Three minutes of truth grounded in reality, I Exist. Is a miniature masterpiece in its own right. Unlike the 2007 film Juno (Reitman), criticised for being too far-fetched to be believable. Set in a small rural town we might think to be a relatively normal place to grow up in, I Exist. screams “Wake up and smell the coffee!” in audience’s faces. Parents watching it with their children will find themselves asking the same question: “Do I pay enough attention?” The gripping plot follows a day in the life of young protagonist, Beth (Charlotte Mortimer), who struggles to make herself noticed over and above her Mother’s job and overbearing social life. Her struggles reach a climax when she’s ignored for the last time. Everything seems so normal but underneath the exterior Beth is facing phenomenal battles of the mind and heart.

Beth escapes the non-existent life she lives at home and ventures out into the town without the knowledge of her ignorant Mother, played by double Oscar award nominee Tracey Satchell, who gives an outstanding performance. Lacking all emotion bodes well for her acting this time!

Beth experiences a life without boundaries; momentarily. For when she’s set free from her prison of a house she is faced with the disturbing realisation that she blends into the background everywhere. Highlighted by Shannon Satchell’s costume design which reinforces the suppressing characteristics of a school uniform to symbolise her bland existence. When Beth realises that life at home wasn’t all that bad it could be too late for her to turn back, as an omnipresent black Volkswagen Golf which has been following her all evening pulls up beside her, the plot follows two distinct narratives leaving this entrancing short film with a post-modern cliffhanger through the dual ending.

The moral element of this plot is really purveyed through Charlotte Mortimer’s mature and sympathetic acting ability, approaching that of the level of Abigail Breslin in My Sister’s Keeper (Cassavetes, 2009). Short, yet fully engaging, this film could be her lucky break. A must see this year.

The two reviews are very similar in layout, both include a main image which shows the reader the protagonist from said film. Most of the space is taken up by the main review. In the ‘Sight & Sound’ review the plot synopsis is seperate, however in the ‘Empire’ review it is includedin the review. I will include the synopsis in the main review because whilst reading ‘Sight & Soun’ review I noticed that they repeat a lot of the plot. ‘Sight & Sound’ also include a lot on information on production company of the film, casting and so on. I am going to includ the main information but not to the extent that ‘Sight & Sound’ have because very rarely to readers look at this part of the review. If so they are only looking to see who the main actor was or who directed the movie.

-More intertextualioty and references to other texts eg. Garden State, Little Miss Sunshine

-Synopsis is included in the review, not as a separate section

-Constant references to awards that the actors have won

-Closely centred around the genre of the film

-Written in a chatty form “just a smart kid who got herself into a mess” “sassy dialogue”

-Some complaints – “…the whole thing is just so unrealistic…”

-Praise for actors – “Jennifer Garner is astonishingly good as desperate would-be adoptive mum Vanessa.”

-Language is full of simple adjectives. – “…yet to take this narrow view is to ignore how subtle, touching and layered this film is.”

Sight & Sound reviews:

-On average there is reference to about 5 films eg. The Devil Wears Prada, Sex and The City

-Criticism of acting “Jackie Chan, now well into his 50’s, looks tired and drawn.” No positive comments

-Includes quotations from the films

-Complex adjective and language – “…more interestingly concerned with how such power and dynamics slot into the wider social lattice governed by class, race and gender.”

I am reading reviews from “Sight & Sound”. They publish complex reviews using complex vocabulary on a wide range of film genres. I have also read from “Empire” magazine. These are slightly easier to read, but many of them are on action or thriller films, which my short film is not.

The target audience for my review will be parents of the children that watch my short film. As, the magazines that feature film reviews are not targeted at young audiences, as I could tell form the use of language. 

I think the most likely of the above magazines that my short film would be reviewed in is going to be “Sight & Sound” because of the wider genres that they review. This is also the magazine title that I put on my film poster “5 stars Sight & Sound”. Which would persuade audience members to read the article before they watched the film. If they have read previous articles from “Sight & Sound” that reflected the quality of the film well they may be more inclined to watch “I Exist.” from a positive review from “sight & Sound”.

Although I am writing as if my review will be published in “Sight & Sound” I am also going to include elements of language from “Empire” because I want the older age of the target audience for my short film to be able to read and understand the review.

1) Get some more audience feedback on my short film by the end of the week (31/01/10)

2) Research film reviews using examples from Sight & Sound magazine and annotate them by the end of the week (31/01/10)

3) Write and complete film review by half term (14/02/10) 

3)