Film Title: Rocket
Director: Jennifer Sheridan
Date of Production: N/A
Watched on: www.virginmediashorts.co.uk
Summary of Film: A dog is inspired by a rocket shaped lava lamp, and decides to build his very own rocket out of recyclable goods. Once finished, the dog boards the rocket, and blasts off into space.
Representations.
- The only social group relevant to this film that I can think of, are dog owners. This is because the only character in the film is a dog. I assume as the dog is in a home he has an owner. An interesting issue in this film is recycling. The film shows people that you can re-use old materials using your imagination.
- The genre of this film is Action & Adventure.
- This dog is a positive and negative representation of pet dogs. He acts like a child and thinks like a child, which is how some owners see their pets. however he also displays typical dog-like behaviour by making a mess, and going through the rubbish. I'd say the dog is more human than dog in this film due to what he is trying to achieve. A positive representation of his species.
- I feel that the intended audience has shaped the representations in the film. I think the audience for this film are children around the ages of 4 - 12. The dog in the film has a child-like mind and behaves similarly to a child. E.g his idea of building a rocket and going into space.
- The film deals with the issue of recycling. How? By showing recyclable materials being re-used in a different way to what they were originally intended for, and in an exciting and fun way. Why? To encourage children to recycle and show how easy and fun it can be.
Narrative.
- Story - A dog is alone and bored, it sees a lava lamp which looks a bit like a rocket. This gives it the idea to make his own rocket and fly into space in it. He builds his rocket with recyclable materials such as cardboard and plastics etc. Then finally, the dog uses the rocket to travel into space
- The film uses linear narrative. I feel this is because the film is intended for a young audience and there's not enough scenes to play with the narrative chronology of the film.
- The ending of the film has closure, as the dog's rocket is a success and makes it into space.
Genre.
- The only genre I can identify is Action & Adventure due to what the dog does (builds a rocket and travels into space)
- Short films tend to experiment with genre, and can create hybrid genre films. This is down to the fact that the directors have little to loose and a lot to gain as short films are usually shot on a low budgets and are not aimed at the general public. therefore meaning short films have less boundaries than blockbusters. It's also a chance for the director and the rest of the team to get noticed and land a big job.
- Neale's theory can be applied to this film. I don't think I've ever seen or heard of another film where a typically average every day pet dog builds a rocket, and travels into space.
- The genre is simple but has so much variation. This enables the film to be adapted to appeal to it's target audience. "The economy of genre relies on change", action & adventure allows a lot of change while still being identifiable.
Audience.
- I think a younger adult demographic would watch this film. Probably short film enthusiasts due to the film being on Virgin Media Shorts. (a dedicated site to short films) This I feel rules out children, however it could appeal to parents or pet owners.
- The audience might find the concept of an everyday pet dog excelling and over-achieving as a pet dog. Yet people (pet owners) can relate to the dog, as it still possesses usual dog traits.
- I found the film on...
- http://write-shoot-cut.com
- www.rocketmovie.com (dedicated site)
- www.vimeo.com
- www.youtube.com
- The film won 'best short film' at the Virgin Media Shorts 2012. Jennifer Sheridan recieved £30,000 prize money.
- The film does not use an actual production company, just individuals. Only 5 people were involved in the making of this film.
No comments:
Post a Comment