News article

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-44903041 - I have found a news article to help me generate ideas for my own short story. This article is about someone who has had a bad experience with their dental care. If I were to create a short story out of this it would have to be centered around one day, rather than the article which focuses on several years. I would try to make it into a comedy film, creating unrealistic situations that occur, but with some inspiration from the article as to what might happen.

Generating Ideas

For this task I had various grids that would help me come up with ideas to start planning my short film. I chose random numbers and matched them with the numbers given on the sheet. My results were:


45C (Character)- A security guard who wants to be a detective.
21L (Location)- A deserted beach.
65S (Setup)- A fight out of nowhere
12O (Object)- The Steel Claw
34W (When)- In a few days time.


Plot synopsis


A man is a security guard on a beach. He has dreams to become a detective. One day, the beach is deserted and two men suddenly start to fight each other. One of the men drops a steel claw as he escapes. A few days later the security guard is called by a detective agency to help find the man who escaped.


Genre


The genre of this film will be action/adventure.


Narrative


This story will be following a linear narrative throughout.



Possible Cast


When casting characters for this possible short film, I would need to use a professional, adult cast. The roles would not fit someone younger with a similar age to me.


Props


As the setting is a beach there may not be many props that are needed. I will need the steel claw but that may be it.

Why are there short films?

Many new directors or producers create short films so that they can be used like a business card to attract others into their work and bring them into greater projects. People also have a large interest in short films, so producers will create them to reach a large audience.


Some aspiring directors and producers use short films as a self-critique of their abilities. A short film is a cheap way to determine if you should move on to feature films, or if you need more experience in certain aspects of film production. A short film is an inexpensive way to learn the production process, and gain experience. A short film can be looked at like a trial. If your short film is successful, it can lead to larger projects, higher budgets, and feature film production opportunities.


While full-length feature films are where the money is, we all have to start somewhere. Creating a short film can be the step you need to get your name out there as a competent producer. If the right people see your short film, it can lead to increased budgets and larger projects, and will perhaps open the door to a multi-million blockbuster on the big screen.

Three-act Structure, Vladimir Propp and Genre

Three-act Structure: Divides a story into three parts; the setup, the confrontation and the resolution.

The first act is used for exposition, to establish the main characters, their relationships and the world they live in. An incident occurs in the fast act which leads to a turning point which raises questions for the viewer.

The second act includes the protagonist trying to solve the problem created in the turning point in the first act, but find themselves in worse situations. They must learn new skills in order to get rid of the problem. This is known as character development or a character arc.

The third act features the resolution of the story. The climax is the most dramatic moment and where the big questions are answered.


Vladimir Propp:  Vladimir Propp was a Soviet folklorist and scholar who analysed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irreducible narrative. Propp identified a sequence of narrative elements  that typically occurred within Russian fairytale. He identified 31 functions in Russian folklore and fairy tales. These functions occurred in a typical order within each story, with some variation. He also found characters could be put into 7 character functions.


Genre  - A film genre is a motion picture category based on similarities in either the narrative elements or the emotional response to the film. The basic genres include fiction and documentary, from which subgenres have emerged such as romantic comedy. Films can also be classified by the setting, theme, topic, mood, format, target audience or budget.