Medium Research

What is a short film?

A short film is any film that is too short to be considered a featured film. A short film
usually runs between 0 and 40 minutes long including all credits.

Budgeting

There is a big different for budgets between short films and feature-length films. A 10-
30 minute film will not require a big budget unlike a 90-120 minute film. Some feature
length films have managed to complete their film with low budgets. Here are a few
examples:

The Blair Witch Project - This film was shot with a $60,000 budget and brought
in $249 million.

Popular short films

Here are the top five short films.

This can help me with my project

because I can watch these films and
write down what these short films
contain and I can apply them to my
short film. I can find different horror short
films, collaborate ideas from them, and
adapt them to my short film.
Awards for short films

There are different awards that people can enter themselves in for a short film
competition. For example, the London short film festival accept people to send in
their work for the chance to win an award at the festival. Another example of short
film contests is Raindance. Raindance is a short film festival based in London.

References used for Medium Research

Unknown. (Unknown). What is the difference between short films and feature length
films? Available: http://www.sheffieldav.com/education/short-films-vs-feature-
length-films. Last accessed 4th May 2017.

Unknown. (Unknown). Most Popular short films. Available:

http://www.imdb.com/search/title?title_type=short. Last accessed 4th May 2017.

Genre Research
Conventions of horror

There are many conventions for horror films. Here are a few examples:

Dark scenes.
Shadows.
Alleyways.
Abandoned house.
Point of view angle.
Handheld shots.
High and low angle shots.
Fast and loud non-diegetic sound to make the audience feel scared.
Diegetic sound to allow tension to build within the film.
Creepy sounds i.e. creaking doors, footsteps, thunder, lightning.
Example 1

https://youtu.be/8HPmd6lffWQ

Camera angles

This short film shows a range of shots using

different camera angles. At the start of the
short film at 00:01, there is a shot of a young
male walking through the woods and the
shot is an extreme long shot. This shot is
showing another different camera angle.
This shot is showing an over the shoulder
shot. The camera is positioned behind the
shoulders to show the back of his head. This
shot creates tension.

Narrative

This shot is clear for the narrative because

the shot is of a boy hiding in the woods
with a black jackets and his hood over his
head. This is part of the narrative because
the boy with the hood over his head is
chasing the young boy walking through
the woods.
 Mise en scene

Setting

The setting in the shot is of the woods.

This setting is ideal for this type of film
because the genre is horror and the
woods can be interesting to use. The
woods is a typical place to use for a
horror film because the woods can
create tension and suspense between
the main characters. The woods
creates tension for the main
characters because the woods is
generally dark and there are many
sounds being made inside the woods.

Actors

The main characters are both in this shot. Only one of the main characters is clear
because the shot is focusing on the character with the weapon in their hand. The
main character is not on focus because he is the one being attacked and the
director of the film wants the person with the weapon to have more power.

Costume and props

The costume of the main characters is normal day clothes. The main characters
have used normal clothes because they are creating this short film in a 21st century
era. This shot is of a prop. The prop is a weapon is to be used to hurt the other main
character.
Example 2

https://youtu.be/e9Bl4GWLPrE

Camera Angles

This shot is showing a close up

camera angle. The reason why
they have used a close up for their
production is that they wanted to
show the characters emotions and
expressions.

Narrative

This photo is showing the womans

hands and her phone on a text
message. The phone is showing a
picture which relates to the
narrative. The photo is showing a
picture of the girl and a masked
man in the dark, shadow
background. This relates to the
narrative because the man in the
background is out to hurt the
woman.
 Mise en scene

Setting

The location for this shot is in the

living room but throughout the short
film, they have used different parts
of the house including car,
doorway, cloakroom and kitchen.
They have used a house for a
location because the location can
be mysterious by creating dark
shadows.

Lighting

In this picture, there are different shades of lighting. Where the woman is standing, it
is quiet light but surrounding the woman there is dark shadows. This is to create
tensions and to make the character feel isolated and scared. She feel isolated and
scared because she is avoiding a person following her but if it is dark then she does
not know where he is going to be.

Costume/props

The costume she is wearing is 21st century style clothing. This is because it was based
in the 21st century instead of creating a short film based a couple of centuries ago.
There is a prop used in this picture. The prop is the mobile phone. The phone is used
to scare the main character by sending messages from her boyfriend that an
alleged stranger is following her.

References used for Genre Research

David Bird. (2012). The conventions of horror films.... Available:

https://davidbirdyr2.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/the-conventions-of-horror-films/. Last
accessed 4th May 2017.
 Artists/professionals Research
Stephen King

Stephen King was born on 21st

September 1947. He is an American
author or horror, supernatural fiction,
suspense, sci-fi and fantasy. Stephen
King wrote many of short films during his
life. He has wrote Disciples of the Crow
(1983), The woman in the room (1983),
Pauls dream (2007), The Man in the
Black Suit (2004) and Death Room
(2014).

Stephen King has won many awards

over the years. Here are a few
examples:

Bram Stoker Award (2000, 2003, 2011)

Shirley Jackson Award (2009)
British Fantasy Award (1987, 1999, 2005)
Goodreads Choice awards Best Fantasy (2012)
Bram Stoker Award for Novel (1998, 2996, 2008)

I appreciate his work because he has lived for so long and he is still carrying on his
work creating short films and creating novels. He is currently 79 years old and he has
continued to create amazing work over the years.

Shane Acker

Shane Acker is an American animator, film director,

screenwriter and animation teacher. He was born in
1971. He has created the following short films.

9 (2005 film)
The Hangnail (1999)
The Astounding Talent of Mr. Grenade (2003)

Here are the following awards that he has won:

MicroCineFest Audience Choice Awards (1999)

Annecy International Animated Film Festival (2005)
BendFilm Festival Jury Prize (2005)
Student Academy Award (2005)
 Target
Audience
Research
Here is a survey I made to give out to
people asking for their opinions on who I
should target my horror short film to. The
results are shown below. This can help
me with my production because once I
know who I can target my short film to,
then I can find out the conventions that
would be suitable for this target
audience.

Horror films are targeted at all ages but

the films are treated with great caution
for younger viewers. They have to take
into account all of the music and sound
effect that take place during the horror
film. Therefore, some horror films are
rated PG because of the scariness of
the film for young viewers.

This question is asking

what gender I should be
targeting my short film to.
My survey shows that I
should target my horror
short film to males.
However, I think that I
should target my short film
to both genders to avoid
bias, as some females
may like horror films. This
can help with my short film
because I can use
conventions that suit the
gender.
 This survey is asking what
age I should be targeting
my horror short film to. The
survey shows that I should
target my short film to
people aged 17-22. This can
help with my film because I
can use conventions and
different storylines that relate
to people between 17 and
22 years old.

This question is asking where

you would most likely want
to watch a short film. The
survey shows that there is a
variety of way to watch a
short film. The options were
YouTube, TV or the internet.
Most people I asked prefer
to watch a short film on
YouTube. This is helpful for
me because I can export my
short film onto the sites. I can
also put my short film where
people would prefer to
watch this and gain more
viewers.

This question is asking about

the classes for employment
jobs. The classes depend on what job
role you do and how much you are
being paid. My survey results show
that I should target towards people
who are middle class, lower working
class or the lowest of the income. The
results vary because there were
many classes chosen by the people I
researched. However, more people
said lower middle class than the
others. I can use this data by
exploring what the working jobs
would like in a short film and I can
adapt to my short film.
 The survey question is asking
what platform they prefer to use.
The survey results show that most
people would prefer to use a
computer or use a TV. This is
because they have larger
screens than a mobile phone. I
can use this information
because I can put my short film
on the platforms that most
people prefer.

References for Target Audience Research

Unknown. (Unknown). Horror. Available: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/education-

resources/student-guide/issues-introduction/horror. Last accessed 12th May 2017.

Platforms Research
YouTube

I would put my short film on YouTube because it is a popular video streaming site
that most age groups use. This site is mostly used by teenagers to watch gaming
videos, music videos and movies. It would be ideal to have the short film shown on
YouTube because there would be lots of competition from other short films in the
same genre and other genres too.

TV

I would put the short film on TV because all age groups are all watching TV
nowadays either in the morning or in the evening. People can watch the short film
on TV because all ages watch films and the films can have competition between
the genres on which genre of film is more popular than the others.