In this week, we have looked at the news to gain a better perspective on the lives of Britain, there a lot of real life stories within the news which, we can use in our own movie. Therefore, this has made it easier for me and my group to come up with realistic ideas in our movie, to portray the struggle within the british working class lives. Nevertheless, when we had obtain this news title, we had to do a post called 'What's in the news' which, made me elaborate my ideas in more detail so the plot becomes more clear, in this process I also learnt more key conventions within a british social realism movie in addition, to the kind of props, location and themes. As a result, making our movie pitch more interesting with some sense of originality and realism
We also discovered a new website called 'Art of the title', which had a lot of different opening sequences. The use of this would help me gain a good insight of the structure and format of opening sequence and how they generically are.
We also did 'beach combing for inspiration' presentation, where we included at least 20 items that could be presented in our own opening sequence, this expanded our creativity that would be further put into our future production.
At the start of the week I had to look at Robert McKee's 'classical narrative structure' - where he examines the narrative structure of a work and what makes a story interesting or not. From the use of this, it had helped me improve my analytical skills due to knowing these key conventions within the film industry. We also had a pitch focus group within the week, where we had to gather a group of people to asses our work. Giving us good feedback and criticisms from a non-bias point of view. As a result, learning this useful feedback made us make sure that our movie was achieving its purpose to entertain and mirror an actual BSR.
Robert McKee's 'classic narrative structure' examines the narrative structure of most scripts of films that are given to him and examines it to pin-point the whole layout of the movie. They are divided into:
Exposition/protagonist: The main character of the movie.
Our protagonist is called Tate, an average teenangers who finds himself depressed along the struggles and events that occur in his life. A conventionally sterotype that happens in our contemporay society of Britain. He is 16 years old and is often isolated from society, due to his horrible family life. He only finds himself to love his girlfriend where he lives in Central London, Stockwell and in an council flat, which shows that he is from working class background due to this conventionally location connoting this.
Agent of change: Something that occurs to have a knock on effect that leads to a conflict/complications
Tate is in a unstable and inconsistent relationship with his girlfriend as one day, she confesses to him that she is pregnant. This leads to his frusturation and the anti-social behaviour he develops aganist society and the people around him. Moreover,the baby is not even Tate's as this leads him to storms out of Bethany's sight and wonders round the streets of a dark and dangerous London.
Conflict/complications: A situation that involves the protagonist in a negative way and must be overcome.
Tate wishes to find the culprit by narrowing down the suspects who he believes got his girlfriend pregnant, through this frusturation he starts to develop contempt for this mysterious person, who he didn't even met. He wants to threaten him to a corner, with a gun he finds at the start of the movie, where he will admit his mistakes.
Elaboration: This is the agent of change, conflict/complications and even the main story plot that is explained.
He goes through various methods of dedicing who could have impregnated his girlfriend, such as studying who out of her current friends and links could be a suspect, stalking her house and actions. This makes Tate quite crazy as he finds himself going through a vicious cycle of looking and looking for the suspect.Consequently, he believes he has found out who it is, he gets him to a dark basement, away from anyone that could interrupt his plans and talks to him in a aggressive and patronising tone.
Climax/Resolution: This is near the end of the complications where they will be resolved and the climax of the movie will occur.
He points the gun at the culprit's head and repeatedly asks: "DID YOU DO IT!?" The culprit is frightened and panics in this abrupt situation. Consequently, he cries and confesses that he did cheat with Bethany. This confuses Tate, as he is happy that he found out who done it and is at the ideal situation to kill him. However, he feels that he can't do it as this is his first time with a gun to someone's head, he knows that revenge won't solve anything and thinks about how much of a physco he has become. This confusion leads Tate to break down crying, the culprit runs away feeling confused but saved as he life is spared.
Coda: This is the end of the movie, where the equilibrium of the movie is restored back to normal . The Coda we decided to do is not one that an audience would expect, as it not so convetionally as it has no solution.Tate goes home and on the way decides that he doesn't want rvenge, this prompts him to dismantle the gun and throw it away in the ocean. As he heads home he thinks about his life without anyone who he truly loves now and goes into further depression, so there is no real coda, In my opinon, a quite unconvetionally ending that follows the McKee's narrative.
Coda /
A CODA is used to resolve the film and add any unanswered questions from the audience, it creates a satisfying end as the resolution of most of the films that use coda, result to an happy ending. As in this extract, we see everyone graduate and play their final band after all of the mess they was in.
- Post Production - Work done on a film once finished.
- Visual effects CGI , Special effects , Green screen
Visual effects create effects that are not really in the movie but, because they are non-existent they can be placed anywhere in the scene adding more creativity for the editors when they are editing, it also makes it more realistic as, they can also add a graphic match towards it.
Editing Techniques
Cutting Clips
Graphic match - When the visuals match with the sound
Eye line match - Making eyes synchronous with characters.
- The point of a graphic match is to match the sound to the visuals thus, making the extract have more emphasis on its sound , creating no disorientation within the scene
- Also, an Eye line match creates reference to one of the characters point of view therefore, the audience know what the object or person placement has in the film, creating no confusion
Superimposition -
The use o superimposition is an type of edit used to put someone on top of a scene, it can be used to create illusion within the scene to add a more mysterious effect. Or, otherwise just to add someone else in the scene who is not really in the scene, so their existence is still in place. However, they are not real used in BSR or in Hollywood, unless is used to add illusion.
Cutaway
A Cut away is used to transition two scenes, creating a reference between one point of the scene to another, it is used alot in family guy to reference jokes to each other thus, making the audience visualize it more easier. Or, it can be used in more serious films to show a flashback to add more emotions within the scene, the transitions often used are.
- Dissolve
- Fade In / Fade Out
- Wipe
Jump Cut
Jump cuts are used to quicken the pace of the movie thus, making any unnecessary parts in the movie cut out therefore, the audience watch the movie at a smoother pace, also they are mostly used in Hollywood and rarely seen in BSR due to it having less realism and BSR's are usually at a slower pace.
Crosscutting
Crosscutting is used to create correlation between the two scenes, to show the audience an link, a link that shows reference and creates much more suspense as two scenes happen at the same time, also it creates good continuity within the film making it a much more easier watching experience for the audience.
Parallel Editing
Parallel editing may be similar to Crosscutting however, there is one difference. As in this godfather scene, it shows a timeline of events going back into the past thus, making it the scenes not happen in the same time but instead, just a series of flashbacks going through the characters head as, crosscutting is the effect of two scenes happening at the same time. However, they have the same purpose of giving correlation between two scenes.
This is one mass difference between two action-packed scenes filled with violence. For example, Fast and Furious ( a Hollywood production film ) puts big emphasis on their action,as they try to surprise our everyday audience with locations,explosions and other props to create a new atmosphere. Moreover, the camera move is quite fast paced along with the transitions of the cuts, it makes the atmosphere less realistic, but more surprising and tensed. On the other hand, if we take a look at the Wild Bill action scene, it is more realistic and slow. It takes a while for the action to actually get started as, it tries to build up the suspense for the audience or, try reveal some information within the dialogue, unlike Fast and Furious which get right into the action to leave no waiting. Also, the camerawork is quite focused as, there only few times it changes angles or movement thus, making it more slow but adding more realism thus, creating more of a personal identification towards the audience which, is what most British social realism intend to do.
In these two scenes, there is still the theme of violence and action but yet again, the two scenes take time to build up. As we see in adulthood, the location is quite dull and boring which everyday people from London can recognize or relate with thus, creating a more level of personal identification for the audience just because of the location. Moreover, the scene starts with slow camera movement following the characters, this slowly builds up the suspense for the audience. However, in the Hollywood film the suspense and action is put right in just like the last one, the location is quite big and huge, and not something an everyday working class person would see, as we see fast pace camera work with stunts, that will cause shock from the audience. This creates less personal identification for the audience and realism but, more of thrill and excitement showing a difference of purposes for the two extracts.
In these two scenes, is a massive juxtaposition as we see, they both have a different purpose as one wants to set mean,purpose and setting while, the other one wants to please the audience with full on action. In fish tank, the camera movement is very slow ( just like the other extracts ), the cuts happen at a slow pace too and there alot of establishing shots with ambient sound, to set the mood of the movie adding to the sense of realism. However, in the other movie it puts the audience right into the action with fast-paced camera movement, and a quite less poor location which is New York ( Manhattan) unlike, fish tank which is set near the council flats. Thus, creating less personal identification but more shock and surprise to give the audience more escapism
Overall, Hollywood seems to have less realism, with fast-paced camera movement, key conventions of explosions which, create alot of escapism but less of a personal identification, They also, tend to put the audience straight into the audience rather than, using establishing shots to set the scene and create more of mood in addition, to less ambient sounds and more Foley sounds. On the other hand, British social realism use establishing shots and more poor areas, to emphasis the poverty the working class live in and create a better sense of realism also, making the audience have more sympathy towards the cast. They also use slow camera movement and slow paced cuts to add the sense of realism, and ambient sounds also to add this thus, making it a kitchen-sink-drama.
Film 4 is a British film production company owned by Chanel Four Television Corporation. They have been responsible for backing a large number of films in the UK. It started in 1998 and the company was known as ChanelFour Films however, later on it was branded was Film 4 and started with it's first film called 'Walter' which was directed by Stephen Fears. They are also owned by channel 4 and are behind some of the most iconic British films of the last twenty-seven years, a film production company that is independent and uniquely British, nevertheless they have had several specialists in co-production with tribute over 15% in their film budget.
Film 4 Themes
Film Four Production have built a status for producing social realist films which, are often british. However, they are mostly refereed as kitchen sink dramas due to it symbolising an everyday british working class life, and it portrays it realistically as possible. This is mostly done by the rough,ready style camerawork and design, using grim real life locations or not much of the big star actors who, are mostly untrained. This is also connoted through some of the actors heavy ascents, and the accented areas. Nevertheless, they deal with mostly politically sensitive and controserevial themes which question race, social facts , taboos , homosexuality , drugs , gangs and other themes, in a very extreme sense.
Each film here is an example of what would be on Film4, as they are all british social realism which portray the domestic hardship of working class life as, they experience poverty in very graphic images.
Film 4 Ethos
One of Film4 Ethos is to develop a unique British Talent and be leader of innovation in the British Film industry and invest around £500,000 per film, at a rate of around 20 films a year. They also plan to support international independent film makers which, is by investing in innovative and interesting foreign films, making it more multi-cultural. Nevertheless, they are planning to offer a platform for British and independent cinema on terrestrial television by committing to revealing each one of Film Four Productions films on channel 4 and it's sister station Film Four.
' Famous Drunk dad faces disease if he doesn't stop'
The headline above could portrays a British Social realism movie, as it illustrates the effects of a drinking addict leading to many consequences. The themes will be based on drugs, parenthood, childhood, depression , isolation and death. The main character is called Mike, a Dad with many struggles and choices to decide which, all lead to his disease and depression. He has two sons, one is 17 and one is 14 called Chris And David and a wife, called Margaret who is thinking of divorcing him.
The plot of the movie is that Mike lives in a very upper class area, in Chelsea. He feels that everything around him is changing for worse, as his sons do not care much about his life as they, are caught up in their own life in addition , to his wife having problems and arguments. Even though they live in a large house, Mike feels that he is much more civilised and at home at his pub, he co-owns the pub with a man called Anthony. Mike feels that Anthony, is arrogant and over his head which he finds annoying and struggles to work with. Mike also has a drinking problem which, he finds help with his depression ironically - Consequently, he has heart disease and suspects that the drinking was a part of it, he often has random black outs which he feels, put him to peace as he forgetting the past and his mistakes put him at ease. One day, Anthony is found dead at the pub one night, Mike was near the scene when it happened but, because of his blackout he can't remember what happened but is happy, to find himself in one piece but, is also disturbed by this event. He is questioned but can't remember. He becomes owner, which is a struggle for him as he finds himself consuming all the stock to fill his drinking needs consequently, this disturbs the business and puts him in debt which, leads to the divorce with his wife. Out of desperation, he works with a drug dealer who puts drugs in his pub with the drinks, the sales suddenly go up but no one knows, that the drinks are drugged which makes the pub very controversial . Even though , it gets famous , it often gets some hate and this troubles Mike, he has to cope with his heart disease while keeping the secrets of his pub secret however, this becomes a struggle as he finds one of his son addicted to these drugged drinks. Mike is not an independent moral genius, so he finds this hard to either make money for himself and others, or stop his son from this addiction by telling the truth and shutting down his pub.
Headline 2
Schoolboy who faces suspension for running 'black
market' tuck shop to sell rest of stock on eBay
The headline above may not portray the conventions of a british social realism movie however, they can be changed to suit it. For example. the sweets could be replaced by drugs showing, corruption of youth due to the selling of drugs in school. The main character 'Tommie' faces these struggles of bullying,isolation, drug addiction and corruption of youth
The plot of the film has a restricted narrative of Tommie, a boy who goes to school like every other kid but, is isolated from other peer groups and usually bullied. One day, he hears kids talking about drugs and how they are running low and, that they will be willing to pay a high price for certain drugs . Tommie, meets a drug dealer who is a friend of his Dad surprisingly. He takes the boy under his wing to sell these drugs in school and share the profit with him, this gets tommie very popular and rich. However, these rumours spread and is on the brink of getting bullied of getting these drugs for free; he has to stand up for himself and fight aganist the bullies or he will be 'grasped' in order, to make enough money for uni by the end of the year.
Headline 3 -A hero's return! K-9 police dog Reiko has bullet removed from his spine after being shot by murder suspec
This headline portrays the themes of a britsh realism with war, violence and justice. These themes can be shown through the use of the freindship between a police dog and a police officer who work together. Also, war between gangs and the police can be shown as the dog gets in danger thus, making the police officer it's protector as it's faces violent murderers.
The plot of film could be that one day, a police officer called Jake, decides to train his dog to become strong and smart. He takes it on courses where he learns to sniff for drugs and bite when nessecary. Some people find this cruel however, he finds it great as he bonds with his dog alot more. One day, the dog gets shot by a gang and the police officer has swore revenged and justice for them ever since they got away. As a result, years later the dog returns and he embarks a mission to sniff our their drugs and put them in jail to create justice.
In this sequence, it portrays the lifestyle of 21 jump street, it contains images and scenes of partying, doing drugs, crime, school life and romance. Throughout these themes, they illustrate that the two main characters struggle to progress in life with these constant barriers to obtain, the lifestyle of 21 jump street. They use fake identites to also maintain this lifestyle, by putting on costumes such as: casual clothes and police uniform. They live in a normal everyday estate near a school, and they work at a police station where they, hide their identities to look like a student. Alot of props they begin to learn and use are: police baton, guns and police cuffs which, vary from working in a class doing: science, drama , labs and much more student activites that, they are forced to do in order to 'fit in'.
This typography within the opening sequences portrays one of the main characters plaied in the movie by the actor Channing Tatum. The typography is in shining bold font creating it as the central figure denoting this, also it connotes the actor himself as the central figure. Moreover, the font in bold creates a connotation of the character as, strong himself due to this font. Also, it silver colouring connotes steel, again showing a strong figurative character with, the bullets in the background connoting a dangerous lifestyle.
The 21 Jump street institutional logo is denoted in bold red and blue font, the big font makes the title the central dominant attraction for the audience, keeping it in key iconography. Nevertheless, it is connoted through the two colours flashing like a police siren as a result, giving off connotations of police protecting, serving and justice. However , the movie subverts this as, the police are often crazy,wild and out of control giving off a juxtapostion of a hidden meaning within the title.
- In this scene, the background has explosions with the directors, this could connote the explosive lifestyle within the movie or, how much of a big impact the directors had on the movie, almost celebrating them in a way.
- In this text, the background is pink with hearts flying in the sky showing, quite a soft lifestyle. The pink background connotes a feminity side of the person or, maybe represents a girl which gives impressions of what the characer could be like or how they act. The font is also quite bold and eye-catching which attracts the audience
In the scene with the music disc in the background, it resembles the music maker ' Mark Mothersbaugh' work as, it connotes the hard work put in the music rooms and the amount of realism as, it resembles it.
In this scene, it displays 'Dave Franco' name in rainbows and a happy field, this connotes that this actor is quite calm,happy and maybe gentle, giving off impressions of what the audience should expect from him.
- In this scene, it illustrates who the story was by, it creates quite a synchronous scene with the typewriter, it connotes the effort put into the story as the typewriter moves quite fast, the white colour is quite eye-catching and attracting to the audience.
The timeline I have done is from the movie '21 Jump Street'. The pattern of the title sequence begins to start with the developers and producers
and the actors near the end resembling the matter of importance. Right at the start (0:07), the developers come first showing the hierachy they have as, they have put in the effort and developed the movie. As a result, funding the movie to build up to it's high expecations and reach to markets and cinemas. Also, they put the story and who influnced it after aswell,( 0:22) as '21 Jump Street' is not an original idea. It says it is' Based on the televison series' and who created it as, it plays a big part in influencing the story of the movie. Moreover ,it avoids any copyright within the movie as, the creators can claim copyright as stealing their idea. However , they put it near the start to show important they are as, even though they didn't make it but they influenced it. Nevertheless, the editor comes around (0:45) near the middle as, he may not play a role in the movie or is actually seen but, this person is behind all the cut scenes and how the movie flows, he creates continuity and makes sure the audiences who spectacte this, can spectacte it cleary without no confusion. After this, finally the actors come in all in order. The first two actors that are on screen are Jonah Hill (0:48) and Channing Tatum(0:51). The reason these two characters come in first , because they are the central dominant figure in the movie, they are the main characters who the audience pay attention to as, they make up most of the movie due, to having most screening. Nevertheless, they are big budget actors who are quite famous. Near the end, they introduce a special guest at (1:01) ' with ice cube; the reason the word 'with' is used as, he may not be a professional actor but, he is untrained and the role he plays suits his own ethncity. Also, he has a very big target audience which can attract them, to watch the movie due to this famous rapper. Near the end, they introduce the casting (1:20), as without them, they would of not been able to get the fitting roles for the characters in the movie. At, (1:25) and (1:29) the music and costume designer come in, for rememberance, as the music builds up the atmosphere in additon, to most of them being famous songs. Also, the costume designer comes at the very end as, the mise-en-scene in this movie plays a big role due, to it being alot about changing identity keeping it key, for it not go wrong and be suitable.
Overall, the timeline has helped me gain understanding on how, I should make my own opening sequence. The timeline has made me understand, the professionalism that takes in place within just a 1 minute clip, the name and screening has to take place cleary for the audience to know and understand the representation of importance. Nevertheless, the connotations and denotations have made me understand, the typography or iconography the images contain to, brighten the audiences expectations and impressions. As a result, I must use this in my opening to create, this realism of an opening sequence.
1960S - Cross roads to crime Crossroads to Crime is a 1960 British crime film where a man called Don Ross discovers a gang of lorry hi-jackers from the back of a transport cafe. Connie Williams , Sergeant Pearson scoffs at Ross's concerns that the criminals are responsible for a series of vehicle thefts along the A1 Road. From this, we can tell that the themes are crime, violence, theft , mystery and murder. More evidence is from the text ( trailer ) , which shows several uses of diegetic sounds connoting violence. gangs and murder within the film. Nevertheless, the diegetic noises is a soundtrack of trumpets playing, at a fast pace connoting excitement within the film and giving an impression of danger. It is set around the A1 Road in London which gives opportunities for high pace chases which, involve yet again violence but, thrill for the audience. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATAeuCVXqLQ&safe=active
1970s - PerformancePerformance is a 1970 Britishcrime drama film,Chasis a soldier in an east London gang led by Harry Flowers ;his specialty is intimidation through violence as he collects pay-offs for Flowers. He is very good at his job, and has a reputation for liking it. His sexual liaisons are casual and rough. The themes used in this text are, madness, sanity , sex , and violence. It is set in east London. The sound used is Rock music, which connote a rebellious tone towards the characters and mood, it also uses diegetic noises of gun shots which show violence and connote an insane world.
1980s - The Long good Friday.Harold Shand , an old-fashioned London Gangster is aspiring to become a businessman, albeit with the financial support of the American Mafia, with a plan to redevelop the London Docklands as a venue for a future Olympic Games. Yet again, the themes in this text are violence, guns, gangs which is set in London. The sound used often are diegetic noises of explosions which, give connotations of an atmosphere of violence and danger nevertheless, most of the people wear suits which give connotations of a luxurious life and high-class people.
1990s - TrainspottingTrainspotting is a 1996 British crime comedy drama film. Trainspotting have alot of themes of drugs,violence, crimes , sex which are, seen as conventions of a British social realism film. The characters are quite rebellious and carefree with no direction in life. They also used rock music, which give connotations of also rebellion and rejecting the norms of society. Nevertheless, the costumes they wear is also quite dirty, which show the poverty they live in and the carefree manor of not caring how they look.
2000s - Billy Eillot
Billy Elliot has quite different themes which are protest, riots , depression , poverty , inspiration and ambition. These are all connoted through Billy Elliot persona ,to subvert the generic stereotype of boys being masculine. He does this through being rebellious and practicing things he loves. There quite a few shots of medium shots of billy practicing his hobby, showing the work he puts in to be different from society. They use alot of fade-to-black transitions to show a slow pace throughout the text and the time-line of the movie.
2010s - Four Lions
Four lions have themes about Terrorism and comedy, which is often seem as a juxtaposition due, to the terrorism being horrific and not funny, giving off a satire tone. It is set in London and Pakistan and often alot of medium shots of the environment with the main characters in it, to give off a sense of the world they are and , maybe how out of place they are. They often wear religious clothes, to show their serious mood about their religion and how they respect it. The sounds are often explosions, giving off connotations of danger while, there are diegetic noises of the people arguing giving off the satire mood. Overall, the themes of British social realism have changed over time having more conventions, themes and meanings as, usually the old films in 60s-70s would be based on only one theme which, would usually be crime and violence. However, this is now expanded to drugs, rebellion, protest and even satire comedy to lighten the mood of the kitchen-sink-dramas.
This week we took a good look into other British social realist movies that conveyed the working class life with quite a few themes and mise-en-scene. For example, KES displays a boy who is often bullied and isolated from society, who is a working class boy that leads him to make friends with a bird. This widened my knowledge of how to portray poverty by using themes that can conform to you.
We also completed an evaluation on our preliminary task to see our mistakes and strengths so we can take benefit of it into the future.
Throughout our media project we have encountered, pros and cons which, help us understand our movie in a better perspective. I worked with adam who, edited differently from me but, with the same clips.
As the movie progresses, we have used a various use of camera shots. We used camera short from long - to close up at the same time, keeping consistent continuity This shot shows Adam in distress and shock, we have used a close up to express this so that the audience are more clear. We haven't used natural lighting but the opposite as, it creates more of a distress atmosphere to express that Adam is in trouble.
The extreme close up of adam, gives more emphasis on his shocked emotion making the atmosphere more tenser. Moreover, we didn't use natural lighting in this scene as we decided to change it, it made it un-natural as it put more emphasis on the emotions portrayed in the scene, the atmosphere becomes more tense because of this.
This shot, is a extreme long shot of Adam running through the distance, we have used natural lighting to express the dull background and lighting. It expresses that Adam, has made a mistake is his life and is running away from it. It is eye level angle to avoid any confusion. within the audience and, keep it an understandable level.
Challenges One challenge we faced was having the speech in dialogue quite clear, as sometimes there would be ambient noise distracting the audience therefore, we had to look for various quiet locations that would get rid of the ambient noise. Therefore, we used a classroom. One problem with the classroom is that it made it less realistic as a job interview would not take place, in a environment like that. Also, our costumes were not ideal as well, as dam is usually wearing a school ID badge making it not look like a job interview, this could create confusion within the audience. Nevertheless, we also had a lot of interruptions within the scenes we was trying to film due to mostly people walking in and out, making the background less realistic within our scenes. Luckily, there was no weather problems of rain when we were filming outside, therefore creating the natural lighting more suited for the atmosphere we was filling in. 180 Degree Rule The 180 degree rule was broken throughout the film which, was a challenge we faced. However, we have learnt from our mistakes of how important the 180 degree rule is while filming. Because of this, this could create a lot of disorientation within the audience because of the broken rule.
Match on action The match on action rule we had to follow went well, as most or near to all of the scenes had good continutity leaving no disoreintation within the audience or any other scenes. Thus, this makes our movie much more clearer to watch without any confusion also, the pace of movie is at a steady pace due to the camera movement and cuts going at a steady pace. Overall, the movie had good editing and use of lighting and camera shots with angles. However , we made quite a few mistakes for our first production. Firstly, we got the 180 rule degree wrong which, unfortunate creates disruption within the audience and also an unsteady pace of editing. We also, didn't use much of match on action, this would of been better as it made the pace of the movie much faster and fluent.
Right from the start of the film, we can already tell the themes are childhood violence, isolation. Isolation is denoted through Billy walking through the school alone whilst, he sees other peer groups hanging out. This shows that, Billy is an odd-one out in school and other people, do not simply respect him or acknowledge him in a way he wants. Moreover, Billy only seems to be noticed by one teacher, who he talks to in an almost quiet, nervous manor however, when he talks to other peers with his same age, his mode of address changes as he disrespects them and talks back to them. This shows that, Billy is isolated from the people who is suppose to connect with which, makes it a struggle for him to fit in.
Childhood Nevertheless, Childhood is another key theme as, we can see the location is set in a school with other peers around the same age as Billy. Billy's childhood seems rough. Also, his age is denoted through the theme of childhood, he is still young and quite childish. We can tell, that he is childish by the fights he peruses, His childish-like manor is another aspect that we can identify the themes is about childhood, he addresses most of the adults with respect in a low tone which, is an convention/stereotype of being a child to an adult.
Escape and Aspiration. As billy feels isolated from society, he always feels the need to escape, to find escapism in order to achieve companionship. He escapes by making friends with a bird, who he only feels connected by, he also feels aspiration as he feels free and doesn't need to follow the norms of society and school. Moreover, he does not much have aspiration in fact; as when the teacher ask him about his future, he doesn't really care, he has more apathy for his future and intends to differentiate himself from everyone else which, makes him more isolated.
Violence Violence is often a key theme in this text, often physically and verbally. He is abused by his class mates around school, when they tease him which, is an form use of verbal abuse, this angers Billy then leads to the violence that goes around often in school. This is denoted through the punches and tackles which, connotes the ungraceful environment Billy lives in and has to grow up in. giving him the struggle to fit into school.
Friendship.Even though, Billy seems to struggle for friendship, he still finds some companionship. For example, even though the Bird is not a real human interaction, he still counts it as his friend which connotes the feeling of friendship in his life. He feels more connected to the bird than anyone else, and takes it under his wing. However, Billy still struggles with the simple human interactions as he is often bullied ( also another theme ).
KES is a film about boy called Billy Casper who finds it hard to fit into his place of society, He is often bullied and not much hope in life. Nevertheless, he is often abused both physically and verbally by his half brother, this results to him being mischievous by stealing and provoked into fights with his classmates. He then soon finds a friend, which is a kestrel who he finds himself connecting to.
Production Design.
Casper usually wears grey and rugged dirty clothes which denotes, his working class background coming from a white-British ethnicity. This also connotes, his carefree child-like manor as it could suggest, he is not very caring about people judging him due to his appearance. On the other hand, it can also suggest how he wants to differentiate himself by putting on these clothes that appear different to other people which, in fact isolates him more from society thus, encouraging his poor heritage he was brought up in.
Lighting
The lighting reflects on the mood and setting for the film. It is often quite dull with natural lighting of the weather being grayish. This is used to emphasis the rundown(gritty) location of a working class area. This natural lighting adds more of the realism effect that is needed which, adds more identification and escapism for the audience while watching this film. The scenes mood also tend to reflect to the lighting for example, when Billy is getting told of by the teacher in front of the students, the scene has a dark lighting showing the feeling of humiliation. As a result , of the connotations of the dark atmosphere.
Actors
The actors especially the main one, appear to be unprofessional actors who are not forced into their ethnicity and ascent. This is good, as yet again it adds more sense of realism,escapism and identification towards the audience so they don't feel anything is put on or fake. Moreover, untrained actors make it more ideal for them to act nervous or anxious within the movie, depending on the character. For example, Billy Casper is acted by an untrained actor which makes it easy, for him to have an effect of anxiety.
Colour
Within the exterior and interior of the locations of the film, the colour is often bright or dark. The interior is quite dark, with grey wallpaper and corridors at the school. This connotes that school is almost like prison as, these colours are often associated with a prison. As a result, leaving emotions of a dark atmosphere with dull feelings which, is quite the opposite of what a school should be. On the other hand,this slightly conforms a stereotype of schools being dull and boring. On the contrary,the colours become more light as we begin to see the exterior such as the green grass. Because of the colours of the green grass the scene becomes more alive/emotion-filled(joy), this is usually to emphasis that KES is more happy with nature. Evidence for this would be when he was with the bird, showing he tends to feel more connected with nature.
Era
The era of the movie is set around the late 1960s, we can tell this by the schools first of all. The schools look more under-developed and old fashioned. As we see assemblies without chairs and sitting on stairs, Thus, connoting more of a poor background. Also, we tend to see more talk about coal mines and coal around the scenes showing, that coal was an use of lighting and heating denoting an 1960s society.
Throughout the week, I have gained a greater understanding of the representatives and stereotypes in the media. I have also learnt how to connect them with sound, I have learnt sound from: diegetic , non , diegetic sound foleys , incidental and so much more. The essay I last done, I got an A on it which, have widen my understanding on how to interpret the stereotypes within society that are used in films.
However, I am very good at linking with camera angles, mise-en scene but, need to get better at linking them with sound as, it is important that I know how sound affects the movie as a whole as , they play a big part in the media.
Diegetic Sound - This is where sound is part of the environment in the film , for example a car breaking .
In this scene, this a various use of Diegetic sound. However, there is a clear use near the end where the antagonist( Zod ) , can hear everything in his environment from thing such as: Cars, alarms , crashes and much more. The use of this creates realism in the film and emphases the surroundings of the atmosphere as a result, making it more ambient. Nevertheless, due the vary use of it, it creates disorientation within the audience as it is asynchronous adding emphasise on this confusion.
The crashing and smashing in the environment also creates a sense of danger and catastrophe therefore, alerting the audience even more.
Non Diegetic sound - Non diegetic sound is when it is not part of the environment in the film and, only us as the audience can hear it.
In this scene, the non-diegetic sound used in the soundtrack in the background. The soundtrack used is quite smooth and synchronous within the opening. It is used to emphasise how consistent and calm the scene goes, everything flows fluently with the non-diegetic sound. The soundtrack contains a guitar playing quite high notes to put emphasis, the normal everyday routine the protagonist has.
Dialogue - This is simply a conservation between two or more characters, it can not between one as that would be a monologue.
This is an example of dialogue within a film. However a dialogue can contain certain ways of speaking
Mode Of Address - This is the way the subject is communicating with others, and how the audience read it. In this scene we can clearly tell Walter tone is aggressive however, formal as well as he explains the perks of being a meth dealer.
Direct Address - This is where the subject is talking directly to the audience.
This is an example of Direct Address. The two workers are talking towards us which, makes the show more interactive and attention centred towards the audience. In this scene, the two workers are talking about something quite comedic towards the audience which, involves them to join into the laughter a lot more thus, breaking the fourth wall.
Synchronous Sound - This is where the sound matches the visuals and was filmed at the same time.
Synchronous sound is used here, this is where the soundtrack changes tone throughout the scene goes, right at the start the beat goes with the transitions of the scenes. It creates an effect for the audience of excitement and suspense nevertheless, when the tone changes with the mood of the scene it adds more emphasis on the emotions portrayed.
Asynchronous sound. - This is where the sound is out of sync within the scene. In this scene we see that quite happy joyful music, is being played over a serious fight. This can create confusion within the scene, or subvert the emotions of seriousness and turn them into joy or laughter as a result, creating a juxtaposition within this scene.
Sound Motif. - A sound motif is a piece of music or catch phrase that is commonly linked to a character or film.
This is a form of sound motif as it is has instant-reconginiton when the music appears. It creates iconography for the audience so that it increases the publicity of the TV show. The music is quite upbeat and happy but is subverted with, very dull images of a boring office creating a juxtaposition.
In this scene, this is also an example of an monologue as the protagonist is talking to himself. The monologue or sound bridge goes throughout the scenes , to create a greater understanding of the environment he is talking about, it also creates a sense of narration to help guide the audience. Nevertheless, the sound bridge has a serious time which gives impression of a grave situation which is occurring.
Sound Perspective - This refers to the volume and quality of sound, depending on who of what is emitting the sound
This is to elaborate how the sound works in the scene and add to the realism, as if the sound of the person talking was clear, then the audience would be more disoriented and wouldn't sound like a phone call anyway.
Score - Often music composed specifically for that film
The score used is in this, is quite dramatically composed. As a result, this score symbolizes superman as every time he enters the scene, this score would play emphasizing the suspense that is about to happen. This thrills the audience and encourage to root on superman as the protagonist.
Soundtrack - Usually songs already released by artist and used on films depending on the genre.
In this scene, Donnie Darko wakes up in a forest and a soundtrack plays where he continues to ride on his bike. The soundtrack is quite old it's genre, it is rock which adds to the sense of rebellion within the protagonist as he is not the stereotypical teen.
Foley Sounds - Foley sounds are sounds that are used to imiate real life sounds.
Foley sounds is here to emphasise the realism within the scene, they use the sounds of a horse rattling, grass and footsteps. All these sounds create a sense of suspence, where the audience feels more alive and interacted with the scene.
Through the first 2 weeks of the course, I have learned a vary of techiniques and theories. From learning the basic camera shots e.g: medium shot, long shot, extreme long shot and close ups etc. I have also learned to evaulate them and how they emphasis the text they are placed in. Nevertheless, i have also learnt how to use approbate key terminology within my media work. This can be keywords from: convention, connote , denote. This has helped me, as it has expended my vocabulary within my media terminology.
In addition, I have learnt the representations of gender and age throughout movies. As a result of this, i can now identify the archetypes, stereotypes and counter types. Throughout these key words, i have used them to explain how people from different culture are represented.
Also, I have finished my storyboard and planning for my movie ' The Encounter ' , this has helped me understand and organise how I am going to produce my movie to my best capability. I am working with a good partner who I trust to do the work with me.
Lastly, I have done the first media exam where i have to annotate a 5 minute image and explain how gender is represented. This has helped a lot, because the key words I learnt for example ( archetypes ) were used a lot in this test, to identify how gender is shown.
In this week, we have looked at the news to gain a better perspective on the lives of Britain, there a lot of real life stories within the news which, we can use in our own movie. Therefore, this has made it easier for me and my group to come up with realistic ideas in our movie, to portray the struggle within the british working class lives. Nevertheless, when we had obtain this news title, we had to do a post called 'What's in the news' which, made me elaborate my ideas in more detail so the plot becomes more clear, in this process I also learnt more key conventions within a british social realism movie in addition, to the kind of props, location and themes. As a result, making our movie pitch more interesting with some sense of originality and realism 
