Applying Media Language to Our Final Short Film Idea - Sam Swinson

Applying Media Language to Our Final Short Film Idea - Sam Swinson

Media Language is a very important part of any media production. Whether that be a feature length film or a short film it doesn't matter because they all use media language in various ways. When planning our short film we are going to make sure that we use media language in an effective way that conveys the story.

We are going to use some techniques that we already know how to do, also, we are going to try and use so techniques that we haven't used before.

The techniques we will use:

Some of the techniques that we are going to use include:

• Focus Pull - when the protagonist is sitting at the top of his garden just staring at the house we are going to have the focus on the ground with a shallow depth of field so that the protagonist's shoulder is out of focus. Then there will be a focus pull and the focus will then be on the protagonist's shoulder and the ground will be out of focus. Then there will be a cut to a close-up of the protagonist. This is to put the focus onto the character to help the audience sympathise with the protagonist.

• Wipe transition - when the protagonist is walking through the woods we want to use an inventive transition. What we are going to do is have the protagonist walk past the camera and then in post production we will have the wipe effect and it will be in line with the protagonists walking. This will create a seamless transition that the audience may not even notice.
• Ghost Friend Character - when the protagonist is walking through the woods he sees his friend that committed suicide. As the character walks past the protagonist doesn't acknowledge him, but, then has a double look at him. After this the protagonist tries to turn around and see him, but, he is gone. We can either make the protagonist disappear by a cut and making sure the friend character is not in the second shot. Or we can film the shot twice and one time we could just have the protagonist walking and the friend walking. Then the other shot will just be the background, then, in post-production, we will edit so that the friend disappears. 
• Costume - when the protagonist is happy because he is with his friend he will be wearing brightly coloured costume to connote his happiness, then when the friend character has died the protagonist will wear a darker coloured costume like black to connote his sadness.

These are just some of the techniques that we will be using in our short film. Additionally, we will be creating a montage of shots in the first scene to connote that the protagonist is only happy when he is with his friend. Also, we will be using varying shot sizes and distances and angles. Furthermore, we will be using sound to connote meaning.