GABRIELLA'S MEDIA BLOG

G321 Foundation Production – Evaluation

2009-03-04T05:25:00.000-08:00

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

For our thriller opening, we wanted to take the idea of a chase, which would hook the audience, and twist it to fit it into our sub genre of psychological thriller. We took the idea of a chase from films such as ‘Vertigo’ and ‘Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ which we watched as part of our thriller research. The chase is a classic thriller signifier, especially at the opening of the film as it immediately creates mystery and intrigue and always makes the audience wonder what will happen next. It also creates a fast pace to the film. To create the setting for our chase, we based our thriller in a vast open space instead of a city to create the mystery of what the character could be running away from. To challenge the genre conventions, we also used a female to play the main role, as they do in films such as ‘Kill Bill’ and ‘Jackie Brown’. However, we did stick to certain thriller conventions such as the weather being stormy and rainy. This interlocks with the idea that the weather represents how our character feels inside; the rain and stormy weather shows that she is upset, confused and frustrated.
With our thriller film, we wanted to move away from the idea of classic ‘gangster’ thrillers and move more towards the idea of a psychological twist. To achieve this effect, we knew we would have to come up with a story line which featured fewer issues about the stereotypical thriller ideas such as drugs and violence and instead, include more about how the mind works, and the way that people interact with each other such as in the ‘The Machinist’. We wanted to give the audience something to think about instead of letting them watch simple actions occurring on the screen which is a technique often used in the mainstream thriller films. If a film makes you think, you are more likely to remember it, which is often what makes a successful film. We were aware that the thriller opening had to be thrilling and intriguing so we created a scene which would puzzle the viewers in a way which would let them form their own ideas about what was actually taking place, and they would therefore want to continue watching, to see if their assumptions were correct.
We used a long shot of a plane flying past to show that 'Grace' was being searched for, we managed to do this because the location we filmed in had planes frequently flying past. During audience feedback, some audience members commeted on the fact that they did not quite understand this shot and thought it was irrelevant to the plot. However, we felt it was revelant to show that it was important for 'Grace' to be found so we decided not to take this section of footage out.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our film focused on the feelings of a young girl who had escaped from a mental institution. This is hard to relate to a social group as people of her mentality are often hidden from society. We decided not to make it perfectly clear that the girl had escaped from a mental home, but instead gave subtle hints, such as her costume of white clothes to show what she had been wearing at the time of escaping and showing a short clip of a plane passing through the sky, searching for her to suggest that it is of vast importance that she is found. We hoped to show to the audience that they could relate to the character in the way that she is a person and has feelings just as everybody else does, even if she does not think in the same way as them. We wanted to get across to the audience that the mental institution would not have recognised her as a person, but as just another patient. The white clothing was a visual element which we used to show how Grace stands apart from society and would not simply fit into a normal community because she is not accepted.
We created the character ‘Grace’ in the hope that the audience would see her as a strong enough character to be the main protagonist of the film. We ignored the thriller idea of the classic ‘Femme Fatale’ and instead gave her the slightly run down image, so she would not, at first glance, appear desirable. We did this so we could focus on her strong characteristics instead of the way she looks, as women are often only recognised for the way they look in thrillers.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our thriller would probably be distributed as an ‘arthouse film’. This is due to the fact that it has a very specific target audience, appealing mainly to woman aged from 15 – 30 due to the gender and young age of the main protagonist and would probably not be thought of as a film which would appeal so much to mainstream cinema goers. It would be shown in cinemas such as ‘Cinema City’ and may be shown several time in mainstream cinemas such as ‘Vue’ and ‘The Odeon’. A distributor who was looking for arty, slightly unusual films would want to distribute out thriller.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

As mentioned in my audience profile (part of method 2), the age demographic for our thriller would be 15 – 30. This is because the character is 17 years old and the younger audience members would be able to relate to her more than the older audience members. Female audience members would definitely be drawn to the film as, even in contemporary thrillers; it is quite rare to see a female main protagonist. Due to the age demographic, audience members are likely to be at sixth form, college, university or aspiring to go to university, as was revealed in a questionnaire we took. Audience members who take an interest in music and/or photography may be interested in our thriller as it contains many well thought out shots in which the Mise en scene was focused on until perfected.

How did you attract/address your audience?

As with films such as ‘Kill Bill’ and ‘Jackie Brown’, our main character is female. We decided to apply this slightly unusual aspect to our thriller because we felt that the audience would be able to get a better understanding of the character’s feeling, thoughts and reasons for actions if the character was female, as this gender (mostly) is able to display their feelings more than males do.
So as not to discourage male audience members viewing our film, we used an attractive girl to play the character of Grace, but she was not portrayed in a way which would seem fake or too ‘made-up’. This was done to keep the interest of the male audience in a way which would still let them focus on the storyline instead of focusing on the way the character looks.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have learnt how much work and concentration goes into making a thriller opening despite whether it ends up successful or not. I now know that it takes a huge amount of planning and dedication to continue working on the film until you have finally got it exactly how you want it and how you think the audience will want it. We needed to plan the exact dates and times of shooting, dates of meeting schedules, and each and every prop that needed to be taken to each shooting date. We were able to make use of our basic filming skills and to develop them into more advanced skills that managed to portray how we wanted our film to look. I have learnt how to use ‘Adobe premier Elements 1.0’ to edit our thriller successfully in a way that is satisfactory. My knowledge of how to use this editing software grew as we went on making the thriller opening. I now know how to upload our footage onto the programme, how to cut up each section and rearrange it to achieve the desired effect, how to slow down and speed up sections of footage which really helped with the section where ‘Grace’ fell. We had to slow down this section to make it obvious to the audience that she had fallen and injured herself. We learnt how to apply effects to the transactions of different clips. In particular, we applied the fade in effect when the camera circled Grace as she looked around for a place to run to show her confusion. Each time we showed a different clip with this fade in effect, we also slightly darkened the clip to show that time had passed and that the sky was getting darker.
We were not confident in using this programme at the start of the year as it would have been too difficult for teachers to show us how to use each and every effect. We had to experiment with certain effects which worked well, and we would have had to do this even if we had known how to use the programme, to check what looked good.

Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

During the preliminary task, my group worked on grasping the simple techniques that we knew we would need when making our thriller opening. We used the tripod to hold the camera still whilst filming long shots and to keep the camera still when we needed a steady shot. Before we were given the time in the preliminary task to practise these skills, we were unsure of how to even attach the camera to the tripod. We learnt continuity skills which was extremely helpful as none of the thriller openings would have made sense if the actions of the characters did not match up. We had to work hard in editing the thriller to make sure that everything ran smoothly. In some instances, this was not necessary as we would cut to a completely different clip and it was obvious to the audience that time had passed between the two clips, and that the character had travelled to a different place.

MORE SHOTS

2009-03-02T05:02:00.000-08:00

We used several shots in this scene to create a sense that time had passed between each shot. We made the shots fade into each other, and the lighting became darker in each one showing that the character had been standing, looking around for a long period of time. We think this idea worked well as it gives the clear impression of her time running out and the audience become aware that as soon as it gets very dark, Grace will be in an even worse situation.
We felt that the location of our thriller worked well with the issues we were trying to portray. The large outdoor spaces created a feeling of loneliness and managed to represent how the character felt in her mind. The trees looked eerie and spiderlike as they had no leaves on and let the audience understand the characters fear of her surroundings. The surrounding contrasted greatly with the character, Grace, as she wore white clothes and seemed very innocent compared to the cruel looking background.
The colour theme of our thriller was blue, to show the coldness of the issues that we were putting forward. This colour best represented how there was absolutely no warmth or happiness in the situation that took place in the thriller opening. The colour also represented what life inside the institution would have been like; dull, cold and colourless.

SHOTS

2009-02-26T03:47:00.000-08:00

This is the opening shot of our thriller films. We faded this shot in from a black screen to make it almost seem as if the character has just opened her eyes and somehow found herself in the position she’s in, in the middle of a strange and unfamiliar field. Her hair is wet and her face is red and dirty, suggesting that she has been running for a long time and that it was raining. We decided to shoot this scene when it was raining, as heavy rain is a classic thriller signifier and it added to the desperation of the character’s escape. We were pleased with this shot as it turned out exactly how we had first pictured it, it creates mystery and intrigue. The Mise en scene turned out just right; the shot always included the leafless trees with tangled branches behind the character which connotes that a lot of confusion is going on within the character’s mind. The sky was white/blue which worked in the same way as the character’s outfit does and also shows the coldness of her journey.

This shot showed the character running away into a vanishing point to show that she does not know where she’s going, or where she’ll end up. We decided to make the font of the credits In ‘Courier New’ as it created a clinical look, as if it was the font they use to print onto the sheets which display patient’s illnesses. We chose for the titles to be white so they stood out from the surrounding and fitted in with what the character is wearing to show that she belongs where the writing belongs; in the mental hospital.

Method 4 (marked)

2009-02-11T06:43:00.001-08:00

Method 2 (marked)

2009-02-11T06:39:00.001-08:00

Final Thriller

2009-02-11T03:00:00.001-08:00

Continuity Task

2009-02-05T05:15:00.000-08:00

We decided to film our continuity task in the girl's toilets at school. We thought of a simple storyline in order to make the clip more interesting to watch.
For the first shot, we used a close up of high heeled shoes, using a tri-pod to keep the shot steady and tilting the camera down so we could get the shoes in the shot whilst the character was walking down the hallway. We then filmed a shot of the long corridor, which ends in a vanishing point, with the actor right at the end. She begins to walk towards the camera, we then cut to the same girl but she is now halfway down the corridor. She walks for a couple of seconds then we cut again to the girl even closer to the camera. We do this to show that time has passed and we do not show the actor walking all the way down the corridor in real time, because it would get boring to watch. The camera follows the girl as she turns the corner; we then filmed a shot to show her pushing open the door. This worked well because we managed to get a fluent, realistic shot change.
The next shot was filmed into the mirror. We did this because we could see the girl coming in through the door, which was actually hidden around a corner. We could also see the second girl in what was almost an over the shoulder shot. We then show a shot as if the camera is the mirror. We propped the camera up in the sink. This gave a really interesting shot, especially as the colour of the overall shot seemed blue, and this added to the idea of the camera being a glassy mirror. When the two girls leave the girl’s toilets, the screen is left with a shot of three cubicles. I think this shot is very effective. It is split into the three sections of the separate cubicles and seems oddly empty without the dialogue or action.

Audience Profile (Method 2)

2009-02-03T13:55:00.000-08:00

AGE

The age group for the target audience for my thriller film will range from 15 to 30 years olds. People from an older age group may want to view the film but the reason for this age demographic is that the actress in our film is 17 years old and therefore the younger audience will be able to relate to her character more than the older audience. The film would be rated as a 15 and would therefore be played after the 9 o’clock watershed to prevent viewers of a younger age watching the film.

GENDER

Unusually, our thriller will appeal more to a female audience than a male audience. The only character to appear in the opening sequence of our thriller is female. The 2 minute opening scene features only her and this firmly establishes her as the main role. This would possibly put off some male members of the audience as thrillers are often (but not always) dominated by male roles. Another reason for the majority of the audience to be women is that the thriller we have constructed is a psychological thriller and does not/would not contain the same sort of scenes as, for example, a thriller about gangsters would and would therefore not attract as many male audience members.

OCCUPATION

The majority of audience members will be students at sixth forms, colleges and universities. Again, this is due to the age of the girl playing the lead role. The thriller is aimed to be more of an art house thriller film than main stream and this should therefore appeal to an audience which will appreciate the composition of the mise on scene and the overall effect of the film such as photographers and artists.

ETHNICITY

The ethnicity of the audience for our thriller films will hopefully be completely mixed. The main character is white, Caucasian but hopefully the race of the main actor would not determine the audience’s decisions on whether or not to view the film. Later on in the film, in scenes with many people, actors who are different races would feature to give a realistic interpretation of contemporary Britain.

ASPIRATIONS

A high percentage of the audience members which attend sixth form will be aspiring to go to university as it showed from the questionnaire that was taken. The film is non fiction but the themes are based around people with mental disabilities and therefore, audience members who aspire to be doctors or helpers for mental patients may find the film interesting to watch as it relates to their abilities.

INTERESTS

A song which is performed on acoustic guitar is played all throughout our thriller opening and therefore, audience members with an interest in music would be intrigued by this aspect of the film, especially as the calm music contrasts with the panicked motions of the main character. The thriller includes some interesting shots, for example, a worm’s eye view of the sky through a lot of tangles tree branches. This creates the feeling of confusion and frustration as it as the intertwining branches resemble a vast spider’s web. This type of shot could attract audience members who are interested in photography.

SIMILAR FILMS

In preparation for the making of the thriller films, one of the thrillers we watched was ‘The Butterfly Effect’ because it had a psychological theme running through it. ‘Identity’ was another which had the same theme but seemed to involve a lot more violence than we wanted to incorporate into ours. Audience members who enjoy the psychological thrillers more than the conventional thrillers would want to view our particular thriller film.

Method 2 (improved)

2009-02-03T06:53:00.000-08:00

The Butterfly Effect

2009-02-03T06:43:00.001-08:00

As part of our thriller research, my group watched 'The Butterfly Effect' because it is a psychological thriller and we wanted to see how these types of thriller openings differed from those of classic thrillers. The first shot shows the figure of a man walking behind open blinds. He walks slowly and carefully and it seems obvious that he is attempting to move quietly without being noticed. Once he gets to the door of the office, he kicks it open and hurriedly pushes a small, leather sofa in front of the door to prevent anyone from getting in. He then grabs a box, paper and pen and hides under the office desk. He writes a note, speaking the words out loud as he writes; ‘If anyone finds this, it means my plan didn't work and I'm already dead. But if I can somehow go back to the beginning of all of this, I might be able to save her.’ This immediately creates mystery for the audience as the note contains a lot of interesting things. First of all, it includes the idea that the main character, Ashton Kutcher, may die.

Feedback

2009-02-03T05:07:00.000-08:00

Our Thriller film was shown to the media class. 14 people watched the films and filled out evaluation forms so my group were able to see what we could improve on. I added all of the scores for each question together, and divided them by the number of answered evaluation sheets to find the average. These were the results:

1. Holding a shot steady: 8.6

2. Framing shot and choosing what to
include in the shot and choosing what to leave out: 8.75

3. Using a variety of shot distances: 9

4. Shooting material that is appropriate
to the opening of a thriller film
(was there evidence of thriller signifiers): 7.6

5. Selecting Mise en scene to create particular effects: 8.5

6. Editing so that meaning is clear to the viewer
(was there a readable narrative: 7.5

7. Using varied shot transitions and other
effects appropriately: 8

8. Using sound with images and editing
sound effectively: 8.4

Films Exhibited in Norwich

2009-01-18T11:24:00.000-08:00

8th - 9th November
66% USA
19.9% USA/UK (co Productions)
14.3% UK
0% Other Countries

Problems With The Thriller

2009-01-07T06:51:00.000-08:00

There was a delay in the the beginning of the filming of our thriller film, consequently we began to look for music on http://www.unsignedbandweb.com/ which let us download free, uncopyrighted music. We then found a song that we felt would add a lot more meaning to our piece. The music is fairly slow, played by acoustic guitar. Although we were pleased with this music, we were aware that we would have to think about our storyboard more in order to add more depth to it. This led to more problems as we had to think up new events for the opening of the film. Previously, we had decided to show clips of a girl panicking whilst running through fields, we would would later show clips of her, having been beaten up, tied up and left in a white room. This was supposed to be the girl's flashback. However, having found our music, we realised that the second section would not fit in so well.

What difficulties/ problems did we encounter?
Before we filmed our thriller opening, we looked on several websites to see what kind of music we wanted to use. After listening to several upbeat songs which would have fitted with a scene that included a high speed chase (the affect we thought we wanted), we then listened to a slow, calm piece of music written by Sylvan Young and played on acoustic guitar. We realised that this gave more depth to our opening as it represented how the character was not running away because she had done something wrong, but because she was scared and alone and knew she had to find a safe place. The music lets the audience relate to the character as they are able to get closer to her. Realising that we had found the right music for our thriller, we also understood that we would need to change the storyline slightly. This is because the previous storyline, including flashbacks and bright flashes of light, seemed trivial and we no longer wanted to display a simple message to the audience. Once realising al of this, we then had to change the storyline so that it would complement the music and continue to create mystery for the audience.
For our opening, we wanted specific weather conditions; these included heavy rain and a dark, cloudy sky. The first time we shot on location, the weather conditions were perfect for the scene but proved very difficult to work in. We had to hold an umbrella over the camera at all times to prevent it from getting damaged, the actress playing Grace had to run around in character wearing only the costume that she was given and she became cold and tired very quickly and the tripod slipped about on the muddy ground, making it hard to get a steady shot. After filming several shots, we had to give up and knew that we would have to continue filming on another date. This also proved difficult as the location of the film is in the countryside and we didn’t want to have to travel there to find that the weather conditions were not right. Finally, we found another day where the weather conditions were similar to that of the first day we had shot, and we continued to capture the rest of our thriller opening. The lighting was slightly different to that of the previous shots, but we successfully managed to make it look like the same brightness when editing with the film software afterwards.
Initially, we knew that we did not want to keep any diagetic sounds to our opening, to once again, add to the feeling of desolation and loneliness. After capturing all of our footage, and beginning to edit, we realised that without diagetic sound our thriller began to stray away from the thriller signifiers.

Content Analysis of Film Distribution in Norwich

2009-01-07T06:38:00.000-08:00

On the 22nd and 23rd of November (Saturday and Sunday) 29 films were being exhibited between 4 cinemas; The Odeon, Vue, Cinema City and Hollywood Cinema. Here is a list of those films.

Quantum of Solace - UK
Max Payne - Canadian
High School Musical 3: Senior Year - US
Zach And Miri Make A Porno - US
Ghost Town - US
Body Of Lies - US
Burn After Reading - US
Choke - US
Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian - UK
Easy Virtue - UK
Igor – US
Mamma Mia! - US
My Best Friend’s Girl - US
Pride And Glory - US
Quarantine - US
Saw V - US
Scar 3-D - US
Make It Happen - US
Ghosts of East Anglia - UK
Heidi - US
W. - US
Waltz With Bashir – Foreign Language Film
The Baader – Meinhof Complex – Foreign Language Film
Young @ Heart - US
A Taste Of Honey - UK
Met. Opera: La Damnation De Faust – Foreign Language Film
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - UK
Brideshead Revisited - UK
Space Chimps - US

Over this particular weekend, 17 of these films were being shown at the Odeon, 11 were shown at Vue, 9 at Cinema City and 8 at Hollywood Cinema. 63% of the

It has been accurately stated that Hollywood films are becoming more and more like advanced computer games. The two mediums, action films and computer games feed off each others violent themes. Violence is becoming a more increasingly popular way of dealing with conflicts and American films definitely have something to do with this. The action films are filled with stereotyped, strong men who often manage to solve their problems with fights and violent behaviour. These films are sometimes then made into video games. By producing merchandise, including video games, it promotes the idea that the violence within the film is not a bad thing, but a realistic feature of life. It becomes apparent to the audiences (mostly teenage boys) that it is alright to be violent towards people.
24% of the exhibited films were British films. It would seem to make sense that in a British cinema, the vast majority of films shown would be British, but this is obviously not the case.
If the Hollywood Film industry continues to grow, there may be a time in the future when British film makers won’t have any business left. This would have a huge affect on certain people in Britain; directors, actors, producers, make-up artists, technicians and costume designers would lose their jobs in the film industry. Audiences would only ever be able to view films with other cultures’ beliefs and values.

Labels 2

2008-12-15T06:15:00.000-08:00

Story Board

2008-12-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

Labels

2008-12-07T07:25:00.000-08:00

Shooting Timetable

2008-12-07T06:10:00.000-08:00

Saturday 6th December: shooting field scene.
Megan to bring: camera, white shirt and trousers, make up, spray bottle.
Gabriella to bring: umbrella, white top, simple, white trainers.

Date to be confirmed for clinic scene.
Megan to bring: camera, white trousers, make up, spray bottle.
Gabriella to bring: Blood capsules, medicine bottle, white trainers, white doctors coat, black, men's trousers, black, men's ploished shoes.

Film Synopsis

2008-12-07T06:06:00.000-08:00

Grace is settling in to a 6 month sentence at the ‘Easy Living’ clinic where she is recovering from a mental disorder. Following her arrival, awful things begin to happen. She finds her self in awkward situations with the carers and they begin to punish and beat her for reasons unknown.
Having successfully escaped, Grace finds herself in unfamiliar countryside and begins to have flashbacks of her time at the clinic. She passes out from confusion.

Opening scene

The screen starts off black, and the young girl (Grace) appears in the screen with a close up shot of her face. She looks distressed, sweaty and dirty as she has just escaped from a mental hospital where she had been staying but the doctors there do not know what her illness is. Then the shot changes to a spiral shot to a long shot and follows her running through fields in a state of panic whilst dramatic music is playing. Whilst she is running she experiences flashbacks of her stay at the hospital showing her with her hands tied behind her back on the floor with blood on her face and clothing. A doctor walks into the room and places some medication on her bedside table and seems to not to notice or care about the fact that she is tied on the floor in obvious pain. This is because this is all part of her mental illness and is not actually happening. In this shot she is showed spitting blood onto the floor and having blood on her t-shirt. This is not present in the beginning of the film but is after the flash back when the shot returns to her running through the fields. This is because with most films involving mentally ill people you see what they see and are thinking about. Before when she is first shown running she is not thinking about what happened to her whereas after the flashback where it is returned to her running again she is thinking about and so the blood is visible.

In a state of panic she begins to have loads of quick sharp flashbacks and flashes of white which rapidly appear in and out of her head. This leads her to have a panic attack and faint on the floor. The shot then goes to POV shot and you see her eyes blinking with her vision blurring fading into a blank screen.

Character Profile

2008-12-07T05:59:00.000-08:00

Name: Grace
Age: 17
Appearance: Long blonde hair, blue eyes.

Grace is the main character of the thriller film. Following several incidents which occur within her home, she is diagnosed with a mental disorder and has been sentenced to 6 months in a recovery centre. Realising that she is getting mistreated within the recovery centre, she decides to run away. The opening scene of the film shows Grace running away and a flashback of an example of how she was treated. If the film were to continue and end up being full length, the audience would come to discover that Grace’s flashback is not of what happened in reality. Because of her mental disorder (which had not been correctly diagnosed by doctors) she believes that certain things are happening, when in reality, they are not. In the scene which shows Grace lying tied up on the floor, she is actually just lying on her bed semi-conscious. This truth would be told later in the film by playing what would appear to be footage from a camera inside the room at the recovery centre.

Costume and Props

2008-12-03T04:51:00.000-08:00

Costume-
Girl
• 2 plain white T-shirts-one should be clean, the other with blood
• 1 pair of White trousers
• 1 pair of white trainers, clinical looking

Clinic worker
• 1 pair of Black, men’s trousers
• 1 White, doctor’s jacket
• 1 pair of Black, polished men’s shoes

Props-
• Bottle with tablets, sticker should have a long name for medication
• Make-up e.g. Mascara for girl
• Hair brush to make girls hair messy
• Blood capsules for moment where girl spits out blood
• Bed with white sheets to show simplicity
• White pillow case
• Small, simple wooden table for clinical room.
• Spray bottle to spray girls face to look like sweat during running scene

The completely white outfit for the main character (Grace) is worn to show that she belonged to a mental asylum. It is also worn to show her innocence, and this contrasts with the background of the dark forest. The clinic worker's outfit is worn to show that he is businesslike, and that the audience should not get emotionally attached to him, because he is almost like a stereotype of a doctor. Everything inside the room of the asylum (apart from the wooden table) will be white. This represents simplicity and will hopefully create a realistic looking room belonging to an asylum.

Audiences and Institutions

2008-12-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

Case Study: This Is England

Certification: 18

Frequent use of strong language and violence occur throughout the film; this is one of the main reasons that ‘This Is England’ has such a high certificate rating in the UK. In other countries, the film has been given a widely varying range of certificate ratings. In France for instance, ‘This Is England’ is rated as a U which suggests that the opinions of different cultures on the suitability of a film can differ greatly. English audiences can still relate to the issues which are shown through the film because of the familiar locations. This makes the film more personal to the English audience and therefore gives it reason to have a higher certificate rating. The use of drugs and violence is shown in a way which makes this type of lifestyle seem exciting, therefore this film appeals to the 18 - 25 demographic, including adolescent boys. This film could also have been issued the high certificate rating to try to prevent younger children watching the film and wanting to follow in the footsteps of the young boy in the film. The film has a theme of racism running through it and seeing as this was not uncommon in the 80s, racist comment are frequently used by the skin head characters.

Filming Locations:
Filming took place in an area of Lincolnshire called Grimsby and some scenes were shot in Nottingham. This is relevant to the storyline and adds even more realistic elements to the films as it was set in this area of England.

Production Companies/Distribution:
Big Arty Productions
EM Media
Film4
Optimum Releasing
Screen Yorkshire
UK Film Council
Warp Films

Set up in 1999, ‘Warp Films’ is a production company, based in Sheffield. The company employs 3 full time members of staff, one of which is Shane Meadows. Set up by the Labour Government in 2000, The UK Film Council (UKFC) operates to promote the British film industry. It is funded through sources such as the National Lottery and …. It’s objective is ‘To stimulate a competitive, successful and vibrant UK film industry and culture, and to promote the widest possible enjoyment and understanding of cinema throughout the nations and regions of the UK.’(Quoted from Wikipedia) ‘Film4 Productions’ is a British broadcasting company, which is also a part of Channel 4. They have taken part in the construction of many films in the UK. ‘This Is England’ was distributed by ‘Optimum Releasing’ on DVD in the UK. This distribution company is well known for their contract with ‘Studio Ghibli’, which has produced many anime films including ‘Spirited Away’ and ‘My Neighbor Totoro’.

Reviews:

UK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/apr/27/drama2
http://www.timeout.com/film/news/1481/lff-this-is-england-review.html

The overall impression that the reviews give is that Thomas Turgoose acted brilliantly as ‘Shaun’ and the storyline was impressionable and interesting to watch.

USA
http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/07/27/movies/27engl.html
At the beginning of this review, it seems that the violent aspect of the film is being focused on too much. Unlike the UK reviews, Manohla Dargis fails to relate with the morals and good qualities of the storyline, and instead concentrates on the bad.

User Comments

Gary – London (UK) – 9/10
‘A snippet of life in 1983- told through the eyes of an impressionable 12 year old-against the back-drop of the Falklands War.This film shows Director Shane Meadows at his best, a new generation Mike Leigh/Ken Loach. Gritty, ultra-real story telling (not least because it reflects time and events from Meadows own childhood.From the outside this movie might look like an all out "Doom and Gloom" exercise (akin to Nil By Mouth?), but it is so much more! It has a great sense of love and nostalgia for the time and place-not too mention the Skinhead culture. However, it also shows how the initially innocent fashion trend of the Skinhead- which came from the "Mods" and "Ska" music scene- was twisted and subverted by a racist element from within. Fashioning a striking look (near bald heads with imposing Dr Martin boots) a perfect foil for those wanting to make a clear impression of aggression for the National Front.Performances are great- Turgoose as the young fatherless lonely boy- searching for someone to lead the way. Special mention to Stephen Graham as the aggressive, neo-Nazi, Combo. He is a horribly violent man, but played with such depth by Graham, you can see he has his own issues which have destroyed him. Ultimately, he is the saddest and most tragic of all the characters in it.Graham's is an Oscar/Bafta performance if ever there was one! Summary- A brilliant slice of life from the 80's reconstructed with love , affection, humour and a dash of "Venom"- eat your heart out "Spideyman"!’

Emuir- 1 – Florida (US) – 5/10
I found the film overall to be depressing and I disliked the foul language, yet it is not a film that I will forget. It does give an insight into how the gangs recruit isolated young people. The young boy has recently lost his father in the pointless Falklands war. His mother is a quiet unassertive widow trying to cope with raising a young son as well as the loss of her husband in Margaret Thatcher's vanity war. They live in a dreary treeless council estate in a time of high unemployment as nationalized industries are being shut down and firms are moving to countries where costs are lower. The tourist England of the picture postcard villages, titled upper classes, Masterpiece Theater, boarding school, country pubs and everything we Anglophiles think of as England is not present in the lives of these young men. They might as well be living in a small town in the former Soviet Union. At first, the lonely fatherless boy is befriended by a bunch of cheerful, friendly, but aimless youths who take an interest in him more as a little mascot. Every gang has its wannabe who runs errands and makes the older boys feel more important. Suddenly he has a purpose and a sense of belonging to a family. All this ends when combo, a thug, comes out of jail and takes over. Things take a darker turn as Combo recruits them for the racist National Front. I was a little bothered by Steven Graham's Liverpool accent, as the film was set in East Yorkshire, but I told myself that he had probably moved in. I would have liked to see a more extensive "making of" documentary which explained where they found all those 80's items in the convenience store. Clothes and furniture are easy, but the small stuff and groceries! Although I found the film disturbing, after all, who wants to be entertained by watching young thugs fighting and swearing, it did give me more of an understanding of the hopelessness of the young men depicted in the film. If you want to be entertained, don't watch it. If you want to learn something, I recommend it.

Gold Standard:

A1: 4/4
A2: 4/4
A3: 4/4
A4: 4/4
B: 4/4
C1: 2/2
C2: 1/1
D1: 1/1
D2: 1/1
D4: 0/1
D5: 1/1
D6: 1/1
D7: 1/1
D8: 1/1

TOTAL: 30
The pass mark for tax relief is 16 and the total number of mark to be ticked is 31 so it is clear that ‘This Is England’ can definitely be classed as a British film.

Movie Connections:
American History X – has similar themes to ‘This is England’. It covers issues such as racism and has a main focus of violence. Both films have a deeper meaning to them and later on, reveal morals about love, friendship and family.

Awards Won and Nominated:

2008

BAFTA Awards

Won - BAFTA Film Award – Best British Film
Mark Herbert, Shane Meadows

Nominated – BAFTA Film Award – Best Screenplay
Shane Meadows

Empire Awards – UK

Nominated – Empire Award – Best British Film

Nominated – Empire Award – Best Newcomer
Thomas Turgoose

Golden Trailer Awards

Nominated – Golden Trailer – Best Independent Poster

London Critics Circle Film Award

Nominated – ALFS Award – British Breakthrough – Acting
Thomas Turgoose

Nominated – ALFS Award – British Director of the Year
Shane Meadows

Nominated – ALFS Award – British Film of the Year

Mons International Festival of Love Films

Won – Best European Film
Shane Meadows

Won – Young European Jury Award
Shane Meadows

2007

Bangkok International Film Festival

Nominated – Golden Kinnaree Award – Best Film
Shane Meadows

Flanders International Film Festival

Nominated – Grand Prix

Gijón International Film Festival

Won - Young Audience Award ("Enfants Terribles")
Shane Meadows

Newport International Film Festival

Won – Best Director Award
Shane Meadows

2006

British Independent Film Awards
Won – British Independent Film Award – Best British Independent Film

Won – British Independent Film Award – Most Promising Newcomer (On Screen)
Thomas Turgoose

Nominated – British Independent Film Award – Best Director
Shane Meadows

Nominated – British Independent Film Award – Best Screenplay
Shane Meadows

Nominated – British Independent Film Award – Best Supporting Actor/Actress
Joseph Gilgun

Nominated – British Independent Film Award – Best Supporting Actor/Actress
Stephen Graham

Nominated – British Independent Film Award – Best Technical Achievement
Ludovico Einaudi

London Film Festival

Won – UK Film Talent Award
Mark Herbert

Other Films Made By Shane Meadows:

Meadows has directed a total of 10 films; ‘Somers Town’ (2008), ‘This Is England’ (2006), ‘The Stairwell’ (2005), ‘Northern Soul’ (2004), ‘Dead Man's Shoes’ (2004), ‘Once Upon a Time in the Midlands’ (2002), ‘A Room for Romeo Brass’ (1999), ‘24 7’ (1997), ‘Small Time’ (1996/II), and ‘Where's the Money, Ronnie?’ (1996).

Thomas Turgoose’s Audition:
The way in which Thomas Turgoose was auditioned, was extremely rare for the casting of a main role in a film. A man, possibly a casting director, filmed Turgoose, whilst asking questions about his life and interests. In this way, the casting director realised that Turgoose had a similar personality to that of ‘Shaun’s’ character. Turgoose had been expelled from school for violent behaviour; this behaviour showed the same sort of frustration that Shaun feels in the film. When asked what he thought of acting, Turgoose replied ‘It’s alright’. This seemed to be one of the factors that Shane Meadow was looking for when finding a performer to play Shaun. He didn’t want an experienced actor, he wanted a young boy who had felt a lot of the emotions as the character and had a lot of attitude. This technique worked especially well with Meadows’ way of not scripting the scenes. Turgoose was able to form a natural reaction, which was therefore realistic and believable.

Sin City - Frank Miller/Robert Rodriquez (2005)

2008-11-16T15:07:00.000-08:00

Opening Shot – In the background, sounds of traffic from a large city are played. A woman stands in a long, red dress standing on a balcony. This shows her vulnerability because she could fall or be pushed over the edge. Her red dress represents love and sexuality. A vast cityscape stretches out in front of her.
Mise en Scene – Rain lashes down onto the paved floor, this is a classic thriller signifier and can represent sadness or depression.
Opening Credits - A spinning shot of a large city morphs into the words ‘Sin City’ which is spelt out by the tops of certain buildings. Comic style pictures and stills from graphic novels are shown across the screen along with flashes of light. This technique is commonly used to show that the film has been based on a comic book. Blood red writing slides across the screen to display the cast’s names. The colour of the writing gives the idea that there will be dangerous things going on in the film. Contemporary music plays in the background which has a heavy bass line and sounds very mysterious yet dramatic.

Perfume Advert

2008-11-16T14:29:00.000-08:00

(Bottom) This was the original photograph that I took for the perfume advert. I liked the positioning of the body and arms and the eyeline was facing upwards. For the final advert (Top) I worked with the photo on Photoshop to change certain aspects. I enhanced certain colours and made the dress a darker shade of pink so it stood out more against the green leaves. I added contrast between all of the colours and removed blemishes from the skin in an attempt to create a professional looking advert. The branches of the tree create an arch around the model which draws the viewers eyes to the centre of the photograph. The overall effect gave me the idea of Eve in the Garden of Eden. With this idea, the bottle would seem to represent the apple which Eve takes off the tree, therefore the viewers should feel a subconscious urge to take the bottle. I chose the bottle because it is a rounded shape and looks almost like one of the apples in the photograph. I tinted it with pink so it fitted in with the model's dress. I couldn't find the font that I wanted to use so i am still unsatisfied with my advert. Apart from that, i am mostly pleased with it.

Planning of Perfume Advert

2008-10-20T06:27:00.001-07:00

Initial Ideas

For my perfume advert, I knew that I wanted the model to be in a tree to show how she was natural and fitted in well with nature. I chose the design on the left for my actual advert because it showed the model to be adventurous aswell as beautiful. The model is looking towards the sky which is used in many adverts. To me, it shows that the model is optimistic about the future. The colour of the dress shows that the model has a bold personality and isn't afraid to stand up for what she wants.

Analysis of Touch of Pink- Lacoste Perfume Advert

2008-10-19T06:18:00.000-07:00

This picture of the advert (right) is slightly different from the one I was analysing.
A blonde woman wearing a short, pink dress and white boots hovers in the sky with her arms out to the side and one leg bent, this gives the impression that she is flying or weightless. The model is staring up into the sky and she has a little smile on her face which gives the idea that she is meant to be somewhere else but is currently right where she wants to be. Her interesting body shape draws the audience’s eye to this advert.
Near the bottom of the page, the clouds behind the model are a pink colour which could be thought of as representing a ‘rose tinted world’; this idea could appeal to many people. On the bottom, right hand corner of the advert, the same colour scheme is shown on the bottle. It starts as dark pink at the bottom and gets lighter at the top just like sky in the background.
The models clothes seem fairly childish as they are simple and they have the feeling of the 60s style as well. This would appeal to the audience because the model’s clothes show that she is carefree and happy and the advert makes them think that by wearing the perfume, they could feel the same. The model’s dress also has the Lacoste logo on it with gives the company a chance to advertise their products even more.
This advert has also thought of men being the target audience; you can very nearly see up the model’s skirt which I think would appeal to men. The advert has to appeal to men as well as women because most of the time, men buy perfume for their partners and by making the model seem fairly exposed, Lacoste have succeeded in getting the men’s attention.
The name and theme of the perfume would especially appeal to women who favour the colour pink. Lacoste may have stereotyped women a bit here because it is not the vast majority of women who would choose pink as their favourite colour, even if it seems like it should be that way.
The name of the perfume ‘Touch of pink’ is displayed just above the perfume bottle. It is the same colour as the models dress, so it immediately draws the readers attention and it is all in lowercase letters, which makes it seems quite fun and shows that there are ‘no rules’. This mixes with the idea of the model seeming like a child, which should appeal to the women audience because it seems like the perfume will free them from their grown-up responsibilities. The bottle is a very simple shape which fits in with the childish them of the advert. The world ‘Lacoste’ is in a larger font and is all in capital letter to show that out of everything in the advert, the word ‘Lacoste’ is the most important.

Changing the Meaning

2008-10-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

This photo (left) creates a huge sense of mystery. The dark shadows and averted eyeline suggests that something sinister is going on. This is almost a close-up and shows some details on the person's face. The other photo (right) is a birds eye view shot taken from a balcony. It also creates a certain sense of mystery as it is in black and white and the model is using interesting body language. His arms are folded and his face is showing expressions of surprise and also slight humour. The t-shirt and hair are very dark and if the face and arms had been made slightly lighter (using photoshop) the shot would be using chiaroscuro lighting.

Perfume Advert Analysis

2008-10-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

Charlize Theron is shown wearing a lacy, low cut top or dress and a large gold earring in her right ear. She has one hand placed at the top of the dress and looks as if she is about to pull it off like she ‘can’t contain herself’, while the other hand tugs at her earring.

The advert has a main theme of gold (gold earring, gold eyeliner, golden skin, gold bottle) and the background is fairly dark but shows a blurry chandelier which gives the idea that wealthy people would wear this perfume.

The model’s eyes stare down into the camera and one eyebrow is raised which gives the impression that she knows something that the reader doesn’t and that she is in control. It makes the advert intriguing and mysterious and also makes the viewer want to be just like the model.

This advert also should appeal to men. The model shows a lot of skin and cleavage which automatically draws a man’s attention and makes him think of his own partner in the way he is thinking about the model, which consequently should make him want to buy the perfume for his partner.

The bottle of perfume is placed in the bottom, right hand corner of the advert. It is large and gold which makes it look very expensive and grand. ‘Sparkles’ have been added to the bottle to make it seem more special and they make the bottle stand out even more. Next to the bottle, it says the perfume name ‘J’adore L’absolu’. The word J’adore, meaning I Love, is in a large Serif font which I think is supposed to represent the passion of the advert. ‘L’absolu’ is in a smaller font and is in italic writing to stress the meaning of it which is ‘the absolute one’. The fact that the perfume name in French, probably appeals to the viewer because it seems more unique, more special and by owning the perfume they may think that they will also become ‘unique’ and ‘special’. In the top, right hand corner, ‘Dior’ is displayed in white, on top of the darkest background. It is also in a serif font and it gives the impression of wealth and of being ‘proper’. At the very bottom of the advert it says ‘The new Eau de Parfum: J’adore L’absolu’. Notice how it says ‘The’ instead of ‘A’, this is so the advert sticks in the viewers mind as the only new perfume that has recently been released.

Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels

2008-09-28T11:06:00.001-07:00

Like many thrillers, this film started off with extreme close-ups of a characters eyes. The characters are male and speak with low pitched voices. I have found that this creates a huge sense of mystery and intrigue as you can't possibly know who the character is.
Alot later on in the film, a man is shown being sick in an alleyway after having just lost a hugely important game of cards. A high angle shot is used, this creates a really good affect because it shows that the man could be feeling extremely small inside and by looking down on him we, as the audience, seem to have a better prospect than the character.
Alot of interesting shots are used. In one character's house, there are bars surrounding the door to prevent anyone from getting further inside the house. Whenever there are people inside the caged area, it immediately occurs to the audience that they are criminals. This is because the image looks as if they are in a prison cell.

'Vertigo'

2008-09-25T04:49:00.000-07:00

Having watched certain sections of Alfred Hitchcock's films, 'Vertigo', I feel I've learnt a few things about thrillers already. The opening credits show extreme close-ups on a woman's lips and eye with a rotating spiral behind them. Spirals are a main theme throughout the film from the square, spiral staircase that John Ferguson (the detective) has to climb to the representation of the twisting, turning plot.
This film includes classic thriller signifiers; the Feme fatale, the flawed hero (who is afraid of heights) and a main theme of mystery and deciet.

The Thriller Conventions

2008-09-25T04:37:00.000-07:00

Most thrillers revolve around a source of crime and corruption, often using ‘ordinary’ settings, either to create a false sense of security for the audience or to increase the audience’s awareness of the likelihood of the plot. Atmospheric music takes a huge part in the Mise en scene of thriller films, it builds up the tension and suspense and without it a scene could have a completely different feel to it. Thrillers often make use of close or vast, open spaces to create the feeling of claustrophobia and panic. Staircases, corridors and labyrinths are all examples of enclosed spaces which are frequently used in thrillers. Twists and turns of the plot are often used to keep audiences captivates; the film ‘Vertigo’ shows many images of spirals to symbolise the twist of the plot.

Beginning of the Blog

2008-09-24T02:43:00.000-07:00

It's extremely hard to know where to begin...so I'll start with this:

In media studies, we are currently studying thriller films and their conventions, in order to understand them completely when it comes to making the first three minutes of our own. So far we’ve looked at still images from ‘Sin City’ and short sections from ‘vertigo’ and ‘China Town’. For my own research I have also recently watched
‘The Bourne Identity’, ‘Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ and ‘Battle Royale’. So far, this has been extremely useful and I’ve already got some ideas for the thriller we will be filming.