2. Genre
Denotation Connotation
When we viewed this film
we believed that the
genres of the film were
drama, crime and thriller.
We thought this as there
was arguing from the
mother and the boyfriend
which represented drama,
police cars which
conveyed crime and the
body of the young boy
linked to the theme of
thriller.
3. Representation
Denotation Connotation
A young girl. This young girl seems
scared when she sees her
mum and her partner
arguing. This shows her
innocence within the film.
She also mimics the
arguing with her teddies.
Suggesting to the
audience that she
understands what is
happening, for example
when she says “he smells
of beer”, showing the
audience her
understanding of his
alcohol problem.
4. Representation
Denotation Connotation
The mother. The mother seems to be
naive and over shadowed by
love, however some of the
audience may sympathise
with her as she is wrapped
up in love. Some may also
disagree and dislike her as
she is neglecting her
children, for example she
didn’t know what happened
to her son. It seemed like
she was with him for the
security of being with
someone.
5. Audience
Denotation Connotation
The atmosphere that is
presented in this film is
negative. This is shown
at the start of the short
film as there is arguing
taking place between
the mother and her
boyfriend.
As this is presented in
the film we believe that
the main audience is
adults interested in
crime. The reason of
this is because the short
film is based on the
story of Fred and
Rosemary West.
6. Narrative
Denotation Connotation
The main narrative thought this short
film is constant conflict and how the
children are caught in cross fire with
the man, Eddie and their mother.
Another big part in the narrative for
this film is the young girl and how she
believes that she has seen her
brother although he is dead.
With the theme of conflict
present throughout this
short film we get the idea
that Eddie killed the young
boy and then hid him in the
back garden although it was
not declared in the film.
From this we see the young
girls innocence and how she
is unaware of the horrific
event that she has helped
solve.
7. Institutions
Denotation Connotation
Perception Pictures with
an eye shaped logo.
From this we get the
understanding that
Perception Pictures will
show the film from the
characters perception
and due to it being an
independent company it
shows that it may hit a
very niche market.
8. Technologies
Denotation Connotation
Handheld camera, we
can see it as the
camera tracks the
characters movements.
Due to us believing that it
is a handheld camera
suggests that he has
edited the footage him self
on software such as final
cut pro. As it is an
independent film we
believe that it has a low
budget and with a
handheld camera
distribution is cheap, as
the footage can be sent
via the internet.
9. Evidence – Camera Shots
Denotation Connotation
0:31 seconds – a wide
shot with the shovel in
focus.
We felt that the viewers
may believe that the
shovel is the key aspect of
the short film, as it based
on the story of Fred and
Rosemary West who also
buried victims in their
garden. Furthermore, the
shovel is plastic and
colourful which suggests
that it’s a children’s toy
which links to the death of
the young boy and also
the innocence of the
children.
10. Evidence – Camera Shots
Denotation Connotation
3:20 – Close of young girl
cleaning the brothers
hand.
The connotation that we
made from this shot is the
young girl takes care of her
brother as the mother is
preoccupied within her
relationship. We also
thought that this represented
families within society and
the increasing number of
young carers and how some
insecure young single
mothers may disregard their
children and the attention
they require because she
also wants the attention from
her partner.
11. Evidence – Sound
Denotation Connotation
0:58 – Diegetic sound of
Eddie, the boyfriend
and mother arguing.
Whilst analysing this
film we welt this scene
in particular showed the
unstable relationship
between these
characters and how it
affects the children as
the young girl later
mimics this as she is
sitting there whilst they
were arguing.
12. Evidence - Sound
Denotation Connotation
7:46 – Diegetic sound
of police sirens.
This represents danger and crime
due to automatically linking police
to criminal activity. This could give
the audience hope that justice will
be done for the killing of the young
boy and also for the neglect of the
children. Also before the sirens
were visible to us but we could still
hear it the young girl looked
towards the sound of the sirens
seeking help and also
understanding of what is
happening. Furthermore, when she
is talking to the police officer she
didn’t seem shocked to see her as
if she was used to talking to
officers for example they may get
called to the house following on
domestic issues.
13. Evidence - Editing
Denotation Connotation
Throughout the short
film there was a lot of
short cuts from shot to
shot this is known as
‘Hollywood editing’
suggesting it is invisible
to the person watching
in order for flow and
continuous rhythm.
The connotations of
having short editing is that
Nicholas Penrake wanted
us to feel the fast pace
movement within the film.
He also needed to
compress the film as he
must have been filming
this for a while so he
needed to make it quite
short to follow the codes
and conventions of
existing short films and to
make a statement for the
audience.
14. Evidence – Editing
Denotation Connotation
3:54 – The shot shows
the young boy buried to
which it zooms out.
This part of the short film shows
the most important part and makes
it seem very dramatic.
Furthermore, as the camera zooms
out it represents silence, like when
people do a minute silence in a
matter of respect of those of have
passed. It also shows the
surrounding garden which again
links to the case of Fred and
Rosemary West as it shows the
garden which is where bodies were
buried. This also shows that the
boy was in danger and links to the
other points we made about the
mother neglecting her children and
unaware of the fact her son was
buried in her back garden.
