Codes & Conventions of Chosen Genre

The genre that we decided to go with in my group for our short film was Drama – this is a well recognised genre, films of this genre of are quite serious and are very plot driven. It is quite difficult to pick specific codes and conventions that these films use. Some of the most evident elements within these types of films is the fact that they avoid focusing on things such as special effects and more on delivering powerful performances illustrating realistic characters. Drama films can be broken down into different categories, e.g. Historical and Crime 

An example of a recent film within this genre that had a historical/criminal based theme was, Michael Mann’s – Public Enemies. This film was based on a real American criminal. Films of this genre may sometimes subvert from Todorov’s theory of an equilibrium being resolved an example of a short film like this would include: The INSiDE or On Time.

What IS a short film?

The definition of ‘short film’ is very simple and self explanatory – it suggests that it is a feature film of short length with a condensed narrative.  Although there are no specific time limits for Films within this category, however they often range from 1 minute up to 40 minutes long. Like every other film, short films also have the same narrative structure, as they have a beginning, middle and end. Now-a-days things such as music videos as well as trailers can also be referred to as short films. An example of a short film is “The INSiDE”

What do the professionals say?

•  A short film is defined as a motion picture that is not more than 40 minutes in running time (including all credits).

• A short film is a motion picture that is shorter than the average feature film.

• Short films split into several sub-categories, mainly:

O Live action short

O Animated short (hand-drawn or CGI)

            O Documentary short subject

            O Experimental or abstract short films

Review:The Boy

'

‘The Boy’ is a short film written and directed by Steph Green- Tribeca Film Festival award winner as well as Oscar nominee. I have chosen this particular film due to its effective way of illustrating a young boy, named Joseph’s story, with very few dialogues delivered from him. This particular short film does not only contain elements of humor but also manages to portray a young boy’s struggle of being in a new environment.

The story revolves around the life of a young African child named Joseph who has recently moved into a new school in Ireland and is getting adapted to the school and its pupils. The film progresses to show us what obstacles he faces and how he overcomes them.

I personally found this film very good. What I appreciated in particular was the way the director showed clips of his past and related it to what was happening in the present time – showing us as the audience the characters background and how he is adapting to the new environment.

The protagonist Joseph as well as his other class mates managed to give a solid performance making the scenes seem very believable along side the raw cuts showing Josephs school life in Africa. What I found surprising was that the source of warmth and friendship amongst the children was created by disrespecting their elder; however Green managed to pull it off concluding the film with a positive feeling.

 I would give this film a 4 out of 5