RESEARCH
CAMERA
Camera is a crucial factor to any film as its ability to capture its surroundings opens up a diverse number of creative techniques which enhance or change the way we view a scene or character. The camera is built of two primary components, the body and its lens. The body uses several features to interact with the lens such as, the user of the camera can direct the amount of light that comes in and out of the lens, view the footage or photos they’ve taken, make artificial lighting or gradients, and more. But the lens is where filmmakers can experiment around with the aesthetic of the shot. There are wide angles (14-35mm), standard (35-85mm), short (85-135mm) and long telephoto (135mm+), macro (35-200m), fisheye (4-14mm), split diopter, grained lens, and way more. Essentially all these lenses have different purposes and effects, for example some use a fish lens to create the effect of looking through a security camera, a peephole in a door, when someone is having a lucid dream. A macro can be for close ups, wide angle for landscapes, etc. But most visual storytelling comes from the positioning of the camera and different camera movements in contrast to the workings of a camera.
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CAMERA TECHNIQUES
Note: I won’t be highlighting every camera technique and movement within my research but merely the shots I want to use and so researching these techniques will give further insight into how I will be able to use them
ESTABLISHING SHOT
The establishing shot can be used to allow the audience to understand the location its set in, the tone of the film, the year they are set in or the passing of time and prior context of a scene. Establishing shots a vital for the audience to realistically know what they are watching, for example if the shot is dark, focused on a creaky wooden house, the audience can understand that the area is vital to the story and sets a feeling of tread. One of the greatest establishing shots can be seen in Alfonso Cuarón’s ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ (2004) with the Whomping Willow. It shows the passing of time, where are characters are currently positioned, foreshadows the ending at the whomping willow and serves as a motif for the parents of our main characters and the resurrection of Voldemort. It accomplishes all that quite subtly and doesn’t draw too much attention to itself.
LONG/WIDE ANGLE
A wide shot is commonly referred to when the character’s whole body is within the frame. But in reality, a wide shot doesn’t necessarily have to have a character; a wide shot (long shot) shows the subject from bottom to top, so for a character that would be from his head to his feet, the subject could simply just be a ship and a tree acting as the subject of the scene. A good example of a good wide shot would be from Gore Verbinski’s Pirates of Caribbean (2003), the introduction of the character Jack Sparrow uses several wide shots to subvert after cutting from a medium or close up shot. The shown wide shot conveys to the audience where Jack is intending to go, how he reacts to any given situation and uses that to his advantage. Besides all the narrative and structural decisions, the shot itself has a high aesthetic quality attached to itself with the sun rising in the distance, with the ships becoming a silhouette, the water reflecting the suns gaze and Jack (the subject) being in the middle-right of the shot, taking credit to the rule of thirds.
MEDIUM SHOT
Medium shots are simply when the camera is positioned to see the character subt from the waist up, captured at a medium distance from the subject. It is useful for dialogue scenes, but also depict body language and a portion of the setting and scenery in the background, rarely the foreground. It’s important to use a medium shot to show action, glue together separate shots through constant actions and present visuals that are disarming, comedic and/or informal. It is also perhaps the most popular shot in all of cinema because of its neutrality as its neither dramatic like a close up, or distancing like a wide shot, it captures the subject similar to what we the audience normally see, so you get to dig into a figures eyes without losing their physicality or environment. This shot from Stephen Chbosky’s “Perks of Being a Wallflower” is a strong example of a medium shot. It captures Charlie’s (Character in frame) eyes with him being somewhat content and awkward whilst capturing the environment behind him with multiple books stacked up, communicating that she is most likely a student and has an interest in photography with the multiple film cameras. The medium also allows the audience to see a section of his physicality and choice of clothing and depicting the characters current posture without it being all too distracting.
CLOSE UP
A close up usually has the subject from shoulder up to the top of their head. It is most powerful visual weapon for highlighting a change in someone’s emotion or a dramatic beat on screen. In this shot size, we as the audience get a front row seat on the characters full range of emotions and restrains the audience to only that person. A close up is all about empathy and illustrates how dramatically effective it can be in a time of decision. This shot from Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (2014) on the character Agatha shows all the expression needed to communicate to the audience that she is happy, feels enriched of joy and colour, all from the framing of the shot. It’s a great device for any DP to use as it allows the audience to get into the head of their characters or protagonist.
EXTREME CLOSE UP/INSERT
The extreme close up commonly focuses all of its detail and attention on one specific object/section of subject. For example, it can isolate the camera to just someone’s nose, ears or possibly eyes. An extreme close up (ECU) can also be utilised to be positioned on a specific object or detail, so filmmakers often rely on what they name the ‘insert shot’. It’s an ECU that is used to highlight and isolate something crucial to the narrative or character such as this shot from David Fincher’s “Zodiac Killer” (2007) where the entire camera is framed on the watched, signifying to the audience its importance. It’s a watch with the name of the Zodiac killer, promptly questioning whether the owner of the watch is actually the killer himself. It is a great tool when used in film and can illustrate the importance of a object parallel to its characters and/or narrative.
PAN MOVEMENT
The Pan in film is when the camera stays stationary in one position but can rotate horizontally left and right on the x axis. Pans can be utilised to follow a character from one position to the next, or they can reveal information not yet shown in frame, which is something Director Wes Anderson does frequently. In his film ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ (2014), Anderson builds his mysteries and jokes on the pan when revealing a piece of information or a character’s position which all creates suspense and engagement. This shot above firstly shows M. Gustave running down the corridor until the camera does a full 180º to a guy who is following him, just trailing behind, this piece of comedy is built on the actions and reactions of characters and is heightened with the camera revealing short sections of the scene to the audience so they can take everything in without confusion.
TILT MOVEMENT
Whereas panning is ideal for horizontal movement, a tilt is brilliant to display information vertically. A tilt directs the camera upward or downward, filmmakers use tilts to capture a worlds verticality or the scale of a building. It can be utilised to give a character dominance, similar to the low angle shot when it pans upwards to a character’s stature. Or the tilt can communicate someone’s weakness or vulnerability. Similar to a pan, it can also reveal information not yet shown within the frame, like a character, setting or scale. Such as this shot from Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’ (2014), with the wave the characters were sitting under. The camera tilts up from the shuttle with the wave engulfing the entire frame, unable to comprehend the size of it as it blocks the view of the sky until it reaches its peak. This is all captured simply with a short tilt upwards, making the characters feel incredibly small.
DOLLY ZOOM
A dolly zoom is combination of a zoom in/out and the physical movement of a camera either forwards or backwards to create something commonly called as the vertigo effect, coined by Alfred Hitchcock in his film ‘Vertigo’ (1958) where it almost feels surreal or uncanny. There are two different types of dolly zooms. One is physically moving the camera closer to the subject and zooming out with the lens, this causes the background to feel as if it is growing while the foreground stays roughly the same, this is commonly used to portray conflict in a shot, either internal or external. The other is dollying out whilst zooming in, this causes the foregrounds subject to expand and dominate the screen over the background. This effect can bring the audience in, highlighting a growing relationship between two subjects. This scene in Rob Minkoff’s ‘Lion King’ moves the camera back while the lens expands (or mimics that style as it’s a cartoon) to push the background away from the audiences eyes and pull you into Simba’s reaction to understand the amount of threat he’s in. It’s a great tool to pull the audience into the characters point of view.
HIGH AND LOW ANGLE
While a low angle shot can pump a character up positioned below a subjects eyeline and give them a sense of power and establish their threat or position in strength, perfect for both protagonists and antagonists alike. The other complementary angle, often paired with the low angle is the high angle shot. High angle shots beat a character down in contrast to a low angle. Both High and Low angle shots are usually combined in the same scene to heighten the imbalance of power between subjects. High angles are usually utilised to diminish a character, making them appear weak or vulnerable, for example this shot in ‘Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix’ directed by David Yates in 2007 has this shot in the first section of the movie with Harry getting attacked by Dementors and the DP SÅ‚awomir Idziak utilised the high and low angles to express the lack of power Harry has compared to the Dementor or more symbolically, the power the Ministry of Magic has with Harry completely helpless against them. So when you want to make a character feel small, use the high angle, when you want them to feel big, use the low angle.
TRACKING MOVEMENT
The tracking shot physically moves the camera through a scene, commonly following a subject. A tracking shot greatly differs from a push in or out, because the camera is not pulling inwards or outwards from a subject, merely with a subject, so when a character is on the move, the camera comes with them. These are heavily utilised in long takes as they immerse the audience directly into the scene at hand. For example, in Ben Stiller’s ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ (2013), Walter finally feels alive, has this passion. The camera follows Walter as he runs out of the office past these posters of significant figures who made it their goal to succeed and so he also feels this passion, all while the camera speeds up in excitement and motivation as Walter his self is doing, putting the audience in Walter’s perspective and feeling the passion of him discovering the purpose of life. It is good to note that this example of tracking, is commonly referred as a tucking shot, a type of tracking shot that almost moves like a truck, one straight direction with the subject, typically placed to subjects side.
HANDHELD MOVEMENT
Most camera technique and movements are highly precise and controlled, but in some cases, producing movement without that control, with imperfections that can make for a more intimate, subjective experience. Handheld movement is commonly built up by camera shakes, imprecise zooms and any randomised movement that seems to be built on the go. Camera shake is often added subtly so the audience engages with that subjective experience. These handheld movements can be used stylistically to create a documentary look. It gives the impression that the events are happening in real time when nothing is scripted and anything could happen. But handheld movement can also add chaos and unpredictability. For example in Rian Johnson’s ‘Knives Out’ (2019) He has one shot where he takes the camera off a tripod to get this more chaotic, dizzy impression as the character Marta is getting swarmed by the family with various insults being thrown at her at the same time.
INSPIRATION
Perks of Being a Wallflower was a 2012 Feature Film directed by Stephen Chbosky, previously the Author of the “Perks of Being of a Wallflower” before adapting it into a movie. The movie itself had an intriguing tone and setting with it been set within a school by the perspective of a new freshman (Charlie) with symptoms of post dramatic stress disorder. Although this isn’t directly told to the viewer at first as it initially appears as if he is immersing himself into the past to escape the present. The form of PTSD that occurs is from a horrible memory of his Aunt molesting him. This is all told to the viewer implicitly as you, as a viewer, can safely assume that the actions from his Auntie were sexual and damaging, giving him a form of depression and incredible anxiety/stress.
Charlie suffers from an internal conflict which parallels to Charlie’s external conflicts. Charlie’s internal conflict comes from his past events while his external conflicts come from the social pressures of school with its segregated groups and hierarchical rankings. I want to replicate some aspects of this film, firstly, the continuous perspective on Charlie, not convoluting the story with unnecessary character development or world building. It is a simple story with heavy topics but relatable and realistic characters, that’s it. It doesn’t even necessarily have a plot other than, gain friends and get through school. The movie relies heavily on character.
The film also has an endearing factor to it, the tone. It feels calm, less the viewer watching a movie, more or less watching a student get through school, not an actor. The dialogue feels real, the characters are enjoyable but flawed, the setting and environment feels grounded, the characters don’t have any enemies except for themselves. They feel Human with real problems, that we as humans tend to oppress commonly. The photo above describes that perfectly through their body language, each of them all different, looking different directions, sitting differently with the characters Charlie (Logan Lerman) sitting nervously and well-mannered, Patrick (Ezra Miller) Looking stoically and confidently, his legs crossed suggesting he is less masculine, more feminine and Sam (Emma Watson) seems more loose with her arms and legs but from her facial expression, she’s worried, scared, and alone. Stephen Chbosky does two things excellently with his narrative, Visual Storytelling and Writing/Dialogue.
VISUAL STORYTELLING
Film is a multitude of different art forms and professions such as writing, acting, photography and so on. But what differentiates a film to a book, or a stage performance is visual storytelling, movies greatest strength. Films are not held by any restrictions but a extreme fundamental of any film is camera, a film can be produced without audio (Silent Films) and without dialogue, but it cannot be produced without visuals. Some argue that storytelling isn’t a rule to film, evident by plotless movies, but movies still include storytelling, whether that be strictly on character or environment, the visuals guide the story/narrative. Perks of Being a Wallflower, Charlies Breakdown is a great scene to exemplify visual storytelling. Camera, editing and acting are all heavily used in this scene.
SHOT ANALYSIS
The shot utilizes the camera technique canting/dutch tilt. This communicates that the character Charlie is not in the right mindset, he’s not himself, the camera keeps a deep focus on the shot (Panavision Primo Primes Spherical Lenses) on a high angle representing how little he feels. They intentionally kept everything in frame, representing his perspective. Charlie as a character seems to be more aware of certain things/events going on around him and commonly holds himself to blame, hence why the shot shows everything within the frame, communicating to the audience the amount of stress and anxiety that comes
with acknowledging so many little things. The actor Logan Lerman within the shot is on the left (positioned on the rule of thirds) of the shot with his head banging against the door. This illustrates the amount of emotions and pressures he’s trying to let escape, he can’t handle this level of pain and so takes it out physically to feel something. The way his body is positioned, it depicts this sense of emptiness, his arms and legs are down and the only thing in motion is his head.
WRITING/DIALOGUE
Although film cannot exist without visuals, writing is just as important to expressing a character, exposition, creating enjoyment for the audience and ramping up tension. Chbosky does dialogue in his film incredibly realistically. It doesn’t feel forced or manufactured, it comes out naturally and human, which makes the film build a stronger connection with its audience because you begin to gain relatability with the characters and see them more as actual people suffering through real problems. A perfect scene to show Chbosky’s style of writing is “You’re a Wallflower” scene.
SHOT ANALYSIS
The scene begins off with Charlie walking in on Brad and Patrick, kissing. Patrick tries to stop Charlie from telling others about their relationship for the sake of Brad. But instead of simply Patrick telling Charlie that he cannot spread this secret around otherwise Brad gets punished, they add unneeded dialogue that doesn’t affect the overall narrative, instead it develops the two characters friendship and makes the conversation more genuine, which inevitably gains a connection with the audience. Charlie’s first reaction to seeing it was to walk out and mention to Patrick, “I didn’t see anything” and Patrick’s response “I know you saw something but its ok”. Communicates to Charlie he doesn’t want others
to know Brad is homosexual and then notices he’s “Baked” and Charlie reacts with “Baked like a cake, that’s what Bob said”. The conversation is intentionally drawn out, it changes topic and goes on several tangents, just like real conversations. But Chbosky’s style of writing is quite balanced between real and poetic writing, such lines within the movie like “Welcome to the island of Misfit Toys” and “we accept the love we believe we deserve”, they’re both poetic and filled with heavy meanings that would never normally be said, but that is what makes these quotes so memorable is because they stand out from the mundane dialogue and are more noticeable to the audience for its originality.
SHORT FILM STRUCTURING
'Olde E' directed by Xavier Burgin's (2020)
'Dig Your Own Grave' directed by Kirk Larsen's (2020)
'Depression' directed by Mike Murphy (2018)
'Things that Fall' directed by Sy Huq (2020)
'The Distraction' directed by Matty Brown (2015)
Compared to standard cinema entertainment, short films differ with the way they are commonly structured. Although short films are exceptionally different to the next because of a grand multitude of moderations. The only thing each short film has in common is the length. A short film must convey and effectively hit the core idea or message of the screenplay and tell that in a confined amount of time. For reference, a short films length caps out at 40 minutes, established by the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Science, AMPAS for short, but some festival programs allow for films to be up to 50 minutes. But a short film is typically 15 minutes of less, this is because narratives ranging from 8 to 15 minutes are far more viable for a festival to pick up, that is why you don’t commonly see short films over 15-20 minutes. All five short films presented above have very little in common with completely different tones and genres, but each film is told in what is typically called the 3-Act Structure.
The first distinction to understand when writing or viewing a short film is to establish whether they’re narrative stories or more experimental in construction. A narrative story is what we are most accustomed to within the entertainment industry, a cohesive tale generally following the 3-act structure.
3-ACT STRUCTURE
A strong 3-Act Structured film opens up with what they coin as the ‘opening image’, this beat in a story establishes a snapshot of the world at the very starting of a film, it acts as a counterpoint to the final beat of a story. Next is the ‘theme state’ beat, this is essentially the morals of a story. It’s the backbone that guides the protagonist through their journey, they’re motives and presents the theme of the story (Note: Not every film follows this structure, but this is the common structuring). After the theme state, the audience gets introduced to the ‘setup’ of a film’s narrative, where the audience gets to know the protagonist and why we should feel compelled to root for them. We should on a base level, feel empathetic or sympathetic towards them, whether it be a relatable or understandable character. Once the character or plot of the story is set up, you need a ‘catalyst’ (which can also be commonly called as the Inciting Incident) to push the story into motion. The catalyst is what thrusts the movie along and eventually challenges the theme state. Next beat is the ‘debate’, a moment or sequence where the protagonist meets doubt, or debating the question whether a protagonist’s goal is achievable or more challenging. Where debate is the question, the ‘break into 2’ is the answer. Break Into 2 is the jump between act 1 into 2 and the protagonist must actively make the decision to oppose such debate and carry on. By having the protagonist actively continue his quest or goal demonstrates his ability to surpass that question/debate. The start of act 2 can sometimes use the story beat typically called the ‘B-Story’, this person may be a love interest, a mentor, guide, a family member and so on. Ultimately, they would test the theme state to see if it were to hold true. The A-Story drives the protagonist to what they’re seeking for, the B-Story tests what they want and need. Sometimes within a film, there is a story beat called ‘fun and games’ where the protagonist explores their new fond abilities or setting around them, although this is quite optional and serves less purpose, more engagement. Then there’s the ‘midpoint’, the point in the story where there is no turning back. This is when the stakes are raised and the audience, with either a false victory or some defeat. This beat is almost vital in any film as it almost serves as the hook to the story, the reason to continue watching. Although this midpoint can be less evident within a short film with a narrative story structure. The midpoint is also where tension ramps up and a timer is introduced. The next story beat can be referred to as the ‘rising action’ and where internal and/or external conflicts collide, almost closing to the climax of the film, in doing so we the audience connect with the protagonist’s tenacity. The predecessor is the ‘all is lost’ beat, where the protagonist is at his lowest, forcing back such thoughts and debates mentioned in act 1. ‘Dark Night of the soul’ is the beat where the protagonist has lost all hope and is forced to reflect on the theme state and succumb their loss. After this beat we hit the ‘Break into Act 3’, this is the beat where they discover a new idea or hatch their new plan. In act 3, we commonly start with the climax, sometimes referred as the ‘finale’ which can be separated into five distinct sub-beats which just meld its finale together. First is the ‘gathering of a plan’, then the ‘execution’, which is when the plan is initiated, followed by a ‘high tower surprise’ where the plan can fail or at least be challenged, forcing the protagonist to ‘dig deep down’ and finally ‘succeed’ with the thematic premise, the theme state of the movie is resolved. The final beat is the ‘final image’. This beat can contrast the first beat, being an inverse to the opening image.
Xavier Burgin’s ‘Olde E’, published by Omeleto in 2020 has a narrative story and has its own 3-Act structure with similar beats. The opening image establishes the character as the focal point, it shows his innate passion and skills for basketball.
The next shot uses the theme state beat, showing our protagonists motives and their goal for the film, he wants to impress the scout so he can get into proper NBA. But this is also suppressing the true theme of the film, communicated by his response to seeing him initially.
Stated by the director, the true theme of the short film is trauma and how such trauma can be sparked from suppressed memories and emotions. The setup is built within the first two beats as we learn he is kind and quite talented.
The catalyst is presented when the scout introduces himself to him and offers him a deal which inevitably challenges his motives when he sits down to eat dinner with his father. His father makes him question his goals (debate beat), by stating that the league he wants to go will treat him as if ‘he is nothing’.
We break into Act 2 when the protagonist actively makes the decision to go against his father and continue to strive for his dreams to go into the Kentucky Basketball league. But this will be challenged by the narratives B-story.
The Scout who wants to hire our main protagonist acts as the mentor to Demarcus and tests his motives and challenges the theme acting as the B-Story of the narrative. He wants the Demarcus to go to Kentucky but tests his passion.
This scene where the father abusively injures his son is the rising tension beat of the film as his external conflict, his father challenging his theme state and his internal conflict being his struggle with his home life with his father to his passions and goals.
The midpoint comes after the rising in tension and is Demarcus’ choice to harm his own father to subsequently, make it into the league, eliminating his opposing force. This is where the film ramps up in tension as we follow Demarcus make a controversial decision.
Our protagonist is now his is all time low, following the all is lost beat and where Demarcus goes to his friends apartment in need of advice and support. We immediately go into Act 3 with the break of Demarcus’ new plan to bring harm to his father out of rage.
The finale has started, with the gathering of his friends and a plan to seek revenge upon his father. They break into the home, executing their plan with a high tower surprise from the father, knocking a friend unconscious, until his own son digs deep down to be the one to inflict damage on his own father. Which Demarcus eventually succeeds in toppling his father’s dramatically opposing views bringing the film to its final image.
The film ends on this long take with booming up from the ground with Demarcus leaving his father’s home and throwing out the bottle ‘Olde E’, the drink his father was drinking in Act 1, capitulating the theme of trauma through family generation. Demarcus makes it clear through subtle implicit visuals that he isn’t his father and being related doesn’t signify they’re the same and we are able to take that trauma from our past to blend in a stronger future for themselves, coherently tying the narrative and characters satisfactorily in only 14 minutes.
EXPERIMENTAL
The other type of short film is ‘experimental’. Harder to pinpoint as this term is quite subjective. An experimental short film doesn’t necessarily have to follow any structure, it just needs to simply convey his premise and meaning. It can be structured like a documentary, a simple speech, an array of stunning cinematography, a narrative that only accomplishes one or 2 various acts, etc. The experiment is the film itself, the structure is the idea and premise.
Matty Brown’s short film, “The Distraction” (2015) is a documentary type styled short about Anxiety and Depression. The short film doesn’t follow any type of established structure except conveying in a visual array of symbolism about what it feels like to have depression and deep seeded anxiety and how it builds up on you. It does follow a character’s journey and how they have in their life experienced and battled depression and the extent it had reached out to them in a highly methodical and symbolic way to articulate what it would feel like, so the audience can feel empathy to those who go through such heavy feelings and be able to possibly help them.
Those are the two foremost structures for a short film as short films themselves aren’t restricted to any medium, they can be a documentary, speech, photoreal, narrative and more. So when screenwriting my own short film, I either need to build a narrative that attempts to hit similar beats to a 3-Act structure or shoot an experimental film that conveys its meaning and premise through camera, acting, sound and/or dialogue.
DEPRESSION IN FILM
Matty Brown’s “The Distraction” (2015) is auto-biographical short best captures the feeling of claustrophobic anxiety and the emotion of emptiness and darkness, depression. Depression is a difficult topic to produce as it differs from person to person. But a common factor is the lack of something, that feels as if it should be there. Matty Brown uses certain horror techniques with various slow zooms and empty tracking shots, as if the camera is following something that is not visible to the eye. And so, Brown visualises depression as this entity the insights internal conflict. Anxiety is visualised by lady bugs as they gesture panic and overload. This social issue video essay of sorts makes clear that this feeling of heavy
anxiety and depression, narrated by the actor Emma Sinai-Yunker that it can be manifested by the act of loss, whether that be losing someone, losing a hobby, a sense of motivation. This lack of an object or person can stimulate emptiness, and so without an anchor like music or someone you care about, you may feel as if yourself as worthless or meaningless. “How do you describe the indescribable”. Emma,
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he narrator depicts the feeling of anxiety and depression comes in waves. This is a capture of what is stated to be an “anxiety attack”, seeing the most peaceful, unassuming image and then it chips away at you, “a seed that grows. Possesses your soul”. It something that is incapable of grasping as it “possesses” you without you being able to feel as if you’re in control of yourself and your decisions until it consumes you.
Until you’re unable to feel that peace, it traps and grasps onto your breath until you feel restrained and unable to move. ‘This game that you play with your brain. This urge” eats away at you until you feel like nothing feels more relieving than succumbing to such anxiety and emptiness. “smiles hiding the heaviness of life”. Within this short film, it
communicates that every individual fight against his feeling of anxiety with distractions, whether that be games of loved ones, it’s a way to distract yourself from the bleakness of reality.
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Prolonged sadness or feelings of emptiness
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Feeling of helplessness or hopelessness
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Feelings of guilt or worthlessness
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Anger and irritation
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Restlessness
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Fatigue
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Changes in sleep patterns
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Appetite changes
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Chronic pains, headaches or stomach aches
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Loss of interest
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Withdrawal from family and friends
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Depression is something you can just easily snap out of. It’s an illness that requires treatment. Yet with the right care, people can begin to feel themselves once more. Licenced psychologists are highly trained mental health professionals with experience in helping patients recover. It is stated that there is no one way to approach and recover depression with therapy or with friends and family. It’s something that takes time understanding why someone may feel like this and how it may ever affect them in the long term. Therefore, when tackling depression or heavy emotions is incredibly difficult to properly convey as it’s not something anyone can properly tell or visually show. But it does need to be addressed and mentioned as it can consume someone until they aren’t themselves anymore.
From a more professional and phycological perspective, Depression is caused by a combination of genetic, biological, psychological, social and environmental factors. Major life changes, trauma and stress can also bring about an episode of depression, although some episodes of depression without any obvious external causes, sometimes depression can seem unreadable. Depression can be chronic, if several members of your family suffer/ed from heart disease and cancer, are at an increased risk of depression. Depression affects all different people in all different ways and have different severities and longevities of depression. But common symptoms include:
Mikey Murphey’s “A Short film about Depression” (2018) Highlights the feeling of depression of this “pit in my stomach” that seems to pull you down to the point where you yourself don’t feel the same and as if your trapped under layers of water pulling down on your lungs. “I want to be free”. Depression isn’t simply being sad, it’s an emotion that continuously pulls you down
AUDIENCE RESEARCH
SUMMARY
From the four recorded interviews I processed through, I got an array of different responses. In summary, they all have completely different tastes in films, and enjoy them for all different reasons, having a good cinematography, emotion, and overall quality of entertainment. Most interviewees have a mediocre reaction to school drama’s, but all agree the good percentage of them are memorable and good to go back to. This informs me that having the film centered around school, is less preferable for its somewhat negative response. Everyone is in agreeance that films that focus on heavy topics such as depression and suicide are important to make as they spark awareness if done correctly and allow its audience to empathize with people who struggle with these emotions. This informs me that although challenging will be good to have the film tackle a heavy topic so that it can address it for others that don’t have a high understanding. People go into a movie for different reasons, but for the most part, they usually watch films for entertainment when there’s nothing else to do or they are simply bored. Character driven stories are mutually likeable with all interviewers which suggests that making a short film character driven will be better for the majority of the audiences reception.
What is your favourite film?
The question simply accompanies the tone of the interview for the interviewees but also allows me to analyse their choice in narratives and their preferred tone and genre.
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Why Is It Your Favourite?
This makes it more clear to the interviewer whether they engage with more upbeat movies, are interested in sad or drama-based films as well delve into their likes and dislikes of cinema.
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What do you think about school orientated movies?
Because my film is likely to be a social drama, analyzing whether audiences are interested in movies within schools are enjoyable for them makes it less disconcerting making a film located in a school.
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Do you Enjoy/Engage with sad/emotional films?
If it gathers primarily negative responses, I will stray away from having the film be emotional or use more lighter topics for the film.
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Do you think movies on heavy topics are important to make?
To gather whether the importance of bringing depression and suicide is comfortable for an audience. If not, then certain changes to the plot will need to be put in order.
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What is the reason you go and watch a film?
To gather whether their interests lie in the style of a film, the acting, how funny and/or engaging it is or if it evokes emotion + relatability.
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What is your opinion on a character driven stories (CDS)
To understand if an audience is more in tune with a film that is strictly character based if they find a plot-based film more stimulating.