My Short Film - First Idea

The basis of the theme for my short film is about choices. The first concept for my plot is about one character by the name of Rhys. Rhys, works in a high profile job, that is never specified, but has a large amount of security and secrecy that accompany it. Rhys, receives a message informing him to go to warehouse, where he finds his sister Kathy and his business associate Lucy standing on a trap door, both with nooses around their necks. His staff and police are already on scene and inform him that a decision has to be made about who can survive; removing one body, tips the counter weight for the trap door, hanging the other victim. Time is ticking away as he struggles between the decision that will benefit the world (saving Lucy) or the decision that will save his heart (Kathy). Rhys eventually decides to over rule his heart and save Lucy. The end of the narrative, is watching both Kathy's and Rhys' reaction as they both know when the time runs out that she will die. The final moments of the plot are revealed by focusing on the Rhys' face as his sister is killed and the anguish he faces at not choosing to save her.

The extreme decisions that Rhys has to face are exaggerated beyond anything that would occur naturally, but this plot has an important moral message, about the right decisions not always being those which are easiest to make. This narrative, also conveys to the audience the strength of love and bonds between characters. Both Rhys and Kathy are very different in personality and lifestyle choices, but they still care about each other and respect them, an important message to convey to the audience. Moral messages are also an important convention of the short film genre and therefore are crucial within my work.  

Research - Film Posters

Posters, are an important advertising tool for a film. Posters are used to intrigue the audience, by representing a key concept of the narrative. They also supply important information such as the cast and crew and the release date and occasionally the location. These conventions are commonly found in both Short and full length films. For Short films, that will not have the budget or marketing that full length films will have put into them, so the poster has to represent the concepts behind the film. Examples of this in the short film sector are the creative aspects as well as the theme of the film. It helps signify its content to the audience of these productions.

The poster for the short film "Unstoppable". It is creative and visually attractive. The use of the vivid blues and the imagery contained and layered within in it are unique and appealing to an audience. The use of this creativity is representative of the perspective that short films contain. The focus of the poster is the central image. The layering of images, colours and textures make it unique and stand out to the audience. The use of it against black background, conveys a large contrast. The names of the cast and director are at the top of the poster are traits shared with posters of full length feature films. The information underneath the title, means that attention is not removed from the representational image but details to the perspective audience the films key information. These features are found in both a short film as well as feature length film posters. The use of these conventions allows the audience to understand and retain information about it.

The 2008 short film "Purge"; winner of a variety of awards such as Best dramatic short film, AOF festival is featured around the struggle of a young women named Joy, and the sexual abuse she has come under and her escape from it. The use of the image of the young girl is representative to the audience that she is the main focus and character of the film. The fact that only half of her face is shown, can signify the portrayal of her hiding, wearing a mask and therefore trying to protect herself. It is open to a variety of interpretations. The creativity and difference of opinion this offers is crucial to the audience type as well as the category of short film itself. The typography on this piece is feminine due to the shape and curve of the font. Again connoting the link to the young women which the narrative focuses upon. The fact that the font is simple, can also represent the importance of theme and creativity of the film. The simplicity can also convey the title of the film "Purge". Again, like the majority of film posters, details about the cast, crew and other information are detail at the bottom in order not to detract from the main focal point. The choice of background is plain, conveying the importance of the young female character, but the choice of green, can represent nature and freedom, linking to the theme of the title. Green is also representative of modern existence, as it is a calm and focused colour.The background on the original picture is blurred, creating a focal point of the young girl, instead of her location. By keeping it out of focus it can suggest the changes and development of the main character that are needed to make her life clearer. This is a tool used in order to successfully convey the theme and focus of the film to its audience.

Although, this film poster is not one from the category of short films, I feel that it offers a wide range of important conventions that could be used within my product in order for it represent and market a short film successfully. This is the film poster from Tim Burton's, Alice in Wonderland. The choice of background and imagery are important as it is a strong connection with the film. The iconic imagery is bright, and the key focal point of the poster. This feature would be important in a short film poster, due to the common conventions found in them. This poster, although for a feature film, is creative and artistic in its style and approach to the narrative and imagery, an important link to short films. This poster, does change the perception of film posters, as the name of the film is at the bottom in the right hand corner. This feature would be used to make sure attention is drawn first by the image, and that the audience is forced to take in the entire poster in order to receive this information. The font and colours used throughout this poster, are crucial in portraying the theme of the film. One trait this poster does share with other film posters is that important information is once again shown at the bottom of the poster, keeping the attention of the perspective audience.

Each of the posters above, uses a variety of different conventions in order to successfully demonstrate to a perspective audience, the theme of the film. Iconic images of the film, are used as the main focal point and attraction of the poster. This helps to market the film clearly, without the need for a large quantity of text. The positioning of the title and the typography are also important in representing the content of the film. Films in which creativity and the unique content they posses such as "The Alice in Wonderland" poster are represented by the lack of conventions shown on it. Colours and tones are also an important aspect to be considered when producing a successful poster. In order to make the poster for my short film successful, I will have to apply the conventions of posters in the genre of my piece, such as dark colours, unusual fonts and dark imagery. The conventions of varying short film and feature length films posters will also be used within my work. Images that represent the film, typography and the choice of colours are all important in making sure that the poster can represent my film accurately and successfully to its audience.

Audience Research

Audience is an important aspect to consider when considering aspects for a film. Knowing the target audience means that it is successful within its genre, as it is interesting and easily understood by them. If the film is targeted at the wrong audience, it would make it unsuccessful as the content would be inappropriate and possibly uninteresting to them. The audience for short films is very specific due to the content and style that they deal with.  Due to the fact short films aren’t often sold, or classified, there are no customer reviews or BBFC classifications, the research on audience interests will have to be conducted by a questionnaire.

A stereotypical audience for them would often be of higher education, often to University level. The manner in which short films convey their content through metaphors and strong creative imagery would require a large degree of interest in content similar to it, like literature. Due to the education level of a typical audience member and the importance of imagery and visuals for the moral message the audience members would typically be middle to upper class, to represent the well educated creative society. Gender is an important category to consider, unlike films of stereotypical gender genres such as Romantic Comedy and Action, the morals and content of a short film can be deemed suitable for both genders.  After analysing and viewing a variety of comments on video sharing sites such as YouTube the mainstream television shows and films mentioned convey the theme’s ad content that that the typical audience are interested in.

From comments they have shown an interest in shows such as “Sherlock”, “Doctor Who” and “Silent Witness”.  These shows convey the passion for imagery and unique content, due to the strange cases that are solved in the majority of the productions. “Sherlock” and “Silent Witness” also show the interest in programmes that require thought and concentration, an aspect that is heavily involved in short films.  Films that they may also have an interest in are supernatural and have content that is unique and carries a moral message to the audience such as “Donnie Darko” and ”The Secret Window” they are also films that have certificates and content that are suitable for the age category stated above.

Genre - Social Drama

Social Drama is one of the genres that my short film will be based upon. The social drama genre is about questioning the morality of situations and societies that can be found throughout humanities existence. It conveys issues that individuals can face as well as problems facing humanity. The key factor of a film of the social drama, is dealing with features of humanity that can be difficult to portray to an audience or are relevant to humanity as a whole. Social Drama films often use creative methods to reinforce and portray the message to the audience. An example of the content used in social drama, would be issues such as poverty, consumerism and death. The idea of these films is to convey other interpretations and idea's about these situations to the audience. Films of the Social Drama genre often try to demonstrate a cure to what is shown. It may have a negative or positive portrayal of the social concept of the film. Social Drama's often feature in other sub genre's such as medical drama's and political drama's.

The social drama genre is relevant to my short film idea because of the theme and content I plan to use. The basic outline of my film is about the idea of decisions. Within my short film the decision is about the life of one of two characters. The main character can only save one of them and the decision has to be made about whether it should be made for the benefits of society or for personal reasons, because they love the second character. Even though this decision is the extreme, it links back to the basic and often difficult decisions that everyday people have to make in real life. It connotes to the audience, that the message of the film is about the variety of choices that need to be made and that coming to the right conclusion isn't always quick and simple.

Genre - History of Horror and Conventions

One of the main features of a horror film is that is has to engage with the audience by inciting emotions such as fear and disgust about what they are witnessing on screen. The Horror genre can overlap with a variety of other genre’s in order for it to progress and continue to terrify the audience. An example of the genres that horror can link to is the Supernatural genre as well as well as Thriller. Plots and narratives for horror films often use images for the actual world and pervert and change them by adding in monsters or accentuating real violence from society. The varieties of fictional characters that stereotypically appear are ghosts, werewolves, Satan and vampires. Horror also features characters that could exist within real life, such as Jack the Ripper and other forms of killers and torturers. Some of the original horror films were based upon Gothic Literature. Examples of these are Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein and Dracula. A large amount of the original horror films were created in Germany. The Hollywood films began in the early 1920’s, where popular films such as Phantom of the Opera and Waxworks were created. The 1930’s is when Hollywood horror films became intended for mainstream audiences. It was during this time period that notable actors such as Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff became famous for their portrayals as Dracula and Frankenstein respectively.

Hammer Horror was a production company that had large amounts of success with the Horror genre in the 1950’s – 1970’s, these films contain blood and gore in colour. They often stared the respected actors of horror at this time such as Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. They had large success with films such as the curse of Frankenstein and The Mummy. The director of these films, Terence Fisher, is deemed the creator and biggest influence for all modern Horror films. Hammer Horror films were popular until the 1980’s when the studio ceased to produce up until 2007, when larger Hollywood budgeted films took over. Horror films after this developed into psychological films, in which the perpetrator and the object of horror are not revealed to the audience, an example of this being the popular film Halloween.

During the 1990’s Horror films took a step backwards as the gore aspect had worn out and the audience had changed and developed. The new audiences wanted films that challenged them instead of simple slasher films. The Horror genre has inspired a variety of different productions, that span a variety of genre because of the well recognised traits it posses. It has had a variety of documentaries and show dedicated to the progression that has happened since horror began. One of the most recent is “A history of horror” a BBC 4 production that stared Mark Gatiss running down a list of some of the most arguably influential films produced in this genre.

Horror is an important genre, within my plan for a short film. The idea of frightening the audience and to push the boundaries of their perceptions is a concept used in my short film. The fact that my plan consists of two characters stuck on a platform that is counter weighted with a noose around their necks; if one of them is removed from the platform, the weight on the platform shifts and the second character is hung. This aspect of the characters death, could be deemed gruesome, even though this action is not conveyed on the screen and is only suggested to the audience. The idea of the audience perceiving the death in their own minds, not only links to the psychological aspect of the film, but makes it terrifying in its own way to the individuals watching the film. It also signifies that all though the threat of death is a crucial piece of content, it is not the main feature of the film or the narrative. Due to the fact this film contains a constant threat of death as well as images of people being ready to be hung; horror is an important genre choice for it.