Introduction
Chosen Medium
I chose to create a Short Film, because I wanted to explore my cinematic abilities, within film making and my style of visuals and aesthetics.
Synopsis
'In Dreams' is the short film I created about a 16-year-old girl, called May, who has just received the devastating news, that her Father is missing. Heartbroken, due to not knowing where her Dad is and if he is alive or not, May starts having dreams about him. The dreams are supposedly a coping mechanism for the young girl, who wants to believe her Father is ok. In her dreams they talk to one another and go on walks together, things they always used to do during her childhood, which is evident through a montage of home footage from her childhood, in which she appears with her Sister and Father, before she has her first dream. May’s older Sister, Holly who has brief appearances throughout the film is also devastated by the news, but she doesn’t want to reveal her fragileness and tries to stay strong for her younger Sister, although there are hints that Holly may not be coping so well, such as the shot of her crying in her bedroom, unknown to her that May is watching. The displays several dreams May has about her Father being in her presence, however, there is one dream in which he doesn’t appear. Whilst she is in this dream/nightmare, she looks for him frantically, worrying that she may never get to see her Father again, in the real world or in her dreams. This makes her feel very sad and she begins to cry. As she wakes tears flood her eyes, but they soon turn to tears of Joy, as she looks up to see her Dad standing there, ready to give her a hug.
Chosen Brief
The narrative of ‘In Dreams’ follows the development of the main character May, as she adapts to seeing her Father, only in her Dream and not in the real world. This helps her to cope with the circumstance, until she has nightmare, a nightmare he because her Dad doesn’t appear, leaving her devastated with the belief that she’ll never see her Father again, in the real world nor in her Dreams.
Intentions/Aims
‘In Dreams’ was created with quite a few intentions I considered for the film, the first one being, to make the audience feel empathy for May and her Sister. I tried to do this by using some over the shoulder shots, to place the audience into the position of the characters and add more elements that show the character true feelings, to the narrative, such as Holly not coping as well as she is willing to show/reveal. I wanted the film to be sweet and simple, so it wouldn’t come across as over-the-top. I think the decision to do a Silent Film and include no dialogue, enhances the audience’s focus on the visual and aesthetic style of the film, which is what I want them to do.
The short was created to express the genre of surrealism, along with experimental features of sound, cinematography and mise-en-scene. The intended target audience for this film are those who appreciate creativity and experimental more than the narrative and enjoy trying to work out what the plot is about, without being constantly spoon-fed information like mainstream cinema does.
Short Film Research
Films researched
Whilst preparing for the production of ‘In Dreams’, I studied 5 other Short Films which I have listed here. Swimmer (Ramsay, UK, 2012) 18, La Jetée (Marker, France, 1962) 28, Curfew (Christensen, US 2012) 19, Meshes in the Afternoon (Deren US, 1946) 14.
Short Films Analysis
The first short film I researched was Swimmer, directed by Lynne Ramsey. This short film appears to contain some interesting and intriguing, experimental, cinematic techniques and the mise-en-scene is displayed in black and white. It begins with an ‘Establishing Shot’ and in the mise-en-scene there is a sea of water at the bottom, with waves dipping below the frame and sky at the top of the frame. The camera capturing this shot seems to be floating, even though it is likely to be hand-held or possibly stabilized. The shot places the audience on top of the water to make them feel like they are floating. The frame begins to sink, beneath the waves into darkness and the cinematography becomes more intriguing, as the camera glide slowly forwards, like a Swimmer would, placing the audience into the point-of-view of one. Throughout Swimmer there are many shots that contain either panning, tilting, tracking or zooming, which is effective cinematography as it is eye catching. The influence I took from this film was it use of cinematic techniques, of continuous camera movement in each shot, which I found captivating and provided the film an element of fascination.
The second short film I analysed was Le Jetée, which was created in 1962, by director, Chris Marker. The narrative of Le Jetée, is told through a voice-over and a series of still images, telling the story of a man who is experimented on and sent to live in past many times where he falls in love with a woman. Every shot is a photograph, with the exception to one, showcased in the middle of film, in which the female character is lying in bed. This moving image adds element of creepiness, as it is unexpected and the only moving image there is. It is so unexpected that some viewers miss it first time. Apart from shot the cinematography remains still throughout, this short film. I like the surrealistic elements and storyline of this film.
Curfew, directed by Shawn Christensen in 2012, was the third short film I evaluated. This film explores the development of the main character, Richie, as he goes from wanting to end his life, by committing suicide, to learning he has more to live for then he realised. The film begins with a shot of a red telephone accompanied by the diegetic sound of it ringing and non-diegetic sound of classical music, which provides a dramatic affect.
