Ill Manors Trailer Analysis

What are the typical codes and conventions of film trailers - what information is usually provided? 
The typical codes and conventions of film trailers are...

•  Text or pop-ups used
• voice overs
• range of edits and shots
• dramatic scenes
• enigma codes
• named instituations
• named directors, characters and big named stars
• release dates
• any other information

The typical conventions of film trailers consist of voice over and pop-up text which informs the audinces on who the characters are and/or are enigma codes to draw in viewers to watch this film in the cinema. The pop-up text is generally used quite a bit as famous actors and stars are named in order to attract a glamour fan base. Also, another factor which is a typical convention of film trailers is that they include a range of different edits, varying in order to show/ portray the mind set of characters. A range of edits and shots allow different scenes in the movie which therefore creates the suspense and enigma codes which draw in viewers. Other typical conventions are that film trailers end with the release date in order for the viewer to know when the film is coming out. This is generally shown last due to the fact that its one of the most imporatant factors of the trailer and therefore should be the last as this makes it the most likely thing to be remembered by the audience.

How are trailers distributed? 

Trailers are distributed in different ways depending apon the franchaise of the movie or even the factor of them having a high/low budget film. For example, a big budget Hollywood blockbuster would have a big name in terms of its distributer compared to a low budget British film. A Hollywood film would have more exposure in terms of the plot and the characters in the film which therefore would be exposed through the distributor.

How does Ill Manors use trailer conventions?

Ill Manors uses the typical conventions of film trailers in certain ways. Firstly, the trailer for Ill Manors has a voice over introduces enigma codes in terms of the story-line of Ill Manors.

Who is the target audience? Does it have a unique selling point or use particular techniques to appeal to the audience? Consider the way the scenes are edited together – does the trailer give away any clues about the narrative? Are the main stars visible in the trailer? Is there information about the director of the film? Is there information about the release date? Is a narrator’s voice-over used? 

How has the genre of the film been represented through characters, settings, lighting, colour, music, camera shots/movements/angles and editing?

Ill manors research

Research all the Institutions involved in the production of Ill Manors. List them with a summary of what their contribution to the film was...

 The Studios producing the film "Ill Manors" were Film London Microwave, BBC Films and Aimimage. These institutions are low budget british film industries in terms of making and funding films. BBC films is quite a well known industry who help out and have helped out a lot of people and films in terms of the production funds. 

How much Ill Manors cost to produce (its budget)? 

The film "Ill Manors" cost £100,000 to produce and made £453, 570 from box office alone. In order for Plan B to raise the funds for post-production, he went on tour in 2010 and 2011 performing "The Defamation of Strickland Banks Tour". The rights to Ill Manors were sold to Revolver Entertainment in April 2011. The Studios producing the film "Ill Manors" were Film London Microwave, BBC Films and Aimimage.

How was Ill Manors funded?

Ill manors was funded due to Ben Drew (all known as plan b) going on tour in an attempt to raise enough money to just get the production side of the movie ill manors on its way. The tour was called "The Defamation of Strickland Banks Tour" which helped fund the film.

What is the target audience for Ill Manors?

The targeted audience demographic for ill manors would be the 15 - 25 year olds, generally the teenagers as they can relate to the situations going on in the storyline of the film. Also, it because of the fact that teenagers of this demographic like to watch films which involve a lot of swearing, violence and action along with a good plot therefore appealing to them in this sense.

Who is the main distributor of Ill Manors?

The main distributor of ill manors is revolver entertainment as the rights to the film were sold to them in April 2005. The film made a total income from box office alone, £453, 570 which is a huge profit to the £100,000 budget.

How was Ill Manors promoted?

The film ill manors was promoted through revolver entertainment as they were given the rights to the film. However, along with this factor, another was the fact that ill manors was helped to become big through the music videos by plan b to help promote the storyline as well as what the film was about. 

Compare this with a big budget blockbuster. What are the main similarities and differences?

Comparing ill manors to a big budget blockbuster you can see many similarities as well as differences.

 A similarity which both have is that the protagonist or main character, in the end survives or makes it big in terms of the storyline of the film. In ill manors, the character is the only one to survive out of his gang and goes off to make something of his life. A difference between the two; other than the obvious fact that its a low budget film; is that the characters in the movie weren't well recognised actors but just normal people acting. 

How does the trailer for Ill Manors hook audiences into the narrative and pose questions that the film will answer? Identify 3 ways/techniques.

The trailer for ill manors promotes the film and appeals to the age demographic aimed at by this film, the 15 - 25 year olds. This is done through the use of a music video as teenagers are more likely to watch music videos therefore getting a point across in a music video is a effective way of communicating to this demographic.

How does the trailer for Ill Manors balance plot and spectacle?

The trailer for ill manors shows different characters as well as different scenes. This therefore represents the amount of different story lines in the film and the fact that they all link and cross in one way or another. Also the use of different spectacles in the trailer therefore hooks an audience.

Think about the certificate of Ill Manors (18 certificate). Research film certification and outline what is deemed acceptable for this certificate. What is the difference between a 15 certificate and an 18 certificate?
The different between an 18 certificate to a 15 certificate is that a 15 certificate includes such things as strong language, a lot of scene consisting of violence, strong indications of sexual content as well as sexual scenes, discrimination, regular use of drugs and nudity. 
A 18 certificate on the other hand is similar but with more of certain topics. It includes such things as extreme strong language and regularity of swear words. A vast use of sexual language as well as sexual intercourse,  blood and gore and much references to discriminatory language and ethnicities. 

Media Pre-Production

 Media Pre-Production

The genre of the program which we are thinking about producing for our coursework is the theme of crime drama as this in a very interesting genre in terms of the programs like this on television. Also it appeals to the targeted audience; which is the 15-35 year old demographic audience. 

In order to create an effective crime drama which follows the general themes and concepts of a film in this genre, i'm going to research some film clips and analysis them using media language in order to see the key conventions of a crime drama production. Its also good as this would be something which i'd like to look upon and hopefully create a production of that caliber. 

The first program is a crime drama film known as Dexter. The program is a television drama which involves an American serial killer who goes by the name of Dexter hence why this is the name of the drama. Dexter Morgan is a Miami forensics expert and spends his days solving crimes but as darkness arises, he spends the nights committing them. The clip above is the title sequence of Dexter which introduces the main character; who arguementally is the protagonist and the antagonist in the drama program. In the title sequence, the first person you see is Dexter therefore the title sequence is showing and basing it around him which is an enigma code as we; as the audience; are able to see that the drama is based around this guy; one way or another. Another enigma code used in the title sequence is at the very beginning where he swats a fly/mosquito on him arm. This suggests that he is a cold blooded killer in the drama. The fact that there is blood in the scene also can represent the fact that he's a killer.

The use of camerawork also connotes this as the actions which he is doing as quite aggressive and expresses the nature of violence. An example of this is the use of the knife for slicing meat but then using it to pick the meat up. The extreme close up on these shots show his actions as violent as he is picking up the meat with no care in the world. There is also a constant use of objects to portray weapons such as the constant shots of the knife. At the end of the breakfast scene, a knife is left on the plate with ketchup on there to connote blood. Other objects in the title sequence for Dexter which have similar meanings is like when he uses the floss. He wraps it around his finger tightly as if he was going to strangle a person to death. The other object which has the exact same connotation was when he's pulling up his shoe laces. The constant use of close-ups and extreme close-ups in the entire scene help to portray Dexter as this killer and emphasizes this point drastically.

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The lighting used in the entire title sequence; which is part of the mise en scene; is quite bright (high-key lighting) and therefore the viewers are able to see the entire main character. This is important as the title sequence is not beating round the bush but instead are letting the audience know exactly what this person looks like. In crime drama's, the producer can go either way in terms of the lighting. The lighting can be high-key or low-key lighting. To build suspense in a crime drama, you can use low-key lighting in order for tension and suspicion as the viewers would not know who the killer is and therefore would keep there attention. However, Dexter does the opposite and allows the audience to know exactly who the killer is, as well as going as far as making him the main character (protagonist) of the drama. In the screenshot above, the mise en scene in terms of lighting is high-key lighting, however the fact that there is shadow covering half his face connotes that he's a villain in the drama.

The mise en scene in terms of sound used is contrapuntal as it does not really suit the mood of the title sequence, however despite this, it brings a lot of mysteriousness and really makes the scene more exciting from a audiences point of view. The sound is also non-diegetic due to the fact that when the acting was taking place, no one could hear this music and it was added during editing. A stereotypical crime drama has quite intense, non-diegetic music as a title sequence or trailer therefore by going against the trend, you are making the production seem usual which could in theory keep viewers watching. Due to this, i therefore think that when producing our crime drama, we should have non-diegetic, contrapuntal sound in the background.

This is the opening title sequence from the American crime drama show "Person of Interest" which is about a former CIA agent who now lives in New York, chasing after people who are about to be killed or are going to commit a crime. His job is to stop the events from taking place whilst working with a computer genius who built a supercomputer; after 9/11; which identifies all people about to commit crime. The opening title sequence of "Person of Interest" is aimed very much at the audience due to the language used. They say, "You are being watched...". This therefore engages the viewer(s) as they are being specifically targeted by this television show. Also, the dialogue used to say this is diegetic as it's added in during editing as a voice over. The music used in it is the stereotypical backing track for a crime drama production as it's quite dramatic and fast therefore going with the pace of a crime drama production. In other words, the backing track for the title sequence is parallel sound.  I personally like the way that it targets the audience and involves them in the opening sequence. I also like the graphical editing used on the opening sequence as it portray a CIA or MI6 sort of feel to it therefore adding a factor of realism to the show.  

The first episode of "Person of Interest"; also known as the pilot episode; built up suspicion in terms of the character(s). The protagonist; who in the scene above is known as "the bum", does not give a name and is quite to himself. He has special skills and the audience gain knowledge that he has been in some kind of government secret agent role. As the audience, we know this due to the dialogue exchanged at 2:11 as well as the beginning fight scene. 

In the beginning scene of the crime drama, there is a fight scene therefore appealing to the 15-35 year old demographic audience. From i personal opinion, i absolutely love this show, and has always kept me watching as it's full of mystery, crime and conflict hence why i think that this would also appeal to others of a similar age to myself.

The camerawork used in the clip above seems like a handheld camera as it seems to shake quite a bit, especially when the fight scene begins. It seems to follow the action a lot and zoom in and out slight such as at 1:15. Also, there were a few high angled shots during the fight scene which made the it look as if we were watching the fight from a cctv camera which i thought was a very clever idea as it links back to the title sequence when they say "You are being watched...". The use of high angle shots therefore confirmed this factor said in the title sequence.

In terms of the mise en scene of "Person of Interest" the props used such as the bottle of alcohol are typical objects seen every day depending on the situation. For example, you see a lot of drunk homeless people on the streets and this follows that convention of realism. Also, the fact that we are able to see a guy with a gun in the scene follows the conventions of a crime drama as this connotes a crime about to be committed. The clothing worn by "the bum" were tattered old clothes which were dirty therefore following the stereotypical look of a homeless person. The fact that he had a huge beard and long hair adds to the realism and genuinely makes you think that he's just a typical homeless guy when in actual fact he's much more. If the homeless guy had short hair this would make the scene seem unrealistic and this would also look a little silly and usual (in a bad way).  

This is the Original Batman series which came on television every week. I really like the opening for the old Batman Tv series as in the first 50 seconds of the clip, much tension is built up through the suspense as well as the dilemma which has occurred. The series starts off with dramatic dialogue followed by a call to Batman (who is the protagonist of the series along with Robin). A lot of drama was produced due to the sound used, which is part of the mise en scene used in the first 50 seconds of the clip. The sound/ backing track of the scene was non-diegetic sounds as the music could not be heard by the actors at the time. The use of this non-diegetic sound creates suspense and tension as its paralleled sound to the dialogue and situation. At the end of the 50 seconds, as the main protagonists leave the shot, the music becomes higher and ends therefore suggesting that they are the heroes in the series as everything they do is dictated by non-diegetic sound. The other non-diegetic sound used is at 2.10 which is the voice over which gives an quick over view of the two heroes and informs the audience who is who. 

The title sequence comes 52 seconds into the scene. I really like this as the audience are not shown the title sequence at the beginning of the first series, instead they have a scene which creates tension and suspense and then they introduce to us the protagonists who inevitably are going to resolve the situation. The story-line of the Batman series relates to Todorov's theory which is that every great movie or television show will consist of a beginning equilibrium; followed by a disequilibrium (or a dilemma), which is finally resolved and a new equilibrium is formed. This Tv show follows Todorov's theory as in each episode, there starts off with an equilibrium of some sort; which is disrupted by an antagonist; but in the end is resolved by the protagonist(s). In the title sequence, the backing track is the well known tune for the Tv show therefore being iconographic music for this Tv show. 

Along with the sound, another part of the mise en scene; used in the clip which i'm going to analysis; is the lighting used. The two protagonists are well lit and the type of lighting used is high-key lighting. This is important as this type of light makes the characters seem important and the fact that we are able to see them properly means that they have some kind of significant role in the series. If they were shown in the dark with low-key lighting, this would represent the characters as villains in terms of the film as they would look more mysterious. This would therefore confused the audience and would not be a very effective scene.

The trailer for season 13 CSI is very intense in terms of the way that the editing has been put into place. The form of editing for the trailer is in montage form in order to show different clips from various scenes in the series. It's also in montage form in order to show whats going to be shown (whats to be expected) throughout the series so that new audiences and viewers know what CSI is all about. The task for our coursework is to produce an opening 2 minutes of the first ever episode of a series. This therefore means that we will not be producing this in montage form. However, despite the fact that we will not be using this factor of these Tv dramas, we can still use the concepts and typical conventions of the genre of Tv drama which we are creating. In terms of CSI, there is a lot of action used to attract its target audience. 

The location (setting); in terms of the mise en scene used; follows the typical conventions of a crime drama as  it involves some sort of detective agency as they are at some kind of police station. This therefore means that crime is taking place and that the point of view which we will see could be from the protagonist(s). Another factor of mise en scene which is used in the trailer is the actors expressions and movements. For example, 28 seconds into the trailer a guy is holding a gun to another. By the situation as well as the actors expression, you can tell that the one who has the gun to him is the villain or antagonist; in terms of the series. Also, the fact that he's not too shocked or scared of the fact that there's a gun to him implies that hes the villain as he knows the protagonist legally cannot shoot him. 

The other factor of CSI which creates the mood of the genre ( crime drama series) is the on screen text which appears in between cuts/scenes. The text used consists of "ITS NOT JUST A CASE... ITS NOT JUST A CRIME... ITS PERSONAL". This intends to the audience that there's more to the story-line than just the crime. Also, the fact that the on screen text is bold and in capital letters emphasizes the words that little bit more which makes the seem important to the viewers. 

The poster for CSI is predominantly dark in terms of the colours which are used for the design. The main colours consist of black, white and dark blue. These colours portray a crime drama sort of series that involves a lot of action. The minimalist design does not give too much away with what the story-line may be however, the fact that there is a person placed in the center of the poster (in front of the other characters) connotes that he may be the protagonist in the series. It follows the conventions of a typical crime drama series due to the openness of the poster, not giving too much away as well as using the minimalist design to portray a sense of mystery. 

In terms of our production, are idea is to use a non-linear style narrative. The film will begin with the ending and rewind back to the start therefore showing how the situation occurred. This would be the selling point of our urban crime drama as this will make it unique in comparison to the other urban crime drama productions available. In order for it to follow the conventions of a crime drama, we will have to take into consideration a few different, successful crime drama series. Also, in order for it to have a bit of an urban vibe, it'd be good if we were to take in consideration films such as Adulthood, Kidulthood and even Ill Manors as these involve the gritty crime which takes place in some areas that can relate to our production. 

Preliminary Exercise Evaluation

Preliminary Exercise Evaluation

The brief for our preliminary exercise was to create the first 30 seconds of a film opening. The first 30 seconds had to include a person walking through a corridor and opening a door. Once entered the room, there had to be an exchange of dialogue before the clip ended. We also had to use an over the shoulder shot when exchanging the dialogue, whilst keeping the 180 degree rule in mind. Our first thought; on the preliminary exercise; was that we needed to start off with a genre before deciding the setting and the dialogue which would be exchanged. We had a group consisting of four members including myself: Hargio; Vinisha and Samuel. We also pitched an idea based on the genre of what we think the preliminary exercise should be. In the end, we decided to do a romantic drama scene as it would appeal to the 15-35 demographic audience and it was unique in terms of our class as no other group were doing this genre for their preliminary exercise.

Once coming up with the genre, we figured out the dialogue which was going to take place and from there drew up a storyboard which included all of the different shots which we were going to use, the narrative of the film, the actions which we were to do and the dialogue which was to be said. Also, the length of each shot/cut was included so that we knew how long the film was roughly going to take up so that if it was under 30 seconds, we could tweet it slightly to fill the entire duration. The shot list; which we made whilst drawing up the storyboard; helped a lot in terms of the production side of the film as we were able to efficiently film the scene with the shots which we needed before shooting other angles for more engaging views; to create suspense.

A shot which I like is when the rose is being dropped by the protagonist as the shot is so meaningful. There’s no dialogue however, the connotation of a red rose being dropped suggests broken heartedness and even though the audience does not specifically know what’s happened, they are able to work it out due to these enigma codes.

In terms of the pre-production side of things, I’d have liked to create some more detailed storyboards, in order to show the idea’s and processes which went through our minds whilst preparing to film. I also think that next time we need to have a much larger shot list in order to ensure that we have a variation of shots from long shots to close ups as a different type of shot can portray a scene differently to another. This will therefore have a different impact on the viewing audience. Another factor which I’ll take into consideration when making the real production would be choosing an appropriate setting. Costa was a decent setting for a romantic drama however, I felt that the fact that it wasn't a proper Costa coffee shop, it lost a lot of realism as it looked as if it were a normal table with food (canteen).

Overall I think we did a somewhat decent job of the preliminary exercise however there were a lot of things which I would like to do differently in the future in order to make the film better. Looking back at the film, it was okay after the production and editing. Some of the strengths of the film were that the cuts were on time, the continuity editing was good and the film seemed to flow quite well. Also, the extreme close ups used; such as the close up on the eye; really portrayed emotion which was as intentioned however despite this, it broke the 180 degree rule as the shot reverse shot for the dialogue was on the right side of the actor but when the close up appeared it was on the left eye. This therefore made the film seem as if the person has got up and switched sides. Along with this, there was a lot of background noise as well as unwanted people in the background; such as cleaners. The background noise was quite annoying as this overpowered the sound and made the dialogue pretty hard to hear. When creating the final production for the media coursework, I’m going to take the factors listed above into consideration in order to ensure that it’s even better than what we produced for the preliminary exercise. Overall I think we did a somewhat decent job of the preliminary exercise however there were a lot of things which I would like to do differently in the future in order to make the film better. 

Ill Manors

The artist (rapper) Plan B released an album know as "Ill Manors" in April 2011. Earlier this year; along with this album; a film was also made which portrays the lives of different characters living in council estate flats. The film is written and directed by Ben Drew; also known as Plan B; and is set in Forest Gate(London). The film Ill Manors is a Multi-character based story and follows 8 main characters. The film follows their lives and the fact that they fight for survival and respect where they've grown up. Each of the separate main characters lives are linked in some way and each of their stories are represented by a different song by Plan B and Al Shux.

The film "Ill Manors" cost £100,000 to produce and made £453, 570 from box office alone. In order for Plan B to raise the funds for post-production, he went on tour in 2010 and 2011 performing "The Defamation of Strickland Banks Tour". The rights to Ill Manors were sold to Revolver Entertainment in April 2011. The Studios producing the film "Ill Manors" were Film London Microwave, BBC Films and Aimimage.

The record labels for the sound track "Ill Manors" are 679 and Atlantic Records which are quite big record labels; especially Atlantic Records therefore showing how big of a hit it must of been.

"The Ill Manors project – a movie and soundtrack album – was trailed by the phenomenal, Shostakovich-sampling title track, and its mind-blowing video. "Ill Manors" flipped hug-a-hoodie logic around 180 degrees, its message: "you're RIGHT to fear the poor; here's WHY...". A thrilling response to the riots, it was an icicle down the spine, menacing George Osborne & co from across the street." This is a sample from the review of the newspaper The Independent and their response in correlation to the music video.


Media forms:
In the music video for "Ill Manors" the media forms used are there and input in order to engage the audience in the song and furthermore, into watching the film. The types of shots used such as long shots were used in the music video in order for the audience to see the background and allow them to notice the setting which the characters are in. This therefore hints and gives away the setting based around the film "Ill Manors" and draws in the teenage demographic due to the fact that the scenes in the background involve a lot of violence. The editing used in the music video is fast paced which shows a lot more and emphasizes the violence which appeals to it's audience. Also, the pace of editing follows the stereotypical/ usual music video therefore appealing to it's target audience. The Lyrics in the rap songs challenge stereotypical views and opinions which results in a controversial debate on whether or not these views are correct or just plain biast.

Media representations:
The representations of the music video and the lyrics portrays a dominant ideology in terms of what people think of council estate kids. The lyrics challenge these interpretations and tells people that not all kids who live on council estates are violent criminals that don't have a heart, nor brain. By challenging these dominant opinions, this forces people listening to think about their own views on the matter and reinforces the ideas which people have.

Media institutions:
The music video has a counter-hegemonic approach in terms of poor people and states that poor people; who live on council estates; should be listened to more instead of just being pushed to one side and ignored. Plan B produced the music video in order to create tension between two types of people, the upper-class (usually in categories A and B) and the working class citizens (usually in classes D and E) and challenges both of the classes stereotypical ideologies in order to protest against the government. The song is a protest song which allows council estate livers voices to be heard. The song states that if people are afraid of council estate kids with hoodie and that they are all as violent as each other, then why don't we continue to scare you until you listen.

Media audiences:
The demographic class audience which this is aimed at is the class groups D and E as they are the working class people who don't have very many skill and agree with what the song is saying. They want to be heard and want their opinions to matter. The psychographics groups which it's aimed at is the strugglers  reformers and explorers to a certain extent. The stugglers would be attracted to a song like this as it shows their lives and emphasizes what they don't have compared to others.