Shane is an English director that started film making after dropping out of secondary school before reaching his GCSE's. Meadows began to create films with the help of his friends as he had access to cameras and film equipment in return for working unpaid at a local media centre. After realising that he had no way of publicly displaying his work, he and his friends approached a local cinema in hope to set up a film festival in which locals could display their productions. This became popular in his town and eventually he was picked up by a scout who took him on as an amateur film director.
Shane has since then made 8 feature length films including "This is England", a blockbuster at the box offices. Meadows has become renowned for his kitchen sink realism which he was influenced by film makers such as Ken Loach and Mike Leigh.
Shanes short film "The Stairwell", made on his mobile phone shows the way that he likes to work. Through the use of experimentation he achieves his style and tone in his films. By use of his mobile phone he could get a look and feel across in the film without having to worry about all of the problems that using professional equipment might have.
In this film shane shows two characters violently bumping into eachother halfway down a staircase. Though in essence a very dull idea for a film, Shane has used interesting, voyueristic camera angles along with low key lighting to make the scene feel much more dramatic than it actually is.
At the point of impact, exaggerated expressions are shown which really accentuate the nature of the location and sterotypes of these locations. It looks to be a council estate, where it is rare to see people expressing happy emotions and so one can assume the feelings before the point of impact.
The thing I find most interesting about the piece is that although it is a 39 second film, it still has a narrative structure. There is an obvious beginning middle and end. Marked by the intro and outro titles.
Bibliography:
1. Shane Meadows. (2005). The Stairwell. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCvixoWmviU. Last accessed 5th February 2010.
Friday, 5 February 2010
Avant-Garde
Short Film got to a point where it just could not compete with Hollywood anymore. Film auteurs started to make weird and wonderful short films that grew into the avant-garde theatre movement. Short film found a new home in the form of art. A lot of avant-garde films are shorts. Avant-garde comes from the French language and it means "ahead of the crowd", it could be described as cutting edge and experimental.
Avant-garde director Maya Deren produced short films in the 1940's and 50's, her films had a distinct style and were highly individualistic. Deren holds a very anti-mainstream stance within her films and promotes the idea of artistic license and creative freedom. Deren is described as the mother of American avant-garde cinema and her film "Meshes of the Afternoon" is considered a great in short film history. Deren's anti Hollywood stance is backed up by some of her quotes. She stated, “I make my pictures for what Hollywood spends on lipstick,” and commented that Hollywood “has been a major obstacle to the definition and development of motion pictures as a creative fine-art form.”
Her film "Meshes in the Afternoon" has a circular narrative, the film focuses on a few different subjects but always goes back to the one woman. The film starts off with a flower being put on the floor and then picked up again. The audience isn't shown whether or not the same person picks up the flower or not. The shadows of the person suggests so but they also give an eery and creepy feel to the film. The first few shots also don't show the woman's face and this adds to the eery feel.
When she drops her key the audience feels some sort of suspense which is highlighted by the sound effects added in. The sound then continues to beat, suggesting another presence in the house. When the shot of the unmade bed is shown with the window open, the suggestion of another presence is enforced.
A voyeuristic shot of a grim reaper like figure is shown walking off with the flower, rather than a big action scene, the woman runs after the figure but ends up at the same house. This is when the circular narrative comes into play. Questions are raised whether the character has gone into a dream world or not. Who is this man she is chasing? At one point she seems to be watching herself come into the house.
The camera movements couple the movement in the piece, and show off Deren's skills as a choreographer. The flowing nature of the whole piece is followed by the camera movements but then disturbed with the abrupt movements of the key jumping and morphing into a knife. The imagery suggests a sort of paranoia as when she wakes up she is not about to be stabbed but is instead woken by a man.
The same eery music is played when she is awoken and the protagonist is obviously shaken from her dream. Strangely the events to come are somewhat similar to the events that happened in her sleep. It is when she lies down and the knife appears that the audience is questioned again to whether she is actually awake.
Bibliography:
1.N/A. (2010). Maya Deren. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Deren. Last accessed 5th February 2010.
2. Gloria L. Foren. (2001). Film: Avant-Garde. Available: http://www.miracosta.cc.ca.us/home/gfloren/f-avant.htm. Last accessed 5th February 2010.
3. N/A. (2010). Meshes of the Afternoon. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meshes_of_the_Afternoon. Last accessed 5th February 2010.
4. Maya Deren. (2008). Meshes of the Afternoon. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPi9i3gfSAM. Last accessed 5th February 2010.
Avant-garde director Maya Deren produced short films in the 1940's and 50's, her films had a distinct style and were highly individualistic. Deren holds a very anti-mainstream stance within her films and promotes the idea of artistic license and creative freedom. Deren is described as the mother of American avant-garde cinema and her film "Meshes of the Afternoon" is considered a great in short film history. Deren's anti Hollywood stance is backed up by some of her quotes. She stated, “I make my pictures for what Hollywood spends on lipstick,” and commented that Hollywood “has been a major obstacle to the definition and development of motion pictures as a creative fine-art form.”
Her film "Meshes in the Afternoon" has a circular narrative, the film focuses on a few different subjects but always goes back to the one woman. The film starts off with a flower being put on the floor and then picked up again. The audience isn't shown whether or not the same person picks up the flower or not. The shadows of the person suggests so but they also give an eery and creepy feel to the film. The first few shots also don't show the woman's face and this adds to the eery feel.
When she drops her key the audience feels some sort of suspense which is highlighted by the sound effects added in. The sound then continues to beat, suggesting another presence in the house. When the shot of the unmade bed is shown with the window open, the suggestion of another presence is enforced.
A voyeuristic shot of a grim reaper like figure is shown walking off with the flower, rather than a big action scene, the woman runs after the figure but ends up at the same house. This is when the circular narrative comes into play. Questions are raised whether the character has gone into a dream world or not. Who is this man she is chasing? At one point she seems to be watching herself come into the house.
The camera movements couple the movement in the piece, and show off Deren's skills as a choreographer. The flowing nature of the whole piece is followed by the camera movements but then disturbed with the abrupt movements of the key jumping and morphing into a knife. The imagery suggests a sort of paranoia as when she wakes up she is not about to be stabbed but is instead woken by a man.
The same eery music is played when she is awoken and the protagonist is obviously shaken from her dream. Strangely the events to come are somewhat similar to the events that happened in her sleep. It is when she lies down and the knife appears that the audience is questioned again to whether she is actually awake.
Bibliography:
1.N/A. (2010). Maya Deren. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Deren. Last accessed 5th February 2010.
2. Gloria L. Foren. (2001). Film: Avant-Garde. Available: http://www.miracosta.cc.ca.us/home/gfloren/f-avant.htm. Last accessed 5th February 2010.
3. N/A. (2010). Meshes of the Afternoon. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meshes_of_the_Afternoon. Last accessed 5th February 2010.
4. Maya Deren. (2008). Meshes of the Afternoon. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPi9i3gfSAM. Last accessed 5th February 2010.
"Rosebud"
This short film uses a play on time to keep the audience interested and active. The audience is thrown strong emotions of fear and worry throughout the film because of the play on time. A girl is split up from her mother at a tube station and in her imagination meets up with her fairy godmother. During the time that the girl is split from her mother the audience is taken on a trip through her imagination.
A shot of a clock moving backwards is shown but for the average viewer this is overlooked and you don't really notice its significance until the second watch.
In the scenes where the mother and daughter are split, the audience is thrashed with opposing emotions. Thanks to the effective mise-en-scene of the shots the viewers emotions are changed every few seconds. In the shots with the mother one might feel fear, hurt and surprised, whereas in the shots of the child you feel less worried due to her blasé attitude.
Feelings of desperation and fear are shown with the use of a busy platform full of people that don't really care about anyone else but themselves. In this shot the camera is looking slightly down at the mother showing a lack of power. Mixed in with scenes showing the child's vivid imagination, the audience is left slightly confused and also worried for both protagonists.
The child's innocence is a massive part of this short, the ignorance to what could happen to her by playing in a tube station is definitely shown. For example, she is seen playing with "Mr. H" her hula hoop on the platforms, if the hoop were to fall into the tracks would she follow? This is just one example, but the dangers of a tube station are completely overlooked by the young child and this puts the audience in a slightly uncomfortable position.
When the mother is pictured running onto the platform and finding her daughter a sense of relief is felt. The woman who has been pictured helping the young child is shown to be another figment of the child's imagination. The child is pictured at the end alone however. This is to exaggerate the child's use of her imagination. It shows that she is used to keeping herself amused and is possibly an only child.
Bibliography:
1. Gaby Dellal. (2008). Rosebud. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYfPGo9X3Ek. Last accessed 5th February 2010.
A shot of a clock moving backwards is shown but for the average viewer this is overlooked and you don't really notice its significance until the second watch.
In the scenes where the mother and daughter are split, the audience is thrashed with opposing emotions. Thanks to the effective mise-en-scene of the shots the viewers emotions are changed every few seconds. In the shots with the mother one might feel fear, hurt and surprised, whereas in the shots of the child you feel less worried due to her blasé attitude.
Feelings of desperation and fear are shown with the use of a busy platform full of people that don't really care about anyone else but themselves. In this shot the camera is looking slightly down at the mother showing a lack of power. Mixed in with scenes showing the child's vivid imagination, the audience is left slightly confused and also worried for both protagonists.
The child's innocence is a massive part of this short, the ignorance to what could happen to her by playing in a tube station is definitely shown. For example, she is seen playing with "Mr. H" her hula hoop on the platforms, if the hoop were to fall into the tracks would she follow? This is just one example, but the dangers of a tube station are completely overlooked by the young child and this puts the audience in a slightly uncomfortable position.
When the mother is pictured running onto the platform and finding her daughter a sense of relief is felt. The woman who has been pictured helping the young child is shown to be another figment of the child's imagination. The child is pictured at the end alone however. This is to exaggerate the child's use of her imagination. It shows that she is used to keeping herself amused and is possibly an only child.
Bibliography:
1. Gaby Dellal. (2008). Rosebud. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYfPGo9X3Ek. Last accessed 5th February 2010.
"My Father, The Liar"
Directed by Bob Hoskins, written by Paul Fraser
This short film portrays many emotions and themes including loneliness, mental illness and childhood. A father and his child are pictured in the first few scenes chatting and walking through an empty estate. This is a representation of the emptiness in each of their lives. They talk about petty things such as tea which shows the innocence of the child.
The camera angles portray the son as being equal to the father in that because the child is standing on a wall, he appears slightly taller than the father, this subconsciously gives the two equal status.
Sound is minimal throughout the piece which again highlights a theme of loneliness. There is no non-diegetic sound whatsoever in the whole of the piece and this makes the film seem more raw and voyeuristic. As if you were watching a snippet of someones life. Throughout the piece the father seems to keep bringing up questions relating to the child's mother. This is suggesting that he may miss her or want her back, which again stresses a feeling of loneliness.
The child is shown to idolise the father in everything he does, from throwing away his crusts to saying "I'm tracing your footsteps". The child's dialect is obviously heavily influenced by his fathers and this gives the film an almost comical edge to it, enough to make it less heavy but not ruin the main ideas behind the film. An example is when he calls his dad "mate".
When the mentally ill man is introduced the child's innocence is truly shown, whilst the father is not at all phased by him. The child is intrigued and shocked by the man's behaviour. He stops with a look of fear in his eyes and when he is noticed by the mentally ill man he runs away. This makes the audience feel a kind of worry for the child and attaches them to the film.
Another example of the child taking a great influence from his father is when they sit down on the bench, they both open up their reading material in the same way and you feel as though you are watching the same man only in different times.
The lighting in all of the shots seems to be quite dull giving the viewer no bright or vivid colours, this helps to concentrate on the action in the film. When the man jumps off of the platform this is especially useful. The child runs off and when his father catches up with him the way he shouts "come here" is really integral to the character. The tough love sort of shout really shows how while keeping his "alpha male" status, he shows a true love for his son.
Bibliography:
1. Bob Hoskins. (2008). My Father, The Liar. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVSt1JA9g90&feature=related. Last accessed 5th February 2010.
This short film portrays many emotions and themes including loneliness, mental illness and childhood. A father and his child are pictured in the first few scenes chatting and walking through an empty estate. This is a representation of the emptiness in each of their lives. They talk about petty things such as tea which shows the innocence of the child.
The camera angles portray the son as being equal to the father in that because the child is standing on a wall, he appears slightly taller than the father, this subconsciously gives the two equal status.
Sound is minimal throughout the piece which again highlights a theme of loneliness. There is no non-diegetic sound whatsoever in the whole of the piece and this makes the film seem more raw and voyeuristic. As if you were watching a snippet of someones life. Throughout the piece the father seems to keep bringing up questions relating to the child's mother. This is suggesting that he may miss her or want her back, which again stresses a feeling of loneliness.
The child is shown to idolise the father in everything he does, from throwing away his crusts to saying "I'm tracing your footsteps". The child's dialect is obviously heavily influenced by his fathers and this gives the film an almost comical edge to it, enough to make it less heavy but not ruin the main ideas behind the film. An example is when he calls his dad "mate".
When the mentally ill man is introduced the child's innocence is truly shown, whilst the father is not at all phased by him. The child is intrigued and shocked by the man's behaviour. He stops with a look of fear in his eyes and when he is noticed by the mentally ill man he runs away. This makes the audience feel a kind of worry for the child and attaches them to the film.
Another example of the child taking a great influence from his father is when they sit down on the bench, they both open up their reading material in the same way and you feel as though you are watching the same man only in different times.
The lighting in all of the shots seems to be quite dull giving the viewer no bright or vivid colours, this helps to concentrate on the action in the film. When the man jumps off of the platform this is especially useful. The child runs off and when his father catches up with him the way he shouts "come here" is really integral to the character. The tough love sort of shout really shows how while keeping his "alpha male" status, he shows a true love for his son.
Bibliography:
1. Bob Hoskins. (2008). My Father, The Liar. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVSt1JA9g90&feature=related. Last accessed 5th February 2010.
"Horny"
In the short film "Horny", Hopkins captures the audience straight away with the opening scene. The use of "The Sun" newspaper with the headline "HORNY" is the first thing the audience is shown. This flashes on the screen very quickly in a sort of voyeuristic shot, setting the feel for the film within the first few seconds.
Sound is used as a pace setter in the short and the theme kicks in as the protagonist is introduced. The first piece of speech is "Is it just me or do tube journeys make you horny?", this adds to the shock value of the title of the piece and intrigues the audience to find out more about the character. She displays a very honest and blunt view of her thoughts and a high level of confidence in herself. This again interests the audience greatly as it makes you feel as though you are hearing things you shouldn't.
The lighting setup is done in a way that maximises the highlights whilst keeping the darker shades dark. This emphasises the idea of being trapped that is mentioned in the beginning.
When the man starts to get desperate and starts trying to avoid the situation the music slows and fades to a choral sound. This splits up the piece and relaxes the viewer in a way, as the images before whilst quite amusing also had an unnerving feel to them and put the viewer on edge.
As the man goes to finally sit down the viewer is in a way brought back to reality when a young girl asks her mother about the mans situation. A sense of relief is felt when the woman cracks a joke about the man having "broken his willy".
Overall the film brings the audience on an emotional roller coaster. The shots showing the protagonist make the viewer feel uneasy but also quite amused whilst the shots showing the man make the audience feel sorry for him.
The use of a POV shot when the protagonist is seducing the man is very effective. Although it makes the protagonist look less powerful, she is in total control of the man's emotions. Even though it would appear that she is less powerful because she is smaller, she almost asserts her power by sitting down.
Sound is used as a pace setter in the short and the theme kicks in as the protagonist is introduced. The first piece of speech is "Is it just me or do tube journeys make you horny?", this adds to the shock value of the title of the piece and intrigues the audience to find out more about the character. She displays a very honest and blunt view of her thoughts and a high level of confidence in herself. This again interests the audience greatly as it makes you feel as though you are hearing things you shouldn't.
The lighting setup is done in a way that maximises the highlights whilst keeping the darker shades dark. This emphasises the idea of being trapped that is mentioned in the beginning.
When the man starts to get desperate and starts trying to avoid the situation the music slows and fades to a choral sound. This splits up the piece and relaxes the viewer in a way, as the images before whilst quite amusing also had an unnerving feel to them and put the viewer on edge.
As the man goes to finally sit down the viewer is in a way brought back to reality when a young girl asks her mother about the mans situation. A sense of relief is felt when the woman cracks a joke about the man having "broken his willy".
Overall the film brings the audience on an emotional roller coaster. The shots showing the protagonist make the viewer feel uneasy but also quite amused whilst the shots showing the man make the audience feel sorry for him.
The use of a POV shot when the protagonist is seducing the man is very effective. Although it makes the protagonist look less powerful, she is in total control of the man's emotions. Even though it would appear that she is less powerful because she is smaller, she almost asserts her power by sitting down.
Bibliography:
1. Stephen Hopkins. (2008). Horny. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKmVU9U0_Og. Last accessed 5th February 2010.
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Atom.com (Formerly Atom Films)
Atom.com is a short film website focusing mainly on comedy. Atom used to focus only on indie films but since being taken over by MTV in 2006 and re-launched in 2008, the Atom.com website mostly focuses on comedy. The online network has won awards and is considered a convergent entertainment network. That is that the videos can play on TV's, computers, iPods, Xboxs etc. During the re-launch, the site was established as a sister site to Comedy Central, this raised the revenue of both Comedy Central and Atom.com and is a perfect example of synergy, the company Viacom owns both Comedy Central (along with Paramount Pictures) and Atom.com (Along with MTV).
Atom.com offer a fantastic opportunity for young talented film makers through their synergy with the Comedy Central TV Channel. A Show that is broadcast on Monday nights broadcast the best of user uploaded videos to the Atom.com website.
A statement on Atom.com really represents what the company stands for;
"We've spent the past 10 years (formerly as AtomFilms) discovering hilarious, talented filmmakers and unleashing them on an unsuspecting internet. Our formula is simple: Find talented people, make them famous across the Web and beyond, and pay them well. In return we've found that they bring us more funny content, the cycle continues, and everyone lives happily ever after."
The above statement for me is really a testament to the commitment to good quality short comedies that Atom.com provide. The company provide many ways to get noticed on their site, they have funding for up and coming directors and writers to produce/develop comedies. They have scouts that search the internet for new talent that might be on youtube or a similar website, they then look to license this work. Their upload form provides a quick and easy way to showcase your work on their website straight away.
Bibliography
1. N/A. (2009). Atom.com. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom.com. Last accessed 4th Feb 2010.
2. N/A. (N/A). About Us. Available: http://www.atom.com/about/. Last accessed 4th Feb 2010.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Silver Films
Silver Films are a film production company that specialise in automotive films, advertisements and short film. All of their products are quite experimental and have a similar look and feel to them. Their slogan is "Silver can be formed into any shape the mind can conceive". This is a truly inspirational statement and shows the true experimental nature of the company.
They use their web site to promote the films they have created. Their award winning film "About a Girl" can be watched on the site. Although their style and techniques are very similar in most of their films, Silver Films really stick to their slogan and seem to encourage experimentation. This is shown in their about sections above all, they don't really tie themselves down to anything as in they don't say that they are short film producers or advertisers, they simply say who they are, that they work to very high standards and that they are always on the lookout for new creative talent.
This is the kind of reassuring attitudes that a young aspiring film maker might need in order to further their talent. The website is a really friendly one and represents the companies values very well. They make you feel almost obliged to contact them and offer your talents as a film maker.
Bibliography:
1. N/A. (N/A). Silver Films. Available: http://www.silverfilms.co.uk/. Last accessed 4th Feb 2010.
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