shorts!
OCTOBER 2017
leeds film festival | bfi london festival | AND MORE!
To short film lovers
breaking digital bryan cranston’s electric dreams
LAUNCH ISSUE!
EXCLUSIVE COVER ART PRINT INSIDE!
Over 20 world premieres of the most terrifying short films
man eating shed! james moran talks blood shed
exclusive interview: aaron umetani + youtube
HI.
Editor’s Letter
We love shorts. To us, short films are a bastion of experimentation, and the fact that we lost an appreciation for it means that we’ve become blind to the cutting edge of cinema. I mean, if there is one thing I’d never expect to see on the silver screen, it would probably be the story of a man falling in love with a shed who so happens to murder people as well. To top that, I never expected that this short would be one of my favourite movies to come out of this year’s FrightFest. It’s is a pretty risky idea, but taking that risk resulted in bursts of laughter throughout its 13-minute runtime, along with an appropriate amount of cheers and praises as the credits started to roll. I suppose that’s the glory of short films though - being able to experiment with any idea to see what the world thinks of it. Funny that, as the notion of experimenting is quite fitting for our launch issue! We’ve ventured through many things short films has to offer us; peering into the animation side with a delightful chat with an animator from the lovable Wallace and Gromit, getting details on some effectively cheap DIY blood effects, throwing in nice ol’ interview with L.A. native actress, Stacy Snyder for good measure, and a considerable amount of previews and reviews to keep you up-to-date with what the film industry has to offer. Oh, and much more of course, as our contents page will show. The Shorts! team loves a bit of experimentation, and we’re pretty chuffed with this little experiment of ours, despite words such as, “you idiot!” being flung around the office. It all comes from a good place though, we promise. Anywho, much like the short films we watch, we like to keep this section of the magazine trim and sweet. So, go on, enjoy this launch issue of Shorts!
EDITORS KRIS PRADIPTA XIZI (CAMMI) LYU SARAH BAXTER RICHARD PRIDAY NATASHA GREGSON DARRAGH MURPHY
Cover art by nATASHA wIBISONO
-SHORTS!
SHORTS! MAGAZINE | OCT 2017
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Contents 20 -24
FEATURES
30
16
20 - FrightFest Special Recap Two guys, three days, 25 movies. We recap FightFest 2017
22Bloodshed James Moran talks to us about the
passions of a man and his man-eating shed.
23Feeding Time Cross Alien with C.H.U.D and you
get Feeding Times Monster. We talk to Director Matt Mercer on crafting creepy crawlies
28
Tips from programmers to make your submission stand-out.
33 -Portrait People We talk with Henry Rees about his incredible journey
38
24Real Gods Require Blood 1990. Manchester. Santanic Ritual
Abuses. We talk to Director Moin Hussain about FightFest’s scariest short.
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- So you want to submit to a festival
6
30Alternate Realities We see if VR is actually a thing in short films.
38Rad-vertsing Ads as shorts. We investigate.
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Contents PREVIEWS
14
MAKERS
14-Reading Electric
36
- A Conversation with... Danny Capozzi of Aardman Studios
Dreams
Checking out Bryan Cranston’s new show by going back to the books
16 - Festival previews We take a look at whats on at the
48 - Ask an Expert We get to know how to get a job
Leeds International Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival
in the film industry and how to make cheap special effects
EVERY ISSUE
52 - The Outdoor City Salt Street Productions tells us
7Everything - What’s on in October, all on one
about making adventrue short films.
54 - A Job Well Done Shorts! chat to Oscar-nominated an-
page
8 - News
What you need to hear right now
imators Job, Joris and Marieke about their films.
58
40 -Reviews This month the team reviews;
56 - I, Docubot YouTube star Aaron Umetani talks
Parfum Frais; Trespass; Meera; Fig’s Representation, and many more...
about his journey to success.
58
- Shorts! talks to Stacy Snyder
62 - The Good Stuff Things you need, right here, right now.
We catch up with the Feeding Time star about the exciting horros witnessed on set.
65 - Hidden Gems Movies you may have missed
60 - A Fish Out of Water Filmmaker Chalie Lyne gives us the
throughout the years.
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lowdown on his critically acclaimed tale of fishy surnames.
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OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
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T
his month is film festival galore, with the best new shorts from all around the world being showcased and praised. The celebration of independent cinema comes with plenty of shortlisted films, nominations, and awards. Here’s our pick of the best film festivals to visit this October.
THE BFI FILM
THE 15SHORT FILM
FESTIVAL
FESTIVAL
LONDON, ENGLAND
CHARLOTTE, U.S.A.
1 OCT
14-15 OCT
T
his is 15SFF’s thirteenth annual film festival, showcasing short films from everywhere. Their website boasts to have screened over 300 shorts from 60 different countries since their first festival in 2005.
T
he Short Film Award of the BFI’s film festival‘recognises short form works with a unique cinematic voice and a confident handling of chosen theme and content.’. Two programmes for viewing schedules of short films; six films broadcast in each programme so 12 films in total. (See our coverage in page 18!)
THE KERRY FILM 19-22 OCT
THE EDINBURGH FILM FESTIVAL
KILLARNEY, IRELAND
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND
FESTIVAL
27 OCT - 11 NOV
T
he Kerry Film Festival is a festival showcasing the very best of Irish talent in picturesque Killarney. KFF’s short film competition has 7 awards up for grabs including Best International Narrative Short, Best Irish Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Student Short, Best Original Score, Best of Kerry Connection, and Best Animation. The festival welcomes submissions from everyone, making KFF wholly supportive of indie film as anyone has the chance of getting their work recognised.
E
stablished in 1942, The Edinburgh Film Festival is the oldest running film festival in the world. Mixing red carpet glam and the community feeling of festivals, the Edinburgh Film Festival is one to look out for. Their short film strand is devoted to screening short film from around the world, and has shown everything from the first film made in Somalia in 20 years, to Oscar nominated shorts from Australia, the USA, and Ireland, as well as shorts smuggled out of China and Iran.
T
he European Short Film Festival is dedicated to new filmmakers and accepts low-budget film festivals in every genre, on any topic from every country around the world. Special attention is paid to first and second time directors, and films that overcome budget limitations in new and innovative ways, demonstrating that this festival is ever-supportive of independent cinema throughout Europe. ESFF screens brand new narrative short films juxtaposed with short form documentaries and experimental films in guaranteed quality low-budget short film blocks in all formal categories by international as well as European filmmakers.
THE EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVAL 1-4 OCT
BERLIN, GERMANY
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OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
NEWS
THE SHORT BRIEF: WHAT’S ON OCTOBER
NEWS
THE SHORT BRIEF...
prequel dawn
BLADE RUNNER - The first of three short films set in the Blade Runner Universe, 2036: Nexus Dawn, was released earlier this autumn. Nearing the premiere of the movie - more are set to come.
B
lade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve has commissioned the trio of films to bridge the gap between Ridley Scott’s original film and his own. Each will depict key events in the world’s timeline that lead to the upcoming movie. The film itself is coming in October 8th in the UK. Villeneuve had final say on story beats and was present during each shoot of all the shorts.
The first, directed by Luke Scott, stars Jared Leto as replicant designer Niander Wallace. He questions the authorities’ decision on banning the manufacturing of the artificial humans. The short also stars Benedict Wong as a government official opposite Leto. The second and third shorts in the series, released in October, will feature leading castmembers Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling.
BEAT ‘EM UP
TOKYO DRIFT
L
I
ena Dunham has released a new short film, called Tokyo Project, starring Elisabeth Moss. Coming in at 30 minutes, the film was premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. It follows a business man on a trip to Tokyo who becomes intrigued by a mystery woman. We’re looking forward to Moss’ take on what would be a fun femme fatale tale. HBO will be broadcasting the short in America on October 14th.
n a Heartbeat’ the viral LGBTQ sensation, has now won four awards following it’s online success, including Best LGBT at HollyShorts Film Festival, Best LGBT Film at Lake View International Film Festival, Jury Award at North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, and Alumni Choice Award at Trinity Film Festival. It has also been nominated for Jury Award at Animation Shorts Film Festival.
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IMMIGRATION TROUBLES
I
ndie game Papers Please is getting an official short film adaptation. Courtesy of up-and-coming Russian director Nikita Ordynskiy, the ten-minute short is coming sometime in the next few months. Liliya and Nikita Ordynskiy are again behind the story. Production on the ten-minute short wrapped a
couple of months ago, and judging from the (very short) teaser that they released – Ordynskiy and team have absolutely nailed the tone and atmosphere that made Papers, Please a compelling game. We can’t wait to see what they come up with.
INVADING TRUTHS
D
irector Mateo Marquez has created a new short exploring how it feels to be a muslim in the modern age. Based in the United States, the director has made a short that reflects the living in fear and paranoia. The film’s protagonist Jayla
is a young American-Muslim girl who is faced with an unsettling follower. The film raises relevant issues, a Get Out-esque thriller that portrays an important message we can all learn something from.
DUMPSTER DIVING
S
eth Rogen and James Franco are co-starring in a film titled ‘Dumpster Diving’, which has been created by students at John C. Fremont High School in Los Angeles. The surprise cast members joined the short as part of a new program founded by Evan Goldberg and Adrienne
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Slover, which aims to offer support and opportunities to young filmmakers, helping them break into the film industry. Dumpster Diving is a teen comedy which about two bullied high school kids that fall in with a couple of gang members, and you can catch the short online now.
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NEWS
OCTOBER 2017
reading the
electric dreams Crazy Diamond Based on: Sales Pitch
Year of publication: 1954 The enemy of the original story is simply advertising. Starring Steve Buscemi and Sidse Babett Knudsen, Buscemi’s character, Ed Morris, is unable to escape from sounds and images projected directly into his head, and a particularly insistent robot. Bear in mind that this is only ‘inspired’ by Dick’s story, so expect a more intense start to the series than a tale of rampant commercialism.
the hood maker Based on: The Hood Maker
Year of publication: 1955 In a world where telepathic humans monitor the population’s thoughts, some begin to wear hoods to restore the privacy of their thoughts. Richard Madden is Detective Ross, who is tasked with tracking down the Hood Maker and figuring out why people have begun to fear the telepaths. When one considers the surveillance heavy climate we live in today, Dick’s 60 year old story has hardly aged.
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Channel 4 and Amazon Prime’s upcoming short film anthology series Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams is based on several of Dick’s short stories. We have investigated the original stories to give a taste of what lies in store when the ten episodes are released later this year. Read on for our picks of the shorts we’re most looking forward to...
HUMAN IS Based on: Human Is
Year of publication: 1955 Series producer Bryan Cranston makes his appearance as Silas, (known as Lester Herrick in the original), a researcher that prioritises his work above the happiness of his wife, Jill (Vera in original, played by Essie Davis). After taking a lengthy trip away, the husband returns with a complete change of character. As the title suggests, Dick will make you ponder the nature of humanity from many different angles as we get to know the new and improved Silas.
REAL
life
Want more? Check out our investigation on the anthology’s 2018 releases in our website!
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Based on: exhibit piece
Year of publication: 1954 The original story is about a historical researcher who studies the 1950s, and how his obsession with the perfect exhibition creates an alternative reality within it. He struggles to work out which is real, under pressure from people in both planes of existence. One of Dick’s classic multiple realities stories, Real Life has made some big changes in its adaptation, featuring Anna Paquin and Terrence Howard getting lost in each other’s world.
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OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
REVIEW
Animation: Scent of Geranium, 2016
LEED-ING AHEAD The 31st Leeds Film Festival is coming soon, we bring you up to speed on what to expect.
Words by Cammi Lyu
F
ounded in 1987 Leeds International Film Festival is renowned as a dynamic event with a reputation for challenging and innovative programming. Presenting a huge variety of exceptional films at over 300 screenings and events at 16 venues over 15 days. LIFF is a qualifying event for both the Academy Awards and BAFTAs. This year’s event takes place on 1-16 November 2017. Programming of the entire event is still on its way and the full programme launch is in early October. But first, let’s have a sneak peek at the venues where LIFF31 Fanomenon horror film marathons are.
DAY OF THE DEAD
NIGHT OF THE DEAD
Saturday 4th November Leeds Town Hall
Friday 10th November The Hyde Park Picture House
Opened in 1858, the city’s favourite landmark building had twovenues at LIFF30, last year. The biggest films of LIFF30 and many alltimeclassics were presented in the stunning orchestral concert venue. Victoria Hall, featuring a giant screen and digital cinema systemwith 7.1 surround sound. In the more intimate Albert Room, there is a fascinating series of documentaries and events with special guests.
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The ‘cosiest cinema in Leeds’, the muchloved Hyde Park PictureHouse has been part of LIFF from the very start in 1987. The LIFF30selection at the Hyde Park is the largest of any venue, featuring an incredible variety of exclusive previews, special retrospective films (many of them screening on 35mm), short film competitions, an allnight horror marathon, and live events.
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The home of big stories in little packages, Short Film City showcases the latest and greatest short films from around the world and LIFF is a qualifying festival for both the Academy Awards and the BAFTAs. The seven jam packed competitions also include Animation, British, Yorkshire, Music Video, Screendance and the Audience Award. This is a selection of shorts from last year favoured by Shorts!:
Ambulance
A LOOK BACK TO LEEDS FILM FEST’S BIGGEST STEPPING STONES Founded in 1987, held in November at various venues throughout Leeds.
Limbo Short Film Audience Award was introduced.
Form Narrative Country Norway Year 2016 Running Time 15 min Language Norwegian Director Sebastian Torngren Wartin Two Norwegian female ambulance paramedics get caught up in a conflict with a group of Romanian immigrants, after being called out to an address where it turns out nobody lives.
Premiere Status UK Form Narrative Country Greece Year 2016 Running Time 30 min Language Greek Director Konstantina Kotzamani
1999, LIFF13
A mysterious twelve year-old albino boy washes up on a shore alongside the carcass of a whale.
Scent of Geranium
Umpire
Fanomenon was introduced as an official programme category at LIFF.
2004, LIFF18
Form Narrative Country Belgium Year 2015 Running Time 15 min Language English Director Leonardo van Dijl Axelle, a promising young tennis player is left in increasing desperation when she learns that Jeremy, her attentive coach, is questioned under dubious circumstances.
Form Narrative Country USA Year 2016 Running Time 5 min Language English Director Naghmeh Farzaneh Immigration is a new chapter in one’s life, a chapter with unexpected events that can take one’s life down paths different from the one imagined. Scent of Geranium is a simple and light-hearted autobiographical account of Iranian animator Naghmeh Farzaneh and her experiences.
Short Film City was introduced as a distinct programme category.
BOOK YOUR PASS NOW Tickets can be purchased online, on phone, or in person. Check out the official site (leedsfilm.com) for the latest price of LIFF31. Buy a 6 For 5 Discount Card: Save with a special discount card that offers you 6 tickets for the price of 5 for any standard screenings and events. Excludes premium priced events and screenings. Buy a Single Pass: The full Pass is amazing value at giving access to all available screenings and events at all venues
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across all programme sections, including for the first time all marathon Fanathon events in Fanomenon. Buy a double Pass: Team up with a friend or partner and purchase a pass at the same time! Each person can use a Double Pass independently, so you can see different films taking place at the same time. You can also buy individual tickets. Don’t forget your NUS card for concession rate!
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NOW
1994, LIFF8 Louis le Prince Short Film Competition was introduced, as well as ‘Evolution’, a new programme strand for films between film, tv and the interactive (gaming) entertainment industry. 2000, LIFF14 Animated short films could now enter their own World Animation Competition and all short films were eligible for the FilmFour Short Film Audience Award.
2008, LIFF22
LIFF is the largest film festival in England outside London. The festival welcomed over 40,000 visitors and showed over 300 films from around the world, shorts and features, commercial and independent.
OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
REVIEW
RETROSPECTIVE PERSPECTIVE
REVIEW
O
MADE IN BRITAIN
nce again, London is hosting it’s wildly successful BFI Film Festival, celebrating its 61st run with over 242 feature films and, more importantly of course, 128 short films! This 12-day celebration of cinema illustrates the richness of international filmmaking, with films to delight and entertain audiences, and also films that probe and interrogate issues of significance. With the success of last year, as audiences and filmmakers alike praising its quality of cinema experience and filling the 820-seat Embankment Garden Cinema with each film featured, the temporary venue constructed to the highest technical specifications, makes its return to bring the festival to even more people and connects screenings in the West End with the BFI’s home cinema at BFI Southbank. This years films are looking to be especially good, with an eclectic range of shorts to make audiences experience a range of emotions from euphoria to sadness as they cover all the different strands of genre that the programme has to offer. ‘Like A Heartbeat Drives You Mad,’ for all you lovers of the romance genre, brings together stories of disapproving parents, difficult love and traumatic breakups in this selection of films from all over the world, including Daisy Jacob’s ‘THE FULL STORY,’ an animation about a father’s affair, family break-up and sibling rivalry. ‘The Thrill of the Chase’, providing us with
SHORTS! MAGAZINE | OCT 2017
Words by Cammi Lyu
a varied selection of adrenaline-pumped shorts to put us on the edge of our seats. In ‘OKSIJAN’ by Edward Watts, the true story of a seven-year old Afghan boy who finds himself trapped in a refrigerated truck with 14 other refugees as they are smuggled into the UK. In ‘1745’ by Gordon Napier, two slave sisters escape into the Scottish wilderness in the year of the Jacobite rising. Heading for that ‘Adult Crash,’ which explores an amount of movies that the stressful journey from childhood to adulthood, including Aneil Karia’s ‘WORK’ about a 17 year old dancer attempting to contain her growing contempt towards an unjust world, and Patrick Bresnan’s THE ‘RABBIT HUNT,’ in which an initiation rite is performed on boys on the cusp of manhood in Pahokee, Florida. If you need a breather, there’ll be a series of in-depth interviews with some of the biggest names in the film industry, including - Julian Rosefeldt & Cate Blanchett, David Fincher, and Ian McEwan. If you’re looking for a weekend filled with a compelling combination of diverse films, red carpet glamour, friendly audiences and vibrant exchange, BFI’s London Film Festival is here to provide.
David Fincher and Cate Blanchett will be giving industry talks in the 12-day festival
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The Short Film Award recognises short form works with a unique cinematic voice and a confident handling of chosen theme and content. The short film award programme has two parts, taking place on two days: Saturday 14 October 2017 12:30 Haymarket Cinema, Screen 1 On sale14-09-2017 10:00 am
DELETE BEACH A collaboration between artist Phil Collins and leading animation studio Studio 4°C. Dir Phil Collins. Germany-Japan-Norway 2016. 7min
Sunday 15 October 2017 18:30 Vue Leicester Square Cinema, Screen 5 On sale14-09-2017 10:00 am
THE RABBIT HUNT Pahokee, Florida. An initiation rite is practised here for boys on the cusp of manhood. Dir Patrick Bresnan. USA 2017. 12min
SIX THINGS ABOUT THE BFI FILM FESTIVAL 1. In 1957, Princess Margaret opened the British Film Institute’s brand new cinema under an arch of Waterloo Bridge on London’ Southbank, where it hosted the inaugural London Film Festival one day later. 2. The first film ever to ben shown in the LFF was Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood (1957). 3. The LFF was initially dedicated to showing winning films from the likes of Cannes, Venice and Berlin, so there were no British films screened in the first few editions. However, shorts commissioned by Pearl and Dean and the London Transport Commission did appear (woohoo! shorts!).
MARTIN CRIES
Imagine you wake up one day and all your friends have disappeared. The friends that should be there are gone. You look everywhere, but cannot find them. Dir Jonathan Vinel. France 2017. 16min
THE ARTIFICIAL HUMOURS In this post-modern fairytale at the intersection of anthropology and artificial intelligence, an Amazon girl falls in love with a robot who is also a stand-up comic. Dir Gabriel Abrantes. Portugal 2017. 29min
... and more premieres:
Closing Night gala will be Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, MissourI. The film will receive its UK premiere on Sunday 15 October at the Odeon Leicester Square and acclaimed screenwriter, director and playwright McDonagh is expected to attend along with Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and other filmmakers and cast. Broadcast live of Loving Vincent from the National Gallery on Monday 9 October, audiences in cinemas across the country are invited to experience the film premiere and the following Q&A with special guests.
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4. At the third LFF in 1959, director François Truffaut turned up to the screening of his film The 400 Blows (1959) without a ticket and unable to speak English. He managed to charm the ushers who found him a seat in the audience. 5. The fourth LFF in 1961 featured a British film for the first time: Karel Reisz’s Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, in spite of film from France and Italy once again dominated the Festival. 6. In 1967, the LFF screened the films directed by women for the first time: Shirley Clarke’s Portrait of Jason, Agnès Varda’s Les Créatures and Vera Chytilová’s Daisies.
OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
REVIEW
Films in Short Film Competition
The SHORTS! team went down to London for three days to catch the scariest shorts out there. This is what happened. Words : Darragh J. Murphy and Kris Pradipta shorts.shef.ac.uk
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FRIGHT FEST RECAP
B
eing late to a film of any length can be frustrating. In the space of a measly 5 minutes, you could miss a whole origin story of a main character that explains the rest of the movie, or - if you’re lucky - skip an overlong opening credits sequence that spams shots of New York City. Either way, you can be left wondering what exactly you missed. Now, being 5 minutes late on two occasions to films that have a length of just over 10 minutes is reckless on my part, and also, straight-up irritating. Yet, strangely being glad things turned out this way, it taught me two vital lessons on what this year’s FrightFest had to offer, and on short films as a whole.
D
AY 1
The first lesson to be learned came on day one, as I arrived at the screening all hot and bothered after searching what I thought was all of Leicester Square for London’s Prince Charles Cinema. After rummaging my way through a pitch black cinema and embarrassingly sitting on someone’s lap, I could finally sit down and try to figure out what was happening in Director Lorenzo P. Adam’s Rotary. However, I didn’t have to put any pieces together, despite missing half the film. It was simple to figure out that a babysitter was being tormented by an unknown caller coming from inside the house, and she had to do everything in her power to protect a little boy, and herself. Some may call that a simple yet strong set-up, seeing how easy it is to understand, but others would call that familiar. Clearly drawing its inspirations from 1979’s When A Stranger Calls, this short became too predictable for it’s own good, and there lies a lesson. If a horror has to rely on a well-known premise to cut-down explanation, what’s the point? All anticipation for what’s to come is lost. It reminds me that short films have an opportunity to present fresh ideas or twists to existing concepts, and it shouldn’t waste them on retellings just to make it easier for audiences to grasp. But the beauty of this festival is you can quickly move on from one short to the other, and FrightFest’s short film programmer Shelagh Rowan-Legg knows it all too well. “I get new people coming in the shorts programmes and they come up to me and say ‘why’d I never come to see short film showcases before?’ and I’m like, ‘why didn’t you?’” Shelagh has been in the industry for over a decade now, and even though she feels the appreciation for short films is lost, she believes FrightFest is a killer way to get it back. “There are a wonderful variety of ideas, from horror to science fiction and cult.
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Bringing filmmakers around the world and getting to see multiple perspective on things, audiences finally get to see the tremendous work filmmakers put into shorts.” Tremendous work indeed, as there were still a handful of delightfully intriguing treats to be seen. Audiences got the opportunity to see the world premiere of Kept, an engaging thriller with the unique concept of scientists being able to record dreams. The film centres around one conversation in a bar, where two men have ulterior motives to exploit people with the best dreams - kidnapping them and using their dreams to make a substantial profit. While not exactly a horror, Columbian Director Jaime Gonzalez expressed to us the fear of having your dreams being sold to someone else. “I realised that it’s a metaphor for people like me and many people that work in the creative industry. There’s a fear you get when your dreams will be handled by the wrong hands, not being able to see the light of day, and maybe being lost forever.
That’s the theme I wanted to get at in this simple suspense story.” It was all made too real with Jairo Camargo’s acting portraying his love for a certain girl’s dreams. With such a gripping drama, it was jarring to finish off the day with a film about a new tenant named Samantha, trying to cover up the crimes of her murderous cat.That’s originality for you. Chris Jopp’s Meow had the crowd in hysterics with the cutest killer cat to hit the big screen. One particular scene has Samantha scoop a human finger from the cat’s litter box, to which she comically rolled her eyes at. It was small tribute to how silly some of the more serious horror films can be, nailing the absurdity of how much gore a cat could possibly make. Many mutterings could be heard leaving the cinema, from a “what even…?” to a s imple “I would love to have a cat like Meow” signaling a fitting end to one of the lesser frightful evenings. close encounters
(above)Katie Bonham’s MAB, (left) Chris Jopp’s Meow
‘Why’d I never see a short film before?’
and I’m like, “Yeah, why didn’t you?’
Shelagh Rowan-Legg
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FRIGHT FEST RECAP
D
AY 2
Believe it or not, it was day 2 that reigned champion for most absurd horror flick - but apparently this is what people wanted. Blood Shed is about, you guessed it, a shed that kills people, and is James Moran’s second crowdfunded film. The hilarious use of blood and priceless one-liners showed that a skilled director and writer can turn ridiculous ideas into cinema gold. But James continues to say that it wasn’t all easy to get his film funded this time round. These are the types of short films that engage people and create such cult followings. What’s more, it’s impressive to utilize such little resources to make a film that had an audience continuously applauding at. It’s also equally impressive to have a well-funded film that effectively uses CGI and beautifully grotesque practical effects, like in Christopher Goodman’s The Mayflower. This eerie and horrific short is about a young engineer that wakes up from cryo-sleep during a routine deep space flight. Little does he know, he has a buddy onboard that may be a little too close for comfort. With it being one of the more gory shorts of the festival, as in tentaclestabbing-eye-sockets kind of gore, Goodman had a chat with us about how he went about making it. “The shoot went well, without any major mishaps. Although I do regret rushing the shot where our naive protagonist stabs the creature with a screwdriver. There was supposed to be a practical squirt of alien goo but I couldn’t give the FX team enough time to make it happen on camera. The whole point of this project was to strike a balance between digital and practical effects - it’s the right tool for the right job. We went back to
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classic sci-fi horrors like Alien but also some more obscure B-movies like Galaxy of Terror and Forbidden World. I wanted it to have a slightly retro vibe with some garish colours and textures.” The use of practical effects and clever management of funds is what made many shorts at this year’s FrightFest so entertaining. It takes audiences back to the golden days of truly terrifying monsters such as The Thing or the Xenomorph from Alien, with a lot of effort being put into making a creature magnificently realistic or a death to look as painful as possible. It’s a trend that’s certainly working alright, as those day two films alone were among the top highlights of the festival - because of their wit, effects and pure enjoyment value.
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AY 3
After waiting outside the wrong cinema screen for far too long, to then shamefully obstruct everyone’s view of the 15 minute short, MAB, once again I had to fill the missing pieces with the remaining 10 minutes the movie had left. Again, thankfully, the premise was simple to figure out - this time in a different way. Katie Bonham’s tale of horror gave us the story of a troubled girl making mysterious deliveries to a witch-like lady, only to realize that a creature does some killer requests in exchange for the deliveries. It’s a simple but original premise akin to a modern folklore tale, and told in such a natural manner that its easy to pick up at any point, but intriguing enough to want to know more about. The slow build in tension that added
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a few plot points to move the story along allowed for compelling character building. This taught me that a skillful way for short films to eliminate the limited time spent explaining what the story is about is to have characters live out the plot line, not openly talk about it. This is a subject is Katie particular to, saying, “despite MAB being a very layered and mysterious story, I am known for not writing heavy dialogue pieces. However, we had pre-visualised and explored each shot, so we were able to express each element of the story without giving away too much.” The film portrayed signs of fantastic directorial, and Katie Bonham gave us her thoughts on the judgments made throughout filming. “ I wanted to create a very British folklore-style to the film. We chose to shoot the protagonist’s ‘real’ world within the bland and confined location of her house, and the fantastical world in wider open landscapes alongside the mysterious, colourful location of MAB’s secluded residence. The movement and the shot choices for the camera were dependent on which world we were shooting in. For example, in the ‘real’ world we used smooth tripod/dolly camera movements around the protagonist to create a sense of entrapment and suffocation, and in the fantastical world we let the camera breathe by using handheld wider shots incorporating the endless countryside and symbolising the freedom the protagonist has.” As the final short film showcase comes to a close, the audience scrambles to the cinema’s bar in hopes to talk to each director about their films. Amongst the amount of praises been given and laughter heard, each director had one thing in common to say; that the FrightFest name carries a lot of respect, and it was an honor for them to be among some of the best short horror films out there. It’s a festival that promotes experimentation, teaching audiences and directors what works in the current horror genre. What I learnt though, is being late to a short film is never a good idea, despite whatever knowledge I gained. DM surprise, surprise
(above)Matt Mercer’s Feeding Time, (left) Chris Goodman’s The Mayfair
Want more? Check out our website for reviews of every film featured in FrightFest! Just click on: shorts.shef.ac.uk!
OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
FRIGHT FEST RECAP Jack (Shaun Dooley) and Helen (Sally Philips) look at their shed’s latest victim.
BLOOD SHED Director: James Moran Written by: Cat Davies Plot: Jack loves a bargain. And he loves sheds. When he buys suspiciously cheap second-hand parts to build his very own dream shed, he and wife Helen got more than they bargained for: a killer shed out for blood.
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its own, what with the cynicism around crowdfunding. A quick-look at the site reveals that there are 447 live video projects in Kickstarter. So, what’s the secret to getting stuff produced these days? “You have to constantly generate new content, videos, memes, gifs, to keep people interested and give them new stuff to share and retweet.” James says. “Compared to a normal production, you have to do a lot of the prep *before* the funding comes in, with the risk that you won’t get funded.” The team had many complicated shots to accomplish, so it was a dream that they managed to get a location that allowed them to do everything in one place. “We had a location with lots of rooms, a big garden, and a *gorgeous* shed,” Moran says. Despite shooting the passions of a man consumed by his love of his shed, Moran doesn’t actually own one.“One of the most exciting things about prepping for Blood Shed was the possibility of buying a shed and keeping it - but the location already had the perfect shed, a real beauty, so I didn’t get to have my own personal shed. And our garden is too small for one anyway.” But with all this talk of sheds, we have to ask, what would be his? Metaphorically speaking, of course. “Mine can be anywhere,” Moran says. “Sitting on the sofa with my laptop, headphones on, music playing, working on a script - I can disappear into the world of the story, shutting everything else out, and have no idea what is happening around me.” “And FrightFest. FrightFest is a big shed of horror, filled with amazing films and the best audience in the world.” KP
man and his shed. There’s no relationship more sacred. Yet what happens when the very same shed ends up being a murderous, man-eating monster? Do you love it still? Or do you put it out to pasture? And how the hell did someone think of a movie about a man-eating shed in the first place, anyway? “I’ve either had a great idea or a terrible idea - Blood Shed, a shed that eats people!” says Cat Davies, running into the room with co-creator James Moran. The rest as James say, is history. “That was literally it. I burst out laughing, said ‘we have to make that immediately’, and then we decided to write it together,” says Moran. Blood Shed stars Shaun Dooley (Broadchurch, The Woman In Black) as Jack, and Sally Phillips (Bridget Jones, Veep) as his long-suffering wife Helen. Shenanigans ensue as soon as Jack finishes his shed, and later, the whole neighbourhood starts to experience mysterious ‘disappearances’ near Jack and Helen’s. The short is largely inspired by 1982 horror anthology Creepshow, alongside other 1980s ghouls-and-gags horror comedies like Evil Dead and Tales of The Crypt. “Given the nature of the story, it felt like a natural fit for a Creepshow-style anthology piece.” Moran says. “And that’s when we went down the 1980s rabbit hole of vintage props and terrible fashion.” Like many other short films these days, Blood Shed was crowd funded through Kickstarter. This proved to be a challenging task of
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FRIGHT FEST RECAP
Graham Skipper and Najarra Townsend greets the babysitter.
Feeding time Director: Matt Mercer Written by: Matt Mercer Plot: When a young woman fills in for her friend on a babysitting job, she begins to suspect things are not as they seem. She’s right.
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creepy feeling into the slow reveal of his creatures. “There’s a trend right now to do “retro”, but if it’s too much (and many are), it can kind of pull you out of the story a little bit or be distracting. I wanted to subtly imbed that vibe through technique and lighting more than anything.” I certainly was influenced by Gremlins, Critters, and It’s Alive.” Mercer says of the design of his creatures. “I think that tone is somewhere in the Joe Dante realm, with some John Carpenter flavor, too, and some Stephen Herek and Larry Cohen.” One scene had the poor lady leg’s being chewed on by one of these creatures. In spectacularly gory fashion, the camera panned to the leg as the creature chewed on flesh - tearing right through to gushing muscle. It looked absolutely real, and the treat is that it was all practical. “I’m very lucky to work with an incredible makeup effects team, Josh and Sierra Russell,” Mercer says. “They are the best. I think it took them only about 45 minutes from application of the effect to shooting it.” Selling the scene was another thing altogether, though. And Mercer credits the efforts of his team to execute his vision, particularly in juggling all the influences that he wants to put in. “If you plan for those things in pre-production, and calibrate well before you shoot, it isn’t hard,” he says. “It’s ALL in the planning. Solve the puzzles before you shoot. To be honest, I think most of a film is made in pre-production.” “It’s also not hard to achieve anything if you have a team like this. I was surrounded by the best cast and crew imaginable.” KP
eighbours - gentle, friendly, caring folk, right? You might think otherwise soon as you see Feeding Time. This short tells the story of a young woman who fills in for a friend on a babysitting job, for two very eccentric neighbours. After picking up some visual cues and sounds in the house, things start to go awry very very quickly. “My whole goal with it was to make a wind-up suspense ride,” says Matt Mercer, Feeding Time’s director and creator, “[The film is] an “old dark house” short film that has a few laughs and a few scares strategically placed to make an audience chortle or jump in the right moments, respectively.” The creature, a spawn of the weird parents played by Graham Skipper (The Mind’s Eye) and Najarra Townsend (Contracted), has quite the backstory behind them - all conveyed through subtext. “I wanted to give at least the slightest impression that these parents probably travel from house to house every couple of weeks or so to give birth and create a “hive” of sorts.” Mercer says. The tone Mercer was gunning for was that of acclaimed horrorcomedy director Joe Dante with the look of cinematographer of Dean Cundey. Dante, of course, is known mostly for his creepy creatures from his 1980s hit films. Far from the CGI-monsters that’s normal in today’s screens, Dante’s creatures are all made with practical effects an offshoot of the Roger Corman school of low budget flicks. Cundey was the cinematographer for iconic slasher Halloween. His innovative lighting work on the film inspired Mercer to use the same to invoke a
BEST OF THE FEST We talk to the directors of FrightFest ‘17 to find out which short (or three) were their absolute faves “We loved Vocabulary 1, Nimmer, and Feeding Time!” - James Moran Blood Shed
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“The first is Real Gods Require Blood. The other, the hilarious Blood Shed!” - Matt Mercer Feeding Time
“I loved Real Gods Require Blood. It was beautifully shot.” - Katie Bonham MAB
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“Loved Real Gods Require Blood.” - Chris Goodman The Mayfair
OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
FRIGHT FEST RECAP
Drug abuse, religious rituals and abandoned children make for a terrifying premise, making Real Gods Require Blood one of the biggest successes to come out of FrightFest.
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hock value can be a tricky thing to build in a horror movie. Add one too many jump scares and the rest of the film can become too predictable in its next fright. However, scattering enough subtle details throughout a movie can greatly intensify audiences experiences of the film. The film gradually develops a tense and eerie atmosphere that is brilliantly chilling to the bone. However, Moin explains that there was a lot of effort needed to achieve this, especially when directing a movie he hasn’t written.
few months whittling it down to something that was achievable whilst expanding areas that we felt were important. It was the first time I’d directed something I hadn’t written so it was a really interesting, liberating experience.
What films were your influences when you crafted this film? What was the vision that you had mind while you were shooting?
I’m glad you’ve said that. Tom’s script hints at a much larger story that Alice and the audience aren’t privy to, so it was important for me to try and build a world that felt fully realised in the brief time we had. One of the real life influences of the film that were a number of supposed satanic ritual abuse cases around Manchester in the early 90’s, where the social services intervened and numerous families were split up. It only transpired decades later that the charges were disproved as unfounded institutional hysteria, but it’s those of half-truths, neighbourhood whispers and sense of outside judgement I wanted to instil into the film.
There’s a lot of things unsaid in this film, from Alice’s drug habits to the satanic rituals that the family does - how do approach shooting material steeped in subtext?
We talked a lot about horror films that take place in the home, ones that turn that established sense of comfort and safety in of itself, so yeah a lot of Polanski and Lynch. There’s the obvious social realist world its initially grounded in as well so a lot of that stuff too. How long did the shoot take? What was it like working with Ivy , Alkali and Anna?
The lighting of this short is inspired, particularly the big contrast between the normalcy at the start and the immediate abnormality when Alice entered the house - what inspired the dark lighting of the house? Was this always in Tom’s script?
It was a three day shoot, so it ended up being pretty tight. Despite being set in one house, almost every scene is set in a different room. We ending up spending a lot of time running backwards and forwards like headless chickens between the two locations that acted as the one house you see in the film. Our three leads were amazing, and at the speed we were shooting, we wouldn’t have been able to pull it off if they weren’t so dialled into their characters. Ivy and Alkali were amazing and worked like seasoned pros as opposed to two children under ten who had never acted before.
Alice’s journey in the film is basically a slow descent into hell, so I really wanted to bring the audience into her headspace as she slips deeper and deeper. Nick and Katy, our DOP and Production Designer worked really closely to achieve a slow shift from a warm yellow-y summer’s day that we begin with, to the dark red the film ends on.
You mentioned in a previous interview in Cannes that you had a long development period, what were you working on during this time?
And lastly, this is really just for us, what do you think happens to Alice at the end?
By the time I came on board the script had been green-lit by Creative England. The actual writer of the film, Tom, and I then spent the next
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Well, I’d say she lives happily ever after.
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FRIGHT FEST RECAP
“Alice’s journey in the film is basically a slow descent into hell”
Moin Hussain
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OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
FEATURE
SO YOU WANT TO SUBMIT
TO A FESTIVAL?
Festivals are crucial for emerging film makers to get the exposure they need. But just how do you make your entry standout amongst hundreds others? Natasha Gregson asked festival programmers what they look for in a submission and what you definitely shouldn’t do.
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rightfest, the annual celebration of all things gore, horror and sci-fi, receives about 500 short film submissions a year. Shelagh Rowan-Legg, the festival’s shorts programmer, is tasked with narrowing that number down to between 25 and 28 films that get screened at the festival. “It can differ between festivals but film makers have between about a five and seven percent chance of getting selected and that’s fairly standard,” she says. It can be disheartening to look those figures but there are sure-fire ways to ensure that your film does stand out and improves its chances of being programmed…
Keep your shorts short A short film can be anything up to 40 minutes, but making your film go on for longer than necessary really won’t help your chances. Before beginning scripting and production, try to make your film tell its story in ten minutes or less. “Anything over ten or fifteen minutes you really have to blow us away because we’re very limited in time,” Shelagh says. “If I get a twenty minute film that means that it has to take the place of two or three other films.” This year, Shelagh’s selection features only three films out of 26 that are 18 minutes long. For Molly Cowderoy, the short film programme manager at Leeds International Film Festival, her job is to curate film programmes that are around 90 minutes in length. “We try
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to show our audience five or six brilliant short films in that time period so this sometimes means there isn’t always room for a 30 minute short film.”
But don’t neglect the storytelling! The producer of two Crystal Bear award winning shorts at the Berlin International Film Festival and the director of the UK Film Festival London, Murray Woodfield has extensive knowledge of what makes a submission stand out. Portraying a character’s struggle in ten minutes is no easy feat but Murray says “before you start filming when you’re looking at your script ask yourself ‘do we care as outsiders?’” Frightfest’s Shelagh also believes that making the audience care is essential: “Your character doesn’t have to be likeable but they have to be interesting. The audience must care about them, whether that’s wanting to see them go to prison or wanting to see them succeed, for example.”
Shelagh also recommends starting with your narrative rather than crafting a film from a genre first: “It’s more important to start with the story and then say ‘is there a convention of the horror genre that I could use that would make this story more interesting?’ If you don’t have a good story then all the other bells and whistles don’t matter.”
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Respect the medium Making short films takes craft, skill and time. Don’t view short films as a leap frog on your quest to create a feature-length production. “Commit to the short format, don’t try to condense a feature film into a short,” LIFF’s Molly advises. A short should tell a story and have a beginning, middle and end. “If you want to get more attention for your feature concept that’s just a trailer, that’s not a short film. I’m not interested in showing that,” Shelagh says.
It’s all in the preparation
“So much preparation goes into successful short films,” Murray says. For him the best work – and the work that will catch the eye of a programmer – comes from a director who has done a lot of prep prior to filming. “Don’t see five people for the audition. See twenty people for the audition. It’s mistake people make ‘I know my friend, he acts we’ll get him’ sometimes that does work but quite often you see that people are taking shortcuts. There are no shortcuts in short film making.”
Invest in body mics shorts.shef.ac.uk
It’s an issue Shelagh also notices film makers make far too often and can, she believes, “ruin an otherwise good film.” It’s also worth remembering that when programmers are looking at films, they’re thinking about how they will be in a cinema. “Too many young film makers just assume that cinema is a visual medium and they put all their money into their camera quality,” Shelagh believes, adding, “Get body mics! Don’t rely on the microphone in the camera. And if you can’t get body mics get a boom mic.”
Double your budget “Whatever your budget is for your production, double it because you will need that again for post-production,” Joyce Veheary, founder of Independent Women festival advises. “If you’ve been given £3000 by investors to make your first short film don’t waste it all on beautiful lenses and expensive actors because you will need to spend a lot of money afterwards promoting your film and entering it into festivals.” It seems strange; you get the money to portray your creative vision on screen but the business side of film making is just as important as the art, otherwise it’s unlikely that your film will make it to an audience. Shelagh recommends that for most festivals you’re looking at between £15 and £30 for a shorts submission fee. “Anything more than that and they better be at a top notch film festival because they really shouldn’t be charging more.” Shelagh also recommends that if you are successful and do get your films screened at festivals, budget to allow yourself to prioritise the ones where you will get to meet industry professionals.
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Get social Social media may be just be the best tool you have for self-publicising. “It’s very easy to say ‘I don’t really care about social media’ or ‘I don’t have the confidence to promote myself’, but you really need to buck up quite quickly,” Joyce says. Twitter, in Shelagh’s opinion, is the best channel to publicise your short film as it allows you to engage with the public: “We’ve had films in the past that have got an audience out just by being out there on social media. If you don’t know how to or can’t afford a PR to do it, just teach yourself.” The key to marketing yourself – and your film – is to engage with those in the industry and fans by searching hashtags that are appropriate (#indiecinema or #shortfilm) and connecting in relevant discussions.
Do your research Don’t waste time and money submitting to a festival where your film will never be shown. Shelagh gets about 10-15% of submissions a year that do not fit with the ethos of the festival: “I think did you read about us at all? Look at the kind of film you have and the level of film you have.” It’s advisable to check the archives to get an idea of previous films that have been programmed and use that as guide to judge if your film is right for that festival. And always check the rules and regulations to ensure you don’t make avoidable mistakes.
Only submit the final product Film festivals often have different fees depending on when you submit the film, with ‘early bird’ discounts. It may be tempting if there are only a few tweaks you need to make to your film to submit it with the caveat that X will be done by Y in time for the festival, but it’s really not
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FEATURE
Never ever underestimate the power of sound quality. “We live in a world where people really have high perceptions of sound,” Murray says. “You can shoot for rough camera but I don’t think you can do rough sound. So if there’s a conversation between two characters in a pub, there’s going to be a lot of background noise. There must be or there’s no ambience! Quite often you can’t hear the dialogue as well as you should because of background noise and mis-matches between levels of sound.”
worth the money saved on fees, Murray believes: “Don’t send it if it’s not ready. A festival doesn’t have time to check. They like the film or they don’t.”
Don’t give the game away
When it comes to a submission letter or director’s statement the requirements can vary from festival to festival but, in all honesty, an exquisite letter probably won’t make that much of a difference to your chances. It’s the film that counts, so focus on making that stand out. At the UK Film Festival London, letters are not read before the film is watched: “We have to view it like an audience member. Everything has to stand up on its own without any explanation,” Murray says. But if you do want to put some effort in with your statement Joyce recommends including a two or three line biography about yourself, and a succinct synopsis of the film, without giving away the ending. “Tell me what your job was on the film and what you made the film in response to,” she recommends.
Check that your link works It seems simple but it’s so crucial to ensure that even the simplest elements of a submission aren’t overlooked. Joyce has experienced faulty links and protected films without the password included to access it. “There’s nothing more annoying than having to go backwards and forwards chasing somebody for the password or link. That’s a basic Room 101 thing,” she says.
And move on from rejection! “If you don’t get accepted don’t be discouraged. It isn’t necessarily because I didn’t think your film was good. It’s simply a numbers game. I know this as a film maker who does get rejections,” says Shelagh. Murray recommends focusing on your next project and moving on: “Make as many films as you can and one day you’ll make a really great one.”
OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
FEATURE
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irtual reality (VR) has always been quietly developing in the fringes of cinema-making. Indeed, VR have always been linked with the video game world rather than the film world. But now, with the advent of commercial VR headsets and developments in VR technologies, firms are actively experimenting with the medium with short features that push the boundaries of what VR can accomplish. Gigantic conglomerates are now sponsoring VR technology labs to explore its cinematic capabilities. Just earlier this year, a short animated film that was produced in Google’s labs was nominated for an Oscar the first ever nomination for a cinematic VR experience. Pearl, directed by Oscar-winning director Patrick Osborne, tells the story of the relationship between a single father and his daughter through their old car. Within the short, the audience has full 360-degree control of the camera that anchored within the car’s frame. Closer to home, just last month the BBC announced that it will be experimenting with VR through its own app. The app is commissioned as part of BBC Taster’s remit of putting the corporation ahead in all technological developments. “BBC Taster VR will be a fantastic showcase for some brilliant new commissions, as well as some new takes on some of the best BBC Taster VR experiences to date,” says Andy Conroy, Controller of BBC Research and Development. Clearly, VR is the current future of the cinematic medium. But how much work do we need to do before it would be as common as the theatre around the corner? So how would cinematic VR work if experiments become mainstream? Of course, a theatrical VR experience would need to be the norm. Commercialisation of needed tools to create and experience, would also need to be implemented. Theatre-wise, there are already VR experiences being sold in cinema-like spaces. Last year, the world’s first ever VR cinema opened in Amsterdam. Seating about 20 to 30 people, the cinema is set up with individual swivel chairs equipped with Samsung Galaxy S7 phones strapped into the Samsung GearVR headset. But if you’re expecting to create something that’s as immersive as Star Trek’s holo deck, this requires far more than a Samsung
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VR headset and swivel chairs. True VR, as this is called, are VR experiences that are more than a 360 degree experience. This type of VR involves interactivity, with conscious choices being made by the audience. That kind of interaction doesn’t come cheap. A full VR tracking setup - the closest the technology has reached - costs upwards of 2000 GBP. This includes the headset, the controllers, the high-spec PC, and software applications to be able to fully interact with the subject of your short. And this is just to watch it. It’s slightly better in animation. All you need is a headset to start animating inside VR. “I hope that artists start realizing its po tential as an important tool for 2D and 3D animation,” Nick Ladd says. Ladd is a Canadian animator who has been experimenting with virtual reality animation tools. Ladd recently released a short animating experiment titled Escape - a flat animation that is animated entirely within VR. “Wacom sells expensive Cintiq tablets
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for over a thousand dollars, while Oculus Rifts and Vives go for half that price. Their use as an art tool is far more game changing than a Cintiq in my opinion. “For animation, VR is unparalleled.” Of course, we’ve seen first hand how 3-D was similarly touted as the “future” of cinema. In 2010, 3D was seen to replace cinema screens and was treated as game changers to the medium. Yet now, it’s been relegated to a gimmick that costs 3 pounds extra on your ticket and some doofy glasses you always forget to bring. Who’s to say the same fate won’t befall the VR enterprise? Rich Warren, Festival Director of Encounters Festival, thinks that we’re asking the wrong question. “Cinema was a gimmick when it kicked
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Motion sickness is VR’s biggest weakness. Despite not moving anywhere physically, turn your head too fast and you’ll quickly feel like the only 360-degree view you’d like to see is inside a bucket to retch. So, why does this happen? And how can we fight it?
We meet with the people at the frontier of virtual reality cinema, and check out the future of the medium in short filmmaking. off, you know?” Warren says. “But I don’t think [VR] should be viewed as a replacement for it.” “I feel like it should be embraced as an oppounity to tell stories in a different way.” “I think it’s interesting from a short film perspective. Short film embraces innovation and change.” “Now, whether it will have longevity in storytelling? Time will tell.” Encounters has just implemented a brand new strand in their festival programming called Immersive Encounters. Incorporating virtual reality experiences for the very first time, Encounters’ VR cinema brings 3 distinct experiences that viewed for 30 minutes each. “My hope is that people coming out of the VR experience will talk about the content.” Warren says. “Particularly [I want them to talk] about the story that’s been told, and how they work and how they made them feel. For them to talk about applying some of that to their own work and their own piece,
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and to talk about how it works.”
Looking at the expectations that people have towards VR, it would probably be disappointing to hear that most of our VR exploration is very much still in its early stages. Aside from the Oculus and the commercial possibilities of gadgets like the Samsung VR and the PlaystationVR, it seems like gigantic corporations still have the monopoly in creating cinematic VR. Though it’s really not that bad. Even without the holodeck-like features that mainstream media has touted, VR has been gamechanging only from the potential storytelling techniques it brings. For now, plan the purchase a swivel chair in your immediate future. Want more virtual reality content? Check out our must-see VR collection in shorts.shef.ac.uk! Also: an in-depth interview with Nick Ladd about Escape!
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“The way that it happens is the same that how people get carsick,” Rob Stacey, a technical associate in the University of Sheffield’s Virtual Reality Labs says. “So they’re seeing that they are moving, but they’re actually not - so the disconnect is where you get sick.” Here’s three tips that he recommends so you can avoid motion sickness when you get strapped in : 1) Focus on the static frame of reference: “Google Earth has this fuzzy frame around its map. It does this so people don’t get too shocked by the movement, so your body won’t believe that you should be moving. You see this a lot with games, they design a cockpit around it - so if you have that, you’re clear.” 2)Adjust the headset to comfort: “Comfort is number one, don’t feel the need to keep the headset on without adjusting - that can lead to eyestrain and it contributes to the dizziness.” 3)Keep your legs rooted : “There are people who i’ve seen that spend hours in VR because they just put their foot down. It’s really all about not letting that disconnect happen.” If you’re still woozy after following these tips, don’t fret! VR developers are working around the clock to fix this issue. In the meantime, you might want to keep a bucket on-hand.
OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
FEATURE
VIRTUALLY NAUSEOUS
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ortrait People is a story in reverse, following three key stages of a young couple’s relationship. A boyfriend and girlfriend quarrel, and he rushes out of her flat and slams the door. He sits on the doorstep in the dark. Memories take him back in time, following a magical light track of from daytime, exploring the city with their cameras, to dark night, cuddling on their favourite bench at sunset. Then he reaches the moment when they had first laid eyes on each other. It was a chilly morning at Stanage Edge, the Peak District. He noticed a shivering girl struggling with her Rolleiflex camera, silhouetted by the sunrise. How did you source the story of Portrait People? HR: I actually wrote the story for Portrait People. I got inspiration for the story from films like it's kind of a funny story, the Black Mirror episode San Junipero. The main idea for the story though came from another short film my friend made called Viewfinder, we decided together that it would be a good opportunity to compare our filmmaking techniques by me making the same story, but told from the male character’s point of view and in my own style. When it came to writing the scenes, I wrote from personal experiences, thinking back to conversations I’d had with past girlfriends. I wanted to create a very real short love film, something that people could relate to. I’ve had the conversations and been to the locations used in Portrait People. What doubts did you have about the two characters? And how was that doubt turned into such a good result? HR: The doubt that I had with the two roles in Portrait People is that my actress found the dialogue hard to say. My original actress dropped out last minute and I had written the dialogue to suit her southern English accent and dialect to make it easier for her to act.
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Portrait People (2017)
Portrait People — A San
Junipero
My replacement actress, who luckily could step in last minute, is German, so found some of the lines more difficult to say. I should have changed the dialogue to fit the new actress. Both the actors had a pretty good understanding of the roles because I showed them my friend’s film. They’re also teenagers playing teenagers who has been in similar situations to the characters. I got around the main problem of not having experienced actors by taking out a lot of the original dialogue and replacing it with stage direction to tell the story mostly though picture. What is your greatest strength that made a difference in the outcome? HR: My greatest strength in filmmaking is my use of cinematography and lighting. This made a huge difference to the outcome of the film as it’s a mostly visual film. I used my strengths to tell the story visually by creating a mood though the picture that when paired with the actors and location, known as miseen-scène, so the audience will understand what is happening and what to feel without having to be told. The most common technique in mise-en-scène is using a shallow depth of field to separate the actors from their background, to give the sense that they feel separate to the world and that no one else matters. I also chose the time of day very carefully for when to film. I could use the warm evening sunlight of the golden hour to make everything look happy and dreamlike, use the night-time to make everything seem miserable, or dusk as a metaphor for the sun setting on their relationship.
Inspired Love
Story
on the edge of a cliff for her close-up and the 2nd camera assistant, Jake, dropped the clapper board off the edge of the cliff whilst marking the shot. Compared to your previous film, the documentary Ukulele, do you enjoy producing narrative fiction more or documentary more? HR: I much prefer filming narrative fiction over documentary. I have tried both over a number of projects, but I’m always drawn back to narrative fiction and telling the story of people using actors and scripts. I think the main reason for this is because my main area of expertise is cinematography and filming narrative fiction allows me to have more control over the camera and plan for the shots ahead of time. In documentary, I can only plan so much but in the end, it usually ends up being about capturing what I can in the time I have. Ukulele (2016)
What was the funniest behind-the-scenes moment? HR: The funniest behind-the-scenes moment was when we were filming the final scene at Stanage Edge. Karla (my actress) was stood
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OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
FEATURE
Henry Rees is a freelance photographer and cinematographer. His latest short film, Portrait People, tells a very real love story that people can relate to. In this Q&A interview, he shares the ups and downs of the film production, and his mood-creating strength in cinematography.
‘IT AMAZES ME WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED’
Aardman’s Danny Capozzi speaks exclusively with Shorts! about allall things animation Aardman’s Danny Capozzi speaks exclusively with Shorts! about things animation
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ristol-based animator and illustrator Danny Capozzi has an impressive resume under his belt. He’s worked for Aardman Animations, the home of Wallace and Gromit, for the past 12 years, as well as being commissioned to help out with a number of advertising campaigns with brands such as Disney, Rimmel, and MTV, to name but a few. As well as this, Danny has worked as a production designer for the incredibly popular children’s show Chop Socky Chooks by Cartoon Network, which has won the Gemini award for best CGI animated series, as well as being BAFTA nominated. Danny also runs his own shop selling clothing and prints that feature his creative designs, working under the pseudonym HERO73*. He’s worked with William Shatner for a BBC4’s ‘William Shatner’s Guide to Mars’, which is a short animated film narrated by Shatner sharing facts and stories about the red planet. The short was directed by Capozzi as part of his work with Aardman. His new Aardman short ‘Visualise This’ gives a tongue-in-cheek look at what it’s like to work to a brief of confusing clients, and depicts the best of Capozzi’s creative flair. We recently caught up with the awardwinning animator, and chatted with him about his impressive caree sources of inspiration, and what his plans are for the future...
‘My creative journey all started when I was a kid. My sister is seven years older than me and was my initial inspiration. When she started studying at art college, she was set loads graphic design briefs to work on. She would get me to do them too, so from the age of about nine I was already learning and practicing some great techniques. I mostly used airbrushes, Pantone pens, and Rotring pens. This was all way before we had computers, so the design was all hand rendered and there was no luxury of Apple’s ‘com-mand-z’ to undo any errors. ‘Growing up, I was a big fan of Warner Brothers, Hannah Barbera, and my guilty pleasure was He-Man Masters of the Universe. I loved Skelator and his vast array of villains, and the toys that were released were awesome. I have the whole collection to this very day and still treasure them. This all got me interested in cartoons, and I wanted to be a part of it. ‘Nowadays, my inspiration comes from so many different places. I love graffiti and urban art, as well as taking ideas from vintage toys, graphic textiles, skateboard art, retro packaging, vinyl toys, origami, geometric patterns, and anything else that catches my eye. It’s a long list, and a real mix-up of styles too! Along with this I love Scandinavian design, and some of the animation that’s coming out from France and Spain at the moment is so beautifully executed. ‘My favourite stop motion short film is ‘Adam by Aardman founders Peter Lord and Dave Sproxton – it doesn’t get more hand crafted than that. As for more recent CGI, I saw a film called Justino by AgainstAllOdds that I really, really loved. ‘When I’m working on a new project, I like to have a good hour or so to just sit
at my desk and imagine what’s right for the project brief, although the winning idea does tend to just suddenly come to me, like a bolt of lightening. I don’t really know what part of my mind concocts the initial seed of an idea, but I’m eternally grateful for this spark that helps me create the things I do. My grandfather Antonio was a great oil painter and inventor – he was really creative, so I often think maybe I inherited this part of my brain from him. ‘From all the things I’ve worked on, I would say that for character animation, Chop Socky Chooks is definitely my favourite. As for a graphic led project, I would say that my Aardman film, Visualise This, was really a passion project that gave me a chance to show all my disciplines under one roof. I also had a good run on the Urban Art Graffiti scene in Bristol and London, which led to the birth of HERO73* and the launch of my shop in Covent Garden, called Bionyc Industries. This was a big change for me, and a departure from animation and film, but it really all became embedded into my style when I returned to animation full-time. ‘I secured my job at Aardman Animations through working for a company called the Puppet Factory, and we used to make silicone and latex puppets for them. Through that I met Richard Starzak, who directed the Sean the Sheep movie, and he gave me my first animation break in a cheese commercial. This led me to work as an animator on his series cult show, Rex The Runt, and then I went on to direct series 2 of the programme. After this, I was represented by Aardman Animations as a Commercials Director. ‘When I work on personal projects, I always want to retain creative control to ensure the vision is seen through from start to finish, however I always make
Danny’s work includes Zombie Kids for Chop Socky Chooks CGI Series : Cartoon Network / Aardmant Animation
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“The job is so varied and keeps me on my toes”
would be boring though without this frenetic way of working. It all adds to the adventure, and makes commercials an often exciting challenge. Working to the brief of a client means my work takes new directions that I may not have explored if I was working alone. ‘Every project is different from start to finish, with different clients to different audiences. In my experience I’ve learnt that if I’m making a film for a US audience, then as long as the good guy is American and the villain is British, you can’t go wrong – although at the moment, Trump isn’t doing much to help this theory! ‘The software and programmes I use most frequently for my animation work are Maya, Zebdrush, Houdini, Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, and Nuke. In terms of equipment, other than my computer, I wouldn’t be able to do my job without my Wacom, and I love my Cintique
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too. ‘For creatives who are interested in working in animation, I would say the best advice I could give you is testing, testing, testing! Do loads of tests, walk cycles, and study movements; learn about weight and facial expressions, how people talk and what parts of their mouth they use to pronounce certain words or letters. I have stared in mirrors for hours to get those expressions and speech movements right. It’s better to have a great 1-minute film that’s accurate and visually creative, than a poor 3-minute film that misses those finer details. Also don’t be afraid to experi ment to find your own personal style that fits you well and suits what you do. ‘The absolute best thing about my job is working with stupidly talented people. Since my days at Animation School in Bournemouth, and so much has happened for me since then! Plans for the future include getting my series idea off the ground. It’s a life long passion and it will happen, it’s just a matter of the right time and the right place. I’m working on a teaser, and I’m really excited about the next stage. Stay tuned!’
MAKER
sure to share this with the team. It’s an organic process that takes a considerable amount of crafting to define that end result, and one that cannot be achieved single handedly. With commercials it’s a similar thing. It’s a real case of combining your creative skills with the adagency creative, and being open to client ideas, as well as building a solid relationship with them. You need to make sure they’re happy and following what you’re doing, and that they have an input through the whole process. ‘As you can see through my film ‘Visualise This’, sometimes I do have to work with people who don’t seem to know exactly what they want. To overcome this, you just have to keep those lines of communication open and offer ideas, hoping that one of them will stick. Then once they show an interest in one, you can grow and craft it from there. ‘While the film does draw from personal experience, I’m don’t really feel worried about offending anyone I’ve worked with. It’s just tongue in cheek, and pokes fun at all the creative involved in advertising. It’s as much about the clients ever-changing demands as it about the director’s misunderstanding and the agency’s scatter gunning of ideas. We all get caught up in the excitement of a brief that often needs to be delivered yesterday. Life
Danny’s experiments with his own personal style, making graphics to sell on t-shirts and in prints on his website, under the pseudonym HERO73*
You can see Danny’s work by visiting his website www.dannycapozzi. com, or following his Instagram handle @danny_capozzi_ hero73. To watch any short films produced by Aardman Animations, you can visit their site Aardman.com.
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OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
FEATURE
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apanese prestige beauty brand, SK-II, released its campaign film in April 2016 and it attracted over 1.2 million views on a Chinese video platform within a day. The four-minute long short film, titled She Finally Goes to the Marriage Corner, raised the ‘leftover women’ issue within the panAsian community. Markus Strobel, global president of SK-II told Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Marriage always comes with social and familial pressure, particularly for girls in their mid-twenties. Once over 30, single women are tagged with “leftover women”, and the immense pressure to marry comes into play. The video stresses the concern of parents with single daughters who are at a ‘leftover’ age. While the result is single women have become overstressed by the pressure coming from other people. “Being incomplete as an unmarried woman makes you feel like an ‘outsider’”, one of the featured woman says in the film. A parent perceived the reason of her daughter being ‘leftover’ as “having an average looking, not very pretty, although she has a nice personality.” The pressure to marry becomes tangible at ‘Marriage Corner’ in People’s Square, Shanghai. Parents bring along the profile of their single child during the weekend to look over between each other and hunting for their ideal son or daughter-in-law. Each profile lists age, education, profession, income, and estate property. In the film, one girl describes the circumstances at ‘Marriage Corner ‘ as a commercial advertisement to sell a product. At the end of the campaign film, the featured ‘leftover’ women made their decision to attend the commercial advertisement at ‘Marriage Corner ‘ themselves. However, not to surrender to the pressure and settle on a husband, but to make their own advertisements with profile pictures, which confidently said: “I don’t want to marry for marriage’s sake; even single, I have a happy life, and I love it.” “Confident and independent”, this is how the featured women define their inside status. “It’s helping us win with young professional and executive women,” says Markus Strobel. In a study on the advertising effect of SK-II commercial film, the survey shows that 89.8% of the viewers hold a positive and supportive towards the film. Females take the majority of the positive and supportive audiences at 90%. Obviously, SK-II’s wellused commercial short film garnered some potential consumers.
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rad-vertising The rules of advertising seem to be undergoing a change. Japanese brand SK-II is leading the charge. SK-II’s Commercial Film The Expiry Date
“This campaign has put us on the map in China and generated extremely positive sentiment among consumers and retailers” Specifically looking at the figures, most of the favourably targeted females are over 25 years old, lives in the urban area, has a decent education background, able to afford middle to high-end items, living life and yearning for freedom. Correspondingly to the brand’s target market, the majority of SK-II’s consumers are urban females who have a relatively high disposable income that allows them to enjoy the little pleasure that SK-II products can offer. The SK-II campaign film was shared all over the place on social media and raised many discussion among young females. In a discourse study on its social media share, the result shows, 37% of the viewers indicates that “they have a better impression of the
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brand now and would love to try out their products by chance”. The smart marketing of SK-II brand fetched utter interests from the public. In comparing to the not-so-distant past the funny, catchy, awkward, and cynical ruled the industry. The rules of advertising seem to be undergoing a change. Narrative campaign films drive emotion and put the audiences into thinking and sharing, and ultimately boosts the market. She Finally Goes to the Marriage Corner is under the SK-II’s campaign #ChangeDestiny. In 2015, originally focusing on Japanese domestic market, the brand unveiled a new brand philosophy #ChangeDestiny with the release of a short film featured ballet dancer Misa Kuranaga.
shorts.shef.ac.uk
FEATURE Beyond the Limits of DNA with Misa Kuranaga Thai Life Insurance’s Commercial
In Kuranaga’s off-screen sound, she says: “My DNA is a funny little dictator. “It dictates that I will see the world through brown coloured eyes, that my narrow hips will limit the range of my movements. “It dictates that my features are too flat to show emotion, that my legs are too short to be graceful. “It dictates that I will be too petite to stand out. “But most of all, my DNS dictates that I shouldn’t listen to little dictators.” Holding the honour of being the first Asian ever to be appointed principal ballerina at the Boston Ballet, Kuranaga’s life story of defying the odds to achieve professional success takes centre-stage in this campaign video. Kylene Campos, associate marketing director at global SK-II told Marketing, that long term use of SK-II is possible to beat skin’s risks posed by DNA. The brand has conducted a study to prove this finding. The insight of going beyond the skin that women have been born with inspired the core idea for #ChangeDestiny – which is all about challenging the belief that destiny is set at birth and celebrating women who have gone beyond limitations to achieve success. This year’s follow-up for #ChangeDestiny, titled The Expiry Date, and looping in women from Japan, South Korea who face the same age-related pressure as their Chinese peers, is shorts.shef.ac.uk
equally controversial. The three-minute new film started with a new born baby in Seoul, South Korea. Her birth of date is written on her arm, under which is the date of her 30th birthday. Baby girl grew up into a graceful lady. But she can’t avoid the existence of her expiry date printed on her arm and keeps being reminded of how close she is to the ‘expire day’. Sandeep Seth, global brand director for SKII, told TheDrum that the idea is to make a proverbial expiry date many women feel into a real one to illustrate the growing internal and external age-related pressure women face. SK-II hopes to encourage a global and Pan-Asian discussion to promote the message that everyone should be able to feel proud of what they’ve achieved and who they are, regardless of age and gender. The featured girls, in the end, realised that they should not be constrained by an artificial timeless and expiry date labels placed on them by society. This new campaign film aims to build on the success achieved by last year’s The Marriage Market film. After two waves raised by the campaign films featuring seriously existing social pressure on women, it successfully helped the brand to increase its awareness within the Pan-Asian market and boosted brand equity from sixth place to second in the skincare category. Another prosperous example of narrative short film is the emotional Thai advertising.
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A good cry over a bitter-sweet, feel-good ad, pulls at the heartstrings of even the most hardened cynics, has become the ultimate recipe for explosive social sharing. At just over three minutes in length, this is more of a fiction short than an advert of Thai Life Insurance. A distinct visual style and pale colour palette, a warm story and a real hero who keeps the habit of helping strangers out. When audiences are deeply attracted and sweetly moved, the brand’s logo appears on the screen at the very last four seconds. A subtitle says “Believe in Good”. Thai Life Insurance achieved 10 million views in the first fortnight of the launch of Good Stories campaign. Mostly within five minutes’ length, commercial shorts translate a newly-found freedom to pursue a narrative-driven and human-centred stories. Built in beautiful cinematic stylistic, with sentimental soundtracks and relatable, ordinary (yet equally extraordinary) characters, brands draw high attention and tons of views.
OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
Parfum Fraise
Director: Samuel Klughertz Alix Arrault Jules Rigolle Martin Hurmane Plot: Makoto have no choice but to face the violence before the eyes of his 7 years old son, who he always tried to protect.
PARFUM FRAISE With its unique cinematography choices and absorbing story, this animation shines, giving audiences a surprisingly violent experience.
French animation school Gobelins unveiled eight films produced by its final year animation students in September, and Parfum Fraise (Strawberry Flavour) is one which truly stands out on a narrative and artistic level. It is simultaneously complete in its own 6 minute length, but leaves you looking for more, and could easily support a longer and more developed story. Makoto, an ex-member of a yakuza gang, tries to shelter his family from the men who seek to make him pay for leaving the clan. In the shootout that breaks out as he flees the city, a stray bullet kills his partner, leaving him with their infant son. The film then skips ahead to show us how Makoto and his son now live trying to forget about the past, but still generally happily. There is a wonderful moment at the start of the film, as Makoto drives quickly down the highway, but then notices the mother bleeding out next to him. As mournful strings start to overpower the sound of the engine, the camera cuts to above the car, and watches it come to a stop in the middle of the road. It SHORTS! MAGAZINE | OCT 2017
is brilliant how a character’s feeling can be expressed, even when you cannot see or hear their actual reaction. After a black and neon opening, small town Japanese life is depicted in sunny amber hues that the father and son almost disappear into, were it not for the son’s bright clothes and his favourite action figure, or for Makoto’s tattoos. The art style is very much influenced by Japanese animation, albeit with a heavy dose of western detail in the characters’ facial expressions, reminiscent of Disney’s efforts to combine eastern and western techniques in Mulan. The motion of the camera stands out as unusual, influenced by live action cinema as well as animation. While there are some placid scenes where we can admire the background, there is a lot of fast motion and unusual angles to better highlight the scene’s mood and purpose. Parfum Fraise is surprisingly violent too, and its themes are more complex than what you may expect from a charmingly drawn animation. It all hangs together well, and is testament to how
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versatile animation can be when it has strong ideas behind it. In the end, it’s a story about protection. Makoto trying to save his family, the gangsters trying to tie up a loose end, and in the end the son, who shows by the end that he wants to help carry his father’s burden. But in terms of production, it’s about taking risks by blending several techniques together that not only shows off the talent of the four graduates, but also effectively tells a story that is both endearing and full of unpleasant unanswered questions.
SEE THIS SHORT IF YOU LIKE...
The Professional
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TRESPASS
Director: Mirrah Foulkes Writer: Mirrah Foulkes Plot: A woman walking her dog alone in the bush has a strange encounter.
TRESPASS Foulkes’ understanding on how the simplest of situations can lead to terrifying events makes for one of the best thrillers of the year. Synopsis - A woman walking her dog alone in the bush has a strange encounter.
In some cases, some of the biggest problems short films face is that they are, well, too short. I say it’s a ‘problem,’ but realistically it’s because these short films are so well put together that I selfishly don’t want them to finish. Trespass falls into this category, with its main flaw only being that it leaves room for much more to happen, but its 11 minute runtime stands iconically on its own, making it one of the best thrillers to come out this year. Trespass has the simple premise of a woman called Rachel, going on a routine, leisurely walk with her dog in the bush, but audiences are immediately aware that something is off thanks to the fabulous cinematography and sound design. The darkened setting of the woods along with beautiful wide shots that isolate Rachel give the audience a constant sense of uneasiness, with this only being heightened by the subtle sounds of the bush. There’s a brief period of silence when her dog Ari goes to fetch a stick, only to come back with a slipper. This is followed by shouting heard in the distance, with Rachel quickly expressing her concerns with hurried movements. Its this slow buildup of strange occurrences that make her encounter with a shorts.shef.ac.uk
crying woman, being the cause of some of the shouting, so nerve-racking. Rightfully so, as the presence of the crying woman, named Laura, is foreboding. At this point we’re not sure if we should be concerned for her, or for the woman and her dog’s safety. Director Mirrah Foulkes cleverly depicts a situation where Laura could be suffering from domestic abuse as a man angrily calls her name, with the Rachel asking if she’s okay. The film flows fluidly from one scene to the other, all the while creating a progressively tense atmosphere, which leads up to a terrifying situation that audiences won’t be expecting. Mirrah’s gripping story is made all the better with actors Maya Stange (Rachel) and Sara West (Laura), perfectly expressing their feelings when they converse, whether it be concern, fear, or sheer dominance. Laura is a strange but intriguing character with her ominous presence, keeping audiences second-guessing whether she can be trusted. Afterall, Rachel’s realistic manner makes her a relatable character for audiences, as she is thrust into an unforeseen situation and only does what she feels is right. After the climax, which takes an exciting twist, there was a lot
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of room for the film to keep going, as the 11 minutes acted as one of the best introductions to a full-featured movie. However, we’re left off at a convenient point where Rachel walks away, as if she has learnt a valuable lesson from the situation. Leaving it there makes the events of the film more believable. In fact, so believable that these are probably strange and terrifying events that people have gone through. Films in the thriller genre can be overcomplicated, trying to achieve the highest shock value for audiences with their buildup to the big twist. However, Foulkes’ Trespass understands that simplicity, like a normal walk in the woods, can build better tension when you add an unexpected situation. This is a frighteningly relatable film, and also one you won’t want to end.
OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
REVIEW
MEERA
Director: Sumit Kumar Writer: Sumit Kumar Plot: Gaurav decides to finally make a confession to Naina, but is shocked at the preparations she has had prepared for the night.
MEERA
This fresh look on a very different side of love impresses, despite some minor camera shakes and questionable acting
When hearing of a film about love, we expect to see the positive side of romance. Audiences often see the beginning of a relationship, whether it be the first time characters meet in a funny and quirky flirtatious scene, or there’s a little hiccup along the road before they become official. What we’re not often fully shown is the disastrous end of a relationship, and Meera expertly captures this by portraying the uglier side of love. This indian short film by director Sumit Kumar introduces us to a nervous Gaurav, as he sits in his car with a cigarette in hand, mustering up the courage to make a big confession to his wife. He’s been having an affair for past few months, and is about to leave his wife, Naina. However, as soon as he does confess, the story takes an interesting turn, as Naina shows no indication of fighting with her guilty husband, only sceptical understanding. It’s here where the Meera really takes off, keeping its audiences in suspense of whether or not Naina will do something spontaneous to show she had been planning something sinister the whole time. Naina knew all along that Gaurav had
SHORTS! MAGAZINE | OCT 2017
been having the affair, and accepted that he was going to leave her, even preparing his bags for him to leave - all because she had an unconditional love for him. Director Kumar shows his understanding that while these situations are uncommon, they do happen, and he captures the delusion that people find themselves in when losing someone they love. The two characters in the film realistically show what people would do in this situation. Amaan Asif’s Gaurav expresses his confusion to the situation with his quiet but hurried manner, as he feels guilty about what he has done but is stands strong in his decision. All he wants to do is get out of his apartment, as he doesn’t fully understand why his wife is acting so calm. By the end of the movie, we realize why Naina accepts her accepts her situation, she firmly believes that her unconditional love will prevail. Archita Agarwal perfectly demonstrates her character's belief in love, and the deterioration of it when it doesn’t follow
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through. What brought the film from reaching its full potential is its camera work, as it would potential is its camera work, as it would unnecessarily shake.This was jarring, bringing the realism out of the film. At times, the acting was laughably overdone, especially during some of the more dramatic scenes in the film when Gaurav is crying. However, this also works as it fits where it is placed in the story. Sometimes it's refreshing to see a film portray a completely different aspect of a genre, twisting audience’s expectations. Meera delivers this in a well paced and intriguing manner, showing audiences the sorrowful ways in which people think. At the end of Meera, audiences are shown a quote, “Love can sometimes be magic. But magic can sometimes just be an illusion.” Meera depicts this quote with elegance, making it a must-watch for people sick of the typical ‘rom-com’ routine.
shorts.shef.ac.uk
REVIEW
Fig’s Representation Director: Jonathan Napolitano Plot: Fascinated by their work, Joe Fig recreates artists and their studios in hard to believe miniature sculpture form.
FIG’S REPRESENTATION
This documentary’s exploration of a man and his extraordinary art excels in its simplicity, delivering engaging insights into the world of art.
The subject of this 10 minute documentary, Jonathan Fig, is an artist skilled in making miniature sculptures of other artists’ studios, and now has allowed cameras into his own to record this biographical short. Fig tells us his experiences in learning art, and how he came to love creating small sculptures of his fellow creatives. Napolitano, director of the award winning documentary The Carousel, leaves the colour in the film to the works of art on display, even the illustrations he uses to depict part of Fig’s life are in black and white. He allows Fig’s work to speak for itself, with the often grey and white backgrounds contrasted against the messy colours of the modelled studios. While every artist has their own workspace, there seems to be a running theme of untidiness which Fig is able to represent with an astonishing accuracy. Even the audio is simple, only Fig’s voice in your ear explaining his journey into the workspaces of his fellow creatives for the majority of it, occasionally joined by some gentle orchestral accompaniment. There are some noticeably long silences too, but it makes complete sense to leave you with only the visuals when it’s time to appreciate some of the art. The miniatures are of course the main
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attraction, and there are plenty to look at. You can see some of them being created too, with the dozens of photographs on the bench next to them, emphasising further how dedicated Fig is to the accuracy of his work. The highlight is a sequence in which he displays the full sized object and his models of them, side by side, explaining how he finds the tiny parts of metal and plastic from everyday objects, and then carves and files them into shape. It’s a part of the film that allows you to get well acquainted with the feeling of begrudging respect, wishing that you had the eye for detail and steady hand of Jonathan Fig. The models allow Napolitano some fun with his camerawork, the only aspect of directorial personality inserted into the film. He will quickly introduce a shot of a studio, but then the full sized Fig appears, stepping into frame or pulled in focus, revealing Napolitano’s deception through liberal use of the miniatures. After doing this early on, you are excited to see each subsequent shot, waiting to see if it’s reality or a model. Fig’s Representation is an exceptionally simple film, and that is exactly what it should be. It allows Jonathan Fig to tell his own story, and explain his own art with little to get in the way. There is nothing
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wrong with documentarians taking a larger role in their work, but when you have such interesting visual elements to anchor the viewer’s attention, you end up with Fig’s Representation, a chilled out exploration of a man and his extraordinary art.
SEE THIS SHORT IF YOU LIKE...
The Art of Design
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The Heist Directed by: Luke Harris Plot: Two handsome master criminals are trying to pull off the biggest heist ever. Harris’ snappy parody pitch featuring any stereotypical character in any blockbuster movie ever made is a nice, comical nod to the predictability of major films. Whilst the humour could have been more explicit, and the plotline a little more substantial, this tidy 5-minute short does the job in poking fun at the painfully unoriginal aspects of basic box office hits. Showcased by Short of The Week, I perhaps expected a bit more from a short that was pinpointed as one of the best, and described as ‘slick and hilarious’. The film wasn’t anything to write home about, but I suppose I was adequately amused for its duration, which makes me categorise Harris’ efforts as nothing short of average.
Home
Directed by: Spencer Frost Plot: A documentary about a man and the waves. Meet Bob: a homeless Australian surfer who lives in a van by the sea, and is the subject of Frost Film’s short documentary, Home. The visually stunning coastal backdrop is everything you need to see to understand exactly why this middle-aged Aussie has chosen a more unconventional lifestyle. ‘I wake up every morning and I smell the salt air, I listen to the waves, I don’t need to go anywhere’, he narrates, explaining his typical morning. The sense of freedom you get from Home will make you want to quit your job and live like Bob. Breaking the stigma of societal routine and expectation, this documentary highlights the importance of following your heart in life, taking away the pressures of work, family, and money. All Bob has is his van, surfboard, and the beautiful Australian ocean, and by the looks of things he couldn’t be happier. shorts.shef.ac.uk
The Paris Project
andy Directed by: Mikey Murphy Plot: Bullied teen Andy outs his friend’s relationship with a teacher at a party. This short by Mikey Murphy has a consistent storyline throughout, following high school student Andy as he struggles with bullying and harassing text messages. After being caught in a compromising situation with Lia, the ex-girlfriend of his high school enemy, this only worsens his social struggles. The film ends as it begins, with Andy being questioned by his teachers about a leaked text message between Lia and a surprising recipient. The film has a nice running time of 16 minutes, which allows a full plotline to flow and helps the viewer understand the extent of Andy’s troubles. All in all, this short depicts the unfiltered struggles of high-school life well, with a dramatic hook keeping viewers intrigued right through to the very end.
Directed by: Tamara P. Carter/VICE Plot: A Brooklyn-based artist moves to Paris to get married and start a new life.
Starting with two dancing naked bodies covered in fluorescent paint in an artsy but nonsensical intro, The Paris Project has VICE written all over it. This 30-minute drama is a bit of a slow burner from the start, with the plotline not fully emerging until halfway through the film. Even then, the story appears unclear, with seemingly irrelevant and disjointed flashbacks from past to present making the film hard to follow. The watch was tedious, and felt a lot longer than half an hour. In an attempt at creating an edgy, political film with the protagonist’s past of drug dealing coming back to haunt him, the short’s purpose was poorly translated. I expected more, and am left disappointed.
Apocalypse Now Now
Directed by: Michael Matthews Plot: South African school boy meets monsters. Tarantino meets Gaiman. Just coming in short of 8 minutes, Apocalypse Now Now is a well-produced nod to Charlie Human’s 2013 novel. The film by Michael Matthews is a great sci-fi short that sees a young school boy thrown into a world of monsters and mad drugfuelled bounty hunters. After being accused of murdering his girlfriend, the protagonist, Baxter, finds himself under orders from a bounty hunter who he believes is the only person to help him clear his name. Tricked into being live bait by his drug-snorting partner, Baxter goes up against a giant beast and finds that this is the type of world he really belongs in. The film’s graphics and CGI were appropriately used, throwing the viewer into an exhilarating fantasy world. I would certainly like to see more in the future, both from Baxter and Matthews.
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SEAM Directed by: Master Key Plot: Man v. Machine through a terrified cyborg woman’s perspective.
Master Key Films’ attempt at a sci-fi action film certainly lacked a decent plot. There was no particular hook to spark intrigue, and it was difficult finding the energy to keep watching. With a bunch of alien robots invading the country to cause disruption and despair, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. The only salvation that can be spared from this car-crash short is the acting depicted in the leading roles, however, sadly this was not enough to rectify the poorly constructed story responsible for this failed production.
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sk an Expert: How to get a job in the film industry
In a market as competitive as film, it can often be challenging to secure yourself a paid position with a reputable company. There are plenty of pointers to take on board if you’re wanting to take up a career in the field of film, and we spoke to Northern Film School’s senior lecturer Steve Mardy about what advice he gives his students who are ready to take the plunge into employment.
Before his position as a Senior Lecturer, Steve has worked as a Film Production Assistant in Manchester, then later took the role of Assistant Programmer in Derby, before working with Hall Place Studios Production Company based in Leeds Hi Steve, thanks so much for chatting with us. So, to get things started, in your experience have you found there to be any kind of ‘checklist’ of experience or skills that companies will be looking for in their prospective employees? I would say that in the broadcast-related industries, historically each company has only ever asked for three things from each student prior to working there: a) that they are responsible for their commitment to the placement itself, b) that they are reliable in that they will turn up on time when they are asked to i.e. personal time-management, and finally, c) that they are honest in the sense that they make it known to their line-manager from the outset what they can and cannot do. In other words, in addition to their key skills, what they don’t know technically. Do you have any advice for ways in which an individual is able to stand out during their job application? When looking for employment opportunities, we ensure our students are experienced in how to prepare a personal SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities and threats) analysis prior to attending a job interview, and they are also fully aware of the ‘threats’ from the competition i.e. other undergraduate students and graduate students, so they can address this if they need to. As part of the job
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application process itself, all student CVs are vetted by staff prior to their submission – therefore it would be worthwhile asking friends/colleagues involved in film if they could proofread your CV before application. Is there anything in particular during your own career that you feel has helped you succeed, or is there anything you wish you had done but didn’t? I fully understood the ABC model as mentioned in the first question, because I was in full-time employment in a completely different industry prior to my move towards the broadcast-related industry. My actions are now what can be translated as transferable skills and putting them into practice. I have found that up-skilling regularly via FE or HE education providers is the key to helping students succeed. Also, networking across all related industries in broadcast media is far more important than managerial training and leadership attainment for the following reasons: that there is an inevitability around funding uncertainty which still persists in the UK over the past 20 years plus; the fluidity and flexibility in the practice of filmmaking in particularly in pre-production, production and post production, along with technical development with equipment is something more than just technical change in the 21st century, and I think is leading to something more philosophically profound in the years ahead.
This is because you can prove to a potential employer that you can see a project through from its inception through to its delivery. And for me, your degree certificate from whatever programme of study you have completed merely serves as a ‘key’. However, the key unlocks the door in the direction of where your chosen vocation – not necessarily the degree course title itself – will take you. Are there any companies you would recommend recent graduates to work for to get a foot in the door for their career? Personally, I believe the ‘foot in the door’ activity for any should have been experienced whilst going through any degree course or training itself. This is normally undertaken as a work placement or paid ‘internship’. It’s a ‘suck it and see’ process separating the ‘ideal’ perceived and the ‘real’ actual experience itself. Waiting until a student is ready to progress into employment to experience this is too late. Our general experience with employers is that they like to see and work with dedicated people unafraid to meet the day-to-day challenges and not afraid to make mistakes on the job – within reason of course. Where’s best to look for vacanices in the flm/TV industry? From the perspective of NFS, Creative England is an excellent starting point. Their website is very pro-active (creativeengland. co.uk). We also have a formal partnership with Film Buddy. They let NFS know through a prior agreement where the placement vacancies are in any calendar and academic year.
ABOUT NORTHERN FILM SCHOOL Northern Film School is part of Leeds Beckett University, and has been making award-winning films for over 25 years. They offer qualifications in BA(Hons), MA and PhD level degrees. Many alumni from the school have gone on to win awards including BAFTAs and Oscars. The school was also recognised by the Hollywood Reporter as one of the top five ‘ones to watch’ film schools in the world in 2014.
How important is it to complete a course or degree related to filmmaking in order to secure a job in that field? Personally, to complete a course is essential.
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In the first six months of 2017,
421 films
were released in the UK and Republic of Ireland, with total box office takings of £649 million up to 23 July.
66,000
Around people worked in the UK film industry, of
47,000
whom worked in film and video production.
65% of the UK film and
video production workforce
was based in London and the South East. 51% of people working in film and video production were
freelance, total of more than 24,000 people.
Among 285 identified writers of UK films released during the year, 41 (14%) were women.
Average pay
for a Film/TV Producer is
£35,171 per year in the UK.
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How to Create Special effect makeup on a budget For amateur or independent filmmakers, production budgets can be limited. The quality of set, costume and hair/makeup is hard to focus on when there are so many other aspects of creating a film, which also need attention.
Sophie Macdonald is a qualified make-up artist who studied Special Effects for TV and Film at The University of Bolton. She now who works freelance, transforming people into mythical creatures or slaughtered victims, as well as working on sculpture and puppets. In particular, Sophie specialises in prosthetics, lifecasting, mould making, seaming, painting, and prosthetic application. Projects Sophie has worked on in the past include Sainsbury’s 2016 Christmas advert, popular kids’ TV show Raaraa The Noisy Lion, recently released horror film The Limehouse Golem, and the upcoming series of Marcella. She’s currently working on ITV’s Newzoids. As it’s Hallowe’en, we decided to speak to Sophie to see what tips and tricks she has for special effects, that someone at any level of experience will be able to achieve. ‘There are plenty of pointers that anyone can take on board if they’re wanted to create realistic-looking special effect make-up. The first thing I would say is that you need to do your research before you decide what look it is you’re creating, and also bear in mind your capabilities and what is realistically achievable for you. Make sure the research you’re carrying out is based on real injuries; creating makeup based on other makeup completely gives the game away.
‘There are lots of forums you can join on social sites like Facebook. Although the sites will have been set up for professionals, you can search for recipes/problems/materials/ anything else, and there’s a 99.9% chance someone has asked the question before and there’ll be an abundance of answers. The groups I recommend most are ‘Neil Gorton’s Makeup FX 911’, ‘Makeup FX Forum’, ‘Practical Effects Group’, and ‘Makeup, Special Effects, Body Paint Artists and Aspiring Professionals’. These are all closed groups on Facebook but you can search for them, request to join, and someone should accept this and let you in. You can also use the forums to post images of the makeup you’ve done, and ask for any tips of how to improve or make it look more realistic. It really is a great place to share information and network with people who can help and offer their advice. ‘To create makeup effects yourself, there are some home recipes you can make to achieve the look you want. Below are the easiest and most likely recipes you’ll need when creating a Hallowe’en gore look....
‘Make sure you carry out skin tests with your actor/actress/model prior to using any glues, bloods, latex etc. Also make sure you wash and sterilise and makeup brushes and tools you use in-between each model, using 99% IPA (which can be purchased online for a small cost).
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84 million
Over cinema tickets were sold in the UK in the first six months of 2017, up over 6% on the same period in 2016
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HOME MADE FAKE BLOOD BASIC FAKE BLOOD RECIPE This recipe gives you the basic ingredients and method of how to make a runny, fresh blood-like substance, which is cheap and easy to make, and can be safe to consume orally. I’ve also added some tips if you want to experiment more with texture, and how to do this safely. Ingredients: - 1 litre of treacle syrup - Food colouring in red, yellow, blue, and green - Washing up liquid*
effect of fresh, runny blood, but if the look you’re wanting to create involves congealed blood you could experiment with random household ingredients to create different textures, such as coffee granules, flour or talcum powder to thicken the mixture. You may have to add further food colouring to amend the tone, as things like talc can lighten the mixture and ruin the authentic look.
To use: Any way you like! You can apply this to anywhere Method: on the body (being Begin by adding a few drops at a time of mindful of the instructions red food colouring into the syrup and stir as above); you could spill you go, until you get the right shade. After the blood on the floor this add a few drops of yellow colouring, to create the illusion of followed by the smallest amounts of blue and an intense gruesome green to get the deep red colour of blood. If slaughter, paint onto the you want to create a more brown tone for the hands of a killer who’s illusion of aged blood, add a little more of the been caught red-handed, blue and green colourings to the mixture. or to stain clothes of *If the mixture is being used in the mouth, someone who’s suffered a don’t add any washing up liquid, as this is wound to their torso. You unsafe for the model. You can go ahead and really can be as creative as use the mixture created above. you like as the mixture is For all other purposes, add a few drops of versatile and blood is key washing up liquid to the mixture and stir in, to any gory Hallowe’en as this will prevent the blood from beading look. If applying to skin, on the skin, and will make it smear as real the best thing to use would be brushes but blood would. they don’t need to be expensive. You could Depending on how you pigment the blood, even buy a pack of children’s painting it will probably stain. Do tests prior to use if brushes which will do the trick nicely. needs be. If your budget is able to stretch to pay for If you are not using the mixture straight some manufactured fake blood instead of away, or want to store it, you can add a few making it yourself, a good alterative to buy drops of Dettol or alternative detergent. This is the ‘Rob Smith Bloods’ available online at will prevent the syrup from growing mould ps-composites.com. or bacteria, although if you are using the mix around the mouth then do not add detergent (Above, middle and right) Go from simple applications, and instead ensure the fake blood is made to really tricky ones like the one on the right! fresh upon application. The basic recipe listed above gives the
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Here are some examples of Sohpe’s work, using fake blood to create realisic injuries on her models.
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HOME MADE GELATINE RECIPE
applying the gelatine directly to the skin, then it’s important you don’t overheat the mix. Always test the temperature on the back of your hand before applying to an actor/actress/ model. For different effects, you can experiment by adding different materials such as sand, cornflakes, coffee granules etc. If the gelatine is being worn for a long time, then prior to applying the mix to the skin, apply a thin layer of prosthetic glue, prosaide, or spirit gum to the area and allow to dry. After this you can apply the gelatine and it Ingredients: - 100g sorbitol - for ultra-budget recipes use a will last much longer. small amount of water instead To complete: - 100g glycerin Gelatine can be painted using face paints, - 30g gelatin - preferably 300 bloom, but grease paints, or any makeup. for ultra-budget you can use regular gelatin GELATINE This recipe creates a fleshy jelly, which can be melted in a microwave, and firms up and cools within minutes. It can be re-used, and is very cheap to make. Standard gelatine mixtures can usually be used to make prosthetics in a mould, or can be applied directly on the skin to build up texture – predominantly to create burns, or can be pigmented red to create entrails/guts.
powder sachets bought at a supermarket - Pigment – something to add colouring to the mix, such as liquid foundation/ other skin coloured makeup, or food colouring if you’re making prosthetics to replicate innards - A few drops of Dettol or alternative detergent
Method: Mix together the above ingredients and let the mixture sit for a few hours so the gelatine (powder form) soaks up the liquid. Following this, add your chosen pigment colours to the mix and microwave- slowly! It’s very important not to burn the gelatine formula as this will ruin your mix. Keep taking it out and stirring until all the lumps have gone. Once this has been achieved, you can pour the gelatine liquid into a tray, let it set, then cut it into cubes to make it easier to store and use. Make sure your storage tub is airtight.
Extra tips: ‘If you don’t feel up to doing your own special effects because you don’t have time, or maybe you tried and it was a complete fail, then you can always contact local colleges and universities to find out about any makeup courses that are going on. Students will jump at the opportunity to gain experience,
network with yourself and your time, and get great images for their portfolio. You can also advertise on social media as it is almost a guarante that every makeup artist has a page/online portfolio, or see if there are any volunteers willing to help you out by posting in the forums I recommended earlier. Do, however, expect to pay for travel costs and a bulk of the materials, even if someone is volunteering their skills for free.’ Other sources of information recommended by Sophie to check out are below: learnprostheticmakeup.com – a site which offers free tutorial videos The Monstrous Makeup Manual by Mike Spatola - a book which offers looks that use really basic materials that are easy to source, and you can also buy a digital copy of the book online
FOR MORE INFORMATION about Sophie Macdonald and her work, you can visit her website at sophiemac-sfx.com, or follow her on Instagram @sophiemac.sfx
To use: Microwave a small batch of the gelatine slowly until it’s runny. If you plan on
(Left to right) Sophie often sketches her ideas to make a plan before she goes ahead to create the makeup, like these burns made from gelatine.
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The Outdoor City Using unique locations and the talented adrenaline junkies of Sheffield, the film company have gone on to make short films that have exceeded 10 million views and have won many a prize at the SHAFF film awards.
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othing adventurous to do in Sheffield, you say? Well, Salt Street Productions scoffs at you, as Salt Street Productions show people the hidden gems of adventure sports in a spectacular fashion. From skateboarding on an antiaircraft gun tower in the middle of the ocean to cliff hanging in Sheffield’s beautiful Peak District, the production team has come a long way since its beginnings. Now with major hits such as the thrilling ‘Red Run’ and exciting ‘Low Line,’ and winning multiple short film awards, the team have been tasked with promoting Sheffield as ‘The Outdoor City.’ Shorts! got the chance to get the lowdown with Salt Street Productions Director, Ed Birch. Well Ed, could you give us the background on how Salt Street Productions started? I was studying photography at Sheffield Hallam University, and it was here when I really fell in love with Sheffield and all the sporting stuff you can do. I then started making adventure films about those sports; everything from skiing in the old ski village to road cycling out in the peak district. As I went into university, I started making films and entered them in the Sheffield Film Festival SHAFF. They started to do well, so half-way through university I decided to bite the bullet and start my own company, Salt Street Productions, and then I just carried on with it and it grew from there. You must have had quite the risky feeling making your mind up to drop out, no? I had quite a smooth transition because I had set up the production company half way through university, so I already had a client base and was known for adventure sports. I started my own outdoor film called Our Sheffield, from food and drink to sport, and
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For the location is Red Sands, we had to get a fishing boat to take us out. This video took quite a few months because we were organizing it through the winter, and we had to postpone our trip 5 different times because of bad weather, otherwise the boat would crash up next to the forts. Often our locations need preparation for safety, and it can take a day and a half to just to clean the location and take stuff away. Would you say it’s hard to find talent in Sheffield to star in your videos? Sheffield is the home of sport. We have the world’s best climbers here, along with the world’s best mountain bikers, so the wealth of talent that’s within Sheffield is absolutely incredible. It’s fitting the right personality to the right location that seems to be the biggest challenge.
that was really my first advert for the city of Sheffield. Happy days! One of the biggest draws of your videos is the locations you film. How do you get around to finding these places? It takes a lot of research and a lot of whispered conversations in the pub. The one in our video Red Sands we had been actually looking at for a while, and we had gone back there for a series that we were doing for Channel 4. One of the most difficult factors is all about how you’re going to get there.
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You think Sheffield being labelled ‘The Outdoor City’ is justified then? It’s always been the outdoor city for me. It has everything from taking a stroll to walking to the peak district, which will only take 15 minutes by car. Within the actual city there’s also so much potential; bouldering for climbers and so much for parkour and skateboarding. For our movie actually called, “The Outdoor City”, our aim was to get someone who doesn’t do sport at all to try adventure sports or adrenaline sports. We wanted to show people a sport they didn’t expect to find in Sheffield, like canoeing or kayaking, but also to advertise what sports you can do from an 8 minute drive from Sheffield, including paragliding!
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Clockwise: -The Peak District overlooking Sheffield’s District housing many popular spots. city centre. -Ed Birch, Director of Salt Street -Filming the Peak District’s cycling routes Production was essential in expressing -‘The Outdoor -To fully capture every aspect of Sheffield, City’ label.Sheffield is known for it’s the team needed to film some of the city’s bouldering, with the neighbouring Peak bogier locations.
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A JOB
Opposite page, Left to Right: Joris Oprins Marieke Blaauw Job Roggeveen
WELL
With a catalogue of critically acclaimed shorts, Oscar nominated animation studio Job, Joris and Marieke have perfectly crafted the art of storytelling in their films. Ten years after setting up their studio, the trio chat to Natasha Gregson about their work. How do you approach a new project working as a collective?
We always start a new project with a brainstorm. When we come up with the main concept of a film we start dividing the work. Marieke starts working on writing a treatment, then Joris will make a moving storyboard while Job works on the art direction. That sounds like we have a strict division, but in reality we’re constantly looking over each other’s shoulder and we make all the major decisions together.
What is it about the short-film medium that you love the most?
With a short film you can focus more on the concept. Our films usually have weird concepts, such as what would it be like if no one had a mouth? Or what if your imaginary friend gets stolen? What would happen if you could travel through your life? It’s always a very nice challenge to get these weird ideas across.
A Single Life is a beautiful film. How
Short! Thing We picked the best from the collective’s archives...
Job, Joris and Marieke’s studio where they write and animate their films.
DONE
was it for you to portray such a complex issue in less than 3 minutes and be nominated for the Best Animated Short Academy Award?
In A Single Life, 90 years go by in two minutes. The short duration helps to get the message of the film across. But it was a real challenge to show a whole lifespan in such a short time. We were constantly scraping away frames. The film was originally made to be shown in front of a Dutch blockbuster. Someone suggested we should send it to the Oscars. We didn’t even know you could do that so it was quite a shock that we eventually ended up in Hollywood! If we’d have won, our film would have been the shortest film in history to win an Oscar.
I love the attention to detail in your films. How important is it to you that every aspect of the animation is perfectly crafted to tell the story? With A Single Life we wanted to show
different parts of our main character’s life. But we had little time to do this in. So we wanted them to be as specific and accurate as possible to make sure it would come across exactly right. We spent a lot of time on the sets. We paid attention to every little detail, from the right wallpaper to the most characteristic chair to the most meaningful painting. We’ve also made some little jokes. Especially on the wall behind her, the little shelf always has funny knick-knacks. It even has a book called ‘Time is on My Side’, by Marty McFly as a homage to Back to the Future and the theme of time travel. There is a funny anecdote why that was included. At some point we received an email from the producer and writer of Back to the Future, Bob Gale. At first we were terrified, we were sure they were going to sue us for using the name Marty McFly. But it turned out to be an amazing letter in which Bob Gale simply wanted to congratulate us on the nomination and to thank us for the little homage. Of course we framed the letter and its hanging in our studio now.
A Single Life (2014)
Otto (2015)
A Single Life follows Pia as she navigates her life through time travel. From her childhood to old age, in a few minutes Pia’s life flashes before her eyes – literally.
Exploring the power of imagination, Otto is the story of woman, unable to have children, who takes a young girl’s imaginary friend to fill the void she has in
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BON VOYAGE! (2015) A charming tale of love, determination and cycling, when Tim’s phone is broken at the Tour de France will he be able to contact his date? OCT 2017 | SHORTS! MAGAZINE
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i, DOCu BOT
The subjects of Aaron Umetani’s first two documentaries, a convention for YouTube gaming, and a group that brings guitars to prisoners, are worlds apart. SHORTS! sits down with the LA based filmmaker to analyse the versatile programming of AaronBot5000.
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aron began making documentaries in 2002, having been inspired some years earlier in high school. “I saw a movie called "Hardboiled" by Jon Woo, and I thought it may be be fun to make movies, but I ended up going and majoring in computer science. I dropped out of that school about a year and a half later, and everyone was kind of like, what the fuck! But my mom was very supportive, and she let me go to a new media school that was starting up a digital filmmaking program. ” Before making No One You Know, Aaron worked for YouTube video gamer network Polaris (formerly The Game Station), and its parent company Maker Studios, both prominent YouTube production companies. He considers the video makers he met during this period to be his biggest inspiration. “In school, they will teach you how to make a movie in a certain way. Write your script in screenplay format, line it, pick out a master shot, figure out your coverage, draw your overheads, and then arrange your shot list, and use wides to establish, go in for closeups on important things, et cetera. That is all really helpful, but a lot of the YouTube kids I'd meet never went to film school. They just made videos based on what they thought was cool, so a lot of times it was inefficient and maybe didn't always work out, but they had a sort of freedom creatively, because they weren't constrained by any rules.” “When I'm directing videos for other YouTubers, it's usually ‘branded entertainment’ which is a euphemism for when a company wants a YouTuber to make a commercial, because it will somehow seem
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more ‘authentic’ because they have a YouTuber in it.” If you think this sounds like a rather scathing opinion of these kinds of videos from Aaron, then you would be right. “Advertising is definitely not the most honest or spiritually fulfilling work for me”, he says. “For some people, like Mike Tompkins (an acapella singer) that usually means I shoot the video and handle the post production, while he creates all the music. Then for other people, I write and direct a short for them to act in, while also making sure the brand is happy. I've also directed some music videos for Ninja Sex Party (a YouTube novelty music band), and I used to do sketches for The Game Station.” Aaron left Maker Studios three years ago. However, two people Aaron met there would lead him to the documentaries he has made since. The first was Cody, the building manager at MS. She told Aaron about Jail Guitar Doors, an initiative founded by musician Billy Bragg to give prisoners guitars as a means of rehabilitation. When Cody’s branch of JGD received clearance to hold a performance at Valley State Prison, California, she invited a curious Aaron along to record them and talk to the prisoners who were involved. “Honestly I wasn't really looking for anything when I first went to film my doc” Aaron explains about his experience filming in the prison. “I just kind of thought, ‘Hey, here's something that will probably have an interesting story.’ I used to think documentary was about going in and just observing, and you can do that if you have a lot of time and resources, but on this project I just kind of went in blind. I probably should have done more research, but I didn't really know where to even
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“If you were an introverted geek in a small town, you might not have any friends who were into the weird stuff you were into. You might not have many friends at all. I feel like the internet has really helped with that.” YOU MIGHT KNOW HIS WORK
Holy Sh*t (You’ve Got To Vote)
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a convention, and more as just an excuse for people to get together and enjoy each other's company. It seemed more like a big party that Jesse and the guests and staff were throwing and that everyone was invited to? Maybe that's what a convention is, I don’t know!” Aaron has been to several other larger conventions, and to him the difference was clear. “I saw a lot of people who were there to reunite with friends from last year and young people who were excited to be on one of those vacations away from their parents. It definitely had a more intimate feeling that say PAX, ComicCon, or Anime Expo.” For part of the CoxCon documentary, Aaron used machinimation – creating animation by using video games. This was a technique he had learnt while making YouTube videos, “When you're making a doc, a lot of time you just have people telling you stories about stuff that happened, so you have to have an interesting thing to show while your interviewee is telling a story. This is the reason you will see the story of Jesse’s first meetup in London told through the medium of the popular open world crime game Grand Theft Auto 5, and it is a suitably humourous sequence for a light hearted subject. “Some people do live action re-enactments, or graphics, I just did machinimation because it was the easiest thing. It also just fits with the doc, since most of Jesse's content is game themed.” So what’s the story behind the name of this documentary? “I wanted CoxCon to be the first of a series of short docs called ‘AaronBot5000 does X,’” Aaron explains. “It’s kind of based on the idea that I have often felt like a robot learning about being human any time I go out and experience new subcultures or weird human events. Fortunately I came up with this idea after I made No One You Know, because "AaronBot5000 goes to Prison" is not a good title. But I would have been really tempted to use it!”
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Aaron’s day job is still based in making YouTube content, with one of his current major clients being the popular Geek and Sundry channel, directing their premium paid-for content. He has recently completed Painters’ Guild for their channel, a show about decorating miniature models for tabletop gaming. He has also been involved in a still developing project for the Disney network alongside Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, part of the group that produces the stop motion comedy series Robot Chicken. With the two documentaries released online, SHORTS! asked what Aaron had planned for the future. “I have a bunch of personal projects up in the air right now, but at the moment, I'm just trying to work and get some money!” But if some kindly investor gave Aaron unlimited resources and unlimited time, what would he love to make a documentary on? “Man, I don't know!” he laughs. “There's so many docs I'd like to do. I'm really interested in the way the internet has affected and is affecting the way we exist. When I went to CoxCon, I had a nebulous idea in the back of my mind that I wanted to do a bigger documentary, or a series of them, about the different facets of life that the internet has affected. CoxCon really showed me that the internet has allowed a lot of people who are part of disparate subcultures to find each other. It also showed that people who are heavily introverted, and perhaps even have social anxiety, can still find a place to be comfortable around a large community.” “This will make me sound hella old, but when I was a kid, it was really hard to find other people who were into anime, or obscure video games, or whatever fringe thing you might be into, and so if you were an introverted geek in a small town, you might not have any friends who were into the weird stuff you were into. You might not have many friends at all. I feel like the internet has really helped with that.”
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start. I talked to Cody about it and she gave me a little background, but I didn't really know what I was gonna get. “The guys in prison were pretty easy to talk to. I find it's pretty easy to interview people because they all want to say something, you just have to make them feel like it's okay to tell you. Mainly with this doc, the hard part was putting it together into a cohesive whole that flowed. I ended up not using a lot of the stories people told me, and really it should have been a much longer documentary about the incarcerated, but I don't really have the resources or desire to spend several years of my life shooting interviews and meeting people.” The second important person from Maker Studios was one of its stars, Jesse Cox. He and Aaron had worked on several videos together, but one day Aaron overheard that Jesse was organising his own convention in Britain, to be known as CoxCon. “I thought, ‘What, is he really throwing himself a convention?’ I thought it was kind of, I don't know, egotistical?” It seemed that way at first, but Dodger Leigh, another content creator and close friend of Jesse’s, explained to Aaron why it was happening. “Jesse had come all the way to the UK to host a meet-up because a convention he was going to go to had folded. To me that was very cool, I thought that was a really great story.” I decided I'd go the second year. In fact, I had told Jesse I was coming and asked him if he could get me in for free. He said, ‘Sure!’ But when I got there, everyone was surprised, I think he thought I was joking!” “While I was there, I thought it was a pretty special event. Everyone was really friendly, although a lot of people didn't want to do interviews. It makes sense, since I'd imagine most people naturally shy away from being on camera, and geeky conventions tend to have a lot of introverted people. Overall I thought it was really good, it really felt to me less like
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SHORTS! talks to... stacy snyder Hey Stacy! How’s it going? Hey! I’m actually going to be joining some directors and executive producers this weekend in San Diego for our festival. We’ve been very blessed, we’ve actually stopped submitting Feeding Time to other festivals, even though we’ve been asked to come to other festivals! So, we still have a few more lined up actually. The executive producer of Feeding Time cast me in a Horror Short that he directed called Heartless, so that should be hitting the horror movie festival circuit in the next few months! Tomorrow I have a wrap party for a feature I was in, it's a dramedytype relationship movie. I play this really snobby self-absorbed character, it was SO fun. It’s called ‘Sound of Settling,’ give it a watch! Has it been a stressful year with all this success? Oh no! That’s all the fun stuff. That's exactly what I work so hard for. Having fun on set and going to all these different screenings, meeting other filmmakers, especially when they end up being in L.A. because I end up meeting other people I know. It’s really cool to see those relationships grow. So, Feeding time! You were fabulous in it, how did you get the role? That was a complete normal scenario! They posted the position, I applied, I auditioned for it. I remember sitting in the waiting room and looking around. Wow. There were just so many beautiful, young women here. You know, skinny and with the most perfect faces. I was just like “F*ck it, I’m not gonna get it.” So I said to myself that I would just go in to have the best time ever. There was this part where they had the baby creatures knocking on the wall, so I had to react to the wall, and I’m just IN IT. I left thinking that was pure fun, but i’ll never hear from them again. But then, I got it! They crew were great, now I end up working with someone from Feeding Time every few months. How long did it take to shoot? Anything interesting or outrageous happen on set? Filming was extremely efficient, and we had
SHORTS! MAGAZINE | OCT 2017
Taking on the role to be all parts hilarious and being the right kind of frightened is no easy feat, but Stacy Snyder takes it in her stride in the retro-flavoured horror short, Feeding Time. Shorts! got the chance to have a delightful chat with Snyder about the horrors experienced on set, killer babies and douchey boyfriends. the rental of that house with all the creepy posters. I wish the movie could have shown more of it because it was very spooky. I get very easily startled in real-life. People love taking me to horror films because I’ll be in a movie theatre and just scream at the top of my lungs. I get way too scared. When we were shooting the scene where I enter the room where the baby is, and nobody is in there and the cages are opened. It was the middle of the night when we shot that and everyone on set was quiet, and all I could hear was the creeping of the floor boards. It completely fit the mood. Were you freaked out by the killer babies? The killer babies were these amazing puppets, so when I first saw them, yeah, they were extremely creepy. But after a while, putting special effect jelly on them and having someone puppeteer them gnawing on your leg, It’s just another day in the life really! But working with the special effects team and getting into the role really helped nail that scene when I had to pull the killer baby off my leg. I mean, that character has a lot of courage to do that. At that point I’d probably pass-out and never want to deal with. I’d just live with that baby stuck to my leg.
up with these kinds of texts? I think that is one of the audience's favourite moments, because it's something we can all relate to. You know, when you put yourself out there and the other person leaves you out there on a whim. I love hearing that kind of laughter from the audience though, because it’s coming from a really true place! I would like to say that if someone texted me like that, I would be strong and fierce, putting them in their place. But, I’m sure I’ve been in that situation where I say, “I like you, like you,” and the other person being like, “Nah, that’s cool.” You a fan of the horror movie genre itself? I like horror movies, but they just terrify me. I have to give myself space between them. I cannot watch them and go, “Oh cool! Let's go hang out.” No, I need time to decompress, figure my life out, and most importantly, look under my bed. I saw The Strangers one summer, at an 11am screening. That night though, I had to call my brother up, turn on all the lights and check every room because I was so terrified that some creepy person with a mask was just gonna pop up somewhere in my house, which obviously they wouldn’t! If there was one monster you had to be stalked by, which would it be? I’m more afraid of the religious cult stuff, or ethereal, mystical type creatures than aliens. For me, anything that would be from a different realm or meta-physical plain. THAT would be….clutch. Any shout outs before we finish? I am just grateful to have worked with Matt Mercer, director of Feeding Time. He has such an eye for this work. He’s a phenomenal director and actor. I definitely count my lucky stars that I got to work with him and get in that circle with him, and from there to have met all these amazing producers and writers, cinematography. Feeding Time has been a blast, I’m so proud of it. It’s
In the movie, you’re texting a guy who's being hilariously rude. How would you put
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A fish out of water O
n the Welsh island of Anglesey in the 1980s something peculiar occurred: a gathering of people with fishy surnames were invited to the opening of a marina and subsequently were gifted with the same fish that bore their name by infamous weatherman Michael Fish, or so says Caspar Salmon. It sounds utterly bizzare, and yet this wonderfully charming tale provides the narrative for filmmaker Charlie Lyne’s latest short. “Caspar Salmon is an old friend of mine. A couple of years ago he made the mistake of telling me this story and subsequently when I introduced him to people from then on, the first thing I made him do was retell this wonderful story of the fish surname gathering,” Charlie says. “I remember having just made him retell it for the 1000th time and saying will you let me tell it in a film?” Charlie says, adding: “At that point I assumed that it hadn’t actually happened and somehow this story had got confused over the years because there were no google results whatsoever. I thought ‘what are the chances that no one would remember it now in the age of the internet?’” What was supposed to be “a weekend project to do for a laugh and stick on youtube,” ended up blossoming into a six month project where Charlie set out to reveal out the truth behind the story and found that “more revelations came round every corner.” Admittedly, it doesn’t sound like a riveting narrative but the film is spectacularly brilliant and its charm lies with its low-key playfulness and unusual story. It’s a combination that works; the short was screened at various festivals in 2017, including Sundance and was a ‘Vimeo Staff Picks Best of the Month’.
SHORTS! MAGAZINE | OCT 2017
Following on from the success of his Sundance selected film, Fish Story, Charlie Lyne talks exclusively to Natasha Gregson about his love of short films, why festivals are important in the age of the internet and why he made a film over ten hours of paint drying...
Quite impressive for what started as a weekend project. “I genuinely didn’t think there was a chance in hell that I would find anyone that would actually remember it,” Charlie recalls. “I was thinking ‘how many calls do I need to make for it to be a satisfying failure?’ I was literally going to do one or two more calls and I finally managed to speak to someone who miraculously happened to be there. Had I got one or two slightly more useable calls earlier I probably would have given up by that point.” In the documentary, as with his previous work in Copycat, the fascinating story of Rolf Kanefsky and his self-aware horror film with an uncanny similarity to Wes Craven’s later slasher flick Scream, the subject is off camera. “It’s not so much a conscious decision but it’s more like I never want to do anything unthinkingly,” Charlie says about his style in the two films. “I feel with a huge amount of documentaries that are interview-led there is an unnecessary reliance on talking head interviews and a lot of visual content of the person talking when it’s not necessarily adding anything. “I like to start from as minimal a position as ever, which would be just having the audio telling the story and decide whether the visual component is actually useful for that story. In Fish Story, for instance, I decided ultimately that it would be most interesting to only see who’s talking at the end when you meet the couple that actually opened the sea zoo. I felt that it gave the viewer a sense of culmination, a sense that they were finally getting to see the truth behind this whole thing after this storytelling voice up until that point,” he adds. Charlie makes short and feature length films,
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believing there are “real pleasures” in both forms, but finds the attitude towards shorts films problematic: “What I think is a shame sometimes is the sense, which is very prevalent in the industry, that short films are essentially a training ground for features or at least something that you have to graduate from into making feature films. Whereas I think there are stories that absolutely lend themselves to longer run times and stories that lend themselves to shorter ones.” He uses Fish Story as an example, saying it “would not have made a good 90 minute film. I don’t think that means that it’s not a story worth telling.” Charlie says he has “cherished” working in and finding an audience for both mediums, although he does feel that people should be more open to films that strike the middle ground between shorts and features. “That’s a really difficult thing to get seen because most festivals place those films [of 30-50 minutes in length] in the short film bracket alongside a ten minute film so it’s a difficult trade off. I think often people are trying to fit it into brackets and I understand that impulse because if you stick to them it’ll be much easier to get work to be seen.” For Charlie, festivals are still hugely significant for filmmakers wanting to get their work seen but he acknowledges that due to the popularity of readily available streaming services, the number that see films at a festival is “easily dwarfed by the number of people who see it online.” It’s not to say that festivals are any less important though: “There are different benefits. In the case of Fish Story the fact it got into Sundance and then played at a few other high-profile
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Clockwise from top: Filmmaker Charlie Lyne Charlie’s ‘Paint Drying’ film A still from ‘Fish Story’
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festivals definitely increases its visibility to the point where when it finally went online it was easier to draw an audience to it.” But, he says, a festival audience is a relatively tiny number of people you’re reaching compared to those you can reach online. “I think what you miss then is all the benefits as a filmmaker you get going to the festival like getting to meet other filmmakers, and ideally meeting the people who will fund you to make future films. Especially in a world where you’re making projects on pretty slim budgets and with tight margins. It’s nice to have one space where you feel like there’s a luxury or benefit to working in that kind of form. Now festivals are less of a necessity and more of a luxury.” Paint Drying, the very opposite of a short, was an ambitious, crowdfunded project by Charlie that was literally a video of paint drying on the wall, a form of rebellion against the mandatory cost for having a film rated by the BBFC. “It costs, for an independent filmmaker, a hell of a lot of money. I had self-distributed my previous film Beyond Clueless and I’d been amazed at how possible it actually was to self-release a feature film. “I found it was possible, you could do it on a budget. You could tap into an audience without the power of a massive marketing budget. But the BBFC rating cost was a massive obstacle. That was a huge barrier that could have been the difference between releasing the film or not.” And so, as the BBFC have to watch every film submitted that is paid for, Charlie made the ten hour film - and they had to watch every minute. Rebel with a cause, indeed.
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You can’t shoot a film if you’ve not got the gear. That’s why we’re here to help! Take a look at our guide to the best equipment on the market, helping you bring your short films to life.
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SMARTPHONES
If your budget is low, filming on a smart phone can sometims be the most cost-effective way of shooting your short. The quality of video that can be produced using a smartphone nowadays is incredibly high, with some feature films even being shot by an iPhone (take a look at Tangerine from the 2015 Sundance Film Festival). Of course, to get the most out of that tiny pocket-sized device, you’ll have to get yourself some accessories which will heighten the image, sound, and make the phone easier to hold and maneuver. Here are a few of our recommendations:
iOgrapher iPhone 6 Plus/6s Plus Filmmaking Case, £100.00
This case is a great tool to set up a lightweight, uncomplicated iPhone filming device. Two cold shoe mounts allows you to attach a microphone and lighting, along with side threads enabling compatibility with a tripod. There is a 37mm lens thread, allowing the possibility of using al ternate lenses with a 37mm fitting. The case is also structured with its signatur han dles for sturdy, accurate hand-held filming. The design is compact and portable. Al so available to fit different Apple models in varying prices.
iBlazr 2 Wireless Flash for iPhone, iPad and Android, £29.99
Rode Smartlav+ Lavalier Microphone for Smartphone, £43.00
This tiny four-bulb wireless light from iBlazr slots straight onto the top of your smartphone, and can be activated using the touch sensor on the back panel. It will then synchronise directly with your phone camera through Bluetooth connection. The light has colour temperature options, allowing you to shoot in warm or cold lighting to help add effects to your footage. The accessory is inexpensive, and a great little piece of kit to have.
FILM CAMERAS
The Smartlav+ microphone is compatible with almost any device, as the user fixes the small, discrete microphone to the speaker, connects it a smartphone or tablet headset hack and records via any microphonecompatible app or camera feature. The product manufacturer describes the wearable microphone as ‘broadcast-grade, designed for use in a wide range of film, television and broadcast scenarios’.
When looking for a professional film camera, you may become overwhelmed during your search. There are so many different cameras designed for varying purposes, with a million different accessories you must purchase before they’re ready to use. We’ve summarised some all-rounders that are great for indie filmmakers wanting to produce some proffessional footage.
RED Raven Camera Kit + Final Cut Pro, £14,999.00
Canon LEGRIA HF R806 Camcorder, £199.00
For serious filmmakers, the RED Raven camera is an incredible investment. Whilst the camera kit is very pricey, what you get is the ultimate piece of film-shooting equipment. The kit includes RED Raven 4.5K camera Brain, Content code for programme software Final Cut Pro X, foolcontrol iOS app for RAVEN camera kit, RED DSMC Touch LCD 4.7” Monitor, RED DSMC2 Outrigger Handle, RED V-Lock I/O Expander, RED MINI-MAG 120GB, Two IDX DUO C98 batteries with chargher, G-Technology ev Series RED MINI-MAG Reader, Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM Art Lens, and
SHORTS! MAGAZINE | OCT 2017
As a budget film-making camera, this Canon model has full HD resolution, a good zoom range, and a large range of creatve mode settings to allow its user to experiment with different effects. The shooting time for the camera is 3 hours 15 minutes, which for short film makers should be more than sufficient. Audio settings will be automatically optimised when shooting film through this camera to enhance sound to a professional standard. The camera also comes with a touch screen display, making it user-friendly and perfect for beginners.
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-G80 Mirrorless Camera £799.00
Canon XF100 Camcorder £1,899.99
Canon’s professioncal XF100 is the smallest camcorder to include an MPEG-2, 50Mbps, and 4:2:2 Full HD codec. CF card recording. The camcorder has 80 minutes recording time which should be plenty for shooting a short film. It also comes with 3D assist functions, and an ifrared shooting mode, allowing for creative film production.
This great little mid-range camera comes with a 12-60mm Lens and built-in microphone, meaning you can save money on add-ons and extras. The camera shoots 4K and 180p video, as well as having an updated imagestabiliser system and improved suppression of blurring, meaning footage is incredibly focussed and precise. As well as this, the camera is suitable for travelling with its durable magnesium frame and it’s small, lightweight design.
On occassion, you may find yourself needing a little more than just tech equipment to help creative an innovatinve and captivating new film. Turning to literature to gain more knoweldge and understanding about the whole film-making process can teach you new skills and give you advice on how to improve.
To The Actor by Michael Chekhov £26.00
How to Read a Film by James Monaco £27.99
A great way of improving your own films, or just learning about the medium in general, is to watch work by the greatest directors in the world for inspiration. But the study of film has its unique aspects from other kinds of analysis, and its own terminology to describe it. If you are unfamiliar with the jargon, then it can be tricky to describe what precisely is ‘good’ about a good scene. Monaco’s book gives you all the basic tools you need to understand and discuss visual and verbal languages in film. It also has useful diagrams and screenshots to demonstrate how different kinds of shots are composed and lit, and a detailed primer on film history. With How to Read a Film by your side, you will never be stuck for words again. A perfect starting point for beginners, and a useful reference for the experienced.
The Hollywood War Machine by Carl Boggs and Tom Pollard, £35.99
For actors and their directors, a strong performance is the goal. Chekhov’s manual on acting is a well recommended work in training professional actors, with figures like Jack Nicholson and Sir Anthony Hopkins swearing by its techniques. With endorsements like these, this thoroughly intellectual work is a very attractive read. It can be impenetrable at first, as many of Chekhov’s ideas are communicated through his ‘psychological gesture’ framework. Once you understand what he means about movement defining character, the book opens up and is full of exercises and analysis to develop the mind and body of those who want to improve their performance.
EDITING SOFTWARE
When you’ve spend hours writing your script, casting, organising costume, finding a location, and shooting your film, you’re going to want to get yourself some top notch editing software that will do your hard work justice as you put your film together.
Cyberlink PowerDirector 15 Ultra £39.99
This book looks at film from a more political perspective, drawing on famous events like mass shootings, the Cold War, and terrorist attacks. Boggs and Pollard’s argument is that key moments in US history have spread a conflicted appreciation of violence across its poplation. This has then been complimented by the film industry’s output, from the obvious war films to westerns to modern superhero sagas. Even the films that are the most critical of American aggression are demonstrated to fit into the wider obsession afflicting the whole country. The authors scrutinise their subjects like propaganda pieces, and appreciation of the art takes a back seat to neutral academic examination. It is likely not a way you have considered film unless you have studied it formally, but this perspective is still valuable. Whether you agree with or dispute its conclusions, Hollywood War Machine’s viewpoint is valuable, and can benefit your understanding of film beyond normal criticism.
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BOOKS
This film editing software is perfect for both beginner and advanced users, with it’s features being simple to use, yet advanced enough to create visually stunning effects and video. Sadly, the software is not compatible with Apple computers, however it is very affordable and a worthy investment for Windows users.
Adobe Premiere Elements 15 £79.00
There’s a reason Adobe is such a well-recognised brand within the media industry. They know exactly how to deliver a professional product with features that allow the user to experiment and channel their creativity without any restraints. This piece of software is a staple product installed on any good film-maker’s computer.
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filmstudiesinfo.co.uk
Find out more at LFA.ac.uk
HIDDEN GEMS No matter how old they get, these films will always have a sparkle to them.
The first love Funny Stuff
Young love. So pure, innocent and simple. Not according to this witty mature film about a kid who has just been dumped. Be warned, the kid swears. A lot.
Otherwise Engaged
Love Sport
This quick animated fencing match gets a little out of hand when one of them can’t accept defeat. Short, funny and sweet films to put a spring in your step are sometimes exactly what you need.
Heartwarming Tales
This is a pretty accurate representation of what a proposal might look like in the 21st century. The couples interaction with one another is subtly awkward and hilarious to watch.
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SOAR
Using an app on his phone, a man on a train discovers that a potential lover is close by. No dialogue is needed in this quirky story on the search for love.
An award-winning 3D animation with clear inspirations from Pixar and Hayao Miyazaki, this cute tale full of fairytale-type fantasy is an absolute to watch.
Cornetto Presents: Cupidity Love Stories - 40 Love
The Moped Diaries
Although it talks about bridges way more than mopeds, this endearing story of how much a boy’s life can change is an captivating with its beautifully shot scenes.
Sometimes love comes in a way that you least expect, and this film set during a tennis competition shows that off brilliantly. Wait a second, Lily Allen is in this? Who knew. shorts.shef.ac.uk
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Tear Jerkers
Wednesday Born on the same day but leading different lives, two people connect through a series of unfortunate events. This film has a good sense of what family means, and has one killer line that will stick with you for days.
Blood Pulls A Gun
Living in a roadside hotel can be dull for a teenaged girl, but things are about to get interesting when a convict comes to stay. Definitely for mature audiences, the acting and camera work are on point in this disturbing look on the influences of others.
Terrifying Treats
The Killing Joke
Waterborne
When a local ranger in a small country town finds an unidentified algae overwhelming the water supply, he knows that something’s not right. Especially when a bunch of australian wildlife start turning into killer zombies.If you’re looking a a quick Black Sheep fix, give this a go
Paying homage to the more action-orientated horror movies out there, this creepy but highly tense short sees a mysterious woman that finds a red balloon tied up to a curious little box on an eerie derelict street, with the meaning behind it being much sinister.
The Landing
Danny and the Wild Bunch
Powerful, intense, and with just the right amount of intrigue to keep you think long after the credits roll. The Landing is about a man who returns to the Midwestern farm of his childhood, on a desperate mission to unearth the horrifying truth of what landed there in the summer of 1960.
Equal parts hilarious and menacing, this interesting film introduces us to a children’s book author, who is told that her new manuscript needs to be “darker.” But when her revisions piss off the characters in the book, they come back to make some changes of their own.
Suckablood
The Brain Hack
Two students create a shortcut to induce hallucinogenic visions of God, and find themselves hunted by a deadly religious sect. The premise isn’t the only impressive thing, as the actors excellently expressed their fears of the religious cult.
Two students create a shortcut to induce hallucinogenic visions of God, and find themselves hunted by a deadly religious sect. The premise isn’t the only impressive thing, as the actors excellently expressed their fears of the religious cult.
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