My Short Film Genre

In a previous post I described the various short film genres, and said that I wanted to cross a number of genres with my film.
I am interested in making a humorous film, with a dramatic and romantic theme, but I want to be experimental. I have therefore decided to make a silent film.
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, mime and title cards. 

The main elements of a silent film are:

Intertitles: Because silent films had no synchronized sound for dialogue, onscreen intertitles were used to tell the story, the show the main dialogue and sometimes even comment on the action for the cinema audience.

Music: Showings of silent films almost always featured live music, usually a pianist, as they progressed music was added later to the films. The music can help to develop atmosphere, either tension or romance etc.

Acting Technique: Silent film actors emphasized body language and facial expression so that the audience could better understand what an actor was feeling and portraying on screen. Much silent film acting is apt to strike modern-day audiences as simplistic or eccentric.

Projection Speed: Until the standardization of the projection speed of 24 frames per second (fps) for sound films between 1926 and 1930, silent films were shot at variable speeds anywhere from 12 to 26 fps.

Tinting: With the lack of natural color processing available, films of the silent era were frequently dipped in dyestuffs and dyed various shades to signal a mood or represent a time of day. Blue represented night scenes, yellow or amber meant day.

Have a look at this trailer for The Artist the winner of Best Film Oscar 2012:

This film follows the conventions above, there are intertitles, the acting is over the top, the music is very important in determining the mood, and there is a slight tint to the film. So it fits with the genre perfectly.

My film will follow these genre guidelines, I want to make sure that I follow these guidelines and remember some basic rules of short film making:

·         The simplicity, clarity and economy of the storytelling
·         The vision of the piece, and its visual images
·         Making every element pertinent
·         Making your story coherent

These rules are particularly relevant to a silent film.