3. Short Film Existing Product 1:
I heard it too
⢠https://youtu.be/OxRIWBoluzs
4. Short Film Existing Product 1:
I Heard It Too Analysis⢠Narrative:
- Beginning Conflict- The short film starts with an unnamed mother seeing her daughter Bethany to bed. Bethany asks the mother for her to sing a lullaby despite her being too old for it.
After the mother finishes the lullaby she leaves for her bedroom so Bethany can fall asleep however, some creaking noises can be heard downstairs.
- Rising Action- Some time later, Bethany is awakened by the sound of her mother calling for her and decides to slowly make her way towards her. She only makes it as far as the stairs
before she is pulled into her mothers bedroom by a hand. The individual responsible for this happens to be her mother who tells Bethany that she had heard the voice too.
- Climax-After attempting to call for a friend, the mother reassures Bethany that âeverything is okâ and that âItâll go away soonâ. Following this, the voice coming from downstairs begins
to grow annoyed and makes its way upstairs towards the room the pair are hiding in. The mothers maternal instincts kick in and she hides Bethany in the closet where Bethany can still
see her mother through the small opening of the doors. The mother grabs a pair of scissors and raises her arm into the typical âoverhead stabbing positionâ and approaches the door. The
door appears to open on its own and after a small buildup, it is revealed that there is nobody on the other side. The mother looks around the hallway as if she is crossing a road before
closing the door and going back to check if Bethany was ok. To her horror, she has disappeared and the mother spends approximately 10 seconds looking for her before finding her
under the bed and questioning her as to why she moved to that location. Bethany tells her mother that she saw her. The mother gives her a confused look but a pair of feet step into the
negative space.
- Resolution- Bethany, having kept her eyes closed until morning, finally decides to open them and makes her way to the hallway where the entity invites her back to her room. Terrified,
Bethany runs back to her mothers room and closes the door behind her. She climbs into bed and pulls the duvet over her head in an attempt to hide from the spectre. Remembering her
mothers advice to close her eyes and count to 5 when ever she was scared, she uses it as a last resort method to get the stranger to leave however as she opens her eyes she is met with
a horribly deformed face which screams at her
- End- The film ends with the title of the film and then the credits.
- Narrative Critique- At the start of the film, the mother sings a lullaby to her daughter Bethany despite her being too old to for them. The sequence that follows this isn't really necessary
for the plot and lends nothing to the structure of the story. This would have made more sense if the entity in question had made recurring appearances prior to what was shown in the
short film, then her willingness to hear a lullaby would have made more sense. An example of this is that the daughter is already aware of the entities presence in the house and the
mother isnât. She tells Bethany that the monster is just a part of her imagination and will disappear when she counts to five. This would make the scene where the mother admits to its
existence more powerful. Another critique would be that the moment where she says the words âI heard it tooâ arenât really as strong as youâd think theyâd be especially in the context
of the film as a parent not believing in the bogeyman when you were younger is something that everyone can relate to. If this quote was moved to the end of the film, then I imagine
that it would disturb the audience more. Another point that I think deserves critique is that the mother seems to know what she is doing; the acting almost clearly shows that she has
been in this situation before and knows how to handle it which makes her supposed death all the more confusing. The scene where she reaches for the mobile phone and finds that it
wont turn on just feels like it was added in to avoid the âdumb character in horror movieâ trope even though she doesnât lock the door, when it has a lock on it. She had plenty of time to
do this too so, there isnât really an excuse either. Despite all this, the acting in this is very good for a short film and it gets me immersed in the story at some points however, I feel that
the points I mentioned above pull me back into reality so, I canât really get immersed in the story fully.
⢠Soundtrack:
- Intro- The soundtrack at the start of the film is quite ominous and uses some chime like sounds and a violin to build tension though, the intro scene does not really need this kind of
tension. The OST here sounds like a twisted version of a kids nursey rhyme which fits the moment where the lullaby is being sung though instead of leaving the scene where the mother
sings to Bethany devoid of a soundtrack they could have used a normal lullaby which became more eerie as the entity made itself known to the audience.
- Buildup- the music during the build up is still quite eerie but also quiet so every minute detail of the film can be heard to an exceptional degree. This makes the scene where Bethany
- Climax
- End
⢠Camera Shots
⢠Camera Techniques
⢠Mise En Scene
12. Tips for recording Short film
⢠Camera must be set to movie mode before filming by sliding the Mode dial to the film
camera icon.
⢠The (Info) button can remove the heads up display/remove some of the heads up display.
⢠Push the (Q) button to manipulate camera settings. The settings that can be changed here
are the Auto-Focus Live mode, Auto-Wide Balance, Auto Colour Control, Standard Dynamic
Range, Video Resolution and Video Snapshot.
⢠Using the (Main Dial), change the video resolution to either 1920x1080 30fps for HD Filming
or 1280x720 60fps for high frame rate and slightly lower graphics.
⢠Use (Digital Zoom) function to remain at full HD while zooming in and out. Hold the (Disp.)
button and push the (Zoom In) or (Zoom Out) buttons to zoom both in and out respectively.
⢠Slide the (AF MF) switch to Manual so, you can use the Focus Lens to manually adjust focus
while filming.
⢠Press the (Menu) button to open up a separate menu where the Movie Exposure and various
Auto-Focus modes can be selected. However, the (Q) button does give you these options
anyway and can be done while filming too.
13. All Camera Shots
⢠Establishing Shot-The establishing shot establishes the films location. It is also used to
establish the scenes location should the following scene take place in a distant location. This
shot is also good for a transition shot; gives the audience room to breathe when the location
is changing. Usually accompanied with title cards explaining the location of the scene or the
names of the development team when the film starts up. This Shot could be used at the
beginning of the Short film to show the audience where the film takes place
⢠Extreme Long Shot-The extreme long shot is commonly used as a follow up to the
establishing shot to help the audience get their bearings camera gets closer to the location of
the characters.
