Attack the Block

How has technology impacted the film industry?

Production
Non-linear editing systems are now in widespread use in the film industry. Before, pieces of film had to be physically cut and pasted together using a splicer and viewing machine but now it is done in non-linear ways using computers where the editor can start editing from any frame in the footage. Files are mostly kept on hard disks and video servers unlike the reels and tapes used in the 20th century. Digital cameras are now used in the industry rather than 35mm cameras. A criticism for this is that films that are shot digitally do not have equal quality to actual film, but technology continues to improve.

Distribution
Probably the biggest change that technology has made in film distribution is the internet. Every film released now has an official website where the public can view the trailer and images from the film, play games amd read about the cast and crew. The film will also have an official facebook, twitter and youtube page. The facebook page will update people on the current status of the film, and the film stars themselves may write on their twitter accounts. Now that most people use smart phones, they can always be kept up to date with the film where ever they go such as when the trailer is released, when the film is coming out in their country and what cinemas it will be shown in. The internet is also used for pirated downloads which is greatly effecting the film industry. Some blockbuster summer films are released worldwide so that no one can send the pirated film to a country where it has not yet been released.

Exhibition
People have always predicted the demise of local cinemas since the increase in home video.

Big Talk Productions

The company was founded in 1995 by Nira Park. It has always been more involved with television but in recent years it has expanded to Big Talk Pictures. Kenton Allen is the CEO along with Park, and its Managing Director is Matthew Justice.
Big Talk Productions have so far made the following films:

• "Shaun of the Dead" (2004)
  Directed by Edgar Wright
  Written by Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright
  Starring Simon Pegg & Nick Frost
  Produced by Nira Park
  Distributed by Universal Studios
  Budget: $5,000,000
  Gross Revenue: $30,039,392
• "Hot Fuzz" (2007)
  Directed by Edgar Wright
  Written by Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright
  Starring Simon Pegg & Nick Frost
  Produced by Nira Park, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner 
  Distributed by Universal Studios
  Budget: £8,000,000
  Gross Revenue: $80,573,774
• "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World" (2010)
  Directed by Edgar Wright
  Written by Edgar Wright & Michael Bacall
  Starring Michael Crea & Mary Elisabeth Winstead
  Produced by Edgar Wright, Marc Platt, Eric Glitter, Nira Park
  Distributed by Universal Studios
  Budget: $85,000,000
  Gross Revenue: $47,664,559
• "Paul" (2011)
  Directed by Greg Mottola
  Written by Simon Pegg & Nick Frost
  Starring Simon Pegg & Nick Frost
  Produced by Nira Park, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
  Distributed by Universal Studios
  Budget: $40,000,000
  Gross Revenue: $97,591,665
• "Attack the Block" (2011)
  Written and directed by Joe Conrish
  Starring Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega & Nick Frost
  Produced by Nira Park, James Wilson
  Distributed by Optimum Releasing
  Budget: £9,000,000
  Gross Revenue: £3,442,302

Life Cycle of a film

Idea
Films start with an idea, which may be an original idea or based on a book, true story etc. The writer will have to find a producer as he/she has connections with the studio. Usually the writer would have written out a synopsis of the film before starting on the script, describing the characters and story. The script could take several months as the writer may often try to improve it. When the script is ready, it will be pitched to financiers and if successful will be sent into pre production.

Pre-Production
A crew must be formed, usually by the producer. Unless the writer or producer will direct the film themselves, a director must be found, typically someone who has worked in the films genre before. The crew also includes a casting director, director of photography, location manager and production designer.

Production
The film will then begin shooting and cast and crew are brought together on set/location. Crew will prepre the scene while actors will attend to hair/make up and maybe discuss any script issues with the director.
Once everything is ready the take will begin. The director will shout action and the camera and sound will start recording. The director may wish to do several takes. When shooting on that set is finished, it will be dismantled and the director approves the next shooting schedule.

Post-production
When shooting is complete the film will be edited and scored. The films advertising will be handled by the distributers which will include posters, trailers.

Exhibiton
The film is finally released and will have its premiere in several countries. If the film makes less money than its budget it is considered a flop and will be relaesed on DVD fairly quickly. If the film is successful then it will be a few months before it is released. Afterwards it will be on channels like Sky Box Office and will soon be on terristial TV.

Primevil Sequnce Analysis - Gender Representation

Mise en Scene
The main girl in this sequence is represented as the tougher character. Firstly she is seen operating the digger which is the sort of machine associated more with masculinity. She operates it with confidence and seems to know what she is doing. Throughout the clip she is continued to be shown as the more masculine character by attempting to fight the sabertooth tiger and saves the male character from it with a gun. The male, however, is still represented as the typical hero shown in most Sci-fi dramas. When the tiger is attacking the girl in the digger, even though she looks to be quite safe in there, he still lures the tiger away from her and causes it to chase him. He also shouts the girls name in panic as the tiger starts to attack the digger. This could be that he actually does think that he can take the tiger on or that he is a "wannabe" hero trying to save everybody no matter how foolish it seems. His main intention was to get the tiger away from her but what he panned to do after was unclear. He runs but the tiger is obviously much faster than he is, so he may be represented as quite unintelligent if he thinks he can outrun and defeat the tiger unarmed. Although he does perform some action while trying to escape the tiger such as going down the zip wire, something that is seen in a lot of action films/TV dramas with the protagonist.
Unlike the typical male, he is not the one who defeats the antagonist. It is the girl who finally gets him out of danger whereas in most drams this would have been the other way around. This shows that even though both characters display some masculinity, it is the girl who appears more strong. The girl again shows confidence while firing at the tiger.
In the last scene of the sequence, the two characters shown are comletely different to the ones previously seen. The woman is much more feminine and manipulative and the man is dangerous and perhaps psychotic.

Camerawork
As the clip focuses more on the man, close ups are needed to show that he is exhausted from the tiger chase and is nervous and weakened. In the scene with the digger, there are virtually no close ups of the girl and more long shots are used instead. This is necessary in order to show that she is confident in operating the machine.

Editing
In the tiger sequence, the editing becomes a lot more fast paced with some quick pans where the tiger runs past the screen, and jump cuts while the man plans to go down the zip line. The jump cuts may have been used to quickly show that he knows exactly how to go down the line and also to show that he is in a hurry as the tiger is getting closer.
It is the main male character who is privileged by the editing as he has more screen time and more close ups than any of the other characters. All other characters are marginalised by the editing.

Sound
The music consists of mostly string, percussion and brass instruments. The drums start as soon as the action begins and the beat becomes quicker as the chase sequence starts to give the more primal feeling. When the action is over, it is mostly string instruments that are used.

Sound in TV Drama Analysis

• Throughout most of the clip, there is absence of soundtrack which creates a feeling of awkwardness as there is only silence
• In the dialogue, the characters do not always finish their sentences which shows that they themselves are uncomfatable with the situation and draws attention to the boys disability.
• Sound effects -  The locking of the door highlights the boy's nervousness, there was most probably a microphone on set to amplify the sound so the audience and character could hear it, we cut to a reaction shot of the boy after the sound effect takes place, obviously showing that he has heard it.
• The scene of the father in the car, sounds represent his feelings of anxiety and protectiveness for his son. Firsty he turns on the radio which plays completely inappropriate music, then we have sounds of the electric windows and him moving his chair back and forth.
• At the end of that scene there is a sound bridge, the music continues into the next scene
• The music is slow and quite sad which emphazizes pity on the disabled character . The main instrument used is a harmonica which does create a very depressing noice

Editing

• There is an eye line match which creates some awkwardness when handing over the money. 
• When she asks we see her look at both characters as if she does not know who exactly to ask. Here there are shots of all three of them including one of the father looking quite clueless until his son tells him what to do.
• When he does ask for it, the father has to look for the envelope where there is an awkward silence while he is going through the bag.
• Action match shot as the father takes his son out of the wheelchair and another where he puts him down on to the bed.
• Shot reverse shots draw attention to feeling of vulnerability, 180 degree rule is used.
• The pace slows down towards the end of the clip and each take becomes longer which creates an uncomfortable feeling.  
• There is a shot of the father looking up at the building, then a shot of the building itself which is saying he is feeling anxious and protective for his son.
• While he is in the car there are jump cuts which causes discontinuity. This further suggests that he is nervous for his son.
• Then there is cross cutting back into the building which implies it was all taking place simultaneously
• The editing privileges the master shot where it shows the girl on top, establishing that she is in control of the situation.   

Camera analysis of "Monarch of the Glen" clip

• First scene - Dolly shot so we can see the characters and the tools they are using, we see that they are all middle aged men who are all experienced at their work
• Second scene - Starts from a middle shot of Amy to an over shoulder shot. The medium shot allows us to see clearly what clothes Amy is wearing which helps establish her age.
• When she is in the car, the close up is necessary to show her confusion on how to drive it.
• A wide shot is used to establish a new location and to, of course, show the damage done to both cars.
• As with Amy, a mid-shot is used on the teacher to show his costume suggesting his age, and perhaps profession.
• Camera pans up and down between Paul and Amy which shows the differences between the characters, such as the height which can suggest authority or intimidation.
•  Throughout the argument between Paul and Amy, the camera is always on Amy's eye level as if the audience is in Amy's position which makes us understand more what she is feeling. The camera position also causes the audience to really see the height and age difference between the two.
• Now that the camera is on Amy's eye level, it may change the audiences attitude towards her. At first we see her lying that she can drive a car but immediately after she crashes and we find out she is in trouble, we go straight down to her level which might make us feel sympathy for her.
• In the scene in her bedroom, the camera tilts down to her bed and shows her possessions including magazines, teddy bears, further suggesting her age. We then see a goodbye note she has written and the camera pans to the right to reveal another.
• Then there is the view into her room from outside in which the camera slowly tilts down to reveal that she has escaped through a window. The fact she has escaped through a window tells the audience that she has run away.

Mise en Scene Analysis

How does the Mise en scene help construct the representation of age?


Costume

• Younger characters wearing casual clothing.
• Head master is shown with old fashion clothes - tweed jacked, v neck jumper and striped tie - makes him look like the classic strict teacher.
• Older characters seen to be dressing less casual, perhaps their work clothes.

Props

• Brandy - Stereotype of older, maybe upper class, person.
• Magazines, teddy bears, decorations round her mirror and notes with childlike writing in Amy's room may suggest immaturity, however does have photographs around her room which seems like something of an ordinary teenager. 
• Through the montage sequences, we see the men using tools of labor which suggests they are very experienced in working on the farm.

Body language

• When confronted by her teacher, Amy has a infantile reaction to it and goes to hide behind Paul, like a child would do with their parents.
• The argument between Paul and Amy is a typical one between an adult and teenager. Paul points out his finger while he punishes her and puts his hands on his hips when he tells her to leave. Amy then tantrums by throwing her arms in the air and storming out of the room. 

Settings/Location

• The office - Old fashioned and dark, is almost completely made up of wooden surfaces and uses low key lighting which causes it to look gloomy. This highly suggests it belongs to a middle aged person and obviously not to a teenager or even a young adult.

Stereotype of 'Cop' show - "Life on Mars"

In this clip from the UK series of "Life on Mars", the stereotypical police officer is shown through the character of Gene Hunt. Hunt represents the 'bad cop' that is seen in most police dramas. In the first few seconds of the video, he is shown to be aggressive by grabbing the criminal and threatening him while Sam Tyler, who represents the more good cop, tries to hold him back. Hunt is usually ordering and impatient especially when danger surrounds him or his colleagues, so this does mean he cares and isn't completely without compassion. He is never seen to be scared or nervous, even in the gravest of situations, as when Tyler tries to defuse the bomb Hunt just calls out "No rush Tyler!" This also shows that he is not concerned that Tyler is nervous and is not worried about putting him off.

Media: Key Concepts

Exam:
Part A: Media Language, Representation
Part B: Audience, Institution

Part A:
Media Language

• Cinematography
• Editing
• Sound
• Mise en Scene (everything in the scene)

Representation

• Age
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Sexuality
• Regional Identity
• Ability/Disability
• Class/Social Status

Part B: Studying the relationship between the people who produce, distribute and exhibit films.