Studying short films.

In the last few weeks we have been watching several short films, such as the most recent video I watched ‘Dipper’, we have been doing this to help us plan out our own short film or trailer, learning the codes and conventions of the short films is another work of progress we began to get us ready to do our coursework.

 Vladimir Propp which was a theorist on short films his theory was that, at the start of the film there is a villain, then there is a donor which prepares the hero, then there is a helper in the quest, there is often then a prize or girl to save or win, the hero is told the task of which he is required to do, the hero is sent off on the task and eventually winning the prize or girl, which leads to the villain failing at trying to be the victor.

 Another theorist called Tzvetan Todorov believed that there is a set narrative stages, beginning with a Equilibrium, followed by a disruption then realisation of the disruption and the eventual attempt to repair the disruption, finally there is a reinstatement of the equilibrium, the short films I watched challenged this theory and proved that it isn't completely correct, as the two films called 'Dipper and Gravity' followed different unconventional routes to the ending of the short films.

  The three films I have watched are (‘Sold, Gravity, and Dipper) watching these films have helped me to work on my analysing skills and developing my ability to look at the typical codes and conventions of short films, I have learnt about the typical stages of a film, and that on occasions films narratives can be completely different to the stereotypical narrative which is what Todorov believes in.

The codes and conventions of trailers

In my research I studied film trailers for my short film or movie trailer that I will be making in my coursework this year. The first trailer I watched was The 2006 remake of the film 'the Omen', this was an interesting trailer firstly as the whole trailer was one camera shot meaning that there was no cut's which is interesting in it's self which was a tracking shot of a playground at night, which is a place you would associate with happiness, and a fun and enjoyable place to be.

The lighting for example was used very cleverly as there was a ride able horse with the moon light beaming onto it, which seemed to be battling against the constant darkness which was throughout the trailer. The Diagetic sound in the film was the constant squeak of the swing which gradually grew louder and more intimidating, the Non - Diagetic sound was the chilling music in the background. Another intriguing effect in the trailer was how the boy's red jacket stood out so much to everything else; the red is a signifier of blood, death, and the devil which is what the film revolves around. I could easily tell that this film was in the horror genre, as the whole trailer was in darkness, also the young boys red jacket links with the horror genre, another way you could tell this was a horror film was that the trailer was accompanied by the constant thrilling instrumental's in the background which never had a rhythm, a lot like the horror genre.

 The other movie trailer I analysed was that of the 1980 classic horror film 'the shining'. The trailer starts with one shot and that one shot remains throughout the whole trailer, The shot is off a corridoor and a red elevator which is in the middle of the shot. The sound in the trailer really is important as it gradually builds anxiety in the person viewing it as we are left waiting for something to happen, until finally blood rushes out of the elevator which is shocking in itself, as it is totally unexpected, the blood rushes towards the camera covering it, and after the blood washes down the screen you see the furniture being swept away by the rushing blood.

 The trailer is very simple, and this is mostly due to the time of the film being made as the cast and directors of the film simply move up the screen throughout the whole trailer.