Media Question: My film against real media products

Camera: Angles, Shot sizes,

Movement and composition.

Angles: high, low and canted angle.

Composition: Framing, focus pulls

Movement: Pan, tilt, track, dolly,

crane, hand-held, zoom.

Shots: close-up, mid-shot, long shot, wide shot, aerial shot, point of view, over the shoulder shot.

Editing: eyeline match, graphic match

action match, jump cut, crosscutting

cutaway, parallel editing.

Dissolve, fade in, fade out, wipe, long take

short take, slow motion, ellipsis, visual effects.

Sound: Diegetic and Non-diegetic sound,

sound effects, Voiceover, dialogue

Soundtrack: score, incidental music,

themes and stings, ambient sound.

Mise-en-scene:

Clothing, Lighting, Location, Props, set design, make-up.

Macro Elements are technical

elements such as Camera, Sound,

Editing and Mise-en-scene, which

are combined and encoded to

express representations of social

types, groups, events or places.

These technical elements are explored

deeply to unearth hiden themes and

issues trying to be addressed within a

media extract.

Technical elements are combined to

create a wider ideological view of the world and ensures the piece is authentic.

Micro Elements are technical and

symbolic features, that work

independently or combined to

communicate key meanings to the

audience.

The opening scene of This is England, there are clips that are relative to the 1980s as these are key moments from that period of time. Some important events include first woman Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, The Falklands War, amongst them other areas of mise-en-scene links this clips to the 1980s from the

clothing and locations.

This links to representation as it is representative

of the regional Identity, allowing the audience to be

drawn to the essence of the 1980s.

The lighting is relevant to each

clip. For example there a clips that

are in a club and the lighting is dark

with flashes of colour which you see

in a disco or club alot.

Another example of lighting being

relevant to the clips, is any shots that

are outside like Princess Diana's

weddingf islight and hasnt been

modified with false lighting.

Keeping lighting relevant to a scene,

allows the view to remain authentic.

The ideological view of the world that is

being represented within this film, explores thar

teenagers although they may look tough and act tough they acturally care about situations in this case its about England being 'taken over' by foreigners coming into the country and taking our jobs.

Most of the opening is covered by the

many clips from the early 1980s.

Although this film was made in 2006, the

director Shane Meadows clearly wanted to

take his audience members on a trip down

memory, so that by the end of the sequence

they would feel as if there were present in 1983.

This is England is about a young

boy, who lost his father in the Falkland’s

war that occurred in 1982 for 4 months

until Argentina surrendered.

Shaun wants to make his dad

proud of him, and after being

bullied he is accepted by a group

of skinheads that are much older

than him. Shaun feels safe with

them which is shown through the

lighting as it is all naturalistic.

After the music stops along with

the clips of events of the 1980s.

There is a pause and fades onto a

shot of picture of a solider on top

of a radio. As the radio starts to play

and the camera movement zooms

outwards, a title of 'July 1983' appears

this is setting the scene and the

audience might remember this time

from when they were a child growing

up in this time period.

As the camera pans towards

the left we see a young male

reacting out to turn the radio

off and awaken from his sleep.

As the young boy, gets out

of his bed, he stops and stares at the photgraph of

the solider this indicates that this person is of extreme

importance, although the audience doesnt know he

this person is yet.

The bedroom the audience

members sees, portrays a working

or lower class background, as there

is wallpaper coming off the walls.

Also the bedding has plenty of

blaknets. This may express to the

audience that the boy doesnt have

alot of money, therefore cant afford

lots of luxury items such as bedding

made from a better material.

Mise-en-scene: Although Shaun the main character he's clothing is of someone trying present himself as being older

than his acturally age.

Shaun does this because he wants his dad

to be proud of him.

His dad died whilist fighting in the falklands.

Although they have beliefs about the world,

throughout the community the audience can

establish that everyone knows everyone and

there's a friendly atmosphere regardless of how

they look in appearance.

"Shattered Dreams"

To compare the introduction of 'Shattered Dreams'

to the introduction of 'This Is England'. These two are

different in many ways, for example This is england is

set in 1983, whereas Shattered Dreams is set in the

modern period; audience members can identify with

this as the mise-en-scene in both introductions are

representative of there era. However, they both have

music playing during the opening, this has been used to

create an atmosphere for the rest of the film.

In the 80s the clothing for both genders included puffy

jackets and lots of demin. Although some aspects are very

similar to the fashion on modern society as 'drain pipe' trousers are back but renamed as 'skinny Jeans'. Its the same with Demin jackets they have just come back into fashion. So although Shattered Dreams has areas of clothing that audience members today can identify with being apart of soceity; it also has areas which were a big part in our history.

Camera: This is a wide shot, instead of being on a tripod

it is handheld this evokes the issue of drug abuse as the camera is unsteady.

Lighting: In the opening the scenes are dull in

colour this is helped by using natural lighting.

The lighting is creating a depressing

atmosphere and can explode a theme of

isolation here.

The opening of Half Nelson shows the main character

sitting on the floor looking a mess, wearing just his pants and a shirt the isnt done up.

This could protray an essence of being lazy and uncaring.

Although at this moment in the extract

we dont know that dan is taking drugs,

but we can establish that something is

going on, which is implied by the dark naturalistic lighting.

As the audience can not see anything else

around him at this present point in time,

audiencemembers would expect to then

see a wide shot of dan surrounded by

drugs or bottles of alcohol.

This is the first shot in which we see the main character, here we can see Dans emotions upon his face. He isnt bothered that his alarm clock is going off.

Although he is just sitting there, the camera movement is unsteady this could represent the characters thoughts, of being confused or something trying to take control of him.

Camera: This is a side profile shot of the main character

this type of shot allows the audience to see the expression on the characters face.

Half Nelson is about a school teacher

fighting a drug addiction, who befriends

on of his students as she understands that

life is very tough, because she lives with her

mum who she barely sees as she is always

working to provide for her and her family.

In contrast, the next scene is dan going to work.

Every part of the mise-en-scene and other

technological elements are different from the opening

scene.

Mise-en-scene

• Clothing; here Dan is in the school enivornment where he is dressed smarter as he is a teacher of 13 year olds.

• The Lighting in this scene is bright, which can represent happy thoughts

Members of the audience from watching

the opening of Shattered Dreams might

relate it to Half Nelson, where the girl who

dan befriends comes from a family where

her mother is an overworked single parent.

Now it is unaware that louise in shattered

dreams comes from a similar background, as

it is only shown her and her mum so far, we

dont know if she has any siblings or has a father

still around.

I have used a wide angled shot, just like in Half Nelson, as I tried to capture the theme isolation.

Last Resort

The very first shot the audiences sees, is a

young women and a child sitting down on

a train or some form going through a tunnel.

The use of the intercom or voice over

allows the audience know that they are

in an airport.

Hand-held over the shoulder shots are used

when the women and child are checking in at

the airport. The shakiness of the camera may

suggest the apprehensive journey that the two

are about to go on.

We then see a young male practicing boxing or something

in the front room of his flat. Audience might establish that he is

a high status as he is wearing a suit although his flat doesnt show

high status it is lacking the expense side that you might get in a home

where the owner is of a high status.

All the sound the people watching

thsi film can hear is all diegetic, this is

sound that is meant to within the scene.

There are a few uses of voice over but an

audience would expect that this is through

a intercom system which you would associate

with an airport, or train station.

This sound helps set the scene and atmosphere

for the scenes/shots.

In amongst the shots that

referres back to the bloke at

the flat. There is a scene with

the neighbours, he is trying to

break them up from arguing. As

they listen to him, and the children

are messing around with him,

suggests that within the community

he is a respect member.

The way in which the shots switch

between the women and child against

the shots of the bloke in the flat, suggests

that they are connected somehow which

the audience doesnt know why or how.

However, after watching a bit more they

find out that the women has a financee

called Mark Walo, and that he is meeting

them at the airport. After seeing another

scene where the intercom is used to ask

Mark to come and collect them, he doesnt

appear. From this the audience can only

guess that the bloke seen earlier is her

financee and would begin to wonder

why he hasnt gone to meet them yet.

Through out the many shots of the mum

and son the audince can really see that

although he doesnt want to be in england

there is a close relationship between the too.

During the bloke breaking

up the neighbours from

arguing, the sees this through

a point of view shot, this is

suggested as the camera

movement is shaking impling

that it is being hand held.

Earlier in the opening a

member of staff asks them

how much money do they

with them. Here the

audience finds a lot about

them. They only have 80

dollars, which is about £52.

To the audience it can come

across that they are from a

low class/status as they have

very little.

An airport or train station are normally

extremely busy, but we see a lack of

people in many of the shots, this could

portray an essence of loneliness; that

whatever the two are going through they

will always have each other, and noone else

can help them.

We see a few scenes where the boy

and his mum are waiting to talk to the

airport staff. Here the lighting is much

darker then in other shots. This could

express a sense of depression. This is

also portrayed when the mother is

crying, this depression maybe a cause

of her "financee" not turning up or that

she knows her son was right and it was a

mistake coming to england.

As the film goes on we can tell

that the boy is very caring of his

mother, and in one shot at the

airport he tells her that they

should go home, its for the best.

Maybe the boy knows that coming

to england after meeting someone

they hardly know, was a bad idea.

The mother tells the member

of airport staff that her and her

son what to seek asylum, she thinks

that this is the only way they can stay and find out what happened to "Mark".

After Leaving the airport we see the

boy refusing go any where with the police

as he thinks they've been arrested. the mother then trys to calm him. But his

expression tells the audience that he is

frightened and whats to go home.

After a while of not seeing a scene

with the bloke, we then see him again

working at an arcade. this tells the audience

that he isnt that wealthy and he is off a

working class background. We still do not

know why and how he is linked with the boy

and the mother.

From the clothing of all

the characters seen in the

begining of the film, it can be

linked to working class people.

The staff and police officers are

iin a uniform, which you would

expect to see, as this keeps the film

authentic.

The boy is wearing a

multi colorued suit with

trainers, this indicates that

he is trying to look older then

he really is. If this is true he is

balancing out his mothers

way.

The Mum is dress wearing

a smartish skirt with a jumper,

which would suggest her being

a mother, however she has two

butterfly clips in her hair this could

indicate that she is very much a

child herself and doesnt really know

how to act like an adult.

Whilist being escorted by the police

to their 'new home'. The lighting is dull

this gives a representation that england

is a dull place to live in. Or the lighting

reflects the mood of nervousiness and

disappointment amongst the boy and

his mother.

Real Media Products of film

The opening of my film show my main

character, Louise, walking home by herself.

The cushion and scarf are soft items sybolising a safe environment.

In the scenes where louise is in her bedroom, there are two symbollic items.

Within the bedroom scenes, the books

and laptop this is representative of how

much extreme pressure she has

been given by her school.

As louise drags the laundry down the stairs

this shows that she of a younger generation

and has other activites than doing chores for

her mum.

This is also the same for

the way she stuffs the

laundry into the machine,

it is very careless.

During the opening scene of

This is England the titles follow softly

in time with the music. I tried to capture

this aspect in my opening of my film.

Although, Lousie is surrounded

by school work showing the stress

that she is under from school to successed

and from her parents to get a job.

The theme of my film was late teens under pressure to successed in their exams, whilst having unsupportive parents.

This is an issue which many teenagers from 16-18 year olds can relate to during the examation season of their GCSEs or their A Levels.

Using a natural colour for the titles creates a

calm atmosphere as they follow with the

opening scenes. This allows audience members

to watch what is happening without being distracted

by titles that look out of place.

Looking at 'Last Resort' and 'Shattered Dreams'

I can see that both 'mum' characters are similar

in dress, i did not plan for that. however, the way

the actresses wear them creates different views,

especially through the posture, but a key element

is the way the characters respond to their children.

In Shattered Dreams the mum doesnt really have

that much of a close relationship with her daughter,

maybe this is because louise is mucher older than the

boy in Last Resort. In Last Resort, the mother and

son have a very close relationship, this is shown by the

son caring for his mother and knows that it was wrong

of them to come to england.

Last Resort and Half Nelson dont use any music

at the beginning of the films, this can be seen

that the directors wanted to get straight into

the films. In both of this films a theme isolation

can be addressed. In half nelson its dueto Dan

sitting in his living room by himself and the two characters in last resort sitting on a tram with noone else around them.

Within my Introduction i have used sound clips to address the theme isolstion in a different way. For example in the first shot, lousie is walking home from school now you can hear a bird song this is to set that the piece is set in early spring, this is diegetic sound. But i have also used non-diegetic sound in which tries to portray that lousie is in her

own bubble and has too much going on in her head to focus on the world around her.

The three real media product

films that are stated above, involves

single-parent families and they are

a only child. From watching these,

members of the audience could argue

that this is being stereotypical of family

life nowadays, or is unrealistic, as

throughout society whatever the era

there are many family types these may

include single-parent, nuclear family,

extended, bean-pole or even same sex

families. For all of these social realism

films to be single parent, is unfair as they

aren’t representing the many other

family types.

Like all the real media products

that I have analyses, when making

my product I tried to obtain the

genuine aspirations of true life.

The Intro of my film

In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?