1.1. I liked the use of slow motion for when her mom is hitting Precious as it suggests that this isn’t the first time this happens and that it has happened several times. In this extract, there are a lot of quick shots, which are non-linear. This could insinuate how fast these things happen and that Precious gets hit all the time for a lot of unexpected reasons most of the time.
1.2. I liked the shot where Precious is looking at herself in the mirror but she sees the image of a perfect woman instead of herself. This insinuates that she wishes she were perfect, which is a shot I wish to reproduce in my short film.
1.3. I enjoyed the use of voice over as she told what she was feeling. This allows the audience to establish a closer relationship with the character and understand more about her.
2. I have watched different social realist films, which I can aspire from. One film I have watched is ‘Precious’ released in 2009.
3. Editing
3.1. When the mother is also attacking her daughter, the screen goes black and you can hear diegetic sounds of a lamp getting thrown, a cat meowing… Therefore, this creates a focus on sound instead of image, which I will also do, in my short film when I need to insinuate something that could be hard to film or act.
3.2. I enjoyed the use of fading in and fading out. For example, as she is walking away, towards her new school, her figure fades out and there is a glowing effect. This could suggest that Precious is leaving her old life to start a new brighter one.
3.3. Simple and joyous music is occasionally played. When she is lying in her bed or when her baby is born. This represents innocence and shows how young she actually is.
4. Filming
4.1. The camera also cuts to a lot of close-ups as a character is talking. For example when the teacher is talking to Precious, a close bond is insinuated between both characters as the distance between the camera and the audience is very close.
4.2. There are a lot of close ups of Precious from lots of different angles, for example when she is in the classroom. This could suggest that the teacher is trying to understand her allowing the audience to try and see a different side of Precious in a classroom instead of at her home.
