The document discusses the conventions of short films that the author researched and analyzed. Some key conventions included durations of less than 5 minutes, 1-2 main characters, simple plots, realistic settings, inclusion of twists, and minimal equipment. The author developed their short film about bullying by following many of these conventions, such as duration and characters, but also challenged some, like not including suicide which is common in bullying films. Music was given more importance than typical. Overall, the author believes their film effectively communicates its message through its adherence and adjustments to short film conventions.

1. In what ways does your media
product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real
media products?
Jessica Milverton - Advanced
Portfolio Media Evaluation

2. Early Research..
• The best way to research into the conventions and
expectations of short films I found was to watch as many as
I could; I did this by using the video platform site: YouTube,
I found this site highly relevant to me because it shows a
vast range of short films including those created by
students, amateurs and professionals.

3. Early Research..
• By watching a range of different levels of short films I
understood what sort of quality I was expected to produce
and I was able to see the difference between each level; I
believe that this made my short film better as I had already
recognised the flaws that other student short films had
made before me such as being too ambitious with the
equipment or trying to tell too complex a story in a short
time.

4. Early Research..
• The typical conventions of successful short films I found
were that they were typically no longer than five minutes
in length, featured no more than two main characters and
although they had a simple plot many carried an
important message to be communicated to the audience.

5. Early Research..
• Short films are typically created for advertising or
entertainment and the professional companies that
create them are usually independents and the films
themselves only appeal to a niche audience. Short films
are typically live action or animation and fall into the
genre of drama; the events shown in the films are set in
everyday situation so that the audience find it easy to
relate and are typically realistic, many can fall into the
genre of social realism.

6. Early Research..
• Short films tend to have a twist in their plot as it
makes them more appealing and rewarding to watch;
sometimes some of the story is kept back to keep the
audience on the edge of their seat.

7. Early Research..
• Equipment is usually quite basic such is usually only a
single camera is used (due to small budgets) and there
is not CGI. Often a voice over or narration is used in a
short film to catch an audience up to speed, it is used
like a prologue of a book or a preface of a play.

8. What I have done..
• After watching and analysing many short films I
decided to create a film in the genre of drama as
this is what I found to be successful when
watching other short films.
• Many of the successful short films I watched had
very simple locations and the producers
obviously knew a lot about the subject that there
short film was on – so I decided this was how I
was going to make my short film and as a result I
made a list of topics that I was familiar about and
that were close to my heart.

9. Sound and Music..
• There was minimal speech in my short film – I decided to do this as
I wanted my short film to offer support to anyone in the same sort
of situation as my character so by making it very generic and
ambiguous it meant that my audience could relate to the film more
and were able to adapt it to there own situation.
• Short films typically don’t have a soundtrack or a score due to there
nature and budget so when I wrote my script I keep this in mind but
due to the fact that my short film had no dialogue I knew that the
music and diegetic and non-diegetic sound I had in my short film
would be very important; I got my music from website called
http://www.beatpick.com/ that offers un-copyrighted music to use
in films, I found this site after using the search engine Google.

10. Sound and Music..
• In my short film I used two types of music – the majority of
the film is backed by sad acoustic guitar music and the final
scene is back by more upbeat piano and strings music.
• I use both pieces of music to represent emotions that I
want my audience to feel and the emotions that my
character is feeling.
• The acoustic guitar communicates ideologies of sadness
and because there is repetition of a lot of the same chords
the music has connotations of hopelessness which is what
a victim of bullying stereotypically feels; this contrasts with
the music I have included in my final scene which is much
more upbeat and happy offering hope to my audience.

11. Sound and Music..
• In most short films music is not seen as important,
I have challenged this stereotype as I disagree with
it. I believe that music can manipulate an
audience’s feeling just as much as the visuals,
sometimes more effectively as music has the
ability to affect the audience subconsciously.
• I believe that the use of music has made my short
film much more effective that some of the short
films, specifically bully films that I have seen.

12. Camera work..
• When filming I decided not to do anything to complex with
the camera as this is one of the biggest flaws that I have seen
in student films. Instead I decided to use a range of shots and
angles to make it interesting for the audience. I realised that
the most important part of the visuals came from what you
did in the edit.
• In my opening scene however I have used camera movement
to represent time passing, this was also only partly
represented by the camera work because I used a wipe effect
in the editing process.
• My short film is mostly made up of mid shots and close up I
made this decision as it shows much more emotion from the
actor and it gets the audience more engaged and involved.
This is typical of the genre that I decided to do and this is
found effective in most of the short films I watched so I
followed this convention religiously.

13. Camera work..
• Throughout my short film I have avoided using long shot and
have used no establishing shots this is because I feel that I
would have taken the attention away from the plot and what
the character was going through and the audience would have
concentrated on the location of the film.
• Throughout my piece the camera work is average speed with
the exception of the section where the victim is getting
bullied, this is because I wanted to create tension for the
audience and create worry; I think that this was effective as it
was realistic and relatable.
• Whilst editing this short film I have been quickly educated in
the importance of capturing a lot of footage when you shoot a
scene as I needed to re-shoot some footage for the scene
where the victim is hit in the hallway by the bully and I had to
remove a scene as I didn’t use enough camera angles or shots
so it made it an impersonal and ineffective scene.

14. Lighting..
• In most of the short film I have seen there seems to be
only a use of ambient lighting this is due to the budget
of short films and the nature of their agendas and
ideologies that they are communicated.
• Due to my location it wasn’t possible to use any light
other than natural apart from in the bedroom scene
where I used a blue filter to give an impression of
night. I don’t feel that this affected the quality of my
short film in anyway as lighting doesn’t seem to be
very important in short films unless it falls into the
genre of film noir, horror or thriller.

15. Mis en Scene..
• The Mis en Scene was very important in establishing the
setting of my short film. The costumes we used were
clearly school uniforms and the location was obviously a
school.
• I was careful not to focus on which school that the events
were occurring in and therefore I decided not to show a
shot of the front of the school because I wanted to make it
as ambiguous as possible so anyone could relate to it.
• The glasses that the main character wears also plays a very
important part in the plot as it is the only thing that
distinguished him from the bullies and other student at the
school, this was intentional as it shows up bullies and the
petty reasons they target the people they do – because of
this and the opinions that this would draw from the
audience it discourages appearance bullying on a small
scale.

16. Editing…
• I found that there was a lot of work to do in the editing stage due to
the nature of the piece I created. Most of my edits are invisible
edits because I didn’t want to distract the audience with strange
transitions and I believe that because invisible editing is a
convention of short films it has made my short film look much more
professional. However I had to use a dip to colour in my editing
sequence to represent the passing of time between each clip.
• I converted the parts where my protagonist is getting bullied into
black and white for several reasons it communicates the emotions
that my protagonist is feeling and it also represents that these are
thoughts that are going around the protagonist’s mind and are not
actually happening.
• I am also pleased with my opening sequence particularly the wipes
as I believe it adds contrast to my short film and it makes it seem
more advanced because I have included this feature.

17. Conventions I have followed..
• I use a large range of shots but I don’t use complex camera angles and
movements.
• My short film only lasts 2.12 which complies with the typical conventions
of a short film.
• I have used only one main character.
• I stuck to the genre of drama and create my film using live action.
• I set my film in an everyday environment and it is about any everyday
problem.
• My short film is relatable and realistic.
• It offers a slight solution to the problem my protagonist is facing.
• I included basic titles and credits.
• My short film only featured 1 main character and 3 secondary
(undeveloped characters) and a few extras.
• There is one protagonist throughout the whole plot.
• I have also use a twist in my short film.

18. Conventions I have developed..
• Short films sometimes have music included in
there duration but it is typically not seen as that
important and there is rarely a soundtrack or a
score.
• I have developed this convention in my short film
as my personal opinion is that music is very
important in almost any film and it can play as
much of a part telling a story as well as the
visuals can. Therefore there is no dialogue in my
short film but I still communicate the emotions of
the protagonist to the audience through music.

19. Conventions I have challenged..
• In development to my conformation to the convention of having a twist in
my short film I have also challenged the typical convention I found in most
of the short films tackling bullying as in most films about bullying the
typical plot line seems to follow a victim throughout the day and ends in
the victim then committing suicide to create thought with the audience
and highlights the possible consequences of bullying someone - although
this is a perfectly good storyline I think that it has become expected at the
end of short films tackling the issue of bulling and no longer has the shock
factor that it is tending to have so I decided that I wanted to create
something different.
• As a result of challenging this convention I believe that my short film offers
support to everyone that is bullied and shows that there is an alternative
to what the other films shows. By not incorporating the theme of suicide it
has also widened my audience because it is kept relatively light hearted,
an easy watch so it is watched for entertainment as well as social
interaction, information and personal identity (Blumler and Katz Uses and
Gratifications Theory)

20. Was your production an effective piece?
• There are obviously several flaws in my short film such as parts of
the diegetic sound is sketchy and if I had more time I would set up
another shoot to recapture some of the sound.
• However overall I believe that my piece is an effective piece as it
communicates all the ideologies that I had when I started planning
my piece such as, the fact that bullying is wrong but sometime you
can help yourself. I also think that it is effective because it provokes
thought from the audience which is the case with most successful
short films whether the audience takes the dominant, negotiated or
oppositional reading (Audience Reception theory).
• I think that the camera, sound, music and mis en scene as well as
the research and planning were all of a relatively high quality
making it technically effective too. Due to the large amount of
research I conducted and the careful planning that went on my
short film has turned out a successful piece as I learnt from other
people mistakes.