Presentation On Shot Sizes And Sequences

Love Does Grow On Trees

'Love does grow on trees' is a short film that I watched in class. It is both written and directed by Bevan Walsh.

It is about a boy named Danny who embarrassingly discovers pornographic magazine cut-outs and girls at the same time, so has to make a choice between the two of them. During the film, Danny discovers a large tree which appears to magically grow these images. Before he meets the girl who he really likes, he may have considered the images as 'love' because he did not know any better; therefore, he unrealistically believed that love does grow on trees. The title itself is a pun of the phrase "money doesn't grow on trees". This may have been done to represent how finding true love is not as easy as Danny thinks it is and in order to find true love, you have to get rid of the obstacles that are preventing you from reaching that goal.

This short film was set before sites on the internet were available for everyone, so for Danny to find these pornographic images was quite rare and he got over-excited possibly because he was still young. I think the genre of 'Love does grow on trees' is a romantic coming of age because Danny is growing up and discovering new things, so it is his transition from a young boy to a teenager.

Overall, I enjoyed this film because it was interesting to see the emotions Danny felt when choosing between a girl and adult magazines. Also I found that the clever use of sound was fascinating and effective. For example, when Danny enters the woods and finds the large tree, the music is very fantasy like to show that a situation like this is not realistic and that he feels as if he is dreaming.

Telling Lies

Recently in class I watched a short animated film called 'Telling lies' which is written and directed by Simon Ellis.

It is about numerous phone conversations that take place between the main character, Phil and his mum; Sarah, his ex-girlfriend; Darren, his friend who Sarah had an affair with and Victoria, the Women that Phil had a 'one night stand' with. However, what the characters say is not what they really mean because what they are honestly thinking is written on the screen whilst they are telling a lie. This could be to show that everyone lies at some point, whether it is big or small and that they usually lie either when under pressure or to make a situation better.

Each characters speech has a different colour to imply that they are all individuals who have different thoughts and reactions to the situation. Nonetheless, when a lie is being told, the text of what the character really means is written in white to make it clear that what they are saying is a white lie. A white lie is generally a harmless lie which is told in order to avoid hurting someone's feelings. Font sizes also vary throughout the short film. When a person is shouting, the font size is much bigger in order to reveal their emotions and show that they are angry or very upset.

Personally, I really enjoyed this short film because it explores the discovery of the truth and lets you know what each character really wanted to say. I also like how only animated text was shown on the screen rather than the people themselves as it was much more effective and the audience were less likely to be distracted by background movement.

Presentation On Mis-En-Scene, Genre and Narrative

'Ralph' Review

Ralph is a short film directed and written by Alex Winckler, with a running time of twelve minutes and thirty seven seconds. It was released in 2008 on the twenty fifth of June and filmed in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhone in France. I would classify this film as a PG because there is no strong language and violence used or frightening scenes that would be unsuitable for people of a certain age. The main genres of this short film are romance and drama because it is a love story based on a plot that could easily occur in real life. There are five characters we get to know in Ralph which are: Ralph, the leading character played by Ralph Laurila; Julie, the waitress played by Julie Dray; Clare, played by Emily Seale Jones; Edouard, the waiter played by Jean-Francois; and Lorenzo who is played by Julien Martin.

‘Ralph’ is about a young boy, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old, who travels to France in the search for a girl named Clare who is not expecting him. However, when he arrives he discovers that he wrote the wrong number down and in great panic and confusion, he phones numerous numbers to try and get through to her but he has no luck. Eventually, Ralph resorts to a café to which he meets Edouard, the waiter and Julie the waitress to whom he feels an instant connection with. From here, the narrative develops to end with an unexpected plot twist which is very powerful and leaves the audience feeling sympathetic towards Ralph. One of the main themes explored in this film is isolation because Ralph is completely alone when he arrives in France and he cannot properly communicate with anyone as they are all speaking in a foreign language; he is left feeling lost and out of place. This theme is enhanced by the fact that no subtitles are used as this means the audience cannot understand what is being said by the foreign people, just like Ralph. This gives the film a more realistic feel to it and it gives us the opportunity to feel Ralph’s confusion as if we are there with him. Another theme that is explored is love as Clare is obviously very special to Ralph otherwise he would not have travelled all the way to France by himself just to find her.

During this film, there is a great variation of camera shots and types that are all used to create different effects. Medium, over the shoulder shots are used when two characters are interacting which help the audience to feel included in the conversation. Wide shots are used to show the surroundings helping us to engage more with what is going on and feel empathy towards Ralph who is alone in such a big area. Close ups and extreme close ups are frequently used to convey emotions. For example, when Ralph attempts to call Clare at the very beginning of the film and there is no answer, an extreme close up is used to show that he is upset and anxious. Throughout the course of the film, background noise is used to create a much more realistic atmosphere and if there was no background noise then the narrative would have a ‘made up’ feel to it and the scenario would not be considered as something that could happen to anyone. For the same reasons, natural lighting is used which reminds me of a short film called ‘get off my land’ by Douglas Ray which also uses natural lighting. Both short films may have used this feature because it sticks to the genre of drama and gives the films a non-fiction feel to them, making them more relatable for the audience.

In my opinion, I found ‘Ralph’ very enjoyable because as the film progresses I found myself being drawn into it because you are never too sure on what is going to happen next. I also like how such a straight forward story can have so much meaning to it and how the emotions shown through each character can have a big impact on you. I believe that Alex Winckler was very smart and imaginative when it came to writing and directing this short film, especially with the ending because he was able to turn the narrative around and create a plot twist in such a short space of time.  

'Friday Night Dinner' Review

Friday night dinner is a British television sitcom about a Jewish family of four who have dinner together every Friday night, which never goes to plan and almost always ends in a disaster. The events that occur during each episode are unexpected yet hilarious and mirror family life well. It is not your typical sitcom because it has a sense of realism to it and it addresses issues that could well happen to an ordinary family, making Friday night dinner an original and refreshing show. This entertaining show takes situations of little value or importance and turns them into priceless ‘laugh out loud’ moments with the strong cast helping to enhance this humour.

Normally, each episode is different and does not usually follow on from the previous one. This generally makes the episodes more exciting and intriguing as you are uncertain of what is going to happen next, therefore you are left feeling curious and wanting more.  Each individual plot is fresh with new jokes constantly on the go as well as old, consistent jokes which help to make the show unique and engaging.

 The Mother, Jackie is played by Tamsin Greig and can be described as immature yet easily wound up by the behaviour of her sons and husband. Paul Ritter plays the role of the peculiar Father who has a very low attention span and many odd habits leaving him socially inept. Adam is the elder son and is played by Simon Bird, an actor well known from shows such as the inbetweeners. He is a failed musician who makes a living by creating jingles, and quite often is the victim of mishap. The younger son, Jonny, played by Tom Rosenthal, is always trying to play practical jokes on Adam and start fights with him as he knows he will retaliate. Jonny works as an estate agent for ‘Garvins’.

The Families neighbour, Jim often makes a few appearances during the course of each episode. He is extremely awkward and is always leaving gaps in conversation, as well as being terrified of his own dog. His character is rather ironic as the audience want to see more of him whilst the family do not want to see him at all. Jim is played by Mark Heap. Bonus characters that appear in some episodes include the Gran who is Jackie’s Mother, her boyfriend Mr Morris and Val who is Jackie’s best friend.

The overall appearance of the characters is very similar to how a traditional family would look; this makes them more relatable to the viewers because it is much easier to connect with them and their way of life, also many similarities can then be found between the viewers and certain characters.

In my opinion, Friday Night Dinner creates the feel of family life very well and the chemistry between the cast is flawless. Each individual character is hilarious in their own way, meaning that everyone will find something to relate to. The writing of this show is impeccable, providing us with excellent dialogue as well as fantastic humour.

Friday night dinner is created and written by Robert Popper, and directed by Steve Bendelack and Martin Dennis. There are three series and nineteen episodes in total with a running time of approximately twenty five minutes per episode. This programme is intended for teenagers and above due to the adult humour which is frequently used. It can be found on channel 4 and is definitely worth watching, it will have you laughing in moments. 

'About Me' Evaluation

I filmed my short video using the Nikon D7000 and set it up on a tripod so there was no movement. I decided to use this camera because it is of a high quality so it made my video look more professional.

What went well?

Overall, I believe that my video was very successful because I covered a wide range of topics in a short space of time. I spoke clearly and the sound was not too quite or too loud, making it easy to take in the information without struggling to hear what was being said. Throughout the video, I made good eye contact helping me to come across as more confident in front of a camera. Also, I thought carefully about my background as I wanted to make it personal to me. For that reason, I put my Penny Skateboard on the shelves behind me as it is something I use frequently, as well as the books because I enjoy reading. I used a Nikon D7000 instead of a phone to emphasise my passion for cameras and to show that photography is one of my main hobbies.

What would I improve?

If I had the opportunity to film this video again, there are a few changes I would make. Firstly I would try to talk a bit slower as I feel as if I rushed a few parts of the video, resulting in it being slightly shorter in length. I would also add background music to make it more creative and personalised. This way, the video would be more interesting to watch because there would be more to it rather than me just talking to a camera  with no background noise.

About Me!