Crystal Chan analyzes several short films and her own short film "Happy Birthday" in relation to short film conventions. She discusses how her film conforms to conventions like runtime, natural lighting, location filming, and character development. Her film tells a coming-of-age story through a series of flashbacks from the perspective of the female protagonist. She uses techniques like color grading and editing to convey emotion and establish tone. While her film has a resolution, some discussed shorts like "Echo" and "Operator" end without resolution, a convention more common in short films.

1. Evaluation Crystal Chan 4024 Alleyn’s School 10802
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A film must have ‘a running time of 40 minutes or less’ to qualify as a short film in
the Oscars. Unlike feature-length films, short films conventionally have small budgets, thus
use natural lighting and are filmed on location. My film, ‘Happy Birthday’, conforms to these
conventions because it is four minutes long, uses only natural lighting and setting. Similarly,
‘Over’ and ‘Tight Jeans’ were filmed in external environments and no longer than fifteen
minutes long.
I chose the title, ‘Happy Birthday’ because it is short and establishes a sense of
nostalgia, without revealing the plot. Short film titles are conventionally punchy, making
them ambiguous and leaving space for speculation, allowing them to challenge audience
expectations. For example, 'The Fly' is directly linked to the inciting incident, yet the title
does not hint at the dark comedy. My film is a coming-of-age, romantic-drama about a girl
reminiscing about times with her boyfriend and coming to terms with losing him. The story is
told through a series of flashbacks, like ‘The Ellington Kid’. ‘Slap’ is also a coming-of-age
film, about a boy's relationships, but as he explores and conceals his sexuality. Like ‘The
Arrival', an intimate monologue of a woman contemplating her pregnancy, my film is
personal and from a female perspective. Unlike this, in ‘Over’ we are not located with anyone
specific. Instead, it recreates a real incident from a neutral, detached point-of-view. In terms
of genre and narrative structure, short films are more flexible than feature-length films
because they are generally independently made, so lack the constraints of a producer or
studio.
Genres are categories for films based on semantic and syntactic similarities called the
repertoire of elements - groups of generic characteristics that repeat throughout genres with
existing audiences and industries. Semantically, a genre is shaped through the mise-en-scene:
visual elements such as settings, costumes and iconography. My film conforms to coming-of-
age conventions. For example, the cast consists of teenagers and it is set mainly in a bedroom
and park. Similarly, in ‘Slap’ the main characters are teenagers and the film begins in a
bedroom. The bedrooms express adolescence and the natural environments symbolise
growth, echoing Mia’s, the protagonist’s, character development. Character arcs are typical in
coming-of-age films.
Unlike the other set films, I used documentary techniques for verisimilitude. The
rough zooms and talking-head interview set-up echo aspects of self-reflexive documentaries,
creating a sense of authenticity. Alternatively, a gradual zoom is used in ‘The Arrival’ to
Bedroom setting, timecode, awareness of camera

2. Evaluation Crystal Chan 4024 Alleyn’s School 10802
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convey the expanding thoughts of the conflicted protagonist, removing us from the diegetic
environment and focusing in on one character. The camera’s presence is disguised. However,
both zooms establish who the protagonist is and create a personal tone.
The aesthetics of a film are how the styles contribute to the overall feel and shape
spectator response. I attempted to create a nostalgic and romantic aesthetic through warm,
natural mise-en-scene. Soft, chromatic chords are paired with the pastel colours Mia wears to
create the romantic, reminiscent tone. Like in ‘The Arrival’, the pale colours connote spring,
implying a fresh start - Anna’s decision and Mia moving on. I dressed Leo in white,
associating him with heaven and spirits to foreshadow his death, then darker colours towards
the end to signify he is dead. The vibrant greens and yellows in Mia’s flashback suggest joy
and summer. Colours are also used in ‘Tight Jeans’ to suggest the characters’ traits.
Gradual zoom over three minutes and pale, white top
Rough zoom over five seconds, pastel purple top
Leo is wearing dark colours. Backlit - he becomes a silhouette, connoting death

3. Evaluation Crystal Chan 4024 Alleyn’s School 10802
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Mia’s transition from young and naive to mournful and reflective, and the audience’s
knowledge of Leo dying, is also conveyed by the spatial shift from bedroom to park. The
binary opposition, a theory of Levi-Strauss, between internal and external settings symbolise
life in contrast to death and loss. Towards the end, the mournful tone is conveyed by darker
lighting and dull colours that emphasise Mia’s loneliness. The colour palette reflects Mia’s
emotions in the narrative - the spectator is located with her and encouraged to understand the
emotions associated with her experience. Similarly, bleak lighting and darker colours are
used to in ‘Echo’ to reflect the protagonist’s isolation.
Red associated with anger and frustration, orange with childishness and blue with calm
Bright yellows and greens in the flashback Mia in red, connoting love and Leo in white
Dark, greyish colours connote death and loss
Darker, dreary colours and low level lighting illustrate their detachment and isolation

4. Evaluation Crystal Chan 4024 Alleyn’s School 10802
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Syntactically, a genre is shaped by the narrative. Narratives can be told as Fabula
(story), the actual order of events and syuzhet (plot), the order in which you choose to reveal
them, ideas originating from Russian formalism, developed by Propp and Shklovsky. The
fabula of my film is the chronological development of Mia and Leo’s relationship to the
present - Mia coping with his death. However, the syuzhet is the present interview where Mia
recounts their relationship and then the flashbacks. Thus, because of the temporal jumps from
the present to the past, the narrative of my film is non-linear. My film uses continuity editing,
so conforms to conventional narrative techniques. Although the flashbacks are non-linear, I
used a cross-dissolve in the first transition to a flashback to signify a clear temporal and
spatial change. The speech also anticipates the jumps, so my film conforms to spectator
expectations.
The flashbacks are set apart from the present by different colour grading. When in flashbacks,
the colours are much warmer than in the present. When Mia is not with Leo, cold whereas
ones with Leo are warm, emphasising the effect of his presence and absence on her life.
The pace of editing increases to create a montage of Mia’s flashbacks of Leo. This is
a conventional trope of romantic films, the ‘falling-in-love’ montage, which compresses time
to establish the depth of a relationship in less screen-time. During the montage, the sound
consists of soft, charming chords that create a dream-like tone, removing her memories from
reality. The quick edits echo overwhelming teenage emotions and are contrasted with the
long take of Mia alone, emphasising the emptiness she feels after losing him. The soundtrack
becomes much thinner, contrasting the broken chords and octaves during the montage. The
Cross dissolve from interview in present to flashback
Cold colours with Leo’s absence, warm colours with his presence

5. Evaluation Crystal Chan 4024 Alleyn’s School 10802
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single line of melody conveys a melancholic tone, reflecting the protagonist’s emotions of
isolation. I chose to not write the whole piece in a minor key in order to keep a sense of
hopefulness.
Narratives were first defined by Aristotle as three-act structures, consisting of a
beginning, middle, and end. Syd Field developed this in his paradigm, with the climax in the
third act. My film conforms to this because the decoded climax, when revealed Leo ‘would
have been 18’, comes at the end. Unlike this, most feature-length films follow Freytag’s
pyramid - the climax occurs in the middle of the film and is followed by the falling action to
the denouement, the resolution. Although I encoded the climax to be when it is revealed Leo
is gone, my audience decoded the climax to be at the end. The ambiguity in whether or not
Leo was dead after the ‘first’ climax, was accidental, but was decoded by my audience. There
are also moments of ambiguity in ‘Over’. The plot is reversely chronological, so the nature of
the crime that occurred remains unclear until the end.
Unlike feature-length films, a short film is usually ‘contained in of itself’, according
to Scorsese. Generally, they do not exist within an existing context, unlike Marvel films in
the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Therefore, short films are more flexible and endings are left
open to challenge the spectator’s expectations, not for commercial reasons. For example, the
ending of ‘The Ellington Kid’ is left ambiguous - not for a sequel but for comedy and to
provoke thought. A tension rises in ‘Over’, leading to the abrupt, unsettling ending. Similarly,
‘Echo’ and ‘Operator’ have no resolution, instead, it is suggested that the cycle in the
narrative repeats. This occurs more frequently in short films than in feature-length films
because there a less constraints from a producer and they are much shorter. However, my
film is closed. It ends with the same opening piano motif and Mia saying ‘Happy Birthday’,
giving a sense of resolution and closure to the film. Similarly, ‘The Arrival’ leaves the
spectator with a hopeful feeling for the protagonist.
The encoded climax The decoded climax, the negotiated reading
The narrative cycle repeats in ‘Echo’ and ‘Operator’ – no resolution

6. Evaluation Crystal Chan 4024 Alleyn’s School 10802
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'Tight Jeans' explores race through three friends' commentaries on cultural differences
in contemporary British society. ‘Slap’ focuses on a different aspect of culture and society -
gender and sexuality. My film does not address the issues in ‘Tight Jeans’ and ‘Slap’.
Although from the point-of-view of a female character, my aim was not to convey only
female experiences. ‘Happy birthday’ is a coming-of-age film with aspects of romance and
tragedy. I wanted to explore teenage relationships and the love and grief associated with
them. In a series of nostalgic flashbacks with Mia’s narrative voiceover, I created a dream-
like diegetic-world of memories.
‘The Ellington Kid’ends with this sinister shot of the kebab
shop owner – ambiguous ending
‘Over’ – unsettling ending.The serenity is
interrupted at the end with no warning
Hopeful ending of‘The Arrival’ conveyed by brightlighting