Completed Short Film

Barbie Jail-Vimeo Settings HD from BDC on Vimeo.

Reflecting on our finished Short Film it wasn't as successful as we had hoped however the things that did work was the overall look of the short film. As the mise en scen used especially the costume, is really representive of what the characters character is like. As it's very feminine and plays on that whole idea of innocents being altered into something that is more sexual and playful and because of this and the characters girlieness, it makes the character seem more realistic. As in today's society many females are going to extra lengths to achieve the ideal body image which is either size zero or an imitation of Barbie's body which can be seen on TV programmes such as Snog Marry or Avoid. The locations used also add to the whole look and feel of our short film, especially the bedroom because of the colours. As they really create a typical girlie look where every things fun and pretty.

The voice over is also effective and helps create meaning to the short film. It really describes how the character lives and although it doesn't tell you in so many words just how she is feeling, the still images represent this. The quality of the voice over is really good as it's clear and the levels of it remain consistent because we recorded the sound separately. The only thing which could be improved is the length of the poem perhaps and extra verse could have been added which would have made our short film longer.

What works well about our piece are also the still images. As they really add to the messages and meaning behind the short film and is what makes the short film more engaging and interesting and because of the way our footage has been cut, it creates a faster pace making our piece flow better. The still images wouldn't have been as successful if there were less of them or if they were featured occasionally but because the use of them is consistent and there is a repetitive pattern it works well and really mashes and cuts everything up making the audience want to see the next set of images.

There are many things which could have been improved in our short film such as the length. Despite the definition of a short film being a film that is under 50 minutes long, ours is only 1 minute which I feel is far to quick. More shots of what the character does after getting ready should have been used and fades to connote that she does nothing with her spare time which I don't really feel was emphasised enough. Instead we used one fade which was very much out of place as there were know other fades used which made the use of it pointless.

Another aspect of our short film that could have been improved was the last set of still images as they are far to quick compared to the other images which doesn't keep the speed of them consistent and doesn't really give the audience a chance to view them properly. What we should have done was measured up the length of them and apply the same size to all the still images which would have meant they would have been all equal in size.

The titles too could also have been improved as they quite standard. We should have been experimented with them to really show our creativity. Perhaps a brighter colour could have been used and a font that was more representative of our piece.

When editing our short film we didn't really experiment with the use of different effects which I feel was one of our downfalls. As there is nothing that really wows the audience. Also we didn't experiment with lighting. I feel the lighting in the bathroom scene is to bright and could have been toned down whilst the the contrast turned up to make it look more clinical.

Overall our final piece follows the codes and conventions of short film. As we didn't have a big budget which means there was less added pressure to appeal to a mainstream audience and meant that we could be more creative and not follow the norm. It also meant that we could create our own unique style and mash everything up and make it look random and really make the audience search for the meaning behind our short film. We really tried to build up in the space of a minute, the day in the life of the character and didnt leave the ending open as we really wanted the audience to get the concept of our short film within in this short space of time. From my understanding of short film. A short film could be boring to some but as long as there is a meaning to it, it can still be effective which I hope our piece does in someway.

Influences

There are many short films that I have studied/ researched which have inspired me. Such as The first Time it Hits by director and writer Jason Budge . This short film made me aware that by using more then one media it can compliment and make a piece more engaging. As they too used no dialogue but instead used animation and filming to get their meaning across. We used the same sort of strategy however used filming and still images to show how the character is feeling which is slightly different to The first time it hits. The First Time it Hits done this is a humourese way where as we don't quite the opposite as we used the other form of Media to show the seriousness of how the media makes females feel.

Another short film which was influential is Cubs by director Tom Harper. As it makes the audience stereotype and really makes the audience assume that the characters are involved in some sort of crime however are actually involved in the British sport fox hunting. We used the same sort of idea of stereotyping where the audience are made to feel like the character will be outgoing and loud because she appears confident in the way she looks but in fact is quite the opposite and doesn't leave the house.

Through out the planning stage we wanted to have a main character that the short film would focus on so the audience could really get a sense of how that character lives. This idea originated from watching short films such as About a Girl and Wasp however the most influential thing that really inspired us was a poem I found on the Internet called Barbie Jail which I made my own version of and more information about how this idea developed can be found on my initial ideas page.

Audience

Our short film targets an audience through a number of techniques such as music. As soon as our short film starts, the music begins which draws the audience in immediately and creates a mood. I feel the idea around are short film targets a more female dominated audience because of the topic. As females are able to relate more to the character then a male would because the short film is about a females perspective on what the ideal body image is. The still images also target a female dominated audience, as they are familiar to them and are what females are bombarded with on a daily bases from the media. I feel the name of our short film targets an audience as it will attract those that are interested in the ideal body image and why so many people want to achieve it.

The feedback we got from year 12's was fairly good. The interesting thing about the results is that a majority of females said that the short film conveys that females spend to much time worrying about their looks. Where as a majority of males when asked said that no matter how much one alters the the way in which they look confidants comes from in which means that the difference in sex effects interpretation of the short film and that the females can relate more to the female character and have more of an understanding as to how she feels.

We wanted to show the physical and emotional effects some females go to, to perfect their body image. From my findings I realised the effect we wanted our short film to have has been successful. The only criticism we got back from this particular question was that the short film could have been more in depth and that it started to this towards the end of the short film so it's about finding the right balance.

More then half the people that answered the questionnaire said they felt that they wouldn't have understood the meaning of the short film without the poem which means we didn't incorporate enough visually and that we should have featured more shots or filmed more footage. This brings me to the next point where everyone felt the poem either complemented or made them understand what our short film was about which shows that without the use of this, it wouldn't have had the same effect and wouldn't have been very successful. As a result a vast majority of the people asked felt that dialogue wasn't necessary as the poem was enough.

The feedback I got back when we asked if they could change one thing about are short film what would it be? More then half of them said the length of our short film. They felt it was to short and would have been better if another verse from the poem had been included and would have provided a better insight into what the short film is about. Many felt more scenes of the character putting on the makeup would have helped make the short film better and more shots of her looking in the mirror at herself really connoting that she is not satisfied with the way she looks would have made it more intense. Another person felt the editing could have been improved as well as the titles which I mentioned previously. Whilst another wanted a clearer shot at the end which I agree with to some extent, as I feel we could have ended our short film in a better way.

When asked if the mise en scene and use of the camera made our piece visually engaging and if not how could this been improved? I got back a variety of responses such as the use of still images works well alongside the meaning of the short film. This was one of the things that I felt made our piece successful, so I am pleased they liked this aspect. The only negative thing mentioned about the use of the still images was the speed as they felt they were to fast. One person felt that the short film wasn't girlie enough which I disagree with and so did another. They felt the mise-en scene reflects what the poem is describing and really shows the different aspects that effect the characters life. One person added to this point by saying they felt the mise en scene and camera shots made them understand why people go to the lengths they go to, to be accepted. Another person really liked the colours and felt the costume worked really well. Others liked the close ups and variety of shots used and liked that they were snappy as it kept them engaged and made them listen to the poem.

From my findings I discovered that many people agreed with me on the bases of what they liked and what they disliked about our piece however also gave some constructive criticism where they mentioned some points which I wasn't aware of before. Overall I found the year 12's feedback really insightful.

Distribution

Distribution is a really important aspect of how to get your short film shown to others. Short film is targeted towards a niche audience and would not be appropriate to put in your local cinema for a form of family fun as its not made to target a mainstream audience. As a result short film makers like myself have to find other ways of getting our work shown. There are not many distribution deals out there however there are a number of online portals that are just as effective.

Our work has been put onto vimeo as well as YouTube which allow people to leave their comments and is a really effective way of targeting a younger audience which are short film is aimed at. Many people showcase their work on platforms such as this and can lead them to achieve great success as well as a number of hits. Online portals such as this usually get people talking about your work creating word of mouth and hopefully someone important in the media industry will then hear about you.

There are many festivals and competitions short filmmakers like myself can apply for. I registered with virgin media shorts to enable me to apply for a competition with them. When applying to take part in the competition I had to fill out a number of sections which in total were five. They were about are film, a short summery of what the film is about also known as a synopsis, technical specification, declaration and upload. There were some sections such as technical specification which I did have some difficulties completing. They asked questions which I felt could only be answered by those who new allot about computers. I feel this is one of the competitions downfall and I am hoping that this doesn't apply for other short film competitions/ festivals. Despite this, applying for this competition has allowed me to see the methods used for getting short film shown and has made me have of an understanding as to how this process works.

Inspiration Week

Lesson Two
I was given an image which said "I put coins in other peoples parking metres". The ideas I started to think of around this whole idea was charity, kindness, no thanks being given, caring, someone who has loads of money, cars, someone who is peaceful and who wants to contribute to society in a good way.

The story I came up with is about a man named Richard that had nothing. He had a job which provided him with a very low income and decided to invest his wages on a few driving lessons as his ambition was to become a taxi driver as he was a peoples person and liked to explore. Then he lost his job and was now living of the doll, there was nothing for him to look forward to. He decided that he would spend the last of his months money which the government provided him with on a lottery ticket. Weeks and weeks passed and with little hope left in him he looked at the ticket and to his amazement he had one! When claiming the money his initial thought was to get a car, he could now afford to buy several but didn't want that. He stood in sainsburys car park and watched the cars pass him buy. He saw an old banger in the corner and thought to himself that could have been mine. So he takes a coin and places it within the parking metre and thought to himself I know how it feels to struggle and thought this would be the best way of helping someone without being thanked for it. This was the best thing he could of done as the old saying goes "charity starts at home".

Inspiration Week

Lesson one
There are many things to describe just what a story is. For instance a story may consist or be associated with the following:

• Narrative/ Plot- This usually consists of a beginning middle and end. When relating this to fairy tales the story usually starts with "Once upon a time" and usually ends with "Happily ever after". These story's have themes and twists some what making them magical.
  

• Equilibrium/ disequilibrium= structure. This explains how one shot follows from one to another.
  

• Characters- There is usually one main character that the story focuses on and the reader usually follows them through out the story seeing them being put into tricky situations which they then try and get out of.

• Story's are usually related to fairy tales, folk tales, legends and Egyptians. These story's are usually within a book and have many illustrations to visualise whats going on. Sometimes these story's end up being turned into to plays and the big budget ones will be displayed in theatres.

• Storytellers- These are people that tell the story and try to build up an image of whats taking place.

• Myths- Story's are often passed down from generation to generation and different cultures will have different ones to tell. Many like to think they are real however most of them are likely to be fictional. These stories will tell us and explain more about ourselves and culturally specific give us comfort.
  

• Biblical stories/ books can be seen as stories and depending on a persons religion will either see the story as fictional or factual.
  
• A story can also relate to film, entertainment-popular culture- series of events, poetry, art, cartoons and fashion.

We played the game where you write something then fold it over and another person writes on it then so on so fourth. My story was about a guy called James who was an assistant whilst Jackie was a bus driver. One day James was on his way to the shop and feel over. This unexpected trip lead him to find Jackie the future love of his life. "Do I know you from some where?" she said but little did she know this was a fairytale waiting to happen. Then one day Jackie's world turned upside down when James chucks his bin bag into a cyclist, who he then shares a passionate kiss with but who will he choose to spend the rest of his life with?

Todorov and narrative theory

A state of equilibrium at the outset
The two characters meet when James falls over and madly falls in love with Jackie.

A disruption of the equilibrium by some action
James chucks a bin bag at a cyclist who he begins to share some interest in.

A recognition that there has been a disruption
He passionately kisses the cyclist.

A re-instatement of the initial equilibrium but with some change
Jizzed in his pants which puts the cyclist right of and patches up his relationship with Jackie.


Application Levi- Strauss

Film title... The cyclist

Concept Working class Opposition Middle Class
Concept Hurt Opposition Healed
Concept Disloyel Opposition Faithful

Initial Ideas

I found a poem website which has a section within it based on fashion as me and Charlotte's initial idea is to base it on or some how relate it to fashion. Below is a poem I found which I felt could be made in to a short film.

Beautiful Like Me
She woke up and walked in this morning.
Beauty is as beauty does.
Unless someone else was doing the beautifying.
She stood and felt,Brush, Brush.
She felt the wet,Paint, Paint.
She watched the mirror.
She watched herself.
She watched them make her prettyful.
Then she put on the dress.
Then they put it on again.
She doesn't know, they whisper.Snap, Snap.Flash, Flash.
Then the computer does its work.
More light,Less freckles,Longer neck,Higher cheekbones,Fix that ruffle in the dress,Fix that wrinkle near the eyes.
Print, print.
When she saw the shoot,She said out loud.
"I wish I looked like her."

The idea I came up with which is inspired by this piece is the idea of a young girl who's a model shes a stereotypical one at that shes slim, tall and looks good in practically anything she puts on. We see a typical day in the life of her and see her go to a fashion shoot. The impression the audience get is that this model is perfect, she's natural we as an audience believe shes got a few great shots. She looks beautiful but just not enough for what the company want. She sees the finishing piece and it looks nothing like her and idealises to be like that image.

Barbie Jail
Stifled inside the lace of her push-up bra,
her heart beats of unheard imprisonment
The cream-caked face, the red collagen pout
betray the self-esteem of ugliness behind

She entered this cage,
in search of a cure from the terrible illness
of ordinary looks
Finding fake comfort inside
the plastic jail of the female sex

Her prison guards, Vogue and Fashion,
confine her to a cell
of precise dimensions;
6 for stiletto, 25 for waist, 0 for chocolate.
The conditions are stifling, but what can she do?
Better in this beautiful hell inside,
than the ugly paradise outside.

The idea I came up with around the poem was about a girl just like the one described. We would re write the poem to make it our own. There would be no dialogue in this short film and we would have the poem be the only sound heard. We could show her doing the things mentioned in the poem and see her never leave the house. We see flashbacks of how show looked before but the audience will be left to question what made her feel this way.

Referencing

http://allpoetry.com/tag/show/fashion+