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Showing posts from October, 2021

Short film research: Double Happy

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If I had to pick one feature that distinguishes Double Happy, it is its keen observation of children—their shy gestures and bold dares, as well as the strange sociology of their group dynamics—the constant and fluid shifting of in-group and out-group designations achieved and enforced through secrets and put-downs. Even when you care, you can wind up stomping on each other at this age due to basic inexperience, fear, and carelessness. Rory likes Rebecca, and we get the impression that she reciprocates, yet Rory is a misfit, and the crises this produces can be seen on Rebecca's face.  While he has a thoughtfulness and talent for craft that will serve him well and make him interesting later in life, he currently has companions, particularly the other lad, Des, who are attempting to tear him down in order to demonstrate supremacy. It all adds up to an amazingly clear and nuanced image that Daud is able to create, as Rory's denigration is built up slowly and methodically both emoti...

Short film research: Traitor Night

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This short film is based on a college fraternity house.  A brother in the house almost killed a student by making the student due a pledge task.  In the film, the student is in the hospital after falling off the roof of the frat house.  With the fate of the house and their college careers at stake, brother will turn on brother.  The way this film was developed was more detailed and complex compared to the short film Mutt.  The plot for Mutt was more straightforward and simply portrayed.  Traitor Knight had more mystery to it than the short film Mutt.  Traitor Knight had the audience wondering whether or not they were going to kick out the brother who was involved in the accident.  Both films still fall under the drama genre and I will explain now.  As I researched in the past blog about the short film Mutt, many conventions from the drama genre were used.  This film also uses common convention which makes it a drama.  Common sounds ...

Research: How to make a short film

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  Watching this video, “How to Make a Short Film,”  helped me gain more knowledge on how to produce my own film.  Although I already had background knowledge on creating films, this video gave more tips that will help me throughout my short film journey.  A film expert gives production tips and post production tips in this video.  Two production tips that stood out to me were, don’t do it if you can’t and mess with the audience's mind and emotions.  A tip that really got my attention was, if you can't pull it off, don’t do it.  The film expert explains that if you can’t 100% pull off something for the film, don’t try to partially do it.  Adding something that isn’t fully potroyed will just decrease the preciseness of your short film.  Although you think adding this cool scene/feature to your film will make it look cool, it will do the opposite.  When it comes to planning out our storyboard, we will keep in mind what we can and can’t do w...

Comparing Le Jetee, the short, and 12 Monkeys, the full length movie

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  Comparing La Jetee, the short, and 12 Monkeys, the full-length movie Part 1-  The main takeaway of the video is what goes into making a good film.  Editing and filming are required for the audience to understand the story.  The video talks about how the film was made and how it was meant to show what is happening.  Editing is important in movies in general.  The pictures put in allow for a clean effect for shots.  The shots and reverses allow us to feel the film.  Long shots allow the audience to better see the film.  The audience was given more time to study the pictures.  The images are each their own story. - How can we better represent situations and emotions in our film?  This film goes back in time in a straightforward manner for the audience to understand everything.  Audio can also be used to enhance the video. A group of monkeys want to find a solution to a problem.  This generates a sense of curiosity in viewer...

Short Film Research: Mutt

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  The way this short film was developed was very straightforward.  Although the short film is only 13 minutes, it still grabs the audience's emotional side.  The plot is on addiction and is a well known topic to everyone.  The topic can be related to others due to the fact it is a real world problem.  The short starts off by this girl ringing someone's apartment building.  Once she is let in, we see a guy wearing dark shades and gulping down orange juice.  He then takes off the shades and he doesn’t look too well.  The sister then asks if she wants to go to her place.  From just this first scene we can already infer that this film is based on addiction.  The short film is a drama which is clear from the acting, sounds, editing, and more.  The common sound used in this film was diegetic sounds.  The use of diegetic sounds helps to add more emphasis on some of the characters physical state.  For example, as Micheal, the alco...

Short Film Research: Fauve

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 I watched the short film Fauve by Jeremy Comte. This was a Canadian 16 minute French language film. With the language being one I cant understand I had to use subtitles. When using subtitles you lose some certain aspects of the film. For example you can lose emotions in the dialogue of the characters. Our two main characters are young boys that seem to be living alone out in an abandoned area of town. They seem to be playing a power game where when one would overpower the other hey would get a point. This leads the boys to a cement factory where they end up playing. A dump truck drives through and scares the boys into a reservoir where they continue to play heir game. On this pit there is a wet area where the boys go. They first think this area is fun to play in but soon find out its hard to get out of. After one pushes the other boy into the middle of this pit he gets stuck inside to where he cant get out. The other boy runs to get help but never finds anyone, once he returns his...

Comparing 9, the Short, and 9, the Full length movie

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 We first started off with the short film 9. This film was about only 10 minutes long and had no dialogue to it. My first impression of this short film so far was that it should have some dialogue. This would increase the quality of this short film by a lot. Not only would it make it better, but easier to understand. There were many times throughout this short film where I was lost. I didn't know what was happening and where I was. It was hard to follow without any dialogue to listen to. You had to resort to watching these little characters body language. Or maybe the little noises the characters made for each emotion. Which isn't very easy when they're little rag dolls. If it had this dialogue it would it be easier to understand, but they would also be able to add lots more. Dialogue plays a huge role in films. Without it they can almost seem plain and look like there wasn't much work put into it. It is like sauce for pasta, without it its bland, but when its added it ...

Genre Choice for Film

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  After going through our pitches and thinking what the best genre would be, my partner and I have decided to go with the Drama option. The pitch for our short film best fits under the drama genre.  Due to our short film being about an abusive relationship, the acting will have to be very emotional and realistic which falls under drama.  We have started planning out how we are going to go through with the filming. There are a number of camera angles and movements that can be used for this genre that can help make our film more intriguing to the audience.  We can use pan movement as I am yelling and hitting to help show the setting as a whole.  Another example is, we can use high and low angles to show the gender power struggle in the short film.  On another topic, drama films don't include 0 much costumes, props, or makeup which makes it easier for my partner and I.  This allows us to focus more on camera techniques and acting.  We will still use ...

Genre Research - Thriller

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  When it came to researching conventions for different genres we made sure to research about the main points in film making.  Here were some of the main topics we focused on. What are common lighting techniques used in action films? What are common camera angles used in action films? What are common camera movements used in action films? What are common mise-en-scene factors used in action films? What are common elements used in action films? What are common sounds used in action films? What are some examples of action films? Common lighting in this genre is backlighting, under lighting, and lowkey lighting. This helps to create a dark and mysterious atmosphere and helps to conceal the character's identity, which adds to that suspense.  Some common camera angles are close-ups shots, which exemplify the emotions of the characters or frames an object, to be at attention. Point of view shots allow the viewers to feel emotionally engaged because they feel as though they are ...

Genre Research - Action

  When it came to researching conventions for different genres we made sure to research about the main points in film making.  Here were some of the main topics we focused on. What are common lighting techniques used in action films? What are common camera angles used in action films? What are common camera movements used in action films? What are common mise-en-scene factors used in action films? What are common elements used in action films? What are common sounds used in action films? What are some examples of action films? Researching different genres helped us to understand the different techniques that are used in every genre and why they are effective at setting the scene and mood.  For example, action films use a lot of pan and tilt movements in order to film the whole scene that is happening.  Action films are very exciting and eventful, which is why the use of pan and tilt movement helps to fully capture the scene that is being acted.  When it came to ...

Genres I would like to Research

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 There are a lot of genre to choose from when thinking about film. From Horror and Thriller, to Comedy and Drama. There is a wide range of different choices that will fit your choices perfectly. The three genres my partner Sonali and I have decided to pick for this project are Drama, Action, and Thriller. These are the genres we are most knowledgeable about. We have a plethora of information stored about these and both have experience in filming these genres. The first genre Drama is, in my opinion, a loose one. The films incorporated with this genre can have a lot of different elements. With this known, when filming this you are aloud to have little more wiggle room. The wiggle room meaning, being able to film in lots of different ways. Our next genre we are researching is Action. A very high paced and almost chaotic genre that is very fun to work with. Neither of us have had to much experience with this genre. Although definitely seen our fair share of Action movies and understan...

Our Pitch - Short Film

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My friend Sonali and I will be doing this project together and we have come up with a few good pitch ideas. It took us a while to come up with good ones. We had to make sure the pitch fit into our circumstances well. The first thing we had to take into consideration is that we have two people. Since we have two people, we have to make sure that we split up the acting roles equally. We also have to make sure that we could film it since we aren't very experienced. If we pick a pitch that is too difficult then we wouldn't be able to film it. And finally we aren't together so we need to think about our time we have. The ones we came up with to fit our needs are the following.  After a major accident, a husband begins to abuse painkillers. He falls into a dark hole which he keeps looking to the painkillers for help. His addiction only worsens until he doesn't think hell ever be able to escape. He later meets a girl at a coffee shop that would change his life. She begins to ...