Cinematic Ideas

Noir- When shooting previous short films I had learnt that without much control over setting, establishing a consistent colour scheme or palette was difficult and therefore making it black and white looked so much better. I had decided on this style before writing the screenplay which meant that I could adapt it around this style of film.

drama- After seeing the set short films, it was obvious to me that drama works best in the short film format as there is just enough time to build up tension and deliver a crucial moment of shock or resolution. I think the best example of this out of the short films is 'over' where the whole short builds up to one moment of shock then ends abruptly. I don't think this type of narrative would work in a feature film therefore it was perfect for a 5 minute short.

Non-linear narrative- As there is a limited amount of time that the short film can be I wanted to tell the story in a way that poses a question straight away to audience. This question was how did the protagonist get into this situation shown in the opening shots. By showing the ending at the beginning I felt it brings a sense of urgency to answering the question which therefore makes the answer much more shocking.

Arrival - Daniel Montanarini (2016)

Arrival follows the inner conflict a pregnant woman has when deciding whether or not to keep her baby before the father arrives. It is significant to note that in the opening it is clear she is planning on having an abortion because of her choice to have 'as much caffeine as she wants' and at the end she orders a decaf so to discreetly suggests that her mind has changed. Personally I feel this short film was rather lacklustre in action however I do feel like the representation of the pressures on pregnant women was done very well. Some micro elements that I think help this portrayal are the camera that slowly zooms into her throughout and the lighting which is dark on one side and light on the other suggesting her two choices. The slow zoom into the woman suggests that time is slowly going down and she has to make a decision soon, the dark and light also suggests that she has limited options but most choose soon. The performance is also crucial in this because it is an internal monologue so her facial expressions convey the inner conflict very well.

Screenplay format

In class we have learnt about how to format screenplays, a professional  screenwriter came into class and taught the class the basics, from this I have learnt:


Slug line- The tag which goes at the beginning of every scene, it contains the location, interior or exterior, and the time of day. (INT. PLAYGROUND. DAY)


Action/description- The line that describes what happens in the scene, excluding dialogue, and the character's looks/actions. (STEVE SMITH opens the door to reveal JOHN DEAN behind in a long velvet gown)


Speech- When a character speaks it is formatted so the name is central and the dialogue starts on the next line, this can also include bracketed directions into how the lines should be said or portrayed.


                                                                           STEVE
                                                                         (frustrated)
                                            What are you doing here at this time in the morning?


Transition- At the end of scenes you can include transitions to indicate to the reader/director how to end the shot, however these are only optional. They appear at the far right of the page like this:
                                                                                                                                        DISSOLVE TO:


He also added that if it does not use the courier 12pt font most people will not consider investing or adapting the screenplay.

Slap - Nick Rowland (2015)

Slap follows a young boxer as he struggles to balance his private drag interests with boxing, friends and family. This is the longest of all the set films and I think because of this it is easily has one of the best narratives and is able to delve deeper into the main characters psychology. We are aligned with Conner through very intimate scenes watching him look at himself in the mirror which feels almost like looking at a reflection of ourselves. The fact that we are aligned so closely with Conner makes the end so much more dramatic and difficult to watch, especially after seeing him finally open up and accept himself while walking to the party. It is uncommon for a coming-of-age film to have such a negative resolution but I feel it works very well in portraying how in reality problems involving pressured masculinity and conflicted young people have still not been resolved and continue to be an issue. The micro elements that stood out to me were the iconography of mirrors, In particular the one in his room. Conner's room is the kind of hyper-masucline thing you'd expect, blue paint, boxing posters and print outs of naked women. It seems that the mirror is the only part Conner actually can identify with, it allows him to be his most vulnerable self. Personally this is one of my favourites of the set films because it tells a captivating story with an incredibly dense protagonist in under 30 minutes.

Tight Jeans - Destiny Ekaragha (2008)

Tight jeans follows a conversation between three black young men as they wait for their friend to drive them somewhere when a white guy wearing tight jeans walks past which leads to Marcus explaining the origins of slavery and how the world was populated. We are not positioned with anyone in particular but instead we just watch their conversation. Personally I think this short film fulfils the expectations of a light comedy but doesn't really do anything that exciting. Despite this short not being full of interesting camerawork, it does use an interesting colour pallet consisting of bright saturated red, orange and blue on a primarily grey background. To me this links to the opening which presents a rough area however I think the colours represent that even in grey area the people still have bright and colourful personalities with stories to tell.

Echo - Lewis Arnold

Echo follows a girl who pretends her dad is in an accident in order to get money off of strangers. The short film ends with what seems to be a flashback to an actual incident she experienced involving her dad which makes the viewer have to decide for themselves if the girl deserves sympathy or not. This ending was my personal favourite as I feel it somewhat explains why the girl does what she does subjectively so that its not clear how you are supposed to feel because it is done without words. I think the most impressive element of this film is the performance from Lauren Carse which is highlighted by lots of close ups on her face to emphasise the emotions she portrays. I think the best example is in the beginning when she gets into the taxi, we gradually see her face go from tears to calmness in seconds. In this short film we are aligned with the girl however we aren't given any details about her till the very end so throughout the film we have to form our own opinions on her.

The Fly - Olly Williams (2014)

The Fly is a short film which follows a getaway driver's wait for his accomplices while being taunted by a fly which causes him to quickly spiral into madness. We are positioned with the driver as we only see his side of the crime and only see and hear the fly when he does however, there are also shots showing an outside perspective to highlight the ridiculous reaction the driver has to the fly therefore making the film feel more like a dark comedy than some sort of fly-themed crime film. personally this short film didn't appeal that much to me compared to other shorts because its slapstick approach of comedy felt too extreme with barely any transition from swatting the fly to shotgunning his car. some of the micro elements that did work well however, were the slow panning movements around the car which seems to mimic the fly's approach to the car. The editing gradually went from very slow to very fast paced as the driver loses his cool. This makes us understand his anger better because as it speeds up you get a sense of slowly losing control and therefore letting the fly win.