Research Tasks - "Eight" - Matt Bull

"EIGHT"

1. This short film is a social realism film looking into the daily life he lives, moving from the town in which he was born (Liverpool) to the South Coast. It also is styled in the way of a documentary, with the narration of the main character (Jonathon) for most of the film, describing his life whilst things are happening on screen. Clothing of a home-made football shirt of the team he supports has the ideology of a young boy growing up, influenced by his father who supported the same team, but died at one of the games, maybe meaning that his mother doesnt allow him to own a real one because of what happened?
2. Using social realism for this film creates a sense of realism to the film. With the main issues created by the story, the audience could relate to that young boy with the same experiences. The narration adds to the documentary style by expalining the situation he is in, whilst being relevant to what you can see on screen.
3. This film uses the short film format to make it a lot more pacey, telling a film that could of been prolonged and as a result become less interesting. But as it is a short film, information about the story is being tolded all of the time, keeping the audience informed making it more interesting.
4. The use of sound is used to link with the types of genre of social realism and a type of documentary style piece. The sounds that are used whilst events are happening are made to feel natural, emphasising the realism of the film. Narration is also used to emphasis the past that Jonathon had with his father. Looking back at what he had, and now what he does have in contrast.
5. Family is the main issue that is presented to us from the main character of Jonathon. The loss of his dad has made a big impact to his life without having a father figure, and both him and his mother feel the consequence. We know how his father died by his description, resulting in Jonathon's passion for the support of the football team (Liverpool). His mum tries to stop him from supporting that team because of his father dying at one of the matches, so stops him from bringing back memories, and possibly protecting him from the same thing in the future?

Matt Bull