The Truants

1. Kieran Morris
The Truants:Analysis
Credits: The film review begins by stating the names
of actors and the director. The audience may use this
information to make a decision on whether to watch
the film or read the article; especially if they are
interested in a particular actor or the director and
their previous movies. Credits to the director and
stars and there previous work has been used in
order to attract people to watch the film, especially if
they have watched any films associated with these
stars before. However, for readers who haven’t seen
any of the stars work, they may gain the impression
that the drama is of a high quality due to references
to exceptional performances previously. The
‘newcomers’ Trueman and Halstead are also
referenced as new child stars which suggests they
provide an outstanding performance for their first
film.
Information about Narrative:
Throughout the article, the audience are provided
with some brief information about the short films
narrative. This includes with a brief statement about
where the film is set: ‘Alike his previous effort, The
Truants is set in Blackburn’. Blackburn is often
stereotyped in the media as a deprived area,
whereby many people are unemployed and children
struggle to perform well at school. This links to the
images provided in the review, in which the mise-en-
scene of the scruffy uniform suggests they are not
hard-working. The mise-en-scene of the tyres further
suggests the boy’s social class, suggesting they live
in poverty and are not well-supported by their parents
to perform well at school or behave appropriately.
Graphology and Imagery: Whilst the review itself is the main bulk of the article, imagery is also used
to instantly catch the readers’ eye and influences them to read the article. The film poster uses a red
colour scheme and image filter, showing two young boys standing on tyres in a rural area. The mise-
en-scene of the scruffy school uniform instantly suggests that the youths are mischievous and are not
committed to school work. This clearly links to the title of the film ‘The Truants’, implying that the boys
don’t attend school in order to carry out rebellious acts of behaviour. By using the boys in promotional
campaign, the audience are more likely to watch the film as they will have a greater understanding of
the narrative and will intend on finding out more. This links to the theory of Stanley Cohen, who
suggests that drama involving teenagers is often successful due to the bad behaviour and
entertainment they bring to older audiences. By placing the poster in the film review, the audience are
more likely to watch the film due to having a visual representation of the short film and its characters.
The mise-en-scene of a dump site and electricity pylon may also imply that the film is set in a lower-
class area of Britain. A medium close-up shot of the two boys is also used later in the article which
juxtaposes from the shot used in the poster; implying they are naïve and are not looked after. This
creates a feeling of empathy and the audience are therefore more likely to watch the short film.