Social Media research

This post will have social media page research similar to the one I want to create. Since my short film is about a man who becomes bored with his life and slowly starts turning to drinking and drugs, I wanted to look at short films that focus on character struggles, emotional tension, and simple storytelling.

Anuja

I looked at the promotional content and social media posts related to Anuja. Many of the posts connected to the film focus on emotional imagery and close-ups of the main character. This helps viewers quickly understand that the story is focused on a character’s personal journey and emotions.

Another thing that stands out about the branding is the consistent color used in the promotional images. Many of the posts use softer and darker colors which match the serious tone of the story. This helps create a recognizable visual style across different posts.

The social media promotion also shares behind-the-scenes photos and clips, which helps the audience feel more connected to the filmmaking process. This type of content is useful because it shows the effort put into the film and can attract viewers who are interested in filmmaking itself.

For my own project, I could use a similar strategy by posting behind-the-scenes pictures, short clips from filming, and images that reflect the tone of the story.

https://www.instagram.com/anujathefilm/?hl=en

The After

The next short film I looked at was The After. The social media promotion for this film focuses a lot on dramatic still images from the film. These images show emotional moments from the story and are meant to grab attention quickly when someone scrolls past the post.

Many of the posts also include short teaser clips that give the audience a small look at the story without revealing too much. This creates curiosity and encourages people to watch the full film.

Another technique used in their social media is posting film festival updates. Many short films gain recognition through festivals, so the page shares posters, awards, and announcements when the film is selected or screened somewhere. This helps build credibility and makes the project seem more professional.

For my own social media page, I could use this idea by posting small teasers or dramatic screenshots from my short film once it is finished, along with updates about the production process.

https://www.instagram.com/the_after_film/?hl=en

Trengellick Rising.

The final short film I researched was Trengellick Rising. This is a 2023 British short film.

One thing I noticed about the Instagram page is that it posts a lot of behind-the-scenes content. There are photos of the actors, pictures from the filming locations, and clips from the production. This helps the audience see how the film was made and makes the page more interesting to follow.

Another thing that stands out is the consistent look of the posts. Many of the images use darker colors and dramatic lighting that match the tone of the film. Because the story takes place in the past, a lot of the pictures also show old buildings and historical costumes. This helps create a clear style for the film’s brand.

The page also posts updates about film festivals and screenings. When the film was shown at festivals, the page shared posters and announcements. This lets followers know where the film is being shown and helps promote it to a bigger audience.

Overall researching the social media pages and branding of these short films helped me understand how filmmakers promote their projects online.

From this research, I learned that my own social media page should include things like behind-the-scenes photos, teaser clips, and posts with a consistent visual style. Doing this will help build interest in my short film and make the project look more professional.

Genre reserach

I’ve been trying to clearly decide on the genre. Right now, I think the film fits best as a Phycological drama. The main focus will not just be on what the character does, but on how his mind changes over time. I want the audience to feel uncomfortable and unsure about what will happen next.

When I researched Psychological Thrillers, I learned that they usually focus on a character’s inner struggles. The tension comes from their thoughts, fears, and obsessions rather than big action scenes. These films often use lighting, sound, and camera angles to show mental instability. This is important for my film because the story is about a slow mental decline, not one big dramatic moment.

Taxi driver this film follows a lonely man who feels disconnected from society and slowly becomes more unstable. What stood out to me was how the film shows his isolation. There are many scenes of him alone, driving at night, thinking to himself. The city feels dark and empty even though it is crowded.

The film builds tension slowly. Nothing extreme happens at first, but you can tell something is wrong with him. This is helpful for my project because I want to show my character’s boredom and isolation before his addiction becomes serious. I can use quiet scenes, voiceovers, or long shots of him alone in his apartment or office to show his mindset.

From this research, I learned that I need to build tension slowly. I should start with simple, repetitive scenes to show boredom, then slowly change the lighting, editing, and sound as the character’s addiction grows. Doing this research early is helping me think more clearly about how to make my film feel realistic and intense without needing complicated effects or large sets.

Film Reaserch #3

 I watched Trainspotting and American Psycho to see how filmmakers portray characters who are dissatisfied with their lives and mentally drifting away from reality. Both movies approach this idea in very different ways but they each have techniques I could use.

Trainspotting uses creative camera work and surreal scenes to represent drug use and the characters mental states. Some scenes exaggerate reality, which helps the viewer understand how the character feels internally. This inspired me to think about adding stylized shots or unusual angles to represent my character’s mindset instead of only filming things realistically.

American Psycho focuses more on subtlety. The character seems normal on the outside, but small details in his behavior, expressions, and dialogue hint that something is wrong. This is useful because it shows how you can foreshadow a character’s breakdown without making it obvious. I want to experiment with this idea by showing small hints early in my film that suggest something is off before anything major happens.

Film Reaserch #2

 So basically today I continued researching films that relate to my short film idea about someone bored with life who starts going down a destructive path. I looked at Fight Club and Requiem for a Dream because both movies show characters who feel trapped in their lives and try to escape in unhealthy ways.

Fight Club is really useful for studying narration and symbolism. The main character’s boredom is shown through repetitive shots of his routine, like the camera focusing on mundane details of his apartment and office life. This is something I want to use because it visually communicates boredom without dialogue. Requiem for a Dream is helpful in a different way. It uses fast cuts, sound effects, and close-ups to show addiction taking over someone’s life. Instead of just telling the audience that the character is addicted, it makes them feel it through editing and sound.

Both films showed me that I don’t need to explicitly show everything. I can suggest things visually and let the audience interpret what’s happening, which will make my film more interesting and cinematic.

Film Research

 So basically I am going to be researching various movies and figuring out how to make my short film as sigma as their movies are. I spent some time looking at movies that were about Suicide and drugs and found a movie called "Suicide Room" its a polish movie about some high school students, I also found a movie called Office space which is based on the boringness of working in an office. Since my film has topics about an office and suicide I felt that these are good movies to start of with.

The movie about the suicide room has elements that I want to use such as the ways in they suggest that someone is going to commit a suicide without actually showing anything explicit. For example showing a shadow from behind of someone getting killing themselves rather than showing the entire thing. Then the second movie about the Office space it shows the ordinary life at an office and it has a lot of good techniques that i could implement such as various shots of B roll of the office.

A level project schedule

So basically last year my planning was not very good so here is my schedule so i don't mess up and stay on task the entire year.

Week 1

• Choose project genre

• Begin developing the full film plot

• Research genre and story ideas

• Post updates to blog

Week 2

• Continue researching and planning project components

• Further develop story

• Finalize main ideas

• Post updates to blog

Week 3

• Continue research for project components (digital/print)

• Develop script or detailed outline

• Create filming/editing schedule

• Reach out to potential participants for filming

• Create shot list and storyboard

• Develop social media tool

Week 4

• Continue research for project components

• Begin production of video component

• Document production process (for social media and blog)

• Post updates to social media and blog

Week 5

• Continue research and planning for project components

• Continue production of video component

• Begin editing video component

• Start planning print component

• Post updates to social media and blog

Week 6

• Continue post-production of video component

• Continue planning print component

• Post updates to social media and blog

Week 7

• Finalize video component

• Work on print/digital components

• Post updates to social media and blog

Week 8

• Finalize video component

• Continue work on print/digital components

• Post updates to social media and blog

Week 9

• Create Critical Reflection

• Finalize print component

• Post updates to social media and blog

Week 10

• Create final overall project reflection

• Post all project components to blog

A LEVEL PROJECT REVEAL

 What's up Cambridge, last year my project was honestly kind of buns. This year I want to create something I actually like, I will be choosing to create a short film. I always wanted to make a short film and this seems like a perfect opportunity for it. This year the film is 5 minutes which is longer than the 2 minutes we had to make last year. This means I will need to make a longer script. 

Honestly I thought of my idea for this project when I was watching the Wolf of Wall Street. I did not really like the movie, but it made me realize that rich people are often terrible people and got rich for various interesting ways. I want my short film to be based on a man that works a regular office job, his life will be very repetitive, he is going to be a single man who just goes to work and comes back with a boring life. This schedule is going to keep repeating until he is sick of it, like he will get more annoyed every day. Then he will start being kind an asshole. He will start drinking and start doing drugs. He will start not going into work and he gets fired. He will get so sick of his life that is will try to kill himself. 

I dont want to have a happy ending. I feel like movies always have happy endings and there is not enough movies that have a problem that does not get solved. I want to create a story where his life seems bad but it keeps getting worse and he sees people doing better but turns to drugs instead of trying to fix his life which happens to alot of people and I dont think it is represented often.