Visual research

Visual research

For me to fully understand the codes and conventions of short films I needed to research and watch a variety of films. By watching different short films it also allowed me to see how they differ from one another, but are each still successful. Also my visual research gave me inspiration about how I wanted my own film to look visually and how I wanted it to be perceived. I studied three short films from the BBC Film Network site and they were...

• About A Girl


• Dragonfly


• Missed

Besides watching these short films, my visual research will also include a scene from the featured film 'Bronson' as I plan to create a scene which is similar to one that is done in the film.

About A Girl

I analysed the short film 'About A Girl' from the BBC FIlm Network. It uses flashbacks and a first person narrative, which I plan to use in mine. From watching this film I was able to see...

• The clear representation of realism


• The narrative of her life being told through first person narration.


• The use of flashbacks/snippets of her life


• An unexpected twist

I'm looking at these features as I plan to incorporate them into my own short film.

FIRST PERSON NARRATIVE:
The short film doesn't follow the traditional narrative structure involving Todorov's narrative theory and the narrative is told to the audience though a first person narration. I thought that this was a clever technique as it allowed the audience to get a clearer and deeper understanding of the protagonist. As they're hearing it from her point of view, it makes the relationship between her and the audience closer as she tells them, from the start, intimate details of her life - things that she hasn't told to people before. Having this first person narration keeps the story clear and the focus on the protagonist. It also means that it instantly gets the audience's attention because it creates the impression that she's talking directly to the viewer, which means they cannot ignore her even if they want to. Her narration is also the cue for the editing, as it allows the film to edit to a snippet of her life, how she's being perceived and how she interacts with different people in her life.

REPRESENTATION OF REALISM:

The director presents realism throughout the film. which goes with the style of the film and the protagonist. The film is shot with a handheld camera allowing the camera to track with her, which creates the impression that the audience is there with her. She is saying her internal dialogue out loud as if she was just waiting for an audience to hear them. There is no score music to help create a certain mood for the audience. Instead they only rely on natural sounds from the environments the protagonist and other characters are in and what is said by the actors, this reinforces the representation of realism. The lighting is kept extremely naturalistic, which once again reinforces the representaion of realism. Also realism is shown through the snippets of her life that cut the first person narrative, it shows that she is thinking back to these moments. It's almost as if the audience is in her head. As there is no score music to emphasise the mood that's created, this is done purely through the camera shots instead. Such as at the end when there's an extreme long shot of her standing next to the river which then goes to a close up, creating a tense mood and the feeling that the protagonist is longing for someone to comfort her.

.
WIDE RANGE OF CAMERA SHOTS/MOVEMENTS/TECHNIQUES:

The director used a wide range of camera shots, which symbolised how the protagonist is feeling in a certain scene or with certain characters. Such as in the sequence when she's outside the pub, whilst her dad's inside with his mates. The camera pans out from a mid shot to a mid long shot. In this sequence it's telling the aduience how alone she feels, even though her dad is near her.

Also, having the mum and sister out of focus in this shot makes the protaognist the main focus. This is reinforced by her mum and sister being in a mid shot, whilst she is in a mid close up. It shows how distant she feels from the family unit and how she doesn't fit in. Having the characters placed like this instantly shows the audience the situation between the family.

FLASHBACKS/SNIPPETS OF HER LIFE:

They are cued by the first person narrative and show how she fits in with her family life at home, her dad and with her mates. It also allows the audience to see it visually rather than just hearing it from her. By being shown these snippets of her life, it may allow the audience to relate to her, as it may have happened to them too.

UNEXPECTED TWIST:

The film plays with the audience's expectations at the end. Throughout the majoirty of the nine minutes the audience is shown her life through her narration and through being shown snippets of her life. At the end it shows her throwing her dead baby into the river, making the audience question how she became pregnant and why she killed it. It makes them think about the situation that she was in and because it is right at the end, it leaves a lasting impression in the viewer's mind.

Dragonfly

I watched the short film 'Dragonfly' from the BBC Film Network site and I found...

• The effect music can have


• Repetion of shots and the impact that it had


• Range of shots and the impact it had


• The representation of realism


• Unexpected twist

I am looking at these as I plan to incorporate them into my film.

THE AFFECT THAT MUSIC CAN HAVE:
In the film there was background music througout the majority of the film. There was mainly a fast paced instrumental piece for the film, almost something that you would expect to hear in a club. This meant that the editing had to go with the beat of the music, so the editing was very quick. This type of music symbolised the character's situation, which had been a fast and complicated one. It also symbolises how the character is feeling. He has all these rushing emotions that have been building up for some time and have now just exploded, which is why he leaves.

REPETITION OF SHOTS:
Throughout the film there were shots that were repeated. One shot in particular was a close up of the boy writing in his book and was filmed over his shoulder. The first time that it's shown it creates the sense that the audience are there with him and they are curious as to what's he's writing. How is it linked to the film? It also reinforces the point that this the only way that he finds solitude.


RANGE OF SHOTS AND THE IMPACT THAT IT HAD:
The director used a wide range of shots throughout the enire film. Such as when he was running away and is seen running in the parking lot. The camera remains still and waits for him to come towards the camera, which means that there is a wide range of shots. The camera goes from an extreme long shot, a mid long shot, a long shot and ends with a mid shot in this sequence. This creates the impact that he was running away from something meant and running to the camera to find some sort of safety. A safety which he might have not had beforehand.



Another interesting sequence was when he was shown in his home and clearly waiting for someone. You felt sympathetic towards him, as he's all alone and is just waiting by the window. The long shot and the extreme long shots become establising shots. When the camera goes to a mid close up and the audience only see the side of his face, it creates the impression that the audience is there waiting with him. They're comforting him, but he doesn't realise it. When it goes to the extreme long shot of his eye, it's like the window to his soul. Showing the audience that he's all alone, but is so used to it that he has given up reacting to it, as it's the norm for him.



REPRESENTATION OF REALISM:

Realsim was represented from the start of the film. It started off with him running away from his home. As soon as he started running, the camera waited about a couple of seconds and then started to follow him. It create the impression that the audience were running with him. The representation of realism was reinforced by having the camera handheld for the entire film. It creates the sense that the audience was holding the camera, which is why they're with him and are seeing the same things at the same time.

UNEXPECTED TWIST:

I was curious as to why the film was called Dragonfly, as the title seemed quite odd until the end. The unexpected twist was that he actually turned into a dragonfly! This completely played with the audience's expectations, as when he got on the swing they probably thought it was an innocent child activity and would be a nice ending for the film. Instead when he swung into the air, he jumped off, which got the audience's attention and then actually turned into a dragonfly. By having this twist, it makes the audience questioned everything else that happened in the film. As this happend at the end it meant that it's the last thing that the audience sees, so it will stick in their minds.

Missed

I watched the short film 'Missed' on the BBC Film Network site. In the film I saw certain elements such as...

• A clear narrative


• Clear characters


• Simple, but effective camera work


• An unexpected twist

A CLEAR NARRATIVE:

The film followed the most common narrative theory in moving image media - Todorov's.

• It starts off with the equilibrium - everyone doing their daily routine.


• Disequalibrum - a colleague tells the protagonist the their colleague Emma is dead. Later on the protagonist sees Emma and it turns out that she isn't dead. They talk about the situation


• Equilibrium - the protagonist has learnt to appreciate what those around him do and he appreciates life more.
  

CLEAR CHARACTERS:

There are two clear protaonists - WILL and EMMA - whereas all the other characters are there to serve a function (sticking to a short film convention.) By having these clear characters, it means that the audeince know who to focus on in each of the different scenes.

SIMPLE, BUT EFFECTIVE CAMERWORK:

The camerawork remains very simple throughout the enitre film, as it cleanly jumps from one shot to another. This sets the tone of the piece, that it's a simple but effective. It also means that the editing has to go with the style of the film, which is a slow one and why the editing is done at this speed.

A moment where I thought the camerawork was very effective was the scene when he realised that Emma wasn't dead. It started off with him looking outside the window, but was filmed from the outside, creating the impression that the audience was looking in on him instead. The camera then goes to a long shot, making the audience more of an observer. In the next shot, though he goes out to get her attention, the camera remains inside the cafe'. This then creates a long shot as the aduience is observing what's going on. The audience is allowed to get more of an idea as to what they're saying to each other, as the camera then goes from a close long shot to a mid shot.

UNEXPECTED TWIST:
The unexpected twist was that Emma wasn't dead. It is never explained to the audience through the script, as to why all her colleagues presumed that she was. Therefore it makes the audience actively involved as they start to guess why they might have been told this. This twist plays on the audience expectations, as when he looks outside the window you think that he's just thinking. The audience wasn't expecting for him to find out she's alive!

Bronson

I analysed a scene from the feature film 'Bronson.' Though I am creating a short film and this is a feature one, it's still useful for me to analyse a particular scene as I am doing a scene which is very similar to it and I can see how it's done successfully.

BASIS OF THE SCENE:
In this scene the protagonist 'Bronson' is having an argument with himself. What's clever about this scene, is that one side of his face is painted in order for him to become a new character. This new character is his parole officer. Not only did it show who he was having the argument with, but it was also visually exciting for the audience to see as it's quite extreme and is a shock at first.

THE MUSIC:
There were two different types of music, which went with each of the two characters. When Bronson was playing himself there was a dark, eerie piece of music which suited the character's personality. Whereas, when he was playing his parole officer there was sweet music that you'd expect to hear on a mobile hanging above a baby's cot. However this music covered up the dark undertones in the parole officer dialogue. Also having the sound effects of a theatre audience clapping and cheering at the beginning and end made it feel like the audience was part of this scene too.

THE SCRIPT:
The script was extremely successful at getting across the points of the scene, even though it was a short one. It was clear that there was an argument going on with two different people and it set out who had more power in the scene. As the script was strong and direct, it meant that the actor could give a performance that matched it. The script helped with the progression of the plot as the audience was told more information about what was going to happen to Bronson.

CAMERA WORK:
The camerawork was extremely simple throughout the entire film. It started off as a long shot allowing the audience to see where he was walking to. When he starts off facing sideway the camera still remains at this long shot - creating a distance between the audience and the stage like it is in the theatre. As soon as he starts the conflicted argument the camera is a mid shot and stays this way for the rest of the scene.
MISE-EN-SCENE:
The mise-en-scene and lighting are both kept very simple. It's a stage, which reinforces the idea that this is a show in his mind to the audience. Therefore it should be treated as if it's a show and you're really seeing it at the theatre. To make sure he's definitely the focus of the scene, the only lighting is a bright spotlight in centre stage. This spotlight also reinforces the sense that the audience is seeing a show. To carry on this theme, at the end after he turns around and bows ending with a blackout.