Research Tasks - "Eight" - Gareth Allen

Eight
I think that this film is in the style of a biography of Jonathon's life and his family. He mentions his dad throughout this film and the effects his dad has on his mum (makes her cry when ever Jonathon brings his name up in conversation). He is also deeply in love with football and Liverpool especially, seeing as this is where he grew up. This film has parts of social realism included as you see what he lives like without a dad and how he wishes he did (when he holds another child's dads hand as if it was his own). The way that you see him running around on the beaches, shows how he is free living and has the world at his hands and can do what he wants. This is good at the start of the film as it shows the audience what he is like as a person deep down.

Within this film, they use different styles of conventions to tell the stories. They use social realism and biography references throughout the film to tell different parts of the story. He talks about himself and what he wants everything to be like e.g. with a dad of his own. They show social realism by the use of his mum not being happy with him being interested in football. This is probably because it brings back memories for her of her late husband. This is good using two different styles as you can see different ways that they are living and how they are feeling in their hearts.

The film uses the short format for a film as it never stops telling a story. It is mostly about Jonathon and the fact that he doesn't know what it is like to have a father figure in his life. If he isn't talking about this, then he is talking and thinking about football. This carries the story along well as it never stops and keeps the audience intrigued.

The sound i feel is done well throughout this short film. At the start of the film, and at the end of the film, there is non diegetic sounds with the background soundtrack. They also use narration at different points of the film. This is showing the audience what Jonathan is thinking at different points during the film and keeping us informed about different things throughout his life. They blend this narration with the filming as you see him sitting down at the dinner table and you see him carrying on what he has been saying.

The themes and issues that there are in this short film are family issues. This is shown by the loss of Jonathon's dad before he was born so has never had a father figure in his life. These issues are shown by the way he holds another childs dads hand in the hope that he could have once had that feeling. We also hear the thoughts that he has wondering what his dad would have done for a living ( train driver, astronaut or a fireman) . We also hear that his mum cries whenever he asks her about his dad. We hear that she doesn't want him to play or be interested in football as much as he is and tries to get him to have another hobby. The reason for this could be that it brings back memories for her of her late husband who enjoyed football as well, and is worried that the same thing will happen to her son.

This film I think is targeted at a young audience between the ages of 7 and 10. I also think that it appeals to an audience of people between 16 and 30. I think this because, you hear the story of the film from a boy who is eight years old and you feel how he is feeling at times. This will appeal to these types of people because, they can relate to the main character Jonathon. this will be why it is targetted at a younger audience, because they will be around the same age as him, and they might be going through the same situation as he is.

Gareth Allen