Research into Short Films: Dipper

Before planning and filming my coursework piece I need to compile research into both Short Films and Film Trailers. I shall consider the conventions used in each by deconstructing and analysing the camera shots and angles, edits, sound and mise-en-scene present within each and consider the effect they have on the production. The first Short Film that I have researched is 'Dipper'.

Link to the Short Film:

Plot

The narrative of the Short Film is that a gentleman is a pickpocketer and primarily about him finding a victim. Once he sees a woman with expensive taste, the story follows him as he 'accidentally' bumps into her and takes her purse. Little does he know that he has been set up, and the story develops showing how he has been caught out. However, the audience never finds out what actually happened for him to get set up and so it is left to their own imagination.



Camera shots and angles

Although there are many of the conventional camera shots and angles in 'Dipper', such as an establishing shot and medium close ups, which enable the audience to empathise and relate to the character, there are some that feature to aid the narrative of the short film.

This point of view camera shot is set at quite a low angle so only the lower half of the body can be seen. This creates a sense of secrecy because it suggests the main character is focusing on a certain intention, which is the audience is not yet aware of. Shots like this occur frequently throughout the Short Film and also create a sense of loss of identity as throughout the film there are only three main characters that the audience identiy with but many flat characters feature throughout.

This extreme close up of the main character catches the audiences attention and so suggests that this is an important part of the film. It shows the character plotting and mimicking some of the flat characters and so gives more of an insight into the personality of this character, thus revealing parts of the plot, whilst showing his dominance and importance.

There are a number of close up shots featured throughout the film. The most significant of which is the combination of the two featured above. The close ups represent the main characters eye movement and suggest that he has transfixed his eyes on his next target.

Above is two examples of a low angle, medium close up shot that feature when the main character is in the frame. This suggests to the audience that this character is of some importance and suggests that he is superior to the other characters featured as they are never shown from this angle.

This camera shot shows the character running towards the camera. This is an effective shot as it shows the sense of urgency whilst allowing the audience to still see the facial expressions of the main character. During this sequence the camera jolts a bit giving the feel that the camera is running alongside the character.


Edits

There are three main examples of edits that appear throughout the film. They are as follows:
The use of indents - where written text appears within the frame. This aids the speech of the main character as the statements often appear as he says them. Secondly quick cuts from one scene to another to show the pace of the Short Film and finally the splitting of the screen in two at the end of the film which not only shows the expressions of both of the main characters but also demonstrates that the main character has been 'busted' and caught for his crimes. Examples of these edits are shown below.

Sound

The non-diagetic sound present within the film is the initial themed music introduced when the title of the film appears on the screen. It has quite an upbeat tempo and aids the diagetic sound of the city environment.

Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene apparent within the frames is iconic of that of a City highstreet. It appears as if the Short Film is filmed mainly in public, so the scenarios that occur around the main plot are realistic and spontaneous as they are aspects of ordinary day to day life. Apart from the main characters in the film the general public feature as flat characters. In the mise-en-scene shops can be seen, ambulances, the general public, day light etc (Show in the images featured above) . All of these features help to create a sense of reality.