Virgin Media Shorts
"'When I'm Sixty Four' is a short film about finding allies in unexpected places. Two outsiders, an old man and a young boy, come together and show their peers that a generational gap cannot hinder friendship"
Genre: Family
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The short film begins immediately with the fade from black long shot of the title which is in line with the pavement, which cleverly disappears as an elderly man on a shop mobility scooter travels along the pavement. This clever use of editing is warmly welcomed by the audience as it displays competent use of editing techniques as well as short film experience. In the framing of this opening long shot (mise en scene), the audience can determine the age of the man in being particularly old, likely to be a pensioner who has retired. By having this man on a shop mobility scooter traveling along the pavement of a street, it creates the social realism that the audience recognises and is familiar with, tagging alongside the usual connotations of representation of the character in the film and the actions associated with the character (feeble, vulnerable, potentially incapable), and so from this the audience can assume the usual traits. At this moment, diegetic sound is used to show the sound of the shop mobility scooter, and for the audience to hear that the scooter is in fact breaking down. From the way the background lighting is quite dull, it portrays the fact that this elderly man's life is possibly quite boring and that he may not have anything much to live for anymore, causing the audience to feel sympathetic towards the man, connecting the audience to the film more. As the elderly man's scooter dies on him, string-played non-diegetic sound is heard being played in the background, again emphasising his sorrow and making the audience feel guilty. This is accompanied by the fact a group shot is used displaying four youths giggling and laughing at the fact that the man is now helpless. A close up of the elderly man portrays his facial expression as being one of despair and sadness, something that around the world is socially seen as bad or horrible, especially if the person involved is elderly. The shot then dissolves to a long shot of the man struggling to push his scooter along the road as well as the following shot being of him struggling to get his scooter in his front garden, again making the audience sympathise with the man. The next shot (long shot) shows a new character, a young teenage boy (probably around the age of 13) standing at the window watching the man struggle, with his facial expression suggesting a sense of heartbreak. However notice at this point that the boy is holding a remote control car and a screwdriver in the other, possibly indicating how he might contribute to the film. String instruments are then used to show the emotional factor of the situation; this makes the audience become aware of the boy's behavior, and so they become instantly warmed to his attitude and caring side, and so he becomes the main protagonist... with the youths being potential antagonists.The following shot is a dolly shot, gradually zooming in on the elderly man who hears a banging coming from outside and so assumes it is the troublesome youths from earlier in the film. However when the man goes to open the door, the mid shot shows his facial expression changing into a much more happy one, looking shocked by the fact that the young boy appears to be fixing his scooter. At one point, a shot reverse shot shows the instant connection the young boy now has with the man, coming across as if it was his grandchild helping out. The audience immediately understands the connection and become attached to this emotional state created by the producer, again following closely to the connotations of the family genre. Note the clothing both characters are wearing, both wearing clothing that tie into the conventions of the genre.
Suddenly, however, the scene and atmosphere changes in the film when the elderly man approaches the young boy and shakes his hand. Accompanying this is the introduction of the Mission Impossible soundtrack; a non-diegetic soundtrack famously known and associated with the action and adventure genre. This typically opposes the social realism of the scene as well as the characters, as both characters' ages aren't associated with roles that are all impact, all action type of roles, and so this opens up the film a bit more, keeping the audience entertained. A selection of fast-paced close up shots show both the characters picking up tools and fixing different parts of the scooter until a final shot of the young boy welding metal together brings the shots to an end before it fades to black. The shot is then reintroduced with a close up of one of the youths faces, looking down at a phone before briefly looking up and looking back down again before double-taking and looking back up again.
His face suggests that he is astounded by what he is seeing and so he nudges his mates to also look up with him, in addition to a group shot. They look up and are all seen standing there, mouths dropped in awe of what they're seeing. The scene continues with a long shot that pans up to face the elderly man who is now driving his shop mobility scooter again, however this time the scooter appears to have flames on the side of it, and so the audience assumes that this is the work done by the young boy and that the youths are shocked by this; or perhaps of because it is so unusual to see this is reality. Again, at this point the audience recognises the fact that the non-diegetic sound has now changed to a more upbeat, happy sounding track, and that the weather outside is a lot brighter, again connoting happiness. A light sense of humour is then briefly introduced when a mid shot pans past these two elderly women as they stand in awe, suggesting that he is driving past them, and attracting them, before they both wink and get flustered by him. By including this it helps to entertain the audiences experience of the film as well as falling into the general semantic codes of the genre. 
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