Ben Mongardini - Mixtape Audience

Mixtape shows a young love brewing between Ben and Lily, who both appear to be roughly 10-13 years old. The plot follows Ben as he gives a mixtape to Lily with several songs from the 60s and 70s they both enjoy. However only two are played. ‘Crazy on you’ by Heart and ‘I wonder where my baby is tonight’ by The Kinks.

The most obvious demographic is the 12-17yrs male and female because of the two leads being in that age group. They are clearly good friends and are very joyful together, even with the wall that is between them in this short. As indicated by the dialogue and the scene locations, they spend a lot of time together presumably playing. They are shown in rather classical and stereotypical ways for the 60s and 70s. Boy makes gift, Girl receives gift, possible romantic seeds sown. This is not exactly a negative stereotype, it just is no longer accurate as a way to spur romantic interests. However, placing this short film somewhere in time is somewhat tricky. Having it in modern day would appeal to the younger generation’s (12-17yrs) interests of their parent’s culture when they were that age. However, if the setting is in the 80s would still appeal to the current younger generation, but also to their parents (35-44MF & 45-54MF yrs) as they would feel nostalgia for their childhood. In reality, either time setting would work with both demographics simply because of the short film’s plot. However because both Ben and Lily have cassette players and cassettes started to become popular in the 80s, I believe them to be roughly in this time.

They appear to be in a middle class in England, judging by their accents, belongings and decorated conjoined houses. As it happens, this is the largest social class in the UK making up 25% of the population. This would be a good class to focus on if only one could be represented. People would see themselves more and more as the characters, making them feel more like a part of the story. Additionally, there are more clues that connote the characters being middle class. Their attire; Ben wearing a checkered shirt with grey jeans and Lily a white t-shirt with a pink checkered skirt. They are fashionable for their time and age. Their activities also connote middle class. Lily has dance lessons and Ben listens to popular music, making mixtapes of it for his friends.