Evaluating my Survey Results

For my survey, the people who submitted and filled out the questions were half male and half female. This is beneficial as now I have balanced gender results, so I can now gain insight into both what the males and females thought about my initial ideas and questions. This will help me when it comes to planning and production as I have knowledge about what both genders expect from films and themes as such I'm trying to portray.

As you can see from the screenshot, most of the people who submitted answers were in the 14-18 age group, about 82% of them. This means that I will have to revolve planning to meet the needs and expectations of this particular age group, because I have the most information about them as opposed to the other age groups. It also means I will have to age rate my film as most likely a 15, so that any content I show will be suitable for this particular age group and won't affect the viewers opinion of the short film. It also means I can show more mature themes, such as violence, in my short film as it is being aimed at older teenagers.

About 70% of the people who filled in my questionnaire actually watch thriller films, this is beneficial for me as it makes my results more quantifiable and reliable as the people submitting data are more familiar with the genre of thriller and all of its codes and conventions. Also, now that I know 70% of them watch thriller films, I'm very much confident to carry this genre forward and pursue it for my short film, as I have the data to support that people do watch and enjoy this genre of film. 

From the data, I can conclude that most of the people who filled out my survey prefer action thrillers over the other sub-genres of thriller. Action thriller was the most popular at 41%, and the second most popular was psychological thriller at about 35%. However, this may be slightly problematic for me as the sub-genre of thriller I am planning to execute is in the boundaries between crime-thriller and neo-noir thriller. However to my disadvantage, nobody put down their preferred sub-genre of thriller as neo-noir. I will still pursue this specific sub-genre, however it will mean that the codes and conventions I portray may or may not meet the audiences expectations and understanding, which is a risk but it's worth taking in order to create my intended product. 

Here are some of the users feedback to my question, 'Why is this your favourite sub-genre of thriller?'. I found their feedback to be useful to an extent, such as the comment regarding 'not knowing exactly what is happening on screen, and how this is sometimes better than having a clear idea of what is happening'. This is quite an interesting response in my opinion, and overall it's saying story-line and standard narratives can be averted, as long as there's meaning and significance in what content is being shown on screen. Another more simple piece of feedback stated 'it's tense', this is one of the certain characteristics I aim for my short film product to be like, based on past work such as our AS coursework piece. 

This question was used in order to give me insight into what gender people prefer the main character is, or if they don't mind at all. However just under 90% of the answers stated they don't mind, or in other words it doesn't matter what gender the lead character is. I found this to be quite a relief because I could then cast any person who is either a male or female, and it wouldn't make a difference to the audience. Only 10% selected male, which I found to be quite surprising as lots and lots of films nowadays cast males as the leads compared to casting females as the leads. As a result of this question I have now casted my 2 male leads for my characters in the short film. 

These are some of the answers to the question regarding what makes a thriller film more effective. Most of these answers I find are quite useful and give me some additional information and understanding into what will make my short film better quality. For example, the comment 'Better, bolder direction, great acting, good sound design and intriguing cinematography'. This is one particular piece of feedback Im interested in and want to aim towards, because I also agree with it and think those certain technical aspects do make thriller films better. So when it comes to shooting footage for my short film, I will be setting my attention to these features and technical aspects. 

My last question simply asked if they would be interested in my short film idea. To my advantage, most of the people voted yes, just over 50%, and about 35% of them said they weren't sure. Only 10% said no which is good. I found this to be quite surprising and I am happy the audience would want to see my short film and are interested in its themes, ideas and portrayals. 

Overall Summary of Short Film Primary Research

Having completed primary research into 10 short films, I now feel much more confident in knowing how to pursue my short film, and how I can execute it, film it and edit it. The 10 examples I have looked at have all helped me in one of these ways, and they have given me more insight into just what a short film can be like.

- The short films I researched have taught me further about narrative and storytelling. Many of these short films have different methods of story-telling and narrative structure. Such as, some of them opted for a more conventional, linear form of story telling, where events are occurring in a chronological order making it easier for the audience to understand. However, some of the short films went for a more alternative route, and sequenced their short film so that the narrative isn't quite as simple. Such as, events would be cutting back to flashbacks to create meaning and tell the story, which could be seen as confusing for the audience, but ultimately is good film making as the information is not directly fed to the audience.

- I have also learned more about cinematography. Many of these short films used shooting methods I can use to, such as handheld, mixing handheld with tripod, and only using tripod shots. The differing methods of filming depend on the subject and context of the short film, so when it comes to pre-production for my short film, I will mix up my methods of filming depending on what I want to try and represent or make the audience feel. I have also learned more about how long to hold shots for and when to cut to the next shot. Some of these short films held shots for just a bit too long, and it would have been better if they cut just a second or two earlier. However some other short films I looked at held shots for just the right amount of time, which is more beneficial for the short film and for the edit.

- One more thing I have learned about is colour correction. Colour correction plays an essential part part in determining the mood and context of a short film/film. If a scene has been wrongly colour corrected, it can totally differ the intended meaning and context it was meant to have. Some of the short films I studied had great colour correction; it was highly appropriate and suitable for the short film, which is very good and makes the intended meaning and story play out easier. Such as, one of the short films I looked at had very carefully selected colour correction that fit perfectly into the woods/forest mise-en-scene the sequence was taking place in. Finding the perfect colour correction/colour pallet won't be easy to do and will need lots of tweaking and adjusting, but if it comes to be successful it will be beneficial for the short film.

In general I have learned what a short film is and how they can be executed. Many of them contain 1 premise the short film explores and unravels the truth about. Others can be more ambiguous and leave the true meaning and reason for a short film left to the audiences own interpretation. Such as, there was one short film I looked at which was called 'Echoes', and this short film was more on the ambiguous side and the true meaning behind its themes and characters is definitely up the the audience to decide and think about. Overall I am happy with the primary research into short films I've completed and look forward into developing my own short film piece.

An understanding of related Theoretical Issues

When it comes to producing the material for my brief, I will be encountering some issues, such as representation, audience, and genre. These are certain aspects that require lots of planning and research.

Representation brings the issues of how and why I will present certain character types in my short film, such as men, women, children, the disabled and so on. I won't necessarily be using all of these character types, but when I do, I'll have to take into account their representation and how exactly I execute their character in the short film. This would create a challenge for me as representation is quite a significant aspect to films/short films, and most definitely has an impact upon the short film.

The second theoretical issue is the audience of my short film. This is considered an issue because the audience for your short film is vital and can determine many features of the short film. As a result, if I was to develop and begin production on my short film with minimal research and intent to my target audience, I could be making a short film that my target audience wouldn't like and perhaps wouldn't want to watch. This is why the audience is an issue and it needs to be taken into consideration when it comes to planning and producing the short film, which is what I'll be doing.

The last considered issue with the project is genre. Genre will determine the style, craft, and tone of the short film. This is why I need to research genres and have a clear idea of the genre I want to pursue, so when it comes to production and planning I am aware of the codes and conventions of this specific genre. Another reason why it's an issue is because genres have their fixed, standard codes and conventions, so if I was to enter a genre and completely change the conventions around, the audience may not like this and be unsatisfied with the piece. Despite that it's okay to challenge conventions, completely change around the genres conventions is risky.

Planning- Initial Short Film Idea

This is my initial idea for my short film. It is about taxi crime, exploring the social issues of abduction, rape and murder in some cases in taxis.

I am aiming for a dark, serious tone thriller short film that will get the audience thinking about the certain social issue presented in this short film.

I will be developing this idea throughout the planning stage and aim to finalise my character types, arcs and character detail. I am yet to find locations however, but I have preliminary actor references to play the characters in this short film.

Survey for Target Audience

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9VDCMK3


The following link will take you to my research survey, that is designed to help me get a target audience. I asked simple questions that the taker should be able to answer without many problems, questions that will help me when it comes to deciding certain characteristics and conventions for my short film.

The first question was the simple gender question. This was just to establish how and if there are any differences or preferences about the thriller genre between male and female viewers.

The second question was to determine the takers age group, ranging from 10 to 25+. This question will help me find out how people of different ages view the thriller genre, and what kind of things they are more used to or perhaps don't like as much. My prediction is the older the survey taker, the more they will like thriller genres such as psychological thrillers, drama thriller and crime thrillers, in contrast the thriller such as action thrillers. This is because these types of thrillers are in general more interesting and require more attention to detail, in comparison to mainstream action thriller films.

The third question very simply asks the survey taker if they watch short films or not, so I get a good guess of how many of the survey takers actually watch short films, or if they do not.

The next question follows up to question 3 and asks the taker what their favourite sub-genre of thriller is. The options are between Crime-thriller, Drama-thriller, Neo-noir thriller, Sci-fi thriller, Action-thriller and lastly Psychological thriller. This question will help me to identify the most popular sub-genre of thriller among my target audience, and will ultimately tell me the sub-genre of thriller I could pursue, and the one the audience would want to see the most. It will also tell me the least desired sub-genre of thriller and this would be the one I am least likely to produce, as a result.

The 5th question asks the taker to justify their selection of their favourite sub-genre of thriller. This is just so I can get a more detailed understanding as to why they like this particular sub-genre of thriller, whether it's due to specific conventions, features, actors, themes and so on. I can then utilise this in my short film, having to the knowledge of what specific audiences like about certain types of thriller films.

The 6th question is all about the gender of lead character. I felt this would be necessary as it will help me determine if I should get a male or a female to play my lead character, and one that would help to satisfy the audience. There is also an option for 'Not Sure', this would mean the audience don't mind a female or male lead and so I could cast either.

The next question asks the survey taker to justify themselves on why they prefer this gender as the lead character.

The 8th question directly asks the survey taker what they think makes a thriller film more effective. Whether they respond the lighting, direction, themes and ideas, tense sound design, exciting sequences, good acting, it will help me in understanding what audiences like to see in thriller films. Such as, if 605 of the takers think that the sound is what makes thriller films more effective, I will focus more of my attention to the sound aspect of my short film, when it comes to the production and post-production stage.

The last question simply asks the taker if they would be interested in my idea, which is at the moment about crime and abduction within taxi cabs. This is so that I gain a direct insight into whether or not people want to see my idea come to life as a short film.

Short Film Primary Research #10- 'A New Beginning'

The last short film I will be researching and analysing is 'A New Beginning', which is another student piece produced for their A2 coursework.

I think that this short film had very sharp, professional cinematography that made it look like a real film. The colour grading was also sharp, and along with the neatly filmed footage, they have produced very clean and respectable aesthetics for their short film. The short film was therefore more enjoyable to watch due to the fact it looks very nice on-screen. In the opening sequence when the main character is walking towards the camera and talking to his associate, the colour correction is very clean and crisp and makes the short film look substantially well made. The way they filmed it is also good because the framing is carefully selected and what is in the middle of the frame is constantly changing, relating to what is important on screen. Such as, when the new villain comes into the scene, he walks over to be in the centre of the frame, making the audience focus on him.

There is also a good mixture between diegetic and non-diegetic audio. There is audio of footsteps and leaves crushing whilst the person is treading in the woods, whilst over this is a suitable, spy based piece of soundtrack that helps add to the story and narrative. This mixture of audio types is good and it makes the students more weary of what makes their scene more compelling and appropriate in terms of keeping the audience interested in the action on-screen.

However, a criticism I have on this short film is the final fight scene seems very choreographed. However, pulling off a successful and realistic looking fight scene in an amature short film is very hard to do, and what they ended up having is still considerably good.  They also have used a good range of diegetic sound effects that makes the fight scene look a bit more appealing and realistic.

There also isn't much storytelling and narrative occurring, but the style they use and relatively rich content helps make up for this. Overall this is a good short film that is filmed very well and is also edited and colour corrected to a high standard.

Short Film Primary Research #9 - 'SOLUS'

'SOLUS' is an A2 produced short film by some students. The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic world and follows one man who is a survivor looking for help and other survivors.

I think this short film does a great job in implying and suggesting the realm of loneliness and zombie infested world the protagonist is living in. This is done through the use of sound effects, dips to black, character emotions and so on. For example, the short film utilises stock sound effects fairly well and makes for a good, eerie zombie world with realistic zombie sounds. This makes for a more respectable zombie short film because of the well selected sound effects.

The mise-en-scene is also considerably good and equally effective; all locations are made to look abandoned and post-apocalyptic. Such as, the male protagonist is walking along the side of a road and everything around him looks dead and bleak. This is done well and it makes the tone of the film more believable. because the mise-en-scene adds to the theme of isolation in the short film. There is also a scene where the protagonist is investigating a dead body in a run-down area. The grass is long and looks like it has been un-kept for years. This is also good location scouting and selection because the area very much suits the idea and characteristics of the short film well.

The cinematography in this short film is also carefully shot and meets the conventions regarding post-apocalyptic zombie films. Such as, 'SOLUS' has a large amount of hand-held footage. This is quite a common convention of such genre films and it makes the film look more personal,and connects to the audience more due to the fact that the camera presents a more personal relationship between the character and the audience. However not all the film is shot using hand-held. there is also a mix of tripod shots that are in a fixed position. They change appropriately and mainly use fixed shots to help establish locations and character actions.

The short film also has a good soundtrack that helps engage the audience with differing points of action, whether its's shock, danger, emotion and so on. Such as, a very tense, danger themed soundtrack plays over whilst the character opens the garage door expecting to find danger. This is suitable non-diegetic audio that perfectly meets the content on screen; being danger and suspense. Similarly, in times the character is in despair and a miracle has happened, such as when the helicopter appears and supposedly rescues the protagonist, an uplifting, heroic piece of soundtrack plays. This would suggests the character has experienced things and gone through them in the worst of ways, but is now being rescued and he deserves it as he is a heroic character, which is reflected in the tone of the music that plays over the sequence.

Overall 'SOLUS' is a good A2 student short film that utilises conventions well and mixes non-diegetic and diegetic audio to create a sustained realm of post-apocalyptic action.

Short Film Primary Research #8 - 'Wolf'

'Wolf' is another A level student film I have watched and have now come to review. The short film was made as a psychological thriller and is loosely based around the fable of Little Red Riding Hood. The short film is about a girl who is walking in the woods by herself and then when she goes to her Grandma's only to realise something even more sinister is occurring.

I think that the settings and locations in this short film are great and they give the film a sense of realism. Especially the house near the end, the basement they were in was well chosen and it represents the tone that they were looking for very well.

The use of long shots are quite good as they establish the large, deserted forest that the girl is walking through. There is also a tilt shot that reveals the house the girl is about to enter, I thought this was a good choice of camera angle as it makes the house look very empty and large compared to the girl.

The colour pallet and lighting in this short film is also very crisp and clean, it once again adds to the realism aspect of this short film, whilst she is walking through the forest all of the colours seem spot on.

I very much liked the ending title sequence. The font used is the same font as in hit American TV show 'American Horror Story' and I think that it suits the short film very well, given that the font is striking and creepy, just like this short film.

Short Film Primary Research #7 - 'Exposed'

'Exposed' is a short film made and directed by AS student Harvey Wise. The films plot revolves around a young photographer who goes into the woods, and whilst taking pictures he unknowingly captures a figure wearing a gas mask. The gas mask then starts to appear in his very home, causing the character to become paranoid and then he has to dispose of the mask somehow. The effects become more sinister, and the last shot is of the character burying it with the figure jump scaring us all at the end.

The film utilises the theme of the missing 'mask' man well, and so the titular villain remains a big mystery through the short film. Such as, after we see the masked man in two frames the photographer takes, the protagonist walks past a missing persons sign, which we as the audience can only assume is the masked villain. This is a nice, clever little plot twist/development that the viewers can then get drawn into.

The short film also sustains a very good use of audio and sound design. Each sound effect for every diegetic piece of audio sounds very good and respectable. That's the main thing that establishes this short film's technical quality, is the audio. Such as, the opening shot of the wind chimes and it's diegetic sound in the first 10 seconds, had me in an extremely engaged state of mind. The sounds of the birds in the background too, all the small things and details that make the opening shots so mesmerising for the audience, which I found at least. And then after this you have the shot of the tap and the clock, simple shots with effective diegetic audio can be very engaging when done well, like in this short film.

Another thing the short film does very well is the cinematography and its use of almost black and white scenes such as when the male character is in the woods. I believe this semi black and white lighting was done to help achieve a more sinister, paranoid and bleaker mood whilst the character is in the woods, given the fact that the woods is where the main thrills and mystery take place. The use of over-the-shoulder shots in this short film are very good and I think that they were used to try and create a more up close relationship with the protagonist, given that the camera is handheld during the shot. In general the camera shots and movement is very well done in this short film and I would aspire to have my short film look something like this on-screen.

I am also going to use this short film as inspiration for my film's sound design, as this ones was done very well and creates an atmospheric mood which I would like to try and reciprocate.

Short Film Primary Research #6 - 'Mirror'- Mystery/Thriller

'Mirror' is a 2013 mystery/thriller short film made by students in America.

The way the film opens is particularly engaging. It opens with a black screen, with loud, diegetic sounds of a phone ringing aggressively. After about 5 seconds of this, the title 'Mirror' pops up in the middle of the screen. Then, an establishing shot of the phone ringing appears on screen. It has been cleverly edited so that each time the camera moves closer to the phone, the diegetic sound of the phone ringing gets louder and louder. This achieves a tenser, more mysterious tone to the film as it heavily puts emhpasis on this phone, and it makes the audience question why it is ringing and who is calling. 

The film has also been shot and presented in black and white. I think that for this short film, it is appropriate as well as effective. The film only takes place within the characters bedroom, so the fact that is it in black and white the mood of the film gets more mysterious due to this decision. When we first see the character, he is shot from a medium shot and is sitting on the floor, with his head in his arms, looking filled with despair and confusion. This medium shot has been done to introduce us to the character, as well as showing to us his struggles and his brink of insanity due to these phone calls. 

This short film also incorporates elements of neo-noir thriller. This can be seen at 55 seconds into the short film, when a shot of well lighted, white blinds are in the middle of the frame. The character then walks up to them and looks through them, only to be interrupted by the phone ringing. These blinds and this action can represent entrapment, the character is trapped in this room and trapped under the threat of the phone caller. This is similar to how they did in older more traditional neo-noir thriller films. 

Also, I think that the sound design for the person speaking on the phone has been done well. It sounds muffled and quiter, making it sound genuine that someone is speaking on the phone. This adds to the craft of the film and makes it more realistic for the viewers. 

The cinematography in general is very good, using constant shots that make the main character look distressed and weak, and also showcasing his virge on losing his sanity, e.g long shots that show him frantically walking around the room as well as shouting over the telephone. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK-jsIanlGM

Short Film Primary Research #5 - 'Substance' - Drama

'Substance' is a 2013 drama short film directed by Ben Green. The film revolves around a concerned friend regarding his drunk, alcoholic female friend. This problem is extremely upsetting for the sober friend and the short film represents her struggle towards this. The film is also fairly engaging as it is tackling a widespread, worldwide problem of alcoholism within young people and young adults.

The film opens with a series of ambient, establishing shots of scenery, and furniture inside the house to try and establish a mood and a sense of setting. I think this has been done particularly well because of the additional non-diegetic piano score playing over it. It makes for a soft, peaceful tone that makes for contradiction when the drunk girl comes falling through the front door, because it happens very suddenly and dramatically and it contradicts to a considerable extent the soft, ambient shots that played before.

The film incorporates many close up shots of the sober friend carrying and helping the struggling drunk friend. This has been done in order to emphasise on the relationship between the two, and also to show the pain caused to the sober friend because of the drunk girl's sheer drinking problem. The non-diegetic piano score also escalates at this point to try and create an emotionally charged tone as much as possible.  This makes for a more explicit connection between the two. This can be expressed the most at 4:01, the sober friend is looking extremely upset whilst the drunk friend is in her current state.

The lighting for the short film is also on the whole natural lighting. This results in the cinematography for the short film look sharp and realistic. I believe this was done to make the film look as natural as possible, linking back to its main theme of alcoholism within young people. This also can be supported by a lot of diegetic sound being used in the short film, to try and create tension between the characters by focusing on the diegetic sound that they're saying together, not focusing on much else.

It's also worthy to note how the sober female friend is being portrayed by a male actor, who is also the director. However I think that this choice of casting turned out really well. The makeup work and costume is good, making his character look genuine and feminine. I also think that this choice of casting could have been done to challenge conventions and rules regarding genders in films. They didn't want to be confined by only having two girls play the female characters in the short film, so they branched out and chose to use a male actor to play one of the female friends, which is good and it works well.

An understanding of some Regulations and Restrictions

During my production and planning process for my chosen brief, there will be some regulations and restrictions that I will have to follow.

One regulation could be the area that I shoot my short film in. If I choose to shoot somewhere where I don't necessarily have permission to film in, this may cause some problems. This is a regulation I have to abide, and I can't turn up on the day and start shooting if I don't have the necessary permissions and entitlements. As a result, I plan to shoot in locations I know I have the permission to do so and is not necessarily owned by someone, so I can film things for as long as it may take.

Another restriction I have to understand is what equipment and what camera I will use to shoot my film. As high quality DSLR cameras are fairly expensive, shooting with one of these it out of my reach. I could ask to borrow one of my friends but I'm fairly inexperienced when it comes to using DSLR cameras, so I will most likely be using a camera from our school's facilities. Furthermore, I'm fairly restricted as to how I can record sound and audio for my short film. I do not currently own a microphone, and the built in mic on the school's cameras won't be quality enough to produce professional audio for a short film. Therefore, I will be using my phone to record audio for my short film. This option is reasonable and will produce fine audio for the short film.

Another restriction I have is the budget for my short film. As it is a short film made for school and education purposes, the budget being very low comes naturally. This means I will have to stay realistic when it comes to the planning process. There will be no need in planning to film things that are too ambitious and large in scale, so that when it comes to film it I realise I can't. Therefore I need to stay realistic and respect the very low budget I have!

Short Film Primary Research #4 - 'Cognition'

'Cognition' is another example of a students short film from this year in May. Although there is little dialogue, I still think it's fairly effective in being a thriller short film.

To start, the definite highlight of this student short film is the sound design. The use of non-diegetic sound is very effective throughout this short film. Whilst watching it, I felt compelled by it mainly due to the ambient sound playing in the background; it was very well selected and it fits the subject on screen well.  It makes the At 4 minutes and 22 seconds in, the non-diegetic sound suddenly escalates to an even more sinister tone, and along with the very dark colours on screen, it really fits in with the subject and makes the mood of the short film compelling and thrilling, to a certain extent. Along with the sound design, the cinematography was quite respectable and I think whoever established the lighting and camerawork did a great job.

One thing I didn't like too much was the voice over at the beginning. Not necessarily because I didn't feel like it fit in with the film, but I found some of the lines to be quite out of sync with the rest of what he is saying. I felt like this let the voice-over/monologue down, it could of been better and would of added to the short film's quality.

Overall I think this was a fairly good and respectable A2 thriller short film, it is very well filmed, lighted, and the plot is intriguing to an extent. It serves a thrilling atmosphere to the audience which is what it should do as a thriller short film.

Short Film Primary Research #3 - 'The Prowling'

This is a student example of a thriller short film that I have recently wanted, 'The Prowling', this short film was the end result of some students A2 media coursework.

I feel like this short film has some positives but then also some negatives. One positive being it was filmed quite well, a tripod was used effectively and there was also some interesting and appropriate uses of POV shots, such as when the stalker is coming up the stairs in the house.

One negative I found with this short film is that there were some questionable editing decisions. For example, the scene would straight-cut to another shot of basically the same action, or just a split second apart. Such as when the girl is at the cupboard taking out a glass, there are about 5 different shots in this even though the full action would only take about 6 seconds, and most of the shots are basically the same. This was just something I picked out on and was wondering if it was really necessary.

One more positive thing I found was that the sound design was fairly good throughout, I liked the subtle background music to add to the suspense of the short film, however the sudden sound effect every time the stalker came on screen may have been overused, although when it was used for the first time it was effective.

I do like the plot for this short film, although you could argue it is very cliche and it's very common within student short films.

Short Film Primary Research #2 - 'Echoes'

'Echoes' is a 2015 thriller short film made in Canada. The film's main theme revolves around mental illness and perhaps how overdosing on pills can affect your life psychologically. The film was written and directed by Christian Doran.

The great thing about this short film is how fresh and intriguing its concept is; the way the girl has a different self in the mirror is fascinating and the way the story unravels with the twist at the end is fantastic. A short film that has a story-line and beginning this exciting will definitely entice the audience into watching and enjoying the whole short film.

What I love about this short film is the excellent cinematography, the composition of the shots are all well thought out, along with the fact that the lighting changes appropriately throughout the short film. From 24 seconds in to about 36 seconds, there is a montage of the main girl walking through the streets, I found this to be beautifully shot and edited, resulting in an absorbing viewing experience that will draw you in as the viewer, even though you are less than 40 seconds into the short film. The direction is also on a high level. The director Christian Doran clearly knew what he wanted with this short film and it is reflected in the quality of the scenes, ideas and execution.

Despite 'Echoes' is a superb thriller short film, I won't be using this one as inspiration for my one. Mainly due to that I'm not using similar themes or ideas for my short film like the ones in this one.

Short Film Primary Research #1 - 'Closed Doors'

My first piece of primary research of thriller short films lead me to 'Closed Doors', which is an award winning short film from 2011, written and directed by James Button, a student in Wales.

I thought this short thriller film was excellent. There are various reasons for this, the main one being that I found the cinematography and editing were of a very high quality. Each shot in this short film looks very clean visually, and the way they handled close ups and extreme close-ups was also very good, in addition to the camera movement also being very clean. Such as, there was a shot at 1:07 where the camera tracks to the right which reveals a glass on a table, and the way the glass comes into focus looks very good on screen.The editing was also very smooth; watching this film really draws you in as the viewer due to the subject on screen and how well the footage flows together.

Furthermore, the lighting throughout this short film was consistently effective. The use of low key lighting establishes the darker tone that the director was trying to get. As the plot for this thriller short film is serious and dark, the lighting and shadows exhibit this very well.

As for the story line and narrative for this short film, I also really like it. The plot explores how past experiences and forms of paranoia can affect your life now and affect you psychologically. This is seen by how the protagonist keeps looking at the photograph and seems to look uncomfortable; then towards the end of the film we see his dad in the photo, perhaps the dad scarred the family for life in an event in the character's past. I think this is a good premise for a short film, because whilst you are watching the story unravel it is all ambiguous and the audience are in the dark on exactly what is happening. This short film has an effective social message about paranoia and I think it was executed considerably well in this short film.

Even though this is the first thriller short film I have researched, I will use this short film as a reference to mine. I would be very happy if I was able to produce a short film like this one, and I may be thinking about this one when it comes to planning and production.

What Genre am I looking to work with?

A main, essential aspect of my Short Film is the Genre it belongs to. Without the genre of my Short Film decided, it will be hard for me to continue development and plan a story-line and what type of characters there will be. However once I have my genre sorted and finalised, I will then know what kind of things to include in my Short Film and the conventions I'll either have to follow or try to advert away from.

Here are the possible genres I could work in and my thoughts about them:

Action: Action is a genre that is widely loved all round the world, and definitely one of the most popular genres in Hollywood and audiences around the globe. However for my Short Film, to take on the action genre would be difficult and unrealistic, as to pull off successful action, you need to have the necessary budget and production value, also action would take a lot of planning and the execution would need to be correct in order for it to succeed. This is why I believe it's best to avoid the action genre for a short film of this scale; I don't have the necessary skills and resources to make a professional action Short Film.

Thriller: Thriller is my most favorable choice of genre to work in. The main reason behind this is because of after working in the thriller genre for all of my AS level coursework, I now feel I have a greater understanding of the way it works and what exactly audiences expect to see when they are watching a thriller film/short film. So, if I decided to produce a thriller Short Film, I would feel confident in knowing what I need to do, such as the ways in which I film it and go around the sound design. This genre is also realistic and achievable, even a small concept of thriller can turn out promising if the execution and planning behind it was sufficient. I am confident in this genre for my short film and will most likely carry it forward to the planning and production, and will also take into account when researching past short films.

Romance: Another genre that would be possible for me to do in my short film. However, the time frame I have of 5 minutes, may make a romance short film harder to achieve. There isn't enough time to build up and present the romance for it to seem respectable, in the space of 5 minutes it would seem rushed and unnecessary.

Horror: The last genre that I was considering to do was a horror. I'm very interested in the horror genre and it is one of my favourite genres, due to the fact that horror that is very well executed and has intelligence behind it can make for extremely good entertainment. For my 5 minute short film, horror would seem like a challenging, but good genre to work with. I think that the main challenge is how I would carry out the horror element of it. In the space of 5 minutes what would be the best way to scare you audience? It may be the case of building up a dark, brooding mood for the 5 minutes or you could go right ahead and add in a jump scare to engage and scare the audience. However you go about it, your short film would need to make the audience feel fear to make the horror short film do its job.

To conclude, I am choosing to make my short film in the genre of Thriller. At the moment it's the genre I feel most comfortable with and feel confident to carry out research and planning for the genre of thriller. My sub-genre is most likely to be a Crime-thriller, or if not a Psychological-thriller or horror-thriller.

Secondary Research into Short Films

'Short films come in all shapes and sizes, forms and formalities. Animation, documentary, narrative.'- Sundance.org 

This is Sundance's main definition of short film and it they keep it simple. As I have previously known, short films mainly come under narrative, documentary and animation. Narrative, meaning a fictional story is being told in the short film, is the form of short film I will be pursuing. Documentary, fairly straight forward means a short film being presented in the form of a documentary styled film. Lastly, animation style is also fairly obvious as to what style of short film it is. 

So what's the purpose of short films? 

'Fueled by artistic expression and limited only by their runtime, short films transcend traditional storytelling. They are a significant and popular way artists can connect with audiences. From documentary to animation, narrative to experimental, the abbreviated form is no longer just for the novice. Shorts have and will continue to be an important part of cinema, storytelling, and culture'. -Sundance.org

This is Sundance's official description and summary of short films. I think 'Fueled by artistic expression and limited only by their runtime' is a fantastic phrase to represent short films, because indeed, short films can be extremely expressive in ideas and emotion, despite the fact they are limited by minutes in runtime. In addition to this, 'They are a significant and popular way artists can connect with audiences.' I like this phrase too as many short films do have a respectably deep connection with certain audience types as the short film would explore ideas and feelings that many people in the audiences can relate to on a sentimental level. This is often why short films reach out to people the most and why certain short films really have an impact upon certain audiences. 'Shorts have and will continue to be an important part of cinema, storytelling, and culture.' Furthermore I think that this is a true statement as short films do definitely have an impact upon storytelling, due to their diversity and range of methods of storytelling. They also impact cinema in a way as such certain short films can set the standards in terms of storytelling and filmmaking, due to the large amount of creativity and thought behind them. 

Why I have chosen to do a Short Film

For my coursework I have chosen to create a 5 minute Short Film, instead of doing the music video, advert or digi-pack.

The main reason behind this is because I have experience when it comes to film production, this is primarily due to our AS coursework thriller film opening 'Oblivious' and working on recreational short films in the past. I feel fairly confident when it comes to shooting a film by myself, having minimal help from others, and also the editing process shouldn't be too much of a challenge as I have some experience using Adobe After Effects.

I also feel that by doing a Short Film you are more free; it could be about anything and you have many different genres to work with. The idea of having creative freedom when it comes to the planning and production process interested me more over the other briefs.

Furthermore, I am very interested in films and they are one of my main hobbies, which is why I would love to be the director/writer and producer of this project, and it enables me full control over what is happening with the Short Film. I am excited to start planning and creating the film once the research section is complete.