Short FIlm: Genre Research

Genre Research

With this film, I hope to create a science fiction-oriented movie, with very little humor or comedy other than comedic relief. Incorporating comedy might distract the audience from the proper emotions that would create the genre. As an example, I look to Signs (2002), which depicts the habitual first encounter. Originating from a mystery, impressive details arise and drive the plot. If one were to copy this template, it should easily be seen how to create a movie in similar genre to Signs that would embody the science fiction genre.

Many short shots would build the suspense in this short film, as seen in the example Signs. In addition, simply by observing certain scenes such as the one on the right, it is noticed that many shots are in MS or ECU; either slightly detached or completely involved. When making my film, I will need to take this into consideration, as these details, along with the scripting, allows for the emotion to be conveyed.

Alongside this is the concept of audio. When watching the movie- and the trailers- for Sings, I have seen that the audio incorporated is quite simply, consisting of ambient noise that eventually crescendo to a climax. From an auditory perspective, this should be a relatively undemanding endeavor.

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of the filmmaking would be to find a location. The script based off of my short film will need to consider the quasi-lack of location opportunities. South San Francisco mountain might provide areas of open plains, and Crestmoor Canyon can cover forestry locations. When operating at these locations, time will also be important to track, as when light conditions change… needless to say. However, by observing other sci-fi examples, I have observed that many climaxes occur at night. It might be possible to use light kits in order to a) create more climactic scenes and b) increase production value. Filming the scenes in the dark appears more realistic on-screen, as there are not as many chances of it being grainy.

Possible Log Line:

A man returns from the dead to confront his son and bring the kid back with him.