In what ways does your media production use, develop, and challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
From my research to start with into short films, my understanding of the conventions compared to a
normal full length films are completely different. From my
research, my understanding of this is that the short films are created by
upcoming inspired directors and producers who want to
become successful into the industry with showcasing their work. As
they are upcoming inspired
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| Infiltration Short film. |
producers and directors their budget is small, therefore by
creating a small film they can establish their skills through a budget that suits them the most due to the fact its only 5-10 minutes long, little characters and locations needed (conventionally). This is something therefore I decided to make, as I wanted to achieve a contemporary short film which followed the majority of the conventions in which I researched, however still challenges some conventions; as well as expressing my creativity through the story line (featuring a 'twist' in the storyline - natural in a short film due to the restricted amount of story time, making it more interesting). One example I was inspired by in which I watched on the media platform 'YouTube' was 'Infiltration - a short war film'.
The film followed the general conventions of a short film with some challenges on conventions. The film followed 2 Army Corps who were assigned on assassinating a enemy soldier. However the 'twist' being that the Army Corp gets killed by his other Army Corp on the mission, and therefore creates the interesting 'twist' in the storyline. Also it challenges the conventions of a short film by how it's not very relatable to the audience watching with the fact it's not everyday life you are assigned to assassinate someone. However this aspect of how to challenges the conventions I find interesting in the film, but not something I established to take in account to my short film. As well as this, it challenges the Todorov theory which is typically applied to short film, as it ends of a cliff hanger and the disequilibrium doesn't get solved.
This is something I chose to follow in my horror/thriller short film as it makes the ending a lot more dramatic. In terms of production techniques with shooting my short film, I did not want to challenge the conventions too much because I realised while experimenting with different conventions compared to what is normally used in short films and discovered that I may not be able to pull off the filming style I wanted with equipment I obtained, because it could end up looking unprofessional. Following this reason, I therefore decided to use camera angles and shots, such as the standard close up shots, long shots etc, which were more common and avoid the risk of the filming style being misunderstood through my presentation of the shot styles. I wanted a very consistent and easy to follow narrative that can be understood through the shots, especially at the beginning of my short film with Danny cycling to the house of the sleepover, therefore I followed simple yet effective angles, adapting to focus pulling as a professional effect we practised and applied. Because my film is focused on two main characters, I felt that it was important to create an intimacy between the viewers and the characters. I did this through the use of mid shots and close ups, being able to read the characters expression is important if they alone are leading the narrative. During my editing I also used a conventional approach to a horror/thriller short film, for example tension building cross-cutting, so that it wouldn’t cause confusion. Though this is something I would have avoided if I were creating a film with for advanced technology and professional actors because it is a bit cliché and unoriginal.
The film followed the general conventions of a short film with some challenges on conventions. The film followed 2 Army Corps who were assigned on assassinating a enemy soldier. However the 'twist' being that the Army Corp gets killed by his other Army Corp on the mission, and therefore creates the interesting 'twist' in the storyline. Also it challenges the conventions of a short film by how it's not very relatable to the audience watching with the fact it's not everyday life you are assigned to assassinate someone. However this aspect of how to challenges the conventions I find interesting in the film, but not something I established to take in account to my short film. As well as this, it challenges the Todorov theory which is typically applied to short film, as it ends of a cliff hanger and the disequilibrium doesn't get solved.
This is something I chose to follow in my horror/thriller short film as it makes the ending a lot more dramatic. In terms of production techniques with shooting my short film, I did not want to challenge the conventions too much because I realised while experimenting with different conventions compared to what is normally used in short films and discovered that I may not be able to pull off the filming style I wanted with equipment I obtained, because it could end up looking unprofessional. Following this reason, I therefore decided to use camera angles and shots, such as the standard close up shots, long shots etc, which were more common and avoid the risk of the filming style being misunderstood through my presentation of the shot styles. I wanted a very consistent and easy to follow narrative that can be understood through the shots, especially at the beginning of my short film with Danny cycling to the house of the sleepover, therefore I followed simple yet effective angles, adapting to focus pulling as a professional effect we practised and applied. Because my film is focused on two main characters, I felt that it was important to create an intimacy between the viewers and the characters. I did this through the use of mid shots and close ups, being able to read the characters expression is important if they alone are leading the narrative. During my editing I also used a conventional approach to a horror/thriller short film, for example tension building cross-cutting, so that it wouldn’t cause confusion. Though this is something I would have avoided if I were creating a film with for advanced technology and professional actors because it is a bit cliché and unoriginal.
From the fact that whilst researching short films, very rarely any of them were accompanied by a poster or magazine review page. So in this situation, I am in fact challenging the conventions to how short films are presented to the audience. From research on short films on the internet, I discovered that conventionally full films are presented with this, not short films. However, in
despite of my A-level, I challenged this convention and therefore created a
situation for the fact that my short film achieved great success and had a
poster and magazine review linked with it.
With the narrative elements of short films, they do not have enough time for any substantial character development and for the audience to really feel a great connection with them. Also there generally aren’t many characters in one short film, usually 1, 2 or 3 characters, possibly with some background characters in there too, therefore my short used these conventions well, establishing 3 characters in the whole of the short film. This is shown in most cases such as the ones I analysed in my previous blog entries, such as 'pictured' and 'lights-out', including both 2-3 characters which I took inspiration from.
Through media conventions, most short films that I researched and analysed, were either published on YouTube or featured at a short film festival of some kind. YouTube is a video sharing platform and was created in 2005, therefore is very adapted and professional in terms of how you can upload your video, how you can link the video between social networks and how many people can actually watch the short film you posted. For example, both 'lights-out' and 'infiltration' obtained over 3,000,000+ views, in terms of popularity on YouTube that is a lot. Following this point, in terms of how many people are actually using and watching videos on the website, YouTube themselves exclaim in obtaining over 1,000,000,000+ (One Billion) active users per month. From this point it shows that me publishing my short film to Youtube is a excellent way of obtaining an audience and attention to it. However, this has shrunk marketing in general as more people are entering the world of this video sharing website to watch videos, and because of the amount of users, it's a no brainer that short films are getting posted on this website.
Following my ancillary products and where they are published to, I have used this website I am using now, Blogger, to present these to my audience. This obviously challenges conventions of real media posters and magazine review pages as these will primarily be printed copies in the real world for the audience to read in actual film review magazine and view posters in shopping centres (for example). However, Blogger has actually been a very effective way for me to share to my audience as it is digital, meaning anyone that uses the internet can view the products still, and it's a lot more environmentally friendly. Using digital copies of my ancillary products can also be useful as magazines are becoming less and less popular and posters are transferring from print media to online in order to target larger audiences/target audiences. For example for target audiences, It can be put onto a website specifically for horror/thriller short films, therefore making it a lot easier to access and more people can see it/view it, adding to my short film audience count.
Following genre conventions, my short film definitely uses them. For example, a close up of the protagonist to show fear is a classic convention of a short film. This is something I made sure was included in my short film as this engages the audience intensely and adds tension to them while they watch it. Conventions through post-production such as slow editing that causes tension, suspense and an unsettling feeling was definitely used in my short film, for the fact of when the stalker enters the house. For symbolic conventions, I also used these through the use in my ancillary product of the poster. This involves red, black etc, connoting blood and death. This is a theme through my poster and something I researched and followed conventionally while making it. As well as this symbolic theme, the use of a knife in my short film connoted death and violence towards the 2 characters, adding suspense as the stalker was walking closer and closer to them. For the characters, we also followed the conventions in this short film through horror/thriller. The two protagonists were in fact careless teenagers, and so fitted that convention. As well as this, the antagonist was a serial/psychopath and so fitted that convention. However, one aspect of the short film challenging the conventions was that there was no 'main protagonist' e.g. a hero, as both of them got murdered. Through horror themes as conventions, the theme of insanity definitely fits into our short film, and therefore uses that convention.
In conclusion, my short film uses the main conventions of the narrative structure within short films, I wanted to create a film that conventionally followed the horror/thriller genre told through a relatable detailed story. I tried to achieve this through showing the mood through the expressions of my character and the symbolic references in my film. I also I tried to follow conventional production techniques so that my audience would not be concentrating on the camera work. Should I have been directing the film with a full crew I would have done things differently, indefinitely challenging conventions to construct a more original and engaging film.
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| The website- YouTube |
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| The website - blogger. |
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| A snapshot from the film, protagonist Thomas in fear from the prank call. |
In conclusion, my short film uses the main conventions of the narrative structure within short films, I wanted to create a film that conventionally followed the horror/thriller genre told through a relatable detailed story. I tried to achieve this through showing the mood through the expressions of my character and the symbolic references in my film. I also I tried to follow conventional production techniques so that my audience would not be concentrating on the camera work. Should I have been directing the film with a full crew I would have done things differently, indefinitely challenging conventions to construct a more original and engaging film.
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