Evaluation Question Four

Media Evaluation - Question Four

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Evaluation Question Three

Media Evaluation - Question Three

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Evaluation Question Two

Media Evaluation - Question Two

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Evaluation Question One

Media Evaluation - Question One

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Short Film

This is the final edit of my short film "help". There are two reasons I have decided to call my short film "help". The first, most obvious, reason is that the character of Anthea is being assisted throughout the film by the Guide. The character of the Guide was created to act as a form of tour guide showing characters different rooms which have some meaning to their lives, in the case of Anthea in my film, showing her biggest fears which ultimately shaped the way she lived her life. The second reason for this title is a play on the word help and the situation Anthea has found herself which is, basically, Hell. As the Guide says at the beginning of the film, it's Anthea's own personal Hell which she will be guiding her through which is then the reason for this title.

Characters

My film features only two characters which follows the convention of short films having very few characters. The first of my characters is Anthea. At the beginning of the film, Anthea finds herself in an unfamiliar location, the afterlife. The character of Anthea has recently died but the audience are never told the circumstances surrounding her death. The reason the audience never find out how Anthea died is because her character is meant to represent the everyday person which would then suggest that anyone could find themselves in this situation after they have died and that it has also happened in the past. This is also the reason Anthea has a very simple costume. The costune consists of a shirt and jeans as this is a very average and normal this to wear which the audience could relate to, drawing them into the film. In the film itself the audience can learn a bit about her character and life through the rooms she is taken to. All of the rooms show one of Anthea's biggest fears, the first being achieving nothing in her life. The rooms that follow contain two other fears, fear of public speaking and her paranoia, which are therefore suggested to be reasons for her lack of achievement in life.

The second character, who is very different from Anthea, is the Guide. As Anthea is there to represent the normal, the Guide's role is representing the abnormal. The Guide is a mysterious character as the audience never really learn anything about her but it is clear she has a lot of power and control over what happens in purgatory. The Guide represents the abnormaility Anthea finds in the afterlife as she is the one who has control over, and takes Anthea to, all the different rooms featured in the film. As she is the first and only person Anthea meets in purgatory, it highlights the Guide's importance as a character. The Guide also has an almost child like joy while watching Anthea literally face her fears which makes her character somewhat menacing as the audience are never really sure who she is or why she is acting in this way. The Guide's costume is all black as this highlights the dark nature of her character and black is the main colour people of a high status in business would wear so it also represents the Guide's position of power.

Script and Props

Script:

Darkness. A door opens, light floods in. The Guide walks down the steps towards the camera. Cut to dark room. A light turns on. Anthea suddenly sits up from where she has been lying on the floor.

The Guide: You must be Anthea. Come with me.

Anthea: (looking around confused) Why? (gets up) Who are you?

The Guide: I’m your guide.

Anthea: Guide for what?

The Guide: Your own personal Hell. Follow me.

The Guide walks out of the room. Anthea follows, still confused. Cut to the Guide and Anthea walking down steps.

The Guide: Hurry up!

Anthea: Where are we going?

The Guide: You’ll see.

Anthea: But why? Where are we going? I don’t understand.

The Guide leads the way into a room. Anthea spots an open book on a table

Anthea: What’s this?

They walk over to the table.

The Guide: This…this is the book for all your life’s achievements.

Anthea flicks through the pages.

Anthea: But…it’s blank.

The Guide: That’s because you never achieved anything. Come along then.

The Guide walks back out of the room. Anthea follows after turning back to look at the book. They walk back up the stairs.

The Guide: Hurry up.

They walk up another flight of stairs. They walk into a room – the same as before.

The Guide: This room…this room is for all those times you avoided everything. All those times you made everyone else do it for you. Wait there.

The Guide walks over to the other side of the room, picks up a clipboard and goes back to Anthea.

The Guide: This. (hands clipboard to Anthea) I want you to read this now.

Anthea walks to the back of the room. She attempts to read from the clipboard but fails.

The Guide: (laughs) I knew you couldn’t do it. (walks over to Anthea) Give it to me. (takes clipboard back) Come along.

They leave the room and go back down the stairs.

Anthea: Where are we going this time?

The Guide: You’ll see.

Back in the room. Anthea enters, looks into the room and backs up against the wall in shock. Cut to a figure (wearing a long coat, hat and face in shadow) leaning over the body of Anthea. The character turns their head to face Anthea. Cut back to Anthea who is still pressed against the wall, the Guide standing next to her, smiling.

The Guide: So, what do you think?

Anthea runs from the room. The Guide, still smiling, follows. Cut to outside, the Guide leads Anthea who is looking around her. They walk into and back into the room again. This time, it’s empty.

Anthea: So, what now?

The Guide: This is the end of the tour!

The Guide leaves the room, grinning. Anthea stands alone in the middle of the room.

Anthea: What does that mean?

The light goes out.

Props:

One of the props featured in my short film is a blank notebook. This notebook is included in my short film as one of the things the Guide takes Anthea to see in the room. The notebook is there to represent Anthea’s fear of never achieving anything in her life, as stated in the Guide’s line “that’s because you never achieved anything”. The point of it being blank is that it is meant to show how, actually, because of this great fear, she has achieved nothing. It is therefore suggested that, because of this fear, she has missed great opportunities that would have given her a greater sense of achievement. 

Another prop that is featured in my film is the folder that the Guide carries with her throughout. This folder is featured in order to represent the power that the Guide has over Anthea, as she is the one leading her, and it also suggests the fact that prior to this meeting with Anthea, the Guide has "helped" many other people through purgatory. The folder that is used is blue which then stands out against the Guide’s dark clothing which would then highlight the importance of this prop.

Storyboard

Genre Research

One of the genres that my film could fall under is horror. Horror films tend to take place in an isolated, and often dark, location with few people involved in the narrative, the characters being the protagonist (usually a victim) and an antagonist (some form of evil). This then creates an effect of tension and fear as the characters are completely seperated from the rest of the world which the audience are most comfortable with. The camera shots used within the films also add to the horror effect as quite often they will be handheld which immediately puts the audience on edge as the shot will be quite shakey and they will not completely understand what is happening in the scene.

This is then closely related to another genre my film could be associated with and that is supernatural/paranormal. From my knowledge of this genre it usually contains a distorted or twisted view on reality in some form. The genre tends to feature supernatural beings or other situations that the main character/s find themselves in that breaks away from our knowledge of the world and makes the audience think about the possibilty of these actually existing or happening. A genre like this is there to directly involve the audience as they are drawn in by such abnormal situations and are then completely engrossed in the storyline.  

Locations

Before I begin filming I need to establish exactly where I am planning to set the film. I have considered the types of places I would want my film to be set and also the locations that are available to me to decide where I will film. One of the main locations of my film is the corrridor Anthea meets the Guide in. One location I am considering is one of the corridors in school. This location seems to be the most obvious choice as it is accessible and has as many doors in it that I would need.

Another location I will need is the rooms which the characters enter throughout the film. This room needs to be empty apart from the props that I will be placing into the room. The room I am most likely going to use is one of the rooms in my cellar. This room will be appropriate for my film due to the fact it is already empty and therefore would not require me to remove items from the room, and it is also quite dark, which is something I would want the room to be.

Audience

The audience is a key factor to consider while planning my film. I need to know exactly who I am aiming this film at and what to include that will appeal to them. The audience I will be aiming my film at is teenagers and young adults. I set up a survey online and asked people within this age range (late teens-early twenties) to complete it so that I could see exactly what they would like to see in a short film and also some of their other interests which I could possibly incorporate. 

The first question in my survey was "how old are you?" This then told me whether or not those completing my survey were in the correct age group and, thankfully, most of them were. As the majority of people who completed my survey were within this age range I knew that the results of the rest of the survey would be an accurate study of my intended audience. 

I then asked "what is your gender?" The reason I have asked this question is because it is an important factor to consider when planning a film people of different genders will most likely expect different things from a short film. 

The next question I asked was "what film genre most appeals to you?" This is obviously an important question as I need to make sure that my film appeals to my target audience. I can see from the results of this question that the majority of people who completed my survey are interested in the horror and supernatural elements of films. This then tells me that my idea for a short film will appeal to my target audience as it does contain supernatural features.

I also asked my audience questions about their other interests in both film and television to obtain a greater understanding of what it is that my audience seem drawn to in the media. I received a mixture of films and television shows, as expected, but there was still certain films/shows that appeared more than once in the results. Being Human and The League of Gentlemen appeared a couple of times and they also both link into the idea for my film, Being Human being a supernatural show and The League of Gentlemen being heavily influenced by horror films.

Idea Change

I have decided to change the idea for my short film. My new idea for a short film is based around the character of Anthea who has recently died. The film will be set in Anthea's purgatory where she meets the Guide who shows her various aspects of her life which have had a significant impact. Inside the rooms the Guide takes Anthea to are the fears that have had control over the way she had lived her life and shows how they have stopped her achieving all that she could and missing opportunities because of them. The overall message of my short film is to not let your fears control your life and to overcome them and not be afraid to take all opportunities as they come to you.

Idea for short film

The basis of my short film on the story I discovered while researching on the internet:

You know that ringing sound that you will perceive when you are in a very quiet area? Some people say this is an auditory-illusion brought about the ear’s inability to detect frequencies below the threshold of the human senses. This is completely wrong. That ringing covers up something else altogether. If you are quick, patient, and maybe a little lucky, you will be able to hear past the ringing. What you will hear are voices whispering to each other. They will silence themselves quickly but with practice, you will become more adept at catching and interpreting what they are saying. You will hear things of the past, the present, and the future. However, you must be careful. Because there is no such thing as a voice without a body.
And when you start noticing them, they will start noticing you. - www.creepypasta.com/the-ringing/

My initial idea for the basic plot of my short film begins with a forensic scientist, Freya, investigating a murder scene when she hears the ringing mentioned in the above text. In the ringing Freya can hear a voice, although it isn’t very clear. She hears it a few other times after this but the voice gets clearer the more she hears it. Eventually she tries to get her friend to listen and hear the voice but she doesn’t. The voice gets clear enough for Freya to work out exactly what it is saying when she realises they are actually talking to her. I will possibly make the voice a child and by what the child says, make it seem that Freya is their “imaginary” friend.

Examples of Short Films

Inseparable
Inseparable conforms to many of the conventions of short films. This film features an extremely small cast with two main cast members, Benedict Cumberbatch and Natalie Press. This is quite common in short films as it deals with one plot unlike feature films which would have subplots with a variety of characters. Another way this follows the conventions of short films is the way in which the story is told within the film. The plot of the film is about twin brothers, both played by Cumberbatch, who lead completely different lives switching places after one of them finds out they have a terminal illness. It relies more on the camera shots and the details within them to put across the plot of the film. An example of this is when the main character visits his doctor, there is no dialogue in the scene but the images shown tell the audience that he has a terminal illness. This then allowed the filmmaker to be a lot more creative in the way they shot the film than if it was a feature film.


Sebastian's Voodoo from Joaquin Baldwin on Vimeo.
Sebastian's Voodoo is an animated short film about a voodoo doll trying to save the other voodoo dolls from being pinned to death by sacrificing himself and has won several awards from a variety of film festivals. It is a good example of a short film as it has a relatively simple plot which allows the animator, Joaquin Baldwin, to have a lot more creative freedom with the images he chooses, for example the use of voodoo dolls instead of simply people.


Day Of The Braindead from Si on Vimeo.
Day of the Braindead is a short film made for Tridentfest in Cambridge and involves a group of characters in a zombie-like state with the desire to annoy anyone they come into contact with. This film was shot and edited in four days with a small budget and it is quite common that short films would have relatively small budgets. The film also uses quite a bit of humour so it is like a parody of a zombie horror film.