Abbigail Azirou

This short film's style is heavily influenced by social realism. It influences it's core themes and underlying messages.  The short is set in a council estate; a setting that most people are either familiar with or at least aware of it's attributes. Throughout the film it is evident that the protagonist, Zoe, is struggling with money and raising four kids alone. She is framed through a p.o.v shot from her daughter counting her coins. This invites the audience to see the situation from the children eyes which makes it that much more pitiable. She gives the kids a bag of sugar to "share out". This line of dialogue is repeated again at the pub when the kids are asked to "share out" two bags of crisps.  There is lots of camera movement and hand held shots throughout the short- specifically the fight scene. It's very shaky and intense which puts the audience in Zoe's shoes. We feel claustrophobic and there is not a second to breath. It's i...

This short film is described as an animated comedy, however it consists of hints to other genre conventions. Through both diegetic and non diegetic sound, cinematography, camera movement and finally some of the horror/thriller genre's most famous iconographies are introduced. The scene opens with jaunty non-diegetic music- a trumpet melody played in a major key, indicating the upbeat and sustained equilibrium in the beginning. However,  fractures are hinted at in terms of Wallace and Gromit's relationship in the beginning such as the issue of Gromit birthday and his "gift" which he's not entirely pleased about. It doesn't take long for the fractures to turn into colossal cracks. In this short the tone is heavily conveyed through use of sound. The most noticeable horror iconography for me was the scene of the penguin framed from the window. It's raining raspingly to set the gloomy tone and the  loud diegetic noise of thunder is utilised to furthermore s...

In Shaun of the dead, the main Protagonist, Shaun, and the love interest, Liz, both embark on a journey of social class. From the beginning Liz has many expectations for the relationship that are influenced by her upper middle-class friends, Diane and David. Liz appears unhappy because she wants Shaun to grow up a little bit and "want to live a little". For her this means going out to nice restaurants instead of pubs, drinking wine instead of beer, giving up smoking and going on holidays. Her friends suggest activities such as going to see listed buildings or going to the theatre. Evidently these are all upper middle-class  social expectations on how to live life as a mature adult and how to measure success. On the other end of the spectrum, Shaun's friend Ed enjoys his time playing video games, lazing round unemployed and spending most of his time as the pub drinking and playing on the slot machines. Occasionally he sells weed... From the beginning it can be seen that...