Research task - Lou-Lou lives here - By Hazel Grian (2003) By Maiken Davidson

1) The style used here is hazy and dark, this could be seen as it's from the dogs POV using monotone colours and sounds that have been dubbed. The themes and issues raised in this dark tale is that young girls should walk alone, especially in the countryside or in deserted areas, when a man starts to follow her, however it takes a spin when you believe that the young girl has more too her then what meets the eye.

The mise en scene used is simple but effective, the setting is in a typical British countryside, and the young girl is dressed in feminine clothes (a dress), however she seems to be doing unfeminine things like kicking and inspecting closely to a dead rabbit. We don't really get to see the man that is following her, but we think of him as the protagonist by the way the camera catches the white van, his footsteps and the way he moves and the young girls reaction to him.

I would genre is a mystery and a thriller, as it keeps you raising questions but also has aspects of thriller.

2) 'Lou-Lou lives here' is unique because of the way it uses camerawork and editing, you get close-ups of the young girls face and parts of her body and the dog, you closes up of its face and legs when it runs. They use many dissolves and fades, that crossover, making it more unique and individual. They uses clever ways, such as when the girl and dog running, just dissolves into the dog running, giving us the impression that, that is her dark secret.

3) In 'Lou-Lou lives here' doesn't have an exact narrative structure, where you would usually be introduced to the characters and then the setting, then have chaos, something that ruins the equilibum (disequilibum), and then completely resolved at the end, however 'Lou-Lou' doesn't do this, you are still asking questions, therefore this doesn’t fit into Todorovs theory.

4) The use of sound is very muffled, however there is a lot of outdoors sounds like the sounds of birds, leaves rustling etc, this bring some realism to the piece as we can identify it to be outside. Other than that, we hear the man speak once, however its muffled, which makes us ask the question is this what the dog is hearing, as he appears in the next clip.

5) The film seems to be about a young girl walking alone in the countryside and the dangers that can happen. Though it causes confusion to the audience when we start to see a dog replace the girl with the effect of dissolves, raising questions about what and who the main character actually is.