My favourite short films

The short film scene generally attracts an audience of students, film fans,

and films companies looking for fresh, talented directors.

Short films are distributed amosng film festivals and competitions mostly,

but more mainstream companies are starting to do their part with websites

such as http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/.

Anyway, here is a small selection of my favourite short films from the internet, each for their different qualities......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX61PUZ3xkI
The Crimson Permanent Assurance - Terry Gilliam
Used as a prelude to Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life"
Is sometimes shown on its own as a short film.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm1PqYI0zSY&feature=related
Random zombie attack movie set around a $10 budget for fake blood. I like it because the acting is relatively good, the comedy is good, and they have done well considering the budget.






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha4xY7ED9dw
Jerry Jackson at the Scunthorpe Festival - BBC

Hybrid Genres

Hybrid Genre films are use multiple genres to mix up the plot, style, setting, and general atmosphere of the film. A good example of this is Robert Rodriguez’s horror, From Dusk Till Dawn. The film is heavily influenced by Quentin Tarantino, who wrote it and also made a cameo appearance. Tarantino works quite heavily with hybrid genres in his other films such as Kill Bill, Inglorious Basterds and Pulp Fiction, and this Horror/Western/Gangster/Comedy is no different. It starts out as the story of two murdering criminals, who rob, and burn down, a shop in the desert, before taking a family hostage. There are indications of a gangster thriller here, but the main focus is on the western themes. The music is quite light hearted through the first half of the film, and involves a lot of slide guitar, and other country and western techniques. Also it is set in the desert, as a kind of road movie, so there are more genres being brought into play.

There are a few jokes in From Dusk Till Dawn, mainly for subtle comedy effect rather than blatant slapstick, such as the two criminals walking away from the petrol station shop as it explodes, arguing as if there was nothing happening. Audiences find films a lot easier to watch with a side of subtle comedy, so this is a crucial aspect of this particular film.

The atmosphere of the film gets considerably darker when the characters enter the bar, and the music gets a bit more sinister. Soon after this is when the film turns into a full blown vampire horror, with all the characters being attacked by them as they transform from the bar staff and patrons. To me this is one of the most varied hybrid genre movies to date, using western, action and horror techniques very effectively.

Media – Genre

There are many important aspects to consider in the production and advertisement of films. A primary example of these factors is genre. Genre defines a film using several aspects of its content. These can be things like camera work (action films commonly use fast, jerky camera work with occasional slow motion), and lighting (usually low-key in horror films.)

Actors can (and many have) use genre to build their film career around, and make themselves more known for that particular genre. For example, Adam Sandler is well known for his work in comedy films, while Robert Englund is known more for his many roles as Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street, therefore horror films. However he is also quite well known for his work with low budget horror flicks, and B-movies.

This brings me to sub genres. A B-movie is among the many variations of sub-genre of horror film, some of which include monster movie, slasher, zombie, vampire, and snuff film. Pretty much all genres can be broken down into sub genres, however horror is the most likely to have the widest variety.

The most important use of genre is in advertising, and it is to inform the public what to expect from the content of the film. For example is someone watches the trailer to Twilight, if it wasn’t for the poignant, melodramatic music (suggesting love story) then people would just think it was another vampire horror.

Robert Englund posing with his character Freddy Krueger.