What Makes a Good Student Film

• ·         Engaging from the start

This is a key feature to have, because if it doesn’t capture the audience immediately, they will not want to carry on watching, this will make your audience stay and most likely finish until the end. In the real world, making another film on from that, will get twice as many views as the old audience will likely see it again and recommend it to other people.

• ·         Storyline to be clear

Without the storyline being clear, the audience will not have a clue of what is going on and would switch off during the film, probably giving it bad reviews. Having it understandable to the audience makes them satisfied as they know everything that is happening up to that point and not hard to follow making them stay for the film.

• Creating a mystery

A good feature to have in a film, is making the audience think, having sly clues and mystery for the audience to figure out, is always a good way to keep your audience. If they are thinking all the way through it, this connotes they are captured and will want to watch until the end.

For example, Jack Reacher completely tops the mystery effect as throughout the whole film, the audience is trying to discover who committed the crime and why they framed the person for the 5 sniper shootings. The audience then find out right at the end of the film, this is also good as it makes them stay until the end, so all unanswered questions are then answered.


Here is an example of a student film. This is an excellent example as it creates a mystery for the audience with regards to the man that barged into her and also what is following her. This makes the audience question what is going on in the clip and wants to find out what happens next.

• ·         Good characterisation

Having good characterisation is important in a film, as the audience can relate to them and understand different point of views. For example, if they don’t have the right attitude and gestures as the character you want in the film, they won’t be fit for purpose and can be hard to follow the storyline. Showing character expresses their emotions and feelings, making it feel more real making the audience more engaged, otherwise they are not going to really believe what they are saying. They have to sound like they mean that it.

• ·         Create Conflict immediately

Conflict is the building block of every scene regardless of the genre. If there is absolutely no conflict in a scene, it won’t be interesting or appeal to the audience. Lack of conflict bores people and would drive your audience away.

·         First shot

The first shot has to be eye catching, for example, an establishing shot to start off the scene would be atmospheric as it’s setting the scene and making the audience attracted to it, whether it be a country side set or a dark place. It makes it relevant to the film and in relation to the film, it sets it up for the audience.

• ·         Fast Paced Editing

Fast paced editing at the start of a film is a good way to capture the audience’s attention from the start, this is because a lot of different events are happening at once, therefore they have to keep up and pay attention with regards to what is going on. In comparison to the clip being slow, it can be seen as dragged on and boring to the audience, therefore losing their attention to the film and wouldn’t commit to watching anymore.

• ·         Different shots and angles

Having different shots and angles in a film opening gives more variety to the audience and can give different viewpoints. For example, if two people are having a conversation, you wouldn’t want the camera to just stay stationery using the 180-degree rule shot. You wouldn’t see different sides to people’s faces and the different shots around them that make the set and atmosphere. Having a wide range of angles shows variety in your film and would make your audience stay longer because they wouldn’t be bored with the same shot, they get to see a lot more of what’s in the clip.

• Create visceral impact

Creating a story that will excite the audience, make the jump out of their seats or laugh out loud as it makes the literally hooked to the film and really concentrating because they are understanding the plot and reacting to it through their emotions. Audiences like something they can relate to, and implementing could keep a permanent audience.

• Construction of editing

When creating a film opening, the editor is to edit the footage they have received and cut together appropriate footage to enable the audience to clearly understand the narrative. Then must always include a beginning a middle and an end so that the audience are able to fully understand the film. 

• Build up tension

Building up tension in the film opening is very important, whether you do it with sound effects or music, It can cause a big impact on the way they view the film opening. For example the music that can be used is quite low but fast paced, building up to a climax until something happens. This effects the mood and tempo of the opening, and can easily attach the audience to the piece.


Here is an example of building up tension through a student film. For half of the film opening he is walking through a forest with tense music going on a mysterious walk. The climax eventually happens when he suddenly sees a clown and has a fight with him. This is good as it makes the audience see where he is going and what he is doing with a gun.

This will help us when creating our film opening as it gives us tips and tricks of what we should do, and what we shouldn't do. This will also help us with regards to not make the mistakes other film openings did. For example, the font needs to be relevant to the film and not completely in your face with bright colours. The film opening also needs to be appealing and not some typical teenage drama that no one is going to like. We need to find the right actors that have the relevant age to the film we want, and the correct clothes they will be wearing. The final thing that needs to be done is the right location, because if the location is completely different to your story line then it will be unclear to the audience.

Bibliography

http://www.filmmakingstuff.com/filmmaking-lesson-8-make-some-short-films/