Questionaire

In order to find out what people thought about certain types of films, i created this questionaire.
We plan to ask a minimum of twenty people, as we think there will be sufficient people, so we can compare results. Any less than twenty particpants may not give us an accurate result.

We plan to upload the results of the questionaire in due course.

Drama Codes & Conventions.

Drama films generally portray the realities, whether harsh or fair realities of everyday life. Dramas often contain social, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic abuse, poverty, crime and racial issues. It is not unusual for films in this genre to contain graphic, violent and sometimes gorey scenes.
Dramas generally conform to certain stereotypes, for example their use of Lighting, Mise en scene, character outfits, and props. These ideas generally flow from one drama film to the other, as it is these elements which draw in such wide audiences.

What is a Drama.

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, crime and corruption put the characters in conflict with themselves, others, society and even natural phenomena.

This film genre can be contrasted with an action film, which relies on fast-paced action and physical conflict, but superficial character development. All film genres can include dramatic elements, but typically, films considered drama films focus mainly on the drama of the main issue.

Some well-known drama films include Citizen Kane, The Godfather,  E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Forrest Gump and The Shawshank Redemption.

Drama films have been nominated frequently for the Academy Award - more than any other film genre.

The ShawShank Redemption DVD Cover.

The ShawShank Redemption has to be one of my favourite films of all time. After long discussions with my group, we all decided that we wanted to create a short film about drama. I have previously created the opening of a short film, however, this was a social realism opening.


Although I thoroughly enjoyed making a social realism film opening, I have always been a fan of Drama’s and for that reason I would love to create a short film with the Genre of Drama.

The Black Hole.

The opening scene of this short film begins with an office worker doing what appears to be a run of the mill office job. One can identify with him. Evidently he realises he is in a job that is neither rewarding financially nor motivationally. He is stood over a photocopier, doing what happens in every office environment in the world. His demeanour tells you it is one of the least pleasurable duties he performs on a daily basis. To emphasise the boredom endured the lead character’s disenchantment is summed up by what can only be described as an exaggerated sigh of exasperation. Even what should be a simple technique of putting the photocopier in motion is made worse by an apparent malfunction. A quick kick remedies this.

The actor is confronted by an image of a black circle imprinted centrally on A3 paper which bears no resemblance to the copy image expected.

Whilst appearing perplexed he thinks nothing of what has just occurred. It is only when he places his drinks cup by chance on the black circle and finds to his astonishment, that the cup is swallowed within what appears to be a black hole. Such is his confusion he is convinced the cup has gone through the worktop of the photocopier on which the paper has been placed. He bends down and finds nothing. He gingerly lowers his hand into the black circle and retrieves the cup and is confronted with his own ‘eureka’ moment. He realises the paper with the black circle on it enables him to penetrate anything it is placed upon, over or against. At this point his mind is racing and dissecting the potential of his discovery. Unfortunately as we shall see his actions are geared not for the good but with the intention of ‘payback time’ against the employers that he deems have been less than fair with him.

His first venture is like that of a small time crook. He penetrates a vending machine and nets the grand prize of a chocolate bar. Finding this enterprise rewarding, he then decides to go for the equivalent of the Great Train Robbery. Spying a safe in corner of the room, he places his paper with the black circle in front of the door. As with the vending machine his hand enters the safe and reappears with a clutch-full of cash. Not satisfied with this his sudden windfall, he decides it’s all or nothing, he will clean out the safe. Having to reach further into the safe to access more distant corners he manoeuvres his body inch by inch further into the safe. The viewer can see immediately what will befall the character who now resembles a cat burglar with only his feet visible from the outside of the safe. Then it happens; his whole body is engulfed by the safe, the paper that had been his entrance and in his mind his exit, slowly inches its way down the facade of the safe. What a pity he failed to read the fable of King Midas.

I found this short film to be thought provoking and without moralising too much draws the viewer’s attention to folly of greed. 

 Video : The Black Hole

What is a short film??

A short film is a piece of video that is generally between three to forty five minutes. In north America, a short film is considered to be between 20 and 40 minutes, however, in Europe a short film generally lasts between one and fifteen minutes. Some people specialise is just making short films, however, the majority of short film makers are budding film makers or even the general public. Most short films that are made are broadcasted on the World Wide Web, on website such as Vimeo, or the world famous YouTube.

Some of the best short films are broadcast on televisions. This tends not to happen in the UK; however this is a common site in Canada as a ‘time filler.’
Sometimes a trailer for a full length feature film is often referred to as a ‘short.’