Film Network- Film Making Guide

I was sent a link to a film making guide on the BBC website about how to make a good short film.

Reading the website has helped me decide on my final film idea by telling me what to do and what to avoid. To avoid involve: using friends who aren't talented actors in my film as apparently one bad actor can ruin a film considerably, thankfully, lots of my friends study drama and performing arts so I have no worries there.

I was also told to avoid clichés as it will ruin the film and make it predictable and subsequently boring. So, I have used original ideas of my own anyway and I said in my pitch that I would avoid clichés such as jump scares like they did in the paranormal activities. However, one interesting piece of advice I found was: even if you are using an unoriginal idea, try looking at it from a different perspective and use the idea to tell your version of events rather than recreate the original directors story, by doing this you could possibly end up with a completely different narrative altogether.

When it comes to script writing for short films, its harder because you no time/ have to develop your characters quickly and condense your story. Short films are ruined by over written/ under developed scripts all the time. Once the script is written, I've been told to ask strangers and friends. I can do this by posting my script on social media sites etc and ask friends in person. I've been told to ask strangers as well as friends as friends may be to scared to give constructive feedback, in case of offending me.

I've also been put at ease on my target viewers, as the article tells that audiences are mostly subjective and only appeal to a certain niche over a mass audience.

Another and perhaps the most important piece of advice on the website, is that short films have to grab the audiences attention from the start, I've taken this on board and consequently changed my film idea. I had originally intended on having a gradual build up however my new idea opens on a high to capture the audience then gradually build up again to its final climax.

Feedback on pitch

 

This is the feedback I got back from my pitch for the short horror film I'm going to produce.

 

I'm going to edit my pitch and upload it to my blog soon, however this is a quick 'things to consider' at the minute.

I was told to consider my settings on where to film, with proposed scenes shot in London, I was told to take into account the fact that London is a more populated area so people may be more likely to take action against something they perceive as dangerous. This goes against my original idea, as I felt that people in London would be less likely to be shocked at the sight of someone filming because London is one of the 'film hubs' of the world.

However, with the current threat level being 'severe' of a terrorist attack in London, I've decided to not film there as people may be a bit more cautious and likely to call the police should they see something out of the ordinary- https://www.mi5.gov.uk/home/the-threats/terrorism/threat-levels.html

Ideas for Short Horror Film

I've had several idea for my short horror so I've decided to list them all and ask for feedback from friends on what would be the best and efficient film to produce. Here they are:

Dreams can come true:

A film about a boy who has nightmares of demons tormenting him, torturing then finally killing him. He awakens to find out it was just a dream. At school he keeps seeing the demon from his dream throughout the day, reflections in mirrors, windows, has visions of the demon becoming the teacher etc. He goes to bed the next night and is suddenly awoken to find the demon at the bottom of his bed, ends on cliff hanger.

St'orker:

A girl is on her way home from school and keeps thinking she is being followed. She looks over her shoulder only to see no one there, as she carries on walking, she becomes more and more paranoid that someone is behind her, in her desperate bid to get home she takes a short cut through a graveyard and hides behind a headstone, to her horror she sees a hooded man walk through the graveyard looking for her, enlightening us on the fact that she was indeed being followed. She waits for him to go before running home and convincing herself that he was just some pervert. That night she's home alone doing work when she looks out of her window and thinks she seems someone walk past. She locks the doors, runs upstairs and calls her parents, she peers out of the window again to see him at the bottom of the drive. She then hers the stalker open the gate and try the door handles, by this point she's to scared to call the police and the sounds have all gone quiet.

Conversion to Short Horror Film

I have decided to change my idea from a music video to a short horror film.

The reasoning behind my choice is because I have more experience in the film industry over the music and I'm now working alone. To create a music video I would probably need more than one person to help film, edit, etc.

However, I've previously produced short horrors solo before, so this will be nothing out of the norm for me and working alone will actually help for this task rather than hinder me.

There's also been an influx of short horror films being shot in the North of England, not far from where I live:

http://www.castingnow.co.uk/auditions/acting-auditions/dreamscape-a-film-about-a-young-woman-who-has-had-nightmares-11962

http://www.castingnow.co.uk/auditions/acting-auditions/main-actor-19-26-for-independent-horror-film-able-to-speak-w-11749

This will allow me to get extra help should I need it, I could also email local directors for advice and tips on how to get an overall quality product.

Best CD covers and music videos

I've decided to do perhaps the most famous and iconic album cover of all time: The Beatles famous Abbey Road crossing, released in 1969 the band had originally intended to film at Mount Everest however they couldn't be bothered to go. So, instead they decided to shoot at the zebra crossing just down the road from their studios. The entire session took 30 minutes to film in total.

Male Gaze Theory- Lara Croft

 

The Male Gaze theory states that most women in media are viewed through the eyes of a heterosexual male. The camera emphasises parts of the female body that appeal to the straight boys. For instance, Tomb Raiders' Lara Croft shot to fame for her sexual appeal; despite being a game creation and not real. During some interviews, Toby Gard has also claimed that he changed the character from male to female because he decided that if he had to stare at the character's backside for hours on end while designing and playtesting the game, it might as well be an attractive female backside—although this is assumed to be a joke on the part of Gard, poking fun at the attention Lara was receiving for her sex appeal and had little if any actual sway into the final decision to make Lara a woman.     
 There was even a 'nude raider' where Lara would lose her clothes and play the game naked, this was developed by fans and admirers of Lara, the game was never officially acknowledged by the original developers of Tomb Raider but proves that the Male Gaze theory is right.
There was even a film made based on the character of Lara Croft. Lara was played by well known Hollywood actress: Angelina Jolie. Jolie is well known for being extremely attractive and sexy, therefore being a perfect match for the role that's famed for the same thing.
We see Jolie wearing the same attire as Croft: Short shorts, tight crop top, high boots and gun holsters.
This could be argued as sexist by some people however, its simply reinforcing the male gaze theory that some women enjoy being looked at and found to be sexually appealing: such as beauty pageants and models. It can also be argued that males are represented in the same way; to be sexually appealing to females and homo/ bisexual males. Examples of these are characters such as James Bond: famed for being attractive and sleeping with lots of women.




In the video clip above, we see through the use of various close up camera angles of Lara how she is being sexualised. Such as when she opens her legs to avoid being hit by the robot. The scene wouldn't have been remembered or be as appealing to audiences if she was wearing loose trousers that hid all body features. There's also the clip where she reloads her guns; the camera is actually getting the audience to focus on her hips and breasts. There's also a mid shot scene that focus's in on her guns however the shot actually reveals the fact that she's wearing short shorts and enlightens the audience on her toned thigh muscles.

Film Director Case Study

I decided to do a case study on the director of one of my favourite films: Insidious directed by James Wann.



He has also worked on several other of my favourite and well known horrors such as: Saw, The Conjuring and even action films such as Furious 7.

Saw was famous for its use of gore and special effects, however in Insidious, he wanted to get away from that and sought total creative control so Wann produced the movie independently. Wann stated he wanted to create a film that used restraint and silence to create horror film. He got the idea off other films such as the Sixth Sense and The Others. Im a big fan of this as well, as I believe they make horror films far more enjoyable than the expected jump scare. In my opinion these type of films also have more of a story to them than films such as paranormal activity. Wann was also the creator of Billy The Puppet our of Saw. This has also inspired me to create and use props of my own.

The idea of having a real life story for my short film also sparks an idea for creating a type of documentary. Also, Wann has been basing his work on real life stories recently; this has also inspired me to base my film on local real life stories and furthers ideas for a documentary. There are lots of local legends around the Derbyshire which I could use as a concept or base the entire short film on.


One of Wanns biggest regrets is his film Dead Silence. He was forced to create and direct this film as a back up before Saw was released in case Saw was a flop. Wann said that he was out of ideas and was so stressed that it caused him to start smoking. Whilst I think that making a back up film is a good idea, Id much rather just film extra scenes then try mixing and matching to see what works best.