Film Idea

We decided on idea five for our film idea as we thought it was the most effective and interesting idea.

Our Initial Short Film Ideas

Two concepts we have to include in our short film are time and technology.
Our ideas are based on a horror element which could link to suicide and depression.

Idea one:

* A man goes about his day to day business
* Problem: letters keep going missing from items i.e. a key board
* Collects all the letters that are missing together, rearranges them and uncovers a message telling him to kill himself.
* But they are in fact and anagram of a reminder form his wife to do something simple like get the milk.

Idea two:

* A football match is about to take place, so you see the crowed flooding to the stadium.
* The police are all attending the match to make sure there is no trouble.
* This leaves the roads clear of traffic and police.
* So a street race takes place.

Idea three:

* Appears to be a horror
* A person is running through the woods, out of breath, he keeps look behind him and seems afraid.
* You see him from the point of view as a predator.
* You then hear a gunshot, the camera zooms in on his eyes as he looks down, then the camera zooms out.
* He has been shot!
* But, by a paintball. It was a game all along.

Idea four:

* Secret service agent is on a mission.
* The camera pans in on the various piece of technology he uses for his mission.
* It is all product placement.
* The film is in fact trying to subliminally advertise.

Idea five:

* A guy types commands into a computer.
* Starts out with silly little commands like nod or get a drink
* Then they become more serious
* And someone else is helplessly following the commands without the knowledge of the person typing them.
* He ends up being commanded to kill himself, and this is what he does.

Idea six:

* Person walking down the street.
* They look depressed and have a bad ambiance surrounding them.
* They bump into someone else and you see the ambiance surround them.
* They then bump into someone else etc..
* In the end they all end up depressed, in the same location and kill themselves.

Idea seven:

* A man has a really good life.
* But you see that he is depressed.
* Ends up killing himself.

What Makes a Good Film Review

What would make a review successful?

I think a successful review needs to give a basic outline of the film, but to not give much away. It needs to include opinion, but also aspects that will let the reader make their own decisions about the film.

• A star rating is useful for a review as it gives a shorthand review of how good the film is and lets the audience decide for themselves if they want to go and see the film.

• Pictures from the film will make the film review successful.


• Website

• Release date

Still Life

Director: Jon Knautz

Writer: Charles Johnson

Duration: 9 mins

Star Rating: ****

http://www.stilllifemovie.com/

Drugs, mannequins and murder; this deceptive short film sees Nathan Evans (Trevor Matthews) battle through a series of events in a town of pot people. After taking prescribed medication Evans encounters breaking down in a snowy, desolate village, inhabited with inhumane figures. The contrast of one human and a community of dummies gives a horror twist to the humorously creepy short film. You will be left with a shiver down your spine as Evans unknowingly becomes destructive and even the sympathy you feel for him comes with a feeling of horror and disgust.

This is another review, in the style of Total Film magazine. A chatty, casual tone is used to communicate with a younger audience.

This review is in the style of Sight and Sound magazine as it is more formal and informative. It gives away more of the plot, which is typical of Sight and Sound.

Film Magazine Comparisons

Sight and Sound VS Total Film
Both these magazines are film magazines and contain reviews and information about new films.

Sight and Sound-

• More writing than pictures
• The reviews are in depth and give away a lot of the film.
• There is a lack of images.
• It is more facts than entertainment, it even gives the full credits at the end of the review.
• The layout is orderly and in columns which gives a serious, neat look to it.

Total Film-

• Lots of images
• Short, catchy reviews
• Humerous facts about films
  
• New film releases
  
• Lots of bright advertisments

Total Film and Sight and Sound are two film magazines with very different ideas. The contrast between the two is based mostly on visual appearance and the use of iconography. Total Film is full of bright, colourful images of the films being reviewed, alongside advertisements aimed at a young audience. The magazine is aimed at a young audience, as it uses colloquial language and short sentences to appeal to it's audience and keep them engrossed. Entertainment is the main purpose of Total Film magazine, whereas Sight and Sound is more informative. Sight and Sound does not use much iconography and is aimed at a more mature target audience. In contrast to Total film it uses a lot of text instead of images and includes the credits of each film after the review, which takes up a lot of space and a lot of people won't read them. Sight and Sound is informative therefore is aimed at film lovers, those who keep up to date with the latest releases. As the magazine includes a full synopsis of each film in the review, people do not need to go and see the film, whereas Total film includes a review that entices readers into wanting to see the movie, therefore advertising films rather than explaining them.
Overall, Total Film is a more appealing magazine to our age group and it is visually appealing and entertaining, whereas Sight and Sound is boring and over informative.