lights

 

Lighting

Lighting is a very important aspect for shaping meaning in films. A room that is brightly lit by neon lights might seem to be sterile or a shadowy room might be weird or scary. The lighting technicians in a film crew have the task of creating lighting to suit the mood and atmosphere of each scene in a film.

For instance, in Example Three the two people are very happy and the scene is lit brightly.

Cinematography

Cinematography is the combination of the techniques includes camera shots, camera angles, camera movement and lighting.

Mise en Scene

Mise en scene refers to all the objects and characters in a particular frame. More specifically, it refers to the composition of the frame, discussing where the composer or director has placed all the elements of the scene within the frame.

 What is a short film?

Definition:  The Academy (Oscars) define a short films as anything under 40 minutes. 

 

Narrative structure: 

It can be either subjective or objective but is usually subjective as a result of the length of the film, tends to be single stranded with an open ending such as in the film.

Themes: 

the short film genre can cover any number of genres in the same way a full length feature does, but due to the length of the film it has to be much more obvious to the viewer, themes include social realism,  community, crime and  immigration, family, segregation and war.

Style and Genre: 

the style of the short film usually differs from that of the full length films, the main reason is usually the budget, for example it is common in short films to see kinetic movement with the camera, due to the camera not having tracks to run across whilst moving. it uses relativly unknown actors as the famous  stars hesitate to working for such low budget films. the directors are usually unknown and they tend to be making short films in the hope of getting a big break for a larger film with a big budget. A notable style in short films is the open ended storyline. A style which is not common with the genre is a special effects one but in the film 

Cinematography:

The cinematography of short films usually involves   very basic camera shots and movement of the camera.

Sound: 

It can sometimes have a score playing throughout the entire length of the film, sometimes uses a voice over in the film rather then any asynchronous diagetic sound,

Editing:

 Usually uses a linear style editing, usually made in real time, not many cuts from one location to another, due to both budget and length of the film, uses the documentary style,  can sometimes use visual flashbacks.
Purpose of a short films

When dealing with short films there are three main reason in which are they are produced. These include promotion, education and experimental reasons.

Promotion:

Unknown directors and film makers are desperately wanting to get their name put out in the film market industry, therefore producing such films enables them to promote themselves. Short films are usually screened at films festivals or film competitions.

Education:

Short films mainly deal with contemporary issues, and some include elements of controversial themes. Short films are found to tackle social issues that are found in current society, these then provoke thought and discussion surrounding moral and ethnic issues. For this reason, they are useful to use in classes for educational purposes.

Experimental:

Thirdly, experimental reasons demonstrates how film makes have the opportunity to try out new techniques in a narrative. There are common conventions and techniques that can be found in short films, however since there is no wide audience to please, as there is no economic reward, it gives directors the option to expand on new ideas and new techniques.