I had 30 members of my sixth form to fill in a questionnaire related to my short film. I am interested to know the majority of peoples opinion on my idea of a short film and short films in general. This will hopefully direct me in the right path and see how successful my own short film will be.
Evaluation of Results This information has been very useful to myself and great research for my short film.Firstly, people expect a short film to be 5-7 minutes as 17 people responded saying this and second was 3-4 minutes with 7 voting for this. This tells us that people prefer around this time therefore I am going to try and keep it around 4-6 minutes as this will help with peoples expectations and also keeping with their attention spans. Furthermore, we received great feedback that the majority of people would like to see a film about a nuclear war survivor as 5 only said they wouldn't, meaning more than 80% of people I asked would enjoy to see this. The only negative feed back about this was my plot as it does seem quite unoriginal as many films use the same plot however I have tried to change it slightly by it being a nuclear war rather than zombies or virus's. Moreover, peoples majority vote of the importance of a short film was to tell a story and portray a message. I need to defiantly keep these in mind when creating my own if this is what people think is most important for a short film. Lastly, one of my most vital questions was the last - what attracts you when watching a film. The 30 students I asked mainly said the actors intrigue them the most and also the look of the actual film. I do not have any big, famous actors that will attract them to watch the film so this is a shame however I can make the film look as professional and interesting as I possibly can by using cinematic and a variety of shots to maintain the interest and engage them to watch.
I went on IMBD as this is the most popular movie review website and will have the most accurate feedback. I looked at two movies,' Zombieland' and 'I Am Legend', as they both follow similar plots and the same genre as mine. Getting information about the audience from already made films gives myself more a more specific idea of an audience to base mine off. Gender
I Am Legend
Both of these charts show that males are more interested in these shows and are a more frequent viewer. With Zombieland having 281,891 males, 52,379 females and I Am Legend having 384,249 and 68,006 females. However on both charts over all both genders give the same rating, on Zombieland they both give it a 7.7 rating and on I Am Legend they both give a 7.2 rating. This suggests both genders equally like the film and this genre. However due to the protagonist both being male in the films this may suggest why more males have watched and reviewed it, as a male protagonist will attract males as they can relate more. In conclusion, I think post-apocalyptic genre is liked both both genders and they will both be in my target audience. Age Both 'Zombieland' and 'I Am Legend' have the most popular aged 18-29 as these have the most reviews by both on IMDB. This does make sense as this is where I would think the most popular age would be as they are the most frequent viewers of cinemas and streaming services. However, as for both films the age 30-44 is quite popular too, therefore I think I will increase the age range to 35, and also the protagonist in my short film will be old too so this should increase the target audience as they will be more a more relatable character. Moreover, I am also going to make the lower end 16 of the target audience as most people I know, being this age, like this genre a lot as it is some of there favourite films and series. In conclusion: From researching the reviews of already made post-apocalyptic films on IMDB it has gave me an indication of a more detailed target audience for my film. I have came to an conclusion that my short film will be targeted at both male and female as neither is dominant with the reviews so therefore it will be suited for both. Unlike other films you can see there is clearly a dominant gender such as looking at 'Grease' which is dominated by females mainly. Furthermore, I think my targeted age will be 16-35. I have gone slightly below the most popular age on the two reviews of similar genre and plot. This is as I feel like it is still very popular at 16 and 17 as this is my age and I know many love this genre. Moreover, I felt like I wanted a large age range as clearly higher ages is quite popular too looking at the information so I had to include them also.
Aiming at the right audience is very important in media studies so I have decided to thoroughly research to get the most accurate target audience possible. All media products have an audience in mind, and this makes it easier for them to advertise and promote their product too, saving money. I am going to use questionnaires, focus groups, target audience theories, existing media products and more to find out the right audience for my short film.
When a media business is defining an audience to find their target audience some of the factors they consider are: Age, gender, religion, race, sexuality, education, occupation, annual income, current and desired lifestyle, media interests, buying habits, loyalty to brands. Firstly I am going to research some audience theories: Demographic Table
A demographic table is essentially used a lot for audience profiling as it defines the adult population into sections from what work they do. It splits the population up into 6 groups, and labels them by a letter code A,B,C1,C2,D or E, this described the status of each member in the group. The Upper Class are people inherited with wealth and great power. The Middle Class are what the majority of the uk population is currently in, business people, shop owners and professionals. The Working Class are people working with agriculture, mine and factory workers.
This is the newer grading scale however and this goes with '1-8' and even the old equivalent grade in the right hand column.
Then on below this is the population of how much percentage of the demographic are in each sector. Having this table makes it easier to target an audience so you can specifically know you are aiming towards and also when you market you can save money by targeting the right people and not wasting on marketing to the wrong.
Psychographic Table A psychographic table however does not divide them through work titles, but this table divides them into groups based on social class, lifestyle and personality characteristics. This table has the the belief of types of products a individual purchases reflects on the person's characteristics and patterns of living. The advertising agency ‘Young and Rubican’ invented a popular and successful psychographic profile known as their 4C’s Marketing Model stand, ‘Cross, Cultural, Consumer and Characterisation.’ Researching these audience theories have been very significant. It is major to research audience as a mass audience is too large therefore these theories are breaking ti down into categories which has made it a lot simpler and easier to get a target audience.
Diegetic Sound Dialogue The dialogue is quite minimal with the main character and others, he comes across as a very irritated and egoistical person, most probably since the catastrophe occurring - it made him this way. He is a man of very few words and has a very serious tone, showing that he has to be to survive. With lack of words it makes the film very suspenseful as you are not sure what is going to occur next. However, he can seem to be nice and generous to some people he comes across, such as when he says to someone else 'Do you have any water', and then gives a stranger water. But he also comes across as harsh when someone asked him if he could follow him, and he replied a short and blunt 'No'. He is a very difficult character to get a sense of with very little dialogue. However, dialogue is not needed that constant as the short film is mainly about his journey and fights with other gangs, the action makes up for the limited words. Sound Effects There are many sound effects used which helps the overall short film seem more intense and overwhelming. Obviously they are using sound effects for the gun shots, but they found gun shots which seem very fitting and perfect for each gun. Moreover, there is slashing sound effects when they stab someone with a knife which makes it sound more Gorey and entertaining and when the knifes connect there is added noises which sounds great. They also add in sound effects when they are simply moving or grabbing items which would be quiet in real life so adding the sound effects make it a better experience for the audience. They also add in screams and grunts to make the fighting intense and extreme, if it was silent it would not be enjoyable to watch at all. Lastly they have added some simple ambient sounds that make it seem more life like such as the wind in the background and bird noises. Overall they did a great job with sound effects and I am very impressed. Non-Diegetic Sound Intense music: They have added intense music within the fighting scenes which makes it more exciting to watch, and gets us grabbing onto our seats to see what happens next. Without music it would be a very dull fight so this is a great technique they have added. Calming music at end: Juxtaposing to the intense music, right at the end after a legendary fight, they play calming and gentle music right after. Showing the protagonist is finally at peace whilst walking off into the distance. It is a great scene and they have pulled it off extremely well. Dark sounds: When a scenario is silent they have added dark sounds such as low piano sounds to get rid of the awkward silence which is a smart and effective technique.
Camera movements, angles and shots Tracking shot: At the very beginning we see a tracking shot, following the action of the of a guy going backwards for his life then gets trapped both ways. It makes the scene more inetense as there is a lot more movement and makes it more pure, making us feel like we are there in the scene with him. Tilt shot: At the beginning we see a tilt shot going upwards at a character, this makes the audience feel smaller as we are looking upwards at him whilst the camera is going upwards gradually. This makes the character feel very superior and the audience on the other hand powerless as he is looking down at us with a very noble pose. High Angle: Then a high angle shot is shown, this makes the character who just had a tilt shot of him more significant and the captured human a lot less. It is shot over his shoulder so he has the upper ground looking below the captured human, giving the audience an impression that he is worthless compared to him. Extreme Long shot: Later on, an extreme long shot is used. This is used to show the setting around him, of what kind of area he is in. The land is very basic, with no life seen at all. The colour correction of black and grey make the surrounding seem even more dead and the rusty boat shown in the shot expresses what the post-apocalyptic world has resulted to, everything is slowly dying. Low angle: Then whilst the fighting is happening below ground, the protagonist, another character from the beginning, comes along on a high ledge. We see a low angle which increases the height of him, and makes him feel more dominant and us and the other characters powerless. The background is plain, being the sky, which focuses us on him. Close up: After the fight they show a close up of the protagonist. He shows that he didn't care by saying he cant follow him, even though he just saved him. However, we see he has an even more generous whilst is a close up of his face saying 'Walk with the sun to your back, that will lead you to a village'. The close up gets the audience to see his real emotion, that he does have a very charming side also. We see that he does care. The shot focuses on him with a blurred background, which magnifies himself and shows how important he is and skillful. Editing Slow motion: Slow motion is used many times throughout, when the protagonist is walking alone by himself. When something is slowed down, it brings our vision in higher focus. slow motion makes the scenario more intense as it allows much of us to be taken in. This is done when he is alone so we get sympathy that being in a post-apocalyptic setting is a very lonely place that you can not trust anyone. It makes it extremely more effective than being in normal time pace. Dissolve: At the end of the short film we see a dissolve overlapped when he kills the significant character shown at the beginning of the film. We see his head drop dissolving over whilst he walks off into the distance, showing he is at peace. This is very popular to use at the end of scenes and is a very great ending as it is a very effective technique. Blood: They add in blood when someone gets shot or stabbed which make it look very surreal which I love. Without these added effects it would look very stupid and unnatural but they seem to pull it off well, making the blood direction and amount very realistic. Colour Correction: They have colour corrected it extremely well. Making the overall short film very dark, dull and bland. They have colour corrected it so they have made the short film yellow, with browns and blacks giving it a sort of mad max feel about it. Making the colour correction in this way makes the audience feel very depressed so it has worked very well. Mise-en-scene The costume design of the characters are amazing. Typically in short films they are not that great and focused less on costume design, however in this it amazes you. It is very similar to the professionalism of mad max. In other short films you generally see camouflaged outfits, which is very overdone - so it is nice and welcoming to see something different. They all wear scarfs, expensive skull masks, googles, old fashioned bags, gloves, bland jacks and other clothing which all look old and wearied down which adds to the surrealism. Moreover, they also use many props that look realistic and make the short film that much more enjoyable. Within the short film we see many guns, bow and arrows, telescopes and other objects that make the short film entertaining and real life like. Not a lot of make up is used as it is not necessary as most wear scarfs or masks. You can see some make up that simply makes them look dirty and like they have been in fights and not had showers for a while. The expressions on there faces are very professional as they all keep a serious face throughout and there gestures are more and less very surreal also. The setting is perfect for a post-apocalyptic setting as it has barley any life within it and the trees and plants look like they are dying also, a long with human life. They have done a very good job with the colour correction and lighting as it looks very depressing and old by using very dark colours, using grays and yellow. This makes the overall situation even more depressing and miserable.
Diegetic Sound Sound Effects: Then other than ambient sounds we also hear implemented sounds such as when he opens and closes doors we hear an added sound to make the creaking door louder, to exaggerate the complete silence of the situation. The lights flickering sound is a very cool effect as it makes the place seem overrun with no control anymore over buildings. When there is an explosion we hear a large bang to make the scene intense and to go with the visual of the explosion otherwise it wouldn't be dramatic. After this we hear what he is hearing after the explosion, ringing in his ears, as he was too close to the bomb. This makes us feel like we are in the scenario as we are hearing what he is hearing. Ambient Sounds: There is various ambient sounds which make it very genuine. We hear wind sounds when he is outside, almost sounding like we are actually there. When he was inside we hear gun sounds of gangs fighting outside which is a nice effect.
Non-Diegetic Sound Dialogue: There is very limited dialogue however it is understandable as it is not needed as he voice overs every so often - narrating what he is thinking within the scene. It is quite smart as the quietness between each narration is very suspenseful and makes us clench and uptight to know whats going to eventually happen. At 4:05 we get a jump scare as a pigeon noise breaks the tension but then carry's on being suspenseful and quiet. Mysterious Music: When the scenario is silent he has added a mysterious instrumental sound in the background. Which makes us question the scenario, being very suspenseful, makes us superstitious. It is effective and makes the scene less boring and complete dead silent. Intense Music: When the scene is not silent and suspenseful with the mysterious music, intense music is sometimes used to make the overall scene more dramatic and entertaining. Camera movements, angles and shots Extreme close ups: There is many extreme close ups of the protagonist. As there is very little dialogue and narration, his face also shows a lot about his current state and how he is feeling. Being an extreme close up we see is truly deep emotion without being distracted by the background. Long shot: A long shot gives the impression of the setting, there are many shots where they use a long shot and extreme long shot in this short film. We see the derelict land and abandoned buildings from the catastrophe in the background. At 2:50, there is writing saying 'forgive us lord' and also a dead body hanging from a building. The long shot shows how dead it has became and then he is walking around alone, being the only living thing there. This expresses how lonesome he has became and sad the post-apocalyptic world is. Tracking shot: When he sets off an explosion we see a tracking shot of him going backwards quickly, trying to escape the explosion. This makes the scene more entertaining as its a quick movement being shown and also more life like. We follow the action which is what tracking shots are typically used for. It is an effective shot and they used it well. We see this again at 6:22, however this is a long tracking shot which firstly follows him right then carries on behind him. This goes on for at least 15 seconds without any cutting making it very pure and again surreal to the audience. Zoomed out shot: At the beginning when he is getting chased by a gang we see a shot being zoomed out at 0:22. This gives the scene more energy, making it more engaging which draws the audience in, which is important for the first part of the short film. It allows the audience to also see more in the shot which is helpful also. Eye level: When he has his only really dialogue with another character, this shot is an eye level shot. Making it feel like we are there as an eye shot is like we are actually observing a scene - Basically a POV shot. This adds surrealism towards the audience which is a great angle to include. High angle: There is a short clip of a high angle shot of the protagonist. As we, the audience, are higher than him this may suggest he is quite powerless. Relating to the fact that he is young and weak, very helpless in this cruel world being alone. Editing Special effects: The special effects in this short film is astonishing. Obviously he has great talent in special effects and animation. At 0:29, we see a shot with dead bodies in plastic sacks all over the ground which is added with special effects. Which looks great and very professional. Moreover, at 1:07 we see a scene of him walking down a path where there is a broken down car completely destroyed by the catastrophe on the side of the road. This makes the short film look more professional, by looking like they had a large budget, even though it was just added in a software. This is again done in many other clips where there is cars crashed in the road, the road missing parts and buildings looking very old. Lastly, he even added in explosions which adds the value of the short film again. He is very talented in this aspect and it paid off extremely well. Colour Correction: The colours are very dull and boring and the colour correction is almost black and white however more blue. Showing the over all impression that they are not in bright times but extremely serious and dark times. Fast cuts: When there is action within the scenes such as at the beginning, he has made shots very short with many quick cuts and fast movements. This makes the scene more intense and straight away gets our attention of watching the short film - being very effective. Dissolving/ overlapped shots: After this has happened he screams then other scenes such as the map and other shots are mixed together, overlapping. This makes it very dramatic and engaging to watch as he is very angry and paranoid over the situation is in. Makes us want to watch on and wonder how he is going to get himself in better terms. Mise-en-scene Firstly, the costumes are quite good with all characters. With the protagonist we see his shirt is teared up, dirty and bloody all over which gives the impression he has been in tough situations. He has a large back pack as he is exploring, gloves so his hands do not get ripped apart and he also wears a gas mask which makes his costume look a lot more professional and surreal - the gas mask is so no chemicals are breathed in by him. Other characters such as the ones chasing him at the beginning are wearing similar clothing with different masks such as a skeleton mask and a burglary one. This makes them look quite threatening and scary. They also have great props like the weapons they use, we see snipers with scopes and more. The settings were great and fit the post-apocalyptic feel very well. They chose many broken down places that are over grown and dull which added to the feel of isolation of the world. Moreover, the make up seemed great, on the protagonist we see mud marks on his face and more showing he has been through a lot and he has left with a dirty face. His facial expression comes off very serious as he is a lone and hopeless, it is a very serious matter. The colours are very dull and boring and the colour correction is almost black and white however more blue. Showing the over all impression that they are not in bright times but extremely serious and dark times.
Diegetic Sound Sound Effects: There are various sound effects implemented into the short film to make it more appealing auditory for the audience. Such as the phone ringing at the beginning, and the voice mail message later on when he plays a message of his wife. It makes the scenes more interesting adding sounds. Moreover, he adds warp sound when waking up from a dream making it more dramatic when he wakes up. I am going to hopefully do this also in my short film. Ambient Sounds: There is a subtle ambient sound of birds and crickets in the distance, making the outside scenes that little more bit surreal, acting like we are there also. Dialogue: There isn't a lot of dialogue, the only dialogue is at the beginning of the short film when we are seeing a flashback. There is no one else to talk to as he is completely alone, so dialogue is not possible. Instead we hear a narration throughout the whole film and this is practically what he is saying inside his head. Non-Diegetic Sound Narration: Instead of dialogue with other characters, we hear a narration of the protagonist whilst seeing his life in an a post-apocalyptic world. His voice is emotion less, with no enthusiasm at all. It is dull, deep and he sounds incredibly bored of his current situation. He is tired from repeating the same bland routine everyday and missing human contact. Music: Once we see the flashback and he starts to narrate, an Baroq-ulele instrument or something similar plays gently in the background. As the backing music is very slow, low and soft it fits in with what he is saying that his routine is repetitive and boring just like the instrumental itself. There is nothing exciting for the music it just makes it interesting to watch with a soft instrumental. This is played throughout the short film, the same melody, and piano is added later. Until the end we hear a very deep, loud and long note played when a light is turned on from a house he walks past. Leaving it on a cliff hanger, it makes us want to watch more as it has intrigued us. Having a sudden change in sound from soft music to a hard and long note played gained our attention, just like his would be at that moment in time. Camera movements, angles and shots There is many camera movements, angles and shots within this short film, and this is one of the reasons why it is so popular and successful, winning awards. Within scenes we see many angles and shots instead of just one or two making us see the scene with different aspects. It is very smooth and enjoyable watching it. I hope to pull off the same effect within my short film. Tracking shot: There is a tracking shot at the beginning of the short film when he is at work in the office. It goes from left to right of his mouse clicking then typing on a keyboard. It is a great shot and is more engaging than simply just a still shot. Extreme close up: Once he picks up the phone, his wife is on the line in distress and we finish seeing an extreme close up of his eyes when he hears his wife is in danger, the background is blurred so we are fully focused on him and we see that this worries him and his eyebrows are down showing concern. Being an extreme close up we see his emotion very closely making us feel more sympathy towards him. Long shot: We see various long shots, showing his whole body within the scene. A long shot is the nearest shot to our eye sight so this makes us feel like we are within the scene actually there. A long shot also shows a lot of the scenery, it is important for this short film to show how quiet the surroundings is. A complete ghost town. Panning Shot: At 3:54 there is a panning shot of the building, showing the location he is in. It is an interesting shot and more complex than just a still shot looking at the building. It shows how overgrown the building also that he is in. Making sure the audience is definitely aware of the run down world.
Editing Fast/Slow cuts: The editing in this short film is very clean and to a very high standard. Most probably another reason for its great success. The cutting between shots is so smooth and clean it goes perfectly the way through. At the beginning the shots are more fast paced for the flash back, gaining our attention straight away - engaging us in. Then once it is too the present world he is in the shots are a lot more slow once in post apocalyptic world. This suggests that the world has no excitement in it, that it is very dull and unexciting. Cliff hanger: The ending is so well put together. We hear him talking about 'your the only one left in the world' then a light turns on from a nearby house and he turns and stops talking then it cuts there. This is a very smart cut and end of the short film, it leaves us wanting more. They did this so well and it intrigued in me so much that I might also use this same effect. Colour correction: There is just a subtle colour correction in this short film, not actually making the scenes look incredibly more dark and depressing like other short films within this genre. However just making the scenes look more orange and making the over all feel quite bland. This goes with the general feel of the video, along side the music played in the background. Time lapse: At the end of the short film there is a time lapse of him gathering resources in a warehouse. They decided to use a time lapse which I think is a exciting and great technique as it turned out really well and is more entertaining to watch than normal scenes. Mise-en-scene The mise-en-scene is good, and seems overall very professional. Firstly, the lighting is done extremely well and feels like natural light when watching making it that more surreal. The scenes are shot clearly and the lighting is very even and correct. The locations are great, there is a large variety of locations which make it that more interesting towards the audience. At the beginning we see a shot in an office, next we see him in his house, then in an abandoned house searching for food and lastly in a warehouse. It is more entertaining with more locations as it maintains our interest of him adventuring in new places. Moreover, his gesture seems very professional and normal which makes the representation of being in a post-apocalyptic world seem real.
I have come to a decision that I want a voice-over narrative over my short film for the majority of it. I feel like this tells you whats really happening in the mind and this is what I want to express, that the mental toll has effected him badly and can see this clearly. Being alone as made him feel extremely isolated and I feel like I can of course express this visually but also having a voice-over narrative makes it even more effective.
What Is Life.
Firstly, there is a piano key played at the start repeatedly making it very suspenseful and emotionally unaware of whats going to happen. We begin to hear his voice with no excitement and enthusiasm but deep suggesting its a serious subject to him. There is various wide shots of him demonstrating how alone he is, how insignificant he is, just him and wild life. We are hearing his thoughts and no one else is, no one else is around. You can tell he is at a lot of unease due to his body structure being very sloppy and his hand on face being very confused. There are various scenes of going out of focus or showing a lot of blurriness, this might relate to the fact that the meaning of life which what he is asking himself is all blurry and unclear also. Furthermore, we see a lot of shots which are of the nature around him, like he is looking around to see what is the point of life and be inspired. He ends up helping out and doing good then later finding the message to the point of life. It is a very interesting story and they use some clever techniques to make it interesting and watchable.
Gone Goodbye.
The beginning scene opens with a dark color grade scene of a car moving a long suggesting its not a happy moment - something serious is occurring. We have an aerial shot of the car simply moving away from the screen, perhaps suggesting someone is running away, making us question why. Then we realize as the voice-over starts he states 'Dear Catherine, I'm Leaving you', this means he is writing a letter and we are hearing this, and the car does in fact mean he is running away, from the problems with Catherine. The music in the background is low pitched piano music which makes the ambiance dark, sad and very serious. Us hearing his inner thoughts of a letter to someone else makes it feel very personal and like we are invading his privacy. After some time of the car driving being very suspenseful, we eventually see him get out the car. The voice-over stopped, and the music carries on, now making the visual the most important element. We see various close ups, slow movement shots and establishing shots showing he is so alone, being the only human there.
Lover.
Straight away we hear his voice, his inner thoughts, expressing like a letter to his ex of how much she needs her and means to him. Making us again feel very intruding for hearing it as it feels extremely personal. His voice is very low, rough and husky demonstrating that he really is not fine over the situation and makes the audience feel sympathetic. The music in the background begins and it is long strides of chords played making the audience feel very anxious cause we want to hear what he has to say and it adds to the intensity. He begins to smoke a cigarette which is another sign of him being at unease, the main reason for smoking is that it simulates a feel good flow toward the brain, so he is in need of this. The colours around him are very dark being blacks, greys and whites - all plain and boring colours, adding to the dullness of the scenes emotion currently. Himself is wearing very bland colours which adds to this even further that he is depressed. Moreover, we see that he keeps sitting up and down expressing he cant control himself, that he is a mess. We see various close ups of him being very nervous and troubled, smoking more and more. Then we see flashbacks showing colour, meaning it was a brighter time in his life being with his ex. It is a short yet engaging short film and kept me watching what he had to say. I like his use of flash backs, showing more colour and happiness where as his current situation is the complete opposite. I will try and use this in my own short film.
I feel like analyzing other short films is important. Firstly to see what short films are, as I am making one myself therefore I need to look at some in depth and as I am new to short films this is quite necessary. Furthermore, It's interesting to find out the structure of short films and the techniques they use within short films, as this is different from an actual film I need analysis both. I'm Beautiful.
This short film is very short and it keeps within our attention spans because of this. It tells a very important message that is not needed longer than it is In the opening, It immediately gains our attention from her saying 'look at me'. This brings the audiences input from using direct address as it makes us feel involved. Then she goes and says do you think I'm beautiful' making us feel involved again, asking us questions. The lighting is very dark throughout the short film and the instrumental played in the background adds on the effect of sadness from the piano playing in low keys, then it gets more intense when a violin is played gradually louder and she gets more serious and louder in her voice. As the music gets intense, she then explains all the things she does to feel beautiful, as the expectations and standards of beauty is so high at this day in age. She shows a powerful message visually of her journey of this, containing graphic images, close ups of her face of her emotion of what the 21st century expectations is doing to her. She ends it on a message that is powerful, making us feel sympathy towards her and all girls. The short film is short, effective and tells a very important message. It is a great short film. The Present Short.
I've decided to analysis a completely different short film, this one being animation. This film is more slow paced and longer, which is a lot more effective for this story. The whole reason it is so great is that the suspension of the end of the film. Straight away we see a close up of him engaged in the video game, like every teenager. Then the mother walks in with a present and says to open it which intrigues our interest to see what's inside. He carry's on playing the game and then eventually opens it. He finds a dog inside and realizes that it is 3 legged, and he gets frustrated and pushes him away. It makes us wonder why he is so annoyed and unhappy with his mum getting him a three legged dog. Moreover, there is a lot of angles throughout the short film which keeps us engaged and the use of POV shots of the dog is really used well. Then leading to the end when he finally pays attention to the dog, we eventually see why he is so annoyed of his mum getting a three legged dog. He picks up his crutches and the shot is still and above his legs, he moves away from the still shot and we can finally see he has also a leg. We then get the message that he didn't like the dog because it reminds him of himself and how much he hates his condition of having one leg. In the end he learns to love the dog and decides to play with it.
She's Lost Control.
There is firstly a slow movement in the opening shots that are slow paced or either still with little action, showing the scenery, making us wonder what is wrong. Then after seeing her face showing little emotion engages us more. The next shot shows her body and dermatillomania, which leaves us shocked. The soft, sad music begins to play whilst she does her morning routine whilst a narrative starts and questioning her why she started doing this to herself. We start see close ups of her face which make the scenario more dramatic and also to her picking her skin, making us barley wanting to look at the screen. We are hearing the narrative as like whats happening in her mind, questioning herself of the reasons why she did this to herself. We see how her condition affects and disrupts her morning routine on a daily basis, and how she is loosing her mind from it. It is a really smart and professional short film that is quite engaging to watch and explains the struggles of having this condition very well.
Furthermore, I am going to write some notes on why I think some films containing post-apocalyptic genre are successful. I am Legend The sound track is such an important element to a film and is so underrated as you do not understand how much of an effect it gives. I Am Legend uses some very dramatic and depressing music which I find very effective. One of my favourite and most powerful track within the film is by James Newton Howard called 'Sam's Gone', this adds even more absolute sadness to the scene that his dog Sam is dying and emphasis now he is even more alone. When creating my short film i defiantly want to use music as an addition to making the whole scenario more sad. They also use close-up's, mainly of his face, to emphasis his deep emotion which gives sympathy of the audience and we feel more close to the actor. Moreover, In the beginning of the film you see many establishing shots of the derelict surrounding. They are establishing and low angle shots of New York city, it shows the lifeless run down New York which is unusual as New York is normally one of the biggest and busiest cities in the world. This immediately creates an image that something is not right in the audiences minds which is a great technique and I hope to include this in my film.
They also use grey a lot in the opening of the film, this is to symbolise death in man made objects, which is very smart and I am going to either do this or colour correct the film to make it seem more darker and serious. The shots are also very still and not much movement, this enhances the stillness of the rest of the world, nothing is happening, and it is just him in an isolated world. Mis en scene is another reason of why the film is very successful. They had a high production value containing shots of abandoned cars and scenery. I however cant do this as I do not have that big of a budget, although there are many abandoned places around me so I can use this as my advantage. Summary of techniques used in I Am Legend: - Sad Diegetic music - Still shots - Extreme close ups - Dark colours - Establishing shots of the abandoned areas Zombie Land
I have also chose Zombieland to analyse as I think this is also an extremely popular film containing the same genre as mine, post-apocalyptic. My favorite part of the film is especially the opening scene.
In the opening scenes of Zombieland, it shows many scenes in slow motion which makes the whole situation completely more dramatic, this technique I definitely want to use in my short film. Moreover, there are many scenes of carnage in the background such as cars in a jam, which gives the sense of something wrong to the audience. Due to a low budget I can not show this well however I will try and do my best with what I have. Likewise to I Am Legend, the opening scenes are very dark as they also use grey and dark colours and the lighting is also very low key, This makes the scenes dismal and washed out, and very anxious as something is not right and definitely what I need to do in my own film.
Furthermore, they use a lot of different angles and camera shots which makes it more interesting to watch as well as a sense of reality. They use many close up shots which makes it very intense to watch as you can closely see the insane terror in people's faces, from the scenario they are in.
At the very start, we see a shot that is firstly blurry and titled, the camera quickly turns upright and zooms out, showing more of the car. The audience realises that we are upside down in a crashed car and that it's a POV shot. You do not usually see this in post-apocalyptic films yet it is very effective as again it feels like you are there in the scene, creating more of a reality and intrigues you in. Summary of techniques used in Zombieland: - POV shots to add realism - Slow motion making it more dramatic - Dark scenes - Many camera shots - Excellent mis en scene such as items in background Maze Runner Lastly, I decided to look at the techniques used in Maze Runner, as this was a completely different concept compared to my other 2 pots on techniques in films. I'm going to be talking about the opening scene as this is quite effective and lures you in, due to the techniques used. At the very begging they make you clench on to watch more, by using very little light but just enough to see from below. A high angle shot is used so its hard to see what's happening. Then they finally use a close up shot to introduce the character to the audience, to show his expressions. Then further in, we see a point of view shot which has been used in my other post on 'Zombieland', this is effective as it makes the audience feel like we are in there, on the elevator and feeling his emotions. Finally daylight appears, so we finally have the opportunity to see the character fully. I think this is very interesting to make people wait to see what's happening, with little information, as it engages you to know the situation, so I may have to use this in my own short film. Summary of technique used in Maze Runner - POV shots to add realism - Dark scenes to make it more unclear of situation - Close up shots to show emotion In conclusion Seeking the techniques within already existent post-apocalyptic films have been very helpful. I now know what has made these films successful, so I can hopefully include the generic techniques within them for my own benefit. Firstly, one technique that is consistent throughout is the use of dark colours and scenes. This is something I think is essential to include to give the sense of this genre so the audience is aware of what genre they are watching. This can be easily done with the shot and even enhance it in editing. Moreover, the use of shots is another technique that really stood out to me. The majority of what I saw was still shots to exaggerate the stillness and deadness of the surrounding. Then for the characters they used POV and close ups. The POV shots were so we can get a more surreal experience watching and act like we are there and for the close ups we see their true emotion. These are all really smart and effective techniques that I am going to try and include in my short film. Music is also used throughout these 3 films that I watched, they use extremely sad and depressed music to add to the catastrophe. Only one technique that I can not include for sure in my own film is the incredible mis en scene in the background of broken down cars and left over mess. This is very costly and way above my budget which is a shame.
The apocalyptic genre is one of the most diverse genres out there, you can have many possibilities and limitless scenarios that could be made for this genre, as everyone will have different opinions on how the world will be after being wiped out which makes it so interesting. There are many codes and conventions however that you constantly see within films that have this genre:
Mis en Scene
Most apocalytpic films are set in an area of ruin or abandonment, such as 'I am legend' or another popular setting is the location in a sandy deserted area that is completely wiped out, seen on films like 'Mad Max', or 'Planet of the Apes'. Moreover, the opening scene is usually black and grey and we typically associate this with death and darkness so it makes us feel very uneasy.
Sound There are several main types of sound used in post apocalyptic films, firstly slow and sad songs are used that emphasise the loneliness of the character being left in the post apocalyptic world which adds to the complete devastation. On the other hand, another popular sound is having a tense build up in a soundtrack, engaging the audience and lastly having a tense score that are up tempo for fast action filled parts such as in the Mad Max soundtrack. A Hero Most post apocalyptic films usually have one main character, a hero, where he manages to solve the crisis for the rest of the world and mostly retain human civilisation. For example, at the end of 'I am Legend' he finds a cure or Thomas in 'the Maze Runner' who helps everyone through the maze. Desolation In post apocalyptic films you always see desolation as they are trying to make the audience feel absolute looniness and helpless right from the beginning to give sympathy towards the character(s). Survival and Challenges Tordov's theory is adopted a lot in this genre, as the majority of characters no longer have there original lives, hence the apocalypse part. Most have a challenge of returning somewhere, collecting of fighting something as their disequilibrium and when they manage to do this, there becomes an equilibrium hopeful ending.
What is Post-Apocalyptic Fiction? Post-Apocalyptic Fiction is a sub genre of that is concerned with the end of human civilisation, its set in a world or civilisation after a disaster that ruins the world. Post apocalyptic genre is very modern in film, it hasn't been around for that long. Although it has been frequently used throughout history. It mainly became popular since the film 'I Am Legend', which was based off a book. I decided to particularly only focus on the post apocalyptic fiction genre and build my film around this genre. This genre intrigues me the most as I love the films that has this genre included. I chose to research 3 films WALL-E, I am Legend and Zombie Land as these are some of my favourite films containing the same genre. I wrote down some information of inspiration from the films that I want to include in my own product. WALL-E
I want my product to be similar to WALL-E because in their film it shows so effectively how isolated, abandoned and devastated he was after the humans were gone. I want my dad, playing the main character, to give off the same effect of being so isolated and alone so it should be emotional towards the audience and give off a lot of sympathy.
I am Legend
I am legend has a very similar plot to mine as he is in a post-apocalyptic world and he is the last survivor, however mine is to do with a nuclear attack and I believe this is more likely to happen than that plot which was a virus turning everyone into mutated zombies. I am legend has used many abandoned areas and overgrown places to demonstrate the effect the virus has been on the environment, I want to especially do the same and go to abandoned areas too as it’s my advantage of living near lots. Moreover, At the beginning there is scenes of him and his family being killed, which is quite an effective technique as we feel even more sympathetic towards him. I am going to do this however use flashbacks for the same effect. Lastly, they have edited in post production so the scenes are more dark and seem more fearsome for the audience by using colour correction and changing the brightness. I especially want to do this in my product and exaggerate that dark times are happening and by doing this in post production too I should use this technique effectively.
Zombie Land Zombie land is a great film that again shows a similar plot however its due to a virus that is the reason of the rapid population decrease. Zombie land shows the story of a handful of people who survive, and the main story of the main character shown in the image on the right. Zombie land has some serious elements within it however it is largely a comedic film, and shows a more how to survive a post-apocalyptic world, which is not what I am going for. This film really brings out many components that I do want my own product to include such as betrayal and relationships. I want to empathise these in my product a lot as I think they are effective and will gain engagement to the audience watching.
