A2 Media Presenation

Production Company - Film4

Our short film obviously is a small independent project that shall have a small budget. It will be set in rural England, this is due to ease of access as well as suiting our conventions for our film. Due to the british themes of our film and the independence it is a project that would likely be backed by much smaller film companies such as; Film4.in comparison to the larger hollywood studios, for example; Warner Bro's, Paramount.

Although companies like working title produce mainly british films they also get behind projects that tend to have a much larger budget, and more well known actors/actresses. Its for this reason that we have gone with a company like Film4

Short Film Prentation

This "Prezi" was made as a group, and we each had an input, and presented it in front of our class, however when we made it, it was made on Matthew's Prezi account. this is why it says his name at the top of the presentation.

A Specific Genre

War Film

Out of the many genres, we are most interested in doing a war film as we already have the equipment available such as props and costumes and know of some appropriate locations that will work well for our project.

The standard technical codes and conventions for war films are specific to what war the film is based on for example a typical WW2 film would feature the uniforms and weapons that they used at the time, however in a fantasy war film, it is likely the film would feature armour and swords for the use of props. For our film we would like to base it on the time period of WW2

John Belton, a professor who specializes in film history and cultural studies. Identified four narrative elements of the war film: "1) the suspension of civilian morality during times of war, 2) primacy of collective goals over individual motivations, 3) rivalry between men in predominantly male groups as well as marginalization and objectification of women, and 4) depiction of the reintegration of veterans." 

Technical Analysis - "Black Hawk Down" By Ridley Scott

Technical Analysis - “Band of Brothers” By David Frankel and Mikeal Salomon

This is a scene from the 2001 Television series Band of Brothers. In this scene Lt Winters leads a charge on the Germans. In the first shot there is a long shot where you can see the unit of soldiers in ditch in a field. This shot shows how in the open they are and the bravery of the soldiers. In the next shot there is a close up of the soldiers face talking to each other giving instructions, this shows that they are organized and prepared.

The next shot cuts to a canister of red smoke in the middle of the field. The colour red can resemble fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power and determination.

Technical Analysis - “Saving Private Ryan - Opening Scene” By Stephen Spielberg

This film is incredibly well known for its horrific and realistic representation of Normandy landing set in WW2. The fist shots during the opening scene depict the dirty, trembling hands of one of the soldiers. this demonstrates to the audience that he is incredible scared, the nervousness of the character shows the realism of the situation and is an accurate portrayal of how the soldiers must have been feeling. a few seconds later we see him take a drink, it is now clear to the audience that he is the main characters as he is very central in this midshot containing many other actors. in the next cut we see this character giving very clear instructions, that indicates to the audience that he is a leader.

As soon as the boats land on the beach and drop the ramps all the soldiers at the front are all shot down by German machine guns, this is a very gruesome and realistic scene and really gets the attention of the audience. The next cut jumps to an over shoulder shot of where the Germans are shooting from in a bunker at the top of the beach down at the allies raiding the beach. This shot, as it is looking down, could represent the advantage the Germans have over the allies at this point.

The next scene show a first person view of what its like being in amongst the soldiers leaving the boat, and the director has created a very interesting effect, where, when the viewpoint or camera is underwater the gun shots and explosions are muffled, and then when it returns to the surface they be heard really clearly. I think that the sound effects in this opening scene help create an atmosphere and make the situation seem a lot more realistic. the next scene demonstrate an eye line match as it shows the main character who seems to be very shocked and withdrawn see some gruesome scenes, such as; a man picking up his arm witch has been blown off as well as soldiers who have been caught on fire jumping into the see. All the scenes from the eye line perspective go really quiet witch suggest’s that the character is temporarily deaf, and allows the audience to focus and the scenes occurring. 

Technical Analysis - "8" By Acim Vasic

The Short begins with a couple of medium close ups of the actors face and then his boot, stubbing out a cigarette in the snow. The first shot is very misleading as it shows what appears to be a man wearing a gas mask, however it is soon made clear that it is merely attached to the back of his head, along with a helmet to accompany his soldier’s uniform. The action of smoking and the way he stubs it out has connotations of masculinity.

The director then cuts to a long shot, showing the actor running across an open field. The diegetic sound effects of old fashioned aircraft's, alongside the characters costume signifies that this film is taking place during a war. The wide angle lens used for the shot demonstrates how lonely the soldier is in this situation. This also raises many questions, such as whereabouts he is and what exactly he is doing, these questions keep the audience engaged and wanting to carry on watching. After this cut the title of the short appears in the chosen font.

After this there is an establishing shot, where a new character appears who seems to be fumbling around with or stuck in a parachute. This straight away has connotations to the audience of this character being dopey. It appears that this second character, also in some kind of uniform, has injured his nose. This characters uniform is quite light in tone in comparison to the other character which connotes themes of good and evil. While he continues to fumble in order to sort himself out, he allows the first character to sneak up on him.

The Short carries on with the two soldiers trying to outwit each other in a tense game of cat and mouse, tension is built with the fade from slow to fast editing and the lack of any dialogue just pure camera work and acting. However there are a couple of shots that I really like the look of and I feel create a large impact on the audience, and this is where it seems like the director has used a "GoPro" camera and attached it to a mechanical piece on the gun. So when the actor moves with the gun the framing stays the same, this shot stands out to me and creates a sense of drama in the shot.

Successful Short Film

Tyrannosaur

The film “Tyrannosaur” became an expansion of “Dog Altogether”, a short film for Warp Films that Paddy Considine wrote and directed, which won the Best Short Film BAFTA and BIFA awards as well as the Silver Lion award at Venice in 2007.

Film Festivals

UK

·      Raindance Film Festival (Oscar Qualifying)

·      London Short Film Festival

·      Edinburgh International Film Festival

·      Manchester International Film Festival

·      Encounters international Short Film Festivals (Oscar Qualifying)

·      Leeds International Film Festival

MOST SUBMITTED

·      Sundance Film Festival (USA)

·      Cannes Film Festival (France)

Definition of a Short Film

A short film a film that is not long enough to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as “an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minuets or less, including all credits”. Short films can be professional or amateur productions. Short films are often screened at local, national, or international film festivals and can also be shown as part of a presentation along with a feature film.

Short films are often made by independent filmmakers for non-profit, either with a low budget or no budget at all. These films are also often used by indie filmmakers to prove their talent in order to gain funding for future films from private investors, entertainment companies, or film studios.

Introduction to A2 Media

This is my first post for my A2 Media Coursework. Out of the three options; trailer, music video or short film, i decided to make a short film. Our goal is to create a WW2 war film, set in the countryside. My research will focus on the genre of war, looking at a variety of short films and particular scenes from full feature length films taking notes on the codes and conventions.