This film tells the story of an unlikely friendship that forms between two teens who have both been left by the same person. The director made the film to showcase teen friendships in America and increase representation of Asian actors and characters. The target audience is believed to be 16-18 year old females who enjoy drama and friendship-based stories. Scenes were filmed on a digital camera over the summer to capture a warm, hazy feeling and appeal to teenage viewers. The simple mise-en-scene and progression of the friendship shown through cinematography help tell the story.

1. Case Studyon Ella
A) Purpose andAudience
Director:Dan Chen
Country:USA
I thinkthat the directormade thisfilmtoshow the friendshipbetweenthe youthsof
America.Inthisfilmtwoteenswhohave beenleftbythe same personcome togetherto
forman unlikelyfriendship.Ialsothinkthatthe directorwantsto shine more lightonthe
minoritiesbyusingAsianmaincharacters;thismeansthatmore Asianactorsare being
noticedandare beinggiventhe rolestheydeserveinfilms.Ithinkthatthe audience is16-18
yearoldsbecause theyare more interestedindramarelatedfilms.Ialsothinkthatthe
audience ismainlyfemale because theywouldstereotypicallybe more interestedin
friendshipbasedfilms.Thisfilmisalsomore likelytodraw inan Asianaudience because of
the representationshowninthisfilmthroughthe characters.
Regardingthe NRSscale viewerswouldbe fromanywhere onthe scale,howevertheyare
more,likelytobe fromC1 to E, thisis because theywouldmore likelytospendtheirfree
time onthe internetandwatchingTV.Higherlevelsare more likelytosee these activitiesas
pointlessandwouldme more inclinedtodootherthings.
On the 4cs scale,the audience ismostlikelytobe The Explorer,thisisbecause theyare
alwayslookingforsomethingnew andIthinkthat the filmisshowingsomethingthathasn’t
reallybeendone before withanethniccast.
B) Form andStyle
I thinkthat thiswasfilmedona digital camerabecause itisfilmedingoodquality.Theyhave
alsochosento presentthe filminsquare formatwhichdoesnotreflectmodernstyle,this
showsthat the directorfavoursolderstylestomodernones,thisisalsoshowninthe way
the filmsseemstohave a ‘filter’overthe topwhichgivesita‘summerhaze’feel whichtells
the audience thatthiswasfilmedinsummerasitgivesoff a warm feeling.Thisstyle attracts
a youngermore teenage audiencethatare lookingforteenfilmsthattheycanrelate to.
The directorhas exhibitedtheirfilmbypublishingitonShortOf The Week,where anyone
can watch the filmforfree.
The genre of thisfilmisDrama.
The codesand conventionsthatIcan identifyare dramaand teen
drama
A scene thatreflectsbothof these iswhenthe maingirl isconfronting
herfriendsandspitsbeerontoone of themfor makingfunof her
voice behindherback.
C) ContentandMeaning
The mise enscene inthisfilmhasbeenquite simplethroughoutwiththerebeing quite alot
of scene changes.The dayisshownindirectly,where we cansee itgo fromday to nightbut
it isn’tanimportantpart of the film, itaddsto the atmosphere andstereotypethatteens
stay outin the dark and loiterinplacestheyshouldn’t.The filmhasalight-heartedvibe,it
flowswell andthe audience are able tofollow whatisgoingoneasily.Allthe characters
seemappropriatelydressedfortheirage,whichalsogivesanindicationthattheyare
teenagerswithouthavingtoexplicitlysaythattheyare teenagers.
The cinematographyIswell done because the audienceisable tosee how the
friendshipbetweenthe twocharactershasprogressedthroughout,withthem
layingfarapart from eachotherat the start to themwiththeirheadsoneach

2. Case Studyon Ella
other’sshouldersinthe lastscene. Their personalities are alsoshown,withthe boybeing
more shy andreservedandthe girl beingmore outgoing,thisisshowninone of the first
sceneswhere we firstsee herandshe issmokingacigarette outside
the boy’s door.
The soundsare softinthe filmandthere are no harsh,suddensounds,
thismatcheswell withthe summervibe.The musicthatplaysatthe
start isveryrelaxingandhasa friendlyandwelcomingfeeltoitwhich
can assure the audience thatnothingbador suddenisgoingto happen
despite itbeingateendrama.
The editinghasbeendone sothat everythingflowsandiscohesive;thismeansthatitis
easiertofollowandyou’re notleftthere wonderingwhatwashappeninginthe whole film.
There were noSpecial effectsthatwere usedinthe filmasthe editingwassimple andthere
wouldnotbe any needforit to be there as itwouldhave distractedfromthe mainstory.
D) FrequencyandProductionProcess
Thisfilmisa stand alone
There wouldbe a bigand longproductionprocessthatthe directorwouldhave togot
throughincludingcasting,scripts,findingwhere tofilm.Allof thattakestime,andrhen the
directorhas to make sure that the filmdoes notbreakany rulesand that itis copyrightfree
so that people are able towatchit forfree on the website.