Post 5: Audience Theory & My Short Film

The first task we were set on audience theory was to read through a series of links with readings of Audience theory. After grouping with 3 of us we had to create a presentation on notes from the section we were selected to do. My group were selected to write up notes on the views of David Gauntlett; it was about his criticism on the effects model.

Below is a link to the presentation;
Audience Theory Presentation

 The second part of post 5 was to watch four films and analyse them. The four I watched were Wasp, About a Girl, Cubs and Frendo.

Wasp (2003)

Wasp is a thrilling social realism film ("Social realism in films is the representative of real life, with all its difficulties" Source) about a single mother with four children living in very poor conditions. The short film had a budget of £53,250, funded by the new cinema fund and film four. The UK film council also helped with the budget, helped clear music rights, and promoting the film. It has won many awards at numerous film festivals in many different countries including, Bermuda, USA, Sweden, Germany.

The dominant message we get as an audience in wasp is that Zoe (the mother) does not have the finance to feed her or her children. However, when it comes to impressing a man she pulls out her wallet with enough change to buy a round at the pub. It stereotypes young single mothers as being a bad parent and not having enough money.


As an audience you have some sympathy with Zoe because she is a single mother with not a lot of money finding it hard to keep her children in place. We see that she wants to go out and have a good time, however as an audience it's frustrating to watch her spend money on drinks at the pub then buying her children food.
The audience knows something will happen to Zoe's children's as soon as she leaves them outside on their own. The wasp flying into the baby's mouth puts the audience on edge and reinforces that Zoe is not fit to be a mother.

The short film looks at life for people lower down the social ladder and almost living in poverty with no food to eat. The mode of address is the the way Zoe is shown to be perceived by an audience. Messages shown though the film include how hard life is being a single parent not being able to afford basic living necessities.

This film is best viewed with large audiences. This is because I think an audience would be torn on how they felt about Zoe. I think some viewers would feel sorry for her because of her situation while others believe she has got herself into it by spending her money in the pub rather than food for her children.

About a Girl (2008)

About a girl is an eye catching short film about an average working class teenager experiencing hopes and dreams. With a budget of around 33,000 the 9 minute clip has won many awards. These include BAFTA Awards, Edinburgh International Film Festival, London Film Festival and the Manchester International Short Film Festival.

The dominant message we get from the short film that the girl is just a normal teenager dreaming of making it as a pop star. However as the film goes on we soon recognize she does not come from the best background. With her parents not the most supportive as an audience you get the idea she isn't the most disciplined teenager. This is especially shown to us in the last scene of the film when we see her throw a plastic bag into a canal finding out it is a baby.

As a viewing audience from the beginning we have some respect the girl, this is because she is ambitious wanting stardom and a better life for herself. We see it is hard for her coming from a poor background with her parents being split up. She doesn't want to end up like her mother and clearly states it when walking. When we see the bag thrown into the canal with a baby however as an audience you lose all that respect you built up for her.

The last scene hits you quite hard as a viewing audience because it is so unexpected. The first time I watched the short film I had to watch the ending again as I was so surprised and shocked to what had just happened. You want to watch it all again so you can realise what she really meant when she was talking about her life. It fits together like a jigsaw and makes you think to the reason why she is in this position.

Like the short film Wasp this was also on the topic of the working class. It is also targeted

to the middle class to show them what life is really like for lower classes? With no help from her parents it gives the message that the lower classes do not give enough support to their children. Teenage pregnancy is also a hot topic and shows once again the parents do not care enough for their child.

I believe this film should be shown in a room of about ten. This is because it is a very shocking short film and leads you to want to discuss about why these events happened.

Cubs (2006)

Cubs is a about a gang of inner city youths who have discovered a new love for urban fox hunting. Ben a normal teenager wants to join the gang however this comes at a price. The short film won the British independent film awards in 2006 for best British sport.

Many teenagers will go to many lengths to try and fit into a group or to please someone. You could see that the teenager (Ben) who had to hunt down the fox was under a lot of peer pressure to do what he did. His guilt is clear when he wipes the blood off his face.

As an audience we feel for Ben for wanting to be accepted into the gang. This is because even when he was accepted into the group he still was not happy.

From an audience point of view however the one person you feel sorry for is the girl (Davis) Ben's friend. At the start of the film she tells him he they won't get chosen and was right. However after a bit of persuading Ben was told to come that night by the leader of the gang (Karl). Davis's disappointment in Ben is shown when he shoots the helpless fox. You feel as though he let her down by doing it and by the end the pair can't even look at each other with Davis walking off in disgust.

When Ben is about to shoot the defenceless fox you, as an audience, are intrigued to see what he ends up doing. The clips of him looking round at everyone around him and more importantly Davis' defeated face as though he had betrayed her, put the viewing audience into unrest to whether he will shoot or not.

I would consider this film to be aimed at teenagers. This is because the message given is that initiation not important. Teenagers should not worry about fitting in and should be happy with the people they have like Ben had with Davis. The message is proven by the fact Ben was still unhappy when he shot the fox and was accepted into the 'Gang'.

I believe this film should be shown in around groups of 20. This is because it is another short film that would have a lot of people with different views on initiation.

Frendo (2009)

This is a hard hitting short film about a man who went out parting taking large amounts of drugs and alcohol this is the end lost him loosing not only his girlfriend but his face. The film has won the BBC winning short film in 2009 and was made by the independent film company Four Colour Films.

The dominant message you get from this short film is that taking drugs and drinking alcohol on a regular basis can affect you forever. Frendo shows the permanent effects these can cause with the man's lack of expression in his face.

As an audience you don't feel symphony with the person with the man because it was his decision to go out and party with drink and drugs. It was his fault that he did not stay in with his girlfriend, which in the end led to her leaving him. However from another view you can feel for him as he wanted to go out and have a good time with his friends like everyone else. Different people will have different views on this matter.

The part of the short film that hits you most is when he is asked what is wrong with his face. This is when he enters the toilets and realises that his facial expressions have completely gone. It hits you as you see the worst effects of drug and alcohol abuse.

This short film is aimed at people between the ages of 16-25. This is because these are the years who go partying and who most likely to take these substances. Its message is overdosing on these can have a serious effect on not only your health but your relationships.

The film should be shown in small groups of people aimed between the ages of 16-25 as it would have an effect on them whether they are taking large amounts of these substances or not. After viewing this you feel you need to discuss with people their views on it.

Conclusion - How I will use this in my own short film

In conclusion the main elements I need to add into my own short film are stereotypes, a message and a shock factor. Like in Wasp Zoe was a stereotype of a single mother, with no money and letting her children let loose. Cubs gave us the message that initiation came at a price. With Ben being accepted into the gang he was soon left by his real friend Davis. While a shock factor like in About a Girl is also a very strong element to have in a film. Because it was so unexpected it played with your mind and you wanted to watch the film again to see if what she was talking about related to the ending.

All these four films were all shoot in superb locations that helped make the film realistic. For me the best one was Wasp. The location fitted with the characters and helped create a scene that the family was actually in a really bad state financially.

By using what I have found out throughout watching these films I will hopefully successfully create a 5 minute short film.

Post 4: Genre as a Media Concept

In our media lesson we looked at genre as a media concept. After looking through a power point we had a discussion on many of the topics brought up.

The link below is for the KLS media department's power point on genre as a media concept;

KLS Media Department - Genre as a Media Concept

The first discussion we had was about Robert Altman's views on genres. One of his theories is "That genres are defined by producers and are easily recognised by audiences" In many ways this is very true. This is because producers choose the actors for their films which tells the audience what genre of film they are producing. For example if a film stars Bruce Willis or Arnold Schwarzenegger you know it's going to be an action film. We also discussed about how genres develop in predictable ways. This was one of Robert Altman's Theories and in many cases could not be doubted. For instance a romance genre film would usually start with a slow beginning leading to something dramatic happening in the middle ending in a romantic fairy tale. However as a group we did not agree with all of his ideas. Altman believed "That texts 'belong' clearly to a particular genre in each case" We disagreed strongly on this as many films can be perceived as many different genres in one. An example of a film is 'Titanic' which is a romance and disaster film. One quote from Altman that could be linked with our AS media project 'Thug Britain' is "That genres are ideological". This is because we specifically made our opening scene in a different way to draw the attention of a younger audience. Drug related deals, interesting locations and music were all used in our opening scene to attract the audience we wanted. I believe we done this pretty successfully however looking back would have changed a lot.

The next discussion the group had was thoughts about Genre. We looked at a Robert Altman question "Should we read genre as a noun or adjective" After a short vote we came up with the idea that genre is an adjective. An adjective is a describing word so looking at it from an audience point of view this is what a genre is.

After this we had a debate on where you would find tomato puree in a supermarket. Most people had very different ideas to where the puree would be found in a supermarket. After this we were then asked; "What would happen to this item if it were shelved in another part of the shop" and "Would the thing itself be any different" After talking we decided it is a big factor to where the tomato puree is placed in the supermarket. For instance if it was put with all the other tomato products would people still buy it? In relation to film and genre in if something is changed will it change something else? For instance if Taylor Lautner was not in Twilight would as many girls watch it? Or if the Football Factory made a squeal to the first film without Danny Dyer would many men bother going to the cinema to view it. The tomato puree is a great example of how one little difference like changing something could make a huge difference.

The final slide we looked at was Neale and Hartley's views on genre theory. Neale's theory is genre theory leads to 'regulated variety' while on the other hand Hartley describes a contract between producer and audience which 'disciplines' choices and reduces desires. In a way I can agree with both, this is because as an audience we have a lot of power over the film industry. With so many films produced there is a greater choice for an audience to choose what they want to see. Film producers know this and work with audiences to help make their film more desirable.

After looking at Genre it has helped me to see where I went wrong in the making of my opening sequence at AS. One way I think we could have improved is to have played on stereotypes. I think we tried to do this with the outfits we chose however looking back maybe should have done the kitchen scene in a different location. This is because it was a bit weird the pair lived in a house while struggling for money. I fell this confused the viewing audience and would have changed this if I had the chance. Considering we only had two minutes to play on stereotypes would have helped us story tell better.

My new understanding on Genre will help me greatly in my A2 short film. I have learnt it is the little parts that make big differences for instance one actor can make the whole film a success. I feel for our AS we had two very good actors which also helped the film a great deal. It will also help me when choosing what genre to choose. By looking at the most popular genres they seem to have around three or four different ones. This will help create a larger audience.