seem to have any purpose which makes it a bit comical in a way although it's not supposed to be. So I should try to make it clear why my characters have done things
• It's a very predictable idea and ending, I should try to be more original
• The acting is so bad, if I can't find good actors it might be worth me trying to come up with a plot that isn't heavily dependant on acting
• I didn't like how the bad guy was a very stereo typical bad guy, I think a more original bad guy or one that you wouldnt expect would be a choice 

Another Film Idea!!!!

While getting the train home from work a couple was talking very loudy about how they didn't want to go to a friends wedding as neither of them liked the couple and they were trying to come up with a valid excuse so they couldn't go. I thought that it could make a good Short so started to think more into the idea and this is what I came up with...

Plot:

A couple get invited to a wedding which neither of them want to go to and they say that they have been invited to another wedding on the same day so they don't have to go to the wedding. After the date of the supposed wedding the couple who actually had a wedding ask to see photos of the wedding the other couple went to, in a mad panic the couple have 3 days to try to get a scrap book of photos together of a wedding that never existed. While pannicing for ideas they walk past an actual wedding going on, so gate crash it and take loads of photos. However part way through they get arrested as it was actually a funeral.

Important update (made after I posted this idea): Although I liked the idea and thought it could be funny it didn't take long for me to realise that staging a wedding/funeral is basically impossible and way out of my small budget so I will probably not be doing this idea although I like the idea of people trying to make up excuses that go wrong so I may use that in another more practical film idea.

Character devolpment

We were given the task of creating a character bio for an image of a random person, I chose this happy old man.

Name: Rupurt Stevenson, known as "Dartsy" to friends due to his incredible skill at darts

Age: 68

Martial Status: Happily married to Lorain Stevenson and has been for 43 years

Occupation: Owns "The Red Bear" pub and works there every other day and night, been a family business for years

Previous Job(s): Worked as a farm and for his friends dad for 2 years after he left high school until he was old enough to work in the pub

Residency: Lives above the pub in his small village Eccles Road in rural Norfolk

Family Life: His wife and 30 year old daughter whom he loves with all his heart however is unhappy with her husband as he doesn't trust him, but he loves his daughter too much to say anything

Close Friends: Jack Fletch aged 64, known as Meaty Jack due to his old job as a butcher and his size, Meaty Jack spends most nights in the pub and they have grown very close due to spending so much time together. Tom McDavids aged 68, been best friends since Dartsy worked on Tom's dads farm for 2 years and are always together

Where is he in the photo? At Tom's annual cheese party, everyone in the village is invited to Tom's farm once a year to taste a new kind of cheese he has been working on

Who are they with? Tom, Meaty Jack, Lorain and other people from the village

Where were they at 10pm last night? Dartsy was working in the pub

Who were they with? Meaty jack, the pub is usually empty besides him

Where do they see themselves in 5 years? Exactly where they are now

Any Secrets? When Dartsy was 7 he accidentally wet himself and his uncles wedding and has never told anyone about it

Although this character may not be in my film it has helped me understand that the more thought you put into a character the more believable they will be, therefore making you film more believable and realistic.

Marking hide and seek

"Hide and Seek"

Good bits:

• Good idea
• Children acted well for their age
• A good variety of shots
• Excellent focus on mise en scene, clothing, cake etc
• Good continuety throughout
• Good use of dark and light to show different times

Bad Bits:

• Predictable story
• Seemed to change from the past to the present too quickly

How it helped me:

• A large amount of focus on mise en scene will help with the feel of the whole Short overall
• Be careful that the story doesn't seem to be rushed to an ending
• Child actors can work well but would need make sure they are good

Marking love hurts

"Love hurts"



Good bits:

• The sound worked well to add to the ambiance of the film along with the black and white balloon 
• The control of the camera was good most of the time
• The symbolism with the selective desaturation effect on the balloon.

Bad bits:

• It was  a very predictable film
• Occasionally the camera would be too shaky, during the POV shot from the girl
• A small variety of shots
• Some shots went on too long, especially when they are sitting on the bench, a close up of their hands would have helped break up the shot.
• More close ups to show emotion as it is a silent film

How it's helped me:

• Not to have shots that go on for a long time
• Choose music that fits well with my theme
• Close ups to show emotion are needed
• Use a variety of shots

Narnia lamp post scene (focus on shots)

For this scene we were given the script from the lampost scene in Narnia and told to recreate it with a focus on the shots used. Because of this we didn't record the dialogue sepereatly to remove wind and traffic noise.

How do people watch Shorts?

People and their Short watching...

People consume Shorts in a large variety of ways, youtube, cinema's, websites, film festivals ect.

Youtube:

It's probably the most popular way as their is a huge variety of Shorts on their and anyone can upload their Short. It is also free and easy to watch them so everyone with Internet access can watch them. As technology advances people can now watch youtube on their phones or tablets so it is also becoming a more accessible. People often watch them together with friends or watch alone and then share the link to their friends via social networking. Youtube also allows people to comment and offer feedback so a lot of amateur film makers use this as a way of getting feedback and advice from the public. 

Cinemas:

Many "art house" cinemas show a series of Shorts in one go for a small fee. The type of people that watch these are often more of the aficionado/buff section of the audience. They are more likely to go alone and want the Shorts to have more thought provoking or dark topics. The films shown here are usually student films that are nominated or upcoming film makers.

Websites:

Websites such as shortoftheweek showcase Short films that have won competitions or have been nominated ect. Again like youtube anyone with Internet access can watch these for free however they are not as popular as youtube but hold higher status if you film has been shown on them. A lot of people still watch films on these websites though, usually people with more of an interest in Shorts.

Film festivals:

People that go to these festivals will often be the same kind of people that go to watch Shorts at art house cinemas. They will watch Shorts that have been nominated to be shown and then wait to see which one is the winner. 

Best for me:

I think that youtube would be the best platform for me as it is easy, free, has a large audience and people can offer feedback easily to my film. It is also a good way to get yourself known and from their I could then attempt to enter my films into competitions to get them onto websites or in film festivals.