''This Is England'86'' (Shane Meadows)

The director Shane Meadows is mostly know for his drama ''This Is England'86'' which currently being shown on Channel 4. Through this drama Meadows was able to show off his talent and create more opportunities in the industry shooting films such as:

• A Room for Romeo Brass (1999)
• Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002)
• Dead Man's Shoes (2004) around his home town of Nottingham

The police Interrogation short ''Where's the Money, Ronnie?'' helped Meadows to secure funding for his first ever feature ''Twenty Four Seven'' (1997) Shane Meadows was kicked out of college for financial reasons and he was supposed to be doing a job to pay his debts off, however Shane ended up doing volunteer work at a film center in Nottingham. One summer Shane Meadows was on his own therefore he got a camera and started acting in front of it and making this very early, clumsy version of ''Where's the Money, Ronnie?'' and after he edited the footage and putted the whole thing together. He said '' I worked outside of the radar, really. I made mistakes but at least they were mistakes that I was comfortable with.'

How is the directors style shown?

He has his own style. He uses sound non-diegetic sound which really compliments what we see in the shot such as: characters mood and their facial expressions. He creates the mood and atmosphere he wants really clearly which I think that's why his drama is such a success in the industry. The other thing I like about his style is when you watching ''This is England'86'' by the use of different range of shots really makes you feel the way the characters feel therefore target audience can really relate to this drama because it has this realism.Judging on his drama ''This Is England'86'' you can denote that the director (Shane Meadows) Also he has a very clear meaning through his shots and they are easy to understand as he don't use dialogue for some shots.

What have you learnt about how these shorts were made?

What I learnt about his drama which I think will really help me with my short film is the shots and to think about what meaning do they have and will make me question myself are they really needed? what are they telling the audience?. The other thing is the sound as in my short film I won't be able to use dialogue therefore I have to pick the right sound to set the mood and the atmosphere in the shots and make sure that my message is clear of what I want them to understand or feel.

How have shorts captured the audience?

Judging on his drama which talked about could capture the audience in many ways. One of the ways the effective shots and the sound which they go together really create that emotional atmosphere which we can see throughout the sequence. Other people may be interested because they love dramas and they are fans so therefore there is already target audience out there. The other way as the drama has real life situations audience could relate to a specific character also there are variety of shots in the drama therefore it could capture people through technological side.

About the director:

• English film director and screenwriter
• Occasional actor
• BAFTA winner
• He made roughly 30 short films, he could not show these films to anyone because there were no film festivals in his area.His friends started one in the local cinema which became popular with the town.