Research (Rebekah Smith)

1. Shane Dawson Friends 4 Ever 2011

• This has a lot of close up shots to suggest that the genre could be horror, some of the themes and issues in this short film are bullying because they are not pretty enough or popular enough to the main character, it is a sleepover with girls so there is props such as pink laptops, everything is pink and fluffy and very furry to suggest stereotypical female behaviour. 
  
  
• This film uses Horror conventions with the lighting, I find it interesting and good that they use these convention, although its not as scary film as such like saw or final destination, it makes the audience question what will happen next and will anyone die, it also shows comedy conventions for example at the start of the film, with the girls partying and dancing.
  
  
• This short film uses its format at it is 22 minutes long and it is a slice of life, showing how this girl lives and what she does, which causes these things to happen. It is a story about this girl called Amy and her friends who are having a sleepover they prank this boy called Danny dandruff by posting his address online, however things turn for the worse. The start of this film shows what happens before it starts then it goes back to before the bag things happen and before Amy decided to prank Danny. This is a bit like Brief Encounter where the ending is the start.
  
  
• I find the music interesting as it seems like a good song the use of sound is used well as it is parrel to what is going on in the text for example the scene where the murders are happening the music helps to emphasises this. 
  
  
• The editing in this short film is good as it uses different types such as continuity editing, however some bits do seem off but not a lot and they are not noticed that much, one bit that i noticed was where Laurie Beth opens the door with her right hand on the handle its cuts to a close up and she is holding the handle with her left hand. There is establishing shots, close ups and medium shots in this film, this is done well because then it shows everything that is going on around them. Mise en scene in this short film represents the characters, such as the food the music player, the laptop and everything else, it shows each of their personalities by their costume.
  
  
• The themes and issues in this film is bullying and what can happen if you are mean to others, the audience are positioned so that they don't know whats going to happen in a way they know just as much as the character know, however because of the way it starts the audience know something is in the house and making the girls scream and run away however they don't know what it is.

2.Isabel Anderton One To One 2004

•  This has drama in it as it is about two teenage girls that like the same boy it has a lot of close up and the whole thing is shot on a bus ride home. The audience can tell that they both like the boy because when they speak to him on the phone they have both got smiles on their faces, the audience can tell this because there is close up shots.
• The genre conventions that this film uses are social realism, it is more realistic as best friends liking the same boy happens a lot. 
•  This short film is a slice of life as it is just a bus journey with two girls talking about their life although the film is about them liking the same boy none of them know that, however they both talk about this party or where they went to the park and met this guy.
•  The use of sound is very realistic as it is just normal background noises, noises of the bus no music, noises of people on the bus talking. I find that interesting because of how realistic it is, they decided not to use any music.
•  The camera and mise en scene is good because the two teenagers are watching school uniform and the camerawork uses a lot of close ups as well as two shots. I like this because of the fact they haven't used a lot of camerawork and kept it simple it makes it better in my opinion.
•  The themes and issues that this represents are relationships, popularity, beauty because they both like the same guy but only one will get him, the way it is presented the mixed race girl will get it as she decides to text him and do something about it, however the other girl is more on the fence because she knows that her friend likes him. 

3.  About a Girl.

• The genre in this is not that clear, it is drama but it is almost like a documentary as she is talking about her life about what she does what her oarents are like however it has some drama elements because of the end.

•  This film uses genre conventions of drama as it shows reality in a way as she was pregnant and some of the things that she does is like what normal people do in everyday life such as on the bus however other things that this character does is not what normal people do which is why the ending is so dramatic and no one would expect it to happen.

• In a way this is a slice of life, however it is several days she is talking about her lifestyle and what she can do and what she does she takes on a role as a daughter a mother which the audience find out at the end and a sister, she wants to be popular in a way but she doesn't want to be found out and this is what makes it interesting. 

• The use of sound is interesting the same as its similar to One to One with the background noises, there is no music just her talking and any of the noises in the background, i like this because it gives a more realistic side to it without making it to much into a short film. 

• There is a lot of different camerawork used in this short film, it varies from close up to medium shots groups shorts and establishing shots, i like this because it gives a variety and not just one type all the time, it means that the audience can see everything that is going on in this short film, i like the camerawork as it shows something different to some other short films, such as the shot in the water at the end was a good shot because it showed something not a lot of films show. The mise en scene in it was also good because although it was different day she still wore the same costume with the coat and it didn't show a lot of her family just the most important film, which is what you have to do with a short film.

•  The themes and issues that this short film  represents are about teenage pregnancy and about popularity and looks and about family, she doesn't want to be seen pushing a push chair and her dad doesn't talk to her much or interact with her much but she still loves him, with the teenager pregnancy she has to hide it from her mum she says that "since then I've been good at hiding things from my mum" which shows that she hid her pregnancy from her mum and she couldn't tell her as that would make things worse.

4. Rob Brown Silent Things 2010

•  This film is a hybrid as it has different genres which make it interesting, there is not a  lot of dialogue either which makes it interesting

• The genre conventions that this film uses are different ones this is what makes it interesting, it has some drama in it however the audience are not fully aware of what is going on but it is good because it means that the audience get to experience what is going on.

• This is a slice of life as it is several days put into one short film, however everything is the same throughout the days.

• The use of sound is good because there is some dialogue and there a bit of sound which is parrel, the music was used when there was no dialogue this made it good because it made it more interesting.

• The camerawork is good the same as the mise en scene because there is different types used, the costume is the same throughout and so is the location however there is different camera shots used which makes it interesting.

• The themes and issues that are represented in this are about disabilties and that shows what can happen.