Creative Media BTEC Sub Dip final major project
Short Film option for Editing techniques Unit 16
Short Film is an
excellent text to make in order to use a variety of editing techniques for your
Unit 16 as it allows you a really free rein to experiment.
The short film can be
loosely defined as any film shorter than feature length made for exhibition on
the cinema screen.
Short films are usually
associated with a restricted audience: in particular, they tend to be exhibited
at Film Festivals, Art House Cinema seasons, or late at night on Channel 4
(e.g. 3 minute wonder). Unlike most mainstream films, they are not considered
to be commercially viable and require private funding or funding from a Film
Commission which believes in supporting new talent, such as the New Zealand
Film Commission
The statements below
will show you several approaches to defining short films, though some share
common factors:
- ‘Short film defines itself as ‘other’ to the accepted feature format…Apart from that, I imagine there are as many short film definitions as there are short films. They can be anything, but not a ‘feature’ film.’ (Stephen McGlashan, filmmaker/ producer)
- ‘It has to be able to get the message/ideas across a lot faster.’
- ‘An idea that is created and lasts for 2-15 minutes.’
- ‘A simple, self-contained story, no great development of characters…Usually very few characters introduced.’
- An opportunity for the film maker to communicate their ideas concisely. By that I mean there is no extra information. Everything is there for a reason and there is no padding.’
- ‘Similar to a short story. Sometimes with a surprise ending.’
- ‘An intense piece of time – usually deals with one idea and expresses it fairly directly.’
- ‘An expression of an idea on a shorter scale. Often expressive and tends towards the abstract.’
Clearly, a
short film cannot entertain complex plots or develop characters in any depth.
Through its form and structure, however, it can achieve remarkable brevity and
make concise observations on the world.
When planning
to make a short film, it is useful to consider carefully the kind of narrative
conventions you will use. Typically, short films contain a surprising twist or
enigma. They need to condense the narrative into a much shorter space of time
than a feature length film, and therefore a lot of material will be elided
(left out). They will often use highly stylised and creative types of
camerawork and editing.
And there will
be a limited number of characters and often a very limited amount of dialogue.
Narrative
Consider how
the final part of the narrative relates to the rest of the film: Is resolution
suspended? For what reasons might a director have created symmetry though
imagery, sound or event?
Genre
Consider the use of
familiar:
- iconography
- settings
- characters and roles
- situations/events/outcomes
- camera work, editing and soundWill you use a hybrid of genres? Will some recognisable conventions be changed or subverted? To what effect?RepresentationHow will your film represent aspects of gender, class, race, age, region and sexuality? Consider:
- narrative roles
- relationships
- audience positioning through mise-en-scene, editing and soundWhat traditions and conventions will you change? To what effect?It would be very useful for you to research some short films, making notes on the narrative; genre; stylistic features (camerawork, editing, sound and mise-en-scene) in order to inform your own ideas. You could include this research in your Contextual Study or in your Pre-production.You can view a range of short films made by A2 and AS film studies students on the MPA web page. You can also find short films for your research here
- Virgin Media Shorts https://www.youtube.com/user/VirginMediaShortsChannel 4 Shorts http://www.channel4.com/programmes/shortsFilms Short http://www.filmsshort.com/Or just type in Short Film to YouTube and see what you come up with. I would recommend that you view films which are no longer than 5 mins as your brief is to make a film which is 3-5 mins long.Good luck and have fun!
