this a review of the short film The fence

1. REVIEW IF THE FENCE
The film that I will be reviewing Is call THE FENCE directed
by William stone. The film was made in the UK in 2018.

2. PURPOSE AND AUDIENCE
• I feel that the reason why the director made this film was to entertain the audiences and
broaden their university portfolio with a fun film set in the 80s. I feel that the underlining
message of the film is not to give up on something as your hard work will eventually pay
off. By having the film set in the 80s and about a teenager, the director has made the film
entertaining for a wide target audience, because the film has been made appealing to the
older generation who grew up in the 80s with all the nostalgia within the film, such as the
Walkman, fashion, cars, music and the way the people talk and act which make the film
look like it has actually been shot in the 80s. I also feel that the younger generation would
be interested in this film due the characters being relatable and funny, as he is still just a
normal teenager. I do feel that this film is more geared towards boys as the story uses lots
of stereotypical stuff that boys would like such as bikes, cars and fighting. I feel that the
audiences that would like this the most would be from a D to B on the NRS scale as the
film is about a boy trying to find his stolen motorbike and goes looking around the
working class estates to try and find it .This means that the working class would be able to
relate to the boy as he has all the same mannerisms and language as someone from that
back ground.

3. FORM
• The director uses high-end equipment as far as I can tell by looking at
the film. He uses a drone at the start of the film to get a bird’s eye view
of the main character zipping through the forest on his brand-new
motor bike. The drone is not a cheap piece of equipment and judging by
the quality of the shot this one is at the higher end of the scale,
meaning it probably cost anywhere from £500 to £1000 and over to buy
out right, which leads me to believe that he would of rented the drone. I
also believe that he rented the camera as well, as the quality of the shot
is very clear and precise. I watched the film on YouTube on the film
graduates’ channel as the film was William Stones final piece for his
degree at Bristol University.

4. STYLE
• The film has a very realistic style and is shot to make the audience feel as
if you are there. This is also helped by the acting of the actors as they
play their parts very convincingly making you believe that they really are
back in the 80s and never breaking the façade that they are not. That’s
also why I like the film as the set is in a rough estate looking dull dingy
and the weather always being overcast gives that film the British 80s
style that it was going for.

5. GENRE
• The film is a teen comedy. This is established by the main character at
the start of the film as he is the first person you see showing the
audience that this film is going to be about a teen growing up in in a
rough neighbourhood. We then later see the comedy aspect with the
introduction of his brother. He is presented to be a tough skin head with
tattoos, who is about to do training on a boxing punch bag, he turns on
his Sony Walkman and starts to play Love Is A Battle Field by Pat Benatar
and starts to dance in a feminine way which is very funny to watch.

6. CONTENT AND MEANING
• Cinematography:
• The film starts off with the main character riding home from work on his bike. The director uses a
medium shot and is close to the actor showing how insignificant the bike is, he also uses slow and
stagnate shot time to illustrate how slow the bike is. This is then changed when we see the main
character on his new motor bike for the first time as we get huge sweeping shots from a bird’s eye
view of him on the new motor bike. This is done to show how important the bike is as it’s a big deal
and huge upgrade from the old pedal bike he had before. I also feel that one of the best shots in the
film is one of the main characters mum where you first see her she is washing dishes and we get a
medium shot as if the camera was on the kitchen work top. This is done to make the audiences feel
as if they are a fly on the wall and are just watching a listening in to her daily life. We then see the
mum and again a few scenes later, the director has used the same shot again this is not that
significant as not that much time has passed since the first time, we saw her last. But it’s the next
time we see which is a full day later she is in the same spot and in the same shot we in fact do not
see the mum do anything else but wash dishes in the same spot. This is done to reflect the daily
mundane life of a working class mum in the 80s, as they were not expected to go and get a job and
there was nothing for them to do so the director has shown her life to the audience as a dull and
board life with nothing to do apart from wash dishes.

7. CONTENT AND MEANING
• Sound:
• As the film is set in the 80s it has a great 80s soundtrack to go along with it
using great songs like On my Radio - The Selecter, Lip Up Fatty - Bad
manners, Mirror in the bathroom - The Beat, Love is a Battlefield - Pat
Benatar, Rocky Road to Dublin - The Pogues, Numbers - The Adicts,
Steamroller - The Adicts, Treadstone Assassins - John Powell, I won’t let the
sun go down on me - Nik Kershaw. which are played in lots of different whys
thought out film to bring the charts in and out of traveling and moving shots
with can be see when the main charter is walking up to his mates house and
you can faintly her the song Mirror in the bathroom by The Beat this is non
diegetic meaning it was edited in. after we finish watching the main
character walk up to the door we the music turns to diegetic this is done to
signal that the charter has stopped traveling and is now in a place of
importance

8. CONTENT AND MEANING
• Editing:
The editing is very quick, using a lot of cuts and very few transitions, this is done so that
the audience in not brought out of the story. Due to the style of the film being ultra-
realistic, if there were transitions it would bring the audience out and make the film less
realistic.
• Mise en scene:
The films set is used to establish the fact that the story and all the characters lives and
interactions will be happening in a working-class area. This is done to set the mood of the
film as a tough British film with fighting, swearing and stealing. The weather is always
overcast and dull which is how many teens felt like back in the 80s on estates like the one
our main character finds himself in.
• Structure/narrative/SFX:
The film structure is great as you start of by seeing a boy who has worked hard to save
up money and buy a bike and try to stop his mom from smoking by nicking her
cigarettes. By doing this he gets the audience to instantly like and root for this character,
this makes the loss of his new bike even harder for the audience to take and make them
want him to find it. By doing this it means that the audience is invested in the story of
the character and his life and want to find out if he is going to find his bike.

9. FREQUENCY AND PRODUCTION
PROCESS
• The film is a stand-alone film and I feel that it’s better that why, as the
story would not work with a follow up film as all the meaning of the first
one would be lost. I also feel that there would be a low chance of a
follow up film as it was a uni media film. The director would have had a
preproduction to do to make this film as there is there is a lot of small
details you have to have to make this film look like its set in the 80s,
such as the cars and vehicles in the road all being era appropriate as if
you see a modern car it would of broken the façade that the film is in
the 80s. He would have had to get all the actors to connect, all the
props, permission to film in certain areas and rent out all the stuff like
the camera and the drone this would of made it a very big
preproduction.