Analysing a Short Film

Genre - Thriller, because it is about a hit man getting ready to kill his victim. Our genre isn't a thriller but there are a lot of aspects of this short film that we can learn from and can be used in our own short film.

The opening credits show up as words on the screen over the film. This happens a few times. It us a relatively simple opening credits but they fit well with what is happening onscreen. For instance the words show up ''starring Jason Riddle'' when the actor jason riddle is on screen.

This gives us an example of how to do the opening credits in our own film, and what to aim beyond as i will aim to make our opening credits more interesting and professional than the one used below which appears to have been done on windows movie maker.

Mise en scene - The music that is used fits the mood well, not only that the clothing goes well too. The hit mans clothes fit with what what a hit man would wear. The soundtrack gets more intense as the film goes along. The setting changes from inside a house, a shop and a field. The lighting in the house is bright, in the shop it is much more mellow and in the field it is daylight. There was a varied use of props. A chocolate bar, a tie when he was getting ready, but the main prop used is probably the gun and the end used to kill the victim. The acting is good but there isn'd much acting needed. A few facial expressions is really the extent of the acting in this film.

Characters - there are two main characters in the film. The hit man and the victim. In the opening and throughout the film you only see the victim. It is only at the end that you finally see the hitman, even though you hear his voice the entire way through.

Soundtrack is good and tense. The editing is well done and gets faster as the film nears its climax. Using this effect makes the film appear more and more tense. The soundtrack adds to this. We can use this in our use of soundtrack. Soundtrack can set the mood whether it be tense or romantic.

They used a number of camera shots including: an extra wide shot, a mid shot, medium close ups, close ups, cut ins, over the shoulder shot, these shots are shown in the images below. They add to the film making it appear much more professional and varied. Again we can use these types of shots in our own film which are demonstrated below. These use of shots help the film come alive and be interesting. Without the film looks bland using only one or two different shots.

The film itself is about a a man getting ready to go to work, there is a running monologue going through his head. You think the running monologue is his, when in fact it turns out at the end that it is the hit mans, and that the person you thought was the hit man is actually the victim. It is a clever storyline to make you think the victim is the hitman. It is interesting with a clever twist at the end.

We hope to emulate this kind of dynamic in our own film, incorporating our own twist to the story line.

Initial Idea's

Based on the possible actors that we could have for our film, I tried to think of a film plot that would be likely to involve ourselves. This limited the ideas that I could come up with. One very basic initial idea that I came up with was the idea of teenagers talking via the internet, such as Facebook or Twitter. This would eventually lead to them arranging to meet up, and the girl would lie to her parents about where she was going. The ending would be that the boy is actually an old man and he kills her.

Alternatively, a love story could happen through two people talking through the internet, meeting, falling in love, parents not being happy about it, then overcoming their problems and eventually getting married or something in the future.

I thought that both these ideas are simple enough to be able to concentrate more on the camera work and getting it just right. Split-screens and/or creating a shot that looks as if it's done through a webcam could be nice ideas.

Initial Idea's

My idea was to do a short film based around the idea of not knowing who you are or how you've got to the place you wake up at. I thought we could do a story like 'Bourne Identity' or at least something loosely based on this. I had the idea that we should do a simple film in terms of characters because this way the shooting would be more reliable as we would only have to rely on that person to be able to film and wouldn't have to include any people outside the group. I thought we could do something to do with waking up after being in a coma for a long time and the character seeing their family who have understandably changed whilst they have been asleep. I thought that we could then develop the plot to show that the people that the character believes to be their family are actually not and are conning the person to get either money or information out of them. This could in the end turn out to be to do with the person's accident and the entire film could therefore be based on a conspiracy story.

Designing a Logo

Step One: Names and Fonts
We wanted our production company name to relate to film making processes, such as writing the plot, filming, editing. We are considering either "Blank Page Productions" or "Sketchbook Productions". I began by download and sample several royalty free fonts. We wanted a font which had a hand drawn quality, looking quite sketchy and scribbled, or possible typed. I used the website "dafont". Here are some examples.

Step Two: Research

After all voting we chose to use Matryoshka. I next looked for images of ringbinders and note pads. I needed to create a graphic on Photoshop to apply the text to, so it appeared to have been written on the page.

Step Three: Draft

I made a first draft of our logo on photoshop. We all agreed the book should look more notebook-y, in particular we wanted to add a spiral to the top. I had complied the image from two custom shapes on Photoshop's tools.

Step Four: Amendments

I added a spiral to the top of the logo with a pen tool, in a slightly whiter colour. I think the logo looks simple and professional. It focuses on the name of our production company to create an identity for company. "Blank Page" gives me the  connotation that the company creates things from scratch, from a blank page. That it is creative and has an element of fun with the quirky text. It doesn't define our target audience as it is appropriate for all. 

Initial Idea's

A man is sitting in his arm chair watching TV. He tries to change the channel with his remote control but it doesn't work. The batteries have run out. So he sets off to the shop to buy some more. He somehow winds up in a garden with an unfriendly dog, he leaves the garden all ravaged and bloody. Gets to the shop and realises he left his wallet in the garden during the scuffle with the dog. So he goes back, the dog is sleeping, but while grabbing his wallet the dog wakes up and he escapes even more of a state than before. He eventually gets to the shop, only to find he doesn't have quite enough money to purchase the batteries. So instead he tries to steal them and while running away from the shop the security guard rugby tackles him to the ground. He wakes up all bandaged in a hospital, the nurse hands him a remote control for the TV and leaves the room. He tries to switch the channel but the batteries do not work.

Initial Idea's

When initially told about the project I was more interested in creating a short 5 minute film. I wanted to create a simple and realistic plot and focus on experimenting with unique camera angles. Focusing on a single character facing challenges and obstacles which ends with a twist.
My idea was based around a remote control which alters the universe for our character, for example, rewind and pause time. I tried to think of a situation where people would find humour in mistakes, and I came up with first dates. What would happen if a person could go back and change the mistakes they so often make with a new love interest. Our character should encounter classic first date obstacles, and a possible twist could be in the end, the female makes a mistake and it's revealed she also has a remote of her own.
Possible mistakes:
- Being late
- Showing off/Boasting
- Wet trousers while washing hands
- Giving a useless gift
- Spill wine on cream carpet
- Make sick joke
- Mistake a person sex on family photo
- Answers mobile phone
- Making innuendo