FONTS

The font used in film says masses about the genre, feel of the film and the quality; and thats not even talking about what the writing in the font actually says!


As we are using iMovie to create edit our film, i have shown a selection of the fonts we could potentially use for the titles.
A FOCAL FILM This is Coolvetica, and is our first choice. It gives nothing away about the film, with the basic capital letters, something completely necessary for the action thriller genre. 
A FOCAL FILM This is Chalkboard and suggests an element of fun, or a childish film which is obviously not what we are going for but this is here to show a really clear comparison.
A FOCAL FILM This is Big Caslon and suggests something a bit too regal for the film we wish to create which deals with slightly more gritty issues than this film suggests. You would see this font in, say, a period drama. Having said this it would not look too out of place as it is a versatile looking font, but the top font, coolvetica, is the best choice.


I did this post on my iMac at home and unfortunately the different fonts do not come out on Windows computers.


BH

More short film research

This is much more the idea that I wish to create. Even though its slightly longer (7 minutes too long) it has the components of a narrative that I want to make. The majority of short films, even slightly longer ones do not seem to have a narrative inbuilt, which severely  limits their effectiveness as short films, in my opinion. The actual idea is clever, and it is pulled off well; having said this, horror is the easiest genre to create and do a good job. You look at British horror films which works on small budgets with really effective results. The best part of the film is adding an massive twist to the end of the narrative which i wont spoil for you, but really tops off a great amateur effort.


Alongside this is the inclusion of some fantastic shots and really well done mise-en-scene, mainly the shots of London, empty in the middle of the night, and the train station. It starts off with these empty london streets, setting up the horror so well in a '28 Days Later' sort of fashion.

BH

Research into Short Films

The Virgin Media Short film competition is held every year, and is relevant to what we are doing but they generally focus on one idea and expand on it, utilising this one idea many times, with no proper narrative structure to it, merely several ideas on one idea. It is quite difficult to explain but there are a few examples:

The Vicious Cycle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvmcQKfGHFw
This short film is a perect example of what i am talking about. It is the same idea- a bike that goes in circles through time- and this idea never changes, merely camera angles change.

The Black Hole:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Un20p1NGuw
This film is edited with real quality, and the idea is flawless and inventive. But the same problem is that it is one idea put into different scenarios, such as the vending machine and the safe.

The problem with these examples is that the film i wish to create has a particular narrative to it, and the idea is to include all the features of a feature film but make it 5 minutes long. Maybe this will prove too hard, but it is the idea i hold on to.

BH

Movie style Soundtrack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zykzIgMNQqo This would be the type of soundtrack to which were looking for.

Range of Shot Types we will include in Film

We feel that a short film must represent the movie as a whole, though leaving clues and enigma codes is vital. Showing the audience the best of our quality will generate a fealing that the film will continue this quality through out. A way to increase the fealing that it will cover this concept is to add a range of screen shots. Showing off to the audience our many ways of filmings.
Big close-up
Mid shot(MS)
Wide shot (WS)
Point of view (POV)
close up or close shot (CU)
Medium-long shot (MLS)
Over the shoulder (O/S)
High angle
Medium close-up (MCU)
Long shot (LS)
Two shot, three shot (2/s,3/s)
Low angle


DW

Preliminary Ideas for Short- 8ball

Foucsing on an Action British film, there seems to be a trend in fast-moving shorts with the representation of the stereotypical Britain. This could include scenery such as London or the Countryside or our well-known English accent. The increase in global viewers for British film has increased, aswell as it increasing in the U.K itself.

Our short film for 8-ball is to give a brief and sharp insight into the Movie. Shocking the audience with powerful scenes which cover the "over-all" storyline and structure of the film. Leaving enigma codes that have been picked carefully to raise opinion. Trying to be as similair to how the present films of this nature in the industry, created there film. This will then hopefully tempt the viewer into watching this as a whole.

The film will inlucde an oppening to the protagonist's life. It will seem "clean" with a slight hint of average behaviour in the character, but nothing to "cheesy", we feel this could clash with who he realy is. The piece will be struck into darkness with an ambient sound after we see him smile, acting in his "fake" life. a gun click will be heard in the darkness aswell as people talking, nearly shouting at each other in a panic. A bright light will then strecth across the screen and the greasy face of a man will appear in a big close-up shot, he will then state " so this is the guy?" It will be appear as if he is performing surgery to the viewer. This will apear as a catchphrase within the film, he will be reffered to by "the guy" a lot of the time, saying "he's the guy" or "thats the guy". After this short clip the music will suddenly drop into a fast beat with a catchy melody, . There will be narating over the music from the scenes which are shown, though famous speeches in the movie will continue for longer over the other scenes that are being shown. This continued voice will appear relevant for what is being shown. For example there will be a scene where the character is being told of a "great drug robbery waiting for him to snatch" and as this voice is describing it, we will be seeing the robbery itself, the drugs, guns firing and so on. Sudden scene changes will be relevant for the film, trying to fit in the best shots to keep the audience occupied. Towards the peak of action the screen will turn to black and the music will stop then red bold letters of "8 ball" will appear. The main character will then be seen shooting an 8 ball into a snooker hole aftert this. It will then turn black again.

DW

Teaser trailer footage --> short film

During the half-term we spent time filming for the teaser trailer. However, as soon as we had a little content I realised that it was extremely hard to cut certain bits out to create the snappy transition of many 1 or 2 second shots which just imply a meaning and don't carry it out properly. As a consequence, I saw the opportunity to extend it into a short film instead. This would give me a chance to exercise my narrative qualities that I use with my creative writing in English – and a career interest of writing screenplay.
This leads me on to how a teaser trailer is so very different to a short film in so many ways, although they are both visual media and a short film is only slightly longer. Having said this, the extra few minutes are essential to creating an opening, and more importantly a closure of the narrative. This is the main difference between the two, as a teaser trailer with not have this explicit narrative, merely imply genre, stereotypes etc. as it is meant to entice and not explain.
To conclude, I am going to finish the short film, and also complete filming for the teaser trailer, so we have an option to polish one for the final product.
BH