Idents

Film 4 are a british film production company that have produced films such as 'This is England', 'Submarine' and 'Trainspotting' These films all show British social realism and drama. Because of this we have chosen this ident as a possible choice for our teaser trailer.

IFC films are an american based production company which have produced films such as 'Fishtank' and 'Adulthood'. These films are classed as social realism, however they convey a strong element of gang culture that our film does not focus on. Because of this, we have eliminated this from our choices.

Studio Canal area French based production company which have produced films such as 'Bridget Jones' diary' The majority of Studio Canal work is distributed throughout American by other producing companies. In 2006 they acquired Optimum Releasing pictures which has produced films such as 'Tyrannosaur'. These film production companies rarely work alone and so this could be a possible choice for our ident.

Vertigo Films are a british based production company that have produced films such as 'London to Brighton' and 'Football Factory'. We decided not to use this production company because they are not well known and only produce 4 films a year.

Our final decision is to use Film4 as our main producing company in association with Optimum releasing pictures.

Uses & Gratification Theory

The uses and gratification theory seeks to understand why people actively seek media products for gratification purposes. The theory discusses how users proactively search for media that will not only meet a given need but enhance knowledge, social interactions and diversion. It assumes that members of the audience take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. The theory reveals that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs, suggesting people use the media to fulfill specific gratifications.

According to Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch's research there were 5 components comprising the Uses and Gratifications Model. The components are:

• “The audience is conceived as active.”
• “In the mass communication process much initiative in linking gratification and media choice lies with the audience member.”
• “The media compete with other sources of satisfaction.”
• “Methodologically speaking, many of the goals of mass media use can be derived from data supplied by individual audience members themselves.”
• “Value judgments about the cultural significance of mass communication should be suspended while audience orientations are explored on their own terms.”

four primary factors for which one may use the media:

• Diversion: Escape from routine and problems; an emotional release
• Personal Relationships: Social utility of information in conversation; substitution of media for companionship
• Personal Identity or Individual Psychology: Value reinforcement or reassurance; self-understanding, reality exploration
• Surveillance: Information about factors which might affect one or will help one do or accomplish something

Our social realism film can be related to these factors to explain why an audience may be attracted to see our film. Social realism is often a common conversation as it reflects everyday life therefore we address the idea of personal relationships. 

personal identity can also be applied to our film, as the audience form opinions of the characters portrayed. For example, some viewers, may be able to relate the young boy who we are portraying as innocent but is influenced by bad behaviour because of the environment in which he lives which creates a bond between the on-screen character and the audience, so they are likely to become more invested in the outcome of the film. The audience could also consider the characters as aspirational, which would also affect the intensity of their attraction to the film. By viewing the effects of the characters' corrupt behaviour causing them to be punished may also be considered within our trailer to teach the audience lessons in terms of appropriate behaviour,which falls under the category of surveillance, as the audience form their own conclusions of how they would deal with or avoid the situation. 

The history of social realism

In the 1960s, realist filmaking responded to a period of change in traditional working-class communities. The representation of the working class in new wave films captured a decline, or perceptions of it, in working class life, which the films signified through the rise in consumerism, suburbia and mass culture.

Certification

An 18 for This is England? This is an outrage

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) had decided to give This is England  an 18 certificate for its use of "realistic violence and racist language". 
Shane Meadows wrote in outrage against the decision to certify his film an 18: By having one piece of violence and one piece of really acute verbal violence I've managed to get an 18 certificate, whereas someone else can slay thousands of people in a single film and that's OK. To be honest I don't understand it because, yes, the film is affecting but I think it's something that someone of 15 can cope with. It's not like it's a film about the 80s that has no value; it's incredibly relevant politically. It's as much about Iraq as it is about the Falklands. It's as much as about England in 2007 as it is about England in1983. We learnt from this that social realisms need to be accessible to a wider audience as they relate to so many people and making This is England an 18 restricted the audience and wiped out a demographic that the film was targeted at.

The BBFC certified this British social realism film a 15. Their given reason for certifying 15 to The Kid was as follows:

The frequency of the strong language in the film went beyond what is permitted by the BBFC's Guidelines at '12A'/'12' and required the '15' category at which the 'frequent use of strong language (for example, 'fuck')' is allowed. The film also contains a scene in which a jumble of words and pictures are seen scrawled on a wall which reflect the state of mind of the lead character and this includes an example of very strong language. No particular attention is drawn to the word and its isolated appearance met with the allowance of the Guidelines at '15' which state that 'the strongest terms (for example, 'cunt') may be acceptable if justified by the context'.

The strong violence in the film occurs in two distinct contexts. Firstly, there are scenes of domestic violence as the lead character's parents fight with each other and child abuse where the boy is seen being beaten by his mother. Although these scenes are harrowing they are presented with a lack of detail and were permitted at '15' since they do not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury beyond the point at which the circumstances of the boy's terrible home life are established. Strong violence with bloody injury also features in sequences when the lead character is an adult and has become involved in illegal bare-knuckle fighting contests, but the violence is once again delivered without detail that invites the audience to take pleasure in the pain and injury being caused.
The film also contains scenes of alcohol and prescription drug misuse, as well as scenes of moderate sexual activity.

After looking at the guidelines for a 15 certificate on the BBFC webstie, it is clear that our film is to be certified 15. This is because our film will include frequent strong language but the use of the strongest lanquage will not be used excessively and repetively in an agressive tone. The film also includes mild domestic abuse which includes some violence however it is justified and no sadistic or sexulised violence will be shown in our film and no strong gore will be evident.

Test shot

Whilst filming the sunset shots we took some photo's of our main character on a cross present at the top of the hill. We really loved this shot, and were going to use it for a poster design idea, however, because we didn't want our narrative to strongly reflect the story of Jacob in the bible, we decided not to use it.

After researching into idents we decided to use Film 4 and Studio Canal/Optimum releasing. We also certified our film a 15 after careful research. We needed to place these idents onto our ancillary texts and our main product to create a clear chain linking them together.

Age differences

 The Kid
The kid is a social realism/drama that follows a boy from a young age. As the narrative develops so does the boy and it follows him over a period of his life as he grows older.

Jacob
We followed a similar idea in our narrative but did not want it to be so dramatic. We only used one age change from a pre-adolescent boy to him in his late teens. We only reveal this at the end of our trailer and it is the very last shot coming after the title. This acts as an enigma and makes people want to watch the film as the trailer has only revealed parts of the narrative involving the boy when he was young. 

Final shot

This is the last shot in the This is England trailer and it reveals the film title over the shot instead of on a black background. This idea focuses the attention on this boy as a focal character to the film. It also leaves the viewer with this image in mind and not just the film title emphasizing the importance of the narrative.

This is our last shot in our social realism film trailer and we played about with putting the title after this shot in a black background however we thought it looked rushed and unprofessional, it also meant this shot would not have been as long and we wanted it to be a focal point in our trailer.

We put the title text over the shot in the font that we had used on our poster designs. We also used blue text to acts as a complementary colour to the orange sky so that the last shot is visually impressive. Because the trailer is a teaser trailer and there is not a lot of time to give away detailed information on the film we only have a short space in which to fit the title in, therefore we blurred the shot as the text appears acting as a smooth transition and drawing more attention to the title.

Poster designs

This is our first poster design that we created earlier however we made a few adjustments. We first of all increased the colour intensity to really make it aesthetically pleasing and stand out as an advertisement to promote our film, we also increased the contrast so that the protagonist is more of a silhouette but also a lot darker so he is the clear focus of the poster.

This is our second poster design and also on our favorites. The shot is taken at an angle so the we see the protagonists profile, his expression is important in this poster as there is not a lot going on else where in the composition. His body language is relaxed but his expression more relieved. Because his eyes are closed it gives the impression that he is trying to shut out the world which relates to our narrative. The wall that we used in the poster is white which, after research of social realism film posters, we found was used commonly, it also appears gritty and worn adding the working class element to the poster.

This poster emanates vulnerability as the protagonist is sitting down and therefore appears smaller. The graffiti in the background implies social realism because it represents rebellion and is linked to the working class, however it is also tightly linked with gangs and films such as Adulthood and Kidulthood which is not the type of social realism that our film is.

This poster stands out to the rest as we used black and white. We took the photo through iron railings to give the notion of entrapment as he is contained by his social class. We used three different colours on the text, red, white and blue, to show British patriotism. However we decided not to use this poster because we felt it fitted the conventions of a horror/thriller because of the black and white and the appearance of the protagonist in the background.

This poster looks more like an album cover than a film poster. This is because of the positioning of the text and the dimentions of the poster. We have also used a white wall in this poster to follow the conventions of social realism posters, human culture has many references to white and it often represents purity and innocence. White is the opposite end of the visual spectrum and is related strongly to nature because of bright sunlight, clouds and snow. ; The colour white is probably connected to social realism films as it is simple and strongly symbolises good and evil, night and day, because of its correlation with black, this is something all humans are capable of and it is said we all have the capability for evil linking white strongly with human nature, it would make sense that social realism films use white to advertise.

This poster was another one of our favourites however we decided against using it. The photograph used in this poster is taken from an interesting and more unique angle, a low angle. The shot looks up at the protagonist making him seem important. The use of the fence in the background adds an interesting mise en scene, the lines in the compostion are interesting and it is clear they have been graffitied implying an urbanised area and therefore fitting the codes and conventions of a social realism film. We decided against this poster becasue we felt that it made the protagonist look aggressive and intimidating when we wanted the audience to sympathise with him.

This is out last poster design and it was taken at the same location that third poste was tasken. We decided not to use this poster for similar reasons, it looked to urban and gang-like for our film idea. However we really liked this poster because of how the mise en scene and background become the poster as we put the font on the black door and it blends into the graffit but the title still sounds out. We like the positioning of the protagonist as he looks tall but still appears intimidating.

Shot inspiration : Is There Anybody There?

 After watching the light hearted drama, Is There Anybody There?, primarily because it involved a friendship between an elderly man and a young boy, we were inspired by a few shots and so used similar ideas in our own trailer. The shot that inspired us were the extreme close ups of the elderly mans hands and face, editing had clearly been used to create a blurred effect. The point in the film where these shots are is when the old man is slowly becoming frail and losing himself to old age. The close up of the face in our trailer starts of a series of shots that focus on the man in the cafe, the shots along with the music, pace and emotion provoked through acting creates a sense of worry. 

These series of shots combine slow motion and quick short shots creating a mix of effects which are meant to trigger several emotions. Originally we were going to have a lot more dialogue over these shots of Jacob shouting at the old man and taking his anger out on him, however, after reflection we did not feel that this was necessary so placed a short section of dialogue over the last shot in the series where the man says, "the best thing you can do is walk away" 

Character shots - old man

These are character shots of our old man character. We had to change the actor due to accessibility reasons, however after doing some filming with him we feel he suites the part well.

We looked into costume and experimented with different hats and glasses. These two photos show our selected hats, the bottom image is a woolly hat however we decided  not to choose this option as it had a football emblem on it and we do not to associate our film with football. We finally chose the flat cap as the actor is not quite as old as we had hoped and the flat cap appears to make him look older. 

 We also decided against the glasses because it symbolises intelligence and a better upbringing which does not fit the old man role as he is meant to be working class and educated through experience instead of learning through an establishment. Finally we wanted him to wear a dull coloured coat to emphasise the idea of a negative life. 

This is England - Trailer

The film This is England is a social realism film, directed by Shane Meadows and had a buget estimated at £1,500,000

Kes Trailer Deconstruction

•  Starts in school-Teacher has dialogue, sounds aggressive and assertive-stereotype of school master as he uses punishment of young boy and calls him 'scoundrel'. The accent is Yorkshire and it clearly working class. 
• At 0.30 there is a close up on the boys face-he is given dialogue - sympathy for boy through music. Dirt on his face suggests working class background.
• 0.33- voice over starts and overlays images of boy misbehaving.
• 0.49-destroying nature.
• Game of football-shows a masculine environment.
• 1.05-"A friend like kes"-image of kestrel shown, juxtaposition given. The shots become longer and pans are used, this shows country life and how the boy is at one with nature.
• 1.33- "Employment office sure" - a young boy going for a work interview seems true to the time (1969) which gives connotations of working in mines and therefore poverty. 
• 1.43-violence juxtaposed with images of bird, could represent hope and freedom.
• Montage of quick shots showing series of violent moments triggers sympathy.
• "Kasper you make me sick" - zooms in on his face crying - sympathy lies with Kasper and repetition of his name gives the feeling he is bullied and that it is constant in his life. 

Website background idea

This is an idea for our website background, we have decided not to use this because it is too city located and doesn't reflect the location of our film.

Tagline inspiration

"Fate chooses your relations, you choose your friends."
- Jacques Delille (1738 - 1813) French poet.


"One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives."
- Euripides, Greek playwrite


"The friendship that can cease has never been real."
- Saint Jerome


"Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light."
- Helen Keller


Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends.
Shirley MacLaine


It takes a long time to grow an old friend.
John Leonard



After researching into Social Realism film posters, we noticed that the tag lines all relate to the key theme of the film. The main theme of our film is an unexpected friendship and so we researched famous friendship quotes to give us ideas and inspiration for our own film tag line.

Unexpected friendship in films

Is Anybody There? 2008

Goodnight Mister Tom 1998

Karate Kid 1984

Up 2009

These are films that have inspired our own film. They are not all social realism however they all include an unlikely friendship. These film all feature old gentlemen and younger boys that are pre adolescent, They all serve roles as mentors or some kind of guidance be it martial arts or as in 'is anybody there' he en-stows wisdom about life and death. This gave us our inspiration for our own old character, He shall be Jacobs guide in how to get out of his situation.

Poster Idea

This is our first poster design. We wanted to create the feeling of hope as he looking towards the sun hoping for a better future. However as the poster is for a social realism film we needed to include some sort of corruption to connote his difficult life, therefore we chose this font. The font has a cracked effect to represent the struggles he faces. We thought about using a graffitied font so that social realism was connoted further, however we believed this would be too difficult to read and is associated with gang culture which we did not want to represent. 

This is the idea for our website background. Even though it is graffiti and more urban that our film suggests, we decided to use it because of the message written on the wall. We felt the message was a good correspondent to the basis of our film. We took the image from google.

Test shots- cafe scene

The location we have chosen for the cafe scene is in Tonbridge by the library. we took these shots to experiment on different angles for the scene with the old man.