Kick-Ass

As a class we watched Kick-Ass, while we did this we had to pick out the main seven areas of representation which consist of- Gender, Ethnicity, and Regional Identity, Age, Sexuality, Social Class and Physical ability / Disability. We also had to focus on the four areas of Textual Analysis which is, Mise en Scene, Sound, Camera Shots and Editing.

At the beginning of the film you are introduced to a character called Dave, he looks like a stereotypical ‘nerdy’ middle class American teenager who soon comes to be the main character in the film and also the hero (Kick-Ass). The villain in the film Frank D'Amico would be considered to be the Binary opposite of Kick-Ass, he is a middle aged white gangster, who is very wealthy and powerful. The villain’s son also turns into a stereotypical ‘Super Hero’ with his fast sports car and all the new gadgets. Other characters that we are introduced to are Dave’s friends, they also support the stereotypical view of a nerdy teenager. Then there is Katie who is Dave’s crush, Katie is the stereotypical female character in the film very pretty and helpful. Big Daddy and Hit Girl are two other characters that play a big part in the film as they want to kill Frank D'Amico. Big Daddy is the father of Hit Girl who trains her up to be a Super Hero with amazing fighting skills, there is a scene where you see him shooting at her with a gun and she has a bullet proof vest on to see how she can take the pain. Not exactly a normal father daughter activity. Hit Girl is a very strong character as she has been trained to kill from a very young age and she is good at what she does as you can see in some of the very graphic scenes, also considered as a binary opposite to Frank D'Amico as she is a young girl and he is a middle aged man. Although the age difference differs hugely during their fighting scene is it only the last thirst seconds where Frank D'Amico takes power of the situation Lastly Frank D'Amico’s workers look like your stereotypical gangsters, dress very smartly in suits and ties with that gangster attitude.

Kick-Ass is a very violent and graphic film as you are shown in some of the scenes as the camera uses a lot of close-ups, for example near the end when Frank D'Amico has taken Kick-Ass and Big Daddy hostage one of his men hit Kick-Ass round the face with a knuckle-duster, this is done up close so the audience can really get an effect of what is happening. Another close-up scene is where Dave is having a sleepover with Katie because she is lead to believe that he is not straight so she lets him fake tan her while she has no top on, this creates tension because as the camera zooms in on his face you can see that he is looking very nervous. Some of the scenes contrast with each other for example when Kick-Ass and Red Herring are driving through New York they are listening to loud music as they a speeding down the road, but when they first met it was down a dark quiet alley with only them two there.

When any film is set in New York you get that feeling of gangs and violence, even if it is not shown because that is the stereotypical view on big cities. In this film you do get the feeling of regional identity because a suburb boy is messing around with a big city gangster and usually these two people would never cross each other’s path. Also at the beginning of the film you see Dave getting mugged by a White and a Black male as he stares at them as they try to steal a car.

The overall lighting when the fighting is going on is quite dark, a particular scene which is very dark is when Kick-Ass goes to visit someone Kate use to help out to ask him to leave her alone. When Kick-Ass enters the scene he walks down this dark corridor and up to a door with a very big black male standing in front of it. When he walks into the room there are about 6 or 7 big black males sitting round drinking and smoking, which is seen to be one of the stereotypical views of black men. The room looks like no one has left for weeks and it is just filled with weapons, drugs, money and one woman who looks a little bit like a prostitute. This is the scene where Hit Girl is introduced as she storms in save Kick-Ass and kills everyone in the room, taking with her thousands and thousands of dollars. In this scene you can really see what Hit Girl can do as only a young girl, although she went in the apartment on her own her dad was watching her from a distance shooting down anyone if she didn’t look behind her back.

The sounds effects that have been used have been over exaggerated for effect, for example when the guns have been shot or when someone get stabbed the sound seems more powerful than the music playing in the background. Throughout the film upbeat music is played during the fighting scenes to make the scene seem even more exciting and action filled. During one of the scenes the Prodigy’s Omen is played, this song is very strong and powerful sounding song, i think this was a good choice of song because it would fit in well with a violent scene. In the scene when Big Daddy dies the music that is played is very soft and emotional, this really contrasts with the surroundings of the scene because there are dead bodies all around and someone is dyeing after nearly being burnt to death. In this scene also the camera shots vary from being far away where you get a good view of Kick-Ass and Big Daddy surrounded by Frank D'Amico’s workers, too being close up where the camera closes up to when they are hitting them around the face and smashing their knee caps with baseball bats.

Some of the scene really stands out due to the music they have chosen to use in it, one of the best is in the scene where Hit Girl dresses up as a school girl who pretends to have lost her mum and dad. The way she is presented in this scene is very convincing that she is just a little girl that can’t find her mum and dad as she is dressed in a school uniform, because of her deceiving appearance they decide to let her in the doors of the building. While this is happening western style music is being played in the back ground, this sets a really particular mood in the scene as she shoots down all the guards in the reception. As she moves through the building she changes into her Super hero costume and takes on about 10-15 other guard the music changes to more of a drum and guitar song, and she makes her way through the room killing anyone that gets in her way. In the scene when Kick-Ass comes to the rescue a very well known Elvis Presley song is played called An American Trilogy, this is played as Kick-Ass kills Frank D'Amico with a bomb style gun on the end of the jet pack. At the end of the film Kick-Ass and Hit Girl fly away from the building on the jet pack over the city leaving Red Mist standing watching them, leaving you with the idea that there may be another film to continue the story of his revenge on them. The song played at the end of the film is You Make Me Wanna Die by the Pretty Reckless, this song is a good song to end with because it has got a rock feel to it without being to heavy but still gives off that kind of violent vibe to it.

Representation of Age- Ebenezer Scrooge

The second someone says something about an elderly person most people get the same thoughts and images of elderly people in their heads. The stereotypical view of an old man or woman is grumpy, moans a lot, doesn’t like change, prefers traditional ways of life ‘back in my day’, always seem to be ill. The older generation seem to be very anti youth and racist because the youth and mixture of ethnicity is a lot different to what they were bought up with when they were that age. Also the image of older people are the same, socks and sandals, knitted jumpers, cardigans and sweater vests, glasses round their necks, caps and hats and a walking stick.

The character that i am going to talk about is Ebenezer Scrooge in the Disney film A Muppets Christmas Carol. Right until the end Ebenezer play up to the stereotypical view of an elderly person, he never looks happy or is happy, he doesn’t care about anyone else but himself and money. I think at first Scrooge comes across as a very typical miserable old man, but during the film you get to see why he has turned out the way he has. The ghost from Christmas past shows the audience what he use to be like a as a young man, when he was a child he was a very unsociable child and didn’t seem to have many friends. As a young man he was not popular, as he find out when he looks back to one Christmas day and he sees his ‘friends’ and peers mocking him.

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As the film goes on Scrooge is visited but three ghosts, one from the past, present and future. All three of the ghosts show Scrooge what he is like from someone else’s view and try to make him change his way before it is too late. The ghost from the present shows Scrooge what his employees think of him as he makes them work on Christmas eve, and also when he is the topic at the dinner table to Christmas day they thank him for the food that has been put in front of them. The ghost from Christmas future shows Scrooge his grave stone and tells him that he will die a lonely man if he does not change his life. I chose to choose Scrooge as my representation of age because I think he shows two different sides to how older people can be and it is represented very well in this film.

WT Timeline

Stereotypes of Black and White in the media.

White

Black

-Law abiding -Blonde/ big breasts- ‘perfect’ -Drink alcohol- Wine and Beer -Class structure- upper, middle, lower -Stresses/ worries a lot -White trash -Trailer trash/ hillbillies -Educated/ academic -Formal speech -Eloquent -Sarcastic -Nerdy -Uptight/ still (upper lip) -Play stupid characters -Usually okay bad character (especially British) -Bitchy -Size zero -Protestant Christian -Different hair colour -‘White men can’t jump’ -Not very fast runners

-‘Big booty’ -Cant swim -Black characters usually die in movies -Rappers/ slang/ lingo -Criminals/ pimps/ gangsters -Relaxed -Religious -Power hungry (Robert Mugabe) -Cooler than white people -More muscular -More musical/ rhythmic -Big lips/ nose -Colour black is always mentioned when crime is being reported -Loud/ friendly/ bubbly -Attitude/ swagger -Black men make bad dads

We were also asked what we would think of if someone said describe a black British male in their 20's.

The first thought that came to my head was, Gangs, knife crimes, hoodies, music, intimidation.

Let the right one in

Oskar- 12 years old, blonde, small. Strange, talk to himself ( repeats what his bullies say to him) also cuts out articles from newspapers about murders. Gets bullied at school and also carries a knife round with him. His mother and father are separated, he lives with his mother.

Eli- 12 years old, brunette, small, skinny, pale. Drinks victims’ blood to stay alive as she is a vampire. Very intelligent, lives with her father.

Oskar’s mother- Middle aged woman, blonde. Very protective over Oskar, looks after him most of the time tries to make a life for them both.

Eli’s father- Middle aged, small, grey hair. Doesn’t like talking to other people, very timid and quiet. Tries to hide that he lives with Eli, goes out and drains the blood out of innocent people to keep Eli alive.

During the films there are examples of the different binary opposites between the characters.

Good v Evil- Oskar and Eli are both the same age but they lead very different life styles, Oskar goes to school, he is just an innocent 12 year old boy. He may have his fair share of problems with his mum and dad not being together and getting bullied but after that he leads a very normal life style.

Eli on the other hand is not a normal 12 year old girl, she does not go to school as she cannot go out in the day light and because she is a vampire she could not be trusted around other humans. She is only 12 and she has already murdered innocent people to stay alive.

Old v Young- Oskar has not been 12 for as long as Eli has and will not stay 12 for the rest of his life.

Eli has been 12 for a very long time, which makes her a lot older than Oskar. In contrast with the fact that people think that if your older you have more control, Eli seems to have a lot of control over her father as he does and says what she wants. In some ways even though he is her father he seems to fear Eli, and acts like he could at any point be one of her victims if he gets on the wrong side of her.

Rich v Poor- Where Oskar and Eli live seems like a quite deprived area, Oskar’s flat seems a lot more welcoming than Eli’s his is filled with furniture and personal possessions. Eli’s flat is not welcoming, there is a mattress on the floor where her father sleeps, Eli sleeps in the bathroom in the bath where it is dark also all of the windows are boarded up. Oskar’s fathers home seems like a much more happier place to live with lots of open land and no one around for miles.

The film is set in Sweden in the winter season; this means that the whole way through the film there is snow everywhere. Having snow in most of the scenes adds some natural lighting too the shots for both day and night, In the day the sky is very white and bright because  they are using the natural lighting from the weather as well as artificial lighting. The sound effects are very exaggerated in the film, for example when Oskar is walking over the snow on the park the sound of the snow crunching underneath his feet is very strong. Other examples where the sound has been made stronger for effect would be when, Eli bites into the man’s neck and when Elis father slits that mans throat also when Oskar and his mother are brushing their teeth and when Oskar and Eli are Scratching the wall to communicate with each other.  When it came to Elis makeup it looks extremely realistic from when you see her when she meets Oskar for the first time in the park, she looks very pale and ‘dirty’ looking. When Eli enters Oskar’s house without being invited in she starts bleeding from her neck, head, eyes, nose, ears, back and scalp because he didn’t invite her in himself this looks very realistic because the blood is just pouring from her like its being forced from her skin.

In the film the camera shots vary, some scenes have very close-up views making the scene very intense and keeps the audience on edge through the duration of the time and some of the scenes has very long shots. Doing such a contrast in shots from one scene to the other is a rather big risk but they flow very well together. The best scenes where these camera shots are use is when Eli makes her first attack under the bridge, you cannot see in detail what is happening but you know what is going on with the movement of the characters and the sound that was used in the scene. Another scene using the long shot is when Elis father gasses someone in the park, the same again you cannot see in detail what is happening but you can see from a distance. The scenes with a close up shot are when Oskar is getting hit with a stick round the face by his bullies and when he is at his father’s house when he and his friend start drinking and smoking.

Thinking back to the theory from Tzvetan Todorov this is how it runs in this particular film.

Equilibrium- Oskar is a normal young boy, lives with his mother and sees his father from time to time.

 Disruption- Strange murders start happening in the area as Eli moves in next door to Oskar

Restoration- Eli ends up saving Oskar’s life at the end of the film.

Tasks 4 & 5

Task 4

Place the following genres into their correct category.

The News, EastEnders, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Friends, Horizon, Cribs, Qi, The Bill, Holyoaks, Life On Mars, I’m A Celebrity..., House, Escape To The Country, X Factor, Coronation Street,

Information	Identity	Social Interaction	Diversion
The News Qi Horizon	Cribs Escape to the country	Eastenders Coronation Street Friends Life on Mars The Bill Hollyoaks House	Who wants to be a millionaire? I’m a celebrity… X factor

Which of the above programmes might be guilty of employing the ‘Hypodermic Model’ and which therefore might also reflect Blumer’s views on audience?

Social Interaction programmes could be an example of the ‘Hypodermic Model’ as the audience get involved of the life of a soap opera character.

Task 5Look at the opening of ‘Nanny McPhee’. Think about the way the text has been constructed through the use of codes. What has been encoded for the audience to decode?

The target audience of Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang is families, this is because the exciting story and characters appeal to children, but the storyline of having a nanny appeals to parents and older audiences. It also allows the older audience to see children act in the film and experience their childhood again. The trailer shows that the main character, the nanny, has a special power which makes the children want to see it as it seems extraordinary; the adults also want to see it but to find out the outcome and see the humour within the film.
The colour green at the start of the trailer could appear a 'happy' colour to the child audience, this links to bright green generally meaning happiness rather than jealousy from a child's point of view. The actress playing the nanny is made up to look ugly and in some ways hideous as she's got witch features in the way that she has powers that normal people don't have; this can appeal to children as she looks unusual but to adults as they know the role of an ugly witch from previous films and tv programmes.

Theory

Clause Levi-Strauss (1908-2009)

Binary opposites-

Good v Evil

Black v White

Tall v Short

Old v Young

Valdimir Propp (1895-1970)

Example- James bond, Gold Finger

Character roles-

James bond- The hero, the character who seeks something

Gold Finger- The villain

Q- The donor, who produces an object with some magic property

Felix Leither- The helper, aids the hero

Pussy Galore- The princess, reward for the hero and often an object of the villains schemes

Father- Rewards the hero

M- The dispatcher, who sends the hero on his way

The false hero- seems to be heroic initially but turns out to be evil or a red herring

Red Herring- A character or object that is introduced as seemingly important, it is left behind/forgotten/never mentioned again. Turns out to been of  no importance.

Tzvetan Todrov (1939-   )

All stories begin with an equilibrium, this is disrupted then resorted. A classic beginning, middle, and end structure.  3 PART NARRATIVE STRUCTURE.

1-      Equilibrium

2-      Disruption of equilibrium

3-      Restoration of equilibrium or a new equilitrium

In films and TV the ‘hero’ can be male or female- someone who moves the story forward e.g. Bridget Jones, Home Simpson, James bond.

This is England '86

To continue from the film ‘This is England’ which was made in 2006 directed by Shane Meadows channel 4 created a series called ‘This is England 86’ which was shown in 2010.

Te reason for making a series after the film is to show what all the characters lives are like three years on from the occurrences in the film. It is also a good example to show people what life what was like in the 80’s showing about the skinhead culture and the rivalries between the different groups and to show what the lift style was like during a mass unemployment period. 

All of the original cast from the film appear in the series as well with some new additions like Lol’s mum and dad and also some characters from the film like Harvey who was not part of the group in the film is part of the group in the series. It is filmed in Sheffield again so people who have watched the film will recognise the settings and it will relate back to the film.

The budget for the series is a lot bigger than it was for the film, the film has a small budget of £1.5 million and the series had a budget of £20 million. The money difference made a huge improvement on the filming as it was not hand held so this means there could be a lot more different angles, the lighting was also different. All together the technology available was a lot better making the end quality of the filming a higher standard.

Directors: Shane Meadows and Tom Harper
Executive Producers: Mark Herbert and Shane Meadows
Producer: Derrin Schlesinger
Production Company: Warp Films
Funding: Screen Yorkshire Filming, EM Media

Representation- Disability

The song “Spasticus Autisticus” was played out to our class at the beginning of the lesson, this song is by a band called the Blockheads. The lead singer of the band had a disease called Polio, this stopped the growth and development in one of his legs. The song is about people with disabilities but because someone with a disability wrote it it was accepted by the public and other physically or mentally disabled people.

As a class we shared our own personal opinions and feelings towards people with a disability and how we felt when we were around someone with a disability. Some views were different to others, some people felt extremely uncomfortable, some people felt sympathy and some people admitted they would rather try and avoid anyone with a disability. If confronted by someone with a disability most of the class said they would rather be with someone with a physical disability than a mental disability. One thing that the majority of the class agreed on was that we all didn’t want to seem patronising when around someone with a mental or a physical disability.

Famous disabled people-

Stephan Hawking- Wheel chair

Heather Mills- One leg

Gordon Brown- One eye

Steve Wonder- Blind

Verne Troyer- Dwarf

Muhammad Ali- Parkinson’s disease

Gary Coleman- Dwarf

Albert Einstein- Autistic

Leonardo Divinci- Autistic

Ian Dury- Polio

Terry Pratchett- Alzheimer’s

Rya Charles- Blind

Mozart- Deaf

Blaine Harrison- Spina bifida

Famous films with characters with disabilities-

Rainman- Dustin Hoffman

Forrest Gump- Tom Hanks

My left foot- Daniel Day

I am Sam- Sean Penn

Born on the 4^th of July- Tom Cruise

Water boy- Adam Sandler

The ringer- Johnny Knoxville

The curious case of Benjamin Button- Brad Pitt

Unbreakable- Samuel L Jackson

IRobot- Will Smith

Million dollar baby- Hilary Swank

Avatar- Sam Worthington

Some of these films show the character with the disability being a hero, this could be shown to other people with any kind of disability that they can make a different. A few of these films were nominated and won amazing awards.

The Gaze

The Gaze is the technical term that was used in film theory in the 1970’s to refer to the ways viewers look at images of people in every visual medium. The way that females think men look at women is called ‘The male gaze’ this is seen as women are just there to admire and not do anything or contribute to society.

Forms of the gaze-

-The spectators gaze

-The intra diegetic gaze

-The direct address (extra- diegetic) to the viewers

-The look of the camera

-The gaze of the bystander

-The gaze of an audience within a text

Trevor Millum distinguishes between these forms of attention in his studies.

Laura Mulvey- The male gaze

-Visual pleasure

-Active male

-Passive female

-Women seen as an image

-Men seen as a bearer of the look

-Voyeuristic- looker

-Fetishistic- being looked at

-Some different criticism comes with the theory

-Failure to account for the female spectator

-Looks only at the spectator as being a heterosexual male.

But research shows that since the 1980’s there has been an increasing display of the male body as well as the female body. In the lesson we were give two images of celebrities doing an underwear advert for Calvin Klein, we were asked to analyse the two images. 

The first one we did was of the footballer Freddie Ljungberg. The first thing we thought about was his hair is it a short hair cut, can come across rather masculine and clean cut, also it is not a very eye catching hair cut. The look on Freddie’s face looks very stern and intradiegetic. His face looks ‘chizzled’ he has rather high cheek bones which gives him quite a feminine look  to his face. He is also frowning, this could show what kind of emotion he is feeling. Freddie’s lips are also showing quite a feminine side he seems to be doing a slight pout as his lips look quite plump. It looks like Freddie has on some sort of lip balm adding a colour and glow to his lips. He has slight stubble on this face, this is seen as rugged looking and really quite masculine. His body looks sweaty like he has maybe just been working out been in the shower or maybe post coital. This pubic area from what we can see is shaven, this could show that he is a very clean cut person. It also shows a tan line when he is pulling down one side of his boxers, this is very sexually suggestive. The way his hand is held on the top of the boxers looks very aggressive because it is in a fist grip making it look very firm and masculine. The underwear Freddie has on is very tight, also when he is pulling down the boxers you notice his tattoo. The tattoo could come across as rebellious to some people it is also in a sexual place which could be suggesting a message to particular people as it is a animal, the fact that his tattoo is of some kind of animal could make people think about Freddie himself. Having his tattoo on display could maybe show that he can take pain which shows his masculinity. In the image Freddie has a necklace on, this could be for one of many reasons it could be showing that he is religious, or it could maybe just be a fashion statement, the necklace adds a certain feminine side to the image. The background colour that Freddie is against could be seen as a rather romantic or sexual image as it is a deep red. Someone also suggested that it could be that colour because of the football team he plays for.

The second image that we had to analyse was Eva Mendes in the Calvin Klein underwear advert the same way we did with the Freddie Ljungberg image. Her hair in the image looks wet like she has just got out of the shower, maybe been swimming or on the beach. As well as her hair being wet it also look rather messy; this could suggest that it is post coital. Her body is very slim, some would see it as perfect as she has fantastic legs a flat stomach and it just looks extremely toned all over. Some views on Eva’s body is that they thought it was a sporty figure as she does not have very large breasts. Her stance says a lot about her, it is a very strong stance showing huge confidence in herself, she looks like she is standing her ground this is say to people that she doesn’t like to be messed around. They way her arms are held look very strong and show authority. I think her stance also shows to women across the world to be confident in themselves and to be dominant. Her facial expression could be seen in a sexual manner, some would see it as an ‘orgasm’ face supporting the post coital look that she is giving off. There is a certain look to the whole image where you can tell that Eva knows she looks good and doesn’t care who is watching her or what anyone is saying about her. Her face looks distracted and disinterested in what is going on around her, like people are not worthy of her attention. Eva’s legs are one of the best features on her body, they are not extremely skinny they look very toned and strong. The way she is on her tip toes adds to the toned look of her legs and make them look longer. The way that Eva has shoes on when she is in her underwear shows a pornographic side to the image, because it is said that in pornographic films and images the women have shoes on.

Forrest Gump – played by Tom Hanks

Created by – Winston Groom

Disability – little brain activity, bow legs

D.O.B – 06/06/1944

Hometown – Alabama

I.Q – 75

Occupation – soldier, businessman, shrimp boat captain, football player, professional ping pong player, lawn mower

Forrest Gump’s disability is portrayed well in the film as the audience see that he is simple-minded and doesn’t think through his actions. The film is set in 1981 but there are flashbacks to different events in his life, this means Forrest Gump is 37 years old throughout most of the story, this character is played by Tom Hanks; however the scenes involving him as a child are played by Joseph Urso.

The stereotypes of a mental disability are that the person is typically ‘not right in the head’; they’re often described as crazy or a ‘freak’. The audience can’t tell visually if a character or person has a mental disability, it’s usually shown through body language or speech.

The start of the film shows Forrest Gump sitting on the famous bench waiting for a bus, talking to a woman. He begins telling her his life story, this could show abnormality within the character; this is shown as the average person wouldn’t tell a stranger their life story on a normal day. He shows a personal level to the woman, the woman doesn’t react very much and just sits and listens, this could show that she knows he’s ‘not right in the head’.

The physical disability with his ‘bowed legs’ is shown twice vividly in the film, at first when he’s younger being chased by a group of boys, the famous quote ‘Run Forrest run!’ is shouted by Jenny, Forrest’s friend. This scene is repeated later in the film, during his adult life, the same group of boys are chasing him but in a truck as they’re all older; Jenny shouts ‘Run Forrest run!’ again. His physical disability is visually stronger when he’s a child as he wears leg braces to fix it, when the character grows up and becomes an adult his physical disability disappears.

The film, ‘Tropic Thunder’ shows a clip of two characters talking about going ‘Full Retard’, they say how no one can go full retard, however as Forrest Gump has both a mental and physical disability he is verging on ‘full retard’. One of the characters in the scene mentions Forrest Gump being ‘slow’ and having braces on his legs, but he’s a professional ping pong player therefore he can’t be ‘full retard’.

Jess Pardoe and Grace Keogh

Beyoncé If I Were A Boy- The Gaze

For our video, we chose Beyoncé’s ‘If I Were A Boy’. This shows women acting in a seductive manner, and how they are seen as an object. The perfect example being when she bends over the car arresting the criminal and we see the man checking her out.  Another case of the ‘invitational’ look Marjorie Ferguson describes is the moment where they begin dancing outside the club and she keeps glancing over her shoulder to him, she kept fluttering her eyelids to emphasise her eyes. At the beginning we see Beyoncé leaning against a white wash wall, this scene is repeated and she look incredibly beautiful. The way she is leant against a white wall can be seen in Eva Mendes’s Calvin Klein pictures. Which are very seductive.  Although she is not using any emotive or seductive facial expressions it is clear watching this that it is extremely pleasing to ‘the male gaze’. Also in this shot Beyoncé shows an example of the ‘chocolate box’ after she says ‘me’ this shows that she is complying with Fergusons theorem as she looks in-unique and uninterested. Whilst she is helping the policemen aim his gun she shows the ‘super smiler’ look, although this could also be seen as Millum’s “comic” look as she is laughing and acting the fool. When dancing with another man Beyonce does a thing called ‘Invitational’ this concentrates on eyes and mouth with only a hint of a smile, head to one side looking at the camera. This is a rather suggestive look, quite mysterious and sexual. During this scene also there is something called a ‘romantic or sexual’ this shows a male and a female acting very sexual in front of each other, showing that they are possible, available, or defiantly available. During the moment where she is the policewoman she clearly expresses Millum’s ‘practical’ look. Concentrating on how she wears here hat. A sort of frowning extremely focused expression. Hair tied back indicating she means business, male viewers are looking directly at her and are naturally turned on by the fact of such an attractive woman having such authority, focus and determination. 

Shameless- Sexual and regional identity

  

  In the lessons as a class we discussed sexuality and regional identity, in this episode of shameless there is more sexuality than regional identity although there are a couple of noticeable factors of this. When we had the discussion about sexuality we were asked to define what we thought was ‘gay’ and ‘straight’ and also the differences between ‘northaners’ and ‘southners’.

Gay- Camp, Limp wristed, Minching walk, Muscular, Flamboyant (in your face), Loud, Gay couples, Camp one (female), Butch one (male)

Straight-

Too sensitive/Insensitive, Loves women, Reads ‘lad’s mags’, Drinks beer, Unhealthy, Metro sexual (men who look after their appearance)

Northaners- Butch, strong accents, uneducated, heavy drinkers, old fashioned, speak in slang, crime higher.

Southners- Camp, well educated, city, gold, cockney, high disposable income.

In the first scene of shameless we were asked to see how regional identity and sexuality were represented. When the episode starts the character Frank Gallagher is talking about where he lives as is shows you the estate he lives on. He then goes on to introduce his children Fiona, Lip (Phillip), Ian, Carl, Debbie and Liam. Throughout when Frank is talking there are clips of where they live, it then goes on to a clip of the estate with loads of people standing around a burning car and he’s saying it’s nice to have open space and a half decent community where you live. When this clip is going on the police then come on and break it up and when the people see the police coming they start shouting at the police and run away from them. Just from the start of this episode the characters are really playing up to the stereotypical view on ‘Northerners’ , Heavy drinkers, crime, uneducated, bad language, speak in slang.

The next scene you see is where Lip is going round a girls house to help her with some homework. They are in the dining room talking across the table to each other, when the girl crawls under the table towards Lip. He does hesitate because the girl’s mother is just in the next room but then says yes after he finds out that she cannot pay him with money because she is ‘skint’ this also backs up the stereotypical view on the northerners because they are seen as poor and the girls are seen as ‘easy’ . Lip seems like a normal teenage boy because the day that the experiences the sexual encounter he boasts about it to his brother Ian that night. When lip gets back from the girls house he hides his dirty boxers behind the desk and as he does a folder drops down from being the radiator, he find his brothers porn stash, but its not female porn its male porn. When he confronts his brother about this later on after he has told him about his sexual encounter from earlier in the day he asks him whether he has ever had that before from a male. Ian takes a feminine approach to this and starts crying and runs and gets into bed. Ian doesn’t look ‘typically’ gay as some would put it.

We are also introduced to two other characters called Fiona and Steve, the two meet in a night club but it seems on purpose by Steve who gets Fiona’s attention after her tries to get her handbag back after it was stolen. Immediately the two are attracted to each other, Steve ends up going back found Fiona’s house and as predicted they have a ‘one night stand’.  During this scene Fiona is making noises during their sexual encounter and these noises come from the film Monty Python, this is called intertexuality. While this scene is going on you can hear gentle music in the back ground and you can also hear the sound of birds.

The mise en scene in this episode reflects the life style that the people on the Chatsworth estate are living, I think the light and all over colours are very dark. This may have been done to show that where they are living is not a very happy place for them. The blocks of flats look very big and over powering, making the estate seem like a rather intimidating place to be.

Front cover & contents annotation

Annotation One
Annotation Two

Media essay question

Essay

Warp Films Factsheet

Factsheet

Binary oppisites

Binary opposites PowerPoint.

Working Title and Warp Films

Working Title Films and Warp

T.V and Drama

You will find that TV dramas all have the following ingredients:

Characters – even particular kinds of characters: eg, at its most simple, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ characters.

Stories – they all tell stories, whether those stories involve adventure, crime or romance and they often, but not always, end happily.

The stories are told against familiar backdrops: – eg, homes, police stations and offices (for crime dramas), hospitals (for medical dramas) – most of which are created in studios. However, most dramas also use outside locations to create particular effects.

Camerawork – particular kinds of shots are used: eg, sequences involving establishing shots followed by mid-shots of characters, shot/reverse shots to show character interaction and, in particular,close-ups to show the characters’ emotions.

Stories use dialogue to tell the stories. Occasionally, monologues are built in (as voiceovers, a character telling a story).

Music is used to punctuate the action, create effects (suspense, tension) and underline emotional moments.

Particular subgenres tend to have items which make them immediately identifiable – police cars, blue lights, operating theatres and scalpels, triage/reception areas in hospitals. Icons of the genre, they symbolise the (sub)genre

Audience and institution

Role of the producer-

-Comes up with the idea of the film

-Find an appropriate script writer

-Find a project director

-Raise the money

-Making the whole film

-Taking the film to the market

-If the producer get any of these things wrong the production of the film can get seriously damaged.

Script-

-The script writer wants to inspire and tantalise the producer

-There can be from 12-15 drafts of the script before it is given to the script developer which is then made into the final draft.

The package-

-Screen play written

-Who is going to be in it

-Budget set

-Casting is critical

Script developing-

-Rearranging order

-Simplify/ cut out lines

-If the script isn’t right e.g. the team may not work well with the script

Attracting investors-

-TV companies

-Regional film fund

-Group of potential investors

Foreign investment-

-Not just in the UK, across channel

-Multi partner, the producer is in charge

Planning-

-Break the script down, do the hardest scenes first

-Casting

-How you’re going to tell the story

-Cinematographer, right hand man of the director

Budget-

-Based on investment

-Draw up a finance plan

-What, why, how can you do?

-Break down the script into sections, case, props, location ect

Above and below the line costs-

Above-

-Creative part of the film

-Producer

-Director

-Set

-Cast

-Script

Below-

-Making the film

-Pre-production

-Schedule

-Costumes

-Photographs

Audience-

-Where do they see this playing?

-Connect the idea of the film to the audience, who will want to watch it?

-Will they get the money they spent making the film and more?
if not dramatically cut the budget or don’t make the film

Marketing-

-Hidden cost

-Additional cost

-Global advertisement

-DVD, TV, paper view

-Certain time of year depends on what films are released

-Who is going to be in the film

-Genre, movie stars, famous director

-Costs more to market the film than it does to make the film