This Is England.

Recently, I have been spending a vast majority of time watching This Is England and it's television sequels, '86 and '88.

It would be an understatement to merely say they 'were good.' When, in fact, they are a credit to British Drama and what Britain has to offer in the film making sense.

First of all, Shane Meadows initial idea to explore what Britain was like in 1983, immediately after the effects on the Falklands War and the radical racial views in the society and location it is set in.

For me, this was an incredibly difficult topic to watch, as the language used was vulgar and very hard to digest. However, that is what makes the film so true to life and successful, Meadows isn't scared to show what it most probably was like and this makes the film gritty and very very British with how straightforward it is.

The shots compliment the mise en scene with the setting. There are no special effects or fancy lighting used, it is literally as if you were following the characters around yourself, and this really helps when the camera zooms in on various characters faces during a scene to show the various emotions from them.  

The film itself won Best British Film at the 2007 British Film Academy Awards and the Best Film category at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards.

Thomas Turgoose also won Most Promising Newcomer and was only 13 years old when he took on the role.

It's his performance which really makes the film what it is. How natural and normal he is, which reflects the whole cast. All of the scenes have particular direction to follow, to move it on, but there are pieces of dialogue which seem so natural from the cast, and it seems like their not reading from a script at all, which adds to the realism feature.

Also the performance from Stephen Graham, who plays Combo, in some terms the antagonist, but in this film there is no clear structure of protagonists or antagonists. Graham's performance makes certain scenes difficult to watch, as he acts his part so perfectly, you can almost believe what is going on.

Shane Meadows even broke through the difficult transition from a successful film to a sequel. Some sequels can ruin a film and it's reviews, but the televised '86 and '88 are, in my opinion, the most successful attempts at sequels.    




I hope to take away a wider understanding of the use location and shot types, as these were the most prominent features of the film which stood out to me. 
The simple use of the location, really makes the importance of the storyline and shots clear to the audience. 
I would also like to incorporate the use of the close up and focused shots into my opening sequence as I also think it holds great significance to show the initial and immediate reactions from the actors/characters. 

Precious

I recently watched 'Precious' (Directed by Lee Daniels, 2009, an American drama focusing on the life of abused teenager, Precious, who is pregnant with her second child and has been enrolled in an alternative school to help her on with her life. It was based on the novel, 'Push' by Sapphire.

Although it isn't a British drama, I felt as though it was important to watch it and note the differences between the two. I have to say that it was a difficult but brilliant watch. Compared to other American films, it wasn't glamorised at all and kept the drama gritty and often difficult to watch. However, the story and characters were clear to differentiate from protagonist/antagonist and easy to empathise with.

Gabourey Sidibe gave a truly heart wrenching performance as Precious, and I found it easy to follow her character throughout the storyline. Where as Mo'Nique was incredibly believable as the abusive mother, sometimes un aware of the situation she has put her daughter through as a result of her poor emotional state.

Further research told me that the film was initially supposed to premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. It won Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize for best drama at Sundance, and when released at cinemas, became a box office success after grossing $47 million domestically completely smashing it's $10 million budget. It then went onto receive six nominations at the 82nd Academy Awards, before winning best adapted screenplay and best supporting actress for Mo'Nique, which it really deserved.

Overall, a difficult but completely thought provoking watch. Really, a must see!

Questionnaire Graph Results

I initially meant to hand out questionnaires to an equal amount of men and women, but due to time constraints and the age of the people I wanted to complete the questionnaire, I had to settle with a quarter of my audience. However, this will help me with my film idea, because I know I can still successfully target both genders.

This was the most successful of my questions, because I successfully targeted various age groups and it helped give me a different response according to age.

Both of these questions link together, becuase I was asking the targeted audience similar questions over layout and personal opinion. This will make a huge impact on what I need to concentrate on and get perfect for my audience.

This graph will directly make an impact on my storyline, because I already ahd two storylines in the making, and this tells me that both of the themes would attract the target audience.

This was almost a halfway vote, but I am glad the audience chose the second title (This Is England) because it was something I had already in mind.

Questionnaire, reasons for various questions;

Examples of important questions:

• Age group - Giving them wide options, helps me target a wider audience and make the film more attractive to others. e.g.

18-20 20-25 25-35 35-50 50+

• What makes a Social Drama successful?

(open question, leaving it to them to answer in space provided. This ensures that I complete this and make it successful)

• In your opinion, what is/should be the most important feature in a Social Drama?

(closed question, giving them examples such as; location, actors, storyline, costume etc. This, again, provides me with how others perceive the elements in Social Drama and what I should concentrate on.)

• Typically, which location should a Social Drama be focused in?

(closed question; household, streets, cafe, park, town etc.Again, provides me with that information.)

• Which themes do you think Social Drama films focus on the most?

(closed; teen pregnancy, drug/alcoholic abuse, economic/employment trouble, child abuse, abuse in relationships. Also providing an 'other' option and provided space.)

• Which themes do you think Social Drama's should focus more on?-(any of the above?)

(open question, space provided, helps me have more options, and determines audience)

Questionnaire (Questions)

Audience Research Questionnaire

Definition of Social Drama: the storyline, characters and locations are as realistic and true to life as possible. The audience should be able to relate to what they are going through, and realistically, the events in the film should be able to happen to anyone.

1.)  Please circle the age group you fall into;

                           

18-20    20-25   25-30   35-50   50+

2.)  Gender? Please tick appropriately.

Female
                   

Male

3.) In your opinion, which elements are the most important in making a successful Social Drama?

Please number your preference. (1 being the most important, 4 being the least)

Acting

 Locations/setting

Story line/plot

Positive resolution to the film (e.g. ‘happy ending’)

4.)  Why do you think this?

       5.) Which element do you think should be the most important, either choose from above or suggest your own. Please explain.

       6.) Which location would you typically set a Social Drama?

Household                      Town                  

On the streets             Housing estate

7.)  Any further suggestions for location/setting?   

(If yes, please explain you choice, if the answer is no then please specify which location you would like to see a Social Drama set in.)

Yes  

No

Please explain below:

8.)  Which themes do you think Social Drama films focus on the most? If you would like, then please order the options with numbers, 1 being the most.

Teen pregnancy    

Child abuse

Relationship abuse

Drug/alcohol addiction

Based of true events              

9.)  Which themes would you like Social Drama’s to focus more on?

Please feel free to choose from the list above, or pick your own, either way explain why:

      10.) Do you think it’s important for the audience to be able to relate to the characters in the film? Please explain your choice.

11.) During the opening sequence of a film, what is your preference of title transition?

Titles are not visible during the sequence; they appear in between on separate shots.

(No titles present on the shots)

Titles appear during the shots; over the top of the sequence.

 (Titles incorporated in sequence)

 12.) What effect does music have on the audience in a film? Please explain. 

Questionnaire

Upon looking back at my questionnaire results and listening to what people had to say about the genre and film idea, I found that perhaps I had misjudged who I was aiming my questionnaire at. Although I had the ages spot on, I had used terminology that was a little difficult for them to understand, and they found the questionnaire a little repetitive.

However, I used what common sense I had and made sure to note down comments they came back to me with once they had completed the questionnaire. So I will make sure to remember my audience will not be as skilled with media terminology as I am. Although I was disappointed with the complications I faced, I think that I managed to get across what I wanted to and have the answers I set out to find.

NOTES IN SEPARATE BLOG POST, ONCE SORTED OUT.

Audience Research Questionnaire

Before I can successfully make a Social Drama film, first, I must go out and question my target audience over what it is they expect to see and what they think of my aspiring film pitch.

This is important, as it will help me reflect on my ideas and improve anything that needs to be improved upon before I start.

Audience Research

Importance of audience research:

• efficient audience research provides us with vita information as to how to attract and captivate our target audience.
• This specifies what should be included in the film, in regards to what audience expect in that certain genre.

(ABOUT A BOY,CHRIS WEITZ AND PAUL WEITZ 2002 and THE KID, NICK MORAN 2010)

Two British Social Drama films, both, in my opinion, targeting two very different types of audience.

About a Boy is far carries a more comical element, whereas The Kid is a gritty drama dealing with the effects of child abuse.

                         Audience Profile:

FEMALE:

• I am 28 years old.
• I am of white-British ethnicity.
• I work as a full time shop assistant/sales advisor but I also write online film reviews for a website in my own time.
• My social class background is working class and I earn an average wage.
• I enjoy watching 'easy-viewing' horror and comedy. But I also enjoy drama, especially something homegrown here in Britain. I enjoyed 'This Is England' and it's spin off television series, 'This Is England '86'.
• My other hobbies and interests include; spending time with friends at clubs, sitting in at home with a good film, and going to the cinema to see new releases.
• I do have a preferred music genre too; mainly Indie/Rock and most film soundtracks.
• For me, it's important that the music in a film is recognisable. I also think that, if it's British, the music should try and stay true to it's country of origin. 
• It's great when I can discover, not only new acting talent, but new British musical talent too.
• I think that when a film has been successful, it should have me thinking about it for a duration of time afterwards. 
• Especially in Social Drama, I think it's important to try and see new acting talent from young, natural aspiring performers, as it becomes more personal if they haven't just been plucked straight from an acting school. I like to be able to relate to characters.  

(Those underlined red show what will be relevant to aim for, what my target audience member is looking for from the film.)

Opening Film Sequences

Textual analysis of Cheri, (Stephen Frears, 2009)
(THIS POST NEEDS TO BE EDITED AND SCREENSHOTS ADDED AS HALF THE POST WAS DELETED AFTER POSTING.)

Storyline: from this extract we are told almost a prologue to the film. We are introduced to various characters, retired courtesans in 1900's France, and what has happened to them. Specifically, the narrator concentrates on the last courtesan, Léa de Lonval, so this shows us who the film will be focused on because the sequence ends just as we're in the middle of her background.

Enigma codes:

• why introduce us to certain courtesans, and inform us of what happened to them? Relevance?
• by telling us Léa de Lonval has avoided many 'dangerous hazards such as love', is love going to be one of those she faces in this film?

Characters: we don't really meet any of the characters in this, except from Léa de Lonval. From this we have established her merely as someone who knows what she is doing and can seemingly handle anything. I think, as an audience member, we still feel indifferent about her, because we have not actually met her yet. 

Locations: with this specific opening sequence, it is merely set on a portfolio of photos and drawings, so the location is not specified. Although we know the main location is France.  
Lighting: the light in this is quite subtle and crowded over with colour. Its changes hue of colour throughout.
Cinematography: The main camera movements in this are minimal and it only pans to the next shot, sometimes changing the speed it changes in.
Sound: we have an instrumental piece playing throughout the sequence. All sounds, including the voice over, are completely diegetic. The instrumental is regal and suits the high stand of society the characters are in.
Titles: In this short section, the title is not actually shown. I think this is so that we can concentrate on the pictures and the narration, as it is vital to the film.

Opening Film Sequences

Textual analysis of Kidulthood (Menhaj Huda, 2006)

Storyline

From this opening sequence, it leads us to have a clear assumption of what the narrative and storyline will lead on to develop into. We have already been introduced, by name, to the majority of our characters, and this seems to be a film that will look at different aspects of various characters, and not just stick to one. We cans see:

• two girls standing on the outside of the action, keeping to themselves.
• a man drilling into something
• two girls discussing the party
• boy handing out invitations
• a couple seemingly care free as to who might see them kissing behind a tree
• and a man, easily in his late twenties, scouring the playground looking for 'Claire'.

Enigma Codes

• Why is the teacher unable to hide his clear fear over certain students?
• Who is Claire, and why is he looking for her?
• Why are those two girls clearly being picked on?
• What is he drilling into/for?
• What was hidden in the yellow bins?

Characters


Overall, there are three different types of character who draw the audience's attention in this sequence.

• We feel a sense of sympathy and confusion over the two girls being picked on by the surrounding characters. I think it's obvious that the audience are supposed to feel some emotion for them, and establish them as the 'unpopular' girls.

• The group of older men wandering around the playground, not only stir up emotions from other members of the school, but also the audience. We can see that they are clearly intimidating and that this happens often. By picking on the two girls, the audience will immediately establish them as the antagonists of the film.

• The mysterious character working the drill captures and intrigues the audience. It is not specified what he is doing, so naturally we are curious as to what it is he is up to. Other than that, we remain indifferent of his character, not being able to establish him as a protagonist or antagonist.

General mise-en-scene

Location: set on a school playground/school grounds. This helps establish the age of the characters and the general social status of the majority of other characters.

Lighting: is natural outside light. I think the effect is to not take anything away from what is going on, by distracting us with any fancy lighting.

Cinematography: this is one of the most interesting elements of the mise-en-scene in this sequence.

1. because the camera is constantly on the move, panning the shots of one group of characters, to the next.
2. we have an interesting variety of camera shots; such as the close ups, focusing on characters who might play a big part in the following film.
3. finally, the mysterious man on the drill, although his face is revealed a few times, the camera zooms in so far, that it is quite impossible to really get a clear look of him.

Editing:

Although not completely clear, these types of edits happen throughout the sequence. When the camera is ready to change scene and move on from one set of character, it starts panning, and a figure deliberately walks in front of the camera, to create a cut to the next scene.

Sounds: throughout the sequence, there is audible music playing in the background, something that sounds like hip-hop/rap. This helps support the genre of film and the social setting of the characters. All of the sounds are digetic.

Titles: the main film title is displayed at the beginning of the sequence, I think this is because there is already so much going on, that if the title was incorporated in the action, it would be lost.

The font is bold and in capital letters, presented in white on a black background, clear, dramatic but simple all at the same time.

Social Drama Opening Title Sequences

THIS IS ENGLAND (SHANE MEADOWS, 2006)

(from left to right)

-Row 1-

Shot 1)

• this shot is simply of the title of the film
• the font used is clear and bold, and stands out to the audience
• the  mise-en-scene is quite bleak, and sets up the general setting of the film, such as the tattered grass area and balconies
• it establishes the social class of the characters involved in the film 

Shot 2)

• in the duration of this shot, we see a group of men, dressed exactly the same, sporting similar shaved heads.
• although not much is revealed in this shot at all, I think it's safe to say that some may assume them to be a gang of some description.
• this may prove valuable when narrowing down the message of the film and it's genre.
• we also have actor credits visible on the screen to us, in the same font as the title.

Shot 3)

• this shot shows a crowd of rowdy men at a concert of some description.
• this shot is part of archive footage, and does not provide any direct involvement with the film, except giving us some insight as to the year/decade.

-Row 2-

Shot 4)

• this is shot tells us the least about the sequence and the film
• it features two sets of couples dancing and kissing at some kind of party
• although the camera work and quality is poor, and it adds to the realistic view of the opening sequence as it's not polished and perfect, which gives this sequence a certain effect

Shot 5)

• this is the shot the stands out the most to me, even though it simply features three males, draping the Union Jack over their shoulders.
• this patriotic display can have different connotations, in regards to the scenes in the film; such as racial differences during different decades in England's modern history

Shot 6)

• in this series of shots, we see a young boy on what looks like, either an early television or computer game console (it isn't very clear, again due to the quality and that his head follows the movements on the screen)
• this, again, gives us some rough indication as to the year the film is set in.

-Row 3-

Shot 7)

• this series of shots feature a riot/fight between men in working and casual clothes.
• The importance of this, is that there aren't any police officials involved, so we can almost rule out a large political/governmental uproar.
• again, this helps in the build up to the start of the film, by using archive footage relevant to the time frame, as shown by the quality of camera work.

Shot 8)

• perhaps who one the most recognisable shots in the sequence, it is the march to Port Stanley during the Falklands War in 1982.
• so we know that the time frame is most likely going to be during the year 1982, or the immediate aftermath in the following years
• this shot symbolises a more serious take on the film's building foundations, and foreshadows an emotional attachment

Shot 9)

• there are various shots of Margaret Thatcher in the opening sequence, who was one of the most influential female figures during her time in office as the Conservative Prime Minister during the years 1975-1990
• this is all archive footage, and appears all the way through the sequence, probably a figure most would associate with and recognise on the screen.

Overall, this opening sequence is incredibly successful at grabbing and maintaining audience attention. Rather than just leaving the audience to focus on the writing, images are provided for entertainment and to inform the viewers on the background of the film.

Social Drama Opening Title Sequences

  THE KID (2010, NICK MORAN)

Shots 1 and 2.)
These show the company sponsoring and working with he production of the film.

3.)
Although this shot is minimal, it creates the setting and clear indication as to what the year is during this part of the film.
NOTE, this establishment of the year in writing happens throughout the film.

4.)
This shot clearly establishes the main character. Just by the way they have positioned him, we can tell he is beaten and bruised and has just been kicked out of a van by two men.

5.)
This is where the opening sequence really begins! Throughout the following shots, actor names are presented on walls and surrounding setting in a child-like crayon manner. I think this embellishes the innocence and sadness of the story, through loss of a childhood.

6.)
The setting presented to us in this shot, really establishes the setting n the rest of the film. This is where it becomes more obvious that the genre is a drama, featuring the convention ; run down housing estate, a home to our protagonist.

7.)
This shot also continues to establish the setting, although tries to show as little as possible to ready the audience for the following shots.

8, 9, 10 and 11.)
These continue to follow the protagonist through a run down abandoned house, leading us upstairs to an empty stark box room. In terms of mise-en-scene, the lighting is dim; to follow the mood, costume is simple; so as to keep the focus of attention on background, and the props are plentiful; to foreshadow what the character is doing.

The pill tubs and bottles of alcohol establish that the character is already in a bad place, before the film has even begun, so this adds tension and makes the audience want to know what happened.

12.)
This shot always stands out to me, as it features the title and the 'based on a true story' title in similar fonts to the actors names.
However, the main reason it stands out, is because the director's name is not included. In fact, Nick Moran's name is not mentioned until the end of the film.






In my opinion, The Kid, (2010, Director Nick Moran)has one of the most effective opening sequences, hence why I chose to look at more of the opening shots.  

Opening Film Sequence

Recently, I have been trying to decide between Social Drama and Horror, for my opening film sequence.



Although I was pretty certain that I would choose the Social Drama option, I did weigh up the possibility of Horror, and how I could successfully explore that genre.

However, I am still set on Social Drama. For me, it is the genre I enjoy and appreciate the most, and already have a mini brainstorm of ideas ready to start planning with.

Although Horror would have been an interesting choice, I am certain on Social, as it's something I enjoy, and believe I will be better at.