How is time manipulated in films?

How could you show 100 years have passed using only one set?
Focusing on one object, for example a countryside house, and showing small details changing around it. This could be a tree growing next to a house as we know they can take years to grow.
Another example could be, showing the house in a warm countryside setting, covered with flowers and looking tidy; then gradually letting it decay and become old, ruined and 'cold'.

How could you show a year has gone by?
The best example to show a year has gone by would be to show one clip and then the four seasons. For example, using the countryside house again, it could be shown with new dasies/dandilions, then the sun beaming on the house, followed by leaves falling from the trees and finally snow covering the roof and grass.

How could you show 24 hours have passed?
If the clip was showing a man sat in his chair in his house, you could have the moon go down, the sun come up and then the moon go down again. Another example could be zooming in on the clock and the hands quickly moving round to show us the time has passed.

How could you make it obvious that the next part of the narrative is a dream?
The screen could gradually become lighter so it's 'dream-like'. The outside of the screen usually becomes blurry to show it isn't what is actually happening right at that point and it's in someone's mind.

Short Film Festival Websites and Examples

http://www.shortfilms.org.uk/best-short-nominations/

- London Short Film Festival

Examples of the nominated Best Short Films:

YOU'RE THE STRANGER HERE (Tom Geens) - This is a story about a middle-aged woman with a crazy leg. She lives in a fascist regime where people with her condition get shot on the spot. Inspired by the courageous death of one of her fellow sufferers, she goes on an all or nothing quest to change the world, falling in love with her executor in the process.

LAST TRAIN (David Schofield)- This is a short film about a couple catching the last train home, and the quietness of the night is broken by a crowd of boisterous teenagers. Jay (the main male role) begins to become paranoid with their presence and looks as though he sees the group of boys as a threat.

The short film does not have much dialogue, but we can tell what is happening by the facial expressions and body language. This creates the tension and intrigues us to know what will happen next.

THE WAKE (Loren Slater/Kerry Kolbe)- 'The Wake' is a short film set on a small fishing boat in the wintry dockland and channel in the North Sea. It looks at the nature of friendships and how they play out under the influence of unspoken values and decisions.

Why are short films good for directors?

Short films are a good start for directors because it allows them to be noticed and gives them a good head start before producing a longer film. This makes the director more well known so as more of their films are released they become more and more popular. Here are some examples of directors who have gone on to do more after releasing their first short film:

Across The Hall (Alex Merkin)- This short film ran the film festival circuit, and was compared to a modern day Hitchcock film. He has now gone to do produce an expanded feature length version of the film noir thriller.

George Lucas In Love (Joe Nussbaum)- With this short film, Joe Nussbaum has gone on to win several awards including, Best Short Film, Audience awards and Film Discovery Jury award. He has directed 6 other films; Prom (which is currently being produced this year), Sydney White, American Pie - The Naked Mile, Cinema6 (American Short films), Sleepover and ZeD. This shows us how successful Joe Nussbaum has become because a lot of these films have been very well known and popular throughout the world.

I'm Here (Spike Jonze)- Spike Jonze is the most well known director out of these 3, in all directing 34 titles. Some of these include: Where The Wild Things Are, Adaption, The Vampire Attack and Jackass.

These three directors show us how they can go from producing a short film, to directing some of the most well known films across the world.

A2 Media Introduction

This is my blog for my A2 media production work. The task we have been set is to create a 5 minute short film in small groups. All my research and planning work will be on my blog as I create the short film.

STRANGERS is a short film lasting around 7 minutes. The majority of the film was in darkness suggesting it was horror/thriller. I liked the way there was no dialogue, it added to the effect of tension. Although we didn't hear any person speak, we knew what was happening through body language. I also liked the symbolism of the necklace suggesting they were maybe from the same religion and therefore when the other men came they stuck together.

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PUMPKIN is a humerous short film and this is the reason I liked it. It is the pumpkin talking in first person as if it has feelings and almost as if it is human as it says 'they had cut a giant hole in my skull, and were now tearing my innerds from my body'. This makes it funny because we know pumkins can't talk and we know it is just for halloween.

TARBOY is a short film lasting around 6 minutes and I liked it for a couple of reasons. One would be the way there is a 'narrator' explaining the events of the film as it goes on so you know exactly who is who and what is happening. This makes it sound more like a story or a book. Another reason I enjoyed this is because it wasn't a typical heroic short film. Usually the hero kills all the 'bad guys' and survives at the end, in this film it isn't what we expect as he doesn't survive, this is what keeps us interested.

Why is Genre so important to audiences in film?

Genre is the term used for the classification of media texts into groups with similar characteristics. Genre in film is the overall outcome of the film and what it represents. Examples of film genres would be horror, comedy, romance etc. Horror genre would be for people interested in blood/gore, loud dramatic sounds atc. Categorizing films into genres makes it easier to promote to a particular audience. Some people may have a particular prefrence in films and allowing them to know the genre lets them know the basic outline of the film and whether they would be interested to watch it.
Examples of films and their hybrid genres;
Kill Bill - action, thriller, western.
Dusk Till Dawn - thriller, action, western, horror, crime.
Dark City - thriller, horror, film noir(dark), science fiction, futuristic.