SHORT MOVIE

Mood Setting for Short Movies

Abstract

This paper is an addition to the thesis that is made in the form of a short film. The paper discusses the various aspects of setting the mood of a short movie. It highlights the different effects that are used in storytelling and how they affect storytelling. The paper has a detailed description of short movies and the incorporation of animation. The cat in this short film is added with the use of two dimensional animations.

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Background of Short Movie1

Art Film2

Discussion3

Various effects used in setting the mood3

Steps of Making a Short Movie5

Script5

Dialogue7

Visual Description7

Tips for Short Movies7

Story Telling8

Stages of Production11

Pre- Production Stage11

Production Stage12

Post- Production Stage13

Animation15

2D Animation17

Conclusion18

Mood Setting for Short Movies

Thesis Statement: “Setting the mood of short movies involves a number of techniques”

Introduction

Background of Short Movie

The art of making a short movie is more complex than one seems to believe. Since a short movie is exactly what it is, 'short', it is difficult to set the mood in a limited time. There are many aspects to setting the mood of a short movie. Nowadays, the special effects in movies are done with the help of computer graphics. The graphics and animation set the mood of the movie. However, in the past, old movies relied only on shadows and lights to create the effects for setting the mood. The setting of an old murky mansion in the deep of the night set the mood of a thriller. The audience would know that the mood is that of a scary, thriller, horror or mystery movie. This mood gets the adrenaline going, and the audience knows that something bad or mysterious is about to happen (Goodman, pp. 324). Hence, the mood is set, and all the moviemaker has to do now is give the audience the story. This is the same as when a moviemaker is working on romance scene. He or she would set the place with candles, flowers and there would be a fireplace nearby. The audience will be able to feel the warmth of the scene, thus the mood for the movie is set. If the mood was not set for the story, the audience would not enjoy it as much, nor would they understand what was or is going on in the movie (Chuah, pp. 04).

The short movie under discussion is about a 30 year old girl who lives alone in a very modern high facility building with 40 flats. Every day she wakes up, feeds the cat, and works on her computer till midnight when the cat comes home. The routine of her life depends on the cat, but the cat is not real. The girl dreams of the cat and lives her life accordingly. There are images in the movie, which comprise of video shots of the girl and 2D cat animation over the video shots. One day, the cat disappears, and her life becomes dull. After a while, the cat in her brain comes back, and she ...