Can you convey your research to a diverse audience with a three-minute film?
Communicating your area of research with concision and dynamism is an essential skill. Film is an excellent medium
in which to do this, whether this be through documentary or ction, live action or animation, or even comedy or
science-ction. Filmmaking is, in itself, a source of knowledge: offering a new perspective on how to represent your work.
You don’t need a Hollywood budget or a degree in motion-graphics, just a phone with a camera and some free editing
software. What matters most is that you’re able to express your research with clarity and creativity.
Judging criteria
Films will be judged by a panel against the following criteria:
1. To what extent does the lm make use of sound, image and editing to convey
the research topic?
2. Does the lm demonstrate a strong link to theoretical, critical and cultural ideas
developed in the research?
3. Is the research presented with clarity, creativity and depth?
Submission information
A maximum ofonelm may be submitted as part of a single exhibit from either an individual or a group.
Your lm must be:
• Maximum of three minutes long
• Minimum resolution 1280x720 pixels
• Ratio 16:9
• File Mov, MP4
• Do not include any logos, for example the LSE logo
How to enter your film
• Upload your le toWeTransferhttps://wetransfer.com/ and get a download link
• Complete an entry form at lse.ac.uk/researchcompetition
• Read the terms and conditionsas you will be asked on your entry form to agree to them
The deadline for submissions is Monday 27 January 2020
Research competition category
short film
Toolkit: how to make a short film
Concept development
The most important element of any successful lm is its narrative. Before you think about anything technical, the rst
step is to develop a strong idea that will engage your audience. It’s often easy to focus too heavily on equipment and
resources and not enough time on devising a compelling narrative.
It’s worthwhile looking at other short lms to see how different subjects are explored. shortoftheweek.com has a large
catalogue of lms, including documentaries, that demonstrate a wide range of approaches.
Writing a short synopsis (otherwise known as a treatment) is a helpful means of planning your lm. A treatment is
a short document that describes the lm in chronological order. This is not only the plot, but an account of what the
lm looks and sounds like.
Once you are happy with the treatment, try drawing a storyboard. Storyboards encourage you to think visually and,
more specically, how a sequence of shots connect to one another to create meaning. You don’t need to be able to
draw to successfully storyboard. What matters is that you can sketch out the visual elements of each shot, as well as
organising the shots into the best order. Try these basic storyboarding templates:
https://boords.com/storyboard-template#video-storyboard-templates
Equipment
Producing lms can be an expensive venture. However, the budget of a lm isn’t directly proportional to its quality. For
example, in recent years a number of Hollywood lmmakers have rejected large scale production cameras in favour
of iPhones. In 2015 Sean Baker directed Tangerine on an iPhone 5 while in 2018 Steven Sodenberg directed Unsane
on an iPhone 7 Plus. With this in mind, here are some entry level equipment and tips for ensuring you get the best out
of what you have.
Camera: A standard smart phone is more than sufcient for recording. It’s worth looking at the recording features of
the phone. Many devices now have some manual functionality that gives you more control of the look of a shot. For
example, it’s possible to lock the exposure on most devices so the camera doesn’t automatically brighten or darken
the image. These are some helpful pointers:
https://www.pocket-lint.com/phones/news/131351-10-tips-for-recording-better-video-with-your-smartphone
The quality of the image largely depends on the location. Try to nd spaces that are well lit, but be wary of shooting
into light sources as this can be problematic.
Composition is key. These guidelines show some of the best ways to produce visually engaging images:
https://nolmschool.com/2015/09/9-composition-techniques-make-images-eye-catching-biological-level
Sound: Bad sound recording is distracting and annoying. When conducting interviews it is important to keep the
microphone as close to the interviewee as possible (within a metre or so). This may be a case of recording the audio
on a separate device. Try to record in settings that have minimal extraneous noise and/or echo. A cheap and effective
tip for recording voice over is to create a make-shift sound booth under a duvet.
Editing: There are a number of good editing platforms. Most iPhones and iPads have iMovie, which is excellent entry-
level editing software. For Android users there is Adobe Premiere Clip, which is also free. For those wishing to edit on
a PC, Windows Movie Maker is an easy to use editing option.
Examples
Here are some good examples:
• This video essay about video essays:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GXv2C7vwX0
• Island of Flowers is a great lm that is about social inequalities and the economy (a good example of a lm with a
social science theme, albeit longer than 3 minutes): https://vimeo.com/53862971
• A short lm about LSE professor Ben Voyer’s work on self-construal theory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1PREJm4_ZA&feature=youtu.be&list=PL4EFCA10EF3FF901F
