Guidelines for producing a short documentary

This article gives ideas and suggestions on important facts to use in the post production and start of a short documentary film which is going to merge with the genre of our film. Before shooting the film: The starting point is, of course, to think of an interesting topic that all the members of the group are enthusiastic about. It is hard to give advice about this phase, except "be patient." It is important to formulate the basic idea of the film as precisely and clearly as possible. If you do not know why you want to make this film, what it is about and where the story is going, then it might not be a very good idea for a film. If you haven't previously worked in the documentary genre, it is a good idea to find some examples that you can draw inspiration from before laying down the aesthetics and method of your film. Discuss whether you prefer to have television or film documentaries as your primary source of inspiration. If you lean toward TV documentarism, the library – in Aarhus, especially the State and National Library – can be helpful (although it may take a few days to get the programmes). If you prefer documentary films, then (again in Aarhus) Filmhuset is the place to seek inspiration. Find a selection of different documentaries, discuss the qualities of each film and note the good elements. This will probably give you an idea of how you want to structure your own film. During these screenings, however, keep in mind that most documentaries are not made on the same basis as the short fiction film – this limits the degree to which you should be inspired. This is the link to the site and the full article of the above.

click link here

Certificate Of Our Short Film 'Alice'

To decide the correct age certificate of our short film, I carried out research on the official British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The BBFC set the certification of films shown in the British Isle's for Cinema and DVD audiences. If a film is released either on DVD or in the Cinema, Legally the BBFC have to rate the film to make sure that the audience that watches the film will be of a suitable age. Because of this I think that I should use the criteria which the BBFC offers on their website, to base the age certificate of our film around. I will use the criteria the BBFC has published on their website as the guidelines to set the age certificate on the conventions and the narrative of our film.

Firstly, The most common age certificate for Horror/Thriller films is a 15 age certificate. Because of this reason, I had a look at the 15 age certificate criteria. This was to firstly establish roughly which age certificate our groups short film would categories in to.

The following text is the full criteria for a 15 age certificate which is available to the audience for the British public.

For the official BBFC page concerning the age certificate 15 film, Click Here.

"What does the 15 symbol mean?

No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a ‘15’ rated DVD.  15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age.

Are there any limits on what sort of theme a work can have at 15?

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Is 15 really stronger than 12A?

 Yes. 15 works are stronger than 12 or 12A rated works and could include any of the following:

• strong violence
• frequent strong language (eg 'f***').
• portrayals of sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
• discriminatory language or behaviour
• drug taking

How much strong language is there in a 15?

There could potentially be a great deal. At 15 there is no upper limit on the number of uses of strong language (eg f***).

Occasionally there may be uses of the strongest terms (eg 'c***'), although continued or aggressive use will not normally be passed 15.

What about discriminatory or offensive terms?

There may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory language, and the work could explore themes relating to this.

However, at 15 the work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

How much sex and nudity is allowed at 15?

At 15 sexual activity can be portrayed, as long as there is no strong or graphic detail. Some sex scenes can be quite long at this category and may involve some nudity and movement. Though nudity may be allowed in a sexual context there should be no strong detail.

There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

There can be strong references to sex and sexual behaviour, but especially strong or crude references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context.

Heterosexual and homosexual sex and sex references are treated the same.

Can there be strong violence?

Yes, at 15 violence may be strong. It should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury, however, and the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable.

Easily accessible weapons may not be glamorised.

What about sexual violence?

There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence (for example descriptions of rape or sexual assault in a courtroom scene or in victim testimony) but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

What about horror works?

Many horror films are rated 15. At 15 there can be strong threat and menace (as long as it is not sadistic or sexualised), although the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

Can you see drugs in a 15 rated film or video?

At 15 drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.

The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances like aerosols or solvents is unlikely to be acceptable at 15.

What about dangerous behaviour or things teens might copy?

We consider the risk of potential harm to impressionable teenagers. For example, dangerous behaviour such as hanging, suicide and self-harming should not dwell on detail which could be copied."

After reading BBFC's criteria for an age certificate 15 film, our group have decided to certify our 5 minute short film, 'Alice', an age certificate 15. This is because our film will contain some examples of strong language. Also, the horror element of our thriller isn't sexualised or sadistic which doesn't allow it to become an age certificate 18. Also our final scene contains mild violence, but isn't glamorised . These topics are compatible with the age 15 certificate. Overall, the criteria of an age 15 certificate film matches with our groups short film identically.

Opening Title Sequence of a Short Film

 

This short film clip shows the title sequence of a short film called "Detox". This demonstrates a basic title sequence. The title sequence states the production company and director's name through white bold text on a black background. This is a good technique to create mystery. This is because the opposite colours contrast, to give a gothic and sinister effect. Then

This image states the production company for the short film. In this case the production company who created the film is 'Vanguard University Student Film'. The black background and the white text contrast each other which gives an erie effect. 

The second image shown through the title sequence is the Directors name.  Again, the black background and the white text contrast each other which gives an erie effect. 

An animated graphic design of the title name "Detox" appears on screen. The graphic design shows the word and name of the song "Detox", in bold white capital letter, emerge from some smoke. This is a good effect to include in a basic title sequence, because the title of the film is animated with a graphic effect which highlights the name of the short film over the director's and film production companies names.

The animated film title then fades to black.

Short Film Reviews

http://io9.com/short-films/

This is a website that reviews short films. It is interesting to grasp the ideas of the story lines and plots of each short film.

This image is a short film with a review which is offered on the site. People are also aloud to leave their comments and individual reviews below so that their ideas can be shared globally. All the latest short films are shown and reviewed on 'io9.com' which is a useful tool to understand and gain more knowledge on the codes and conventions and the production of short films.

Different camera angles for a psychological film

This link leads to a forum which discusses different camera angles which can be used in a psychological film which can express emotion very well. Some of the techniques would be very useful to include in our groups 5 minute short film.
http://mubi.com/topics/psychological-effect-of-different-shot-types?page=1

Some of the best techniques which I have found on this forum, was a quote which was made from 'Polanski' which said that showing a character walking from left to right is a sign of power. This is because in the western worlds, people read writing from left to right. On the other hand, if a character is shown to move across the screen right to left, this shows the effect of resistance.

Another effect which I thought was interesting is to capture the emotion of a character from a close-up of their face and extreme close ups of a characters eyes. This allows the audience to be right up in the characters face, so that they can share the most intimate and emotional moments of the characters experiences.

These techniques are interesting effects which our group will include in our 5 minute short film.