directors

i have chosen to look at a director called Neill Blomkamp, born in johannesburg 1979 he is famous for his documentary-style, hand held, cinema vertie technique and also blending naturalistic with computer generated effects. Blomkamp at 16 he began working for an animation company called deadtime. His family moved to Vancouver where he enrolled in film school after graduating he work as a visual effects artist at the embassy visual effects. whilst working as a visual effects artist he made four successful short films. Blomkamp's first big break came when he was asked to direct an upcoming film adapt from a video game, when this fell through the producer, peter jackson decided to make a feature length of one of Blomkamp's earlier shorts. Neill Blomkamp has won four academy awards and one golden globe thanks to short film Blomkamp has started a career in feature length films.

short film messages and ideologies

In many short films there is an underling message or moral, just like feature in length films, music and books the author director or artist uses this media to show a point. here are some examples in short film "the big shave" directed by martin scorsese the young man shaves his face till he bleeds, this represents how the war in Vietnam was unnecessarily destroying the youth of america. "about a girl" directed by Brian Precival it is about a young girl telling the camera of her dreams and ambitions mixed with stories of abuse and domestic violence. The 'underside' of the story is revealed at the end when the girl throws a plastic bag containing a dead baby into a canal. the short is saying something about todays society and is a shocking image of underage pregnancy in the UK. Not all shorts have an underling message but most do many short are a way of expressing a directors view or opinion.

film festivals

Short film is one of the main gateways of becoming a director, film festivals are the best way to get your short film shown to the right crowd. there are film festivals all over the UK and the world. their is a huge diversity of films shown and even particular festivals for particular shorts. "Sundance" is one of the largest independent film festivals in the USA, held in january the festival is the premier showcase for new york from american and international independent filmmakers.

"raindance" is the UK equivalent of sundance it being the largest independent film festival in the UK.

there are also festivals dedicated to short films, for example "brief encounters" started off in 1995 in bristol it was meant to be a one off event but because of its popularity it has carried on since. Without these festivals there would be no place for short film to be exhibited and watch by the right people to have new great talent recognized.

avant-garde short film

avant garde short film started as a protest against Hollywood, it used the minds of some fantastic artists to create work that would break the mould of cinema. avant garde literally turns reality on its head, it uses narrative, camera and mise-en-scene to disrupt the norm and engulf the viewers senses. avant garde is always a vehicle for the filmmakers expression. avant garde started in the 1940's and "meshes of the afternoon" was the one to break the mold, it set the bone for USA avant-garde filmmaking. "the berlin horse" is simply a horse running backwards with harsh filters and a simple piano playing over it. this is a ground breaking work and is one of the best examples of the power in avant garde. avant garde is still being made and shown in art galleries all over the world and has been influence to such films as the "rocky horror picture show" and pink floyds "the wall".

BFI archives

as a group the class went to the BFI and had a look at their archives these are the 3 films that stuck with me the most:
-"Borderline"- Directed by Alex Chandon
"borderline" is a short which uses optical illusions, good camera movement and very skilled editing. it take an average urban landscape (London) and change to look unnatural and out of the ordinary to play with your mind.

-"postal delivery"- Directed by John Beech 1971
This short has a quirky story line where a man traps his hand in a post box gets beaten up, robbed and loses everything. an old woman helps him and feeds him then he draws on the pavement with chalk, becomes and inspirational street artist, earns a million and finds true love all with his hand stuck in a letter box.

-"the x-rays"- directed by G.A.smith 1897
this is an early film for cinema the short uses a quick cut and a costume change to give the impression you are looking at two people through an x-ray camera. This film must have been when editing and different camera tricks were being found, out it very impressive for it time.