It is an independent company funded by fees they charge – not by the Government.
Legislations
The obscene publications act 1959 & 1964
Cinematograph films ( animals act) 1937
Protection of children act 1978
Race relations act 1976
Human rights act 1998
In 1975 the board cut 30% of all films submitted – mostly in the ‘X’ category. By 1985 this was dropped to 18%. By 1995 only 6.6% were cut, all ‘cuts for category’ 12, 12A and PG (this means content was cut to lower the category so that a wider audience could view the film). By 2005 only 1.1% was cut.
In 2008 the BBFC classified:-
639 films. 405 were either 12A or 15.
1149 videos and DVDs. 2613 in the 12 category.
2237 trailers and ads. 1258 for cinema release.
In 2008 the BBFC rejected only 2 works, 1 being Manhunt 2 (original version) due to extreme sadism.
Aspects taken into consideration:-
Story
Style
Audience
Moral Framework
Artistic or educational merit
Precedent
Possible Harm
Potential level of offensiveness
Context => language within context e.g. swearwords can keep film at a 12A whereas extensive use or violent use pushes up the certificate.
Of the material that Examiners have to view, these questions need to be asked: Is the material in conflict with the law? Is the material, at the age group concerned, likely to be harmful? Is the material, at the age group concerned, clearly unacceptable to broad public opinion?
Classifications
Violence U – Mild reference only PG – Moderate violence without detail 12 – Violence must not be dwelled on therefore should be no emphasis on injury or pain 15 – Violence may be strong but may not dwell
Horror U – Should be mild and brief with a reassuring outcome PG – Frightening sequences should not be prolonged or intense 12 – Sustained moderate threat and menace is allowed with only occasional gory moments 15 – Strong threat and menace are permitted but the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable
Sex U – Mild behaviour (kissing) and references (“making love”) only PG – sexual activity may be implied but must be discreet 12 – May be implied but references should not go beyond what is suitable for adolescents 15 – Sexual activity can be shown but without strong detail but there may be strong verbal references
Language U – Infrequent use of very mild language only PG – Mild bad language only 12 – Strong language must be infrequent 15 – There may be frequent strong language but the strongest terms are only acceptable where justified (by context) aggressive use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable
Imitable Techniques/Behaviour U – No emphasis on realistic or easily accessible weapons, no potentially dangerous behaviour youngsters may copy PG – No glamorisation of realistic or easily accessible weapons 12 – Dangerous techniques should not dwell on imitable detail or appear harm free, no glamorisation of easily accessible weapons 15 – No imitable detail
Theme Offence The acceptability of a theme depends on its context and sensitivity of presentation. The most problematic themes i.e. racism are unlikely to be appropriate at the most junior levels of classification.
Adverts/Public Information Films Classification decisions may be more restrictive with regard to trailers and advertisements. This is because difficult content in such short works may have a greater impact on an unprepared audience.
From looking around the BBFC's student website under a report on the 2005 classification guidelines i found this interesting information
Percentages of people who think the BBFC Guidelines are ‘about right’: Sex – 58 per cent
Bleak House is an example of an unconventional period drama. It challenges the generic editing techniques used in a Victorian period drama which is usually very simple and straightforward in order to reflect the era and increase verisimilitude in order to attract the audience’s attention. In contrast with the conventional period drama, Bleak House uses a range of editing techniques and aspects of mise-en-scene to create atmosphere and build tension throughout the extract. For instance, during the extract the camera is quite unsteady and a lot of shots contain objects in the way skewing the audience’s vision. A deep focus is used to make the objects blocking the view out of focus, guiding the audience to the action. This also gives the overall effect that the viewer is watching from within the room, hiding behind objects which make them feel like they are watching something that is confidential and they probably shouldn’t be creating a thrill, building tension and mystery. It also links the drama with other genres such as a thriller or a docudrama. The opening scene based around the reading of legal documents is shot in a ‘cold’ lighting possibly using the use of a blue hue or filter. This connotes a cold relationship between the two main characters which is made clear by their tense banter and lack of eye contact. The blue tinted lighting emphasises the tension between the characters which creates an unsettling, uncomfortable feeling for the viewer. Another aspect that is used to build tension is the use of composition especially depth of field. The depth of field alters frequently to highlight the thoughts and actions of the characters. The flip between deep and shallow focus to follow the characters during conversation guides the audience’s attention to specific parts of the action that helps them to understand certain characters (especially Lady Dedlock) thoughts and feelings, building tension and adding to the idea of mystery as it keeps parts of the action out of focus leaving the mind to wonder. It could also connote Lady Dedlock’s clouded thoughts or the characters’ narrow mind. A soundtrack is introduced just before the pace of the action begins to increase where Lady Dedlock picks the letter up from the floor. It begins quietly and increases parallel to the action. The soundtrack is dark and heavy with the use of [[what instruments are used? What does it reflect]], building tension. The beat reflects the sound of a heartbeat implying that something is going to happen to do with health. It also puts the audience in Lady Dedlock’s state of mind, making them feel how she feels. In addition to the soundtrack build up, just before Lady Dedlock faints, the camera focuses on the letter in an extreme close up point of view shot, again putting the audience in her position, at this point, the soundtrack is at it’s peak and an editing technique is used to put the shot in slow motion showing the audience that Lady Dedlock’s head is clouded and gives the audience the experience what she is going through as she is about to faint. The last shot of the first scene is a close up on Mr Tulkington’s face. Slow motion is used on this shot to linger on his face and force the audience to focus on his shifty expression, showing them that there’s something not quite right about the character. It also gives high contrast to the scene that follows where the first shot is sped up as it zooms into a close up of this new character as he enters a room. This technique makes it feel like the audience is being ‘sucked in’ to the action. This scene has a much faster pace than the previous, it uses a lot of close ups and extreme close ups that focus on the character’s facial expressions and the action happening in his hands. There is also a lack of continuity which speeds up the pace and fills the scene with action. The effect of this puts a lot of emphasis on the frantic, panicky state of mind of the character which builds tension as the audience are again put in his position and are made to feel the panic and rush he feels. There is also no dialogue in this scene to explain to the audience what is happening or why the character is in such a manic mentality which creates mystery making the viewer want to watch on to find out why his actions are so rash. In comparison to the previous scene the lighting in this set is much warmer, with an orangey brown tone. This shows the high contrast between the two different settings. It could connote that this place is a safe place, or it could be reflecting the contrast between social class, as blue is a rich royal colour whereas brown is much more common. This simply shows the audience the contrast between the two scenes.
How My Media Product Uses, Develop and Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products Research into particular thriller films and their conventions including the use of extreme close ups in Psycho (1960) by Alfred Hitchcock such as in the shower scene where the camera focuses upon the femme fatale’s (Marion Cranes) eyes in order to show her pain and fear whilst leaving the graphic details of the murder to the audience’s imagination. Also, the use of entrapment and confined spaces in Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004) (not a conventional thriller but contains certain thriller conventions) by Quentin Tarantino where the Bride is buried alive in a coffin underground by Budd. The use of soundtrack to build tension such as in Heavenly Creatures (1994) by Pete Jackson where the humming chorus from Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini is used to build up to the climax during the murder scene in the garden where Pauline and Juliet kill their mother along with the frequent use of close ups on the hands and feet. Also, in The Third Man (1949) by Carol Reed the use of canted shots, quick cuts and chiaroscuro lighting create discomfort and can be disorientating for the audience building tension and pace especially in the sewer scene where Harry Lime leads the police through the sewer systems maze. These films have shown the character types and filming techniques that create an effective thriller film and have all been influential on ‘Tag’ which uses canted shots, close ups on hands and feet, extreme close ups on eyes during the murder, and even the same soundtrack as is used in Heavenly Creatures. This soundtrack was chosen for ‘Tag’ as its narrative is comparable with Heavenly Creatures’ with a lot of intertextual references including the location of the murder scene being down a suburban pathway setting away from civilisation where the victim is susceptible to danger, the predatory aspect of the two girls following Pauline’s mother and once in a sufficiently deserted spot is mirrored in ‘Tag’ where Hope is being stalked by an older man. The Humming Chorus in the Madame Butterfly opera tells the tale of a woman and her child beginning the long wait for the child’s father and woman’s love to come to them after returning from war. As the night falls the baby falls asleep but the woman keeps her vigil. This shows a tragedy within itself as her love has not returned, but within ‘Tag’ the long wait could connote the time spent where Hope is being followed, and the climax where the baby falls asleep could represent Hopes murder. Also, in ‘Tag’ the supposed murder weapon is a red ribbon; this idea was inspired by an episode from the British TV crime thriller ‘Spooks’ where a woman is strangled with a thin wire. Red ribbon in ‘Tag’ connotes fragility, femininity, blood and danger.
How My Media Product Represents Particular Social Groups Hope Lost is a modern day femme fatale, representing a lot of young women today, a strong independent character that the young female demographic can relate to and connect with. The second character, ‘Tag’ is a negative representation, he falls in with the middle age male demographic and viewers that fall into this demographic may take the representation offensively, but he isn’t a representation of every man in this criteria. ‘Tag’ is represented as a mysterious individual with no apparent reasons to justify his actions other than the word ‘insolence’ written on the tag on Hope’s wrist in the final shot of the film, but there is no explanation to support the allegation, this gives the impression that he is a dangerous man with a sick mind, possibly insane. These theories would be answered later in the film if it was a feature, ultimately clearing up any misunderstanding of representation of the middle aged male demographic. The Type of Media Institution That Might Distribute My Media Product and Why Due to the lack of funding and marketing possibilities of an independent student film such as ‘Tag’ the best form of distribution for this film would be virally through the use of internet and social networking sites such as Youtube, Bebo, MySpace and Facebook. These would be the cheapest approach as it is free to post videos onto these sites and contain a large number of potential viewers as anybody with access to the internet could access this film. The film could then be marketed through these social networking sites through the use of forums, posts, and blogging. If the film attracted a large audience this would create potential for the film to go further therefore introducing the possibility of pitching the idea and script to the likes of Working Title or the UK Film Council in order to raise finance, though the UK Film Council would be the more approachable option as they would see more potential in an independent low budget grainy film such as ‘Tag’ that may only appeal to a niche audience. It is hard to gain funding from a well established company when the film is completely unknown with unknown actors, directors and no previous successes to give reassurance of potential success. So the film has to have a unique selling point in order to catch their attention, and I think with the help of audience feedback from the social network audience the narrative could be improved or altered to fit audience requirements and strengthen the narrative ‘Tag’ could potentially be an interesting thriller both following and challenging the generic thriller conventions.
Who the Audience Would Be for My Media Product Hope Lost (the female protagonist) in ‘Tag’ is an independent teenage girl containing certain characteristics of a modern day femme fatale, where she comes across as a strong individual through the likes of her jogging and walking to the station confidently on her own. This type of character would attract a primary audience of the female teenage demographic between 15 and 20 as they can relate to her character. Since ‘Tag’ contains references and similarities to thriller such as Psycho (1960) by Alfred Hitchcock and Heavenly Creatures (1994) by Peter Jackson it is likely to attract a similar demographic which through imdb.com Psycho has the highest user rating from the under 18 demographic and Heavenly creatures has the highest user rating from the aged 18-29 demographic. This tells me that the younger demographic is most likely to be attracted to ‘Tag’. Also with the film being distributed through social networking sites the audience that uses these sites is going to be of this demographic. How My Film Attracts/Addresses My Audience In order to attract the audience’s attention, the idea was to make the 2 minute opening as tense and climactic as possible, certain aspects of the mise-en-scene such as the use of the uncomfortable alarm clock sound effect in the opening shot that was carried through to the station scene was unnerving and disorientating. Also, the use of the cross dissolve editing technique throughout the 2 minutes gives the film a dreamlike effect making the femme fatale appear very distant causing the audience to ask questions about the character therefore enticing them. Another feature of the mise-en-scene is the combination of the Puccini soundtrack with the use of close-ups and quick changes between point of view shots from the murderer to the victim during the murder scene and the lack of graphic detail which allows the close-ups and the soundtrack to tell the tragedy of the action. A questionnaire was used to find out audience views on the production and how effective they found it. The average overall rating of the film was 7/10 showing there is room to improve the mise-en-scene in order to attract the target demographic more successfully. The general criticism was that the narrative wasn’t particularly clear and that the action was a little slow. I agree with this and see where changes can be made, the significance of the train scene and time jump aren’t very clear. But people did find the cliff-hanger effective and caught their attention effectively enough to want to watch on. They also found the editing, soundtrack and performance the best overall features of the production. What I Have Learnt About Technologies from the Process of Constructing This Product From this task I have discovered and learned to appreciate how much effort and time goes into creating a film. I noticed that when capturing shots on a handheld camera moving shots such as panning or tracking can be extremely tricky to keep smooth without a tripod. Another complication with shooting a film is that when the zoom is used whilst tracking a subject it is easy to lose focus. But this can work to an advantage within a thriller film as such a shot reflects confusion and reinforces mystery. To create a ten second shot over 5 minutes of film can be used in order to make sure the shot is perfect, I learned this the hard way and had to go out 3 or 4 times to get enough footage for a single shot. I have found that capturing the same shot from every angle can make editing a lot easier even though barely any of the raw footage would be used, but it gives freedom to find and create the perfect shot. The editing program was initially very confusing but like everything – once you understand how it works it becomes simple. By the end of editing I learned how to cut shots, stretch shots, speed shots up, use effects such as cross fade and dip to black, make titles, fade the soundtrack in and out and more. I’ve also found how the effectiveness of the film can be dramatically altered due to the slightest thing such as the soundtrack beginning too early, or not uncomfortable and loud enough to create tension. Another example of this that I found was with finding the right speed for shots, a particular shot such as the picking up of the ribbon in the station scene could be ineffective at normal speed, but at half speed the action of the gloved hand coming into view and picking up the ribbon is emphasised. Thus the shot is more dramatic and offers the audience more clues as to the significance of the shot.
Progression of Skills and Knowledge from the Preliminary Filming Task through To the Full Product Looking back at the preliminary filming task it has become clear how much I have learned about not only the shooting but the planning and editing too. With the preliminary filming task I originally thought the shoot went well but when it got to editing me and my group soon realised that although we had shot a wide range of shots, and covered the 180˚ rule along with how it’s acceptable to break it, match on action and shot/reverse shots we couldn’t use some of them because we hadn’t shot enough in between footage to link the action together in edit. Due to time limits the group didn’t have time to re-shoot which shows a lack of planning and inefficient group work. But with the thriller planning was a lot more thorough, and having more time to shoot, and reshoot made initial errors and judgements easy to fix and showed me how extra footage is anything but a waste. Ultimately my group consisted of only 2 people so roles within the production were shared out fairly and we worked productively together, not afraid to put our points across and if ideas clashed we compromised. Freya was acting and I was filming, which meant I had more control over direction but if I had a problem with direction and explained it to her she could easily suggest a solution after looking back at the raw footage. During edit Freya got the hang of the editing technology, Premiere Elements a lot quicker than me so she put together most of the raw footage in a loose narrative sequence, but once I grasped the program we worked together on tweaking the film to make it smooth and put in effects. After, the freedom to work on the edit without my partner at times was more effective as we weren’t wasting time trying to explain the changes we wanted to make and convincing each other an idea would or wouldn’t work. Our group did originally consist of 3 people, but circumstances changed and about a month into the construction our group lost a member so a lot of planning had to be changed, and a lot of precious shooting time was wasted, but we managed to not let it get in the way and worked quickly and effectively in altering our plans and our story, it ended up working to our advantage as the new actor playing the villain worked better, and fitted better into the character as since he didn’t know all the planning details of the production and didn’t have his biased ideas on the character from this he was a lot more flexible to work with, we told him to act in a certain way and he did this rather than trying to create a different character, also working with two people rather than three meant fewer clashes of opinions.
These were the original ideas for the thriller before shooting began, once shooting took place circumstances changed and some of these probs have not been used in the final cut.
Soaps are ongoing programmes that have to find a balance between realism and drama in order to grip an audience with a good storyline but also be believeable enough for the audience to relate to. Different soaps go about finding this balance in different ways depending upon the target audience, take for instance Coronation Street which has been a successful ongoing soap since 1960 and therefore has attracted a loyal audience since then making the target audience an older demographic where they expect to watch Coronation Street and find a close sense of community as it would have been back in the 60's so this is what Coronation Street have done. The main sets within Coronation Street are the likes of The Rovers Return, Roys Café, The Corner Shop and inside the characters houses, these are real life, unexaggerated settings which creates the sense of realism, this provides them with the foundation to create dramatic storylines and push the reality of the issue in order to create entertainment. Another way of balancing realism with drama is by creating a realtime effect which is used in Hollyoaks since it is broadcast every week day, this use of realtime helps the audience to believe they are seeing the characters in their day to day lives, and by using realtime they also get to create dramatic storylines that are based on real issues that are happening in the real world around that time such as the credit crunch, take for instance Calvin resorting to crime because he feels the money pressures of not having enough to keep Carmel happy. This storyline can be related to by the audience as they may feel the stress of the recession and realise they have been looking at other forms of making money, but this storyline shows how turning to crime doesn't help so it teaches the audience at the same time as entertaining them by exaggerating the storyline with the threats of murder, buying flashy cars etc.
Skins is a successful but controversial teen drama following the loves and lives of a group of friends through college. They are introduced to the audience as busy teenagers all wrapped up in their own lives but each brought together by the same thing. Sex. This is typical of the ‘horny teenager’ stereotype. The use of tracking and moving shots on Tony along with the quick cuts between each character and the clever use of the multi-way phone calls reflects the chaotic life Tony and his friends lead. The phone conversation gives the chance for the audience to see a quick snippet of each character and what they portray, for instance Maxxy is gay and he is shown tap dancing in pastel coloured fashionable clothes. There’s also Jal who is the ‘boring’ one that goes by the book, this is shown by her with a classical instrument in a dull, tidy, bland brown bedroom. Chris is shown as the ‘player’ as he is shot under the covers with a pretty girl that he degrades to Tony while she is listening. Also, there is Anwar who is the religious Muslim that doesn’t take his religion as seriously as he should, this is shown by him answering his mobile whilst he is praying in the Mosque. These are all typical stereotypes but they are emphasized in order to show the programme is an emphasis on teenage life itself. The audience know these characters are emphasised but the use of verisimilitude by putting these characters in unglamorized, everyday environments including the bus and the mosque helps the audience to believe that these characters are believable and helps them to relate to and become attached to the characters.
Technologies that enable movie piracy Camcorder Disk burning Internet VCR P2P websites
The industry is losing so much money due to piracy. FACT estimates that £486m was lost to movie theft in 2007 in the UK alone. Worldwide the industry is losing an estimated $6.1bn each year.
This is ultimately making it harder to raise money for new movies, especially smaller indie and British movies.
The advances in technology with P2P sites and compact camcorders have made it so much harder to catch people and clamp down on the crime. It’s become so easy that people don’t even realise they are breaking the law – or they just don’t care because they don’t notice any consequences.
The movie business is partly to blame because they aren’t advancing with the technology. They don’t want to change the technology they are using because they don’t know how much money they might make in the future. It’s a risk they don’t seem to be willing to take.
Even with piracy being so easy and taking so much money from the industry profits are still higher than ever, so is the problem necessarily that severe?
This is England is Warps most successful film to date.
Warp Films works with the directors: Shane Meadows, Chris Cunningham, Richard Ayoade, David Slade and Lynne Ramsay.
Warp Films has won numerous plaudits and awards since setting up in 2002.
Releases: My Wrongs #8245–8249 & 117 (Dir: Chris Morris - 2003) Dead Man's Shoes (Dir: Shane Meadows - 2004) Rubber Johnny (Dir: Chris Cunningham - 2005) Scummy Man (Arctic Monkeys short film/music video) This Is England (Dir: Shane Meadows - 2006) Dog Altogether (Dir: Paddy Considine - 2007)
Warp Films is an independent film production company which aims to mirror the ethos of its partner music label Warp Records.
Warp Films aims to create fresh and innovative feature length and short films to be viewed by a wide audience.
6 Facts About Universal
It was one of the major distributors of the british films Hot Fuzz and Atonement.
It's a mainstream American company.
Over the years, Universal has made deals to distribute and/or co-finance films with various small companies, such as Imagine Entertainment, Amblin Entertainment, Morgan Creek Productions, Working Title Films (and DreamWorks), StudioCanal, Shady Acres Entertainment, Marc Platt Productions, and Beacon Communications LLC.
It was founded in 1912 and since then has grown to become one of the six worldwide major american film studios.
Since 2007 Universal Pictures has distributed all of Working Titles productions.
They own 67% of Working Title.
6 Facts About Working Title
Working title has produced British hit films including Bridget Jones' Diray, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Love Actually and Hot Fuzz.
Working Title was founded in 1984 by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe.
It's one of the largest British production companies and is based in London.
It has a filmography of 109 films .
Working Title has a second company WT2 (Working Title 2) which is a low-budget production company. This has producted films including Billy Elliot and Shaun of the Dead.
Working Title began as an independant company but looked for financial backing after struggling to find sources of finance for each film. In a quote from a Guardian interview, Mark Bevan said "Before that we had been independent producers, but it was very hand to mouth. We would develop a script, that would take about 5% of our time; we'd find a director, that'd take about 5% of the time and then we'd spend 90% of the time trying to juggle together deals from different sources to finance those films. The films were suffering because there was no real structure and, speaking for myself, my company was always virtually bankrupt."
Due to the loss of a person in our thriller group alot of alterations to the planning have been made. This includes the following:
The character of 'Tag' The character was originally going to be the third person in our group who we lost, we chose to use him because he would be reliable as he would be with the group at all times. But this had to change so we decided to cast a completely different character, Chris Nolan, my dad. We chose to cast him as he would be reliable since i would know what he was doing at all times and could easily arrange with him dates to film and give him updates to the storyline and how his character should be at any time. Because of this choice of casting the character was also changed completely. He was no longer a 16/17 year old boy but a 40 year old man. The entire outfit changed also, the new character had a black raincoat, a grey hat, dark jeans, dark brown gloves and white trainers. The dark outfit connotes evil, but the white trainers could connote that there is something about this character that is good... or that he believes he is doing good like that of the killer in Se7en.
We also decided our thriller wasn't very clear in showing the storyline and the action, so we added another key prop, the ribbon. This has become the main focus in our two minute film. It is the item Hope drops that is then used by Tag to kill her and is left on her body at the end. The red ribbon connotes danger. Although it is used to kill Hope it is not shown killing her, Tag just plays with it when he is towering over her which indicates that he is going to use it to strangle her. This technique has been used in an episode of Silent Witness with a rope. Alot of the shots in the film now focus on close ups of the feet, this is used alot in thriller films i have studied such as in Se7en during the chase scene, also a close up of feet is used in Brick when a note is dropped out of Brendans locker and it falls to his feet, it is also used during the murder scene in Heavenly creatures when Juliet walks down the steps on the woodland path. The non-diagetic music chosen to be used over the top of the action is 'The Humming Chorus' from Madame Butterfly, this is an intertextual reference to the thriller Heavenly Creatures, which has heavily influenced our film, as the setting for the death scene is a similar forest-like setting, and the chase has its similarities. Research into the reason for the Humming Chorus in the Madame Butterfly opera tells the story of Butterfly and her young child beginning 'the long wait' for Pinkerton (Butterflys lover and her childs father) to come home after returning from war. Night falls and Pinkerton still hasn't returned, the child falls asleep but Butterfly 'keeps her vigil'. This is a tragedy in itself as Pinkerton has not returned, this also fits in quite well with 'Tag' as 'the long wait' could connote the period of time where Hope is being stalked by Tag, and the part where the child falls asleep is the climax where Hope is murdered, this could be seen as her being sent 'to sleep'.
Every teen soap has the same stereotypes, the beautiful bitch, the weird outcast, the hot 'jock' guy, the tormented musician etc.
I'm going to outline the stereotype of the general 'nerd'. There's always one, think Elliot in Hollyoaks, Mouth in One Tree Hill, JJ in skins.
They're always the one with the awful dress sense - the wooly jumper with excentric patterns, thick rimmed glasses, ancle swingers, shirt tucked in, a weedy body thats always completely covered up, they read comics, love astronomy, and are known to have a heart attack when they catch a glimpse of the girl they are secretly in love with. This stereotype is likely to be seen in school/college/uni in a classroom - probably a science lab - working on a wacky experiment, or doing somebody elses homework. They are often found in their bedroom painting a model aeroplane or something similar with the walls covered in posters from classic comics and sci-fi films like star wars with the single bed with the spaceship patterend duvet. If they are feeling adventurous they could be found in the café with an oj, a tuna sandwich with the crusts cut off but not without a text book and a pen close to hand.
There is not often a mass of geeks in one programme, it's always the odd one or two, so when it comes to social groups they are often a complete loner, or have 2 or 3 close friends and they end up getting themselves into the stupidest situations including getting acused of sexual harrassment when falling on top of a woman in the park at 8 o clock at night because they are running with a camcorder attatched to their head after what they think is a UFO and not looking where they're going when it turns out that all along it was a happy 21st birthday balloon that flying through the sky. Other situations include spending 20 minutes of a half hour episode arguing with each other who is most likely to be able to buy the averagely hot girl over at the bar a drink when eventually they all fail because they're too young to get served and each one in turn makes an idiot out of himself when talking to her by stumbling over their words and putting their foot in their mouth by making a comment that she interprets to be sexual innuendo and she ends up slapping them and walking off, OR it turns out after all that admiring her from afar that when they finally get up and walk towards her they realise shes a transvestite and they are in a gay bar.
Basically the nerdy character very rarely has a serious or tragic storyline, they are there for the audiences amusement, and to lighten the mood between another couple of major storylines happening with other characters.
Packaging The way a film is packaged is crucial in raising finance for the film and attracting an audience. ‘This is England’ and ‘Hot Fuzz’ are two very different British films, therefore in order to create success they went about packaging their products in very different ways. To begin with, the director of This Is England – Shane Meadows is heavily influenced by the ‘Kitchen Sink’ era of film with inspiration from directors such as Ken Loach and Mike Leigh. But he brings a fresh new take on this style of film with his own style of direction and writing. He directs films that are personal to him and that strongly present issues in society such as the Falklands War and the struggle of living within a working class society. Therefore his films are not ‘light-hearted’ films, they are heavily loaded with meaning and can be hard to watch in places. Edgar Wright on the other hand has not just stuck with film direction, he has also done his fair share of TV Series’ including the comedy ‘Spaced’ starring Simon Pegg and another comedy with Simon Pegg called ‘Asylum’. It is clear already that he is a different director to Shane Meadows as his résumé is packed with comedy. He directs pieces with a much lighter, less complicated meaning and that are more for the viewers’ entertainment rather than to inform or educate. Actors are chosen very carefully in the selection process of making any new film, and these two films have gone about selecting their actors for very specific reasons. This is England’s cast is completely unknown, Meadows chose this for a reason though, it brings fresh faces to the screen so that the audience will have no presumptions about them therefore these actors can be completely free in being their character. He also doesn’t want people to be attracted to this film because of the famous faces that are in it; he wants them to see it because of the storyline and nothing else. Meadows aims to make a great film with a point whether it will sell or not, not an average film that’s going to catch like wildfire for the wrong reasons so he isn’t going to use well known actors to capture an audience. In contrast, Hot Fuzz is a much more commercial film, and as it aims to entertain it needs a cast that will be successful in keeping the audience amused. Simon Pegg is a solid choice for Edgar Wright as he has worked closely with him from the beginning of his career, also, they wrote the story for this film together so Simon Pegg knows every aspect of the film before even beginning to shoot, and he’s the best choice for making the film as smooth as possible. Pegg works regularly with a close circle of actors and in that circle is his co-star Nick Frost who he worked with in Shaun of the Dead and Spaced. The two actors are relatively well known and Shaun of the Dead was a big hit in the UK and brought the two a large fan base along with Edgar Wright who directed the film. Other actors in Hot Fuzz include Bill Bailey who is a well known comedian in the UK, Bill Nighy who has done many successful British comedies and has a large fan base and Martin Freeman who has established a name in comedy through the likes of ‘The Office’ and ‘Love Actually’ (where he starred alongside Bill Nighy). Promoting the combination of these well known comedic actors will attract a large audience without even knowing what the film is about already giving the film a better chance at success and raising finance. ‘This is England’ is produced completely by British production companies including Warp Films, Film4, Optimum Releasing and Screen Yorkshire. Whereas although ‘Hot Fuzz’ is mainly produced by British production companies including Working Title, Studio Canal and Big Talk Productions, it is also produced by the help of the massively successful USA based company Universal Pictures. Like the choice of actors, the production companies involved in the film can attract certain people, for instance This is England is a Warp Films production, which may attract film fanatics that follow Warp productions because they enjoy the style of film they produce. Hot Fuzz being produced by Universal Pictures may show an audience that the film is a good quality film as it can be compared and linked to other Universal Films including massive international successes such as Jaws, Back to the Future, American Pie and Bruce Almighty which will attract a large audience. It will also show potential financiers that if a company as big as Universal will invest in this film then it is more likely to be a success, to the input of Universal will make financiers more confident in being a part of the film. As soundtracks tend to be released before the films themselves they are key in promoting the film and gaining an audience and giving them a feel of what the film is about. This is England is set in the 80’s during the Falklands war and Thatcher’s position as Prime Minister therefore one of the films main audiences is the people who were the characters age during this time period so it promotes the music they would have listened to at this time including ‘Tainted Love by Soft Cell’, ‘Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners’, and ’54 46 Was My Number by Toots and The Maytals’. These classic 80’s tunes would remind the middle aged audience of their youth and attract and capture their interest in the film. This is - like everything else in This is England – chosen especially to capture as strongly as possible the sound of the time in order to make the film as real as the 80’s was and to keep the quality of the 80’s effect as high as possible ultimately aiming at only a niche audience. Again, with Hot Fuzz in order to attract as bigger audience as possible they have a range of songs from all era’s including 60’s band ‘The Kinks’ with ‘Village Green Preservation Society’ aiming at the older generation, 80’s glam-rock band ‘Sweet’ with Blockbuster, there’s new romantics band ‘Adam and The Ants with Goody Two Shoes’, these aim at the 30 - 40 year old (middle aged) audience, whereas to appeal to the younger audience there is music from the likes of The Fratellis and Supergrass. They also use intertextual references from soundtracks of other films including Point Break and Bad Boys II hinting that this film will appeal to the same audiences those two films appeal to and that this film has similarities to them. Packaging is crucial in attracting the proper finance needed for a film and although these two films are very different they both managed to raise enough finance to create a successful film.
Marketing Films need to be marketed in order to attract a distributor and of course an audience. One of the most commercial forms of marketing used is trailers on both TV, the internet and in cinema before the feature film. Hot Fuzz took this route, they released a trailer on YouTube which is extremely popular and known worldwide therefore anyone who follows Simon Pegg or Edgar Wright would find the trailer easily, a bonus to using YouTube is the advertising is absolutely free. The team also released teaser trailers on the TV and before similar films in cinemas. Within the adverts they heavily push the actors that star in the film as a selling point. They also link the film to previous films including Sean of the Dead and Supercop which will attract the same audience. The fast paced trailers are packed with quick action and quirky comedy clearly showing the genre of the film. Rogue Pictures (a distribution company) also posted the trailers on their website so that anybody who follows Rogue Pictures films will find the trailers. The trailers don’t promote the director, location or particularly the storyline; they focussed heavily on the actors and genre showing that they were confident in these grabbing a big audience. Hot Fuzz also used posters on bus shelters and billboards to promote the film, the posters mimicked that of Bad Boys II which is a strong influence to the film. Hot Fuzz is a working title film, therefore it makes sense that the first place to look is on the Working Title website to find out how this film was promoted. Surprisingly there isn't anything on there that shows how it was promoted, although there is a clip of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost at the 'MCM Expo' comic convention promoting the film in London some time before the film was released. They mingled with fans that had seen the trailer and talked about the movie, gave away free merchandise including t-shirts, they did a signing and a Q&A session. There is also 12 video blogs of the actors on set which creates a teaser for the audience leading up to the film release. It also has an interactive website with a link saying 'Join the Fuzz' which when clicked on leads to another website with challenges that give prizes like badges. This Is England on the other hand, didn’t use mainstream marketing like Hot Fuzz did. Due to the director not having a majorly successful film under his belt like Wright did with Seaun of the Dead, and had a completely unknown cast, and was owned by a relatively small production company, Warp Films along with the film not being released in cinemas there was no need to advertise it in cinema. Instead the film was premiered at various film festivals including London Film Festival, Bradford International Film Festival and the Rome Festival where it grew in reputation as it picked up awards. Once it had won awards including the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film at the 2007 British Academy Film Awards, the Best Film category at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards, and the Most Promising Newcomer award it promoted the film for these awards using them as a selling point, they also use the director, Shane Meadows as a selling point on theatrical posters. Also, due to the film rights being owned by Channel 4 the trailers were only shown on Channel 4 and Film 4 for the TV premiere of the film which was to be aired on Film 4. This attracted approximately 1m viewers, which is the second best numbers a film 4 premiere has ever had. The trailers focussed on using the director, the awards won, the storyline and the strong 80’s skinhead beliefs and relationships as a selling point for the film which proven by ratings was an effective choice to focus on. The only marketing that both films did the same was having their own interactive websites where people could listen to the music, find out about the actors and their characters, the production companies etc. Although they both had interactive websites they used them to promote different aspects such as This Is England’s website being more based upon showing the viewer about the background to the movie, the directors influences and the music whereas Hot Fuzz’s had interactive games and quizzes making it more about having fun and less about informing.
Distribution and Exhibition Hot Fuzz was appealing enough to have 11 different distribution companies including Rogue Pictures and Universal Pictures distribute the film in 17 different countries ranging from the USA to Singapore. It was theatrically released in 15 of these countries and released on DVD in 8. This shows how many companies were confident enough in the film to distribute it across the world which shows that this film has the potential to appeal to a very vast audience. This Is England on the other hand, was distributed by 9 companies including IFC Films and Optimum Releasing, this is almost as many distributors as Hot Fuzz but they didn’t distribute to half as many countries, the film was only released theatrically in a total of 7 countries of which it was only followed up with a DVD release in 5. This shows that even though a wide range of distribution companies were confident in the films success they were not as confident in releasing it across the world, this shows that This Is England has a much smaller potential audience than Hot Fuzz, but for a Warp Production it is the most successful film to date which shows that being loyal to the story and not making the film solely for ratings and box office results can make a film successful.
The gay character (Jack) in Torchwood is portrayed in both stereotypical and non-stereotypical ways. The opening to the first scene has a strong Western feel; this doesn’t follow the stereotypical portrayal of an effeminate man as westerns are always about proving how much of a man someone can be. The ‘face-off’ style meeting they have gives the feel of danger and is filled with testosterone which isn’t something a gay man is usually linked with. The use of close ups on the eyes and feet entering through swinging doors along with the western influenced non-diagetic background music presents the two men within the scene as butch, manly characters. Their walks are also masculine, slow and tense which disproves the stereotypical ‘strut’ of a gay man. The stereotype of sexuality is strongly reversed in the key scene within the episode which is the fight scene. For instance the quick cuts and exaggerated sound effects for each punch make the fight feel fast-paced and violent. Also within the mise-en-scene the two characters snigger and grimace as they throw each punch as if they are enjoying the violence. The non-diagetic ‘song 2’ combined with the wide range of quick shots and exaggerated punching sound effects keeps the pace of the scene quick and snappy in order to grasp the audiences full attention, but it also makes the scene chaotic and full of adrenaline and testosterone, it shows two savage, uncouth men having a full on intense fight over what seems to be nothing. This is the complete opposite to the stereotype. On the other hand the stereotype unconventionally shines through during the fight due to the use of close ups and the red colour scheme which connotes the closeness and passion between the two characters. Due to the censorship issues with nudity and sex the use of close ups, red setting and passionate adrenaline filled violence could be a metaphor or a substitute for what would be a passionate sex scene if rules allowed it to be. After the fight there is a moment of bitchy banter between the two, where they have digs at each other about physical appearance including hair loss and weight gain. This brings back the typical gay stereotype within the two characters as gays are known for being very strict about their appearance and also being very bitchy about others. At this point as the action has finished and the pace of the scene has slowed down with longer shots and less close ups, this gives the viewer a chance to notice more about the characters physical appearance. Jack is in very dark clothes, with a long sweeping black coat; it is very dark and garish and doesn’t follow the stereotype which is loud, extroverted clothing. On the other hand the other character within the scene is wearing a maroon and gold jacket with tight trousers and boots, he appears to be dressed up in fancy dress, this follows the stereotype as they are known to dress up, think ‘Village People’! This could connote that Jack is the man in the relationship. Another thing that backs up this idea is that within the scene where they are chatting by the bar in every two shot and Jack is above his love interest showing that he possibly has more power and control within the relationship. In the cab scene the others complain about Jack being unreliable and flimsy but they also say that it’s more fun when he’s around. Within the mise-en-scene everything is black which could connote the fact that they have been ‘left in the dark’ by Jack. The fact that they say he’s more fun backs up the stereotype as they are known for being vivacious and exciting. The way they describe him as unreliable could swing both ways as women often complain about men being unreliable therefore showing Jack as a generic male, on the other hand it could confirm the stereotype as it shows him as being spontaneous and a free spirit that doesn’t follow the rules.
Hollyoaks and Holby City are two very different soaps aimed at very different audiences, this can easily be established by looking at the title sequences in both programmes.
Hollyoaks' opening credits are made to capture the attention of a teenage/young adult audience, it does this effectively by doing it in the style of a photo shoot which is glamorous and all the characters look beautiful. These are the type of people teenage girls aspire to be and teenage guys want to look at and having them all dolled up doing their best poses in little clothing draws the audiences attention, and the camera angles and movement draw the audience in by zooming in on faces then zooming out from one eye to another revealing another beautiful face. It has a range of shots from long shots to close ups, Keeping a fast pace with lots of quick changing shots that lead into each other, and fast paced funky music reflects the youth its promoting. It's flashy with bright crisp non-ambient lighting that makes everything look inviting and upbeat. It has a purple colour scheme which connotes wealth and royalty, this isn't what Hollyoaks is about but it could imply that it has a high status or people that watch this will have status and be watching something important and that its a luxury to see.
Holby City is obviously not aiming at the same audience as Hollyoaks. Like Hollyoaks the titles are very modern with a great use of technology and graphics, but they are presented in a different way, the colour scheme is heavily blue and orange which could connote hot and cold, and how in a hospital things chan change very dramatically very quickly, blue is also a clean colour and is a hospital related colour such as nurses outfits and scrubs. Instead of having the characters one by one looking at the camera connecting to the audience Holby City's opening is close up shots of different hospital instruments which immediately tell the viewer what the programme is about, then it leads on to shots of the characters in action from clips of different episodes, this makes Holby's titles more meaningful than Hollyoaks and shows that Holby City is more focussed on the storyline and Hollyoaks is more focussed on the characters. Also the shots are inside the letters of the title which makes the characters seem closely intertwined with the hospital. The music is combined with the sound of a heartbeat, and it is based around the sound of a heart monitor so the music reflects the genre, and transitions between each clip are in time with the sound of the heart monitor, which makes everything very organised and easy to follow for the viewer, as they can keep up and the titles are like a story within itself it ultimately builds up the tension in the viewer setting them up for the episode that follows.
The scene begins with a shot of Tom running after his action man, the camera tracks him keeping him in the centre of the screen showing his importance within the scene and that he is the centre of both the audiences and Max's attention. There is diagetic sound of a car engine revving in the background hinting at what is about to happen. There is the non-diagetic sound of a heart monitor playing faintly in the background which combined with the threatening rev of the engine indicates that something fatal is about to happen, the heart monitor sound also gives an intertextual reference to hospital dramas such as Casualty. There is also non-diagetic music playing faintly in the background, which includes a fast paced beat to build up suspense and indicate action. The following shots leading up to Max's death are a collage of extremely short shots that connote and reflect the confusion and chaotic feeling of what's happening. The first shot following the introductory shot is a two shot of Max and OB, the camera shoots them through the thick black bars of a fence which could indicate entrapment and vulnerability. The next shot cuts to Neil in his car looking downwards indicating he is guilty. Max in view from Neil’s window but he is out of focus, this represents Neil’s state of mind and his confusion, his thoughts are unclear, and it also indicates that Neil’s unclear thoughts are going to end in some way with Max. Shot 5 cuts to Tom in the middle of the road picking up his toy. The lighting is very roseate and bright and colourful including the green of the bushes and the red of the parachute which shows Tom's state of mind in contrast to Neil’s which is clear, simple and happy, almost perfect. The red of the parachute could connote danger - a warning sign to Tom or Max? Shot 6 cuts to Max realising Tom is in danger and begins to run. The shot is a head on shot with Max running straight towards the camera emphasising his urgency. The music in the background begins to fade in, it grows louder and the sound of the heart monitor becomes more clear and distinctive as the situation becomes more critical. It then cuts back to a long shot Tom walking innocently along the road with nobody around him, the long shot makes Tom small on the screen making him seem very alone and very vulnerable. As Max screams “Tom” the sound of the car revs loudly and it comes across angry and threatening emphasising the sense of danger. It also indicates what’s about to happen. This then follows with an areal view of the car swerving around the corner with a screeching sound that makes it come across powerful, threatening and dangerous. The shots that follow use the shot/ reverse shot technique to show the action from two different points of view and show status and vulnerability. It begins with an over the shoulder shot of Tom as he has turned round to Max once he realises he is calling him, Max is running to him in the background, it then cuts to a shot of Max running from behind, then cuts back to a shot from in front of Max wrapping himself around Tom and pushing him out of the way, this shows Max is very protective over his brother and Tom is safe around him. But then it cuts to Max pushing Tom to the floor and staggering back into the road using the same long shot as was used when showing Tom walking alone along the road, this clearly shows the change in Max’s position from the hero to the victim as the long shot makes him seem small, alone and very vulnerable. This is the only point where Max seems susceptible to danger and in that single moment the car comes into view at speed hitting him into the air, Max goes flying and the fact that the camera catches all the action and detail shows the brutality and the extent of the drama and the action. It makes the shot also very uncomfortable to watch in order to try and make the audience feel as much as possible like OB does when he see’s the accidentand seem as unpleasant and difficult as a true real life accident would be. This gives a very cliché message which is along the lines of being in the wrong place at the wrong time can change the entire course of your life… or even end it there and then! After the incident the speed of shots becomes a lot slower, it almost creates the feeling that time is almost standing still but not quite. In the first shot that follows cuts to OB, the camera zooms in ever so slowly on his face to capture his reaction, the slow zoom reflects OBs thoughts, as he takes time to realise what’s happened. Once he does realise he automatically calls after Max and runs for him, this shows him as a strong, compassionate character that isn’t afraid of what’s happened, he is caring of his best friend and wants to have some control over the situation and try to help. This shot is followed by a shot of Tom’s action man floating to the ground in slow motion which is ironic as it reflects Max especially as he is seen through Tom’s eyes. It represents a heroic character falling, also it falls into the road and hits its head on the curb which is similar to Max’s death, it also shows that nobody is indestructible, action man won’t be coming back from this one and neither will Max. Also during this shot the non-diagetic sound of the heart monitor and dramatic music fills in adding to the feeling of tragedy. This also then cuts to a shot of max laying face down on the ground in a similar position to action man backing up the similarities between the two. In this shot it also zooms in very slightly and slowly as if it’s all in slow motion and unreal. It then cuts back to OB running to Max at half speed as well, it seems as if he can’t get to him quick enough when along with the heart monitor sound every second counts at this point and time is the most precious thing and he can’t get there fast enough, the half speed makes every moment tense and very dramatic. It then cuts to an areal view of Neil which makes the audience look down on him showing clearly to them that he is in the wrong. This if followed by another shot of Max, but it zooms in on him a lot quicker this time as if reality is catching up again, it also shows that it’s Neil’s fault as it shows Max as the outcome of his action. This is also shown as it cuts back to Neil in areal view as he staggers out of the car coughing and spluttering as if he is the victim. The camera spins out as people rush into view to help and assist Neil. This is ironic as he is not the victim; he is the ‘bad guy’. The camera movement reflects the confusion of the situation and in conjunction with the rush of people into the shot it indicates a rush back into reality from the detached bubble he was in inside his car. The use of areal views on Neil could also connote that he is having an out of body experience or not in control of his actions. At this point the representation of the characters become very stereotypical as all the action is passed and the story is now completely about the reactions and representation of each of the characters. It begins with OB, as he immediately takes the situation under control shouting orders like “Call an ambulance now”, this shows he is strong as a man should be. From the point where he cradles Max in his arms he is always the person who is higher than the rest, his head is always above Stephs, Toms and Maxs portraying him as the solid reliable male. Steph is placed beneath OB as she looks up to him for support and control, but Tom is positioned beneath her as he is a child and see’s her as the mother figure therefore looking up to her. OB is seen as a typical guy who doesn’t let his guard down or his feelings show even when Max is on his death bed, instead he does what any other ‘typical guy’ would do during a serious situation and try to make a joke of it for instance when Max tells him he loves him OB replies with “Don’t be gay”, even though the audience can see from his actions and expressions that he loves and cares for him. When Steph first comes into the scene she is perfect in every way in her wedding dress she looks beautiful, almost angelic but as soon as she realises it’s Max on the ground she automatically bursts into hysterics, she screams his name in a high pitch and the sound of her heels against the ground as she runs to him shows her as very feminine, she collapses by him in fits and cries to OB for support and assurance. But during this everything she does still seems perfect for instance the way her hair is made up around her tiara and her pure white dress forms a perfect semi-circle around her makes her seem almost like an angel. This is made even more apparent when as she appears the music turns very heavenly and virtuous. Tom doesn’t say much but he is at Max’s side looking confused yet upset about the matter, its clear he doesn’t quite understand the situation as much as the adults but he is upset because his brothers hurt. He lays his head on Max as if he wants to hold on to him and stop him from going anywhere. Max isn’t gory and bloody as it would ruin the perfect picture, instead he is portrayed as a fallen hero, or a fallen angel with his body positioned out neatly along the floor and his head propped up by Stephs white dress. He doesn’t look in pain or torment, he looks peaceful, and there is no disruption in the entire shot (2:25 on the clip above), everything is picture perfect with the tidy grass, the neat suits and the beautiful dress. You don’t see the ruined wreck of the car but in that shot you do see Neil right at the edge completely separate from the group of innocent characters with his hands over his head and his body facing away from the others. He is dressed all in black which seems appropriate for the situation as black represents death and all that is bad in contrast to the white of Stephs dress that surrounds the group. There is an obvious contrast between the two in that shot. In the final shot before it fades to white the camera spins out from a close up of the four together to a long high shot of them then tilts up through the trees where the sunlight is breaking through, this represents Max leaving his body in peace and heading towards heaven, it’s very tranquil and leaves the viewer mourning the character but not feeling particularly sad as they can see he is peaceful and going to a good place. The white screen finally fades in to a camcorder shot taken by Max’s friend Tony at the reception of Max telling him what love is. This emphasises the happiness that was and the sadness that now is, and leaves the audience with a simple yet wholesome statement from Max that shows him as a beautiful, perfect character that died happy and contempt as he had found his true love but was also a normal guy that was just taking each day as it comes, and he left the world feeling the way he was shown in that final clip.
