The Conventions of a short film

‘Sold’-Nadia Attia 2004
Jon Smith has all but given up on his dreams and aspirations. It's only through a strange shopping channel experience that he finally buys into the notion of happiness. Within this film it presents a liner narrative as the audience views it in real time. It presents the lack of ambition nevertheless; he soon sees the ambition to resolve. Also it shows a circular narrative through the connection with him not being able to help his neighbour by giving her a cooking ladle, this brings up the idea of a lack of community within him not having the confidence to interact. This film has a three part structure which is very similar to Todorov Equilibrium, Disequilibrium and new equilibrium. The film starts with a simple title name, and then a kinetic pan shot is shown of his room. The score played is from the nearby television. It then cuts to a long shot of his flat, the audience then sees a young male sleeping on the couch, by the look of his flat the audience can view that he is unemployed and this brings up this idea of a contemporary British society. We hear the door bell ring and there is an over shoulder shot of him hiding behind the wall and the neighbour behind the glass front door. They exchange conversation about wanting to borrow a ladle, however he denies having one.

We then see the camera cut to an over shoulder shot of him looking angry with himself about him not having the confidence to talk. During this the camera pans and zooms towards the television. This is the part where the surreal style comes into play. We as an audience view the television with him. It is almost like the TV was talking to him. This is because we see a program called ‘bid to buy’ which is a shopping channel, here they are selling the woman that was asking to borrow the ladle earlier on in the film, his mum plus a Record deal. This to him seems like a huge connection and it feels that this is the only way he can change himself and help him to become famous. Next shot there is a close up of him dialing the number to buy the package. The twist to this narrative is that he was too late to buy the package therefore he has surprisingly been offered a full set of cooking ladles. The film then cuts to the titles and the score was played over the top in which it had a connection to the meaning of the film.

‘Double Take’-Tou Stappard.2003
This film presents the notation of what goes around comes around. It presents the theme of crime and justice plus the hint of anti social behaviour. Within this film it doesn’t show any sense of British values regardless of this it shows the lack of pride about community. The narrative structure is non linear as it involves flash backs. It also includes a circular narrative about him being the victim. During this stage the film doesn’t conclude, it is open ended. The audience sees the twist to the narrative where by the multi stranded narrative shows the film from two different points of view. The style is gritty and the film has been filmed in a kinetic camera movement, to bring up the idea that someone is following him. One important aspect to this short film is that it doesn’t include any dialogue however only the ambient sound of the Urban city.

The film starts with a close up of the protagonist scoping around. The next cut is the first title of the film.
Following this there is a long shot where the camera is facing the backside of the protagonist. The audience sees a busy urban high street and the protagonist is in the process of stealing a pedestrian’s suitcase. Within this part there is quick cut editing of him walking towards his house to dispose of the bag. Within the bag he finds a camera, he opens the display and it cuts to a close up of the camera display. During this part of the film we see flash backs of when someone else has captured the protagonist in the process of stealing, it is almost like a point

of view shot whereby someone else has been stalking him. This is evident in the way the camera style is shown, it is in a hand held state. As it follows him the point of view shot becomes just a camera image of the stalkers feet. Next it suddenly cuts to a medium shot of the protagonist, and he reacts to the footsteps at the top floor. The protagonist take this into his own hands and we see through an over shoulder shot of him searching for somebody upstairs. At this moment the protagonist becomes the victim. There is a low angle shot of a smartly dressed man moving forward in a violent stance. The scene then cuts to the titles and there is non diegetic score which is played over the top.

‘For the Love of’-Chris Sheriff

The main focus of this film is about the theme of multiculturalism, immigration and racism within the British society. It shows a negative contrast between traditional expectation and representations of Britain and the reality, also it shows a negative point of view between dialogue and image for example in the film it portrays a working class immigrant barely able to support himself. He is here to bring money home for his family, however, the scenes in the film feel very negative when he gets verbally abused and bullied into handing over his daily wages to a local working class British person. This films narrative is structured in a linear fashion regardless it has not got a three part structure; for example it only shows the course of him going to work. Regarding the sound and dialogue in the film there is a voice over, this had an added effect for the audience, not only does it enhance the narrative but also reflects the multiculturalism that is shown. However, further on in this film this brings up the idea that the voice over is used to cover up his identity; for example we see him in the film looking very insecure he almost wants to feel invisible. This reflects the scene in the film where by a medium tracking shot is used to follow the character, during this the voice over he explains that everywhere he walks people don’t socialise with him, and this brings up the idea of a lack of community and a racial community.

‘Gravity’-Colin Hutton 2004

Gravity is a short film that deals with the detached nature of gun violence and how actions and responsibilities are often disconnected. I felt that suddenly the characters really came to life by the links to their social background and age. Also, the accents that were used portrayed a working class and underclass character. Colin Hutton says that he had to listen to their voices as so to change the script accordingly. The themes that are brought up in this film are youth, gun crime, social marginalisation and deprivation. The style of the film is very gritty; this has been used to enhance the social realism theme that runs throughout. Regarding sound and dialogue there is a hint of improvised speech and there is no score that runs throughout the film. Within this film however, I really admire the uses of contemporary camera shots for example there is a huge establishing shot towards the end where a huge crane is used. Plus the uses of techniques like the extreme 180 tilt shot and use of point of view shot to establish the connection with the gun. This use of camera work really enhances the feel of the film and I think it has a connection with the power of the gun and this relates to the extremes of the camera shots.

In conclusion within the conventions of a short film, I have gathered that short films do not follow a strict narrative structure. They either follow Todorov narrative or an open end or circular type of narrative, this is because it enhances the effect of what the director wants to put forward his ideas. The recurring themes that came through the films that I researched are of modern time; I also found that they portrayed negative aspects for example crime, anti social behaviour and the lack of British values.

In terms of current themes of Britishness, there are a lot of contemporary issues that have been brought up for example racial tension in a multicultural society, the class structure and the detachment within a community. The technical conventions that I have discovered from viewing these short films are that voice over’s were used, this is an interesting way of presenting a short film. I have found this style is a popular method of sound in short films; there could be many reasons for this. Firstly, it is cheaper to record a voice over than use a high tech microphone, but also if the story is about someone's life, the voice over would normally be that of the central protagonist.

From my research into short films I have gathered that there is only one character that would be the focus. A second point I found when watching short films, is that they all have a twist to the storyline, this is most probably because the films are so short and that without a twist in the story, it would simply not be interesting. The third point, while reviewing the short films, is that there is use of equipment called steadi-cam which is used to create a smooth point of view shot. This equipment is used because short films are mainly about a story in a particular characters life. The best way to betray a story is to see it how the character would see it. On the other hand short films are used for creative purposes for either actors or directors to promote their style and the filmmaker's ability to produce a concept of a film. The target audience for short films would be young adults in education and for an audience to view within an exhibition, film festivals and art houses for public display experimenting.



James Hurley