Week 5 Tutorial Task Posted by Sarah:):) , Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 7:19 PM, in

This week I have to find three videos and post them on my blog. The internet is important to short films as they are made with no budget and therefore, have no money for any other means of distribution. By filmmakers distributing their short films on the internet, they are reaching a wide audience of all different types of people and this is an effective means of getting their message across. Most films are made specifically for internet distribution or if a film has won awards at festivals etc, the internet is a great way to stream them to the general public. The public can then view these forms of artwork and can interpret the message they send.

The first film is a Tropfest NY 2008 winner. It is a film that explores the human condition amongst Sydney and New York and deals with issues such as human compassion, family, homelessness etc. This is done entirely with a cell phone, recording words found around the city and set to music. As this movie was made with a non existent budget, the internet is a great way to get people to watch the movie and provoke them to think about the issues presented in the film. The film's intention is to reach out and connect with its audience, hopefully provoking them to perform acts of kindness and "listen". There aren't a lot of different shots in this film, but it makes good use of the mid shot to explain the "what". Nearly all the shots are mid shots of words found around the city, joined together to spell out a message: the what. There are also a couple of long shots of the city to answer the "where" question and also an extreme close up of an old man's eyes; it shows us a deeper side to his personality and we can see the sadness in his eyes.

This video won the award for best cinematography. It shows society going at a fast pace while the one person is isolated from the world by moving at a normal rate. It utilises interesting camera effects and again, the internet has won it far more views than what it would have got without it. In the end he finds a girl and the world slows down to a normal pace. This video also shows a lot of long shots of the city to give the audience an understanding of where this is taking place and gives context to the business of the city people. There are a few mid to close ups of the main character, so the audience can better understand him and relate to his situation.

This is a really cool short film that also won an award. It shows simultaneous actions occurring on opposite sides of the screen, one seemingly good and one seemingly bad. The two switch at the end though, perhaps suggesting that nothing is as it seems. A cool piece of filmmaking though, displaying many different shots. There are close ups of the toast popping up, answering the what and the how. One side the toast is burnt, and the other the toast is perfect. Mid shots of the character answer the who. And some mid to long shots also show the action, answering the what. Another film also made without a lot of money and utilising the internet as an excellent distribution tool to get the video into the public sphere.