Film Festivals & Uploading To A Web Cinema

How to get short films broadcasted and distributed via the web or film festivals

The exhibition of short films is so diverse and different compared to mainstream films, you can't go to any cinema to view a short film. The cinema's they do play short films are specialised for doing so, short films are kept underneath the hype of mainstream cinema needless to say that there are loads of festivals, awards and different categories in which short films fit in. This proves that the popularity of short films still exists but is hidden from mainstream filmmaking.

Short films in general have hugely benefited from the convergence of technology. Phones and gaming consoles now have the ability to surf the web allowing users to then find and discover short films.

If a short filmmaker wants to show their film at film festivals they have to pass several requirements and entry legal conditions. Filmmakers need to have permission which is known as "artistic property" you will only be able to show your film to the public at festivals if the film is cleared. To have a film classified as being cleared you would need written permission to use everything and everyone that appears in your film. Big companies are against aspiring filmmakers who use there logo or product in their film as it could influence the audience not to use their product. If a filmmakers has not got permission from the company and have gone against the rule they are highly likely to get sued.

DeplicT!

DepicT! is a unique filmmaking competition, part of Encounters film festival, which challenges filmmakers from across the globe to come up with a compelling, imaginative idea and distil it into 90 seconds of cinematic originality.

And the Red Man Went Green

This short film was the 2006 DeplicT! winner, it shows an old woman’s world turned upside down as she navigates through London. At first we see the busy streets of London, these visuals are shown mostly through wide shots. We hear diegetic sounds at this point these sounds include conversations and cars driving. We immediately notice an innocent women making her way through the busy streets eventually coming to a crossing. The camera shots are high profile making her seem small, nervous and innocent. Meanwhile a young athletic male skates towards the same crossing at the opposite end. The shot changes are fast paced with this male however when the women is shown the shot changes less frequently at a slower rate. Tension is built as the "red man changes to a green man" and we see the old lady starting to cross, from a distance we see the skater coming towards the woman. As he gets closer the sound of the wheels on his roller blades increase this adds to the tension and suspense. As an audience we panic and think that the skater is going to bump into the old lady, we prepare for the collision however to our surprise the young male picks up the lady and spins her around almost asif he is saving her. During this time the lighting has changed, all is very bright now and colours become more vibrant, this could show her dream of becoming young again. The film ends quite comically as the male gently puts the lady back on the ground and she is waiting yet again at another crossing.

Referencing:

http://www.depict.org/

http://www.sohoshorts.com/?#/1

http://www.sohoshorts.com/?#/79

http://www.shortfilms.org.uk/2010-sponsors-partners/

http://www.encounters-festival.org.uk/

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2741118991835569666&ei=Oe5hS7iwKdbB-AaMpqnCCA&q=And+the+Red+Man+Went+Green+Ruth+Meehan&hl=en&client=safari#

Directors

The majority of directors first started out gaining experience and testing ideas of characters and certain shots by creating short films. Once they were established enough short films would then be scrapped and they would move on to feature films hoping for bigger and better things.

Directors such as George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock who made shorts in the same decade as Maya Deren. All these well known directors started off by creating short films.

Shane Meadows born in 1972 is a self taught film maker who also started his career by creating short films, there is a major difference between Shane Meadows and the other directors above. The difference is that Shane Meadows once established continued to create shorts along with feature films, where as the other directors focused purely on feature films. Shane continued to test ideas through short films even after creating block buster British film "This is England"

"The Stairwell" by Shane Meadows (Above) is Shane's shortest film, 'The Stairwell', was shot on a mobile phone and is just 39 seconds long. It consists solely of a man and woman, played by Meadows regulars Andrew Shim and Vicky McClure, violently bumping into each other on a stairwell. The concept of the idea is basic as it is part of every day life people accidently bumping into eachother however it is extremely over exaggerated and the camera work helps build up the tension.

Shane has definitely made a name for himself by creating short films, this proves that there is still a market for shorts because they entertain and inspire up and coming directors. Shane's short film work unlike many others has made it to DVD, rarely does any directors work get put to DVD unless it is part of a compilation. Shane broke this boundary as he got approached to produce a DVD of just his short films.

Shane's work influences and inspires young promising directors which drives them into industry to show their talent. He helps people by offering advise and tips some of which include:

• Improvising before the camera is on, allowing actors to feel comfortable.
• Make films what you know about, personal experiences.
• When creating a short film if a mistake is made don't let it get you down as no risk is involved when creating shorts independently.
• Alot of equipment is available allowing anyone to make a short film.

David Lynch is another director who has also contributed to the short film scene by creating over 14 popular short films. His success like Shane Meadows has allowed him to be part of "The Short Films Of David Lynch DVD"

He is widely known for his style and tone for most of his short films, this style is similar to Maya Deren's "Meshes of the Afternoon" as David is commonly known for his dream like feel to his films.

"The Alphabet" is the second short film from David Lynch, It was filmed in 1968 and was awarded from the American film institute. It is very creative and unusual, I feel that these elements attracts it audience. I feel that David Lynch has used the alphabet to create his storyline and that the animation slowly unfolding allowing the next letter to come out brings the story together.

Referencing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5wMvyVJYlg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shane_Meadows

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lynch#Short_films

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmMwKBMse_w

Hollywood Shorts

Its tradition for short Hollywood film directors to create short films for a minimal period gaining experience until they are ready to produce bigger budget mainstream films earning more more and becoming famous.

In the previous post about Avant garde, I mentioned Maya Deren. She was passionate about experimental films and creating art using film. She was strongly against stereotypical Hollywood regarding mainstream and profits etc.

Throughout the 1940s and 50s, Deren attacked Hollywood for its artistic, political and economic monopoly over American cinema. She stated, “I make my pictures for what Hollywood spends on lipstick,” and observed that Hollywood “has been a major obstacle to the definition and development of motion pictures as a creative fine-art form.” She set herself in opposition to the Hollywood film industry’s standards and practices.

Martin Scorsese followed the Hollywood tradition by creating short films as a student and from that experience he is now an extremely successful feature film director. He has created several blockbuster films including Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas.

The Big Shave was an introduction to Scorsese talent, the short film seems normal with a man shaving at first however as the film goes on the shaving becomes increasingly graphic and shocking for an audience. It was made in 1967 and the film is set in one location, a bathroom. Creative shots are used to show the extent of the damage the man is doing to himself.

The background music is very effective as it is quite casual and relaxing which opposes the visuals on screen. I believe that the camera shots are very detailed and hard hitting, I feel that the shot of the sink is effective because of it repetitive use for e.g. we look at the sink at the beginning and its clean and normal however towards the end there are pools of blood.

Referencing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Deren

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g5Y_RUDUE0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Shave

Avant Garde/Art House/Experimental

Short films struggled to compete with Hollywood mainstream, however unlike mainstream films they found a niche audience who regarded the films as art. Avant garde and experimental cinema take a strong interest in short film.

A famous director in the experimental scene was Maya Deren. She was an American Avant-garde filmmaker and film theorist. Maya Deren was also a choreography dancer, poet, writer and photographer. This shows her creative side and her relevance to the Avant garde movement. She directed several experimental films in the 1940's-1961 and displayed a highly individualistic sensibility towards short film.

She is passionate about the short film era and the art form behind short films, she takes an anti-mainstream stance in her "artistic license and creative freedom"

"Meshes of the Afternoon" set the tone for USA Avant garde film-making. The film was made in the early 1940's, Deren used some of the inheritance from her father to purchase a used 16 mm Bolex camera. She used this camera to make her first and most popular film "Meshes of the Afternoon".

The films starts with a flower falling to the ground. Its movement is unpredictable and seems sureal. The camera work is creative along with the framing of certain shots. I personally feel that the shadows add to the films and set the style and tone. They are creative and give off a dreamy/nightmarish feel to the film. The way the shadows are shown walking along the wall could represent paranoia in the fact that there is always something there on a wall or a floor.

The music is complimentary to the visuals even though occasionally it is out of sync, which I feel adds to the unpredictable style. The music soundtrack is eerie and makes you as a viewer feel anxious, uncomfortable and clueless about what is going to happen.

The sound of the key falling along with the background music adds to the eeriness, seems repetitive and constantly falling into the unknown which all adds to the art of the film. When the key falls, the visuals are cut at a fast pace however when the key is picked up and she begins walking back up the stairs the shots are changed at a slower pace as all is calm and relaxed again.

The way the camera goes through the room and how the knife can't cut the bread seems very abstract and bizarre which raises questions for an active niche audience. As she sits in her chair a close up of her eye occurs. This close up is an amazing detailed shot showing her eye slowly closing, drifting to sleep.

A new character is seen with a dark cloak and mirror type face. This character is unusual and could be part of the protagonists dream as she sleeps.We see the protagonists struggling to move round the room looking down on herself form another perspective, this adds to the confusion but also the creative art side of the film.

Whilst researching about "Meshes of the Afternoon" I found several remakes of the film created mostly by fans. This shows its popularity with both short films and Avant garde fans.

A present aspiring Avant garde director called Herbert Midgle use's the technology of youtube to broadcast his films. Whilst researching I viewed a film called "The Walk" This Avant garde film was a great form of art that shed a new light on walking. Herbert Midgle is a youtube phenomenon and I feel that this short film of 40 seconds fits in with Avant garde perfectly.

The film is in one static location with the camera in one position, there is no sound which is effective as it makes you concentrate on the walking of the main character more. The idea and film is very simple however very effective. It is powerful to the audience as every time the protagonist walks towards you he get closer and closer, the shot would then cut randomly with his back towards you with him walking away. This is repeated several times and is quite trippy as it makes you feel that you are watching something that is going to make you jump, you just don't know when.

I feel that Herbert Midgle has been hugely influenced to create this film. I think that a big influence was "The Great Train Robbery" by Edwin S. Porter in 1903. I strongly believe that this film inspired Herbert. The last shot of the film "The Great Train Robbery" shows a villain pointing his gun towards the audience, its the same type of shot used in "The Walk" as the protagonists walks towards his audience.

Referencing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Deren

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPi9i3gfSAM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdIBSqJpk2c

"Luxo Jr" Textual Analysis

Pixar 3D animations were first developed as short films, with and increase of popularity and interest they began to develop in feature film length animations. The short films themselves appeal to a mass audience containing active and passive viewers. When analysing animated short films as a media text I noticed that they follow an equilibrium-disequilibrium-equilibrium pattern. They have closed endings and have a basic storyline that is simple to pick up. They have minimal amounts of characters, as the stories are too short to explain a characters journey in enough detail. This is beneficial for animated short films, as a lot of effort is needed to create characters with 3D technology.

I first looked at the famous “Luxo Jr” short film that was created in 1986, the models and rendering were created by Bill Reeves. The postproduction stage consisted of sounds and titles. The film has two characters in this case being two animated lamps fascinated by a ball. As an active audience member we can see that the lamps share and parent and child relationship. The animation itself seems quite basic however in its time this was a leap in technology in what seemed possible The film lasts roughly 2 minutes and has no camera work/one static shot, it has a plain black background and has no dialogue or narration. These elements add to the piece and make it what it is. The film is comical because of the bizarre way the lamps jump around and play with the ball, even though short films are not a genre I feel that this film uses comedy for e.g. when the small lamp (child) breaks the ball. Even though the film is about two lamps I feel that the audience can relate to what is going on especially with the parent and child relationship for e.g. when the child lamp breaks the ball he looks up to his mother asif to say sorry this is effective as it gives off a natural feel to the piece and what a human child would do.

Child lamp squashing the ball (Above)

Parent lamp looking down on child in disappointment (Above)

Child lamp has head down in shame (Above)

I strongly believe that this film shows an equilibrium – disequilibrium - equilibrium pattern. This is shown by the short film starting calm with the parent lamp playing with the a ball, tension occurs when the child lamp squashes the ball causing disequilibrium and finally ending with an equilibrium as the child lamp finds a bigger and better ball for them both to play with causing restoration.

The film was a huge success and the popularity of it allowed Pixar to experiment and develop the idea. The parent lamp is now part of Paxars ident before every animated film Pixar is involved in. The parent lamp is the “i” in “Pixar”. This is amazing when thinking that this film was made in 1986 and has helped Pixar become the successful company we all know today.

Short Films Target Audience

Short films are varied and appeal to different types of people. You will never view the same type or similar short film, as they are all so unique. Because of this the target audience is hard to define, short films attract a lot of people because they are easily accessible and do not take up a lot of time, which feature films do. Short films commonly show narrative experimentation, this attracts a niche audience and independent filmmakers.

Short films are all so different that it seems daft for them to be collected in the same short film category e.g. rubber Johnny and Luxo Jr have one similarity which is the length of the film, apart from this element they attract different audiences, they have different styles and are viewed at different paces. Rubber Johnny is upbeat using codes and conventions from music videos where as Luxo Jr is relaxing and family based. It’s strange to think that they are classified as the same type of film when they are so different; this is what makes the target audience hard to define.

Short films do not appeal to a mainstream mass audience unless they have a production company behind them promoting them e.g. Pixar short films are popular because they are commonly broadcasted before films associated with Pixar in the cinema. This increases the popularity with the short film and could then appeal to a mass audience. Independent short films are unlikely to make this process because of the lack of promotion from a bigger company pushing them a step forward.

Short Films Codes & Conventions

Short films last 50 minutes and under, they all tell story's that appeal to both niche and mainstream audiences. They commonly contain narrative experimentation which is shown visually by the realistic grainy and gritty style to them. Short films are ideal for aspiring directors and actors as it offers an opportunity that opposes the financial risk when creating a feature film. Short films are not a genre and commonly are categorised within other media texts. Short films can be music videos, documentaries, video diary's etc. Shorts films are all different and all contain a certain creative flair that no other media text offers.

History Of Short Films

The Americans first created popular short films in 1910; they were initially created and used after viewing feature films. Animated cartoons and live action filming could build up a short film. At the time these shorts “subjects” were not known as short films, it was in the 1980’s when “short subjects” was replaced by “short films” which they are still known by today. The first ever short film was created in 1895 in France by the Lumiere brothers. This film was under a minute in length containing one static camera shot showing women leaving a factory. The film was called “la sortie de l’usine Lumière” (workers leaving the Lumière factory).

As short films are hard to define and are not a genre they can pick up characteristics from other media texts for e.g. in the earlier history of short films they commonly used comedy codes and conventions. As they began to develop so did the audience as short films were being produced a lot more frequently to attract a wider mass audience. As short films were created in more detail and depth they began to interest more people gaining more popularity.

It was in the 1930’s when short films began to decline, less short films were getting produced and broadcasted to their audience. In 1955, the invention of television brought short films back to life. Since then short films were occasionally viewed on TV most commonly by independent filmmakers for inspiration. The short films that were broadcasted on TV were those that had been sold to the television stations. Short films continued to decline as other media texts began to rise benefiting from television. By the 1960’s short films disappeared and were rarely seen at all.

Definition Of Short Film:

“Short films, in the modern age, are contemporary noncommercial motion pictures which are shorter than feature films.”

"The less effort and cast required to produce a film, the less the economic pressure and financial risk. Economic freedom leaves room for experimentation and innovation that is the strength of short films"

Catherine Des Forges: "Interesting storytelling, well structured work which draws in the audience quickly"

Gareth Evans:

"Short films are long films that finish earlier, a good idea, less is more"

Timeline:

1895: Sortie D'Lusine - Lumiere Brothers created this short film, and it was regarded as an "experimental sequence" It was so short due to technology restrictions.

Hollywood Shorts: Short films eclipsed by dominance mode of film production "The classical narrative" feature film length of 90 minutes.

Cinema exhibitors required films to be no longer than 100 minutes, this request was because of profits, exhibitors wanted viewers to come to the cinema buy food, use to toilet, watch a film then leave. With films being 100 minutes in length this was made possible and is known as a quick business turnover.

1930-Onwards: Shorts films were on a decline in popularity as a result of this short films produced was a marginal activity.

Currently:

Hollywood no longers follows a studio system.

It see's short films as a cut price laboratory for experimentation and innovation.

Takes risks with minimal financial risk.

Studio's have developed a system for scouting new directorial talent using film festivals.

Research:

I wanted to find out more about the history of short films and I began to research using google.com I searched for a more detailed timeline history of short films and goole generated one using a variety of different websites (shown below).

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=history+of+short+films&hl=en&sa=X&tbo=p&tbs=tl:1,tlul:1910,tluh:2009,tll:1911/01,tlh:1911/01&ei=df5OS9WFO5P64Abe_bSYCQ&oi=timeline_histogram_main&ct=timeline-histogram&cd=1&ved=0CIIBEMkBKAE

Referencing:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=history+of+short+films&hl=en&sa=X&tbo=p&tbs=tl:1,tlul:1910,tluh:2009,tll:1911/01,tlh:1911/01&ei=df5OS9WFO5P64Abe_bSYCQ&oi=timeline_histogram_main&ct=timeline-histogram&cd=1&ved=0CIIBEMkBKAE

Kamau, R. (2007). A Brief History of Short Films. Available: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/199025/a_brief_history_of_short_films.html?cat=15. Last accessed 13 January 2010.

Bibliography Post

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