Evaluation

Comparison with professional short films

Evaluate and analyse your short film in relation to the professionally produced set short films

In my short film, I didn’t heavily use aspects from the professional short films that were given to me because I wanted to try something different. However, I did use some aspects from certain short films because when I watched them, they did give me some ideas to form my final idea for my short film ‘Procrastination’. Firstly, In the short film Slap, there were certain scenes where there was no diegetic sounds, just non diegetic sounds to create this atmosphere and tone of disturbance and anger, especially the last scene when he wouldn’t stop beating up his opponent . This showed how difficult it was for him trying to be a transgender in a difficult world as he was struggling to get acceptance from his peers when they found out. I used this idea in my short film but the tone and atmosphere that I created through having scenes where you could only hear non–diegetic music and very faint diegetic was way different. These were for scenes where I would be doing activities that would suit the music eg. The lazy song for sleeping, Glue for exercising etc. The atmosphere and tone I created through doing this was laziness and distraction. This is because the music matched what I was doing in the scenes because I was acting as a teenager who is lazy and was doing anything I could to procrastinate doing my work and the music I put behind certain scenes really helped me create that tone and atmosphere.

In The Fly, the message of the film is to stay calm in tricky situations and don’t get distracted by the littlest things otherwise you end up doing something that's bad or that you’re not supposed to. I used this message in my short film because the task was getting the work done but I got distracted by gaming, exercise, playing with my dog etc. Which is what i wasn’t supposed to be doing and the outcome of stalling it and being tired was bad. This is similar to The Fly because he was the getaway driver which was his task but ended up getting distracted by a fly and tried to kill it which ended up him ruining the whole operation and getting arrested which is bad.

In the short film Over, little speech was used. The story was mostly told through actions, editing, mise en scene etc. For example, different times in the day would progress the story and how the set would change e.g. when tape was put around the crime scene to show that the body has been found. I thought this idea was very effective because sometimes using speech can make a short film bad if used incorrectly/too much and the way little to none speech was used just caught my liking a lot so I used it in my film. I did use a bit of speech but that was just to help the stereotype of a teenager but most of my film was told through music that suited the laziness and activities, the mise-en-scene like the bedroom, console etc. to show that teenagers are always in their room playing games etc. I did all this to prove that with little speech, I can tell this story of a stereotypical teenager who uses every way possible to stall himself from doing the work.

Critical approaches

Apply one or two of the following ‘critical approaches’ to your short film:

The first critical approach I am applying is narrative. The first theory I will talk about is Todorov’s theory as I feel like my film fits with this theory. The first stage of this theory is the equilibrium (where everything is balanced and normal) and the equilibrium in this film is that Jacob is sat in his room about to do his work. The next stage is the disruption which is where I get fed up of doing my work so I end up doing a load of things, stalling myself from doing the work which the moves onto the recognition of disruption as I am sat in my chair realizing it is getting late and I am tired so I need to get the work done. The penultimate stage is the attempt to fix disruption which is where I listen to music so I don’t get distracted and end up completing the work. The final stage is the new equilibrium which is where I have completed my work, have no more homework to do so I can relax and not worry. I feel like this theory is very important as it really shows how easy it is for anyone to get disrupted from something that they always do because they get fed up and bored of it so they end up doing something else. Especially in this context, I believe that audiences can relate to it and feel at home because at some point everyone has procrastinated. But it also helps show that if you so complete the thing that is annoying you or getting in your way of doing something that you actually enjoy, then you will be in a new equilibrium where you can finally do those things without worrying about doing other boring things.

The second critical approach is representation because in my film. It is all about the representation of a typical teenager who is easily distracted in his own home and won’t do is work and hates school. And this stereotype has been communicated using various different ways to show this off like the acting e.g. the way he would talk in a mumbling, rude way and the continuous loud swearing when gaming, the mise En scene like the hoodie and trackies as that is what a lot of teenagers wear, the ps4 as most teenagers game, the bedroom as that is where most teenagers spend their time etc. The music that a typical teenager would listen to, the constant slouching. All this was used to show off the representation of a stereotypical grumpy teenager which has become a thing from such things like the media, films etc. And i feel like using stereotypes is important because it can help create the meaning behind a short movie and explain the reasons why people do certain things so it is more understandable for the audience.

Preferred and alternative readings

Analyse how specific micro-elements help to generate both preferred and alternative readings of your film:

In my short film, the preferred meaning of it is that teenagers are easily distracted and lazy these days when it comes to being in their own house because of the things that surround them and also their attitude towards doing work. Some micro element examples that helped contribute to this meaning is the cinematography. There are some close ups of Jacobs face

that really show the facial expressions of himself and that he can’t be bothered to do the work and he really isn’t happy with it. Mise en scene is also used to contribute e.g. The PlayStation which is a massive distraction for lots of teenagers as they get addicted, being in a house which is full of distractions e.g. jacob gets distracted by making a tea, playing with his dog etc. The editing is slow to show the laziness of Jacob e.g. the first scene where Jacob is staring at his work and can’t be bothered to do it. The acting (body movement, speech and facial expressions) in some scenes to show Jacob is really lazy and can’t be bothered to do the work. Finally, the sound which is mostly non diegetic music that all show off different meanings. For example the first song in the intro shows that Jacob is being lazy and is sleeping because of the lyrics that are used. The second song, which is a fast paced but chill song, works with the montage of Jacob doing different sorts of activities. Finally the last song, which is a chill song, helps Jacob stop from being distracted whilst all the sound is blocked out.

Close up of Jacobs Face

An alternative reading of this short films could be seeing the struggles of being a teenager and how difficult it is to study at home where you are surrounded by distractions and that college and work can be difficult. Some micro elements that contribute to this reading is the acting where Jacob is complaining about having one day to do the work which is a long essay, which is shown through speech and body language. The setting, which is Jacob’s home, as it is a bad place to do work because of the amount of distractions. The gaming console because it is a addiction that lots of teenagers have to deal with and a massive distraction etc. The type of groups that would adopt this reading are teenagers because when they watch this short film, they would be able to relate to it because of the not being able to study at home, having a gaming console, how sometimes you are given long essays and don’t have long to complete it and just how college/school can be a massive struggle.

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