Conventions

Conventions Of A Short Children Cartoon Film

Convention 1: Short Films Are Short

From my research I have discovered that children's cartoons/animations are very short. The reason why

they are short is to keep the children watching engaged to the short film. An example of this is Bob

The Builder, which is only 10 minutes long in length. This is to keep the young audience (children

aged 2-7) entertained.

This is a list of some of the

episode in Bob The Builder and as you can see

they are all around 10

minuets long. A typical length for short films.

This is a list of some of the

episode in Bob The Builder and as you can see

they are all around 10

minuets long. A typical length for short films.

This is a list of some of the

episode in Bob The Builder and as you can see

they are all around 10

minuets long. A typical length for short films.

This is a list of some of the

episode in Bob The Builder and as you can see

they are all around 10

minuets long. A typical length for short films.

This is a list of some of the

episode in Bob The Builder and as you can see

they are all around 10

minuets long. A typical length for short films.

This is a list of some of the

episode in Bob The Builder, a very popular

children cartoon and as you can see they are all

around 10 minuets long. A typical length for short films.

Post Man Pat is another extremely

popular short children's cartoon

from the 90’s. Even though it is 15

minutes (longer then Bob The

Builder) its is still very short

compared to featured films. Post Man Pat and Bob

The Builder are not short films, they are series, but they do

have different narratives within

each of the episodes which are

based within a grand narrative of

the series.

Post Man Pat is another extremely

popular short children's cartoon

from the 90’s. Even though it is 15

minutes (longer then Bob The

Builder) its is still very short

compared to featured films. Post Man Pat and Bob

The Builder are not short films, they are series, but they do

have different narratives within

each of the episodes which are

based within a grand narrative of

the series.

Post Man Pat is another extremely

popular short children's cartoon

from the 90’s. Even though it is 15

minutes (longer then Bob The

Builder) its is still very short

compared to featured films. Post Man Pat and Bob

The Builder are not short films, they are series, but they do

have different narratives within

each of the episodes which are

based within a grand narrative of

the series.

Post Man Pat is another extremely

popular short children's cartoon

from the 90’s. Even though it is 15

minutes (longer then Bob The

Builder) its is still very short

compared to featured films. Post Man Pat and Bob

The Builder are not short films, they are series, but they do

have different narratives within

each of the episodes which are

based within a grand narrative of

the series.

Post Man Pat is another extremely

popular short children's cartoon

from the 90’s. Even though it is 15

minutes (longer then Bob The

Builder) its is still very short

compared to featured films. Post Man Pat and Bob

The Builder are not short films, they are series, but they do

have different narratives within

each of the episodes which are

based within a grand narrative of

the series.

An example of a short film that was very popular with younger children was ‘for the

birds’ made by Pixar. It is 3 minuets 30 seconds so is classed as a short film. It sticks to the typical conventions of been a short film

as if the three and a half minutes it tell a really quick but detailed story about a few birds.

In order to follow this

convention I made my animation

(Bernard the Bird) a

maximum of six minutes long,

and stuck to this so that I keep the audience

engaged and the narrative flowing.

In order to follow this

convention I made my animation

(Bernard the Bird) a

maximum of six minutes long,

and stuck to this so that I keep the audience

engaged and the narrative flowing.

Convention 2:Classic Narrative StructureFilms, whether they are full length featured films or short films all stick to the same narrative structure, hence why it is called the classic narrative structure:

Stage 1: A point of stable equilibrium, where everything is satisfied, calm and normal.

Stage 2: This stability is disrupted by some kind of force, which creates a state of disequilibrium.

Stage 3: Recognition that a disruption has taken place.

Stage 4: It is only possible to re-create equilibrium through action directed against the disruption.

Stage 5: Restoration of a new state of equilibrium. The consequences of the reaction is to change the world of the narrative and/or the character so that the final state of equilibrium in not the same as the initial state.

Tzvetan Todorov (1977)

Example Of his Theory: For the Birds

(Real Media)Bernard the Bird

(My Work)Stage 1:

What we can see her is all of the birds

meeting on the wire, it may not be calm but it

is a normal environment for them,

the equilibrium

In this scene the Jocks are all sat

there with nothing happening which

makes it the equilibrium

Example Of his Theory: For the Birds

(Real Media)Bernard the Bird

(My Work)Stage 2:

At this point in the short film the

disruption to the equilibrium as the

occurred as this new bird has arrived

causing the disequilibrium

As Bernard sits on the wire, he is disturbing the

environment that was before calm and normal making

Bernard the cause of the disequilibrium

Example Of his Theory: For the Birds

(Real Media)Bernard the Bird

(My Work)Stage 3:

At this point the birds have now realised how much of a disruption this new bird is been

As Bernard has interrupted the

environment, the Jock bird his now

starting to understand who the

intruder is.

Example Of his Theory: For the Birds

(Real Media)Bernard the Bird

(My Work)Stage 4:

As a result of the disequilibrium, the

birds try to restore the equilibrium by

removing the intruder

As Bernard is been the disequilibrium

and the Jocks do not like him, they decide to hit him a way to get rid of him to

restore the equilibrium

Example Of his Theory: For the Birds

(Real Media)Bernard the Bird

(My Work)Stage 5:

When they tried to restore the

equilibrium, it went wrong and they ended up affected making a

new equilibrium

As Bernard has now been hit away and

the intruder is removed a new

equilibrium has been restored

From comparing my work to the 5 stages of Tzvetan Todorov (1977) theory of the ‘classic narrative structure’

I am confident to say my work fits in, therefor fits into the conventions of the narrative structure of short films.However, ‘Bernard the Bird’ does challenge the theory,

as the character that causes the disequilibrium's is meant to be the protagonist.

Also in my short film all of the stages are repeated for the Jock, Girly Girls and Nerd Scene. But you could say that the hole story is one big classic narrative structure as Bernard gets kicked out of his nest (disequilibrium) then tries to find a new nest (restoring equilibrium) but gives up and finds new friend in the end creating a new

equilibrium.

Convention 3:Characters

Characters are a clear convention of short film’s and they tend to have around 2-3 main characters. This is because in short films they don’t have enough time to go into depth about the characters background. Therefore with a

smaller amount of characters, the audience will be able to relate to them better in the shorter

amount of time.

Examples Of Characters In Short Films:

2 main Characters: Birds (Group)

Bigger Bird

3 main Characters: Minions 2 main Characters: Cloud

Bird

Main Characters In Bernard

Bernard: Main Character

Main characters for each friendship group

As my short film has mini narratives within a grand narrative (when he goes to the different friendship

groups). Bernard meets 4 friends ship groups, all with a main characters and aroud2-3 extras. Therefore

within Bernard The Bird there are 5 main character's and 10 extras all together.

I chose to only have 5 main characters in my short film because if I had more then one main character in each friendship group you would be able to connects with any of the main characters because you wouldn't

have enough screen time with them. So keeping it down to only 4 main characters means the younger aged audience can relate to the characters better.

As I have kept the main characters down to 5, I think that is within the conventions of a short film.

Convention 4:Protagonist, Antagonist

In all films, not just short films, you get protagonists and antagonist (good and bad).

Levi Strauss was a theorist who came up with the idea that films contain binary opposites.

He argued that all narratives could be reduced down to binary opposites. He suggested that

this links heavily with out ideological values. For example in most

films you get a hero/good character therefore you get a villain/bad character.

Examples Of Protagonists & Antagonists

These are two examples of protagonists

and antagonists from films. I have picked

these examples

because these hero's and

villains are the two best

known for good Vs bad.

Protagonists & Antagonists in Bernard

Protagonists

Protagonists

Antagonists

Antagonists

Antagonists

Protagonists & Antagonists in BernardIn ‘Bernard the Bird’ I have to protagonists and 3

antagonists. This is because I have 5 different friendship groups. Bernard is the main characters and conventionally the main character should be

the protagonist, therefore Bernard is a protagonist. When Bernard goes to the different friendship groups to find his friends, the other birds, the

jocks, girly girls and the nerds are mean to him making them the antagonists. But when Bernard gives up and the misfit birds find him as become

friends with him, that makes them protagonists as well.

Convention 5:Genre