The film Eight tells the story of an 8-year-old boy named Jonathan who is obsessed with football and struggling to cope with recently moving to a new town and the loss of his father, who died before Jonathan was born. Jonathan imagines different jobs his father may have had and longs for a relationship with the father he never knew. The narrative is delivered through Jonathan recounting events directly to the audience. Sounds like wind, sea, and dialogue isolate Jonathan and emphasize his loneliness as he comes to terms with his situation.

1. Eight
By Stephen Daldrey

2. Synopsis
Eight tells the story of an eight year old boy who
is a football fanatic who has to come to terms
with moving to a new town and cope with the
loss of his father

3. Representations
Jonathan- the way he is represented is at first that of a
stereotypical boy, he plays with his best friend, has an
active imagination as seen in the beginning of the film
when he is playing on his own and is obsessed with
football. He speaks of his father and refers to him in the
past tense which confuses viewers but he reveals his
father had passed away and this slowly shows the inner
workings of his mind as he has never known his father.
He imagines all different types of jobs he believes and
deep down hopes his father had, it shows it’s constantly
on his mind and is eating away at him and wishes he had
a relationship with his father, craves it even and his
obsession with football brings him closer to him as he
know his father loved football. His desperation for his
father seeps through from the very beginning as he is
shouting seemingly into the distance but is in fact
shouting to for his father. Another example of this is
when he is in his bedroom playing with his football mat
he stops and stares at the players, mystified as to why he
is on his own.

4. Narrative:
The narrative is delivered through Jonathan as
he recalls and tells events to the audience
looking at the camera
Sound:
Lots of diegetic sounds such as wind, the sea
and talking is heard to show Jonathan’s
surrounding and isolates him to emphasize his
loneliness. There is also non-diegetic sound such
as the cheering from football matches to show
the obsession surrounding the sport.

5. Title
The title of the film is Jonathan’s age which
portrays the amount of time passed between his
father dying and his birth, since he has never
known his father.