Conventions-Techniques,Titles and Style

In terms of techniques used, short films can be quite different to feature length films, but also sometimes similar in ways. In many short films dialogue tends to be mostly avoided, instead the use of a voice over can replace it, in some ways a narration can be better than dialogue as it can add interest, for example in Veronique by Patrik Bergh, there is a contradiction between the narrative and the image on screen. I do not intend to use too much dialogue in my own film, so may think about having a voice over, as we do not have professional recording equipment.

Occasionally in short films, an aural or visual motif may be used to remind or emphasise to the audience of a theme or event, for example Gravity by Colin Hutton, the sound of the swing represents the child through an aural motif; in this case the sharp, rusty sound of the swing is used to show a horrifying situation. In my own film, I believe creating a motif would be a very good idea to add interest, and so intend to use one.

Short films can be quite similar to feature length films because generally they use a variety of edit techniques including cross cutting to show a relationship between two scenes, and fast cutting. Furthermore, as short films are generally based on an everyday situation, but with a twist, they try and make it realistic; and as some short films are filmed using a hand held camera, this becomes easier. A realistic look has been achieved by using kinetic camera work and making the scene appear grainy with washed-out colours. I do not intend to use kinetic camera work for my film as I believe sometimes it is over-used by films and could show bad camera work. An example of a film that uses moderate kinetic camera work is Tick Tock by Len Chi.

In Short films the score is used to be very effective towards the theme, as in some films the score anchors the theme chosen through style and lyrics. I think this works extremely well, and I believe it may influence me for my film. Also, nearly all short films are filmed in real time; therefore the lighting is generally over-exposed as it is realistic. In our film as well as in others, we will have to consider that we may be filming in an uncontrolled environment and must be aware of people looking at the camera.

This leads on to my next point, that in Sign Language by Oscar Sharp, there is only one character that speaks, and it changes from a monologue to a voice over constantly, therefore, he is breaking the fourth wall by talking to the audience. Hence, this is a style of documentary, which is better known as a mocumentary.

The titles for short films are portrayed as quite important, except they are incorporated differently to those in feature length film for many reasons. Generally, the film starts off with production titles and soon after the main title; the main title is usually shown over the sequence. At the end of the film, there are longer titles, called end credits where they usually show all of the people involved in the making of the film and special accreditations. Moreover, none of these titles are very long compared to feature length films due to time constraints. A score is sometimes preserved until the titles where the lyrics and style suit the film. However, occasionally the ambient sound carries on through the titles over a black screen, possibly showing that life goes on. Also in some short films, the titles are just silent, giving the audience time to think and reflect over a message portrayed. After analysing many short films, I have seen that many have their titles over black, but some have it on signs or posters, for example, Mrs Caruthers Goes to Babylon by Liam Mcardle. I believe this is a very good idea, so intend to use something similar in my own film.

According to the BBC film network there are more films from the comedy and drama genre. After watching some short films from the comedy genre, I have seen they are often either parodies or have a sense of dark humour, for example Local Hero by Jamie Kennerley & Andrew Taylor.