Sound – Music from the 80s is heavily used throughout the film to establish the time setting of the film, which takes place in 1983.

Editing – The film uses montages throughout to symbolise different parts of Shaun’s life, the first showing him alone and isolated, the second with him enjoying life with Woody and his friends, and the third once he joins Combo’s racist gang.

Mise-En-Scene – In the scene where Combo’s gang stands in front of the church, graffiti with the phrase “Maggie is a twat” is used to convey the idea Shaun lives in an area that is very much against Margaret Thatcher and her ideologies, as she was Prime Minister during the time period that This Is England is set in.

Cinematography – Big Close Ups are used, specifically in the scene where Combo and Shaun have a conversation in the car, to show the characters growing closer together.

Score: 9/10

Memorable Scene – When Combo threatens the shop owner, as it is the first time we see how hateful, racist and aggressive he actually is without even having other people around him.

Most filming went well, although we had to be quick with exterior scenes as the sky was getting darker as filming went on. I added some shots that weren’t in my storyboards that made the film flow more naturally and made camera work less complicated to do.

I managed to get all scenes filmed, and now just have to work on post production.

Set design was good as we didn’t have to change much about the setting.

Camera angles mostly worked well, although it was difficult to figure out how to do an accurate PED shot initially.

We had some tech issues but these were quickly fixed.

Genre – Horror 

Cast – George Blake

Equipment – camera, tripod

Location – my house

Shooting date – Wednesday 15th November

Script 

(EXT) Tracking, eye level MS of back walking towards door 

(INT) Eye level, MCU as door opens to reveal George 

Ped down MLS as he sits down 

GEORGE: *sighs* 

High angle MCU as he hears a smashing sound upstairs 

GEORGE: Hello? 

POV shot from the outside of the house, showing a long shot of George from the inside.  

Cut to tracking medium shot of George walking from the sofa towards the stairs, up the first few steps when he hears a knock, so turns around.  

Worms eye view shot as he gets to the door. 

BCU of his nervous facial expression. 

Back to Worms Eye View as he opens the door.  

Canted POV shot with zoom as George screams. 

End of film.  

Shot List 

High angle 

Canted angle 

Long Shot 

Medium Close Up 

Big Close Up 

POV shot 

Worms eye view  

Medium shot 

Tracking shot 

Zoom 

Young People:

Trainspotting represents young people as unconcerned with life and taking any opportunity to get drunk or high on drugs. An example would be Diane, who is only 15 years old, being present in a nightclub, where she will gladly take drinks from men that approach her, although will then show her disinterest in the men themselves. Another example, although he is older than Diane, is Renton, who makes the decision to take heroin the same day he evades a prison sentence and promises to go to rehab.

Older People:

While there aren’t many older people in Trainspotting, Renton’s parents are represented as being sympathetic towards their son that drugs have impacted his life negatively, while also realising the difficult task of keeping him in his room off of any medication in order to stop him from relapsing, as cruel as it may be perceived from Renton’s perspective.

Working Class People:

Trainspotting does not try to glamourize the working class, instead it shows that despite now having a steady income, Renton still lives on the bare minimum. However, compared to the drug-centric life he lived beforehand, he says he feels ‘almost content’ with this new life.

Scottish People:

Scottish people are represented as being bitter and ashamed at the fact that they are from Scotland, with Renton referring to them as ‘the lowest of the low’ and ‘the scum of the earth’. He also expresses his annoyance with the fact they ‘can’t even find a good culture to be colonized by’, in reference to the English.

Addicts:

Addicts in Trainspotting are shown to feel sorry for themselves and each other that they can’t give up drugs, but make no attempt to stop each other. The character of Tommy doesn’t take heroin until his girlfriend leaves him, but by the end of the film he becomes addicted, leading to a positive HIV test (despite Renton being more at risk to it but testing negative) and his eventual fatal stroke.

Men:

Men are represented as being very much influenced by their heterosexual and masculine identities. For example, Begbie is horrified when he discovers a potential love interest is transgender, and is overly aggressive towards other men, taking any opportunity to start a fight.

Women:

Most women in Trainspotting are mainly used as love interests to the main characters, and aren’t really focused on past the first act of the film. However, Diane recurs throughout the film and is arguably a countertype of women in film, establishing power over Renton with the fact she can report him to the police at any time for sleeping with her.

Sound:

Danny Boyle uses sound in Trainspotting during the nightclub scene, in which the audience see both the club itself where the men are sat, in comparison to the bathroom of the club where the women are speaking to each other. In the club, the music is so loud that it takes over as the primary audio source from the dialogue, leading to the use of subtitles. The bathroom, on the other hand, prioritises dialogue over music, as they are separated from the room where the music is at its loudest. This creates a contrast between the two settings for the audience.

Editing:

Boyle uses cuts in the scene where Renton overdoses and sinks into a carpet to switch between POV shots of what Mark can see while on heroin (with both sides of the sunken carpet taking up parts of the frame) and shots of what is actually happening.

Mise-en-scene:

In one of the final scenes of the film, the composition of this shot tells the audience that the offscreen damage to the room has been done by Begbie in addition to the further damage he does in this scene. The fact he is alone in the room further proves he is the one responsible.

Cinematography:

A worm’s eye view shot is used when London is first presented to the audience in the film, to reinforce its grandiose and high-class appearance in comparison to what is seen of Scotland.

Score: 9.5/10

Memorable Scene: When Mark takes heroin after ‘giving up’ and sinks into the carpet. This is memorable as we not only see Mark’s point of view from inside the carpet but also the real events where he is being dragged into a taxi and eventually ends up in the hospital.

Stereotype – a general belief or expectation about a specific group of people.

Countertype – a representation that challenges dominant ideologies about specific groups.

An example of stereotyping vs countertypeing in films is the contrast between people of colour in older films, where they may be perceived as criminals or comedic characters, as opposed to films from more recently where they are represented fairly and equally. An example of stereotyping race in film would be casting people in minority groups to provide an unserious contrast to a white character, such as Will Smith in Men In Black. An example of racial countertypes would be in a film like Tenet, where the protagonist is a person of colour but that aspect of his character is insignificant and he isn’t represented any differently to the white characters.

2. An example of diegetic sound in Shaun Of The Dead is the dialogue between characters. An example of non-diegetic sound is the score that is used to create rising tension.

3. A needle drop in film is when a character puts on music in the narrative of the film, and the same song is then used in that scene.

4. A Foley artist would create sounds including footsteps, punches and rain. These are sounds that may not be heard in the original recording of the scene.

5. Jaws (1975), directed by Steven Spielberg and composed by John Williams, uses a leitmotif in order to convey when the shark is present and ready to attack.

6. Nicolas Winding Refn’s film Bronson (2008) uses voice-over narration to give the audience the protagonist’s perspective of the narrative events, as well as to quickly cover his life before prison at the beginning of the film. Because the narrator is ‘untrustworthy’, the narration is also used for comedic effect.