This short film titled "What's Virgin Mean?" explores the comedic situation of a mother having to explain the concept of virginity to her innocent young daughter. It is classified as a comedy drama genre due to the realistic parenting scenario combined with the humorous misunderstanding caused by the child's question. Through close-up shots of the mother's facial expressions, the film puts the viewer in the perspective of the child as she watches her mother struggle to find age-appropriate way to respond. The film was independently produced and distributed in the UK and US festival circuits in 2008-2009 to audiences of both parents and children. Reviews of the film were generally positive with an average IMDb user rating of 6.7 out of 10

1. By Mike Yiadom and Nekeisha John
By:
Title:
Mike Yiadom
Short Films

2. What’s Virgin Mean?
As a task I was asked to
look at Short Films and
find one that interests
me. This Short Film that I
like is called ‘What's
Virgin Mean?’. If you
want to see this short film
click on the link below.

3. Genre
 Media is the categorisation of media texts. Genre is an important aspect to
consider when creating as film as it then links with audience, text and industry.
We think that the genre of this film is a comedy drama
 We think it is a comedy drama for many reasons. One reason that it is a drama
is because it is a realistic circumstance which may take place in a parents life.
 There is also a comedic element as there is a misunderstanding of what the
innocent child is asking. This topic of conversation is often a touchy subject
which parents may find awkward to speak about. The fact that this is explored in
a funny way helps to add a comedic element to what may be seen as a
uncomfortable situation.
 The child in this film asks her mother what virgin means in the context of oil.
This then leads to the mother trying to find a child friendly way to explain it to
her daughter but she ends up getting carried away with what sexual intercourse
is.

4. Narrative
 In this short film, it highlight one of every
parents nightmares, the day they have to explain
what “making love”
 This can then relate to many other parents as
people have different ways in which they get
around this sort of problem
 During the short film when seeing the mother we
see close up shots and over the shoulder shot this
gives the impression that the child is in control as
the camera always shows the moms facial
expressions.
 This specific film is a single strand narrative as
there is only one story line happening on screen.
 This is also a open ended narrative as

5. Audience
 I think the primary audience targeted was
parents and how they would react if they were in
the same situation with a child asking what
being a virgin is, because it shows the parents
point of view on how uncomfortable it is being
asked that question.
 The secondary audience would be children
because the short film involved a young girl
basically making her the supporting actress. Also
it shows the child point of view of being told
what a virgin is by their parents therefore giving
the impression that this short film was targeted
to children as well as parents.

6. Media Language
 During the short film when seeing the
mother we see close up shots and over the
shoulder shot this gives the impression
that the child is in control as the camera
always shows the moms facial expressions.

7. Funding and Distribution
 It was directed by Michael Davies and produced Sandra
Gorel in the UK in 2008. It was funded by Michael Davies
Films and Spellbound films. The funding was an estimation
of £3,000. It was also distributed by Michael Davies Films
and Spellbound films. To various festivals such as:
 Encounters Short Film Festival, London, 2008
 NFTS DepicT! Special Mention Award, DepicT!, London,
2008
 Palm Springs International Film Festival, USA, 2008
 Los Angeles International Short Film Festival, USA, 2008
 Heart of Gold Film Festival, Australia, 2009
 Filmfest, Dresden, Germany, 2009
 Tres Courts, France, 2009
 Seattle International Film Festival, USA, 2009

8. Success
 IMBD gave the short film 6.7/10 from
157 users giving it an average score.