Ottie's Film Blog

Operator directed by Caroline Bartleet Operator was a short film documenting the phone conversation between a fire service operator and a distressed woman calling to report a fire in her home, in which she is trapped along with her three year old son. The film only shows the operator during the call so capturing ever facial expression and her reaction to every thing she hears, making it very powerful and we, the audience feel as though we share the stress of the situation and danger.

Plan for my Screenplay Ideas   set in a rehabilitation centre, focus on a meeting with a group of drug addicts, each of them telling the group a story of how they've got there, shown with montage sequences of their backstory- too complicated and would be very difficult to be able to develop each character and their story with only one scene per story. A teenage girl living in Dublin, Ireland in a strict Catholic family, with her life dictated by her controlling mother. She has built up anger towards her mother which she then impulsively takes out and goes on a night of drinking and partying, ultimately resulting in her pregnancy from a one-night stand. This situation is dramatically different for Saoirse than if she lived in England because the abortion law had not yet been passed and was illegal. Rejected by the father of her child, alone and isolated she is forced to travel by herself to Liverpool for an abortion. This idea highlights a real issue Irish women face...

 Key differences between a short film and a feature length film: Short film: The length: for a film to be classified as short it must be less than 40 minutes in duration. Budget: a short film is likely to have a considerably smaller budget than a feature length film. Usually free to watch A good short film is focused and on a specific topic.  The characters should engage the audience. Shouldn't explore more than one topic  A short film is an inexpensive way to learn the production process, and gain experience. A The most obvious difference between short films and feature-length films is the budget. A 10-30 minute film will not require a budget anywhere near what a 90-120 minute feature will need. Film costs are much lower, equipment costs are much lower, and costs for wardrobe and props will be much lower. Feature film: Long running time (longer than 40 minutes) Most feature films are between 75 and 210 minutes long

The Arrival is a short film showing a young woman in a coffee shop at a train station. The film documents her inner thoughts and is basically an internal monologue of her thought process of how she is planning to tell a man she barely knows and is waiting to meet that she is pregnant with his child. The film has a voice over of her thoughts but shows on screen her actions ad facial expressions that coincides with her internal monologue. I feel like this topic of a surprise and unwanted pregnancy is quite common and what a lot of women go through so could comfort someone going through the same thing, but it also shows people the reality of pregnancy as she discusses with herself how unprepared she is and what she would have to do in order to keep it which she isn't ready for. The lighting changes to put her in the dark which shows she is alone in this and the decision is primarily up to her. How this could influence us in own short films? This story and style of film could infl...

Establishing character When trying to establish a character when writing a screenplay you must take into account at least three things: Physical appear ance Phyllis Norman aged 18, a petite, tired looking college student. She wears golden snake print trousers, a lacy white camisole and a  faux fur black jacket, finished off with chunky white shoes. She clutches her yellow bike in one hand and her phone in the other. Her wavy brown hair falls just below shoulder length and her face is spattered with freckles. Her eyes lined with silver eyeliner conceal the bags beneath her eyes. Inner self On the surface she appears to be well dressed and put together, but behind the illusion she is deranged and mischievous. Suffering from an intense drug addiction, she craves the high of cocaine. Phyllis tried it for the first time at a party a few years ago, when she was feeling low and it acted as a pick me up, but it took a turn for the worst when she becam...

Narrative theories: Vladimir Propp's narrative theory: Propp suggested that every narrative has eight different character types, these character types are: The villain- fights the hero in some way The dispatcher- character who makes the villain's evil known and sends the hero off the helper: helps the hero in the quest The prize- something the hero deserves throughout the story but is unable to get because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The hero's journey is often ended when they get the prize, thereby beating the villain and resulting in a happily ever after moment. the donor- prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object false hero- takes credit for the hero's actions or competes for the prize Todorov's theory Todorov's narrative theory basically states that most story's or plot lines follow the same pattern or path A state of equilibrium (all as it should be ) A disruption of that order (by an event)...