So, for my A2 Advanced Portfolio, I need to create a main video piece, which in my case is a short film, as well as creating two ancillary tasks, for which I have primarily chosen to create a radio advert.
I decided to choose a radio advert as I knew that it was unlike anything I have completed in Media Studies so far, and for that reason I wanted to try it out and see how successful I could be.
As an example of what radio adverts for films are like, I found a compilation of all radio adverts aired for Star Wars, which you can listen to below. While the structure of the adverts is not how I wish mine to be, I still feel that it is a good example and one that I should share!
In terms of what I would like the structure of my radio advert to be, I would like it to have excerpts from the audio of my short film, mainly parts where the action sounds interesting and intense, in order to draw in potential viewers. As radio adverts are typically 30 seconds long, I wish the excerpt section of the advert to last around 15-20 seconds, with the final 10 seconds to be used to say the title of the short film, where to find it, who is in it as well as the creator, as this is fairly typical of a radio advert.
As you may have noticed, for my practice piece of media work
I completed in July, I made a music video, however this year I will be creating
a short film. Here I am going to tell you the skills I gained through creating
a music video which will be useful when I am creating a short film.
Firstly, I learned how to choose the best shots to
storyboard. I did this through checking the location several times before I
began storyboarding, and then I sat down with the lyrics and decided what I
thought would work well in order to keep in line with both the feel of the
music, the lyrics as well as any creative ideas that I had. This has helped me
with my A2 production, as I have a very clear idea of a location to shoot the
short film, and because of this, I have been able to create a fantastically
vivid idea of what I want to happen in my short film, as well as thinking about
how I will achieve it.
Secondly, through creating a practice music video, I gained
the skill of colour correction. Even though I added colour correction to my AS
Foundation portfolio piece, I do not believe that it was as good as it could
have been. This changed when I created my practice piece, as I put quite a lot
of time into making sure the colour correction had been done well, and I
believe that the difference can be seen when you compare both my AS piece, and
my practice piece! I cannot wait to use these skills in creating my A2 short
film!
For my audience research for my A2 media production, I decided to do it in a slightly more unconventional way, and I decided to do it on Twitter. I put out a series of tweets, and asked people to either Retweet, Reply or Favourite the tweets in order to give their opinion. You can see the tweets below.
Time to do some audience analysis! I'm going to do a series of tweets, and would like you to either RT or FAV the tweets, based on choice!
— Daniel Haynes (@DannieyMedia) December 4, 2013
1st Question for #A2Media. What is your ideal length for a short film? RT for less than 10 minutes, FAV for more than 10 minutes.
— Daniel Haynes (@DannieyMedia) December 4, 2013
2nd Question for #A2Media. Would you rather an apocalyptic situation have a single or a group lead? RT for single, FAV for group.
— Daniel Haynes (@DannieyMedia) December 4, 2013
3rd and final question for now for #A2Media. How many short films do you watch a month? Reply with how many and your age!
— Daniel Haynes (@DannieyMedia) December 4, 2013
Virus is a 6 minute short film created by Simon Hynd. It was
created in 2002 and was featured on a
DVD series of 3 short horror films
entitled ‘The Kamera Books guide to horror films’. It follows a man called
Andrew as he tries to call his partner, only to find she has sent him an email.
This email contains a video clip of her death, and while Andrew is watching it,
he too is approached by a hooded figure and murdered. The short film ends with
the hooded figure sending the video clip of Andrew’s death to his email
contacts.
There is clever use of different camera shots in the short
film, the viewer can see shots varying from long, establishing shots down to
extreme close ups. Most panning/moving shots are smooth, with the exception of
a couple which are slightly jerky. The close-ups in Virus make the viewer feel
uncomfortable due to how zoomed in they are.
In terms of Mise en Scene, Virus is very simplistic. There
are minimal props used which adds to the overall mysterious and unnerving feel
of the short film. The costumes in Virus are very stereotypical of a normal
office. The security worker is in a white shirt and black tie, and the main
character, Andrew is wearing a black shirt and tie. Scenes which feature Andrew
all have black background due to the poor lighting in the office. This does not
detract from the feel of the film, but it in fact gives it an extremely scary
feel.
There is clever use of continuity editing in Virus, as all of
the shots feel like they fit in with the overall feel of the short film, and
none of the transitions feel jerky or out of place. All of the editing in Virus
is very fast paced, and the only transition used between shots is a cut, with
no fades or wipes anywhere in the film. This adds to the sense of urgency that
the viewer feels throughout watching Virus. There is also evidence of Shot/Reverse
throughout the film, more specifically, it occurs when Andrew is looking at the
computer screen. This is used to give the viewer more of a sense of what is
going on, as due to the time restraints in creating a short film, it can be
very difficult to create a believable story, and through the use of
Shot/Reverse shot, I believe Virus is one of very few short films which manage
to do this effectively.
The sound in Virus is all diegetic, and because of this the
film feels very believable. It can be very difficult to create believable sound
for a film, but Virus has done it well. Even during the end credits, there is
no music, all the viewer can hear is a dialling tone for a phone, which, as
Andrew has just died, leaves the viewer feeling afraid. There is also no
speaking in this film, and the action is purely done through actions and
diegetic sound, which makes the short film very appealing to those who enjoy watching
slightly more ‘weird’ films.
Overall, Virus is an outstanding short film, and definitely
one which shall influence the creation of my own short film through the use of
shot/reverse shot and the clever use of lighting.
Today I had the bright idea of uploading my script to Google Docs so that you can see the progress I am making on it when I do it, you can find the link to this below.
