AICEMediaStudies

 EXT. FOREST - EVENING A GROUP OF TEENAGERS (5) are on a camping trip in a supposedly haunted area of the forest suddenly find themselves lost. They are all relatively close together as they walk, surrounded by the one holding a lantern. GREG Does anyone know the way back to the camp? The camera cuts to the one holding the lantern. RORY I don’t know, but it’s getting dark. The group contemplates on which direction to go, being suddenly interrupted by a twig snapping. Rory spins to look at the source of the rustling. ALCIBIADES It was just a rabbit. RORY Phew. CUT TO: EXT. FOREST - NIGHT The sun is setting and it is getting noticeably darker. GREG It’s getting a little too late to find the camp.  Maybe we should consider setting up camp around here and wait until a mentor comes to look for us. PABLO With what supplies?? GREG I have a makeshift tent and some cooking supplies in my survival pack. RORY Wait. We’re actually gonna camp out in the middle of the woods? GREG Do you have any bet

  In order to learn more about the short film creation process, I watched a YouTube video. The video outlines some of the basics.  The video was decently useful for some friendly reminders before I start making my film. He gave me some ideas to improve my storyboarding at the beginning and also how to come up with ideas. I decided to look at his past short films and they all look pretty good. I also was wondering though, how many people he expects to be working on these. With everything he is saying, it seems like this was meant for people with a budget. Because I basically have no budget, I was looking for tips on how to make a good movie without the cost. Also, the materials he shows are very high quality. I maybe wanted to know about lower quality sets as I cannot move a camera on a dolly etc. I like his points at being smart with your decisions, however. Such as that you should be careful with what actors you choose because of time frames and also their abilities. I don't know

 Conventions within the film: This film has a constant flow of dramatic tension. There are several times where there is a build up of ambient sound as the main character’s fear level rises. After this build up, however, it returns to silence.  The use of car sounds creates a sense of dread for the audience. They directly reflected the amount of tension present in the scene. The constant click of the reverse blinker represents a rise in the tense atmosphere from the silence that was broken. There are various shots from the backup camera of the car. This is because there are some things that only the camera picks up. It gives off the feeling that the camera is more alive than just a camera, with it having its own viewpoint. When all of the car sound effects occur at once, the suspense is at its maximum. There is a car alarm and a frequent change of camera angles with constant cuts. The shot lingers on the blinking lights of the seat overlay to express the main character’s disbelief at wh

 

 Conventions within the film: Use of silence throughout beginning scenes. No non-diegetic sounds increases the feeling of emptiness with small diegetic sounds breaking the silence occasionally. The long pauses between any sound also contribute to this feeling. Long takes with no camera movement. These are used to drag out scenes and make the scene feel mundane or even painful at times. During some of these scenes, the camera is placed in a stagnant location. These out of the way locations are reminiscent of security cameras or something similar. One shot in particular is on a shelf at a low angle, putting the audience in that position as if they were watching from that shelf. The pace is slow throughout, but towards the middle and end more things begin to happen at once than before. Sounds such as the music player constantly echoing in the scene give more of a feeling of dread that something bad will happen. After that scene there are more ambient sounds typically heard in horror movie

  Conventions within the film: Often cuts to new camera angles. The camera is positioned either inside the booth to show how small the space is, or outside portraying how vast and empty the area around the booth is. Eyeline matches of the main character looking out the window to see what they are seeing.  When he opens the window, the camera starts outside the booth. Then it slowly zooms in on the man until it is right where the window used to be. This represents the two areas, inside and outside, converging.  When he is looking up from under the desk, the camera is panning upward at a low angle, still staying true to the eyeline match. The sudden sound of the couple walking by disrupts the tense atmosphere with only non-diegetic ambient sound and heavy breathing up until that point.  The use of the window is mainly to portray safety throughout the film. The scene with the window opening is the part where the man is the least safe. He is also the most fearful for himself in this scene