Short Film vs. Feature Length Film

         Now having watched both the short film and feature length film it’s time to compare them. One of the key differences that you instantly notice is that the short film had no dialogue while the full length did. However, this difference of dialogue allowed for both of their plots to flourish in their own ways. Now when it comes to plot they both have the same ideals but the full length was able to flesh it out more. The full length was able to add a backstory and expand the plot in deeper ways given the run time it had. The full length was also able to introduce us to all of the rag dolls while they short film only really gave us a glimpse at two of them. The full length had the luxury of fleshing out 9’s character while also being able to develop new characters into the world that was being created. The full length was given more opportunities story wise but the choices the director made for both films worked out for their separate strengths. Since the short film only had a 7 minute run tule it was able to get straight to the point and get their ideals across while the full length had to try and expand new ideas into an hour. In both films 9 was still the main character.

        Both films show that 9 is the main character from the start. They both also incorporate their own flashback seems which gives the audience more information as to what the plots about. The endings were also vastly similar seeing that they both involved the spirits of the dead rag dolls. It differed however cause with the short film all the other rag dolls are dead while in the full length 9,7,3 and 4 all survive. When it comes down to it I think I enjoyed the full length more. Now that doesn’t mean the short film was bad because it was quite enjoyable. However, the full length was just able to add so much scratcher development which I really enjoyed. I felt like I could connect with not just 9 but with the other supporting characters seeing how they were all detailed to a great extent. I also liked how we got more backstory as to how the rag dolls were formed and how the machines were formed. Overall, they were both enjoyable films and they got their stories across incredibly in their own ways.

Research 9, the feature film

         Having watched the short film I’ve now watched the full length feature film! The full length expanded deeper into the plot. It had the same ideals, trying to survive in a post apocalyptic world against the machines but now it went into greater detail. 9 was still the main character but now the audience was able to see his character really develop. At the beginning 9 was the shy newcomer not knowing what was ahead but by the end he’s the courage’s hero willing to do whatever he takes. The director was really able to expand his development now that he had much more time. He was also able to develop the other rag dolls who we hadn’t seen before. We found out more about 5 and were introduced to the other rag dolls but 7,5 and 1 were the main supporting cast. 1 got his own little development where when we first meet him he’s some stubborn old man but in the clímax he sacrifices himself for the greater good. There’s also much bigger world building and you  get to see new settings. 

        The machine from the first film is still an antagonist here but it’s now a much smaller enemy that leads to an even bigger threat. There’s now dialogue which is used to carry the plot forward and actually builds upon it. Having an hour runtime compared to 7 minutes allowed there to be more of a backstory as to why things are the way they are. Now the audience knows how the world became post apocalyptic and that the rag dolls are actually the spirit of the main scientist. The runtime allowed for deeper story building. In terms of animation and special effects it all works much better here. The character designs look much more crisp. The effects such as the green lights are also carried out much cleaner here. Each rag doll gets their own design which differentiates them while the machines still look terrifying. Overall, the feature film was well worth the watch.

Research 9, the short

         I've now watched the short film 9 and have a couple of thoughts about it. From what I could interpret I would say the plot was about the main character, 9, trying to survive in a post-apocalyptical world against a monster who's killed his race. The director executes this idea in just 7 minutes brilliantly. I though the director's choice of using no dialogue was excellent. It allows the audience to focus more on what was going with the characters and what they were trying to express. The film starts off with 9 setting up his trap to kill the monster and while he’s waiting it dives into a flashback scene. This flashback scene allows to some background towards what’s going on. In this scene it appears that 9 and 5 are the only ones left and all of a sudden the light that shows the monster is near lights up. 5 tells 9 to go hide and essentially sacrifices himself for 9, leaving 9 to be the last one alive. That scene gives you the context as to why 9 is doing what he’s doing, not only for survival, but to honor his friends. Seeing that it’s a short film that’s the only real character development that was achieved but it was strong enough for the reader to gain a connection to the characters.

        9 ends up killing the monster with his scheme and lives to see another day. Seeing 9 make and execute his plan allowed the audience to see that he was quite intelligent. What really popped out to me was the animation and how it was used to differentiate 9’s species and the monster. 9 and his species had enlarged eyes that were the central part to their emotional aspect. The director would focus in on them when emotion needed to be felt and brought in incense to their character. The monster was perceived as big and scary with huge teeth and with subtle details as the other numbers cloth on it showing the monster was ruthless. The ending shows the spirits of the other numbers coming out and 5 giving 9 a simple head nod, letting him know to go on and that he’s brought them justice. Small gimmicks like that are laid throughout which is what really makes this short film interesting to me. Overall, I thought the directed captured his vision fantastically through the animation and the way he drove the plot and gave it a satisfying ending. Now it’s time to see how these ideas progress more in the movie!

Genre Choice for Film

         After doing research on a couple of genres my group and I have finally made a decision. The genre we have chosen is thriller! We feel that out of thriller, horror, and action that thriller best suits our pitch. Our pitch is “A person receives threats in the mail and must figure out who is leaving them.” Once we researched the three genres we decided that action didn’t really suit it. Action movies involve a lot of fight scenes and loud sounds which we don’t think fits our plot. It also seems like it wouldn’t be properly developed in 5 minutes. Now my group and I thought very hard on deciding between horror and thriller. Both genres can be applied to our films and our vastly similar. The key difference with horror and thriller are that horror’s are meant to be scary and invoke fear in you. They’re both suspenseful but thrillers put you more on the edge of wonder what’ll happen next. 

        With our ultimate realization that horrors have too much of a focus on fear and can dwell for a little while it left us with thriller. Thriller is perfect for the genre seeing that it builds up a lot of suspense. Thriller allows us to build up our plot and finish it in a satisfying way all in 5 minutes. The CAMS and editing are relatively easy processes for us and they’ll be easy to capture and execute. Using thriller allows us to keep our pitch and not have to really tweak it. Our pitch fits the outline of a thriller. Thrillers create a sense of urgency and that, in our minds, can be implemented well with our plot. We have many ideas on how we can implement the sounds of a thriller and the props into our short film. Before going into this we assumed thriller would be the choice but it’s nice to have confirmation after doing research. Overall thriller seems like a match made in heaven and we can’t wait for the next step in this journey!

Genre Research: Action

• Common CAMS: zoom, pan, POV, tilt, tracking shots, reverse shots, high angles, tilted shots, 

• Common Sound:  ominous music, gun sounds, running sounds, high-pitched music, punching sounds, and objects breaking sounds. 

• Common Mis-En-Scene (CLAMPS): 

Costume- common costumes vary; it could be suits/dresses, superhero costumes, alien costumes and many more.

Lighting- Natural lighting, dim lighting, key lighting, backlight, and soft lights. 

Actors- They can be anyone. Usually have stunt doubles as well. 

Makeup- common makeup in action movies depends, it can be natural, or a fully masked and painted face. 

Props- common props include guns, knives, chairs/tables, blood, bullets, glass, cars, sunglasses, and many more. 

Setting- The settings are usually in busy cities that end up becoming where houses or private homes. However each film is different. 

• Common Editing: Jump cuts, cutting on movement and "action", slo-mo's, action matches, flashbacks, and graphic matches. 

• Example Films: Some action films are, Extraction, 007, Baby driver, Bad boys, Angel has fallen, and avengers.

• Elements I like: The elements I enjoy are, I  really enjoy the plots of the films. Usually the actors are fighting for someone or something. I also enjoy the element of wondering who will when a fight or what's going to happen next. 

• Elements not appealing: Sometimes I feel like action movies can get repetitive and that the plot can sometimes be a bit boring in the middle. 

Genre Research: Horror

 

• Common CAMS: reverse-shots, close-ups, tracking shots, pans, zoom, wide shot, low angle, hand-held, over the shoulder, cantered, and birds-eye 
• Common Sound: no sound, silence, abrupt noises, echos, footsteps, sound of breath, can all be diegetic or non-diegetic 
• Common Mis-En-Scene (CLAMPS):  
• Costume - casual clothing for protagonista typically, antagonists usually wear masks or dark clothing                                        
• Lighting - low lighting, usually at night in the dark, shadows and shapes to create fear                                        
• Actors - normally required to act fearful or eerie                                                        
• Makeup - bruises, cuts, made to look as if the victim is tortured or in pain, makeup applied to look grimmer                                          
• Props - props are normally weapons such as knives, axes, guns. Other props maybe rocking chairs and creaking doors                                      
• Setting - Typically somewhere isolated, perhaps an abandoned house, the environment is normally abandoned and dark
• Common Editing: cutaways, jump cuts and fade outs
• Example Films: Us, Insidious, The Conjuring, Annabelle, The Nun
• Elements I like: I like the fear and suspense it creates. I enjoy the anticipation it builds up for eerie moments
• Elements not appealing: I feel like they may drag on for too long and are all really similar. The silence and eerie sounds can be disturbing at times 
  
  
  

Genre Research: Thriller

 My group and I had to choose three genres to research that we thought our short film would fit into. Some things that we had to research for our genres are common CAMS, common Mis-En-Scene, and common editing. The first research is on the thriller genre. 

• Common CAMS: tracking shots, pans, reverse shots, high angles, over the shoulder shots, point of view shots, tilted shots, and zoom. 

• Common Sound: eerie sounds, sometimes complete silence, footsteps, animal sounds, and even sometimes extraterrestrial sounds. 

• Common Mis-En-Scene (CLAMPS): 

Costume- common costumes in thrillers include masks, ripped clothing, hoodies and jackets, casual clothing that can sometimes be dark or black, and creature-like clothing.

Lighting- common lighting in thrillers are usually dark/low. The lighting is very important because it displays shadows that create tension and suspense in thrillers.

Actors- the actors in thrillers can be anyone. 

Makeup- common makeup in thrillers is usually dark, sometimes scary, and can consist of cuts, bruises, dirt smudges, and can even be smeared as if the actor was crying. 

Props- common props include fake blood, notes/ letters, brief cases, money, phones, and even broken things like glass. Weapons are also common props such as guns, chainsaws, and knives, which add tension to the film.

Setting- the setting in thrillers are usually in spooky places, allies, abounded and haunted locations, and isolated places. Thrillers are also sometimes taken place at night which add onto the suspense. 

• Common Editing: these include jump cuts, flashbacks, action matches, graphic matches, and sometimes slo-mo’s.

• Example Films: A Quiet Place, The Silencing, Ma, Escape Room, and The Invisible Man

• Elements I like: I really enjoy the rush of adrenaline that I get when watching thrillers. As well as being on the edge of my seat waiting to see what will happen next. 

• Elements not appealing: I don’t really like the anxiety and terror that some thrillers make me feel. 

Genres I Would Like To Research

 Since our pitch is "A person receives threats in the mail and must figure out who is leaving them" I thought these 3 genres are most appropriate; Thriller, horror, and action. 

The first genre we will research is thriller. Thriller could be our genre because since our short film is 5 minutes, creating a thriller is a very efficient way of composing a great movie in a short period of time. My groupmates and I can further execute making a thriller by, while in the editing process we can use non-diegetic sounds to emit suspenseful music. The suspenseful music could play in the background of the main scenes to make audiences truly feel the thriller aspect of the film. We could also film low angles of the mailbox and vertical pans showing empty dark streets. We could further push the thriller genre by never showing the antagonist of the film. The film could end without ever showing the antagonist (That is just an idea though). 

We will research horror more because, horror could also fit our genre. This is because my groupmates and I can implement very little lighting to give the audience a feeling of nervousness and "what's going to happen". Horror could be our genre because we can have whoever is putting notes into the mailbox actually come for the protagonist of the story. Their are many ways we can write our short film to make it into a horror genre. Another reason I want to further research the horror genre is to find out what angles I can use to make the film feel more like a horror. I believe if I used tilts it would make the film feel more like it. 

The last genre we will research is, action. Action could be an option for our short film because, we can make the antagonist and the protagonist try to find each other. That could result in the film becoming an action if there's lots of running away and fighting scenes. We need to research what type of lighting goes with an action movie. We also need to research which angles and sound go with an action. We are looking forward to choosing our genre very soon!