Rebecca Knapp:
First, Rebecca told us that we had to visualise our scripts, to see if what we write in our scripts match the action you visualise or not.
After the time spent with Becky, I learnt that there are three different time lengths for short films.
The first is 5 minutes long. These short films typically show stereotypes and an ovbious visual experience. The short film 'The Black Hole' is a perfect example of this. It is set in an office, 
which is clearly recognisable to the audience immediatly, through the mise-en-scene and props used. He is clearly unsatisfied with his life, the film plays on the comedy of a typical office worker feeling this. The male character finds that he has the power to steal anything he wishes by reaching into this black hole on a piece of paper, and in the last scene, he reaches into a safe, but unfortunatly, as a result from his new found greed, falls into it trying to reach for more, and gets stuck in the safe. The storyline is easy to follow, well developed and has a character, a world and a problem.
The second time scale that is typical for a short film is 5-12 minutes. In these short films, the audience follows a characters, going through a life-changing senario where the audience can see a character change. The use of stereotypes are not typical for these short films, as there is enough time to develop the character without them in the amount of time there is. The short film 'About A Girl' is an example of this short film time scale. The audience are unsure of the girls situation, however the storyline is well developed throughout the film. In the end, we discover that the girl was pregnant, and throws her dead baby into the river, as she has become "good at hiding things" from her mother.
The final time scale is 12-30 minutes. There will be secondary storylines, those that are not unlike feature length films, as there is enough time to develop a character and a complexoty to them or a storyline.
Then Becky showed us scripts of short films she had been involved in.
The film I focused on primarily was 'Does God Play Football', as this was the one that immediatly caught my attention from the script alone.
Does God play football?
My initial reaction from reading this script was an unsure one. The plot seemed a little complicated, and the topic didn't seem too interesting. To my surprise, it was one of my favourites from the day.
The cinematography, I felt, was really well put together, which 
made the complicated script seem easy to follow. The contrasting colour between the flashbacks such as the 85 filter on the flashback to the childs past, made it easy to understand which were real time and which were flashbacks. The era was simple to recognise, as all the mise-en-scene were from the correct time (60's). The music also plays an important part in developing the era and the the storyline. The first example of music we have is chamber music, immeditatly suggesting the the story has religious content.
However, I still found that the script dragged on too long, and that the topic wasn't interesting enough for me. Nevertheless, if it was to my liking, I found it was done extremely well.
Therefore the script was written well in the ways it didn't give too much of the plot away, however it could have been improved by a little more direction in each scene.
On A Life's Edge.
This is a short film Rebecca produced herself.
Again, when reading the script, it seemed a little confusing. I didn't grasp the plot idea, so I was a little hasty when watching the film. Nevertheless, I was looking foward to it too. To my surprise, I enjoyed the film thoroughly. The shots and locations were very clever, and the film didn't give any of the plot away until the end, so you had the surprise factor. It didn't fufil audience expectations, but I believe that this is a positive thing about the film, as I tend to dislike the obvious plot films.
In short, Rebecca showed us these scripts to show us how important the script has to be in order for your film to get recognised.
We did some research on the book 'Get Your Short Film Funded, Made and Seen', written by The Shooting People Shorts Directory.
The booklet then told us that Short Films should include, 'having an idea for a novella and then deciding to tell it as a haiku’, which suggests that Short Films should be easy and simple to follow.
As mentioned above, the booklet suggested three area's that should be considered when making a short film, these are:
- A World
- A Character
- A Problem
A World:-
When creating a short film, develop the character's world. Make the 'world' easily recognisable to the audience, for example the world in 'The Black Hole' is simple, an office. However the world could also be events, such as Christmas, or a birthday party. By doing this, the problem is easier to develop, as it could be problems with work or being home sick (like the problem in the short film 'Signs') etc. Having a 'World' gives the film a defined time frame, which is also mentioned to be a key factor by the Sunday Times booklet 'How To Write A Good Script' by Marilyn Milgrom.
A character and the problem:-
Writers, directors and producers need to consider the character carefully, to introduce their problem that will be recognisable to the audience. The point of view that the story is from is also important, as the character's problem may only be recognised if the story is from their point of view. From the beginning of the film, we need to be following the characters want, how he will overcome his problem, their needs and any obstacles that prevent them from their need, or overcoming their problem.
As indepedent research, there was a short film in which I believe followed all these conventions of a good short film.
Different- A Short Film:
There is an obvious story line here, the short film presents us with a world (university life, possibly older living on his own), a character (the curious male) and a problem (his struggle with gender issues). As the 'Character, World, Problem' conventions are clearly considered and developed in this short film, it is an easy storyline to follow in a short space of time. It plays in 'real time' which again, according to the booklet, is the best time frame to go with, as it is easier to follow in the short amount of time you have in your short film.
We were then asked to consider target audiences for short films.
As scripts are the documents people in the industry need in order for a short film to be published, it must portray what you visualise enough for the professionals to see a potential, but also not to give too much about the film away in the script. People within the industry are the first main audience for your first short film, as they are constantly looking for new, promising writers. Short films are used to market your writing skills, therefore short films are important if you are an aspiring director or writer, as they get you on the market, and showcase your talents.
However, Short films are not only for the directors to get recognition, it is also for lighting technicians, scriptwriters, actors, and camera operators to show their talents off too.
We were then told to consider all these theories and conventions in writing our scripts for our short films. We were asked three questions, that would summarise what happens in your script. What is revealed that is significant to the plot? What is revealed that is significant to the audience understanding the character? And, Is there an identifiable theme?
In conclusion, the feedback we recieved from Becky has been extremely useful in the editing of my script, and has encouraged me to make some dramatic changes for the better. Also, learning about what people in the industry look for has helped in recognising what is conventional about my script that is fundamental for my target audience.
Independent study area's:
1) Cinematography- this can begin with rolls of film or a digital image sensor. Filters can be used as a technique in cinematography, this is to change the colour of the shot. These are used to enhance the mood or dramatic effects. Lenses can also be attached to the camera to give a certain look, feel, or effect by focus, colour, etc. Light is necessary to create an image exposure on a frame of film. The art of lighting for cinematography goes far beyond basic exposure, however, into the essence of visual storytelling. Lighting contributes considerably to the emotional response an audience has watching a motion picture. Special effects, camera movement, camera shots and angles and frame rate selection are all part of cinematography as well.
2) Understanding 'Real-Time' - Real time within the media is a method of narrating wherein events are portrayed at the same rate that the audience experiences them. For example, if a movie told in real-time is two hours long, then the plot of that movie covers two hours of fictional time. If a daily real-time comic strip runs for six years, then the characters will all be six years older at the end of the strip than they were at the beginning. This technique can be enforced with varying levels of precision. In some stories, such as 24, every minute of screen time is a minute of fictional time.
3) Understanding tone: The tone of a film is usually linked to genre, as the tone of a film can be considered comic, or dramatic etc. Usually in a short film, there is one tone that you stick to throughout, so the audience find it easier to follow the plot of the film. In short films, you don't have time to make shifts in tone like you would in a feature film, as the audience are looking for clues as to what the tone is in the film, they don't have the time to decipher two different tones. The tone of a film emerges from the way in which each element supports the underlying meaning of the story. The first indication of tone comes from the script.
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