Research Task - Eight - By Stephen Daldry (1998) By Maiken Davidson

1) The opening shot is a medium shot of a young boy, he's standing on a deserted beach shouting 'My Name is Jonathan and I am 8', you then see him one along the beach with a plastic sheet. You can tell that he is a football fan, as his shirt says 'Liverpool FC' on it and coloured red by pen, he also kicks and red and white football - the colour red is apparent in this film. Jonathan is the main character, he talks about his father a lot, he has his best friend who he watches old football tapes, and his mother who is very sad and depressed, we find out the reason why later on into the film.

2) This film is unique as it only has the one main character who is a child, who narrates the whole thing, its of his life over a couple of days, it's very child-like in some ways but it's very sad, there is no bright colours at all apart from the red, the colour is in tone with the film.

3) The whole film is narrated by Jonathan, there is not real structure to the story, just an eight year old boy talking, he speaks child-like about his father, 'my dad's a train driver', 'my dads an astronaut', he obviously idolises him, he doesn't understand why his mum doesn't like him having an interest in football. As a child would, he is very revealing about his world and the people around him, which makes you as an audience to feel desperately sad when you realise his father is dead. We get hints that his father died in Hillsborough Disaster, hence why his mum doesn't like him having an interest in football. 'Eight' ends with Jonathan singing 'You'll never walk alone' which is Liverpool FC anthem, his football team and possibility his father who he would have seen at Hillsborough.

4) As Jonathan is at the beach a lot of the time, you get to hear the sound of the wind, which is effective with the story he is telling.

5) Themes raised in this film, is football. The good side of it, young boys dreams and hopes but also the down side to it, as you believe that his father died in the Hillsborough disaster. As an audience you feel very emotional, as he is very open about his mother being sad, and as he talks about his father you think he is just out of the picture, until near the end when he says he is dead. This film shows britishness as football here has a big following.