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This Is England: Representation

8 December 2024 Alex Gajdosova Leave a comment

Young people in This Is England play a big part in representing this time period in England, the youngest being Shaun who’s 12, along with Woody’s group who are all young adults. For the most part, they’re depicted to the spectator as being reckless, carefree, and unified by style.

Older people in the film have a range of roles, there’s Cynthia who is Shaun’s mother, she is caring and down to earth, and then there is Combo who has an authoritarian approach to keeping people close to him, instilling fear and nationalist propaganda onto others. The audience is shown that this heavily impacts Shaun, since Combo hones in on Shaun’s grief, weaponizing it so that Shaun becomes an asset to Combo’s gang.

The working class is the prominent class in This Is England, this is important to the spectator because it signifies how Margaret Thatcher’s time in parliament wasn’t taken lightly by those in the working class, as shown multiple times with graffiti.

English people are only represented by those from the North of England, in depth, the only time we ever see Southern citizens is on news broadcasts about those in power, like Margaret Thatcher and the Royal Family. This indicates to the audience that it is a common occurrence that the South have an overpowering hold on the North, along with classism against northern England.

Asian and Black people are depicted in a bad light whenever Combo has something to say about it, casual racism is a common occurrence throughout the film, for example, when Combo first visits Woody and the others to tell them a story about his time in prison, openly discriminating a black inmate whilst Milky is in the room (a Jamaican man). Asian people are portrayed as “job stealers”, according to Combo, as well as being verbally abused and taken advantage of in the scene where Shaun and Combo’s gang raid Sandhu’s shop.

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Aesthetics

8 December 2024 Alex Gajdosova 1 Comment

Aesthetics: The overall style, feel, and texture of a film. This can involve scenery, costume, and how they all tie in

Realism: an artistic approach and narrative style that aims to represent life, characters, settings, and events as closely as possible to their real-world counterparts.

verisimilitude – the appearance of being real or true (in terms of world building and costume design)

social realism – drawing attention to the social and political conditions (issues) of a particular time period and location.

*Interview With The Vampire, 2022 (Rolin Jones)*

magic realism – portrays fantastical events in a realistic tone to successfully build a believable world for the spectator.

*Pan’s Labyrinth, 2006 (Guillermo del Toro)*

hyperreality – artificially created media that is perceived to be reality, a heightened reality.

Visual Style: The visual language of a film, the look and feel of the film.

iconography – the use of reoccurring visual images and symbols that convey specific themes, evoke emotions, and build the film’s narrative.

*The Silence of The Lambs, 1991 (Jonathan Demme)*

intertextual referencing – the overlap of media, utilised to support the narrative of the film. The media could be other films, music, poetry, and literature.

visual/sound motifs – a visible or audible element that reoccurs throughout the film to carry the storyline, plays a symbolic role.

colour grading -a post-production process to alter the visual appearance of the film/shot. This can either be to make it more vibrant to convey a lighter, happier narrative, or it could be desaturated to convey dullness or negativity.

auteur trademarks – a trademark style, making a directors work immediately recognisable.

*Lost Highway, 1997 (David Lynch) – surrealism*

Tone: The overall atmosphere or mood of a film.

pathos – appeals to the audience’s emotions, typically sadness.

Uptown Girls, 2003, (Boaz Yakin): This scene is sad because of Ray’s angry display of grief alongside Molly’s bittersweet nostalgia as she recreates the moment she did years ago when her dad passed – mirroring Ray’s situation.

bathos – an anti-climax or a juxtaposition of shots to create a humorous effect.

*Contact, 1997 (Robert Zemeckis)*: Instead of ending in Eleanor finally making contact with the aliens like the audience was lead to believe, the alien takes form of her deceased father to pass on a message.

suspense – excitement or anxiousness created by tension.

Suspenseful because it’s a Darren Aronofsky film; paranoia, perfectionism, and horror.

comedy – provides the audience with amusement, usually consisting of explicit one-liners, or on the other hand, intellectual pieces which are implicitly/unintentionally ‘funny’.

*Interview With The Vampire, 2022-present (Rolin Jones)*

For context, this episode is particularly funny because in the image on the left, Lestat is reassuring Louis (out of frame) that he is free to sleep with whoever he wants as long as Louis comes home to him. Image 2 completely contradicts Lestat’s plethora of “Of course! Of course!”, Louis comes home after having relations with another man, Lestat is clearly not that calm nor collected. There’s 15 minutes between these scenes.

dramatic irony – when the audience understands more about a situation that most characters do; an ‘inside joke’.

distancing effect – also known as ‘breaking the fourth wall’, is when the illusion of being an unseen spectator is shattered, the characters on screen are directly interacting with the audience.

postmodern humour – Challenges accepted notions and expectations of genre, philosophy, and humanity.

*Twin Peaks, 1990 (David Lynch) – 02×01*

Exam

Essay Feedback

28 November 2024 Alex Gajdosova Leave a comment

Impressive Phrases:

-“The deliberate and stylised use of…”

Diegetic: Something which is occurring within the context of a scene – the characters are aware of it.

Cathartic Effect: Involving the release of strong emotions through a particular activity or experience. In film, this is when the audience has a strong – sometimes personal – reaction towards the film.

Reframing: The general change of a persons mindset (spectator).

synonyms for ‘connote’: imply, suggest, indicate, signify, hint at.

Throughout Joker, cinematography is used effectively to create sense of chaos within the film’s diegetic world. This is particularly evident in the scene towards the end of the film where Arthur is shown using a low- angle, close-up looking out of the police car window and reacting with glee at the riots taking place around him. Here, the camera is used to position the spectator as not only connecting with Arthur, but now looking up to him. This suggests to the spectator that the tables have turned and Arthur who was earlier depicted as pathetic and sad, is now depicted as powerful and heroic. This “reframing” of the central character” has a potentially cathartic effect on the spectator who has, up until this point, been encouraged to sympathise with Arthur’s point of view as a victim of circumstance. The deliberate and stylised use of this slow-motion reaction shot, enables the spectator to get a sense of poetic justice being served.

Point / Evidence / Explain / Link

This is England

This Is England: Micro elements

24 November 2024 Alex Gajdosova Leave a comment

Mise-en-scene: At 03:53, we’re shown Shaun in his bed, within the frame there is an alarm clock, paint which had flaked off of the walls, and most importantly, a framed picture of his dad who served in the army. This is significant throughout the rest of the film as Shaun’s actions are being motivated by his fathers death in the war, wanting to make his death worth something (something, meaning the country and its pride, which Combo and his gang feel strongly about).

Editing: At 25:01, after Shaun gets his skinhead makeover, finally being a part of Woody’s gang, we are shown slow motion shots of the male members of the gang as well as the female members, their shots dissolving together to showcase the parallels. This highlights the sense of unity within the group, regardless of gender.

Cinematography: At 43:38, Combo’s true intentions come into the light – highlighted by the low angle he’s shot at, suggesting power and intimidation – as he gives Woody’s gang a speech about England’s loss of pride (nationalism), and how he wants to change that and make England great again, imposing white supremacist propaganda. This eventually peer pressures a couple of members to join him, specifically Shaun, and this is only the surface of Combo’s power-hungry personality.

Sound: All throughout the film we’re given a range of popular music from that time period, mostly during the first half because Shaun’s social circle spirals as he is exposed to negative influences. An example of this would be when Soft Cell’s ‘Tainted Love’ cover is heard briefly in the first half, a popular song in the 80s, and then shifting to an atmospheric/melancholic score, composed by Ludovico Einaudi. This encapsulates Shaun’s situation, going from dull and mediocre to distressing and traumatic.

This is England

This Is England: 1st Response

21 November 2024 Alex Gajdosova Leave a comment

Initial score: 4.5/10

Shane Meadows, 27/04/07 (release date)

In my opinion, the film wasn’t that great and the only reason I’m giving it a 4.5 and not a 4 is because the dialogue alone was hilarious – intentional or not. I enjoyed the news clips and montages which indicated the time period, such as clips of Princess Diana’s wedding. I didn’t enjoy the score because it didn’t blend well with the scenes, making it hard to take anything seriously.

My favourite sequence in the film is when Shaun first goes into the corner shop, Sandhu’s News, and is reading through a comic book which he hasn’t purchased yet, obviously the shopkeeper doesn’t like this so he asks Shaun repeatedly to leave, which leads up to the funniest piece of dialogue in this film. “Cola Cubes.” And again. “Cola Cubes.” The delivery from Thomas Turgoose adds to the comedic feel of this sequence.

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The Miller and The Sweep storyboard

20 November 2024 Alex Gajdosova Leave a comment

Representation, Trainspotting

Representation in Trainspotting

17 November 2024 Alex Gajdosova Leave a comment

WHO IS DOING THE REPRESENTATION? (DIRECTOR’S VIEWPOINT) Danny Boyle
WHO IS BEING REPRESENTED? (Identify social groups) Heroin addicts in Edinburgh, the parents of addicts, partners of addicts, authority figures, children and regular people.
WHAT SOCIAL GROUPS ARE OMITTED FROM THE REPRESENTATIONS? People of colour, leading female characters, LGBTQ+ characters.
WHAT MESSAGES ABOUT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS ARE BEING CONVEYED? It’s shown that heroin addicts/addiction isn’t glamorous, that drug abuse does have its highs of euphoria as well as dark and grimy lows.
WHICH CHARACTERS OR SOCIAL GROUPS HAVE POWER WITHIN THE REPRESENTATIONS? White men, specifically Begbie – he’s aggressive, violent and controlling to whoever is nearby.
DO THE CHARACTERS ADHERE TO OR CHALLENGE STEREOTYPES? They challenge the stereotype that Edinburgh is the nicer region of Scotland, unlike Glasgow which has been deemed “rougher”. Showing the underbelly of the city and its people.
ARE THE CHARACTERS TYPICAL OF FILMS IN THAT GENRE? No, they’re all unique characters for the black-comedy/drama genre. For example, Creep (2014, Patrick Brice) is considered a black-comedy, and its characters are very different to the ones in Trainspotting.
WHAT DO REPRESENTATIONS TELL AUDIENCES ABOUT SOCIETY AT THE TIME THE FILM WAS MADE AND/OR SET? The representations shown in Trainspotting tell the audiences around the world that Edinburgh in the late 90s wasn’t always light and friendly – revealing the darker sides of the city and population, how drug abuse flies under the radar for the most part, as well as the destruction that heroin addiction can cause for the user and the people around them.
HOW ARE ELEMENTS OF FILM FORM BEING USED TO CONSTRUCT THE REPRESENTATIONS? A good example of mise en scene being used in this film is when Renton dives into the toilet, searching for his drugs, however it is depicted in a surreal way; transitioning from the disgusting reality of the toilet, into a bottomless body of blue, clear water, this is probably used to visualise the sense of euphoria that heroin can give you. This constructs the representation of desperate, young addicts in Edinburgh. In this same scene, the music used changes when Renton dives into the toilet, going from fanfare to a tranquil ambience, synchronising with the split between reality and euphoria.

For reference, these are the people represented in Trainspotting (in order): Drug addicts, young people, old people/authority figures, men, and women.

This scene depicts drugs addicts in a drug den, shooting up heroin in a social setting. This conveys to the spectators that drug addicts can find a sense of community within addiction, using it as a reason to hang out, it’s an activity for some.

Young people are depicted in this film, specifically this opening scene, as reckless and unpredictable. For the spectator, this provides an alternate perspective on the youth as in most films they’re portrayed in a generic way, such as mediocre acts of defiance, then having a linear life of finding a job and marriage. In Trainspotting, it sways away from that stereotype, presenting us as the audience the darker and grittier side of young people – drug abuse and law breaking.

Older people and authority figures do play a strong role throughout Trainspotting, for example, Renton’s parents. In this scene we see his parents take care of him after overdosing on heroin, despite the disappointment of Renton going against the one condition which the court gave him – to stay clean – in order to not go to jail. This makes the spectator understand that a lot of the authority figures in this film still aim to help the young people despite all of their mistakes.

Men are heavily represented throughout Trainspotting, all leading characters are male. This scene in particular shows them being careless, anti-social (mostly on Begbie’s part) and socialising together.

In Trainspotting, women aren’t explored in depth as characters, they’re only ever shown if they have some kind of relation to the main group of men, either that being girlfriends or parents. This shows to the audience that women are accessories to the story, not the centre.

Representation

14 November 2024 Alex Gajdosova Leave a comment

TASK 1: All aspects of film form including narrative contribute to the representations of cultures and societies (gender, ethnicity, and age) including the ideological nature of those representations.

^ This means that film creates meaning and generates response through cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and performance.

Performance:

-age, ethnicity, costume, facial expressions, body language/gestures.

Ideology: a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.

TASK 2:

Stereotype – a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

Countertype – an opposite image/idea which actively aims to subvert negative notions previously enforced by media/society.

e.g. White president of America (Scandal; Tony Goldwyn) and a black president of America (Morgan Freeman).

Sarah Connor Representation:

She is the female protagonist of the Terminator franchise, directed by James Cameron.

She is a good example of a film heroine turning from a small-town, girl-next-door, waitress stereotype in the first film; to being a badass heroine, undergoing an intense transformation (physically) to steer away from the stereotypes, embracing the countertype of the character, making her more in charge of her life in the second Terminator film.

Representation in Trainspotting

WHO IS DOING THE REPRESENTATION? (DIRECTOR’S VIEWPOINT) Danny Boyle
WHO IS BEING REPRESENTED? (Identify social groups) Heroin addicts in Edinburgh, the parents of addicts, partners of addicts, authority figures, children and regular people.
WHAT SOCIAL GROUPS ARE OMITTED FROM THE REPRESENTATIONS? People of colour, leading female characters, LGBTQ+ characters.
WHAT MESSAGES ABOUT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS ARE BEING CONVEYED? It’s shown that heroin addicts/addiction isn’t glamorous, that drug abuse does have its highs of euphoria as well as dark and grimy lows.
WHICH CHARACTERS OR SOCIAL GROUPS HAVE POWER WITHIN THE REPRESENTATIONS? White men, specifically Begbie – he’s aggressive, violent and controlling to whoever is nearby.
DO THE CHARACTERS ADHERE TO OR CHALLENGE STEREOTYPES? They challenge the stereotype that Edinburgh is the nicer region of Scotland, unlike Glasgow which has been deemed “rougher”. Showing the underbelly of the city and its people.
ARE THE CHARACTERS TYPICAL OF FILMS IN THAT GENRE? No, they’re all unique characters for the black-comedy/drama genre. For example, Creep (2014, Patrick Brice) is considered a black-comedy, and its characters are very different to the ones in Trainspotting.
WHAT DO REPRESENTATIONS TELL AUDIENCES ABOUT SOCIETY AT THE TIME THE FILM WAS MADE AND/OR SET? The representations shown in Trainspotting tell the audiences around the world that Edinburgh in the late 90s wasn’t always light and friendly – revealing the darker sides of the city and population, how drug abuse flies under the radar for the most part, as well as the destruction that heroin addiction can cause for the user and the people around them.
HOW ARE ELEMENTS OF FILM FORM BEING USED TO CONSTRUCT THE REPRESENTATIONS? A good example of mise en scene being used in this film is when Renton dives into the toilet, searching for his drugs, however it is depicted in a surreal way; transitioning from the disgusting reality of the toilet, into a bottomless body of blue, clear water, this is probably used to visualise the sense of euphoria that heroin can give you. This constructs the representation of desperate, young addicts in Edinburgh. In this same scene, the music used changes when Renton dives into the toilet, going from fanfare to a tranquil ambience, synchronising with the split between reality and euphoria.

Trainspotting

Trainspotting 1st response

8 November 2024 Alex Gajdosova Leave a comment

8/10

I give this film a sold 8/10 because although it was strange and hard to watch sometimes, it was entertaining and really well made throughout.

My favourite sequence in the film would have to be when Mark goes back to the drug den to get another hit of heroin despite being allowed to stay out of jail if he stays clean. The way he sinks into the red carpet is a creative way to physically represent a heroin trip, and as we get a POV shot of Mark looking up at the ceiling as ‘Mother Superior’ looks down at him, it resembles a casket. This symbolism is really important as so much loss has already happened, for example when Sick Boy’s baby dies; this escalates to Mark being taken to hospital to be shot up again with adrenaline, then taken back home where the heroin trip spirals further.

Another sequence which I think is worth mentioning is when Renton and Spud steal a television from an elderly home. I find it really funny and absurd at how easily they did it as the elderly people just stared at them, unable to stop them. Also, it was nice to see such a comic moment in between all of the gritty and hard-hitting scenes.

Micro Elements

Sound: Danny Boyle effectively uses sound at 10:05 to show the extreme highs and lows of heroin use as Renton ‘dives’ into the toilet. From the upbeat fanfare music as he’s still set in the real world, where it’s all grimy and bleak, to the serene music playing as he dives deeper into a blue body of water, even though it’s all his imagination due to the heroin – this successfully depicts the good and the bad side of heroin abuse, how you can feel euphoric to a sudden drop to depression and physical side effects such as constipation.

Editing: At 1:10:49 there’s a freezeframe on Sick Boy and Francis as they jump out of the cupboard onto the unsuspecting couple who are viewing the apartment. This way of editing highlights the explosive personalities of these two characters, plus it’s absurd how they do this with no second thought.

Cinematography: At 14:08, we can see the diegetic perspective being used to direct the audiences attention towards Spud and Renton as they share a milkshake. This works by using a CU shot, emphasising the focus of the scene.

Mise en Scene: At 00:39, in the opening scene, we’re introduced to Renton as he’s running down the stairs and then down the street. This was filmed from Leith Street to Calton Road, Edinburgh. This will make the spectators, especially those who live in the area feel connected to the characters and the storyline as it is filmed in a location where they live their lives.

Sound

13 October 2024 Alex Gajdosova Leave a comment

The sound editors find the sound sources whereas the sound mixers compile them all together to create a cohesive soundtrack/piece.

The Shepard Tone – Named after Roger Shepard, is a sound consisting of a superposition (a technique where two or more separate images or sequences are layered over each other to create a single frame) of sine waves separated by octaves. When played with the bass pitch of the tone moving upwards and downwards, it’s referred to as the Shepard Scale.

Diegetic Sound – Sounds which the characters on the screen can hear/are aware of.

Non-Diegetic Sound – Sounds which the characters on screen can’t hear but the audience can.

Examples of diegetic/non-diegetic sounds in ‘Joker’:

(diegetic) In this opening scene, we can hear a distant radio chatter playing as Arthur is posing in the mirror at his workplace. This audio is also heard by the characters in this scene, it acts as a narrative device, setting the world which ‘Joker’ is set in.

(non-diegetic) This is a good example of a non-diegetic scene as there’s music playing over the scene as he’s dancing down the stairs.

Sound Effects

Sound effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds that are used in artistic works to emphasize or express at action, emotion or feeling. Sound effects were initially used in radio dramas, but can be observed more often today in podcasts, theatre, films and television shows.

Foley Artist

A Foley Artist adds in (foley)sound effects to the movie in post-production. It is recorded in a sound proof studio, then the audio is layered over top of the images.

Leitmotif

A leitmotif/leitmotiv is a short, recurring musical phrase associated with a particular person, place, evolution of a character or idea. It conditions the audience to subconsciously recognise a character/idea/place even when it’s not in frame, solely due to a specific sound.

“Leitmotifs are guides to feelings” – Richard Wagner

For example, leitmotifs can be used to demonstrate a characters evolution, as shown in Star Wars with Anakin Skywalker, and his descent into evil as he becomes Darth Vader – the theme song is automatically linked with his character whenever the audience hears it.

As for setting, an example of this leitmotif can be found in Lord of the Rings, specific musical pieces are assigned accordingly to certain settings and how they’re supposed to make us feel.

For a particular person/thing, Jaws successfully represents the shark with a simple theme song, so we know it’s there before we even see it (which we hardly do) – the music makes its presence known, which is effectively unsettling.

Sound Bridge

A sound bridge is a technique which aids the seamless transition between two clips/scenes. This is done by using L-Cuts (the audio from the 1st clip carries over to the 2nd clip) and J-Cuts (the audio from the 2nd clip begins near the end of the 1st clip).

Films that use voiceover: Lolita (1997). I think it was used a lot in this film to emphasize the fact the Humbert is a very unreliable narrator.

Voice overs are typically used to narrate what is occurring, but it’s often only from one perspective – therefore, may be unreliable.

Score/Underscore

A score is the theme music composed especially for it to enhance the mood/themes of the visuals that appear on screen.

Underscores is the music which plays beneath the dialogue in the scene.

Synchronous/Asynchronous Sound

synchronous sound is sound that is matched to the action being viewed.

asynchronous sound is sound which is not matched to the actions and movements being viewed.

Needle Drop: when a pre-existing song is used in a film to underscore a particular scene.

Sound Perspective

The apparent distance of a sound source, evidenced by its volume, timbre, and pitch. In the clip from Spielberg’s ‘Munich’, where you can hear Daniel Craig’s character singing even though he’s not in the shot (yet), this automatically puts the audience in a perspective.

Film Score

My favourite film score is from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, composed by Angelo Badalamenti, and being co-written by David Lynch himself, is a jazz/ambient soundtrack. I love this one because of its ominous and beautiful composition, which is very fitting for a David Lynch psychological horror film; it manages to lure in the audience into the world of Twin peaks, and in this case, especially the character of Laura Palmer, adding to the haunting storyline of her character, as we already know what happened to her in Twin Peaks (TV show).