Short Film Techniques

Stage One: Pre Production

Task One: Concept

Downhill biking is a sport known by very few people despite the many benefits the sport has. The point of our short film will be to expose DH biking to those who think it may be boring, or not know it at all. The film itself will consist of short clips of DH biking, following the style of documentaries such as Drop in TV on C4.

Task Two: Research

- After watching various episodes of Drop in TV we noted down a few key ideas developed by their producers. We also learnt that the show was an extremely popular, all around the world.

- Safety is a big issue in our film, no just for the film itself, but for the sport we are trying to promote. To encourage safety the actors / bikers will be wearing appropriate safety equipment, such as helmets etc.

- Our filming location will be the Port Hills, which is located in Christchurch, New Zealand.

- We also are including a short interview in our short film. This will be of a Chain Reaction employee, which meant we had to ask for permission from the store. Linton, who works there, made this a lot easier.

Task Three: Treatment – Action, Style

The film begins with an internal shot of a truck driving up towards the peak of the Port Hills. All of a sudden the image blurs and the title animates across the screen. A bike will then scroll across the screen vertically, bringing the next scene with it. The next scene will consist of short down hill biking clips, however nothing spectacular. Next there will be a very short interview with a Chain Reaction employee in a documentary type format. He will say something which backs up our point, then will make a few hand gestures. More DH clips will then be shown after this. As the music climaxes, where the tension will peak among the audience, a significant DH crash will occur. This will leave the audience intrigued and amazed.

Style:

- Pace of cuts increases as the film progresses to increase tension.

- A lot of high angle shots will be