Audience research Outcome

I carried out a Questionnaire based on Short Films. This questionnaire was conducted to find out just how much our target audience knew about short films and what their personal knowledge and view was on short films based on their experiences if they had any.

I created a Mood board to give an overview of what our film will be based upon and things that relate to what we are trying to portray. My mood boards were on the focus of the Father and Son Relationship and Religion. (Islam and Atheist).

The relationship Between Father and Son is critical within our film because we are portraying how there relationship is tested between a fundamental thing, religion. The changes that occur when one aspect is not what the other expects or upholds is displayed through their actions and deterioration of their relationship.

The outcome was that not many of our target audience knew what a short film was until explained further. Many had the common view of short films being extended music videos as their only experience. Only a handful outlined the short films that had an affect on them and why they thought short films.

Moodboard

Summary Of Research- Drama

Analysis of the Codes and Conventions of Drama and Conventional Narratives.

From looking at the short films that my group posted I have been able to summarise the codes and conventions of our chosen genre which is Drama. 

When it comes to Drama it is a very difficult genre to establish codes and conventions for. A film that is based around drama will have specific focuses around it in order to keep the audience entertained.  The focus remains on the development of a character and how that character goes through everyday struggles and grievances that the audience may have experienced or understand. They show the characters development through many things such as the narrative, dialogue, camera shots, language and dialect. These developments are also based around themes such as Love, Loneliness, death, conflict,Isolation, historic and Crime. The most common convention is the stereotypical character that is dysfunctional and rarely sees any happiest for a long duration of time. Much focus is spent on the character rather than the general effects or special effects that may be seen in other films. There are specific codes of the camera that we associate with realist drama on television. These codes have become the norm and although in some cases they are incredibly unreal, they are what an audience expects, and without them there is the chance they won’t accept what they see.

 An example of a Drama film is Notorious, which is based on a the theme revolving around conflict,love and crime. The film shows the upcoming of who we know to today as Notorious B.I.G. and his downfall. This film like many others ends at a point where it it is not considered to be a equilibrium but ends at a stand still. This film can directly link to Drama because it focuses on a central character that goes through day to day experiences and how that affects him. Through his appearance and how his personality is portrayed can determine the narrative and the encounters in relation to problems he will face.

Drama engages with the audience in relation to experiences and realistic on goings that happen everyday.

What is a Short Film?

My Definition of A short Film

Short films are feature films but their narrative is more condensed. Short film narratives are more simple but still have a beginning, middle and end. A short film can usually be between 1-20 minutes long. There are two different types of short films and these can be adverts or music videos. When watching a short film the story does not have to be explained, the story line is surreal. The overall visual of a short film is basic and has a limited number of features rather than having a majority like longer feature films.

Review of a Short Film

The Short Film I have chosen to review is: "My Name is Lisa" by Shelton Films.

When watching this short film it is evident to see that it has a clear beginning, middle and end.  I like the fact it has a repetitive pattern throughout it and it is clear to see the detoriation of the mother character and the frustration of the little girl. The storyline becomes quite clear as the story gradually unfolds. The mother has some illness that is causing her to forget things. The key moment within the short film and that is when the mum gets to the point where she does not recognise the little girl Lisa and this made me feel extremely saddened for Lisa. In the end you see how they come to deal with it, which is to ignore it and carry on as if everything is normal.  

I like how the film was carried out, through the eyes of the audience through her online video blog. Its like she is not aware that we are watching her. The storyline is very effective and comes across in a strong, mind catching way.