Learner response to mest 1 exam

The Grade: 29-C

WWW:A solid set of well-organised that mainly focus on the questions. You are not far off the top grades.

EBI: Lack of depth and detail is keeping you out of the top grades. Need wide variety of responses with detailed responses to the text.

Question 3 re-write:

Family is represented as a seatbelt as they physically act to save the man by wrapping their arms around him but this is also an emotional seatbelt as they will stay with him as comfort for after the crash.

Furthermore, gender stereotypes are seen in this clip with the male of the family driving the car and the two females taking a back seat and ending up saving him. Moreover, Richard Dyers power stereotyping theory is also applicable to this clip as there is no real negative stereotype against the white male driving the car. This is also seen as quite traditional with families all over the globe with the father driving and accompanied by a partner and child who protect each other.

Another, way that family is represented in the clip is by being portrayed as protection. This is evident when the wife and daughter both wrap their arms in around the father/husbands body. This personification of the hands being represented as seatbelts really delivers a strong message to the consumer/audience who watch this video/clip. This clip follows Dyers family line of appeal as the audience will feel as if they want to be protected by family and this falls under the category of family in the 13 lines of appeal. Moreover, the clip counters the stereotype as it is the man who is being saved by the woman and girl. Traditionally, in the stereotypes, it is the man who is the saviours, but in this clip it is the women who are saving the man. In addition, the young wears a 'fairy' outfit which connotes that she's the rescuer who is going to save the man. Overall, the clip represents family as a form of unity and holds a strong bond with one another.

ill manours TRAILER review

1) Trailer conventions
-Institutional information, actors/directors, studio/production company
- Title (at end of the film) also the release date
-narrative-disequilibrium, characters
-action sequences/ dramatic moments, action codes
-voice over/ text on screen to establish narrative
-promotional information via social media links
-reviews and quotes
-tag line

2) How are trailers distributed
- typically we can see trailers being shown in cinemas before films but now-a-days trailers are shown and shared via social media such as links on twitter and instagram directing you to you tube video. Also trailers are shown via adverts in between tv shows.

3) How does the Ill Manors trailer use trailer conventions?
-The ill manors trailer features several conventions such as review quotes eg: from 'Time out' also it features the may of the characters but none in detail and it throws the audience off a bit by showing more about 'Kurby and Chris' but in the actual film Ed and Aron are the main protagonists. Moreover, there are many action codes with guns being pointed at different people. There are also social Media links shown at the end as well as the release date. Dialogue from the film is also used to give the audience a better understanding of the narrative.

4)Who is the target audience? Does it have a unique selling point or use particular techniques to appeal to the audience? Consider the way the scenes are edited together – does the trailer give away any clues about the narrative? Are the main stars visible in the trailer? Is there information about the director of the film? Is there information about the release date? Is a narrator’s voice-over used? Why?

-(some points mentioned in previous bullet point) the target audience would be from 16 although the film is rated 18 the violence would attract a younger teenage audience. In terms of the narrative the trailer doesn't give much away as the different scenes are put together in a montage and the audience doesn't understand the connection between the scenes just from the trailer. Plan B's music is played in the background which is kind of a narrative because the songs relate to the film.In my opinion I think that the target audience for this film trailer should be between 13-30, however it may not be suitable for the younger ages as their is a lot of gratuitous violence and inappropriate scenes and themes including the prostitution side of the film, gang culture/violence and drug abuse. For these reason I would expect the BBFC rating would be at least an 18 rating, this would be based on the sexual references, violence and frequent bad language.

Almost all of the main characters and ones featured in the film are in the trailer, making it hard to see who would be the protagonist, however the use of slow-motion and super 8 editing on some of the clips could have been used to show some of the main characters in more detail and their past. I think that the unique selling point (USP) for this film is that it is relate-able and endorsed by celebrities such as Plan B, the director of the film. This would also help appeal to the films specific target audiences as Plan B is successful in the eyes of young teens and adults who follow his music.
5) How has the genre of the film been represented through characters, settings, lighting, colour, music/dialogue, camera shots/movements/angles and editing?

- The genre of the film is modern/urban crime and with it being urban its set in the most densely populated cities in England-London. It focuses more on the backstreets of  London which help emphasise the genre. Furthermore, various social classes are represented here with canary wharf being seen in the distance of several shots suggesting people in the a/b bracket are separated from people in the c1 bracket, and this is where the film is set in council estates. Also the council estates reinforce the genre of modern crime because the media often associates crime to be sourced from low-income areas which although does occur is exaggerated.

Moreover, the dialogue is significant in establishing the genre because the colloquial language of east London is specific to that area and makes it seem more urban and authentic. Also, the film addresses many modern issues through the dialogue and filming such as prostitution and poverty. The colours are simple with mainly dark colours produced from a constant gloomy sky. Also,  in the film trailer we see the use of many close-ups, for example the close up of the cocaine which is edited in a which show off how someone may feel after taking it as it looked quite grainy almost like a super 8 film. Also there is some black and white footage in the trailer, this then leaves the audience to speculate what the genre could be as it would've been a new twist on a modern crime dramas.

Institutional context

1) There are several tests needed before a film can culturally class as British:  Cultural context eg, If the film is set in the UK, cultural contribution so reflecting British culture, cultural hubs so the post-production will be British such as the music and cultural practitioners, which include screenwriters and producers being British.

3.The main problem for the British film industry is that British film distributors cannot afford to finance and provide synergy for the film so they may then end up becoming bankrupt. Bigger Hollywood distributors are able to sell the film in North America and internationally as they are usually part of a conglomerate so can provide synergy between businesses. Also, big named American actors are drafted in so that there is an appeal for people to watch the films even though they are British.



4.The three strengths of the British Film industry is that they have outstanding facilities and that is has outstanding creative skills presented from its Directors, this is evident from films like Twelve years a slave which was directed by someone British



5.As funding is hard to come by British film productions may have to co-produce their films with American companies in-order to get the essential funding and distribution needed. They may also need to produce smaller budget films aimed at a primarily British nice audiences for it to show off cultural balance and typical British societies.



6.If the British film industry were to side with their American counterparts then i believe some spectacular Hollywood like action films may be produced but they may also want to show off of Britains typical cultures that the rest of the world want to see, such as our Royalty and old heritage.

film review

Review

(film planning not posting)

Ill Manor is an Urban-crime drama set in East London, there are two central protagonists, Ed Skrein 

and Riz Ahemd. Specifically in East London it was set in Forest Green which made a suitable location to film because of the dilapidated buildings and streets alike.  The film was written and directed by musician Plan B who had previously written a film called ‘Michelle’ which was about the prostitute who acted in the feature length version ‘Ill Manors’. This film also has a tracklist created by plan B.

Ill Manors starts with a drug deal and just drugs in general being shown throughout the film. Ed and Riz are on a corner selling drugs when the police intervene and Ed is kept over night in a cell, Although the Police were prevalent at the beginning throughout the rest of the movie they cease to exist until the end when the Russians are raided by armed police. For many people in Britain who live normal lives they wouldn’t have seen drugs being sold or used and for a small (ish) area, drug use is a little exaggerated. This is also the case for the amount of violence and gun crime, seeming as firearms are illegal to own in the UK a lot of people seem to have them as though they are toys. The film is said to reflect social-realism, granted in many scenes it does however the violence is over-exaggerated for a London area.

The film has an accompanying soundtrack with 28 songs all created by director Plan B. The songs that feature in the movie were explicitly created for it and the lyrics talk about the events going on in the scene in a little more detail than what the scene will initially give. The film was inspired by the London riots in 2011 which were very vivid and this gave the writer lots to put in the script as well as the songs. The album is a ‘cross promotion’ with the film because plan B’s musical audience are being pointed towards his film and the people watching his film are being directed towards his music.

The film is fairly low budget but managed to rake in a profit of over £400,000 in the 8 weeks that it was in the British box-office. Plan B managed to save money by hiring some pretty un-heard of cast members, there was only a couple of actors that have a higher profile- Riz Ahmed who has featured in many other films such as nightcrawler ect… and Ed Skreins who his plan B’s childhood friend and acted in a short film made by plan B prior to Ill Manors. Theses two actors were also the main protagonists and throughout the film the audiences opinion changes of them as in the beginning Ed can be seen as a villain and a thug but towards the end the audiemce will be more sympathetic towards his as he gives his own life to save a babies life. Moreover, throughout the film Aron played by Riz is seen as a compassionate ‘drug dealer’ as where others may not think twice about doing something wrong Riz would do the opposite as he felt sorry for the girl being prostituted and took care for the baby when the mother left it on the train, and despite selling it (which was as a result of Ed)  he went back to retrieve it which shows to the audience that he has a sense of right and wrong.

The target audience for this film, in my opinion would be from 15-25 despite it being rated an 18 by the bbfc. It was also made for an Art house audience but not a typical middle class/ middle aged white audience but a newer type of audience who could relate to the situations in the film. It may be equally suitable for male and female, however it may be a more predominantly male audience due to the violence and rap music which is usually associated with boys. This film is also more suited for a British audience as it is a fully British film and funded by British money (Micro Wave films London).Audiences may also see London of a place to avoid, this is because there were various shots of characters around the new olympic park in 2012 (the time that it was filmed) so people may have been put off to see how much violence there actually was around a highly protected sporting event.

BFI factsheet

1) A British film is made of things not wholeheartedly British but contains mostly of things that are, for instance a film does not need to be filmed entirely in Britain but needs to contain a British cast and crew, including director and funding.

2) The most significant difference between 'hollywood' and a British production would be the budget as Hollywood films would have a large budget whereas a British production would typically have a much lower budget.

3) The James Bond franchise started in the 1960's.

4) From the 70's and 80's sexual content became much more prominent in British films and as a result censorship in the forms of age ratings dependent on the violence and sexual content.

5) In British film youth are regularly represented typically in a council housing estate and gang related, this is evident in films such as 'attack the block'. Moreover women are frequently mentioned in British film often in a sexual way for instance in 'confessions of a window cleaner'.

6) The factsheet implies that people may want to view British film for British culture as they can almost see an interpretation of their own lives in the film.