march ppe: learner response task

March PPE: learner response task:

• ) Serious work required. One paragraph will never be enough for a whole answer.
• Must answer question and link clearly with the text.

1. ) For the first section, Media Institutions, I got 2 points from the mark scheme. I have included things about inclusivity and minority appeal, however this paragraph was the least written and didn't expand as much.

For the second section, Media Audiences, I got 4 points from the mark scheme. I have included things about determination, physically potent/able, altering preconceptions, an inevitable human condition. I've also introduced the hypodermic needle model theory for example, but I needed to expand more on it.

For the third section, Media Forms, I got 3 points from the mark scheme. I have included things about flashbacks, Todorov's equilibrium/disequilibrium, suspense. For this section, the last part of my points were irrelevant when I mentioned psychographic groups.

For the last section, Media Representation, 

Weakest question re-written:

The obvious brand image of Channel 4 would be the use of their logo; it clearly states and promotes their television film company, and this is particularly significant in an event like this, where the expected number of audience is large, therefore meaning more popularity to Channel 4. Production values also is a huge influence in Channel 4’s brand image, because it shows the extent and quality of films/documentaries/shows that their company produce, ultimately meaning that they are also a well-established, popular brand. It also extends their targeted audience groups, because it has association with youth culture, and therefore motivates the sporty audience who are presumably the teenager by the majority.

Other things to note is also the inclusivity that the trailer offers, the display of disabled athletes doing certain sports that a normal, healthy person would do, or maybe even can’t, is shown. This therefore makes the viewer acknowledge disabled athletes as any normal person, where they are not discriminated against, not being excluded against, etc. This makes Channel 4’s brand have a positive view as they are spreading a good, ethical, moral cause, and maybe is a demonstration of Todorov’s theory, where the equilibrium of disabled athletes are being seen as normal, able people.   

MEST1: Section B: Independent case study:

The basics:

1. ) The name of the film, Spectre, well known in the mainstream film industry, and known as the twenty-forth James Bond film is directed by Sam Mendes. Notable stars include Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Andrew Scott, Monica Bellucci, Ralph Fiennes.
2. ) Spectre was released in 26 October 2015 in the UK, and 6 November 2015 in the US.
3. ) From a first view standpoint of the trailer, the obvious genre would seem to be Action/thriller, simply from identifying conventions such as the involvement of weapons, suggesting enigma codes that scream violence. Other things such as the non-diegetic, heroic and epic music, accompanied by fast paced, montage-like clips put together is perfect when creating an action/thriller movie. The mis-en-scene of the protagonist's costume, a tuxedo also connotes a man with power, means business, etc.
4. ) From Rotten Tomatoes, the website's official score was 64%, just very similar to the audience's score too, of 63%. The critic's consensus was: Spectre nudges Daniel Craig's rebooted Bond closer to the glorious, action-driven spectacle of earlier entries, although it's admittedly reliant on established 007 formula. 

From IMDb, the overall score was 6.9/10, lower than it's previous sequel, Skyfall with a rating of 7.8/10 in 2012.

Broadcast:

1. ) From a few seconds in, we can identify a linear narrative, starting from a largely populated city, while disguised to conceal their identity, we as the audience definitely know that they're spies or wanted. The mis-en-scene of James Bond, the protagonist is also shown to be wearing a tuxedo, and this connotes a figure with power, assertion, dominance etc, and this accompanied by the non-digetic, epic music emphasizes his character more. In addition to this, the props should also be taken into consideration, knowing that weapons such as guns, grenade launchers, etc are being used, all that denote violence, therefore is supportive of it's genre that is thriller/action. As a result, the target audience ages may range in the higher end of the spectrum, simply due to the involvement of guns, violence, etc, acts of terrorism possible, however seeing that there is no involvement of drugs, sex, profanity language, it is unlikely to be 18+ by assumption. The rating by BBFC is PG13+. 
2. ) 

Above is the Bond24 Announcement video, it is sort of like a press conference and teaser to the film, explaining what to expect from the film, the cast, the plot, the production stages, etc, all presented from the director himself, Sam Mendes. This helps promote the film as the film isn't a sudden release, but more of a hype build up.

Above is from the chat show famously known, The Ellen Show. Daniel Craig "James Bond" discusses the film with Ellen, but essentially it gives us information about his own personal opinions of the movie, and whether or not if he wanted to continue and make another one, to which his response is still unknown. This helps promote the film as the Ellen Show, a very popular talk show institute can direct it's audience to the Spectre's film audience too. 

3.) These broadcast promotions definitely use stars to promote the film as it sort of creates a synergy between their own talk show's, interviews', audience to the actual film's audience. It also sort of creates a mutual support between the two, because the two are involved with each other.

Print:

1. ) "Daniel Craig has grown into the role of the British spy with flair and sang-froid and this inventive, intelligent and complex new outing showcases him brilliantly." The Guardian

"At times clunky, Spectre is still utterly gorgeous, always compelling and the ultimate proof that Daniel Craig is the best James Bond of all time." Cinemablend

"Following the soaring success of Skyfall, couldnt be in ruder health. Sam Mendes second consecutive Bond outing again passes its physical with flying colors." Variety

1. 2)  

This poster above is simple and straight, it states the date as seen, "November 6th", and is a simple promotion for Spectre. It leaves no room for other images than the essential information needed - the film name, franchise, and release date.

Another example of this is from a billboard:

Billboards are a great way of promoting a film as they're big and clear to see, and more significantly placed in populated areas for people to see, example in this case, in a car park. 

3.) 

This print advert above communicates to the audience, simply from the first big and bold quote given "Best bond ever", along with the it's rating of 5 stars. From this, the audience can use a shorthand identification for how good the movie is, especially more convincing when it is said by critically acclaimed companies. This is therefore a demonstration of Medhurt's theory of shorthand identification. 

E-media:

1. ) Social media has a huge influence on Spectre's popularity without a doubt. The most significant input of this are from Twitter and Facebook, but less likely from social media's like Instagram, where it is mainly focused on sharing pictures, although there is the caption feature. Twitter, however uses lots of links on the James Bond, 007 page, creating a synergy of links. It is made clear that Spectre is out, from just having the background as a poster of it. This is the same for Facebook, however where there are more pictures, but still raises awareness for Spectre.
2. ) The official "007" James Bond website has it's own dedicated, sub-website. The Spectre site includes sections such as "Trailers & Tv spots" that link to YouTube, creating and leading to an even more popular social media. There is then the "Shop" section, where 007 may be able to make more revenue.      
3. ) Examples of the two-step-flow theory is demonstrated almost every time when celebrities or journalists share something about Spectre in social media. However, this of course may be both negative and positive views, even though the audience may not have their own view of it. Several tweets include celebrities praising the film, and then there are the "fun" tweets.               

Audience:

1. ) The official age rating for Spectre by the BBFC, as stated on the IMDb site is PG-13. However, taking into account that Spectre is sort of a realism type of film, although including bizarre explosions, props etc that you wouldn't normally see. Psychographics wise, as a result of the amount of action in the film, it would probably fall under those group of people who just want entertainment.
2. ) Cross-media promotional campaigns refer and creates synergies between the two, giving each other mutual support, and also supports this audience for what the movie is about.
3. ) Audience pleasures include entertainment, knowing that Spectre is an action film, therefore the users and gratifications that the audience identify perhaps the British conventions.
4. ) Similar films the audience would enjoy would obviously be the previous franchises of the James Bond, 007 series, however similar films that include lots of action, possibly a little bit of realism would be films such as The Bourne Identity.

Institution:

1. ) Spectre was produced by the production company Eon Productions, and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures & Colombia Pictures.
2. ) There are two distribution companies as stated shortly previously - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Colombia Pictures. MGMP has produced films such as Pink Panther 2, 21 Jump Street, Skyfall, significantly. Colombia Pictures - Goosebumps, Furry, The Equalizer, and many more.
3. ) Both distribution companies have in fact distributed previous James Bond movies, and they do offer films similar to the film series, such as 2012, Jump etc.
4. ) The budget for Spectre was $245-250 million.
5. ) Spectre ended up with a box office of $880.7 million. Reasons may be just to the sole and objective fact that the previous franchises of the film were popular to begin with, therefore the chances of it's newly released would be the same.
6. ) Spectre became the first Bond theme to reach number one in the UK Single Charts. The generated income from the UK was $135.5 million and the income from North America was $200.1 million. Population from these two countries may have been a significant factor, however acknowledging that Spectre IS a British movie, perhaps Americans could be interested by the culture of it.  
7. ) Spectre was given a 12A.

Representation:

1. ) The obvious representation of the British culture group appears throughout Spectre, also seeing that it is in fact a British film, perhaps the conventions, culture, etc are more accurate.
2. ) The "Britishness" of the film starts off with the simple fact that all or most of the actors are depicted to be British in Spectre. However, locations do include foreign countries such as Morocco, Italy, Mexico, but then again, there is London.
3. ) The representation of Britain in Spectre no way near poses and reflects the Britain that we see in Ill Manors, Ill Manors exposes the ghetto, urban, socially deprived, anti-social behavior from young teenagers. So, Ill Manors sort of shows the bad side of London to an extent, whereas Spectre focuses more on the upper class, etc.
4. ) Ideologies presented by Spectre may be solely propaganda, taking into account that the movie plot does include secret organizations, criminal activity, etc, all sorts of links that connect with secrecy, hence politics, hence corruption, etc.

Both Spectre and A Field In England are British films, however the main distinction is the budget costs, obviously Spectre reaches to a level that similar to Hollywood standards, unlike AFIE, where it is an art house film, meaning significantly lower budget in respect.

MEST1 Section B: index:

1. ) The British film industry: Media Factsheet questions
2. ) Institutional context of the British film industry: Factsheet questions
3. ) Ill Manors: film review
4. ) Ill Manors: trailer analysis
5. ) Ill Manors: music video
6. ) Ill Manors: TEDx lecture
7. ) Ill Manors: broadcast platform concluded
8. ) Ill Manors: print platform (newspaper interviews)
9. ) Ill Manors: print branding
10. ) Ill Manors: e-media Tag London campaign
11. ) Ill Manors: e-media social networking research
12. ) Ill Manors: official website analysis
13. ) A Field In England: reading, research and questions
14. ) Ill Manors & A Field In England: institution research

MEST1 Section B: Institution research:

Ill Manors: Funding and production target:

1.) The estimated budget for Ill Manors was £100,000

2.) The funding came from different companies such as:

• BBC Films
• Revolver Entertainment
• Film London
• Microwave Films

3.) Comparing Ill Manors budget to other mainstream Hollywood films, the distinction is almost clear and significant, let alone Hollywood's blockbuster, Skyfall which had a budget of about $200,000,000+, compared to Ill Manor's of only £100,000, so that's a thousand times larger.

A Field In England: Funding and production budget:

1.) The estimated budget for A Field In England is £316,000

2.) The main reason that A Field in England most likely had a higher budget than Ill Manors would probably be due to the fact that the film pitch's were different, meaning the genre, plot, etc was more significant, hence maybe having a gap in the film industry, as opposed to for example, a social realism, non-fictional film that Ill Manors was about.

3.) The budget money for A Field In England came from companies, Film 4 and Rook Films.

 Film London and Microwave Films:

1.) Film London is an institution company that encourages and is in search of talent in Film Arts, particularly amongst young people. Film London's official site extends their support by even offering funds to film makers, as well as offering training and support,

2.) Microwave Film is a programme from Film London that offers funding, as well as training and support from something called Microschool, offering help to film maker's scripts, stories and skills. The programme offers five days of covering all aspects of film making, distribution, etc; essential to each student.

3.) Another film funded by Microwave Film is Shifty. Shifty poses very, very similar conventions to Ill Manors, given that they're both based in the slums of Britain. More similarly, even Riz Ahmed, "Aaron" - the main character in Ill Manors plays also significantly, the main character in Shifty, too as "Shifty". However, obviously the plot is different, yet still has similar connections between the two films such as for example, the association of drugs, friendship and loyalty.

Vertigo Films and Warp Films:

1.) According to Vertigo Films' official site, the top picks are The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Sweeney, Monsters, Spring Breakers, Hawking.

2.) Each of those films listed were completely a different genre to each other, meaning there was a very unique touch to each, also meaning that there was a spot in the market for each of these to have a sale. Also to mention that each film cover looks exciting, and as a result gives a shorthand identification that it reflects the film's quality as well.

3.) Vertigo Films as a film institution would be expected to work with almost every genre, given that it has no specific area that it focuses on. So this includes all comedy. thriller, realism, etc.

4.) Warp Films started in 2001, however a very tragic and unfortunate death was to one of the founders, Rob Mitchell, but despite this, the company still carried on and fortunately led to a successful business.

5.) Probably the most well known universally, not just to Warp Films would be "Four Lions" by Chris Morris, having reached £7 million hits in the box office, which is a really good margin for British films especially.

6.) Warp Films gave films that are low-budget a chance to be premiered by their company, meaning their low distribution costs were accepted on behalf of Warp Films.

7.) Shifty by Eran Creevy was produced by Warp Films, and is very similar to Ill Manors, given the same lead actor played on both movies, similar British, slum, urban conventions, similar plots consisting of loyalty, friendship, drug affiliations etc.

A Field in England: the appeal of arthouse film:

1.) The suggested audience pleasures for arthouse cinemas are rather for the attachment, understanding of film art aesthetics, and therefore meaning that they view these arthouse films for other reasons, rather than for entertainment in mainstream cinemas which are 'easier to read'.

2.) Some people (mainstream viewers by default) seek entertainment, films that are 'easy to read', therefore they may find arthouse films which pose the total opposite to of course not appeal to them to the least. These types of mainstream viewers like to have a simple narrative with as much entertainment as possible, a clear resolution, always equilibrium from the hero, etc. As a result, the majority of these arthouse viewers fall under Dyer's lines of appeal as 'Art, Culture and History' as they're more interested by the historical context and knowledge, rather than entertainment.

3.) Middle classed people might in some circumstances, be appealed to arthouse more than mainstream, simply given the fact that they're in search of film making knowledge, tips, etc, and as a result they fall under the psychographic group of 'Aspirers'. Moreover, older audience's may also sort of have a similar approach to arthouse films, meaning they're not appealed by entertainment aspect of film-arts, but rather (as previously stated) by the historical context, knowledge, etc.

4.) A Field In England may appeal to audience's that are either foreign or just from England themselves, possibly because (if foreign) they might want to experience a film with England's conventions, elements in the olden days. Or (if from England) the audience might want to just retrace their ancestor's way of living, etc. However, there is also the other infamous group of audience's where attracted by the drug associations in A Field In England - the drug 'magic mushrooms'. 

MEST1 Section B: A Field In England

A Field In England is an arthouse movie, meaning it's low-budget, film arts aesthetic, black and white film by Ben Wheatley has challenged America's Hollywood that preferably has a more mainstream, 'easy to read' film industry. However, what's most significant about A Field in England is that it is the first English, British film to be spread around lots of different platforms, and this includes 40D, iTunes, Film4, and 17 other Picturehouse venues. This all occurred in Friday, July 5th 2013.

1. ) A Field in England's film release, especially considering it is in the British film industry, had it's distribution at large, using lots of different platforms, and this is especially unusual for a similar industry that is out of the other's league, however it is an attempt in reviving the British film industry. And A Field in England takes a very significant and artistic approach to this.  
2. ) Releasing the film across on all platforms gives it a mutual recognition every time it appears, meaning that the film must have a significant reason for it being premiered on lots of platforms, and this usually means that it is popular, therefore it is an advantage.
3. ) The disadvantages are that even though the film is premiered on all platforms, the distribution costs associated might not be effective, meaning they won't compensate. So as a result the producers will make a loss that may eventually lead to absolutely no profit.
4. ) A Field in England's target audience would probably a very niche audience, including viewers that are interested in English history. Age wise, university students maybe as they're studying the subject, so from ages 18 or over. The audience might seek knowledge or just watch for recreational reasons, given that there are psychedelic drugs involved. (magic mushrooms)
5. ) Future films may or may not be released simultaneously in all platforms during the future, given that the film industry is very dynamic and there are constantly opportunities, places taken, etc that changes everything around.

Ill Manors e-media: website analysis:

1.) 

The Ill Manor's official website screen grab above shows a lot of brand images. Examples include things such as:

• The blatant trend and synergy of #ILL MANORS for social media imprinted above the door
• Ill Manor's promotion, displaying "Ill Manors Buy Now" below the bottom right window
• Several other links about the film, director, etc
• There is also a quite hidden or just hard to see billboard in the background to the right

2.) The website encourages for visitors to interact and buy their products, given that it is a website, therefore on the Internet for anyone to access, so as a result reaching a wide spread of audience. Several links on the left also lead to other links, ultimately creating a synergy, and one product leading to another product, etc.. An example would be the "Ben Drew" and "Albums" links. They can both refer to Ben Drew "Plan B" as an artist, encouraging viewers to buy his albums etc, so the publicity that this film gets, Plan B gets too. 

3.) The main social media used in Plan B's official website is Twitter, given that at the time it was very, very popular, so it would only make sense to use it in order to gain access to a large audience range. However, there are other social medias as listed by their icons on the top right:

• Soundcloud
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Facebook
• YouTube

Content and design wise, videos, tweets regarding Plan B or his film, or any of his work is always displayed on the homepage. It sort of acts like a real time, resents page.  

4.) To a certain extent, the issues outside the origins of the riot cannot be justified, but still only to an extent, but not entirely, given that it is an act of violence/anti-social, criminal behaviour with no good intentions to restore a resolution or any sort. Authoritative statements on very dynamic issues, especially regarding politics should be avoided. Ben Drew "Plan B"'s album song and film may help raise awareness, and as a result create more opinions, insights on the London riots. During the time, teenager's bad reputation were at it's peak, mindless riots, destroying of things, etc, and it truly made their image worse than it already is. Plan B's album and film may help turn things around, seeing that he's grew up in the same areas around today's anti-social, criminal youths, so he feels connected to them in a sense.

5.) Social media overtakes websites, given that the majority of people do in fact use them in the 21st century, Social media has different platforms, therefore allowing access to a wider audience, ultimately creating more publicity, then more publicity for it's 'popularness'; it is a domino effect that happens in social media. This is significant in especially some social medias such as Twitter, the use of hashtags can create trends for anything. YouTube too, knowing that it is the 2nd most visited website in the Internet.