A Level Film Studies: Coursework Blog

Character They're exterior needs to clearly show their situation, values/personality, & other important things. Their interior needs to be shown through their surroundings and exterior to avoid excess exposition. When designing them you need to create a realistic and believable backstory and clearly understand how that has shaped their personality, values, situation. How do they react to events that cause excess of emotion in any direction? A character will react differently to things depending on their past experiences so they are important to have in mind when writing them, even if they are not necessarily needed for the film. A good idea of family, culture, and heritage also helps as this further shapes personality and identity.  Identity (or lack of) is key to a character. Everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen will change them. Where they've been, where they are, and where they'll go also forms them. They must be kept in mind...

I’m going to write a screenplay for a short horror film. Currently I’m thinking of styling it like a found footage film, taking inspiration from ‘Digging up the Marrow’ which is favourite found footage film of mine. Although this is feature length, I’ve been looking at horror shorts on YouTube (mainly by CryptTV) with similar settings to see how the locations and stories have been adapted to fit the narrative of a short film. If I can find a location that suits what I want then I may make a short film but I think it will be unlikely so for the moment my plan is for a screenplay.

Narrative Structures: How can they be adapted for short film? Narrative Structures Propp: Propp's narrative focus on 8 main characters and 21 functions which move the story forward. The characters are: The Villain, The Hero, The Donor, The Helper, The Princess, Her Father, The Dispatcher, and The False Hero. The 31 functions include things such as: The Hero is prohibited from doing something, The Villain learns something about the victim, The Villain is punished, etc.  Todorov: Todorov says that everything starts with an equilibrium, a problem then disrupts it, events take place and a new equilibrium is established. Modern narratives often start with a disequilibrium. Barthes: Barthes suggests that narratives work with different codes which the reader tries to make sense of. These are puzzles which the audience needs to solve throughout the plot. Levi-Strauss: This is the focus on binary opposites - there is a central opposition echoed throughout the nar...

Slap (2015) Dir. Nick Rowland Narrative: The story is about a British working class guy called Connor, who has a secret hobby of doing makeup. The film shows us his struggle in coming to terms with this in an environment which is very unaccepting of his stereotypically feminine hobby. Structure: The structure of the film is linear, and to me feels like it's in two acts rather than the traditional three as it feels like we leave on the lowest point of the film and that there is no resolve. Representation: The main representation in the film is of sexuality and coming to terms/discovering it as well as gender stereotypes and how they can be damaging to young individuals. This all takes place in a working class environment which may be seen as generally less accepting of non-standard gender roles and sexualities and this is seen within the film when a friend of Connor's gets beaten up for being gay. Micro Elements: - Use of montag...

Arrival (2016) Dir. Daniel Montanarini Narrative: The film is about a woman who has become pregnant and she is waiting in a coffee shop for the man while she has an inner monologue/debate with herself over what to do with the baby. Structure: The structure is linear, moving forward in time solely. Representation: Accidental pregnancy + baby fever. Micro Elements: - One long continuous shot of the woman, the camera slowly zooming toward her over the course of the film. - Use of mainly voice-over, as well as sound effects of the coffee shop and a train during one point. How will this influence my coursework?: Not much, I didn't particularly like it.

The Ellington Kid (2012) Dir. Dan Sully N arrative: The film is about a kid who gets stabbed and runs to a kebab shop for help, the guys who stabbed him following him and getting into a fight with the kebab shop owners, told through a guy re-telling this story to his friends in the same kebab shop this supposedly took place in. We see the story happening visually, while the guy telling the story voices over it/narrates it. Structure: The structure of the film is an extended flashback, starting an ending with the two guys in the same place. Representation: Disrespected kebab shop owners. Micro Elements: - Slow-Motion - Voice Over - Shot-reverse-shot How will this influence my coursework?: I like the use of the story being told through a uninvolved character re-telling it as a story, it reminded me of Luis from Ant-man.

Over (2015) Dir. Jorn Threlfall Narrative: It's about an asylum seeker who hides in the wheel hatch(?) of a airplane, near freezes, and then falls out when the wheels come out for landing, falling onto a street in a neighbourhood where he is then found by a man walking his dog. The police then come and take his body/investigate the crime scene, eventually clearing all evidence of the event by the end of the day. We follow this story going backwards. Structure: We follow the story moving backwards, starting at 11:30, when everything is cleared, moving backwards through time till the beginning where the man lands on the car. This structure works well for the story as the most intense part is the beginning and so by moving backwards in time, we build up the tension. Representation: Although not obvious, the representation here is of the dramatic lengths that people will go to to escape their own countries, commenting on a hot political top...

Operator (2015) Dir. Caroline Bartleet Narrative: The film is about a operator for the fire service, and follows her through a 999 call made by a mother who woke up to find a fire in her house and her child stuck up stairs. The film is very intense throughout and is a glimpse into a side of the emergency services which are glanced over. Structure: It has a linear structure and follows the one phone call from start to finish. In the beginning there are some establishing shots of the call centre. You can argue that it could actually be a cyclic structure as at the end she answers another call and it start over again. Representation: The representation within this film is for the hidden faces of the emergency services, and brings light to how big a part they actually play in helping people in danger, by helping them to keep calm and instructing them what to do. Micro Elements: The film is relatively simple. The majority of the film is close ups of the operators ...

Tight Jeans (2008) Dir. Destiny Ekharaga Watch the film! Narrative: The film is about three black teenage friends, who are chatting while waiting for their friend. While they are chatting one of the characters starts a long ambitious story about his take on the history of slavery after they see an emo guy wearing tight jeans (roll credits). Structure: It has a linear structure. There are no jumps in time within the film and the film is just one long conversation from start to finish. Representation: Director Destiny Ekharaga said she wanted to show a representation of black youth that was not negative or derogatory, so to help give them the positive representation in media they deserve. Micro Elements: The film is very simple technically. At the beginning we have some establishing shots of a market with some music playing in the background. When the friends are chatting the camera simply pans left and right slowly. And when the two other men ...

Echo (2011) Dir. Lewis Arnold Narrative: The story follows a teenage girl, Caroline, as she re-lives a phone call where she finds out her dad has been in a severe accident, which she performs in public to get the attention and money off of strangers on the street. There are three phone calls within the film. During the first one we are observing her from a distance as an objective observer, as if we were a member of the crowd around her. At this point we don't know whether she is being honest or not. Throughout the film we discover more about her personal life and her character. From this we can see that Caroline feels isolated and does not believe that the other members of her family are grieving, when really they all are but in different ways. Caroline's failure to see this means she pushes them away and uses re-living the phone calls as equal parts a coping mechanism, as well as self-harm. Structure: The structure of the film revolves around three p...

- Feature Films have much more complex narratives than short films. - Characters are given more development and arcs in feature films. - Feature films tend to tell a story / journey whereas short films tell of a singular event. - Short films have a smaller budget and cast etc. - Short films can rely more on performance than some feature films. - Short films have limited setting compared to feature films. - Short films rarely use extras.  - The way in which short films and feature films tell singular events is different, in short films it is a lot more drawn out as it is the central event of the film whereas in a feature film much less time will be spent on them as they are part of a much bigger story. - Short films use lesser known actors often. - Short films tend to lack SFX and CGI etc. (Relates back to smaller budget)

Before we watched 'The Fly' we watched three clips from Edgar Wright's  'Baby Driver'. Baby Driver is also about a getaway driver, but unlike Blue Song and The Fly, Baby Driver is a full length feature so we can compare the differences in narrative and character development. The Opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XMuUVw7TOM Unlike Blue Song and The Fly, the opening to Baby Driver also includes the driving, wheras the other two only show the driver's progression as they wait. Here we see Baby (Ansel Elgort) waiting outside the bank for his cohort, dancing enthusiastically to the song he's listening to. When they return, they jump in the car and he accelerates backwards before going on to cleverly outsmart the police and safely complete the mission. From this opening scene there is already more character and narrative development. For character development we can deduce that Baby loves his music, has a cheeky streak, is clever, and is an incredibly...

Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfrcZsKcVxU The music video shows a getaway driver (Noel Fielding) waiting in his car while waiting for his cohort who are robbing a bank. While waiting he dances enthusiastically to 'Blue Song'. Character Development: In this, there is minimal character development. We can infer that he likes his music, is an energetic character, and is very precise (from his dialogue asking exactly how long the robbers will be and critiquing them afterwards). Other than that, we do not know much about him. We never learn his name, his backstory, why he's doing this job etc. Narrative: There is also a lack or narrative development. We don't learn who they are, why they're there  (I know they're there to rob a bank but why are they robbing a bank). etc.

On YouTube, there is a channel called 'Crypt TV' which has made many short horror films, most having their own uniquely designed monster for it. I like the majority of them, favourite being 'The Birch' due to it's creative character design for the monster. Crypt TV

Zero by Christopher Kezelos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOMbySJTKpg The Life Of Death: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofnCdC8P70g Paperman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRl2OlyNMuc

The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/02/are-short-films-still-relevant/470856/ Little White Lies: http://lwlies.com/articles/why-its-time-to-start-taking-short-films-seriously/ Teaching English: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/short-sweet-using-short-films-promote-creativity-communication The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-life/7593291/The-long-history-of-short-films.html The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/does-the-cinema-need-short-films

Short Film is good for new film makers as it gives room to tell one event without getting distracted by all the other elements that come with writing and making a feature film. In a feature film, the writing is much more complex and for a new film maker with a lack of experience, it can be hard to create a compelling story with interesting story arcs first time. Short film allows for one event to be told successfully without the need for excessive writing, a large budget, a large crew, many locations etc. It is also good for practicing using the camera, sound equipment, and lighting equipment as it can be good for experimenting with shots and angles etc. It gives experience in all the areas needed to move on to more complex things, and is like a stepping stone/foundation to create more complex films and in-depth screenplays.

' A short film is any motion picture not long enough to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits".' Although short films are only defined by runtime, they also have common elements they give them a certain feel when viewing. They tend to show one event where the characters may make no personal progress, rather only experiencing the event. There is also a heavy reliance on performance and creating emotion through other micro elements, usually not including dialogue (from ones I've seen). This is mainly as there may be not be enough time to take a character on a personal progression arc without it feeling rushed or having unjustifiable actions. From watching a mixture of animated and live action short films, I've observed that animated short film are much more successful at taking a character on an arc ...

This blog is for documenting my A Level Film coursework. Our task is to either make a 10 page screenplay (equivalent to 10 minutes screen time) with an accompanying storyboard (made of digital photographs), or make and produce our own short film. To aid this process we will be researching multiple short films, including 'The Ellington Kid (2012, Dan Sully' and 'The Fly (2014, Olly Williams)'. This is to further develop knowledge of how narrative is created in short films.