BBFC Age rating, Right or Wrong?

What is the BBFC?
The BBFC, or the British board of film classification, is the company that decides what age rating, any film or TV show, is given.
Their goal is to be 'helping children and families choose well by providing them with the guidance they need to help them choose what’s right for them and avoid what’s not.' 


For more information, they talk about it on their BBFC website and their main staff.




This is England - 18+ 

This is England, a classic Warp film, directed by the auteur director Shane Meadows, received an 18+ age rating from the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). This upset Meadows as not only could the main protagonist not see the film because he was under age, but because the movie was for a primary audience at the ages of 15 - 17, completely killing the message and the preferred reading when the film was released. 

An Image of the reasoning stated on the BBFC website as to why This is England received an 18+ 

This caused a massive outrage from several parties, to the point that even The Guardian added their part to the argument. 

The Guardian article about the argument

On one hand it absolutely kills the target audience of the film, stopping the message it has, get to the people the message was meant for. The film is a film about TEENS trying to find their way and end up going down a dark road, but just like Shaun, people can change the way their heading, and it doesn't matter how far you are down a road. 
So, when that audience is taken away, the reading changes and an audience 18+ will, most likely, be unable to access the preferred reading of the film. 

In an interview with Meadows, he stated this: 
"It's like I've somehow overachieved. By having one piece of violence and one piece of really acute verbal violence I've managed to get an 18 certificate, whereas someone else can slay thousands of people in a single film and that's OK. To be honest I don't understand it because, yes, the film is affecting but I think it's something that someone of 15 can cope with. It's not like it's a film about the 80s that has no value; it's incredibly relevant politically. It's as much about Iraq as it is about the Falklands. It's as much as about England in 2007 as it is about England in 1983."1

This helps show just how important an age rating is, towards a piece of film. It also illustrates how important it is to appeal to a primary audience and, in this scenario, a secondary audience. I think this is a great example to keep in mind in our film opening, as a reminder to keep to the guidelines of the age rating for our primary audience.   


 1Meadows, S (April, 2007 ) At The Guardian, available from https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2007/apr/23/an18forthisisenglandthis (13/12/2019)  


Sweet Sixteen - 18+ 

On the other hand, it can be argued that the BBFC are just following guidelines they have followed.
Further on in the reasoning the BBFC provided as to why This is England received the rating, they state another example

The last line of the explanation of the This is England BBFC explanation 

Sweet Sixteen is a 2002 drama film directed by Ken Loach. Set in Scotland, the film tells the story of a teenage boy from a troubled background, Liam, who dreams of starting afresh with his mother as soon as she has completed her prison term. Liam's attempts to raise money for the two of them are set against the backdrop of the Inverclyde towns of Greenock, Port Glasgow and the coast at Gourock.

The film is often shown with subtitles because, as with many of Loach's films, the dialogue is extensively in a local dialect, in this case the Inverclyde variant of Glaswegian (itself a mix of Scottish English and Scots with Irish and Highland influences). 

Credits to Wikipedia - Sweet Sixteen ( Planning to be updated at a later point) 

In the explanation the BBFC provided about the decision of Sweet Sixteen 's age rating, they provide a very clear reason as to why it was given and equally, if they follow the same guidelines, for This is England.

BBFC's age rating choice for Sweet Sixteen


Now if the BBFC use these guidelines for all films shown in Britain, then it's understandable that This is England got the rating it did, as not only was the language similar to that above, but then it also uses several racial slurs, and it's reasonable for them not to encourage this type of language.

The Worlds End - 15+ 

Goes the other way, even though strong langauge is used :
https://bbfc.co.uk/releases/worlds-end-film
(Going to be Updated later on) 

Denotation and Connotation

In preparation for mock exams, I wanted to look into the base analysis of any media and how to answer the exam question.

The meaning:

DENOTATION -
Denotation is the first level of analysis, referring to what an audience can literally see. This may be as simple as 'there was a red rose on the wood desk' but it is analysing the frame of a clip and what is completely visible to a viewer.
It is important that it may not only be sight, but that it could be an auditory denotation, as in, the sounds an audience may hear, but the point is still that no further analysis of a symbolic link to the literal description of the sound ( or visual, point is the same )

CONNOTATION -
Connotation is the second level of analysis, this is then where further analysis, past the literal meaning, is drawn. After the denotation of a clip, the analysis then falls to the symbolism of the clip, and broken even further down, the symbolism of an object or part of the clip. This becomes more complex as it is no longer an objective analysis of the clip. An example may be 'the red rose symbolises love and passion' or depending on the genre 'death and blood'

Connotation is the follow up to the denotation and they compliment each other in that regard.

Examples:
To help illustrate the point, here are some examples.
Denotation will be highlighted - denotation
Connotation will be highlighted - connotation
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Analysis-

You can denote an energy drink, specifically a normal can of red bull. The character this belongs to is likely young as energy drinks symbolise youth, however it also connotes that the character is not the smartest, and is probably a dumber character overall

The Bechdel Test

The Bechdel test is a way to analyse a film to find female presence, and how developed those characters are.
It was originally created by Allison Bechdel in her comic Dykes to Watch Out for in 1985.
To prevent any bad explanation here is a video about it:
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Film opening, group and idea changes

Recently myself and Spikey films asked to join Scope films and Trihard prodcutions in creating the film opening, as their third member disbanded from the group, allowing the four of us to work together (As the max for one group is a four). Both of them generously accepted and it is now the main group we are in moving forward.
From this we decided that we wanted to stick with their idea as it is much more developed and has a lot more potential.
This is a video of the discussion we had as a group.
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Credits to Spikey films filming and uploading this clip.

A Wipe, in media terms

A wipe is a type of transition on screen, it moves through shots by pushing one shot out by another. This creates a smooth flow of shots that can be used as establishing shots for the opening of a film.
The example that I would draw inspiration from is in Shaun of the dead
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After the conversation with the main protagonist, the film continues to give more detail as to the location and social standard of the film using a series of shots that wipe from one to the next.

Pre-production points

Characters:

• Main protagonist - Danny Romero - Intertextualising genre directors (Danny Boyle, George A Romero)
• Love interest - Mia Jones
• Best friend - Fred East - intertextualises Fred West, a serial killer
• 3 to 4 zombies 

Extraneous points: 

• Cornetto trilogy + Shaun of the dead - Cornetto ice cream, like in Shaun of the dead
• Shallow focus (zombie eating body from far away)
• decaying title
• slow zombie movement type, unlike 28 days later

DDC: Digitisation, Disruption and Convergence

Digitisation

The ongoing but advanced process of moving from analogue (eg VHS) to digital production, distribution and exchange, which has reduced costs and time, which led to convergence and disruption

 

Disruption

Radical changes to the established methods of distribution, often leading to new competitors arising

Convergence

 The reducing gap between professional and amateur/consumer/prosumer level equipment; the shrinking distinction between audience and producers as old top-down approaches and passive audiences are replaced by active audiences (web 2.0) and a dynamic two-way flow (UGC); the blurring of once clear divides between media industries - film and TV are notable, and think about how both now extend across web and smart devices too, plus VR

 

E.G

Film4 and the BBC are UK TV channels/producers with limited funds for film production. Where Amazon and Netflix spend billions worldwide, and over $100m just in the UK, the combined TV/film budget of all traditional UK TV channels (and their film wings) is far less than Netflix's UK spend alone. They pay upfront for rights to low budget films like Warp's output. This, combined with non-repayable grants from the likes of the UK Film Council(today that is the BFI) and its regional wings like EM Media and Screen Yorkshire(using government and National Lottery funding), or EU funds. These grants ensure cultural diversity in film production, which would be impossible on raw commercial terms.

Film opening analysis of About a Boy

- Fade up

- Audio bridge to first scene

- Diegetic sound from TV 

- Bird's eye view

- Tracking shot

- Protagonist - proppian archetypes

- Rule of thirds

- Narrative enigma - not showing protagonist's face

- Intertextual reference to 'Who wants to be a millionaire'

- Camera movement and zooming, connotes tension

- Anchored tension with tense music from tv show

- His answer to the show foreshadows events - In addition he is most likely to relate to Jon Bon Jovi character, connoting comedic genre 

- Voice over - inner monologue

- Non-diegetic sound - guitar strings

- Red Bull signifies youth, not very smart

- Tea cup with saucer juxtaposes with the Red Bull because it signifies older age and sophistication

- Cigarettes - negative connotations - complex preferred reading

- Campbell's hero's journey/monomyth - all narratives center on journey and progression of protagonist

- Big book - intelligence, sophistication

- Lower case bubble font block white - connoting comedic genre

- Navy blue slacks, gry blue crew neck jumper, blue shirt, grey blue monochromatic mise-en-scene - conservative guy

- Large collection of books and LPs, electric guitar, speakers - rebellious, again connotes complex preferred reading

Theme 2: Titles

THE RAW NUMBER
- Around 4 titles appear at the beginning of the film

- The time titles last can be often as long as 4 minutes or as short as 20 seconds

THE SPECIFIC WORDING + ORDER
- When a title refers to a company, it will present that company with 'In association with Company X' or 'Company X presents'

- When presenting the director, the wording is usually 'A film directed by Director X', however if the director is an auteur the wording is 'A Director X film'

- Actors are often listed using ' Introducing' however if the film is a star waggon 'starring' or 'featuring' is more common

- Films often go company, director, then actors however this changes depending on several factors. An example is if the director is an auteur, their title is more often first. This is a similar circumstance to films that are star waggons.

DESIGN
- The style of the titles usually is based around the genre, similar to points like the title colour and font.

- Serif fonts are often used in genres such as romance, drama, social realist, horror, slasher and thriller. Serif fonts tend to signify a more serious film. Where as fonts that are Sans serif are used for genres like action and comedy, as they can be impactful or simple

- Depending on the importance of the title, such as a 'starring' title, or an auteur title, the font size will be bigger and tend to stand out more.

- Whether the title is uppercase or not depends, as it can be used to bring focus to the title, however it doesn't fit with some genres such as Romance

- The colour of the title is most commonly white, as it can be used with most genres if not all, in combination with the font. It also allows important titles like star or auteur to be further highlighted by having them on a black background ( a common background )

FX, ANIMATION
- Non-diegetic titles are titles that are added post production and often move through the scene all though don't effect, just look cool. An example of this is in Zombieland

- Equally there are also diegetic titles that are in the scene that actors could touch or see in real time.

- Often titles just fade out, however different title transitions are also based around genre, so that they fit better with the film.
 

THEORY Postmodernism, Deconstructionism, Intertextuality, and Simulacra

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Postmodernism.

Postmodernism argues that all 'isms' (E.G capitalism, communism) are meaningless because these meta-narratives can no longer explain how the world run. However it is extremely self contradicting because Postmodernism is an ism!
The concept of postmodernism refuses definition to some extent, but Dominic Strinati outlined 5 key characteristics that help break it down:

1. Breakdown of the distinction between culture and society
2. An emphasis on style over substance
3. Breakdown of the distinction between high art and popular culture
4. Confusions over time and space
5. Decline of metanarratives ['grand theories such as Marxism, Christianity and ... modernism have lost their use for current societies']

Deconstructionism.

This refers to the use of existing convention for ironic purpose, in a knowing way, and the audience is assumed to be in on irony.

A perfect example of this is in the movie Scream, the Matthew Lillard character decides to get more drinks and as he is leaving he dramatically calls out "I'll be right back", a reference to the classic horror convention that denotes a character will be killed.  The other teens at the party respond with the knowledge of this old trope, all of this happens whilst in a scene where they're watching Halloween.  Craven is deliberately making fun, or attacking the genre he played a role in creating 1972's The Last House on the Left.
This occurs in all media, the Depeche Mode video is a classic example, breaking down the band's poor tawdry image and the male gaze.

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Intertextuality

A simple but important concept that originated from Kristeva. It refers to the idea that, for an audience to access the preferred reading (Stuart Hall) they must have knowledge of a secondary text, which is usually a older text that is referenced in a newer text. This is most easily seen through TV shows such as the Simpsons as they are built around the very concept, but there is a very strong presence of this idea in the slasher genre. This is why John Carpenter cast the daughter of the 1960 scream queen, as his final girl. It helps gain publicity.

Simulacra

Scary movie best represents the ideas above. It takes intertextuality to a new level with little details like how Screams working title was scary movie, and the film is a comedic remake. It very clearly, and quite literally, shows the conventions (eg the Carmen Electra scream queen sees a sign giving the options for either death or safety... and runs up the stairs where the death sign points to, as the dumb scream queens tend to).
These movies have been analysed in detail, especially as far as gender representations. Baudrillard might argue that this leads nowhere as there is no ultimate meaning behind an endless limits of signifiers; Scary Movie is an expression of many existing ideas or signifiers, which cannot be tracked back to any concrete 'true reality' or meaning. 

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References
DB (2011) Theoretical evaluation of production post on blogger [online] Available from http://prodeval.blogspot.com/2011/04/postmodernism.html [17/11/19]
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TITLES scream main title

Sounds
- High pitched female scream
Very stereotypical in slashers, helping create suspense but also helping to anchor a preferred reading
- Heart rate speeding up
Helps create suspension and build up fear throughout the trailer
- Phone ringing
Again helps to create suspension, and the ring sound the phone makes is very average which helps anchor the slasher genre
- Crash sound effect
Not only helps build tension to the literal breaking point but also serves as an audio distraction so that the viewers are distracted by the sound so its harder to focus on what just showed creating sense of mystery
-Wolf howl
A stereotype to the slasher and horror genre, again anchoring the preferred reading
- Knife slashing sounds
Another stereotype to the slasher and horror genre. Could be an intertextual reference to past slasher classics
- Gunshot
Again not only helps build tension to the literal breaking point but also serves as an audio distraction
- Violin
Massive effect on the tension, and an intertextual reference to Psycho
- Audio Bridge
Helps keep the audience engaged

Ident 
- Blue tint
Intertextual reference to Halloween opening
- Sans serif font
Commonly used in slashers as its very bold matching music
-Black background
Use of dark colours with a black background helps anchor preferred reading

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(Scream trailer)
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Updated Film Opening Pitch

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'Sleep well' pitch (1) from LouisHodges3

Changes looking to be made:

- Addition of a postmodernism element

- Changing newspaper to new broadcast

Credits to: Spikey Films

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THEME 1: Idents, Companies, Production Context

WHAT ARE IDENTS?

-Idents show the main companies involved with a movie's creation and production, This could include any of the big 5 (Sony, Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros etc) or another well known example of Disney's castle

-idents are at the beginning of a film, for both publicity and to help show the genre of the film

-Each ident usually has an average time of 6-7 seconds, adding a total of around 20-30 seconds at the beginning of the film

-Often an ident has a simple style for easy viewing and can help easily anchor a preferred reading  

-It is common to see 2-4 idents at the beginning of a film

-An outlier is often seen in indie movies as the commonly have no idents at all

-When the conglomerate is larger, they will have more screen time for their idents (Big 5). A larger conglomerate also rarely uses audio bridges, as they are not trying to produce art, but instead money, making it cheaper.

Examples of Idents

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(Warner Brothers Ident)
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(Paramount pictures Ident)
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(Summit entertainment Ident)
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(Disney Ident)
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Film Opening Pitch 1

Genre
- psychological thriller
I picked psychological thriller to allow for more experiments trying to build up tension and how to get the audience on the edge of theirs seats

Characters
- Josh a 40 year old male with black hair and a masculine face with no facial hair, average high and in good shape
- Jaziah a 20 year old male with blond hair with a young face no facial hair, slightly under average and in good shape

Base idea 
- Working Title 'Two bullets in the chamber' 
Main character 'josh' ex marine commander dealing with form of PTSD, Josh's job revolved around keeping everyone in sync but then also having to deal with the dark sides of the military E.G( wife beating, suicide, homicide, other traumatising experiences and ect..) but he blames himself for some of the examples above as he sees his troops as family and to him these acts are his fault.

Conventions 
- POV shots
- Flashbacks
- set/costume design
- mis en scene
- screen colouring

Pitch
The synopsis is that we see Josh in a plain room, and we immediately see him having a nightmare and then it cuts to a flash back of him in the military. Soon after that we see that he is struggling mentally because we see conflict in his mind of wether his friend shot himself or he shot his friend, now the means that there is a question to be asked 'did he actually or is it him blaming himself'. finally after the gunshot Josh shoots up and moves around his room, until he takes a gun from his desk and leaves the room

MORE DETAIL
- Opens to a grey apartment room ( similar to the newest version of Sherlock Holmes ) and josh is in bed, visibly having a nightmare, the camera will slowly pan onto his face. Once Josh's face is centre  screen a flash back to him and one of his marine friends talking on training grounds and then another quick cut to his face and then into Josh's friend in a black room in a chair with a gun to his head, another quick cut and then cut back and in a flash josh now holds the gun against his friends head. This scene builds up until a gun shot is heard with a pitch black screen, until finally it cuts back to josh shooting up on his bed at the middle of the night, then the scene continues with Josh going to his desk picking up his belongings until he picks up a gun and leaves, the door shut is where the opening should finish.

Signifiers
- plain apartment room ( working class)
- military costume + background training ground (ex marine)
- gun in desk ( ex marine )
- crushed beer can on the floor ( problems / alcoholic )
- masculine strong male shows protagonist

Challenges and Opportunities  
- Creating the tension of the gunshot will be hard to build up
- trying to get access to a military training ground could be hard
- getting the timing right with each shot
- making the signifiers key to understand so that the preferred reading is anchored
- Lots of potential for shot types 
- lots of media language potential for use when having to use it in exam.
- very easy to anchor the preferred reading
- Good practice for improving cinematography skills


Inspirations 
- Sherlock Holmes
-Alien
-Dead man waling
-Dead man's shoes
-This is England

Semiotics rap

Semiotics rap

Connotations and connote 

Like a sailing boat

Now your thinking of a captain 

With a big hat that’s 10/10 

That’s symbolic like a three shot

It connotes scenarios, like a lot 

An example is a love triangle 

Or if it was horror there’d be a Dutch angle 

The next word is denote 

That’s the textual detail in a goat 

Well that’s an example but what you should project 

Is To describe the detail of an object 

It’s not about symbolism, unlike a baptism 

It’s about what happens not what you think about them 

It’s a bit like this rap 

You shouldn’t think about it you should just clap 

Now we come to narrative enigma 

Could show the presence of ligma 

Okay now all jokes aside 

It’s how the director makes a hidden side 

This could be like a high angle 

To show a character is week and might get strangled 

It’s all about the suggested info

How a character might feel low 

Up next is detail that is intertextual 

Like Rick and Morty being intellectual

It’s about understanding references 

It helps appeal to target audiences 

An example would be the simpsons 

The amount of references, theres tons 

Without the intertextual knowledge 

The show would be as funny as a dying hedge. 

That’s the end of my rap of semiotics 

Before someone needs antibiotics 

I hope I got all of this right 

Otherwise my media grades arnt in sight.

SEMIOTICS applied to Warp film posters

THIS IS ENGLAND

This is England immediately signifies that its is a social realist production based in England. This is anchored by the title being the colour of the union jack.

Either side of the poster, two buildings are framed either side signifying working class characters. This is further anchored by the urban decay on the fence/ font. All males in the poster are skinheads which anchors working class

'A film by Shane Meadows' denotes the auteur film theory. 
Wide long shot denotes ensemble cast, Not a star vehicle. It also signifies a community relationship

The film is based in the 1980's, however nothing signifies that so it is polysemic .







DEAD MAN'S SHOES


The use of bubble font usually signifies comedy however in Dead Man's Shoes the polysemic is immediately anchored by the reviews.
This is also anchored by the axe as it signifies violence.


The framing of the main character on screen, being a dutch angle and low angle suggest that there is something very wrong about the character.

The red background and font signifies blood and also anchors the idea of this movie being a horror







TYRANNOSAUR

Rule of thirds, centrally framed connoting this man as the protagonist 

However, prop, lighting, mise-en-scene etc connote he could be the antagonist

Own binary opposition - creating narrative enigma 

Serif font signifying a drama genre Wrinkles - older man - older audience

Skin head, vest top - working class

Terraced houses on edge of poster - working class

High key lighting on only one side - reflects his two different personalities - drama

THEORY the auteur theory

-The auteur film theory is related to a director with a distinct style E.G( Quentin Tarantino).

-It covers social issues looking at film as an art form instead of a money making device. 

-It assumes the director is THE creator of the film taking away credit to writers, producers and editors. 

RICHARD CURTIS, A COUNTER EXAMPLE?   

A film director, writer and producer for films who focus on the comedic relief in romcoms instead of focusing on social issues and important topics, and does the opposite by disguising those topics to the general audience. However is very successful commercially, and he has very distinct writing in a film  

Is Richard Curtis an auteur, is a complicated question because he fits the description of having a distinct style with the films he makes. However he doesn't fit the point that an auteur portrays social issues and topics. The next point is that he works mainly on romcoms, which is a female based film and arguably, just like soap operas, woman's magazines are generally seen as trashy.

SHANE MEADOWS 

Shane Meadows is a film director, as well as a writer and actor, and finally also a producer. He often focuses on social realist movies, working with smaller indy companies, mainly Warp Films, to create cinematography that focuses on social issues, unlike the usual romcom seen in cinemas. Shane Meadows has a very distinct style in his film making with key points such as a working class protagonist with complex motives, along with his default social realist genre.

Meadows is a classic example of an auteur director as he hits every key characteristic. Firstly all of his films make a social statement, often about the working class, juxtaposing the common stereotype of working class characters in conglomerate film media, where the character is often the dumbest character, Meadows gives the character a complex meaning (an example being Dead Man's Shoes). This is again reinforced by his choice of social realist movies. Almost all of his films have won cinematography awards as well as good reviews, because of the film being a piece of art.

Finally in the beginning of This is England, during the title sequence, the title 'a SHANE MEADOWS film' is shown, which is a trait-mark of an auteur director, as it gives the director credit for the film, instead of equal credit to also the writers, producers and editors

It also highlights the name, as the font is bigger, once again suggesting that this is the biggest contribute to the creation of the film   

- low budget films

- talks about social issues

- complex working class protagonist characters

- clear style to his films

- not big in box office

- film in the form of art 

- social realism main style

- hybrid with some films like social realist and psychological thriller

Quentin Tarantino, a classic auteur

Tarantino’s common choice of themes and his use of mis en scene show his distinctive style. In almost all of his films he writes the film, and is usually involved in the production of his films as well. 
Tarantino also focuses on social issues as he often portrays the reality of social structures in his films, often having the protagonist as the underdog, and then appear strong and willing to take revenge on the antagonist of the film.
Therefore, Tarantino is a classic auteur as, similar to Meadows, he has all the characteristics of an auteur director in his films.

Following exactly the same logic as with Shane Meadows, we can denote a title that contrasts to the background as it is yellow on black,
with a directors name in a larger font, center screen

The contrast of colour suggests importance, as well as the font size difference, highlighting the name of the director. As well as this, we can connote, using the rule of thirds, that this title is of importance.

'A film by' again gives all credit to the director

ML Basic media language – shot types, angles

Shot types

-E.C.U
An Extreme close up shot, if on a person, often has the bottom of the nose and top of the forehead in central frame, anymore becomes a close up shot. An e.c.u connotes to an emotion and helps anchor the preferred reading.

An example is in X men, helping to show the hate magneto has towards wolverine

-C.U
A close up shot, usually doesn't go below the shoulder, and doesn't go above the hair. Close up shots are used to show a facial expression, helping reveal a protagonist. Close ups are often paired with a shallow field of focus as to connote that the focus and importance is on the closer character.

An example is in The Shining when Jack axes through the door, the close up connotes to his insanity and how he changed over the course of the film.






-M.C.U
A medium close up, reveals more of the background as the frame goes slightly above the characters head and goes slight lower then the shoulders. It helps show a characters focus, location and gives some mes en scene as you can see hair and clothes in context.

In this shot we can see a woman in a forrest. We can connote, from the denotation of the light colours, earrings, lipstick and hair style, that the woman is most likely upper class

-M.S
Medium shots are often used to reveal a protagonist or an antagonist, with the frame slightly above the characters head, but slightly higher then the waist.

In pulp fiction, these two characters are the protagonists and very much alike. However if you weren't aware of this its very easy to tell based off of their outfits, guns and facial expressions 

-M.L.S

-L.S
-2 Shot
-Group Shot/ 3 Shot
-High Angle
-Low Angle
-Worms Eye
-Birds eye
-OTS
-Dutch Angle
-Match on Action shot

SOURCES2 Useful blogs + 1st links lists!

USEFUL BLOGS and LINKS LIST

Over the duration of AS course I am going to be constantly looking for inspiration in other blogs, this is a list of some of the websites I go to for facts or references, and some of the blogs used for ideas. As we get further into the course this list will get longer.

BLOGS
'British' Cinema blog-
One of my teachers useful blogs, but I look at it as a reference to how posts should be written and  the layout out of posts. This is also helpful as it allows me to find terminology I have not yet come across, and expectations of content we might cover in the course


Scope productions blog-
One of my classmates blog, I use it to get a understanding of the level of work needed in the class, as well as knowing where to catch up from the missing knowledge of GCSE course that she took and I did not.



TriHard productions blog-
Another one of my classmates blog, I use it to get a understanding of work needed in the class, as well as knowing where to catch up from the missing knowledge of GCSE course that he took and I did not.

WEBSITE LINKS

These are all websites that I use to check different numbers for things like box office reviews or profits movies made. Between these four websites it covers pretty much every movie

-The Gaurdain

-rottentomatoes

-boxofficemojo

-the-numbers

SOURCES1 Playlist of films I’ve researched

 Movies I've Researched




-Airplane

Movies I have watched!

SOURCES1 Playlist of films I’ve researched




➭Airplane - As my favourite film, I thought it would be a good area to start as far as research into films. It was a top of the charts film at its time, and uses a series of media techniques 

➭Star wars - As a franchise that has spanned for decades, it would make sense that the techniques in the film provide as a good area of research based off of the popularity of the movies

➭Ferris buellers day off- After watching feris's day off it is obvious for people that don't know media terminology, that there are several different cuts to different shots

➭Indiana Jones, raiders of the lost ark- Another classic film, but instead based off of mystery and adventure, I thought its would be interesting to explore further into what makes this such a big hit

➭Terminator - Adding to the classics but another sci-fi, I would like to go further into why a sci-fi film such as star wars blows up, but films like the terminator don't get close to the same level of fame

➭Wayne's world- Another classic but not like any others on the list yet, it takes a much more comedic look at two small town radio producers, and what happens when they go big. It appears that it plays on people's wanting for success all while staying comedic for a good laugh

➭Alien- Top horror film of its time, an alien species of the future terrorises the crew of a space ship, using fast cuts and close up shots to portray the fear of the characters, and putting the audience through the same amount of terror

➭Predator- Predator  takes a look at what it would be like if humans were hunted like they hunt animals, adding another species to the top of the food chain. The movie uses a lot of ELSs to show how small the group of humans are in the wilderness ( symbolises how small they can be on the food chain)

➭titanic - A classic love story, and although I never enjoyed this movie myself, many did so I thought it was important to look into how shot types can be used to show a relationship in a movie ( shots like 2 person shots and others)

➭avatar- One of the highest earning movies on the planet, but not one of the most liked. It made me question how effective can marketing be in selling your movie to an audience and what role in plays in the media industry, I am excited to go further into it

➭Them- A not so known classic of its time, Them is a movie that is chessy yet somewhat terrifying as massive ants try to take over the planet. While yes it is a chessy movie which always adds to the comedic side of things, the variety of shot types used in the film made it one of the biggest horrors of its time

➭Birdemic -  A terrible film, Bad CGI, acting, cuts, advertisement, and much more. It will be interesting to compare this to the better films in the list.