The document discusses the aims and planning process for a short film project. The main aims were to create a 2-minute film influenced by a textual analysis of two films and to use stylistic techniques that make the audience feel immersed. The planning included a textual analysis of the two source films to identify codes and conventions, as well as research on other short films for inspiration. Some techniques identified from the analysis that were implemented included establishing shots, high/low key lighting, and on-screen text for context. While equipment limitations and location issues posed some challenges, the film was successful in achieving the aims through techniques like point-of-view shots.

1. What were the aims
of the artefact?

2. The Brief
I will create a film sequence totalling no more
than two minutes in duration that is based upon
/ influenced by aspects of my textual analysis
and my planning

3. My question
Discuss the use of stylistic features in
Maleficent (2014) and Flood (2007)

4. When I made my textual analysis I based most of the information on the directors’
personal stylistic techniques they like to use in their productions. My aim was to get
an overview of what kind of stylistic techniques Tony Mitchell (Director of Flood) and
Robert Stormberg (Director of Maleficent) like to use, by analysing other productions
they have made, to be able to understand and analyse the stylistic techniques they
use in Maleficent (2014) and Flood (2007).
I hoped that the textual analysis would help me get ideas and inspiration to base my
two minutes short film on. I did this by finishing off most of my textual analysis before
I started the planning for my film to be able to get out as much as I could from the
textual analysis. This made it much easier to plan and get some structure in my work
without missing any important information for my textual analysis and my film.
One aim I had was to use stylistic techniques in my
film to make my audience feel like they are a part of
my film and not only an audience that watches.
That is why I chose two fantasy/action films,
because the stylistic features they are using, like
visual effects, are often things you can’t really see in
real life and that make the audience pay lots of
attention when they are watching fantasy/action
films.

5. What codes and conventions
identified in the textual
analysis were used in the
artefact?

6. In my textual analysis I talked about establishing shots in Maleficent which I also chose to
use in my film. E.g I started the first scene by using an establishing shot to show the
audience where the film is going to take place, something we can find at the beginning of
the Maleficent sequence too.
Another thing I picked up from my textual analysis was the use of high key and low key
lightning, which they used for instance in the establishing shot of the big castle in
Maleficent. In my textual analysis I mentioned that the lighting of the castle might
represent both the good and evil sides of the people living inside. In my film I used the
high key/low key lightning when we get to see the ghost
for the first time. The reason why I chose to place the
ghost in the right corner of the room was because the
wardrobe created a dark shadow on the wall from where the
ghost came from. This shows the dark side of the house like
the ghost has been following the person, meanwhile the bright
side shows the good side where the innocent person is lying.

7. In my textual analysis I wrote about Tony Mitchell, the director of Flood, and how he used
texts in some scenes of his productions to show either where the scene is located or the
date/ time. I talked about how the way of using describing texts in films makes it easier for
the film makers to show the audience where the scene is established without any need for
them to give hints through out e.g props for them to understand.
I took some inspiration from that and included a digital clock at the beginning of the film to
show the time. I did it because it might be hard for the audience to understand what time it
actually is when I only show the inside of the house, but also because I think it shows the
importance of the time in relation to the narrative. Many people would feel a little bit afraid
of getting up in the middle of the night and to show them that this film is played during this
time will make them relate to what they would feel during that time of night.

8. How were the planning
materials used in the
construction of the
artefact?

9. The first thing I did before I started with my textual analysis was to
watch both my chosen films and write down the codes and
conventions I could find in my chosen sequences. Then I divided my
textual analysis into paragraphs before I started writing to know where
I would write each part.
The main thing I did when I started my textual analysis was to look on
YouTube and Imdb to learn more about the director of the films and
see if I could find any similarities between their own productions. I
preferred to use YouTube because there you could hear them talk
themselves and you could confirm that it was their opinion.
I compared their productions and started to write about the similarities
I could find according to stylistic techniques.
I think one of the most important piece of planning for me was the
textual analysis because that was my basis for the whole film. Without
it I wouldn’t have known where to start. That’s why it was really
important to plan my textual analysis carefully, paragraph by
paragraph.

10. Another piece of planning I found useful was the short film research.
Analysing other short films within my genre gave me lots of inspiration and
made me understand the codes and conventions of my genre and how
they used them to scare the audience.
Here are some examples of some codes and conventions I could find in
one of the short films I analysed, which I also then used for my own film.

11. It was quite hard for me to plan my film in general because of personal
problems outside college which meant that I couldn’t plan where or when I
could record my film. The fact that I needed a house to record in made it
hard because I moved around a lot during this time so I didn’t have a
proper home to film in.
I ended up filming at a friend’s house which made it quite hard too
because I didn’t have much control over my location as it wasn’t my home.
It didn’t affect my product very much but it decreased the creativity.
In this post I wrote about what
I wanted my final product to
look like and I personally think
my film lives up to my
expectations quite well.

12. How successful was the
artefact in achieving the
aims?

13. I am quite proud of my final product and my textual analysis. I did a lot of
research for my textual analysis and manage to link it together with my film. I
manage to achieve my aims, for example I made a film where I could make the
audience feel like they are a part of the film by using a long tracking POV shot so
it looked like the camera was the eyes and the audience was the person walking
in the house. I did also use the audience feedback to improve my film.

14. Something I wish I had when I made my film was more
professional equipment for recording the film, to achieve a better
quality for the film. This is something that wasn’t really possible
though because I don’t know much about film equipment and the
time wasn’t really there for me to be able to take time and learn
everything from scratch.
What I didn’t do was a reshoot. I wish that I made some time for
that to change the last scene in the bedroom because I wasn’t
really pleased with that one. I don’t like the way I held the camera
because it looks quite artificial and not like it’s someone’s eyes
looking around. If I did a reshoot I would have been able to make
this change and get a more realistic result.