Establishing what short films are
Romance films
Horror film
Comedy films
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Similarities of these films
So firstly with the horror and romance films their isn't much dialogue in all of them this is due to the creators of these films wanting to show as much detail as possible in a limited time, so they would rather use body language/actions and non-digetic sound to create as much meaning as they can.
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Second similarity with these films is that there are not many actors in all of these films it usually tends to be a 2-3 characters and this is also to try and keep things limited as if they had more characters the story would have to be longer and if it was too long it wouldn't be classed as a short film.
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The third comparison I found was that all these stories of the short films are unique and would be much harder to make in a normal film and they all try to relate to the target audience as the film "between the lines" is trying to tell a story of a two women who meet each other in the library and from there body language clearly like each other but they don't display there attraction in the same way as a heterosexual couple would as stereotypical it will be the men who approach the women maybe asking them on a date or either asking for there phone number, but in here it's almost like there trying to hide there feelings as there are still some people who don't approve of homosexuality and they may be scared of the repercussions that may happen for just simply expressing there emotion.
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Another similarity I noticed is that they are in casual clothing which suggests that these films could be normal stories about normal people and they are used to try and make it more realistic and appeal to the audience more.
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Another similarity is that they all don't end off on proper endings the majority end in cliffhangers which they may use in order to try and make the audience guessing on what happened after the film end and also may complicate the story line of the film as the audience wouldn't have enough information on to why that certain ending happened.
Differences
There is a lot of variation in camera shots with all of these films as some of them have a variety of camera shots to depict meaning whereas some of the others have little but they make up for this as they will add more dialogue to try and create meaning but they won't overload the dialogue as it ma make the story more complicated and harder to understand
Some of these short films try to focus on issues in the community there in and some on the other hand are just for pure entertainment and an example of the genre that are not meant to tackle issues is the comedy genre which they have purposefully done as they won't want to make people laugh about serious issues in the world or in there community.
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Short film definition
So in conclusion a short film is a film that consists of little/no dialogue and uses a show-not-tell approach from my understanding of the se films I have chosen. Another key component of a short film is that it's limited in terms of the camera shots in order to try and simplify the film as much as possible in order to try and make it as short as possible and trying to keep as much as detail as possible. Another thing with short films is that we see a lot of non-diegetic audio which usually has more meaning than normal diegetic audio so it's probably used in order to try and show as much detail as possible.
Video analysis
In this mid shot of this women we can see that she has some make-up on and lipstick also with clothing that depicts she is the "hot girl" and firstly she gives him a small wink which is used as a message to suggest that she likes him. It's also done on the exit of the school which suggests that she's going home or going out as she also has her handbag with her and she may want to steal him from the women next to him who is his "best friend", and the "bestfriend" clearly tries to keep a straight face and acting like she doesn't care but from the body-actions and the poor facial expressions clearly suggest that she is jealous that the boy likes the other girl as expressed emotions of joy and happiness of her wink. The positioning of the camera in this screenshot just about allows us to look at the expression of the "bestfriend" and she shows emotion of jealousy and almost signalling her to keep her eyes off him.
In this shot he finds a note of someone saying they like him. This shot here is a close-up of the women who is acting as the "ugly girl" and she also makes her feelings very clear by saying how she should be with him, but his dialogue and body language clearly suggests how he is not interested in her. Her costume also says a lot of who she is supposed to be as firstly the glasses and braces are stereotypically common themes of "geeks" and "nerds" and are usually features of ugly characters. She also wears a greenish/brown color which many people tend not to choose as its associated with an ugly colour. The main prop in this scene is the lollipop which could've been used in a sexual-manner to show that she is interested in him. There are also other stuff in his locker to show that he is a school/college student. The lighting is also more focused towards her as they want to show that she is the main character in this specific scene and she is also facing towards the camera and she also appears in this scene as soon as the boy closes his locker which she is behind which could've been done to show that he wants nothing to do with her because the use of him shutting the locker may suggest that he wants to close the possiblity of them being together
This shot is a 2 shot mid shot with both of the main actors in this short film which is used to show that they are the main part of this specific scene. There are all lights above the women which may of been used to show that she possibly was the one who wrote the note to the boy saying that she liked him. The costumes haven't changed which shows that this is all happening in the same day and the circumstances haven't changed. There is also someone in the background which could suggest that the school is still operating and that there are still lessons going on. They are also having lunch as after this part they also have lunch and sitting in there group.
They use a mid shot in this scene with people in the background which could indicate that something big is going to happen and it looks like it's almost sunset which also signifies the end of this film as it's all been in one day and now that the sun has set indicates that it's ending. The clothing has changed in this scene which suggests that he is going out with his friend as in the previous scene he's at home with his friends. the lighting is also focused on them both which also signifies something big is in the process of happening
In this short film the genre is made very clear as throughout this films there is clear feeling towards the main male character which we can see through non-diegetic sound, dialogue and body movement/actions. The main males feelings are clearly expressed as every time he has an interaction with the girl he is most attracted to he is almost celebrating and is full of happiness
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The narrative is clear in this film as there are four people attracted to the characters in very different ways which also ties in with the title of this short film which is "love unexpected", as all of these people who are attracted to him are represented all very differently as with the first one in the film is his "bestfriend" who the audience clearly knows, likes him but he doesn't see it as he is interested in another girl who we see rarely in the short film who also displays some actions that she likes him. The next lover is someone who is attracted to him but he emphasizes his feelings clearly to her, which are that he has no interest in her, but the last one is a homosexual character who we only seen once who declares his love for the boy and the film ends on that cliffhanger
Firstly the camera shot of this scene is a 2 shot long shot as the creator has done this to show the responses from both of these characters. The costume of the first character is just a pair of worn shorts and from his unshaven beard and messy hair suggests that he is meant to be the less intellectual individual out of both of these cavemen. The costume of the other caveman is a proper made clothing and he has a shaven beard and his hair looks likes its been combed and taken care off, which gives off the impression he is more intellectual than his companion. The audience know that they are cavemen as they are by rocks and this type of clothing is used with representing caveman. In terms of props the caveman on the left has some sticks and is struggling to create a fire but then his more intelligent companion gives him a lighter which shows that he a more clever individual. But then the caveman on the left thinks its a stick and scrapes it across a rock and it brakes which is used for a comedic response from the audience. The setting is also at sunset so thats why the caveman will be trying to make a fire.
This is the first time in the whole film that the camera shot changes so may indicate it's the penultimate or the ending of the film, and it's still a 2 shot long shot. The costumes are still the same. The props in this scene are that the caveman on the left has some wings made from leaves and the one on the right has a much better means of air transport.
This is another two shot long shot which the creator has used to show that both of these characters are involved. The props are the cavemans rock which he may use for transport, and the caveman on the right offers him a more efficient solution and the caveman on the right see's something in it and pokes it with a sharp object which flatens the tire and it pops which is used to make the audience laugh at how stupid this character is. The costumes are the same here and throughout the whole of this short film. The setting of this film is based in the morning and with him making something to transport with suggests that he needs the wheel to get food.
The more intellectual caveman ends up getting caught by a large bird and then gets eaten in this mid shot which is used to prompt laughter from the audience as he does everything better and efficiently than his companion but still ends up being punished for it. the props here are the birds nest and the fish, which is food for the chicks however when they finish there fish they slowly turn around towards him and there is a short pause where the audience know what is going to happen which prompts a laugh as they know he is going to be eaten by the chicks. His broken flight transport suggests that he is going to have the same fate as it.
This genre is clearly shown as there is a constant stream of humor conveyed throughout this film, as the character in this film who is more intelligent and more likely survive always gets let down by his less intelligent friend and the actions the less intelligent caveman does is so stupid that it is used to prompt a laugh from the audience.
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The narrative is clearly conveyed in this film as we know there is two characters whose characteristics are completely the opposite and this is shown throughout the film with the type of clothing and actions they do.
Narrative codes and conventions
The narrative of this film is that there is a main character which seems to be a explorer trying to find something valuable maybe to keep or sell and we know this as his costume is mainly associated with that of an explorer, we also know that this is most likely based in Egypt due to the dessert and pyramids and also the camels who are the most notable animals in the country. The story is tolled as this explorer finds something interesting which we can tell through his facial expression when he sees the pyramid moving when he pressed one of the controls. He then goes to see it and when he goes in it locks him in the pyramid. The camel then starts chewing the controls
Now is where the humorous part of the short film comes as we then see the camel approach the remote and thinks it must be food due to his actions by eating the remote, similiar to how he may eat grass or other foods
Now we can see that the pyramid has changed shape to match the camels appearance and the comedy part comes as the real camel looks so content with what hes doing and doesn't know what is actually happening as the buttons cause the pyramid to change shape which bounces everything inside it and the audience may find this funny due to the explorer being in there and probably very injured
Lastly he gets kicked out of the pyramid back to the original location by someone inside the pyramid and we can then see small physical actions that indicate that the explorer is angry but then its humorous as we then see the camel just staring at him like nothing has happened and the explorerer can't really give him any consequences
The genre is made very clear as we can see throughout this whole short film evidence of the comedy aspect of this film as we see the explorer has very bad luck as he thought he had made a discovery which he did but when he goes to search in it he forgets the remote which alters the shape of the pyramid and then the camel starts to chew on it as he didn't go with the explorer and then it's even funnier as we see the pyramid is very very dark so he doesn't know what he's with or what potential dangers there could be and where the shot is facing we can't hear the screaming of the explorer so that adds another dimension of humour to the film. He then comes back after getting booted from the pyramid.
Narrative structures
With this film I would say this uses a linear narrative as firstly this starts off with this caveman trying to create things and as the audience we see him trying to create things and he gets help from what seems to be his more intelligent compatriot then he causes problems as he breaks the gift given to him by his compatriot, then we see it move into another scene with a completely new time and mise-en-scene where he then receives another gift from his compatriot and he damages it again which the director used to emphasise his stupidity and create humour out of it. Then lastly the tables turn as this time the original caveman's compatriot decides not to give him another gift and uses it for himself which ends badly as he ends up in a birds nest, and at the end the film ends on the caveman's compatriot getting attacked by the birds. So in conclusion all of these events consist of what you would see in a episodic narrative as there are three key stages in this short film and are ran in segments which are consecutive to each other.
Now with this second film it start of with this explorer looking for things to search/discover and then we see him discover some sort of remote and then he presses on the buttons and discovers that its a remote that controls the pyramid in the image you can see above the creator has specifically used a 2 shot/establishing shot, where the pyramid is placed in the centre in order to inform the audience that the remote is going to control the pyramid even before the explorer uses the remote. We then see the discoverer looking almost in shock/excitement and decides to explore the pyramid but forgets to take the remote which is obviously concerning as he has left it with a camel which sees everything as food and then we see the camel chewing on the remote which causes many of the buttons to be pressed which causes the pyramid to constantly shape shift and probably causing harm to the discoverer which prompts the audience to laugh. We then see him being kicked out of the pyramid back to where he started, and he then stares at the camel in discontent almost implying that he wants to cause harm or give consequences to the camel but the camel stares back which from an audience point of view seems more intimidating and a clear mis match and the film ends on that. So in conclusion these events consist of what the episodic narrative contains however it could also be interpreted as a linear narrative as it could also be seen as having some of the components that it has. This is also incredibly similar to the layout of the first film I analysed as there are also three key stages in this short film and are ran in segments which are consecutive to each other.
In a linear narrative its usually a story that contains a plot, characters, a setting, climax and a resolution and tells the story in a logical manner which has no flashbacks or flash-forwards. All of the films I have chosen don't use a linear narrative and instead uses episodic narrative however they do contain some of the things you would see in a linear narrative like characters and settings.
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In a Episodic narrative it's usually a story that's told in segments which is clearly presented in all of the films I have chosen as they clearly have a story line and are ran in consecutive segments.
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In a Cyclical narrative Its usually a story that starts with the end of the film or alternatively ends with the start of the film which in the films I have chosen clearly don't present this in any way.
Analysis of short film
So firstly we see in this film that this camel is shocked by the pyramid moving in height and changing shape. we can see through this close-up shot about the true emotions of this camel as his eyes have widened and his jaw has dropped which instantly relates to when people feel shocked, and it also portrays humour due to the strangeness as no one will ever see Camels show emotion as they usually have a generic pose where they just look content. The use of this close up with some few props in the background suggest that they have been here for a few days as they have a tent set up, with what seems to be a pot of water/liquid therefore denoting that they may have been there for hours or even days which therefore emphasises the shock in the camels face. The camera angle then switches to a high angle mid-shot on the explorer who then shakes his head in disbelief which therefore emphasises the shock and the unbelievable events that are occurring. We then see it jump-cut towards the pyramid in a establishing shot and it now has changed shape with a head and a snake on the head which is maybe used to intimidate the explorer into coming in and maybe informs the reader that any future events are likely not to work out well. In terms of the target audience, there are similar films to this with the most notable being Indiana Jones which many of the events coincide with it so therefore would have a similar target audience of around 6-12years. We can also tell that this target audience is for the younger ages as we can clearly see the animal making human associated facial expressions which are also associated with children novels and we also see that the pyramid changes shape which we also never see in the real world.
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This film follows the conventional comedy film as it clearly presents humour to the audience. It also conveys humour as the audience associate this face with a human character and they clearly know in real life that camels can't make facial expressions like humans can. This is also definatley more humorous to the younger years as its a cartoon and uses miniscule speech.
In this part of the short film we can see the main character the "explorer" manages to find a remote when he was digging up and with this shot we see a mid shot with him holding with what seems to be a remote and him staring directly at it looking very confused with the enlargement of his eyes and the eyebrows raised and when he presses the button even more humour is conveyed as we can see the pyramid in the background and when he presses the button there is an earthquake sound and a car beep and the "explorer" starts to put the remote next to his ear and still looks confused whilst the pyramid is transforming in terms of shape and this shows the comedy aspect, as he is confused and the audience clearly know what it does whilst he is still figuring what it does and this sets out the whole of the short film as the audience will now think of him as stupid so will expect more of the same. It could also be argued that the use of no audio creates more meaning as it lets the audience decide how they want to see the story. The lighting is also quite focused on the explorers face to try and make the audience focus on him
Analysis of short film
The director of this film has used restricted camera techniques with the main one bring that hes used a lot of front on mid shots which creates an atmosphere that it's not that serious and gives away that its a comedy because with conventional comedy shows they usually do it front on and they usually only use a couple rather than using various. This doesn't change throughout the whole film. The only other time where this does change is when the "traditional caveman" does something stupid and then the camera will focus on him to try and highlight what he has done that is stupid, to the audience. As we can see with the second screenshot the lighting used with the editing is shone onto the "traditional caveman" to try and illustrate that something is going to happen.
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Now with the lack of dialogue this is to reinforce the genre as comedy is usually associated with having a lack of dialogue, this also shows us that this is targeted at younger audiences as younger audiences don't have the same understanding as older people do so they prefer to watch things with less dialogue. There are a few sound effects in this animation which are used to highlight the day and age the animation is set. The lack of dialogue could've also be used as the director may of wanted the audience to focus more on the facial expressions and the actions the cavemen were doing.
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The comedy is created in this animation as the director has used different camera techniques when there is going to be a funny action in the film. One example is when the "stupid caveman" is trying to create a wheel with rock which as the audience is not possible but then the more intellectual caveman comes and we can see he's more intellectual as he wears smarter clothing and appears to be better dressed and he decides to give him a working wheel made out of rubber but then the camera goes to a full close up of the "stupid caveman" and looks like he has an idea, the close up here instantly suggests that something pivotal will happen as if it didn't use a close up the audience wouldn't really thing much of it because nothing is changing. Add the "stupid caveman" having a stupid idea and the "intellectual caveman" having a facial expression of despair it may give the impression that something funny is going to be the outcome.
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In conclusion all of the segments in this animation indicate that this a conventional comedy as firstly
the use of the cavemen clothing already illustrates to the audience that they are less intellectual and Cavemen are known to be less developed than humans and therefore don't understand a lot of things. Secondly with the lack of dialogue is key to most comedy's aimed at younger audiences however dialogue is still used in some comedy's aimed at older audiences however it is usually more complex.
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Narrative
With most horror films the narrative usually seems to be death related which is the most common theme as they want the audience to feel anxious about what's going to happen next also people associate blood with loss and death so that’s what they also might use.
Alongside the theme of death many films also use the theme of survival or escaping death and there also may be an antagonist that is seeking for “vengeance” for something and these antagonist may usually have the smallest reason to seek revenge, which makes the audience feel on edge as this means the antagonist is more likely to spill blood or acts of violence
Characters
For the characters the protagonists are predominantly played by females as stereotypically they are known as more sensible and intelligent than men. Alternatively it could be played by a weak male/female or a group of weak males/females. It also creates the horror in the film as if the protagonist was stronger than the antagonist there will be no scare feel to it. There also played by “good looking” characters who are usually the first person to be killed. The “hero” which there is in in most films is commonly the most unlikely character is one of the protagonist helpers in order to provide the shock feeling to the film. They protagonists will have the personality of that similar to the audience to try and almost make it as realistic as possible and so they can connect with the film
The Antagonists are commonly usually “ugly” characters with darker clothing in order to signify to the audience that they are the “bad” person. They will also shed blood within these films and this can happen throughout the film or can happen once and rarely there will be no death involved in the films, they, may also have some little helpers that help them on the way it varies with horror films. The antagonists usually never show there face in some films to keep the audience interested in these films and create more tension and suspense.
Mise en scene
Horror films are predominantly set within isolated places where there are little signs of life and usually in darker coloured places usually black and red as they are most commonly associated with death and violence which are tied in with the horror genre, and if the lighting is also dark or it went into a scene with very little light they may use shadows to forecast the antagonist, which will also create even more suspense and tension within the audience. They will also use isolated and abandoned settings in order to create suspense and tension, because this setting creates the feeling that something will or about to happen and something “bad”.
Costume and clothing
Colours for the protagonists are most commonly just casual clothing with neutral/bright colours and they also will be having other props like phones with them to try and associate with the audience and they will also look as normal as anyone of the audience to also try and make it as realistic as possible. They may also wear the lighter colour clothing to represent some sort of hope to the audience as lighter colours as associated with joy and happiness.
Colours for the Antagonists are the complete opposite as the ones for the protagonists as they tend to be darker colours such as black and a darker red and they are usually quite plain (clothing) which could be used indicate that they are emotionless and have no care in the world. There props will also include things such as weapons as they use this to create violence within these horror films. In some horror films the antagonist is masked and sometimes the person under the mask is part of the protagonist and the use of the masked antagonist keeps the audience minds wary and thinking of who this antagonist is and what his intentions are
SOunds
In horror films there tend to be a lot more non-diegetic sound rather than normal dialogue as they want to use non-diegetic sound to build up suspense to the audience. It will commonly normal instruments with no other effects to create a scary atmosphere and the audience will be changing their feelings whilst leading up the major part of the scene.
Analysis of Phsyco - The shower
Firstly within this short film clip the first thing I noticed was that the colouration of the whole film was in black and white, which could either be because the technology wasn’t advanced enough for colour as it was made in 1960 or they used it as an effect to create a scary atmosphere however it could still be classed as an effect as black and white combination is common in horror films. This effect created a an more tense and scary atmosphere.
The actor also fitted the general conventions of the protagonists as she is “attractive” and wearing quite general clothing to try and they’ve used this to try and make it worse when the lady gets attacked as she’s got quite an innocent face and the audience feel as if she’s done nothing wrong, so when she does get attacked it gives the impression that this antagonist is quite ruthless and could also be seen as jealous as the clothing suggests the she was living quite a lavish and wealthy lifestyle and the antagonist comes and kills her.
During when she is showering she also spreads her hands out towards the water coming out of the shower which could be seen as if it is her last hope from whatever is coming towards her.
We also see in this clip that when the antagonist is coming towards her that they’ve used a low-visible shower curtain which hides the antagonists identity and when he is about to stab her we see him for a brief second but you can only know for definitely he is Male due to them deliberately using a shadow effect over his face and alongside the scary music which is in sync with the film and in the beat similar to that of a heartbeat which creates a tense and scary atmosphere within the audience.
Throughout the whole film we can see that there are subtitles dictating audio which the audience cannot hear throughout the film so the creator of this film must’ve done this deliberately to make it as realistic as possible as if you were in a shower you probably couldn’t hear it due to the sound of the water dripping onto the floor creating too much noise and they could’ve done this as they wanted the audience to make them feel as if it was them in there with that about to happen, which creates more horror and more of a response.
This film is also predominantly made up of non-diegetic sound which is also the general conventions you would see with short horror films and normally short films in general as there isn’t enough time in the film for dialogue to create meaning.
There is also towards the end, all the water that she used for her shower swirling away which happens after she gets stabbed which could suggest that the director has used this in order to represent the water as her life swirling away never to be seen again.
After she gets stabbed the director may have also made the shots a lot longer than before getting stabbed which could reflect her reflecting her life whilst she slowly dies from the stabbing wounds.
This is also set for a target audience of middle aged heterosexual men as we can clearly see that the women is naked as she is in the shower and that it is more violent and during this time these were aimed for men and Alfred Hitchcock's films were predominantly aimed at males.