Who is my target audience and how have I reached them?

My film hasn’t really got a target audience in terms of age as it is suitable for people of all ages.  I would say that it is really for people who like quirky little films with little meaning. As my film is just quite a silly film that is just happy and make people feel happy.  The music used really enhances this feeling.

What were my other influences?

The short film called ‘Sukumvit Road’ made by a Brit school student influenced me quite a lot as it was after watching this I decided to make my film  a stop frame animation which I think worked very well with my narrative.

How have the short films that I have studied/researched influenced my own production?

I don’t think I was majorly influenced by most of the short films I watch as quite a lot of them were quite serious and had further messages within them. I also already had an idea of which I had had some deep thought about prior to out video production lessons.   I think that is why my short film I totally the opposite to most of the short films I watched as I just wanted to be different which is why my film is quirky and just a bit silly. Although I think the reason I had the courage to produce a film that I have is due to watching the crazy work of Michael Gondry of which I found slightly mad but very funny and after seeing he’s work I think I was a little influenced to work in my original idea further to make a interesting quirky film, keeping a quote by Michael Gondry in mind which was ‘Every great idea is on the verge of being stupid.’

How does my Short film conform to the short film codes and conventions?

·My short film conforms to quite a few codes and conventions of short film. Quite obviously the length of my short film conforms as it is going to be just under three minutes long and usually short films are thirty minutes or less. Short films are often shot on a low budget as more often than not is it amateur directors just starting out there career which is the reason for their short films and my short film is very typical as a short because it was shot on a very low budget I think to actually shoot it cost me £3.00 for the arcade location and that was the only real expense. The whole idea of my short film is very typical of a short film as short films can just be silly little ideas that are made in to short films and that is exactly what I have done as the narrative of my film isn’t to be taken too seriously at all as it is just a silly story of a boy who loves his childhood bear.  I have made my short film in to a stop frame animation which is quite unusual for a short film but not completely un heard of in short film, the stop frame animation and the voice over  I think works very well for my particular short as it fits in with the character and he whole weird story. Short films can sometimes be less genre specific and I think that is what mine is as there really isn’t a genre I think it can be put in, its in a random genre of its own like so many other short films. It is very typical in short film for there to be no strict boundaries at all my short film proves this and shows that absolutely anything can be made in to a short. 

The Edit

I have now completed the right stop frame animation look for my short film as it is all now at the correct speed and there aren’t too many frames. I had to cut quite a few images out completely it was quite disappointing as it had taken so long to get every single picture however  it only improved the whole look of my short film so I didn’t mind too much. I have also added some music of which I found on YouTube it seems to go really well with the animation as it gives the right atmosphere I wanted although I need to find out if I can actually use is as I’m not sure if it is copyrighted if it is I will just have to carrying on my search to find the perfect background music as the voice over will be talking over it anyway. The stage I am at, at the moment is really the audio stage as I have recorded my voice over of which I got Justyn Hollett to as he had the best sounding voice of which I thought would match very well with the character in the pictures all ready. I recorded the voice over on a HD camera with the shutters down and then I just took the audio of the tapes when I log and captured it. Adding the voice over to the animation is quite tricky as at some points it seems a little fast and it is vital I add some pauses in somewhere. Ii is confusing to do as I am slicing and changing places of some of the voice over so to make it sound right like it all matches is hard but with a lot of concentration and time it should be perfect.  I have started to think about the titles I want and have looked at various fonts of which I thought would match the quirkiness of my short film. I want title of the film (Chuckles and Me) to appear on the first images and  I want to animate it and make it move slightly just to be a bit different and to catch the audience attention straight away.

Titles

As my short film is nearly complete I have started to think about titles. I want something quite simple-nothing too fancy. I am thinking about just have the name of the film on the first picture of Chuckles and Tim sleeping I then want to maybe try and animate it to make it 'ring' as the alarm clock is heard in the back ground. Here are a few fonts I have looked at for the titles of the short film.

Re-written Monologue

I had to change my story slightly and do 'Plan B' as i was unable to get permission to shoot at The bear Factory in croydon so i shot at the Bowling alley instead this did mean i had to change my script slightly and my story as there is quite a lot from the bowling and the house scene i have cut the park and Mc Donald's  restaurant out as the film would have been to long to watch and i want to keep it quite short and sweet as i think it then had a better effect on the audience. So this is the new Monologue which has been tweaked slightly. 

"Hi I'm Tim, I'm 14 years old and I go to St Johns high school I like it there even though I don't have many friends, in fact my only real friend is my childhood bear and he's called Chuckles. We've been Bessie mates for ages. He really understands me. We do everything together. Some people think I'm weird but that’s okay because Chuckles doesn't. I hate being apart from him. I'm so excited because today is Saturday and we're spending the whole day together, yeah that’s right the whole day! We're doing Chuckle's favorite thing, we're going bowling. Chuckles a really keen bowler, I remember when I first took him he took to it straight away a proper natural, I’m ashamed to say he’s even a tad better then me! I love going Bowling with Chuckles it's a great bonding experience we have our little talks where I can tell him all my worries and he's a fantastic listener. Chuckles does these certain facial expressions that let me know exactly what he's thinking our connection is great. But I wish one day Chuckles would talk to me properly, it would be so cool. Ahh I don't know what I’d do without Chuck oh yeah that’s what I call him sometimes, only me though I'm the only one allowed to call him Chuck if anyone else dare try to call him that…well let's just say you won't like to see Chuckles when he's angry. So anyways we've had our game of bowling after I’ve been beaten but Chuckles for like the 100^th time we always go for a drive-of course not a real car though because I’m not old enough but when I can start driving Chuckles will always be able to ride shot gun. I love chuckles he always cheers me up when I'm down. I could never argue with Chuckles he's too much of a good friend to me, He's been there when no one else was, and not talking to him just wouldn't be right, just unimaginable it would be. I don't know what I’d do without Chuckles, I love him, my only wish is for him to one day talk to me properly like have a proper conversation- oh well I guess maybe one day that day will come soon.”

The Edit

The editing stage of my short film is going really well. At first I thought it was going to take ages to put every single picture on the time line as there was about 1500 and I could only put them on one by one however after I had done this about 100 times I realized I was able to high light the images and move them. I found this so much easier and less time consuming although it did mean it took longer to render after they had been moved. Once I got all the images I needed on the time line I had to find a suitable duration for the each picture I started at 1 second long how ever that was far too fast and it was very hard to watch so I gradually made the duration longer and I found the right speed at 4 seconds long. Once I corrected the speed I had Miss Pemberton watch it through and she gave me some helpful feed back which was to cut out some of the images as it looked to ‘put together’ and kind of looked as if it was filmed on a camera that just had glitches in it which isn’t the look I wanted so I definitely had to cut out some frames. So over the next few editing lesson this is what I did. I found it quite difficult, as there were loads of pictures I had to look through and cut out to make it look right and more like a stop frame animation.  I can see that my short film shouldn't take that long to finish as I am almost done sorting out the images I just need to add the background music and voice over of which will all be done next week. 

Shooting

Shooting my short film on Monday 18th October 2010 wasn't too bad at all. I made sure I had the battery charging for a long time to make sure the camera wouldn't run out of battery when i was taking pictures. I picked out the actors cloths and dressed the bear and out I went to start taking pictures. 

The first location was the furthest away; it was the bowling alley in Purley Way as my narrative had changed a little as I was unable to get permission for build a bear. It was when I started to taking pictures i actually realized how long it was actually going to take me to do this short film as after every little movement i had to take a picture. It was quite tricky doing this when the bowing ball was moving so fast however i did it the best i could. There was quite a lot of people around so it was hard when i had to take pictures as i had to make sure the people didn't get in any as then when i put all the pictures together it would mess up the continuity. That was a bit annoying however i dealt with it by asking if we were able to switch alleys to one near the end where there was less people and they were very cooperative as they let us switch bowling alleys with no problem. I was taking pictures at the bowling alley for about two hours before i moved on to the Arcade games. 

When i moved to another part of the Arcade the lighting had changed so much as it was very dark, which was a bit of a problem as the flash on the camera was a little temperamental although this jus meant i took more pictures then i needed to as i had to make sure the colour was okay and matched properly. 

I took the tri-pod along with me to use when i took pictures however i found it was a lot better with out and i really didn't need it. 

I spent a total of three hours at the Arcade with the actors and i got all the pictures i needed but i went home and checked them all out just to make sure i didn't miss any out. When looking over the photographs it was obvious that i need to Photoshop some to make them look better.

'Chuckles and Me' Power Point

 

 

 

Sounds

After watching quite a few stop frame animations, i have reaised that the reason they work so well is because of the sounds used on them i.e voice overs. I have got a person to do the voice over for my short film however i also think i am going to add some sound effects in soem parts for example whenthe boy and bear wake up i was going to maybe have the sound of an alarm clock or even a cockral. I want it to be quite a light hearted short fima dn want to set the right atmospher and by using quite 'happy' music beds i think this would work however if it doesn't i can always remove it in the edit. There is an example above of the type of music i want for my short film.

PLAN B

I went to bear factory today to get permission before i go there to shoot next week and i was told i would need to ring the hear office and wait to a letter back from bear factory before i could start taking pictures. This was totaly new information for me because i didn't see a problem with me shooting there as i was ony takeing pictures and not usieng a camera and tripod. I have rung and asked for permission and sent off the form however i don't think i am going to geth the letter in time to start shooting so my Plan B is to instead of go shopping with the bear and boy i have decided that they are going to go to the Arcade in Purley Way and do Bowling instead and i have checked this all out before and have booked out an alley so there will be know probems and we won't have to waist time waiting fro one which is good.

Changing the story a little isn't a major problem as really all i have to do i tweak the monologue so it fits and it should be fine and i think also the location will work alot better as there won't be as many people and becasue the stop frame animation it wont messup teh continuity.

The Lost Teddy Bear

This is a Video I found on YouTube, so i just thought i'd upload it to my blog as this is quite similar as to how i would like my final short film to look as i like the was the bear really comes alive, and it is a stop frame and i can really tell just how much work has been put in to this and this is something i am prepared to do with my short film to make it the best i can possiby make it. There are quite a few good teddy bear stop frame animations on Youtube follow the link and see more- Teddy bear Animations

Production Plan- Shooting days

I have 2 weeks in which to shoot my short film, however as it is a stop frame animation i doubt i will need the complete two weeks so I have panned to use the first four days in half term (18th October-Thursday 21st October). That should then be enough dasy to take the pictures i need as even though it is quite a time consuming thing to do thats should be plenty of time as then should i need to re-take any photographs i have enough time to do so after i have looked over all the ones i have already taken. My short films has quite a ot going in with movement so i already know i am going to take aot of pictures to show this properly-which is why it may tak quite long at each location.

I am going to start taking pictures in the furthest location and work backwards so i am going to take pictures on the bus journey just to connect the short film togetehr form when the boy and bear leave home then start taking pictures in Croydon Bear Factory then Mc Donalds and then  from there i will take pictures of them leaving jus to connect it together then i will take pictures of them in the Park together. The last few Pictures i will take will be in a house - Bedroom, Bath room and Dining room. In my short film these shots are at the begining and end of the film however i will shoot them last as it is easiest to shoot it that way.

Story Board

This is my Story board for my Short film. It is quite straight forward as to what is going on. It is a journey of the day in the life of Tim and Chuckles the bear, doing things that beast friends do for example go shopping and playing football in the park. It has a circular narrative as it starts and ends in the same location.

Locations

Here a a few pictures of the locations I have chosen to use for my short film.
The Bed Room
The Bathroom
The Dinning Room (for the breakfast)
Mc Donald's Restaraunt

The Park

The Bear Factory Store

Various Images for shots of the surrounding locations

The Monologue

This is the script I have written for The main Character 'Tim' to say - It will be a voice over.

"Hi I'm Tim, I'm 14 years old and i got to St Johns hight school I like it there even though I don't have many friends , in fact my only real friend is my childhood bear and he's called Chuckles. We've been bessie mates for ages . He really understands me. We do everything together. Some people think I'm weird but thats okay because Chuckles doesn't. I hate being apart from him. I'm so excited because today is saturday  and we're spending the whole day together, yeah thats right the whole day! We're doing Chuckle's favourite thing, We're doing shopping. Recently he has shown an interest in the latest fashion trends , i mean i can't blame him with a best friend like me you'd have to be quite fashionable. I love going shopping with Chuckles it's a great bonding experience we have our little talks where I can tell him all my worries and he's a fantastic listener. Chuckles does these certain facial expressions that let me know exactly what he's thinking our connection is great. But i wish one day Chuckles would talk to me properly , it would be so cool. Ahh i don't know what i'd do without Chuck oh yeah thats what I call him sometimes, only me though I'm the one allowed to call him Chuck is anyone else dare try to call him that well let's just say you won't like to see Chuckles when he's angry. So anyways we've been shopping and now grabbing a bit to eat Chuckles is going to pay he's generous like that. He always makes me laugh hen he drinks his favourite drink Banana Milkshake . Chuckles gets it all round his mouth and it looks really funny. I love chuckles he always cheers me up when I'm down. As the weather is really nice we decided to go for a kick about in the park , Chuckles and me always have a bit of banter because he loves Arsenal and I'm more of a Tottenham fan myself but it's all friendly i could never properly argue with Chuckles he's too much of a good friend to me, He's been there when no one else was , and not talking to him just wouldn't be right, just unimaginable ti wold be . i don't know what i'd do without Chuckles , i love him, my only wish is for him to one day talk to me properly like have a proper conversation -oh well i guess maybe one day that day will come soon  good night Chuckles."

Characters

I looked at a small collection of bears to pick the perfect bear to play the part of Chuckles in my short film. It is important the bear looks right as when i am taking pictures of the bear i want it to really come to life and for the audience to really relate to  the bear and the boy. Here are a few pictures of the selection of bears I chose from. 

Thierry The Bear

Camron The Bear

Jessica The Bear

"Chuckles and Me" -Synopsis

"Chuckles and me" is a short film about a day in the life of a 14 year old boy called TIm. Tim isn't like the average 14 year old boy. Instead of being cheeky, 'forgetting to do homework' or thinking about girls he spends his days talking to his once and only special friend. At times tim gets a little lonely and feels really down but as long as he has his life long childhood friend, Chuckles the bear beside him his days are bright. As a day in Tim and Chuckles life unfolds and their loving relationship is portrayed, it is obvious Tim longs for Chuckles to maybe one day actually talk back to him, this day may come sooner then Tim thinks...

Sukhumvit road-Stop Frame Animation

 

This is Sukhumvit Road a short film made by a BDC student. I really like this film as the whole thing is a stop frame animation, which was done entire by taking pictures on an SLR Camera. The was this is done is exactly how I was our short film to look, I think the stop frame is very effective and would fit in well with the quirky-ness of our film and as we will need to 'move' the bear around this technique will make it look more real and really bring the bear to life. 

Outline Of My Initial Final Short Film Idea

Our short film idea is going to be quite a quirky film about a day in the life of a lonely boy, whose only real friend is his bear. He is a 14 year old boy who still takes his childhood bear everywhere he goes with him for example the boys brushes the bears teeth in the morning, takes him shopping, takes him to the park, plays football with him, takes him to Mc Donald's, has pictures with the bear and talks to the bear 24/7 it is his beast friend.The whole story is told through stop frame animation which will have a voice over. This film will be quite a silly film and isn't to be taken too seriously as Michel Gondry says 'Every great idea is on the verge of being stupid.'

Ideas

In Lesson we were given time to write down independently a few of our ideas that we had for our short films. So i decided to do a mind map of the ideas that i had, on there i had about three ideas that were all quite achievable although one stuck in my mind from the previous lesson from the post secrets idea generation we did. It was the idea of having a day in the life of a lonely boy who still talks to his childhood bear. This was most definitely my favourite ideas as i think it was the most simple but effective and was nothing to complicated. 

This is the small mind map i did in lesson for the ideas i had...

After some thought I decided that with some more development work on my bear idea it would work really well as my  final idea for my short film, so that is the idea i have chosen to do.  

Post Secrets - Ideas Generation

Today in lesson to help us with ideas we we told about the book 'Post secrets' which is a book of postcards where pole have written their secrets. We were all given a few postcards each and with that we were told to think of a short film idea just by reading in to this secret on the post card. 

This is my first postcard it read 'I still believe my childhood bear is real. I'm in college, i still talk to her when no one is in the room.' 

I decided to make this in to quite a quirky short film rather then making it in to a quite sad and morbid one as it could well be. My idea was to have a boy that is quite weird- a total social out cast and his only friend is his bear, he has dinner with his bear, goes to the cinema with the bear and even has photographs in his wall with his bear. however although this boy seems to be quite happy with having just his bear but deep down inside he feel a little lonely and the films end with the boy telling his bear how lonely he feels as usual he expects no reply but as quite a funny ending the boy will get a shock as the bear actually replies to him and talks. 

For a short film i quite like this idea as it can be expanded in to something better but is is actually a starting point, it is also something different which is what i like. 

This is my second postcard it read 'I haven't spoken to my dad in 10 years...and it kills me everyday'. 

I decided again not to have anything too sad so my idea was to have a girl that lives with her mum and only her my as her dad as the audience will know left home at a young age. The girl has a good relationship with her mum and really despises her dad and despite him calling her everyday saying 'Hi, its your dad...' she never gives him a chance to say more although through a twist in the end of the short film he secret it found out that the mum actually lies about the girl's father and the man ringing the girl everyday was her REAL father not the man she remembers walking out on her 10 years ago but when this is realized it is too late. 

I like this idea as i think it is vert strong although i think it would be hard to make in to a short film as there is quite a lot of stuff going on and to get the point across in 3 minutes could be tricky.

I found this task very useful as it really helped my think of some ideas, and forces my to be a bit different and more creative and without doing this task i would have been quite stuck for ideas i think i am going to go online and check out the post secrets website as just by reading this postcards i get some many new ideas. 

Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival started as an annual event in 1946, it is one of the worlds oldest and most well known film festivals. Cannes Film festival is a private film festival which is usually held in may, There has been 63 to date, it is at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres in Cannes-south of France. 

The festival is organizes in to various sections which are as follows:

• The Official selection- The main event of the festival 
• Parallel section- These are non-competitive programmes dedicated to discovering other aspects of cinema.
• Other Sections-Produced by outside organizations during the Cannes Festival
• Events 

Every year in the run up to the event, the festivals board of directors select the juries who have sole responsibility for picking which films should collect a Cannes award.Jurors are chosen from a wide range of international artists, based on their body of work and respect from their peers. The most prostigeous award that is rewarded at the Cannes Film festival is the Palme d'Or which mean 'Golden Palm' for the best film.

Cannes Film festival has become an Important Showcase for Europian Films. Additionally,it is given a massive media exposure, the non-public festival is attended by many movie stars and is a popular venue for film producers to launch their new films and attempt to sell their works to the distributors who come from all over the globe.

Logo for Cannes Film Festival

Future Shorts- Short Film Festival

Future shorts is not only a leading short film label it also has its own film festivals dedicated to short films. Film makers have the chance to have their work viewed by audiences all over the world from just one submission. Films that are lucky enough to be selected every month are currently being shown as 15 UK venues.

The international network currently consists of more than 90 cities and 19 countries worldwide which has regular Future Shorts screenings. Future Shorts Exhibition aims to provide an alternative cinematic experience, where screenings are often partnered with other multimedia elements including live music and rescores, performers and installations.

The Future Shorts Film Festival Logo

Film Festivals

A film festivals is an organized event where films are shown in big movie theaters or screening venues. The films that are shown at a film festivals are films that have not yet been realesed and is being shown to find a company that could distribute it.Some film festivals focus on a specific film-maker or genre  or subject matter for example gay and lesbian film festivals. There are many film festivals that are for only short films each with a defined length. Film festivals usually happen every year.

Most film festivals require filmmakers to pay an entry fee to have their works considered for screening. This is especially commonplace among larger film festivals, such as the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival and even smaller festivals known as  "boutique"  festival such as the Miami International Film Festival and the British Urban Film Festival in London. Although, not all film festivals require an entry fee. Rotterdam Film Festival, for example, does not charge an entry fee to submit work. 

Well known films festivals are often the ones that everyone knows about and go to religiously every year without fail. The three most prestigious film festivals are commonly regarded to be that of Berlin, Cannes and Venice,these festivals are sometimes called the "Big Three."

Short Films And The Internet

Future Films-Short Film Production Company

Future films is a short film production company, It was formed in the year 2000. It is unlike short films to come from established production companies as short films aren't seen as 'profit makers' although some are. Future films worked very closely to the films makers and provide a full range of services from production to distributing and sales, Future Films is currently one of the few companies that actually specialise in organising the provision of a combination of film finance and other related services to independent film producers.Furture films often join with other companies to do specific things for example they are joined to '2B Pictures' to help with production and they join with a company called 'Pepper' to make the service of both companies more efficient.  Future films have financed over 120 films of with future films co-produced over 30 of them and they have also produced a few well known UK Television series such as 'Spooks' and 'Law and Order UK'.

These are some of the
companies Future Films Team up with 

Some of the short films Future films have worked on are listed below: 

Cracks 

Planet 51 

Malice in Wonderland 

Veronika Decides to Die

Fifty Dead Men Walking 

Gospel Hill

Transsiberian

Flawless 

El Camino de los Ingleses  

Goodbye Bafana  

Heart of the Earth  

Manolete  

Max & Co – Animation

The Abandoned  

Comme t'y es belle!  

Kovak Box 

Salvador

Click this link and visit Future Films website.

THE PRE-LIM TASK- 'The lost Boy' By Darren, Perpetual and I

 

For this pre-lim task I worked with Darren and Perpetual together we all worked quite well and i think made quite a good short film however it was in no way perfect as there was a lot of things we could have tightened up on when editing and even when we were shooting it. Firstly when shooting it we should have thought a lot more about the location we choose as it restricted us as the stairwell we shot on didn't really allow us enough room for a good shot reverse shot or an over the shoulder shot, this showed in the final product because right up until the main bit of action we had quite a good selection of different shots then it went a little static when the interesting conversation was happening which made it seem visually unattractive especially as the eye was being drawn to the big blue door in the background. This was a silly mistake but we have learnt for next time location is the first thing you should think about and try not to let it limit you in anyway, as it is a lot easier to just change location then it is to work with what you have. When editing our footage it was done quite easily has we only did a few take although it was quite tricky getting the match on match shot to look right as the first time we did it, it was a little off however we sorted it which was done easily enough. The shot at the top of the stairs really didn't look right at all as only the very top of Perpetuals head was and really if it was going to be in shot it should of been her whole head and shoulders really, the composition was all wrong. I have also learnt that once i have the shoot i need, i should leave the camera and don't do any zooms or anything unless completely necessary as it is simply not needed. My group and i found a focus zoom quite difficult and failed to do one, i think maybe for this particular film it isn't important however more practice is definitely needed. The titles in my opinion took the most time as we wanted them to look good and not tacky it was a good learning experience on how to animate titles, our titles aren't perfect but we know how we could improve them to make the animation of the writing rubbing off the board look smoother and given the time we could do it. Overall I think our film wasn't that bad as there were no major disaster and we have all learnt what areas we can improve on for next time. 

Tetra Vaal By Neill Blomkamp

 

This film by Neill Blomkamp is a perfect example if his own personal style. After watching a few of his short films i have noticed he often mixes reality with special digital effects and robots it is something very unique and is constantly tricking the audience and builds intrigue as to how this is being done in this surreal world he has created. In this film in particular it is quite obvious Neill Blomkamp favours shooting in a documentary style as also in his short film 'Yellow' this style is demonstrated. Usually Neill Blomkamp doesn't have a clear narrative it is just and ideas, this film however actually has a narrative and like most short films has a hiding meaning within it as he repeatedly asks the question 'what if?'.This film is a little unconventional for a short film as normally short films are quite low budget however this short film as well as other short films of by this director look like they were shot on quite a high budget. I quite like this film by Neill Blomkamp as i think the whole idea is quite weird and kind of sci-fi although that is what i think i like about his individual style. 

Neill Blomkamp-Short Film Director

Neill Blomkamp  was born 17 September 1979 originally from Johannesburg is a South-African, Canadian based film and advertisement director. Neill Blomkamp is known for his documentary-style, hand-held technique, blending naturalistic and photo-realistic computer generated effects. 

At the age 16 he began working as an animator for Deadtime under Sharlto Copley. His family relocated to Vancouver, Then 18, enrolled in Vancouver Film School. In 2003, Blomkamp was hired to illustrate photo-real future aircraft for Popular Science's "Next century in Aviation" and in 2004 was hired to illustrate "The Future of the Automobile". Neill Blomkamp worked as a visual effects artist at The Embassy Of Visual Effects in Vancouver as well as Rainmaker Digital Effects.

In 2007, Neill Blomkamp directed a trilogy of live-action short films 'Landfall' set in the 'Halo' universe, to promote the release of 'Halo 3'. In 2008, 'Halo- Combat Evolved', the first of the three installments, won the Cannes Lions 2008 – Film Lions Grand Prix. 

Since then Neill Blomkamp has made quite a collection of short films as well as another feature length film due for release in 2011. 

'One Day' By Michel Gondry

 

I thought this film was most humorous, the whole narrative is just mad. Who would think of something like this as it is a man who's poo follows him around-totally nuts! however it is so typical of Michel Gondry. The beginning of the short film is quite normal an then the 'human turd' comes out from the toilet it is constantly challenges expectations the audience stay amused and interested throughout as they never know what's going to happen next. Michel Gondry often uses a lot of styles that other directors  wouldn't use for example in this film the fourth wall is broken and the characters are addressing the audience and keeping them engaged. The ending is like the cherry on top as it takes another turn as the turd turns in to a Nazi, which i found quite weird however with is being a short films and conventionally short films often have a deeper meaning and maybe this one had something to do with racial discrimination as it is also mentioned earlier by the turd it is just an idea but that was my conclusion on this quirky short film. 

Michel Gondry-Short Film Director

Michel Gondry born 8th May 1963 is a french film, commercial and music video director and an Academy Award-winning screen writer. He is noted for his inventive and very individual visual style and manipulation of mise en scene. He's made music videos for artist such as Bjork, Paul McCartney, The rolling Stones and even Kanye West plus many more. 

After watching a few of Michel Gondry's Short films i have come to the conclusion that he is very out there as far as directors go and quite weird however it is his total individuality that i like as it is almost like his trademark as you can always tell his work from other film makers as it is very very eccentric and peculiar and he really challenges the audiences expectations of his films. To view some of Michel Gondry's short films and music videos follow these links here- Michel Gondry's Short Films - Michel Gondry's Music Videos 

The Stairwell by Shane Meadows

The Stairwell is a 40 second short film made by Shane Meadows in 2005 for the Nokia Shorts competition of which was shot completely on a mobile phone. 

-I like the Disjointed angles seen at the beginning of the film as they give off a sense of uneasiness to the audience and the fact that Shane Meadows has chosen to introduce the characters from behind was done on purpose as it builds up mystery about the character. 

-The dark blue lighting adds to the slightly apprehensive atmosphere, as not everything can be seen that well, it is quite gritty. 

-The Camera Angles are slightly distorted and keeps the characters quite mysterious which is quite good as it lets the audience have there only feeling on the character despite him looking a little dodgy. 

-A journey is being shown through a number of different camera angles which ultimately just make the whole film seem more interesting. 

-The whole film is quite eery and the music used just adds more and builds up the tension. 

-This films really shows of Shane Meadows individual style as a director as he managed to hold the audiences attention successfully.

Shane Meadows-Short Film Director

Shane Meadows is a self-taught film maker from the Midlands, UK. He dropped out of school before reaching his O-Levels originally shane set out to be a infamous criminal master mind of legendary proportions, although this did not go quite to plan and after being humiliated in court when his chargers for theft of a breast pump from Boots Chemist were read out Shane decided to put his criminal ways behind him and put his energy in to film making. 

In 1994 Shane began working as a volunteer to the Nottingham based Intermedia Film and Video Ltd., of which he was able to camcorders and the use of editing equipment in exchange for working there for free. Shane's family go involved and helped him shoot his first video experiments understandably they were quite wary at first though. 

After making quite a few short films, Shane created an event called Six of the Best'. Where anyone could bring along their short films and for a small fee have them screened to a small audience. This event was due to Shane's frustration of not having any real film festivals or venues to screen his films. This event grew in popularity and now is an international video festival called 'Flip Side'.

In 1994 'Where's the money, Ronnie' was made by Shane Meadows which was the first film to attracts the attention of the film industry. The acclaim won by this short lead Shane to be given the opportunity of making a documentary for Channel 4's 'Battered Britain' series. The film was called 'King of the Gypsies' (which can be watched if you follow this link )- 'King Of The Gypsies'

From this opportunity Shane made enough money to make 'Smalltime', It was a prime example of Shane's philosophy for aspiring film makers- 'Stick to what you know, and you won't go far wrong'. 'Smalltime' was written on Shane's lunch breaks whilst volunteering at the Nottingham based Intermedia Film and Video Ltd. and was written and the basis to be improvised. 'Smalltime' won acclaim at many European film festivals, it was so favorable to potential investors and distributors, Shane soon had the chance to make his first full length feature film.  'Twentyfour Seven'.

From  'Twentyfour Seven' to the 2006 film 'This is England', Shane has progressed to making heartfelt films that attract an ever growing collection of fans.

Maya Deren-'Meshes of the Afternoon'

Maya Deren-American Avant-Garde Filmmaker

Maya Deren is an Avant-Garde director her most popular work was produced during the 1940's and 1950s. She takes an anti-mainstream stance with her films, she promotes the idea of artistic license and creative freedom all of which are very obvious in her work. One of her most prominent films is called 'Meshes of the afternoon' made in 1943. 

Here are some of the class notes we made when watching 'Meshes of the afternoon' (Watch it for yourself below)

-This film is like poetry as it can be interpreted in to lots of different ways.

-It has  a circular narrative- some may have found this very repetitive. 

-The way it has been filmed gives of the idea that it may be a dream or in a dream world. 

-There is lots of significant imagery i.e a flower, a knife, a telephone etc. It isn't clear what seeing all these random objects me but is is up to the audience to draw there on conclusion as to what they may symbolize as they most likely have a deeper meaning. 

-There is the constant contrast between happy and sad. 

-The sound effect aren't too great as they didn't make the film seem that real at all which maybe could have been done on purpose as the whole film is quite surreal although the fact that the sound effects aren't to great is actually just a reflection of the time that this film was made. 

-A lot of different kinds of tensions are built up throughout this film.

-The fact that there is no narrative structure shows just how very experimental this film is.

-The music used is very sacrificial.

-When the second half of the film is watch the story become a little clearer, as the audience we begin to understand and think that the women in the film is very suicidal in which she is fighting with herself, the key that come from her mouth is like the answer almost as if the right answers lie within her. Furthermore thins kind of story line is very Avant-Garde as it is  a very deep issue that has been shown without you any proper dialogue or anything unlike a mainstream film.

'Meshes of the Afternoon' By Maya Deren (1/2)

'Meshes of the Afternoon'-Maya Deren (2/2)

'Avant-Garde'

Avant-Garde is a french saying which when used in English refers to people that are experimental, innovative and cutting edge especially in the art, culture and politics. 

Avant-Garde expresses pushing of the boundaries of what is perceived as the norm or just the plain old ordinary generally in the cultural world. 

The notion of the existence of the Avant-Garde is considered by some to be a statement of modernism, as distinct from postmodernism. Many artists have aligned themselves with the avant-garde movement and still continue to do so.

The concept of Avant-Garde refers exclusively to marginalized artists, writers, composers and thinkers whose work is not only opposed to mainstream commercial values, but often has an abrasive social or political edge therefore to most people would seem weird as it is something most people just aren't used to seeing. 

Some examples of Avant-Garde directors are:-

-Maya Deren- 'Meshes of the afternoon' (1943)

-Ernie Gehr- 'Serene Velocity' (1970)

-Tony Conrad- 'The Flicker' (1965)

-Jonas Mekas- 'Walden (diaries, Notes and sketches)' (1969)

The short list about is just a few however if you follow this link you can see more Avant-Garde directors and there work:- Avant-Garde Directors