Post 5 - Audience Theory and my Short Film

For Post 5 we were first given the task of reading through Audience theory links and were put into four groups. Each group had to research each slide of audience theory and present a presentation for the class. For example Philip J Hanes was one of the groups presentations.

We then were given the task of watching four short films of our choice. we needed to watch all four films (on YouTube) and analyse them using what we learnt through the audience theory infomation that we studied and discussed in class and see what if any message is trying to be put forward for The viewer. Important and relevant information needs to be found out about the four short films that we watched. For example what was the funding, what were its reviews were they positive or negative. I must research the short films on the Internet and find out relevant and useful information about the films which will give me a wider range of knowledge on short film productions.

I needed to look at such topics as :

Dominant Hegemonic Position

Negotiated Hegonomic Position

Opositional Hegonomic Position

Mode of Adress

Aberrant Decoding

Mode of Panic

Wasp (short film 2003)

Wasp is a 2003 production as a social realism short film which was funded by film four and New Cinema. The budget set was £53,000. I watched this thrilling social realism short film on YouTube to analyse and discuss my own views on its Dominant Hegemonic and Negotiated hegemonic and my own personal opinion and views on it. The short film is 26 minutes long and has Danny Dyer as the ex boyfriend who many people will recognise.

My view on this film is mixed in many different aspects. The film wasp looks into poverty and single parent life and its problems. firstly we see two grown women fighting in front of their own children setting an awful example to their kids. Then the language the kids use is bad which also indicates that there being no father figure around there has been no discipline and the mother lets the children do what they want. In many aspects the mother in Wasp is not fulfilling the duty of a good mother. Fighting and swearing in front of her kids is not what a good parent should be doing. But despite this the audience has some sympathy with the mother because she has no money and has four children to try and bring up with no money no father figure and no support living in awful conditions. Perhaps it is the mothers fault she is in this position which may take away any sympathy the audience have for her.

The Dominant Hegonomic view for the audience will be that there are still massive areas of poverty in this country and there are people still living in awful conditions trying to look after children. It is what I would call an eye opener to what is actually still happening in Britain today. Many people who watch this thrilling short film could well be very surprised on how close to the truth this short film is to reality.

But there is another view on the short film. Though the mother acts selfishly at times and is more worried about going out with her ex boyfriend than be looking after her kids there is another view that it could well be a good thing for the kids if their mother can have a relationship with the man and they could finally have a father figure. A father is what the kids need desperately and is what the mother needs aswel. At the end of the short film this is in fact confirmed as when the baby swallows the wasp and the ex boyfriend (Danny Dier) finds out she has 4 children he doesn't leave them he takes her to the hospital then gets them food from the fish and chip shop then takes them home. Everything that the ex boyfriend did was what the family have needed. This will be the Negotiated hegonomic position theory that perhaps her desire for a partner is in fact not selfish but essential.

About a Girl :

This is another short film that looks into social realism it was produced in 2001. The film lasts roughly 10 minutes. The film is based on a 13 year old girl who talks about her life and interests. She tells the audience of her dreams of being a singer but also the problems that she faces in her everyday life.

She seems to be alone and in need of some attention from her family especially her father. she wants to be a pop star with her friends and wants to escape the life she currently lives. This is shown when she asks her father if she can move in with him. This shows that she wants a change in her life style. The relationship with her father is poor. I feel the girl wants to have more attention from her father but he is unwilling to give it to her. because of a lack of interaction and advice from her parents she doesn't know wright from wrong in my opinion. for me this point is backed up when she throws her baby into the canal at the end of the film.

In the last scene I think the audience will be shocked and surprised at the actions of the girl. Many will see her actions as unacceptable and wrong. But some may feel that it is not the girls fault. She has not been brought up in a good way and as I mentioned before she doesnt understand wright from wrong. Some may feel sympathy for her as she has been faced with such a problem at such a young age and receives no support, attention and advice from anyone. This leads her to react in the only way she knows.

CUBS:

Cubs is a short film that looks into peir pressure and what kids are doing in and around london today. The film is 10 minutes long and is a tense short film that keeps the audience on their toes as it does not become clear What is happening until near the end and even then the audience must guess what the objective of the hunting. There is something gives the audience the sence of danger and perhaps the sence of crime involvment even though there is no direct link to crime that I could see through out the short film until the end when the gun apears.

The film in my opinion shows how young people can be easily peir pressured into getting involved into crime because of the rewards it perhaps brings but are not naught of the problems and drwabacks of getting involved with gangs. They are entering a dangerous world and do not understand the consiquences they will face. We dont know the story of the young boy and girl who are trying to get into this gang they may have personal issues that we dont know about and therefore are lead to crime to solve money issues or something along those lines. the audience from the start are lead to the feeling of danger and perhaps crime. The boy is desperate to join this gang and this is shown when he shoots the fox at the end of the short film.