Short Film Mood Boards

Further into our research and planning for our short films, we were assigned the task to create a mood board of what features we should include in our short films. For my mood board I researched possible genres and their conventions, cinematography, editing, create and audience profile and suggest possible distribution and exhibition possibilities. All of these were elements are what we would need to consider when making our film in order for it to live up to the conventions of a short film, our chosen audience and chosen genre.

Other members of our group also created mood boards that explored different aspects that we would need to consider when creating our short film:

Katie- http://katiemitchella2media.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/short-film-ideas-moodboard.html#comment-form

Video Review of Virgin Short Films

Virgin Films is a website that shows a variety of short films, that have been created by unknown filmmakers. Virgin Films shows these films on the site allowing audiences who enjoy watching short films, either over or similar to full length feature films. In our groups we were given the task to watch a variety of shor films then pick two in which as a group we would review. As a group we picked our most favorite and least favorite, and then wrote down wy we enjoyed/disliked the film, referring to the elements used within the film. The elements we took into consideration when it came to reviewing the short film were:Narrative, genre, subject matter, origionality, camera work, editing, sound, performance and mise-en-scene. We then recorded our groups talking about the films we chose.
(DISCLAIMER: All rights go to Virgin.co.uk the source of all short films shown on this blog)

Our most favourite short film was: Just Say Hi

A short romance, expressing the importance of just speaking o movve things forward.

Our least favourite short film was: Wrongly Accussed

A short action/adventure, about how society can not fit everyones needs.

Narrtive Development

In groups we explored different narrative styles that were used in films. Starting by studying Todorov: Typical narrative structure: Equilibrium- Disequilibrium/Disruption- Resolution/ New Equilibrium. We first thought of films that didn't follow this structure, our examples were Red Velvet, The Lost Highway and Titanic as the has the Resolution at the beginning instead of the end.

 

Then we went on to devise our own narrative that followed the Todorov's typical narrative structure.

 

 

 

 1. Devising an idea with a clear narrative structure.

Horror, 5 teenagers on a road trip. Four of the teens disappear/die. One, a girl, survives.

What generic conventions are used to make the horror element clear?

 Character types: Profile/ description of each character

 How will the story start?

 What is the threat?

 How do they go missing?

 Why and how does she survive?

 

 

 Narrative Tasks

Devise an opening yo your original proposed horror story. The opening must use the shark bite technique.

Open on foggy beach at dusk, hear a girl scream 'HELP!' Then the sound of a body collapsing to the ground. Then camera moves across the beach to a close up of the girls dead body by the tide covered in seaweed, then followed by a close up of a buried body, that is visible under the sand. Close ups of foot prints of boots going up the beach to a wide shot of a blurred figure in the background.

 

Cultural and semic/symbolic codes: What subtle clues could you use to show that one teenage girl is interested in the occult?

-Small tattoos that are only just noticeable,

-Wears a piece of clothing that has a logo on it e.g. a coat, a blazer etc.

-Owns a piece of jewellery in the shape of the logo e.g. earring under long hair or a necklace that she would hide under her clothing or a ring hat no one would really notice or understand is meaning and just mistake it as a fashionable piece.

 

Sketch/describe or photograph 2 characters from the film that are binary opposites.

A skinny, weak, tomboy. That would be seen as harmless.

A strong, buffed, hansom male. That any person who dared tried to go against would be a little worried to face.