PAUL GILROY
Paul Gilroy is an English sociologist and cultural studies scholar, who explores the construction of racial ‘otherness’ as an underlying presence within print media communication during the 1970s and 80s. `He famously argues that criminalised representations of black males in media are a misrepresentation that hurts the reputation of the black community.
Form of political protest:
Antonio Gramsci.
Italian philosopher writing in the 1930s.
Hegemonic: dominant, ruling-class, power-holders.
Hegemonic culture: the dominant culture.
Movie Synopsis
A group of teenagers rob a house. Unknown to them, the house belongs to a crazed killer who will stop at nothing to get revenge.
Statement of Intent
I have decided to choose the horror genre because the filming resources available to me are most well-suited to filming a horror. The lack of diverse set locations, actors, and filming techniques available to me means that genres such as dramas, comedies, and action are off-limits. Horrors on the other hand are usually set in one location (a house, a woods, e.t.c.), and commonly use a group of teenage actors, which makes them easier to film.
I intend to make a creepy, fun, and satirical horror movie, which has various classic horror tropes and themes which run throughout. In my film, a group of teenagers in need of cash plan to rob a secluded house. Little do they know, the house they are robbing belongs to a manic killer who hates being wronged. Mid-way through their robbery, the man arrives home and the group has to try to escape what looks like certain death.
On my first poster, I’ve included the house that belongs to the villain of the movie. It is very isolated, which creates a feeling of desperation and isolation. It is also foggy, representing mystery and ‘fear of the unknown’. The isolated house trope is very common in horror movies, which is part of the reason why I have chosen it. I’ve also tinted the picture slightly red, symbolising danger. Thomas Du Fue (who plays the villain in my story) is lurking ominously behind the house, which represents how his presence haunts the movie. I pictured him reaching out toward the camera as if reaching out to the viewer. The title ‘Don’t Move’ has spots of blood on it, which suggests that blood will be shed in the movie. His face is partially covered in the first poster, and then almost entirely covered In the second poster, this makes the audience associate his character with darkness and ambiguity. My second poster is also tinted red, which again symbolises danger.
The dominant signifier of my first poster is the house, which appears clearly in the forefront of the poster.
My movie includes many stereotypical horror tropes, however, approaches them in a satirical tone.
Tztevan Todorov presents the idea that movies can be broken down into:
Vladimir Propp
His work (based around an analysis of fairy tales) suggests that stories use STOCK CHARACTERS to structure stories. That is not to say that all characters are the same, but rather to suggest that all stories draw on familiar characters performing similar functions to provide familiar narrative structures.
spheres of action: As Turner makes clear ‘these are not separate characters, since one character can occupy a number of roles or ‘spheres of action’ as Propp calls them and one role may be played by a number of different characters’
Media is a risky buisness
Blinded by the Light is a low-mid budget production ($15m) co-funded by New Line Cinema (an American production studio owned by Warner Brothers Pictures Group) and independent
production companies including Levantine Films. Bend it Films and Ingenious Media.
• Identification of how Blinded by the Light is characteristic of a low-mid budget release, considering production, distribution and circulation.
Production: Merger between 3 movie companies. Films do this gain more control of market as well as maximise profit.
• The role of the use of Bruce Springsteen’s music in getting the film financed and in the marketing of the film
As Bruce is a global figure his name and songs give the film support across the globe. This is called globalisation.
• The use of film festivals in finding distribution deals for films.
• Use of traditional marketing and distribution techniques; trailers, posters, film festivals etc.
• Marketing techniques such as use of genre, nostalgia, identity, social consciousness
• Distribution techniques – reliance on new technology; VOD, streaming
Directed by | Gurinder Chadha – she previously worked on film Bend it like Beckham |
|---|---|
| Written by | Paul Mayeda Berges, Gurinder Chadha, Sarfraz Manzoor |
| Based on | Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll by Sarfraz Manzoor |
| Produced by | Jane Barclay, Gurinder Chadha, Jamal Daniel |
| Music by | A. R. Rahman |
|---|---|
| Production companies | Levantine Films, Ingenious, Bend It Films, Cornerstone Films |
| Distributed by | Entertainment One Films |
| Release dates | 27 January 2019 (Sundance)9 August 2019 (United Kingdom) |
| Running time | 117 minutes[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million[2] |
| Box office | $18.1 million[3][4] |
The director of Bruce Springsteen-themed movie Blinded by the Light told how a chance meeting at a red-carpet event led to the Boss granting permission for his music to be used in the soundtrack.
Springsteens wife loved the movie ‘Bend it like Beckham’ and the director, and so she persuaded Bruce to get involved,
Quotes from newspapers –
The Guardian –
Javed, the central character in my film, is a teenage British Pakistani Muslim. Blinded By the Light is being released at a time when that community is regularly demonised as the other – both Boris Johnson and Donald Trump have sought to gain political capital by mocking Muslims.
The number of hate crimes per year has risen from 42,235 in 2012 to 103,379 in 2018, with 77% of those hate crimes being race-related.
The Hollywood Reporter –
Over the Aug. 16-18 weekend, New Line’s Blinded by the Light — a coming-of-age tale inspired by Springsteen’s music — bombed in its nationwide debut, earning a mere $4 million at the box office.
Marketing techniques such as the use of genre, nostalgia, identity, social consciousness
Previusly established fans from film ‘Bend it like Beckham’ + Bruce Springsteen fans. This helps to establish hype, as well as media coverage of the film, and brings in more bodies to the cinema.
Bend it studios – indie film company (small)
they had to get help from more major companies such as:
Levantine films (small company – however had major success with film – Hidden Figures) and Ingenious media (investment company – had major success with film Life of `Pi)
The film is based on the existing successful book. This maximises profits and reduces risk, as fans of the book are more likely to watch the film.
The movie is left wing –
it used social media to promote film.
Hashtagged BLM + other tweets to raise awareness.
He wrote a book called Cultural Industries.
He argues that major cultural organisations create products for different industries in order to maximise the chances of commercial success.
His research focuses on the media and cultural industries, critical approaches to media in the digital age, and the sociology of music.
In his book, he also talks about the relationship between media work, media workers and the media industries.
He notes that the most successful creative people are born into the industry. E.g. They’re the son / daughter of a successful creative person.
‘for every individual who succeeds, there are many who do not. For many, it will be the result of a perfectly reasonable personal decision that the commitment and determination required is not for them’
The individualising discourses of ‘talent’ and ‘celebrity’ and the promise of future fame or consecration, have special purchases in creative work and are often instrumental in ensuring compliance with the sometimes invidious demands of managers, organisations and the industry (Banks & Hesmondhalgh, p. 420).
Judith Butler is an American philosopher and gender theorist. Butler’s work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. She argued that gender is a social construct, which is performed rather than adopted. Because gender identity is established through behaviour, there is a possibility to construct different genders via different behaviours. Butler offers a critique of the terms gender and sex as they have been used by feminists. Butler argues that feminism made a mistake in trying to make “women” a discrete, ahistorical group with common characteristics. Butler writes that this approach reinforces the binary view of gender relations. Butler believes that feminists should not try to define “women” and they also believe that feminists should “focus on providing an account of how power functions and shapes our understandings of womanhood not only in the society at large but also within the feminist movement. Judith herself is a lesbian, whose legally non-binary, and goes by she or they pronouns.