Larissa's Media Blog: Setbacks + More Research

I should have known better!!

I tried doing a test run of filming with my dog to see how it would go before I finalized anything. It is safe to say that I will be changing my short film idea because it was extremely difficult to have her cooperate. I really loved this idea but not I’m sure how much patience I would have the day of filming with her and if I would be able to film some of the shots I had in mind. While she is a very well-behaved dog that listens, she hates staying still for long especially when I’m standing right in front of her and she just wants attention. I obviously really wanted to bring this story to life because it is something that resonates with me a lot, it would mean so much more but I think this would create more problems than what the end result is worth.

To get more ideas flowing again, I spent a majority of my time in class watching other short films that contain a moral message or life lesson of sorts to get inspiration and see what kind of short film I wanted to produce. The first video I watched was all animated shorts so they had more creative freedom to create their short films. One of the short films included was titled Snack Attack. The short film follows the story of an elderly woman who wrongly assumes the young man next to her is stealing from her, showing him no patience and just assuming he is in the wrong, only to find out she was mistaken all along. It does a great job at making the audience believe one thing and towards the very end, showing that plot twist and giving another outlook into the story. That is the kind of short film I want to create, not have the theme be revealed until the very end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0EUuxSOsss

The second short film I watched was Different. Just like the previous short film mentioned, it contained barely any dialogue. It relied on the background noise and foley sounds to emphasize the character's actions and emotions. This is influencing me to include little to no dialogue on mine, so the audience can conclude the message on their own and interpret it mainly from what they are seeing. I also noticed it is very common for short films to not have any dialogue. I will do more research on this because now I am intrigued to see if there is a reason most short films don't contain dialogue. Different also does a tremendous job at making the audience believe one thing just to reveal a plot twist at the end. I was extremely shocked when I first watched it because it was not the direction I thought it was going, but I loved the message it gave the audience and how simple but emotional the piece was.