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A Level Media

*The short film tips also are relevant to the title sequence notes.

Title sequences:

Students need to think carefully about the title of the film and how you can cleverly

incorporate it in to your sequence. How many titles do you show?

Be aware of the pacing and what the sequence is serving, is it narrative or stylistic,

and are the titles part of the look? (Panic Room, Se7en)

Do the titles start immediately or do they come in after big opening sequence

(Raiders).

Think carefully about the colour and tone of the sequence, what colour should the

titles be?

Are they editorial punctuation marks (white against black) or do they sit in the

environment seamlessly?

Think about how the music is used in the sequence. Is it a sound design or

composed track? Original music is always better.

Try and record ambient sound effects using the camera to layer up the sequence.

Sound is 50% of the experience.

Think carefully about the use of editing; are you composing an exciting and

energetic opening with jarring cuts and snatched moments, or are you building upquestions and suspense with lingering moody shots and ambiguous images?

Understand your tone and mood and shoot with that clearly in mind. Don’t rely on

‘the edit’ to sort everything. Shoot for the edit and you will have a richer and fuller

experience with many more options.

Short film tips:

Remember it is a short film and the idea can be very simple.

Try to write from some form of experience. Try to use events or situations you have

experienced to draw upon. It may just be a thought or a sensation; the closer you

are to it the more authentic it will feel.

Rewrite, rewrite and rewrite again. Make sure your script is absolutely nailed before

you start storyboarding. Know your story and know your characters.



Keep your story authentic and your setting authentic. You want your audience to

believe in your characters and your ‘world’.

Do not try to remake Star Wars or some other big blockbuster. It’s all about the

story first.

Think carefully about what genre your story is in and then utilise that genre’s

conventions to maximise the film’s effect

A great idea/story shot simply is far more effective than a competently shot piece

with a mediocre concept.

Storyboard your shots and ideas out, and try to do a paper edit. Even go as far as

to film your storyboard and do an animatic with basic sound effects to get a feel for

the pacing and story progression.

Try to cast properly with people who want to do it, not friends under duress. Get

some time with the cast so they have some time to work out their approach.Workshop with them if you get time.

Research your locations carefully. Make realistic choices and scout the location at

the time you are likely to shoot, to know about traffic noise and other obstacles that

may not be initially apparent.

Try to keep your locations close together, so as not to waste shooting time

travelling to all the different places.

Think about power outlets and ways of lighting and powering your location. How

accessible is your location, can a car get there with your equipment?

Feeding your cast and crew – very important. An army marches on its stomach.

What props do you need and are they easily accessible? Break down your story into

scenes and make sure you have all the props you need for each scene in advance.

Don’t leave things to chance.

Create a shooting list of shots from these broken down scenes and have them in

order of priority. Expect to lose some shots as your shooting day progresses; things

always go wrong. If you have storyboarded it well you will easily know which shots

you can afford to lose and the ones you MUST get!

Be realistic about what you can shoot in a day. Better to have 10 very well crafted

shots than 20 barely acceptable ones. You will never use them.

Learn your camera equipment. Try to go fully manual mode if you feel confident. It

will create a more professional look and the shots will have more continuity. Play

with DOP (depth of field) in camera, a longer lens will make the background fall out

of focus and draws the eye to your in-focus subject...it also looks very filmic!



Use a tripod and have clear steady movements when panning. Go handheld if the

idea requires that immediacy and twitchy feel.

Think about your background when you are framing up your shots, don’t put

something hugely distracting behind your characters unless there is a story reason

to do so.

Consider your framing carefully, what are you trying to convey to the viewer. Wide

establishing master shot will help your viewer understand the environment and

placement of people. Then actively go in tighter and tighter to grab your details.

However, think about how much information you want your viewer to have access

to. Are you hiding stuff from them on purpose for dramatic effect? Would a tight

ambiguous shot be more in keeping with your approach? These are important

questions for students to ask themselves.

Play around with different lens sizes, but remember the more you zoom your lens

the more unstable it looks, with every movement amplified. Use a tripod to help

you achieve stability. The wider the lens the more in focus the whole shot will be,

the longer the lens the shallower the DOP.

Try to get your sound as clear as possible and remember you can re-record later if

desperate. Dodgy sound lets a film down, no matter how great the pictures look.

Always record ‘wild tracks’ in each location so your scenes have continuity in sound

as well as pictures. Also worth recording extra sound effects on a subsequent day if

your shoot day is very rushed.

When editing, try to do a very rough assembly first; do not get bogged down by fine

cutting little bits at a time. You always need to see the bigger picture and how each

scene works against the others.

Imagine the edit from a profile view, where are the peaks and troughs pacing wise,

when does it slow down in your head, and then when does it pick up pace and race

along? Your edit might not reflect what you had originally imagined but that is

absolutely ok.

Keep the edit as lean as you can. Short films have no fat. Everything in the film

must push the story forward.

You make the film 3 times: Once when you write it, then again when you shoot it

and finally when you edit it. It will evolve and that is ok. As long as decisions areclearly explained then it’s all relevant and valid. You need to let the rushes tell their

story.

Spend a good deal of time on the sound; it is 50% of the film watching experience.

Re-record dialogue if it sounds too rough. Go out and get extra sound effects to fill

your audio space. Sound design can be as involved as the picture cut so make time

for it.



Think carefully about your use of music and where it lies in your film. Usually less is

more!

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