Evaluation

Peggy’s War focuses on the child’s perspective during war, despite the story being told by an elderly woman it really represents children, with a slightly reflective feeling. I’ve animated it so that it’s from the child’s perspective, the camera is generally at the child’s eye level, like when she’s peering through the tanks during the convoys. The shots appear almost flat, looking at the character straight-on, and often centred, like when Peggy is walking to school she is in exact profile to the audience. I probably took more inspiration from the cinematographer Robert Yeoman, rather than any of the short films I have watched. If it isn’t it’s due to fear, like when the V-1 Rocket is flying over, or they’re looking out into the rubble. I also make it clear that the child is the focus through the costume and hair, I did research to see what children would wear during WW2, using mise-en-scene to create accuracy rather than entertainment. The character expression is also representative of the child’s perspective, as it is often exaggerated, showing how the child sees things how they are, not hiding anything. Several of the short films show teens or young adults, like in Slap or The Ellington Kid, showing how groups can bounce off one another and cause chaos. The professional short film that links with the social group shown in Peggy’s War, is Echo. The social group of family is displayed, even if it’s in a disruptive and broken way due to an absent parent. In Slap, too, it shows a son fearing abandonment from his father and friends because o f his lifestyle. The family portrayed in my film is different, as although they also experience loss due to the sadness and grief of war, it has brought them closer together and they care for each other even more.  

The genre is clearly displayed as a biographical documentary, my film does this through starting with a photograph of Peggy as a child, her first person voiceover starting at the same time, introducing the film as biographical to the viewer. This reminder of reality continues throughout the rest of the film with her voiceover and the photographs of her father and her again at the end, showing her as a child, a young woman, and as she is now. My research also kept up the realism of the piece, showing clothes and props from when Peggy was a child, again using mise-en-scene but this time to reinforce the genre. This conforms to the norms of the genre, the voiceover is especially common throughout biopics as it is effective in explaining what happened in a short space of time. The Ellington Kid, although not entirely true, guides the spectator through the film with voice entirely, explaining the visuals and keeping the pace interesting through the storytelling of youth. Like my film, too, it emphasises the diegetic sound that’s crucial to the story, like when the gang are shouting at the kebab shop worker or when the bell of the shop door goes. In mine I emphasise the sounds of the war; the convoys, the bombs, the sirens, and the songs sung in the underground shelter. I don’t add any sounds of the dirt shifting over the birds or footsteps, because they wouldn’t change how you perceive the plot, the more dramatic sounds associated with war are the ones that will make the viewer more tense and sympathetic for the character.

My main challenge to the genre is that these films aren’t usually animated, but reenacted, with existing footage and cutaways to the person being interviewed. I decided to make it animated as I didn’t have the budget or actors to reenact it, and it was more open to a wide audience, engaging younger viewers. Not using cutaways meant the focus was on the story and the perspective of a child, revealing Peggy at the end helped keep this focus on childhood whilst still showing who’d been telling the viewer the story, as it’s important that the audience knows Peggy as she was then and is now.

My film links with the professional short films well through a linear narrative. My film is chronological, like Arrival showing the protagonists thoughts as the plot develops, but unlike Over, which is unique as it is in reverse. I don’t use the Kuleshov Effect anywhere in the film, so to let the audience form their own reaction, but I do display the reactions to the aspects of war, but with sounds. The sound of the siren triggers the reaction from Peggy, not any cutaway shot. I kept the faces of the characters within shot when the men were looking out at the bombs, I thought that the emotions and moment were more important than actually seeing the explosions. I don’t use binary opposites either, there’s no true antagonist that fights against Peggy, it could be argued that the war is the antagonist, but I don’t think that it presents enough of an individual opposition to Peggy to be that. I haven’t highlighted any opposing forces like the Nazis because Peggy was young and focusing on her family and friends. A lot of short films have no obvious binary opposite, focussing on the issues of emotion, like Arrival’s struggle with choice, portrayed through a slowly zooming camera and also slowly cropping itself, starting with a filled screen, and ending with two black bars either side to bring in the focus. Although in Peggy’s War it doesn’t move as much and isn’t a continuous shot, the framing is used to similar effect, using close-ups when the emotion or the character expression is important. This happens in Arrival as the protagonist is changing her mind, and happens in Peggy’s War when the eight year old girl is revealed to have been buried all night. Another aspect of mise-en-scene that does this is the lighting, the lighting in Arrival is used to show the changing mind once again, it’s at the emotional crux of the film’ as the train goes past and dramatically casts the cafe into shadow. I use the lighting in my own film similarly, when the men go up to watch the skies, light flashes against them and reveals their faces, this is an emotionally run part of the film showing community, similar to when the family are watching the doodlebug out the window, the shadow passing over them. 

I didn’t make this film with a target audience in mind, but I think it applies to the groups that watch short films most: those studying film. Although short films are also often made for talent finders and other short film makers I didn’t think of them as the audience as I made it, I mainly thought of my nan as I didn’t want to make it too unlike how she remembered her childhood. The audience is very different from the spectator’s experience too, the individuals I’ve shown it to have all had different reactions. Younger viewers have watched it and remarked upon the visuals, older spectators have been more effected by the voiceover and the sounds of the war. The film has several purposes, one is entertainment, the story Peggy is telling is an engaging one that pulls the audience in. Another is art, I put a lot of effort into the visuals of the film, making sure the colour scheme appeared aged, and making the characters consistent throughout the scenes. The last outcome from the film is education, I learnt much whilst making the film, so hopefully the spectator learns much from watching it, and maybe goes to speak to a relative who had similar experiences. My preferred reading of my short is that you shouldn’t take life for granted. A negotiated reading of the film would be to understand the importance of community and to keep going no matter what. An oppositional reading would be for the viewer to glorify these times, as although I want to show that it wasn’t all sad and fun was had, it was by no means idilic or constantly happy. It was a struggle even if you were surrounded by family and friends.

Overall my film both conforms and juxtaposes the film norms. I like to think that I made my film creative and somewhat original by animating to the story instead of filming reenactments. The premise of the short film isn’t unusual, interviewing someone on their experiences of world war. This doesn’t make the film’s view any less important, however, as the stories told between all the children of WW2 make a diverse selection of narratives and emotions. This is another film to add to the feelings and tales of others. It’s important personally as well, my Nan was always the quieter of her and my Grandad, who also had many stories to tell, and now it feels right to hear what she has to tell too.