Review and critique at least one short film production

Nadia 

Nadia is a short Film about a Teenage girl who was kicked out of her house and made homeless, The film brings awareness to Young people being homeless in the UK and the help they have. The Film is Published on Jul 6, 2017, and uploaded to (MYM: Million Youth Media)

The Film is made by

• Directed by: Teddy Nygh
• Written by: Alex Tenenbaum
• Produced by: Nick Bedu & Leah Henry
• DOP: Bani Mendy
• Edited by: Oliver Parker
• Composed by: Ben Smithers & Duncan F Brown

Story Outline

The film is set in the UK and it’s about a schoolgirl Nadia, she doesn’t work very well at school and Messes around in lessons. After refusing to give her phone to the teacher she is sent to detention and her mother finds out about her bad behavior in class. On her way home that day her mother locks her outside as punishment, with nowhere to go she becomes homeless. The next day her teacher finds her sleeping on a park bench and later helps her find a place to stay. At the very end of the film, we find out that the teacher used to be homeless and that’s why he wants to help. Throughout the short, there are a few 4th wall breaks that give factual information about homelessness in the Uk and the Help the government provides for young people.

Film Review

The Film is made by “Milion Youth Media” and they have made lots of awareness films for young people. It’s a very Generic awareness film and follows the same structure as other typical awareness shorts. It’s a very simple film, that doesn’t make much sense, the film has a weird portrayal of young people and their connection with technology. It overeducates how Children use their phones and makes it unintentionally funny and unrealistic. The film achieves what it set out to do which is to “Bring awareness to Homelessness and the help young people get”, but does it in a very generic way. The film uses Fourth wall breaks to give facts and details on where to get help and statistics on homelessness. Personally, I think that its a very overused way to get information across and in the film it was very distracting when the characters suddenly broke out of character and randomly started talking to the audience. The film was ok at building up the tension, the camera techniques were used very effectively. For example, during the argument scene Between Nadia and her Mum, the handheld camera movements made the audience feel like they are also in that uncomfortable situation. This is very effective and helps build up tension but the climax is completely ruined by the simple script. During the argument, Nadia’s mother says ” Your father would be ashamed” and for some reason, Nadia responds with “Your rude”, This cracked me up and completely destroyed the climax of the film. The Film had some great performances but most of them ruined by the badly written dialogue that made characters boring and predictable. The best thing about the film is the cinematography and the use of camera angles, the film looked really nice and the way the shots are framed made it look really good. Another effective camera technique would be the downward facing medium shot, it was very effective because it made the Young teacher look weak and afraid, helping the story progress. The film had a good soundtrack very generic but good and helped set the tone for the film. The film had some realistic settings and looks just like the UK. Overall the film was successful at bringing Awareness to Homelessness in the UK but its a Typical, Generic, Badly scripted awareness film. Its a nice looking film with a good soundtrack. Dont recommend, watch at your own risk.