Review of a short film- Craig Dean Devine

This is the life

The genre of short films is to not give all information that would be given over a usual 90 minute film, it is designed to leave you asking questions.

The focus of the film was of four characters; Dean, his dad, his mum and his sister.
Dean had a close relationship with his sister and seemed to be more comfortable around her,

he was extremely distant from his father and the story seemed to base itself around that showing the adjustments of his dad entetring into the family again.



Dean did not seem close to his mother as in one shot in particular she was talking to him and he did not look at her, there was a pan across them to emphasise this.
It is clear that Dean's dad has been away for a while and it is clear that this has distanced him and dean, he argues with his wife a lot and struggles to become close to Dean again.

Dean's mum seems distant from all of the family, she does not show any affection towards any of them.
It is clear his sister cares for him and is like a motherly figure, it is also clear that she has missed her dad.

At the beginning of the short film it is a normal day, the father returns from what is assumed as prison and Dean's sister gives him a warm welcome.

In the middle of the film the distance between the family is shown, this is done through the dialogue and also through the use of a range of shots. This is also displayed in the car scene when the camera focuses on a drop of rain which suggests the sadness within the family.
At the end it shows that the family is happy and the sun is shining which reflects the mood however the mother is missing in the last scene which leaves the audience questioning what happened.

Near the beginning of the film there is an over the shoulder shot of Dean's father hugging his sister and looking at him. It showed the closeness between the father and daughter but showed the distance felt by Dean.

A shot reverse shot was used which showed the connection between the family.

Video Game Advert

Mass effect 3- 30 second game trailer

Producers cannot falsely advertise on game adverts therefore they have to display a message stating that the imagery shown is not game footage if this is the case.

The first framing of Mass Effect 3 is a close up of a young girl, she is blonde, has blue eyes and has her hair in plaits, this portrays innocence. The framing is used to show emotion, she is looking up at the skies and there is then an extreme close up of of the eye. By using an extreme close up of the eye it shows what they want you to focus on, in her eye it displays the reflection of what appears to be something beastly.
The next frame is a subjective point of view, it shows a giant claw coming towards the screen. In the surrounding area it appears as though the character is in a field of sunflowers, the sun is being blocked out by the large object which is a symbol of death.




In the background there is a mechanical grinding/groaning sound which may make the viewer think it is a strange creature. The music used is incidental creating drama, there is also non diegetic sounds used, explosions and fighting. Whilst the sounds are coming through the snippets of footage start changing quickly using quick editing.
In the middle of the advert there is a review/statistic of the game, the font is futuristic in keeping with the game. There is a voice over towards the end of the advert, the person who is doing it has a husky, masculine voice as the demographic of the game is young men. The game also has an age rating of 15.