“Life is great. Without it you’d be dead”

Short Film Presentation TaskBy Tommy & Tayszea

What is a Short Film? A short film is not long enough to be considered

a feature film. Although no exact amount of minutes is drawn he 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”.

Typical features of a short film are non-linear narrative and often artistic use of camera, editing, lighting, narrative and plot.

One example of a short film is Michael Gondry, ‘Human Behaviour’ (1993)

Background of our Short Film:“Life is great. Without it you’d be dead” Artistic Director, Philip Ilson and

Programme Director, Jo Duncombe introduce the 13th London Short Film Festival with their short film.

History of British Short Film Festival The London Short Film Festival, now in its 13th

year, has been recognised as the premiere UK showcase for UK independent film. It also takes international submissions

In 2003 Philip Ilson and Kate Taylor organised the first Halloween Short Film Festival at the ICA.

This was formed as a continuation of The Halloween Short Film Club which Philip had been programming since 1994.

In 2008 the festival became the London Short Film Festival and has been growing year-on-year.

https://vimeo.com/147834116

Overall plot The overall plot of the short film follows a

couple on their creative romantic date in the forest.

It begins with them separated with the preparation of the date and them finding on another.

Once they find one another the romantic overtones of the plot begin with the campfire and the movie as well as the soundtrack beginning of the romantic date music.

Media techniques Slightly shaking camera at the beginning gives a handheld look to the video and

camera. the idea of a ‘home video’ also works with the film filter put on top which

slightly discolours the film and gives it a grainy tone which would be found in home video. It also changes the colour tone so the brown and red are more prominent giving the film a warm tone.

Establishing shots of close up of the woods gives the film and immediate natural feel to it.

this could relate to the fact it is an introduction to the short festival so would compare itself to the rawness of natural in contrast to feature length films.

Slow motion is also used on actions to create a mood which is calm despite actions like throwing logs.

Close ups are also used in order to create atmosphere such as the lighter on the hands of the girl which is then juxtaposed then with the campfire. This changes the mood from a potentially dangerous one to a more romantic one

In the final shot of the two there is also a pull focus from the female to the male who is staring romantically at her- this bring attention to the romantic aspect of the short film and gives motive to the actions of the characters throughout the film which closes the narrative.

Soundtrack Ambient sounds of the forest such as bird are used throughout the short film

which immerses audiences into both the diegetic world of film and creates the natural mood which the film aims to achieve.

The use of no dialogue in the film also focuses the audience more on expression and ambient sounds as well as actions of the characters in the scene.

In the beginning of the film there is a musical contrast with the sounds of a rough skateboard on concrete juxtaposed immediately with the ambient forest sounds which match the changes in shot and used colours from grey to green.

Sounds of actions are also exaggerated through Foley sounds which amplify the sounds the actions would make. For example the Foley sounds of the leaves rustling and the logs being thrown on one another

this both makes up for the lack of dialogue as it places the attention hard onto the actions of the characters.

As night comes the ambient sounds shift to more natural tones of crickets which show a calmer atmosphere.

When there is a projector in view the soundtrack also changes to a typical French romance film soundtrack which would be familiar to an audience through the use of string instruments. This creates the romantic atmosphere which is anchored with the mise-en-scene and use of fairy lights and low lighting in the final shots.

Generic conventions Strong conventions of romance with the use of lighting-

this is especially true of the second half of the short film. Mise-en-scene also follows conventions of romance with

use of the campfire and later on the use of fairy lights. There is also elements of the traditional “boy meets girl”

romance convention as they are apart at first but meet at the campfire towards the middle of the short film. This means we identify them as separate characters before they come together as a romantic couple.

It also follows the traditional ‘happily ever after’ with no obvious conflict between the two but resolution at the end.

Narrative

The narrative is told through the eye of a third person looking at the events.

It is a linear narrative which closes at the end giving the audience a sense of a full build up and journey with the characters.

Convention of expectation In short films it is also a common convention to flip expectations for

the audience. This short film does this through using typical representation of London

setting and teenagers and then flipping them. In the beginning we are met by a concrete and typical London

overpass setting which is then immediately flipped when we are brought to a forest which partnered with the amplified ambient sounds brings attention to the contrast.

Through the use of representations of teenagers and young people the convention is also met through the mise-en-scene of the boy in a hoodie.

The amplification of sounds of the lighter and logs also create the expectation of trouble which is then flipped when we see the contained campfire and the romantic cinema scene.

this works as an introduction to short films as it uses the convention of challenging expectations and can be interpreted that it brings an audience to challenge the ideas of what short films are.

Overall purpose of the short film This short film was not a conventional one as it worked as

an advertisement for the London Short Film festival. This could mostly be noted through the use of plot where

they end up watching a short film in the forest before the credits for London Short Film come on after.

It has a younger target age group which breaks away from the typical 35+ art-house audience and targets the increasingly growing “indie” audience who find interest in short film and art house presentations.

It also demonstrates skills commonly found in short films showing some typical conventions of short films.

The film also demonstrates the abilities of escapism through short films where they begin in a concrete grey setting and through end with an almost fairy-tale like date.