Kick-Ass

Kick-ASS

Working Title Time Line

WT Timeline

Task 4 & 5

Task 4

Representation of Age

Representation of Age: 

As a class we came up with lists of stereotypes that were associated with old and young people. 

YOUNG (0-25) - Includes children and teenagers and young adults. 

- gangs                                       - immature 

- antisocial behaviour                  - rely on other people a lot

- lazy                                          - violent 

- rude                                         - teenage pregnancy  

- noisy                                        - sub groups exist e.g. chav/emo/goth/townies/geeks/grebs.

- modern (can use technology) 

- 'druggies' 

- outgoing 

- criminals           

OLD (60-65+) : 

- moany                           - anti young 

- traditional                      - stubborn 

- narrow minded              - ill

- smell                             - dress smartly  

- 'incontinent'                   - hobbies 

- deaf                              - lonely 

- hunch backed               - pets 

- set in their ways 

- sleep a lot 

- knitters 

- racist 

-At 40 a footballer is 'old' - he will have retired or be considering retirement.

- At 40 a politician is 'young' - may be seen to lack experience or seriousness. (or both)

Abraham Simpson: 

Abraham Simpson hits many of the stereotypes associated with 'old' people. For starters his name 'Abraham' is a very old fashioned and traditional name. He also fought in World War II and enjoys telling stories of his own experiences, often starting with "in my day....". Abe is also partially deaf and often miss hears things or asks for them to be repeated. Another stereotype associated with Abe is that he has false teeth, something that is commonly associated with old people. Grandpa Simpson lives in a retirement home, this is a strong stereotype that is associated with the older generation. 

I have prepared a clip to go with my final point, that proves that Abe hits the stereotype of old people struggle to use new technology: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3fLOqrFR60

Let The Right One In.

Let the Right One In

Media Theories

Claude Levi-Strauss (1908 - 2009)

Binary Opposites:
Good / Evil
Black / White
Tall / Short
Old / Young  ect.

Vladimir Propp (1895 - 1970)
Example:                               Character roles:
James Bond                          1. The hero - the character who seeks something.
Goldfinger                             2. The villain.
Q                                          3. The donor - who provides an with some magic property.
Felix Leiter                            4. The helper - aids the hero.
Pussy Galore                         5. The Princess - reward for hero - often the object of villians schemes.
                                             6. Her father - who rewards the hero.
M                                          7. The dipsatcher - who sends the hero on his way.
                                             8. The false hero - seems to be heroic intially. Turns out to be evil, or a red
                                                  herring.
In films and TV: 'Hero' can be male or female - someone who moves the story forward.
You won't be able to account for every character role type in every text.

Red Herring:
A character or object that is intoduced as seemingly important. It is left behind/forgotten/never mentioned again. Turns out to have been of no importance.

Tzvetan Todorov (1939 -   )
All stories begin with an equilibrium this is dispatched, then restored. A classic begginging, middle, end narrative structure.
3 part narrative structure:
1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption of equilibrium
3. Restoration of equilibrium or new equilibrium.

  

Animoto - Hypodermic Needle.

New Technology In Film Production

3D on Prezi

Joe Swanson, Disability

Joe Swanson

This Is England

This Is England was made in 2006 by Warp Films. The film cost £1.5 million to produce and was funded by the national lottery and the UK Film Council. The film was directed by Shane Meadow, and was based on a one of his real life experiences. The film is created to change the perception of the stereotypical 'skinheads' and included a strong anti racism message to youngsters, although the film was given an 18 certificate which angered Shane. The main character Shaun is played by Thomas Turgoose, who was found by a talent scout in Grimsby, although he was from a poor background, had behavioural problems and had no experience Shane gave him the lead role in the film and it paid of.

We were given the task of watching the opening scene and creating notes on the following areas:
-Appeal to the audience
-Who is the audience and how we know
-How is the cinematography different to Hot Fuzz
-How is social realism constructed

Opening scene notes:
- There are several camera shots of iconic typically British 80's things, for example: Margaret Thatcher, Top Of The Pops, Space Invaders. This opening sets the time.

-There is a focus of violence in the opening credits - strikes, fights, riots and wars.
- Foreign corner shop owner - stereotypically
- Violence at school, Shaun shows he has a short temper and is not afraid to take on bigger and older kids. He and Harvey are then punished by the teacher by being caned.
-Lots of slang and colloquial language is used
-80's music during a montage of Shaun as he is accepted into the 'skinhead' group. 80's mise en scene, 80's buildings, music, costumes and behaviour.
-lots of hand-held cinematography and very few if any special effects, in contrast to Hot Fuzz which uses lots of editing and special effects.
- The target audience for this film would be working class people, mainly men. However the likeable young main character appeals to women.

This Is England '86:
This Is England '86 television series was produced and aired in 2010, it stared the original cast and more e.g. Lol's parents and the moped gang. The series was filmed in Sheffield and was produced to show how the skinheads developed into mods, it was also designed to show how the recession and unemployment was effecting people at the time. After producing This Is England Shane Meadows still had many ideas left over, which he decided to use to make This is England '86 and had a much larger budget of £20 million compared to the films budget of £1.5 million. The budget was mainly provided by EM Media and Screen Yorkshire.

This extra budget went towards:

• Hiring a much larger cast. e.g. teachers, Woody's parents, Lol's mum and dad, Moped gang
• This Is England '86 uses lots more camera effects and editing techniques through out the series. 
• Lots of different locations were used in This is England '86 e.g. school, wedding place, Shauns house, Lol's house, Woody's house, Maggie and Banjo's house.
• This is England '86 uses lots more props e.g. costumes, buses, mopeds, school equipment and wedding dresses and decorations. 

This Is England '86 begins the first episode with a piece of the original film that was never used, it also uses a different sound track to coincide with the new time era of 1986. One of the main differences is the fact that the television series follows lots of different characters and no longer focuses solely on Shaun's activities.

Male Gaze - Ck Adverts

Following our work on the Male Gaze, we were given two photographs to analyse both from Calvin Klein underwear. One of a male Fredrick Ljungberg and one of a female Eva Mendes.



Freddie Ljungberg:
Hair: short, clean, masculine
Look: slight pout, intra-diegetic, inviting, suggestive
Face: well structured, chiselled
Lips: slight pout, seductive, shiny, feminine
Stubble: groomed, masculine, rugged
Body: muscular, athletic, sweaty, post coital
Abs: toned
Pubic Area: shaved, clean
Hand: fist, strong/aggressive, suggestive
Underwear: tight, revealing
Tattoo: bold, wild animal, sexual place, shows he can take pain
Necklace: feminine, religious
Background colour: red, sexual, romantic, link to arsenal
Bar: pose showing off arm muscle
Bicep: big, toned, works out

This advert is aimed at men, to make them buy the underwear. However it appeals to women because of the model. It will also act as a role model for some men who want to look like that.

 

Eva Mendez
Look: orgasm, distracted, doesn't care whos watching her
Legs: long, thin, open - sexual invitation
Stance: open, confident, standing her ground
Arms: strong
Lingerie: seductive, revealing
Body: post coital, after sex sweat, slim, small breasts
Shoes: shoes with lingerie - pornographic
Feet: on her tip toes elongating legs
Hair: wet, feminine, post coital, messy, swimming/shower

This advert is aimed towards women, to encourage them to buy the underwear. However it clearly appeals to men due to the attractive model.

Production Flow Chart

Production Flow Chart

The Male Gaze

N.E.R.D's music video for the song Lapdance, fits in well with Laura Mulveys theory of the 'Male Gaze'. Mulvey theory suggests that:

• "visual pleasure and narrative cinema"
• Active males/passive female.
• Woman as image/men as "bearer of the look.
• Voyeuristic
• fetishistic

N.E.R.D'S music video contains most of these points, it shows many images of women wearing minimal clothing, acting as the 'image'. Throughout the video there are also many clips of the men looking at and admiring the women, this shows them acting as the 'bearer of the look'. Women are treated as objects in this video, they wear little clothing and are there to catch the attention and 'gaze' of the audience. The video is very sexual and seductive towards males, it shows several scenes of women surrounding the male singers trying to seduce them. This also ties in with Majorie Ferguson catorgaries of female expression, the women use romantic and sexual looks and actions to gain attention and hold the 'gaze' of the audience.

The Male Gaze

Marjorie Ferguson (1980) identified four types of facial expression in the cover photos of British women’s magazines:

1. Chocolate Box: half or full-smile, lips together or slightly parted, teeth barely visible, full or three-quarter face to camera. Projected mood: blandly pleasing, warm bath warmth, where uniformity of features in their smooth perfection is devoid of uniqueness or of individuality.
2. Invitational: emphasis on the eyes, mouth shut or with only a hint of a smile, head to one side or looking back to camera. Projected mood: suggestive of mischief or mystery, the hint of contact potential rather than sexual promise, the cover equivalent of advertising’s soft sell.
3. Super-smiler: full face, wide open toothy smile, head thrust forward or chin thrown back, hair often wind-blown. Projected mood: aggressive, ‘look-at-me’ demanding, the hard sell, ‘big come-on’ approach.
4. Romantic or Sexual: a fourth and more general classification devised to include male and female ‘two-somes’; or the dreamy, heavy-lidded, unsmiling big-heads, or the overtly sensual or sexual. Projected moods: possible ‘available’ and definitely ‘available’.

 Trevor Millum offers these categories of female expressions:

1.    Seductive: similar to the cool/level look in many respects - the eyes are less wide, perhaps shaded, the expression is less reserved but still self-sufficient and confident; milder versions may include a slight smile.

2.    Seductive: similar to the cool/level look in many respects - the eyes are less wide, perhaps shaded, the expression is less reserved but still self-sufficient and confident; milder versions may include a slight smile.

3.    Practical: concentrating, engaged on the business in hand, mouth closed, eyes object-directed, sometimes a slight frown; hair often short or tied back.

4.    Comic: deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated, acting the fool, pulling faces for the benefit of a real or imaginary audience, sometimes close to a sort of archness.

5.    Catalogue: a neutral look as of a dummy, artificial, waxlike; features may be in any position, but most likely to be with eyes open wide and a smile, but the look remains vacant and empty; personality has been removed. (Millum 1975, 97-8)

How are regional identity and sexuality represented in the opening sequence of Shameless episode 1?

Consider:

Stereotypes 

mise en scene

music 

camera work

As a class we discussed the different stereotypes associated a with sexuality and regional identity, these are the ideas we came up with:

Sexuality:

Gay: camp, limp wristed, mincing walk, muscular, gay couple; camp one (f) butch one (m), loud and flamboyant.

Straight: insensitive, loves boobs, reads lads magazines, drinks beer, unhealthy, metro sexual - man who takes care of his appearance.

Regional identity:

Northeners: poor, butch, manual labour jobs, strong accents, tracksuits, uneducated, drinkers, old fashioned, gravy on everything, swearing a lot, funny and crime is common.

Southeners: camp/feminine, business men, suits, country club, golf, The 'Essex' stereotype, expensive and more culture.

Shameless episode one:
Ian - Gay, Lip finds his porn stash, he also has a Kylie poster in his room, which is an unusual idol for a teenage boy. He also cries when Lip finds his porn, showing that his is feminine. However he does where unstereotypically gay clothes such as tracksuits.

Lip - Straight - normal teenage boy, thinking about girls a lot of the time, in the opening sequence he has a sexual encounter with a girl, it is somewhat humorous as the girls mother is in view whilst he is receiving oral sex. Lip then gloats to his brother (Ian) about this sexual encounter.

Steve - Straight - he also has a sexual encounter with Fiona in the opening sequence, this is a much more adult encounter. Romantic music plays when the couple are kissing, and birds sound adding a Disneyesk feeling to the sexual encounter.

Fiona - Straight - she has a one night stand with Steve, there is some intertexuality with Fiona's sex noises with Monty Python adding a random but humerous edge to this sexual encounter.

Warp Films Fact Sheet.

Media Essay - Discuss the issues and patterns which enables your institution to thrive as a film business, with a focus on the production process. Ensure you include: • Examples from Working Title and Warp Films. • Comparisons between British case studies and Hollywood.

To thrive as a film business you must create and market popular films that will make a profit, this means that they will cost less money to produce than the money they receive through cinema ticket sales, DVD sales and memorabilia sales. Making a profit is an important part of success in the film industry but you must also become respected and recognised by audiences and other film companies, there are many issues and patterns that must be considered to help a film business thrive. Many of these issues occur in the production process for example getting funding and choosing the appropriate cast.

The production process plays a huge part in creating a successful film institution, without producing films you cannot be a film institution. Once your producer has created and developed an idea he must then begin to search for funding to pay for the film to be produced. This can often be difficult as most producers look for  3-10 investors as a fewer number of investors will give the produce less control and if one of his investors were to pull out the producer would lose a huge chunk of his budget and this may put a halt to film production. This is the case with Warp films, as they are an independent film company unlike Working Title and can often struggle to find investment, and for this reason produce low budget films for example This Is England had a budget of £1.5 million as very small budget compared to Working Titles £8million budget for Hot Fuzz. However Hot Fuzz’s budget looks miniscule when compared to Hollywood films such as Avatar’s budget of $237million. This is the main difference between British films and Hollywood films.

In the production process the producer acts as an entrepreneur, they develop the idea, search for funding and choose their director and cast. This is another issue as choosing the wrong director and cast could cause the film to flop, and using big name directors such as Steven Spielberg and James Cameron combined with high profile actors could increase the popularity of a film greatly. Yet in the case of Warp films their budget does not allow them to use either big name actors or directors, they must search for young acting/directing talent which will not be over expensive. However once they have discovered this talent they may use them several times to increase their reputation.

When producing a film it is of great importance to plan each stage of the filming process, the producer must make a detailed plan of what will be filmed when and how long it will take. Many producers decide to film the most difficult scenes first so that they can get them out of the way and proceed with filming the rest of the film. It is important to plan in detail so that the film will be released on time, this is especially the case in Hollywood because many of the films are marketed to build up suspense and excitement about the release date and if the film was not released on time it could lose a lot of this excitement and cost the company money.

In Hollywood the marketing of a film is seen to be the most important part of the production process. Hollywood films cost such vast amounts of money that for the producers of the film it is even more important that the films are popular and produce a large amount of revenue. For Hollywood films marketing plays a huge part, they see the film industry as a global marketplace and focus of creating excitement and building the popularity of a film, by doing this they often create far more revenue than British film Institutions. In contrast British film companies tend focus on securing the funding to produce the film rather than securing a profit from the film. Hollywood take a more business like view to their films whereas British films institutions focus on the achievement of actually producing the film.

In conclusion there are many patterns and issues that film institutions much overcome in order to produce films and become a successful film institution, and it is clear that Hollywood takes a different approach, they are much more profit driven and business like in their production on films. Whereas British films do not, although they do still make brilliant and entertaining films they make much less profit and produce a much smaller amount of films, making them seem much less successful and leading to the downfall and lack of production of British films.   

Rushmore

Rushmore was made in 1998 and was directed by Wes Anderson, a well know director who's work is very recognisable.
We were set the task of watching the opening part of Rushmore and deciding whether the main character Max Fisher was a stereotypical teenager. As a class we came to the agreement that Max was not a stereotypical teenager. In fact he is quite the opposite from the stereotypical teenager, being lazy and lethargic. Max tries very hard to get involved and shows great enthusiasm to find something that he is good at, he does this by taking part in all the clubs in Rushmore college. Max is very active and from the opening montage it is clear that he does not lack energy and is most definatley not slugish, another aspect which is often associated with stereotypical teenagers. By taking part in each club shows he is not the stereotypical teenager. Max also presents himself in a very formal and precise way, unlike some of the other students he wears his blazer and neatly tied tie and each time we see him his hair is carefully swept across and his glasses are clean and perfectly placed on the bridge of his nose. All this points separate Max Fisher from the stereotypical scruffy teenager.
Overall it is clear to see that Max Fisher is far from the stereotypical teenager, he is far too hard working and ambitious to be placed in this stereotype.

Production Documentary

In Class we watched a small clip about the Production of films and how much time and effort every aspects consumes.

Producer:
The producer comes up with the initial idea of the film, it is also the producers job to get the funding for the film. They must also choose the director and cast that they want in their film. The producer is the entrepreneur of the film, and the most important person involved in the production of the film. They must choose the right director and cast to make the film successful, if they make the wrong decision the film could be a failure.

Script: 
The script is also very important, it has to relate to the audience and the actors/actresses. It also has to inspire the director. Every script has a beggining a middle and an end and 10-15 drafts are written before everyone is satisfied.

Attracting Investment: 
Attracting investment is a crucial stage of production, without investment the film cannot be made. Most producers look to television companies and regional film industries for investers, it is less of a risk if you have a large number of investers most aim for 7-10 different investers. This is because if one investor pulls out you only loose a small preportion of your funding, if you had 2 investors and 1 pulls out you have lost half of your funding and the film may not be able to go ahead. Having more investers gives more power to the producer.

Planning:
Planning is also a crucial part of production. When producing a film you must allow time for filming each individual scene, many producers decide to film the most difficult scenes first as they have more time.

Budget:
All films have a budget and each film is considered as an individual bussiness. This means that it is important to make a profit on each film. All costs must not exceed the budget, it is important to consider all above the line and below the line costs.

Audience:
Before producing a film you must have a specific target audience, they must be able to relate and understand the film. A film with no target audience will not be popular.

Marketing:
When marketing a film it is important to consider the genre of your films and if it would sell better at a particular time of year, eg horror films at halloween. There are lots of things to consider when marketing a film, such as when it will be released in the cinema and DVD. Hollywood films focus on marketing and popularity where as British films dont. It is not unknown for a film to cost more to market than to produce.

Film Financing

There are many different ways in which films can financed, the producer must secure funding for the production of the film before they begin filming. It is difficult to predict how much a film is going to cost to produce.
These are the different ways that funding can be secured:
Government Grants:
These are Grants provided by the Government, this scheme is designed to encourage creativity and develop new talent within the British Film industry. Film Production can benefit a country as it creates new jobs, allows the national culture to develop and can also lead to an increase in tourism.

The UK Film Council and The National Lottery:
These provide funding for films in a number of different ways:

Tax Schemes:
This offers a direct subsidy to shoot and produce the film in Britain .

Tax Shelters:
This scheme allows those who invest in the UK films to pay less tax, encouraging more people to invest in British films.

Pre Sales:
Pre sales involves the Producer selling the right to distribute the film before it is made.

Binary Opposites

Binary opposites

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American Beauty Opening Scene.

American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball. Kevin Spacey Stars as Lester Burnham.
In class we watched the opening scene of American Beauty and examined Kevin Spacey's character Lester Burnham.

Lester Burnham is a 42 year old man, who is married and has one child: a teenage daughter. He lives in a very stereotypical American neighbourhood, his wife is very uptight and obsessive is her body language and actions. This is a contrast to Lester who is very sedated and subdued in his body language, giving off the impression that he no longer cares about his life. There is no doubt that Lester has succeeded in life as he lives in a nice house and drives an expensive 4x4 car, however in the opening scene we can see that he no longer looks forward to work and has lost his ambition. It is also obvious that he no longer loves his wife, which is mutual, we can see this by the piercing look she gives him as he makes her late. It is also obvious that his sex life is poor, he states in the opening scene that "jerking off" in the shower would be the high point of his day. In conclusion, Lester is having a mid-life crisis, he is unhappy, forgetful and has a defeatist attitude.

During the opening scene we also looked at the mise en scene of the opening scene. I noticed that there was certain colours that were repeated throughout the scene, these colour were red, white and blue - the colours of the American flag.

Magazine cover + contents anaylsis

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Film Pitch

We were given the task of creating a film idea and pitch, taking into account target audience and film financing. Our target audience was African Americans. We were given a film budget of £5million, through tax schemes.
Tax Schemes: The government offers a direct cash subsidy to produce the film in Britain.


Our film idea:
We decided to name our film Divide. Our film is about 5 stereotyped groups in a college, these groups cause 
gang violence and because of this the college gets shut down. One of the teachers of the college takes a member 


from each gang and brings them together to form a separate group, everyone feels equal as the groups all join. 


The college is close to being reopened, but one troublesome gang member disagrees, and the trouble all starts again.  
We have chosen Richard LaGravenese to be our director and he has directed similar films such as Freedom Writers.


Above the line costs: 
Director: Ricahard LaGravense - £2million 
Location: Ruislip High School- £100,000
Editors: Andrew Mondshein £50,000
Cinematographer: Barry Ackroyd £50,000
Special effects/equipment: £500,000
Cast: £500,000
Writer: Will Fetters £50,000

Hot Fuzz Storyboard

Media Story Board

Preliminary Magazine Cover and Contents.

Working Title and Warp Research.

Working Title Films and Warp

Representation-The Man

When i first saw this picture my first thoughts were:
- very poor

- scruffy, bushy beard and hair

- his clothes were well worn, and patched

- the fact that he is standing still in a busy street gives of the impression that he has nowhere to go

My representation of this man was very wrong, This man is called Doug Bilmaier and he heads Ralph Lauren's vintage department.

Media Interests.

Film: Pulp Fiction, Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Toy Story 3.

TV: This Is England '86, Big Brother, Come Dine With Me, Inbetweeners, Skins, The Simpsons.

Radio: BBC Radio 5 Live

Newspapers/Magazine: FourFourTwo, News of the World, The Sun

Games: Fifa 10, Skate