GWHS Short Film Festival

If you remember, my last post was my own research and findings of other short films on YouTube. Well this lesson was about picking our favourite one out of the three we found, and 'submitting' them into the GWHS Short Film Festival :) 

As a class we watched everybody's films and ranked each one out of 10 while each person had to give a valid argument as to why they think their film should win. This argument would be ranked out of 10. The scores would be added up to find whose film was the winner. On my blog the ranking is what I thought of each film/argument. 

The Winning Short Film:

Scored: 180+

Short Film 1: Inside

Chosen by: Daniel Vidmar

Directed by: Trevor Sands

Rank for film: 6/10

Rank for the argument: 2/10

Short Film 2: One Man's Lost

Chosen by: Tilly Whitehouse

Directed by: Phillip Sansom

Rank for film: 8/10

Rank for the argument: 3/10

Short Film 3: Waste

Chosen by: Charlotte Billingham

Directed by: Anton Groves

Rank for film: 8/10

Rank for the argument: 7/10

Short Film 4: Post it = My choice

Chosen by: Deanna Hopps

Directed by: Michael Evans

Rank for film: n/a

Rank for the argument: n/a

Short Film 5: Writers Block

Chosen by: Jack Parkes

Directed by: Tom Gran & Martin Woolley

Rank for film: 7/10

Rank for the argument: 7/10

Short Film 6: Dead Girl

Chosen by: Lucy Smith

Directed by: Jack Howard and Dean

Rank for film: 8/10

Rank for the argument: 8/10

Short Film 7: Awake

Chosen by: Daniel Springthorpe

Directed by: Danny Blackstock, Stephanie Bourgeois, Glen Cheng & Melinda NG

Rank for film: 7/10

Rank for the argument: 4/10

Short Film 8: Knowing too much

Chosen by: Sam Lenton

Directed by: Matthew Morton

Rank for film: 8/10

Rank for the argument: 6/10

Short Film 9: Time

Chosen by: Tina Vidmar

Directed by: Liam Connor

Rank for film: 8/10

Rank for the argument: 6/10

Short Film 10: Perfect Life

Chosen by: Tom Bentley

Directed by: Jared Lee & Marianne Tan

Rank for film: 6/10

Rank for the argument: 4/10

Short Film 11: Alone

Chosen by: Cameron Hargreaves

Directed by: Broke Torunski

Rank for film: 7/10

Rank for the argument: 6/10

Further Short Film Research

    So this is my own research of short films on the internet. As I did with the last post, I'm going to be discussing the same three questions for each. :)

Plastic

What was good about it:
It brings a sense of sympathy and emotion to the audience.
The music makes you at ease when you start to watch it; just like a daily routine for going out or on a date.
It really connects with the viewer, especially if you have had make-up disasters or something before..
Not only does it get at inner beauty etc; it also gets at plastic surgery not being the best root.

What appeals to the audience:
The film was made to make awareness about body issues and to show people that what they may think is pretty and what boys/girls want but the true beauty is who you are. The lady in the film shares this problem with many women and men of today and so appeals to the audience because it is something in common.

What is its target audience:
To me I feel that the film is aimed at those who feel like who they are is not enough, ad that the film is trying to let them know that everyone is special and beautiful. Perhaps women more so than men.

Post It

What is good about it:

This has got to be my favourite. It shows how anybody can be nice and share a compliment with others. It displays how one comment can change a persons day or mood.

The mood is enlightening and brings a smile to your face almost straight away :) 

The soundtracks and all sounds used are warm and reminds you of summertime.

What appeals to the audience:

Carries with it a motto - even little things can have a big impact.

Its fun and humorous to watch, interesting and uplifting.  

Nearly everybody has had that awkward moment with a random person on a park bench. 

What is its target audience:

I feel the audience is a wide range of people... happy people in general but also saddened people who need cheering up.

Identity 

What is good about it:

Well for starters, it has a very powerful impact and vibe about it. There is no humour in it but neither is it sinister... its more sad yet holds the audience because it is so moving. Everybody has an identity personal to them and unique but we change to suit those we love, choose to be friends with or simply because of hard times. I thought that this video would tie in nice with my other half of my media course.

What appeals to the audience:
The fact that the film relates to what happens so commonly in humans; especially in schools, makes the film appeal more to the audience than if it didn't relate.

What is its target audience:
I would probably say this film is aimed at teenagers or the younger more influenced population and to try and tell them it is okay to be you and let your own identity be known.

Initial Short Film Research

Alright so this post is where I will be uploading those three short films I spoke of in the previous post: The Black Hole, What's Virgin means and Strangers

The Black Hole

What is good about it:

I felt that the things that worked well in this short film was the fact it kept the audience in suspense but at the same time, it held minor parts of humour amongst it. I also liked the way it had a sharp twist at the end: like just-desserts. It was almost like it had a small motto in it, like if you steal you will always get caught in the end - or something of that sort anyways. :)
The sound effects used in the film are interesting and help to add depth: for example it makes the film even more sinister by the fact that there is normally only one sound going at any one time, which in my opinion helps to add an eerie tone to the film - it makes you know that the guy is completely alone at work; and when you're alone the common thought is that that is when bad things are more liable to happen. 

What appeals to the audience:

People sometimes believe in a little thing known as karma - or the more common term of "got his just-desserts", which is exactly what happens in this short film.
The lighting in the film helps to appeal more to the horror fans out there because the grey, dull effect portrays a negative cast on the film and allows the sinister vibe to it.

What is its target audience:

It's hard to put a target audience on this short film, as the audience range is rather vast and can appeal to anyone. However, if you weren't into karma or the dismal sides of office life or life in general, watching this may not appeal to you as much as it would do to somebody who enjoys a good puzzle (the black hole being printed in the first place), somebody who likes dark humour or anybody who falls into the supernatural, sinister or horror categories. 

What's Virgin Means

What is good about it:

As a class we decided that what makes this short film good is the fact it's humorous but in a slightly awkward way but it also makes the audience be in suspense with the fact that you sort of want to see how the mom gets out of the situation or how the child reacts. Turns out at the end theres a twist that you don't see coming - but I won't spoil it for you ;) 

What appeals to the audience:

Almost every parent in the world dreads the moment when they have to give their kids 'The Talk'. It's the most awkwardest thing ever, and every body sympathises with each other when it comes down to it - in a humorously awkward way. Thats what appeals to the audience in this film: it shares something in common with it's audience.

What is its target audience:

The target audience for this short film I would presume is people who enjoy humour. The audience range would be not as wide as The Black Hole short film, but I still think that the video would appeal to anybody who has a sense of humour or curiosity.

Strangers

What is good about it:
I thought that the suspense build up is gripping and engaging to the audience, it builds up tension and starts the audience asking questions about what will happen or how will the film end.
The plot twist I also found intriguing, even though I'm not one for political stuff. It seemed to have a nice little hidden moto in there too, or something of that sort anyways.

What appeals to the audience:
The things that appeal to the audience is the twists in the plot. Two public enemies become united when they are threatened by a greater enemy - something that you don't expect until they break into a run near the end.
Some people would appreciate the political link to this film rather than the suspense etc so the plot in general would appeal more to the audience.

What is its target audience:
Unlike the previous short films, I feel that the range of audience for this film is limited. It seems to make a lot more sense to people who know a lot about the character's history and the politics / religions. It also drags a lot of suspense - so appeals more to those who like on-your-seat films.

What is a Short Film?

As I mentioned on the previous post I said I would discuss what a short film actually is. I mean, I can't create a short film without knowing what is.

Definition:

A short film, or a film short, is basically any film created that isn't long enough to be considered a feature film: a film that is a big time movie that lasts over an hour. A short film is often thought to be anywhere under 40 minutes long; this including the credits.
To be a successful short film and not a film that just bores you all to death it has to meet certain criteria, for example: it should appeal to the audience, be that through suspense or through strings of humour running through the film. It needs to reach an end, bringing the short 'story' to a close. This can sometimes be a cliff hanger but most of the time short films simply end with an abrupt, surprising ending that the audience may not have seen coming.

An example of a short film: The Black Hole

On the next post I will be uploading 3 short films that myself and the class studied in lesson: The Black Hole, The Strangers and What Virgin means. For each video I will be explaining what was good about each film, what appeals to the audience - or me in this case - and also what target audience I think it is aimed at. 

A2 Brief (Exam Comission)

   Okay, so to start with I'm going to talk about the A2 brief and what my course is going to involve. 

Five Minute Film:

As I mentioned in my welcome post, one of the main products in this course is to create a Five minute short film. On the next post I will be discussing what the definition of a short film is. This can be anything from live-action to animated and must at start and finish within the five minutes - including credits. I have a feeling with a most likely going to do live-action: like my other film last year. Rather excited :)

The Poster for the Film:

Furthermore, not only do with create the film, we must also design and create a film poster for out short film. The aim of posters in media are, as you most likely already know, used to market films and draw in the audience either by showing the cast members or by displaying plots or scenes from the films that the producers or distributers think will capture the audience's interest. Baring this in mind, the poster must be interesting to make our film catch out audience's attention. I look forward to doing this :) 

Example of a film poster from Percy Jackson

A Film Magazine Review featuring the Film

Just as you think there isn't any more, there is. Not only the poster and the five minute film, but we also must do a magazine page review that talks about our film and allows our audience to get an insight on what its about, who its aimed at and even allow them to judge whether they will enjoy it or not.

My AS Media Blog:

WELCOME

    Welcome to my A2 Media blog! :D This time, a lot like my AS Media blog, you will be following me on my journey through my A2 coursework through a series of posts, videos and images that I will uploading and posting regularly. I will be going into much more detail: including a five minute film short, a poster for it and a magazine review page and hopefully in doing so will give you a bigger insight into the media world or at least interesting you as you read through my blog.
 
   I hope you will enjoy following me this year and I will attempt to make each post interesting to read :)