Younger people –

Younger people, represented as naïve and innocent, such as Shaun can be seen to be easily influenced into getting involved with things they don’t know much. With Shaun joining the skinhead movement at a young age shows this as it shows he wants to be apart of something which he can have friends out of, such as the earlier gang, who treated him nicely (Such as woody, Smell and milky).

another example of this Naïve nature to be included can be shown through the scene where Pukey questions Combo on if he truly believes the rants and slurs of the EDL members. When combo, gets upset by this, it results in him kicking him out and abandoning him on the road. pleading Shaun and the others to stay with him, his reaction shows the sadness and creeping fear of loneliness as they drive off, leaving him. This fear of missing out and need to be in company can be evidently shown here.

Older people (parents/authority figures) –

Older people, such as Shaun’s mother are shown as taking the path of least resistance when it comes to swaying Shaun off his path. Possibly due to him having little friends, and wanting him to have company due to the loss of his dad, we can see how allows him to get involved with the gang, which eventually takes a sour turn.

Another representation of older people can be immaturity, with such examples being Combo, Meggy and Banjo showing child like behaviours at a much obvious older stage of life. This is evident with Meggy trying to defecate on the shop floor. Combo threating children for simply playing football and Banjo for his following of these behaviours.

working class people –

This is England represents the working class people as having complex and emotional lives. This is represented by LOL, speaking to combo about a mistake it was to sleep with him at a young age and how she regrets it.

English people –

English people in ‘This is England’ are represented as questioning their allegiance to their country. Shown through Shawn’s story arch of mixed emotions towards it, we can eventually see his disgust with it as he throughs the flag he once proudly displayed into the sea.

Another example of this mixed opinion can be seen with Combo’s views on the Falklands war, stating that its a pointless effort and that England’s stupid for committing men to it, it eventually reveals his hypocrisy as he is later shown to show immense pride in his country by attending an EDL meeting.

Asian/Black people –

Represented as threatened, abused and unwelcomed by aggressive nationalists, Asian and black people are shown to be an output of hate that the main characters express their angers out on. Since they are the minority, characters undergoing a loss like Shaun or mentally unstable like Combo take their anger out on them.

Men –

Shown to be in their 40s – 50s or younger in their teenage to early adulthood years, men are represented as patriarchal bullies, picking on each other in a survival of the fittest mindset.

Women –

Mainly seen as teenagers, women are represented inclusively with the boys, not slotted for the male gaze but having their own involvement with the story line, such as LOL’s past with combo, Smells caring relationship for Shaun or Shaun’s mum caring for her sons feelings towards his sadness over his dads death.

Score: 9/10

Memorable Scene – When Combo starts to insult and viciously assaults Milky, its here Shaun realises the person he’s been seeing as a father figure since his Dads death, is not the person he’s been perceiving to be.

Key notes of Improvements needed:

• location – less populated area – shots kept on getting disrupted by noisy neighbours and cars passing through making the dialogue inaudible.

• Time – Daylight was needed for some scenes but since its getting darker earlier, we had to rush out some scenes due to a lack of light. This may have led to plot inaccuracies when filming as it may appear lighter or darker in certain scenes.

• Certain shot types – We were limited on what we could attempt to film as we were restricted by our equipment. Not being able to create a Steadicam or effect or a smooth Ped effect.

What went well:

• Acting – Despite not being experienced, the acting in scenes wasn’t as robotic we thought it would be.

• Set Design – By clearing the kitchen we were able to create a direct opposition between my 2 characters.

• Technical Issues – When the camera suddenly only displayed our screen as a low exposure, I was able to fix the issue and resume filming.

Young people –

Represented as callous and misguided young people in ‘trainspotting’ are shown to demonstrate this in numerous scenes throughout the duration of the film. For an example of showing callousness, Spud and Renton steal belongings off the elderly all in attempts to feed their drug addictions. This is further backed up with Renton’s narration stating the further acts they did: “we stole drugs. We stole prescriptions or bought them, forged them, photocopied them”.

Another example of young peoples emotionless representation can be seen with Renton’s lack of empathy for his friend, Tommy, who’s girlfriend broke up with him over a missing sex tape, even though it was Renton who stole it.

Older people –

Shown to be docile and remote from the lives of the main characters, when they are in scenes they appear to be oblivious to the effect of drugs has on their children’s minds such as the scene above with Renton’s parents not noticing. Another example of older people being represented as docile and weak can be seen with the first day of Edinburgh festival scene were the gang beat up an old American tourist in the toilets.

Working class people –

The working class are represented as cons, picking up money from anyone or anything they can get, as quoted from the film “after all this was boom town where any fool could make cash and plenty did”. This comes from the part of the film where Renton moves to London (aka ‘boom town’) after getting off heroine. It is here were he also states “for the first time in my adult life, i was almost content” this implies that being apart of the working class frees him from the need drugs as work has supplemented that.

Scottish people –

Depicted as unhappy and incapable to change that, Scottish people are represented as a depressed people due to colonisation from the English. This is shown in the scene above where Mark states to tommy “Its shite being Scottish! We’re the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. Some hate the English. I don’t. They’re just wankers. We, on the other hand, are colonized by wankers. Can’t even find a decent culture to be colonized by. We’re ruled by effete assholes. It’s a shite state of affairs to be in, Tommy, and all the fresh air in the world won’t make any fucking difference!” – this overall reflects the characters ideas behind their constant states of misery and turn to heroin to escape it all.

Addicts –

With the films main idea to depict Scotlands drug culture in the 1980’s, it accurately shows this by not glamourising the usage of drugs but instead showing the horrible effects it has on people, this is beastly shown with the character tommy’s story arch. After losing his girlfriend he turns to drugs, it is here where he he becomes severely addicted and ends up eventually passing away due to excessive drug use.

Men –

Depicted as violent and sex-crazed, throughout the film they are also represented as womanisers and bullies, by picking fights and making advances on girls at clubs. Mostly representing violence, the character ‘Begbie’ is a good example as he threatens his peers and starts altercations in almost every seen.

Women –

Represented almost as play toys for the men in the film, women are shown in a very stereotypical fashion by being only shown with a man in a relationship. The only counter-type about gender would be with Diane who holds power over Renton as she is capable to report him into the police for sleeping with her since she is only 15.

Sound –

Sound is used by director, Danny Boyle to add emotion to the narrative, for example in this scene, the song ‘Born slippy’ by underworld is quietly put over Renton’s anxious actions of stealing his mates money. This song, which Boyle found whilst looking through a record store also is meant to encompass who Renton is as a person. I feel as if this 90’s club type music accurately captures that as his personality feels like that lively energy you would accompany with a rave or nightclub.

Another scene which sound is used well can be seen in this scene just after the one above. A J-cut of Begbie’s shouting can be heard before it cuts to the next shot of him wrecking the hotel room.

Editing –

Editing is used heavily in Danny Boyles ‘Trainspotting’ to help pace the story, this can be demonstrated in the court scene where an Eyeline match is used to convey to the audience that the Judge is speaking directly to Renton, with the scene then cutting to his eyes looking at him conveying who he is speaking to.

Mise-en-scene –

The arrangement of props such as heroine needles and booze bottles in a rundown-looking apartment, chosen and placed about by the set designer creates an immersive shot composition for the films theme of drug and alcohol abuse.

Cinematography –

Danny Boyles use of cinematography is used to emphasise the impact of the content within a scene, this can be seen with when Renton turns to look at Begbie, a rack focus is used to demonstrate the shift of his attention.

Another example can seen with close up shots of Renton whenever he either taking or going through the effects of heroin.

9/10

Memorable Scene: For me the most memorable scene was when Mark Renton came off heroine, after his relapse. This scene, too me is the most memorable as it combines other scenes where mark has felt Guilty for causing pain, for example Tommy losing his girlfriend and becoming drug obsessed, or where sick boy’s baby died due to neglect as Mark got them all addicted to heroine again.

Stereotype – A widely held belief of someone or something that is oversimplified to be represented.

Countertype – A representation that challenges dominant ideologies or groups.

An example of a stereotype can be seen in films with Women playing the Damsel role, like in such films as Snow White. This can be said to be chosen by the director due to the patriarchal time period it was released in (1937) where stereotypical roles were issued to Men and Women.

An example of a Countertype can be seen in films with people’s race. This can be shown where minorities are in a position of power, an example of this is Black Panther. This can be seen to be chosen by the director as it was a demonstration of diversity in a predominantly white super Hero film industry.

My favourite films soundtrack is from Spider-Man into the Spider verse, made in 2018 it was directed by Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman and Bob Persichetti.

This is because the use of a shepherd’s tone in the establishing scene creates an immersive build up to suspense of Spider-Mans eventual reveal, it is creatively done by the composer Daniel Pemberton.

Another example of Pemberton’s work on the the film can be seen with the ‘Prowlers theme’, because the character is an ominous figure, Pemberton used distorted elephant noises to create a siren effect that acts as a Leitmotif to whenever he is present.

Another seen is the use of a sound bridge of both orchestral and jukebox music to create a connection to the hero, Miles’ personality and identity to himself and the role as Spider-Man. By merging the score “Mile’s theme” and the song “what’s up danger” by black caviar and Blackway it creates an intense comeuppance of his new found confidence for the power and responsibility he has been given.

Sound Editor – responsible for all of a film’s sound elements, including dialogue, sound effects, automated dialogue and more.

Sound Mixer –  the sound mixer ultimately determines how an audience hears everything in a film.