Distribution.

Distribution is key to the success of any short film, or any feature lengths for that matter. With the frequently improving advances in technology it couldn't be easier to show your final piece to the world. There are a number of web based video hosting services that in some circumstances generate millions of hits a day. The most popular of these being Youtube. Youtube launched in 2005 and to say it's come on leaps and bounds would be a massive understatement. The website now averages around a billion hits a day and is constantly growing. If you've made a short film that you immediately want the world to see there's no better site.

Another service that offers video hosting is Vimeo. Vimeo gets no where near as many hits as Youtube a day, although it does definitely generate traffic, and more and more media based users are opting for the website due to it's higher quality video, and some prefer the fact that it's not as busy.

The web can also be utilised to find film festivals at which your short film can be entered. More well known festivals such as 'Sun Dance' aren't accessible to amateur film makers, however there are other more independent festivals literally scattered around the world that are happy to take all kinds of short films, with some centering around particular genres such as thriller or comedy.

My friend Jade recently showed me towards a brilliant website that lists local festivals, from which you can simply pick the most relevant and put your short forward. You find the website by clicking here.

I've selected two festivals that I feel most accommodate the style of short film that we've created.

Firstly the Brighton Student Festival Awards. I think One Two Many would suit this festival simply down to the fact it was not only filmed in Brighton, but because it's of course a student film.

Influences and Audience

The idea of One Two Many was drawn from a number of styles as well as influences. To begin with, the idea to write a gritty (I say gritty simply down to the violent scene towards the end) comedy, came from the viewing of a few british comedies through the means of iTunes. One of these being Roach, a short funded by the Hackney Film Fund, which immediately got my attention as that kind of support feels fairly achievable, moreover the short film was brilliant and so triggered immediate inspiration. The film itself took very common life situation, introduced a problem and then slowly took it slightly outside of the 'norm', a great technique of which I kept in mind when writing One Two Many, and in all made for a very funny short film lasting around 8 minutes.

Another quite prominent influence was a short entitled Stingray, which played a key role in a major decision made during post production and editing. Stingray is a short film that lasts around 13 minutes and stars Matthew Horne (best known as ,Gavin in Gavin and Stacey). Stingray in fact also seems to follow a similar pattern to Roach in how it takes an everyday situation and allows it to slip outside what's thought of as normal in a very comedic fashion. However, it's not this aspect of the short film that was most influential. I remember watching the short film and being taken almost by surprised by it's ending. Not because it didn't make sense, or was incredibly abrupt, simply because it appeared to be just over half way through the running length of 13 minutes. This reason this of course became evident when some deleted scenes and 'bloopers' began to roll as the credits proceeded, which I thought was very effective and in turn created an almost warm mood, and in my eyes left the audience feeling more fulfilled than if the film had simply ended and allowed the credits to roll. I liked the idea so much that I thought I'd use a similar technique at the end of One Two Many, which wasn't particularly necessary but I think worked well.

The location of a toilet was chosen almost before the actual idea for the film was, down to the fact that filming in one location would not only be easier and involve less organisation, but if done well could make for a professional looking product. The idea of using a toilet as the location sprung to mind, after watching a 90's french film entitled 'La Haine'. Midway through the film there is a scene in which the three main characters are a public toilet having quite an aggressive argument about what they plan to do next. During this fiery exchange, a flushing sound comes from a toilet cubicle, and out comes an old man who'd clearly been using the facilities during the length of the confrontation, however was completely oblivious to the fact and came out happy as ever, completely disarming the youths. I loved this idea of people being so caught up in their own thoughts, that they don't stop to think how their own thoughts apply to someone else's situation. I'd like to think this idea is evident in the story of One Two Many.

The target audience for One Two Many directly corresponds with the age of all who work on it. The idea simply came from a situation that some in the ages of around 18-22 could easily find themselves in, and at no point does the short film attempt to veer away from this audience. The almost brutal violence is a technique that's cropping up ever more frequently with British cinema, and is often used in films that my friends and I have taken a particular liking to, for example, Hot Fuzz and Kidulthood. Furthermore the music used throughout the short film is very current, and has had particular success within the ages that the short film portrays. For example, Dubstep is a genre that's really only begun to get attention within the last three years, and I think that it's usage in the fight scene not only captures the energy but would immediately grab the interest of anybody the protagonists age.

It also became clear from audience feedback that the actor playing the main character Fish (Chris Waller), portrayed his role particularly well. People reacted to well to the light hearted exposure of a stereotypical character often seen in club toilets.

Completed Film

I think that One Two Many, the roundabout 5 minute short film created by myself and Josh, wasn't quite the completed product but surpassed all expectations that we had. I think that it's just about safe to say that the film doesn't have any obvious flaws, however there were some decisions made in pre and post production that may have been changed or weren't correctly implemented, that may have improved the short as a whole.

One of the strong points, if not the strongest point of One Two Many, is how aesthetically pleasing it is. The location used for the short film was not only perfect for the storyline, but was brilliantly spaced and lit, which made for great viewing and also genuinely saved some time and effort in post production. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that the toilets we used as the setting, are the heartbeat of the piece and have become a crucial factor in the success of the piece. After presenting our short film to a small group of media students, we used an evaluation form for feedback, and it became evident that the overall census agreed that the mise-en-scene was the film's strongest point.

The bright, eye-catching colour scheme of the toilet immediately catches the eye of the viewer, and the ample space allowed for the film to be shot without looking cramped at any point. As mentioned earlier when going in to post production, the lighting was so good that the only change made was to slightly reduce the vibrance to better suit the storyline. The only trouble we really came across with the location was the fact that a lot of the surfaces were reflective, which made it tricky not to have some part of either me or Josh seen during the 5 minute period.

The sound is both the highest and lowest point of One Two Many. During filming, the boom mic was used without the actual boom, simply down to practicality, however this became an obvious mistake when editing as clipping can be heard when the mic is moved abruptly, and as we weren't able to achieve the height intended with a boom, the vocal levels between the actors were very staggered. On the other hand, the additional sounds used in the piece seem to go unnoticed, which means they'd successfully imitated a sound needed without drawing the attention of the audience which is most definitely the desired effect, for example, the background music in the club and the urinating are both post production sounds. Moreover, there was a lot of feedback commenting on the effective use of music within the piece. During pre-production, we vowed to make sure the piece had great music as music is an area within film that doesn't seem be overly focused on, however, when it is it can be incredibly effective and change an audience's perception of a piece. Music is heard from the off with One Two Many, and directly correlates with the camera shots, as well as the realistic placement of the films title at the beginning.

In order to fully understand exactly how short film works, we did research ahead of writing to judge how to go about writing and planning it. Short film is best known for it's ability to completely step outside the realms of conformity, and near enough do whatever it likes, down to the fact the same rules don't apply as to feature length cinema. Short film is known for being experimental or avant-garde. However, we were able to gather some conventions within the genre of British comedy and so took that approach. The most prominent convention is the structure. It became evident that in, not even just british, comedy that there was a formula, and so we made sure that One Two Many complied to this. My very basic approach to the formula is this:

Introduction. Set-up (Characters). Unveiling the plot. Twist in plot. Climax. Aftermath. Punchline.

I hope that makes sense.

I feel that I most definitely played a major role in he creation of One Two Many, which in most cases would be fantastic and should be emphasised, however in my case it's not such a great thing. When beginning the project, I had the option to work on my own, although due to past experience I opted to work alongside a close friend instead. We most definitely work well together, and I did not by all means take on everything, especially in pre-production where we both developed the idea. The problem is, I personally have always had trouble working in groups, simply down the fact that once I have an idea in place, it's almost like I won't stop at anything to make sure it happens, and although in this particular project there were improvements, I still have a lot to work on. I'm pretty much a control freak. Saying that, with all things considered, this wouldn't have been able to happen without Josh and I working alongside each other and I'm very happy with the final product.

Distribution and Exhibition.

So after scanning the internet I've managed to gather five potential ways to distribute and exhibit a film once it's been made and completed.

1. Film Festivals.

2. Internet Self-Distribution (Youtube, Myspace etc)

3. Competitions.

4. Internet Distribution (Websites such as Coffee Shorts)

5. Compilation DVDs (Some festivals team up the strongest short films and will distribute them as one DVD, great exposure!)

Funding and Production of Short Film.

From researching this area, a few key points have cropped up as far as funding and producing a short film is concerned. To begin with, funding is the part of filmmakers that amateurs will worry about most and more often than not it's the hardest part to master. There's the option of an investor, who may provide funding with the return of credit and/or a cut of the profits, there are also whole organisations dedicated to funding film, for example the Hackney Film Fund.

As far as production's concerned I've gathered three simple instructions.

1 - Always keep yourself one step ahead of your filming schedule.
2- Make sure there's enough in the budget to keep the crew and cast happy.
3- Keep yourself free during filming as something is bound to go wrong or need to be swiftly corrected so it helps to be on hand.

Short Film Festivals.

All you have to do is type 'Short Film Festival' into Google, and instantly you're hounded with thousands of results offering opportunities to either attend, participate or even submit your own work to these events. These festivals are one of the only places that Short Films will be publicly presented on a cinematic screen to a large audience, and have proved especially helpful to aspiring directors looking to elevate their career, or even vice versa, to a studio looking to scout fresh, and potentially ground breaking talent.

A great example of this is 'Raindance', the Uk's largest Independent film festival established in 1992 by Elliot Grove. Prestigious awards at the festival include Best International Feature and Short, Best UK Feature and Short, Best Documentary Feature, and the Tiscali Short Film Award. It was the first festival to screen 'The Blair Witch Project' and has attracted the likes of Alan Rickman as well as had judges such as Judy Dench as has Ewan McGregor as a patron.
120 films, screened on a total of 22 different formats, seminars and a whole lot of partying and networking, easily establishes Raindance week as a 'must attend' for any diary.

Other noted film festivals include: Sundance, London Short Film and L.A. Short Festival.

Director: Shane Meadows

Shane Meadows is a very personal inspiration for me. Best known for his film 'This is England', Meadows has a very distinctive, down to earth style, with pretty much all of his films simply highlighting a part of everyday life or shining light on a reality that we all see. I think that popularity was bound to follow this style as people can feel they relate to it and at no point does Shane Meadows give the impression that he positions himself any higher than the working class bloke. He begun his career making short films, however unlike many aspiring and professional directors, he continued to make short films even after the jump to feature length. In an interview at a school, he explains that his decision to continue making short films, comes from the his personal belief that transferring to feature lengths and leaving shorts behind, is the equivalent of a band becoming successful off their debut album, then forgetting the original sound they had with the second one.



This film entitled 'The Stairwell' is a short film made by Shane Meadows in 2005 on his mobile phone! The film shows two members of the public; one looking like a working class female evidently in a rush, and the other a young man who similarly seems to be moving at a pace. As they're both going in opposite directions, and the with the stairwell positioned in a way that you're not able to see round the corner, a collision is inevitable, and this short simply captures the build up and climaxes in that very moment. The colours and mise en scene of the piece are in keeping with Meadows normal dull, gritty style and continues to show those easily identifiable flairs of creativity such as the titles positioned next to a light switch that signals both the start and end of the short. Sound is used very effectively, with non diagetic sounds prominent at the beginning, and only returning at the crucial moment where the two characters collide. Overall the very short film simply shows how easy it is to think up an idea, create it, and shoot it with minimal expense and equipment. Shane Meadows in an inspiration to all budding directors, especially in Britain, and will continue to create brilliant depictions of life for years to come.