Short Film Genres

3 types of Short Film genres:

Single Genre: A dominant, important category.

Romance:



Me & You by Jack Tew

This short film is based on a relationship, and it explores it day by day from when the couple first hang out from a birds eye view from on top of their bedroom ceiling. The film shows the highs and lows of the relationship in a montage of linear scenes, and of them doing different activities, watching movies together, playing video games and taking stupid polaroids and sticking them on their wall. By doing couple things in one single location, this explores how just one room can be important in a relationship, through the film, the room gets more cluttered, things get thrown on the floor, clothes get chucked around and the whole room gets messy to a point they fight over it. You see a Todorovian narrative, with an Equilibrium- Getting together, Climax - them arguing over an untidy room and Resolution - a break up, and the guy cleans his room all over again. 

Sub-Genre: More specific with recognisable characteristics.

Film Noir:



The Pavement by Taylor Engel

In this film it starts at the end, where the man is on the pavement, he then says 'the night' and a brief shot of a couple, 'those eyes' a woman's eyes, 'the glass' a shimmer of broken glass, 'the red' blood, 'the smoke' a man breathing out smoke, 'those lips', the woman's lips, 'a touch' her hands on his chest, 'the breeze' his hair blowing in the wind and 'the pavement' a POV shot as if he was falling down on to the street below. The voice over in this film has a very husky and mysterious voice, with an odd and eerie piece of instrumental music, this creates a darkness. The music increases in pace as the film increases in pace, and the man recollects more of the memory of what happened in the night. More dialogue and sound comes in, as the film progresses and the man keeps going back, remembering more and more each time. The whole film is set in black and white, which has a mystery about it, as the film doesn't establish who the characters are, they are in a room, the man who comes through the door is the voiceover's brother, who catches his wife having an affair, but who are they? What do they do? Where do they live? This film had me asking many questions whilst watching it, so referring to Rick Altman's theory, The Pavement gives off a Visceral pleasure, due to it being like a rollercoaster ride whilst watching it. Like the ride in the pitch black at Thorpe Park, which goes backwards when you lease expect it.

Hybrid Genre: A combination of a major genres to create a niche genre.

Dramadey:

 

Dotty by Mick Andrews & Brett O'Gorman

This short film is about about an elderly lady who is in a care home, who wants to write a wee text to her daughter but doesn't know how to use her mobile phone. The film is a mix of Drama and Comedy, as the drama is built up when Dotty asks her carer if she can help her compose a text message (1:57), and it is also emotionally heart wrenching because Dotty sounds choked when she asks, as if she's going to cry. The film has comedic elements, like the man walking around the garden on his frame, at the beginning and throughout, showing the time passing as Dotty and her carer are composing the text message. The audience take an emotional pleasure from the film, in the words of Rick Altman's theory, and the reviews of this film on Short Of The Week fit to the emotional pleasure theory.

Generic Themes & Conventions:

This short film is called Teeth by John Kennedy & Ruairí O'Brien and its genre is Comedy. The two men are on a lake, having a fishing trip, and one man loses his false teeth into the lake. His friend then catches a giant fish, takes his own false teeth out, and puts them in the fishes mouth, then his buddy in the boat along with him tries his teeth in and chucked them in to his friends disgust.

Mise En Scene/Visual Style: 
In the short film there are a few props used, they include Flat caps to create the look of the two old Irish lads, going on a fishing trip together. False teeth, which two sets are needed in the film, as the first man coughs and they fall out, and are accidentally knocked into the lake along with the second man's later in the film. The big fish and all the fishing equipment are a big part of the film, including the boat as thats where the whole film is set. The lighting in natural in the film, as it is set outdoors on a lake. It is also high key, as you can see the sun shining brightly during the film. By having a high key lighting in a black and white film, the sun makes the characters facial features brighter and more of their face is seen, so in this film, the old lads' features are defined, such as a rugged face and wrinkles. The costume is typical elderly Irish gentlemen, the flat cap and smart shirts with knitted jumpers. 

There are a variety of shot type in this film. It opens on an establishing shot of the lake and the surrounding mountains, where you can see the boat in the centre of the shot but very zoomed out. There are lots of two shots of the men, and the juxtaposition of the two show they are old friends. A shot with a silhouette of the two, is the first real shot the camera establishes the men, this is a nice introduction to the story. Over the shoulder shots help show reaction of the men, as there is no dialogue in the film, facial expressions and responses are key. Also the black and white colouring of the film helps express emotion in such a brilliant way. When the man smiles at his friends expense, it connotes he has such a jolly sense of humour and it a warmhearted and not-so-serious character. The tilt up when the man is holding the fish, helps show his reaction to his brilliant idea to help try and amuse his friend, this deadpan comedy is show through moments in the film like this. The film is very continuity focused, as the two men do not switch sides as the shots are taking place, they are always on the left or right of the camera.

Typical types of Narrative:

There is a typical Todorovian narrative in this film, the man loses his teeth, his friend puts them in the fishes mouth, the man who lost them takes his friends and puts them in his mouth, realises they aren't his and chucks them in the water. The film is simple and easily executed to the audience, it is very simple and deadpan. If there was any more depth to the story, it would be too much backstory for the audience to comprehend, and there isn't any backstory needed.

Typical Representation:

The guy who loses his teeth's friend is such a charming character, who is a troublemaker but in a ridiculously funny way. He is in some way a an antagonist who gets in the way of helping the man to get his teeth back, but he is a good friend to the man, and even gives him a lend of his own teeth. The original man who lost his teeth is very withdrawn and not really up for a laugh, so his grouchy persona doesn't laugh, or try to make any type of joke out of the situation.

Typical Editing Style/Reoccuring Camera Techniques:

The cutting in this short film is when things happen and the reaction of the other person is shown. This allows the audience to see the friendship between the two men, because of the reactions to one another's misfortune. The montage of a variety of shots when his friend tries to pull the fish into the boat, show how hard it is to catch a fish, with lots of jump cuts to the man himself, the net, the outside of the boat, to show the whole situation and what is happening in that simple moment.


Themes:

One clear theme in this film is friendship, the two men are aged, and have obviously grown up together, as lots of old Irish men have, been friends since young ages and remained friends for years and years. They are on a fishing trip so obviously enjoy each others company. Comedies often use friendships as a theme, because they are the be all and end all of taking each others funny experience to their own expense and making a joke out of it. Another key theme in this film is Revenge, when the man throws his friend's teeth into the water, this is ridiculously funny and gives his friend a taste of his own medicine.