Wearing The Collar.

wearing the collar

I live with a lady and four cats
and some days we all get
along.

some days I have trouble with
one of the
cats.

other days I have trouble with
two of the
cats.

other days,
three.

some days I have trouble with
all four of the
cats

and the
lady:

ten eyes looking at me
as if I was a dog.

Above is a poem, which Alex and I decided to use as a inspiration for our short film, it would be a visual interpretation of the poem, and it would start with a ECU shot on the man telling the story, it then pans round to see the cats one by one, and at the end, it pans back round to see him as a dog.

Tambourine Man

Using a lyric from a song created by Bob Dylan, The Tambourine Man is a story which begins with someone crushing a tambourine, while shouting at his wife to clean up the house and be more productive. The tambourine is a symbol of sounds which are not there, because a tambourine is an instrument which creates a lot of noise and by breaking the tambourine at the start, the protagonist has transferred the noise which the tambourine would make, into his house.

Short Film Inspirations Session.

Throughout the past week we have been using specific stimuli to help provoke ideas to create story lines for short films. Using Art, News articles, Poetry and Images, we were asked to move from table to table and create a number of different story lines.

Prada & Prejudice

Prada & Prejudice is a short film by Tom Edmunds, the title is a play on words, from the novel by Jane Austin, Pride & Prejudice. It is 6 minutes long and to an extent it is interesting because of the acting. It presents the idea of being prejudice towards someone or type of people one first meeting, and for the lady in this film, it goes against her.

To view Prada & Prejudice click here.

BBC Film Network

The BBC Film Network, is a new and exciting innovative platform which has a number of achieve simply dedicated to showcasing different type of film, feature length and short film. It gives information on film networks and festivals, it also has partner sites which are updated regularly with new and exciting short films. To view site, click here.

Distribution

The distribution of Short Films are extremely limited, this is because, while fighting alongside mainstream cinema for audiences attention, the funds and expenses are very low, so to waste money on distributing films to an audience which do not appreciate them is pointless. This is why there are festivals and video portals which present many different short films at the viewer discretion. Due to not having such a wide audience, the need for synergy within short films exhibition is also extremely pointless, which is another reason as to why there is not a lot of money or profit to be made in the distribution of short film.

Some short films are placed on to compilation dvds which have a number of different short films and sold in stores, however to find an individual short film sold on its own is very unlucky, this is because of the need to distribute short films is low. Rubber Johnny, is currently on sale, on its own, this is because it is a music video for a band name Aphex Twin, this group have a following which would obviously want this on dvd. Therefore being a need for distribution of this one film, so it is being sold.

Tom Harper

Born January 7th 1980, Tom Harper is a writer/director that is currently directing episode of Misfits, however in the past his claim to fame was through a short film called "Beat". It is 6 Minutes long, and presents a story of a man going to see his mentor, in which he begins to see things and change his predications of poetry. After making this, Mr Harper, then went on to write and direct "Cubs" which during the time of its release was extremely influential.

Rubber Johnny

This is an experimental music video which is classed as a short film, because it has a narrative, with a character named on Johnny. This could be seen as a user of drugs 'tripping out' because within the short film we see the protagonist take drugs to some extent and from that point on, it shows some extreme visual footage which could influence an audience. This is a music video for the group Aphex Twin, which to some extent are a group with a large following, therefore it appeals to an audience that like Aphex Twin. It also captures the viewers interest from the start due to the characters disability.

The Berlin Horse

The Berlin Horse was one of the first experimental films to be presented to a niche audience, it was also one of the first we viewed as a class. It had mixed feedback, however I felt that it just gripped its viewer due to the extent of the music and visual which did not make sense. Malcolm LeGrice's Berlin Horse, plays with visual footage, by playing and rewind the same clip of a horse, it is interesting however after a while, you realise that it is an art form with no flowing narrative.

Technological Convergences

Currently a number of different media technologies have converged into one simple product, to make it easier for the user to have everything in one place, it makes accessing different platforms of media much easier.

Smart Phones

Apple iPhone - Mobile, iPod, Internet, Videos, Camera, Pictures and Messaging.

BlackBerry - Internet, Applications, Messenger, Calling, Games, Music, Bluetooth, Camera, Picture.

Gaming Consoles

Xbox 360 - Games, Internet, Social networking, Dvds, Music, Pictures

PS3 - Games, Internet, Dvds, Blu-ray, Music, Pictures

Nintendo Wii - Games, Internet.

Such advancements in technology allow short film to constantly think of way to expand its platform for viewing.

We are the Lambeth Boys

Here is an extract from a free cinema/protest documentary, it is called "We are the Lambeth Boys" and it presents working class people living their everyday life. When compared with today's standards it is just like a normal documentary, however when released in 1959 by Karl Reis, this documentary opened the flood gates for more experimental documentaries to date, like "The Family" which is currently being shown on channel four.

Free Cinema & Protest

Free cinema emerged during the 1950s within the rise of television, it was a documentary styled way of filming. Free Cinema was the general title given to a series of six programmes of short documentaries shown at the National Film Theatre in London between February 1956 and March 1959. They were the predecessors to British New Wave, using experimental styles to record sound on location and capture footage using 16mm cameras which meant the quality was extremely low. The crew were minimal if any, and the technological advancements were extremely limited, this left room for innovation and experimentation. Most documentaries presented working class people in there local surrounding, going through there day to day lives.

Wasp

Written and Directed by Andrea Arnold, Wasp tells a story of a struggling mother that will not let her children get in the way of seeing an ex-boyfriend. It is extremely emotive, it captures the viewers interesting from the moment it begins, this is because we view the film from a fly on the walls experience. As you can see from this extract, the camera is very slow and intimate, using the extreme close ups to express facial expressions and feelings. The shots are extremely voyeuristic which makes the viewer feel that it shouldn't be viewing such film. When you watch the film you see that her parenting get worse, however within this scene you can see that she has a split decision about going out, because she doesn't know what to do with her children.

Short Film Festivals

Rain Dance is a Short Film festival which is dedicated to showcasing new and exciting short films in innovative platforms.

Here is how one can submit their work to the Rain Dance Festival

"HOW TO SUBMIT

Withoutabox.com is a website dedicated to film festival submissions, and is the easiest and most effective way to submit your film to festivals. Here you can enter all of your film's information online and upload digital press kits that can easily be accessed by us. Just head to our WITHOUTABOX page and follow the simple instructions to complete your entry, then send your DVD screener to the address below. It's as simple as that."

There are multiple deadlines for the Rain Dance festival

DEADLINES

- 7 May 2010 - Early Deadline

- 4 June 2010 - Late Deadline

- 18 June 2010 - Final, Withoutabox-only deadline

Founded in 1992, Rain dance was created for film makers, by film makers. They launched year round training courses attended by Guy Ritchie and many others attend industry standard courses. In 1993, the birth of Rain Dance film festival was created, it helped to establish British Short film and shed light on up and coming talent from their training programs which had remarkable success.

Takes place form the 30^th of September to 11^th of October

Best UK

Best International feature

Best UK Debut

Best UK Microbudget

Best UK short

Best International film

Sundance

Sundance began in Salt Lake City in 1978 as the US Film Festival in an effort to attract more filmmakers to Utah. It was founded by Sterling Van Wagenen, John Earle and Cirina Hampton Catania.The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in the state of Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the U.S. the festival is the premier showcase for new work from American and international independent film makers. However not all films are taken from submission, the production team must have a following before entering their short film to Sundance film festival.

London Short Film Festival

In 2003 Philip Ilson and Kate Taylor organised the first Halloween Short Film Festival, five years on the festival became the London Short Film Festival. Currently the London Short Film Festival is constantly expanding to live music, more films, and hold the festival in high quality venues.

Here are the awards

VAUXHALL AUTEUR THEORY AWARD

Darryl’s Lo-Budget Film Award

Shooting People Comedy Award

Current TV Documentary Award

East End Film Festival Award for most Gorgeous Looking Film

Time Out Award for Best London Film

Sci-Fi London Award for Best Horror Film

Club Des Femmes Award

Beat Happening Award for Best Video with Music

Under The Influence Award for Best Midnight Movie

Wallflower Press Award for Best Experimental Film

There are also no spesific categories to enter your work into the London Short Film Festival.

Cubs

Cubs is a short film made in 2006 created by Tom Harper, this shortfilm, sheds light on gun crime, youth gangs, and friendships. The entire film is a metaphor/allegory for these group of kids. The name of the film "Cubs" automatically makes the viewer associate the film with young adults or children, which is true because we are presented with a number of young children trying to be accepted into what is thought of as a gang. However this initiation into this gang is one that then makes film a metaphor, because to be able to join the gang, one must kill a cub fox. This protrays an idea of circular karma, because the gang leader says to the protagonist "dont want you to get nick'd like you brother", meaning this brother had the same initiation and things turned out bad for him. By hunting a fox, it presents the idea as this gang being a pack of dogs, or wolves, a group that stays together which are extremely tight. At the end of the shortfilm the protagonist breaks the forth wall as if to say what have I done.