"Dream Girl" Charlie

Narrative & Genre:

-       In terms of narrative, we see a sequence happen from start to finish, it is in continuity order. Women gets on the metro, sits next to guy, falls asleep. No use of sequence variation.

-       The plot is very simple and easy to understand, and that tied with the man’s expression when he decides to get back on the metro may suggests that this use of plot could be described a cute.

-       The linear chronology of the short film also helps the impact of the film come along, this may be one of the reasons why the film won a TIVO award.

-       As it is a short film, it is harder for theory’s to become evident. For example toderovs narrative theory of equilibrium, disruption repay, equilibrium is harder to apply, however in Dream Girl, the equilibrium would be him happily sitting on the metro, the disruption would be her falling asleep, then the struggle to repair the disruption would be him getting back on the metro, and final equilibrium would be when she is asleep on his shoulder again. This works well as it does mean you can apply the theory to this short.

Representation:

-       The social groups relevant in this film would be normal civilians (using public transport) as this situation may be similar to something experienced or a common occurrence on the metro, as people will be able to relate to this it also shows social realism this is signified with a close up to show her fatigue.

-       Key genres in the film are hard to apply directly however if I had to narrow it down to one it would be a romance, just because this issue occurring in the sequence relates to love, and caring for others therefore romance is the only suitable genre to categories this film into.

-       Apply representation to the female character we are able to place her into a stereotype as to her situation, she is on the metro and tired, it’s late. By extension because of this we are able to assume that she is a normal woman, coming home from either work or a night out, seeing friends, and she falls asleep on the metro. None of the characters in this short are represented in a negative OR positive way, very neutral representations.

-       The expected audience will have shaped the representation of the film, as a boy and a girl, one seeking comfort, one feeling uncomfortable so naturally the outcome will be a romance, also a clue in the double meaning title of the short “Dream girl” referring to the love of one’s life and because she is asleep.

Audience:

-       This short film was located on virgin media shorts.com so the expected audience would be people who take an interest in short film screening and production, because the website is well in the top percentage for short film’s and would be the place of the main screening.

-       The audience would be pleased with the film, especially the female audience as it arises a situation of which the male character is left to leave a decision and of course it is a bit cheesy love story, however this works for the female audience, him making the conscious decision to leave her asleep with no one’s shoulder would make females no angry but perhaps think “typical men” however him choosing to return and miss his stop to give her a shoulder to sleep on would redress the balance.

-       As far as I could find, the film has been screened on virgin media shorts and YouTube but nowhere else. However the film has won a TIVO award which is an independent awards scheme created by virgin rewarding unique and inspiring films for all things from camera work to plot.

-       Alice Sea bright, the director, producer and filmmaker all in one, perhaps a contributing factor as to why she won the TIVO award. In terms of information about her, we know very little about her, and she has no information on IMBD or on Virgin media shorts itself, even her film on the website says “genre: other”.

Media Language:

-       The screen grab represents two emotions, as previously mentioned the two emotions felt, she is seeking comfort, and he is feeling uncomfortable. In the grab we can see a lot, high key lighting, mid angle shot to show the main features of both characters. And (not clear from the image) diegetic sound throughout. We can denote the feeling of coldness and tiredness as everyone is wearing coats and she is snuggled up on his should seeking comfort and rest, perhaps at first this is not what he is looking for due to his expression in the screen grab, however in the end we know he does enjoy her company.

-       In terms of editing there are really very few things to comment on, the only editing clear is a couple of jumps from inside to outside of the train. In terms of camera movement we can see a hand held camera, which could connote busyness and a cramped situation on a train, and represents realism, even as a spectator we would feel more involved because of the hand held camera rather than a stable tripod camera.

-       Possible connotation of the situation would lead to the audience assuming it is late, and cold, and people just want to get home, as well as the polite minding your own business and personal space rule of public behaviour which she seems to break. Loneliness and opportunism is represented as well during the film because he goes far out of his way to make sure she is comfy again showing the audience that he cares and perhaps a relationship could occur from this.