Learner Response

Question 1:

The institution take an original and positive approach to road safety advertising through the institution using a positive slogan. The slogan in which this institution uses is "embrace life" which is a positive slogan in which has been displayed at the end of the advert. This would be effective towards the viewers as through watching an emotional advert it makes them think about life and how they should embrace it. More importantly, the slogan is completely different to existing road safety campaigns that show people dying or seriously injured in graphic car accidents. Slogans such as 'Think!' are quite aggressive and order the audience to do something. 'Embrace life' has a much softer, more positive feel that appeals to the audience's love of their family rather than fear of death.

Furthermore, the use of family values being promoted in the advertisement portrays family as being life savers. we see this through the few scenes that have been shown where the little girl and the husbands wife both strap on to the husband and save his life. This yet could mean that advert could be trying to say you should embrace your family as well, family is important. One of the original ideas that the institution use is that in most adverts there is an actual seatbelt present. However, not in this advert as it has an original, different idea as they've used the family members as one.

The institution also uses effective techniques which are slow motion shots where we get to see exactly what happens in the accident. This is different to other road safety adverts as they happen too fast emphasising how fast everything could happen within a blink of an eye. This makes the video footage seem more beautiful to watch for the viewers compared to the other frightful adverts which makes us as the audience want to not witness the accident.

Finally, this advert takes an original approach to road safety advertising through the use of physical theatre where the husband acts out the accident whilst the other two family members act as the seat belt saving the father's life. Whereas, other adverts have real life cars and motorbikes to show the accidents that happen and in most of the adverts someone dies or are injured. This is usually shown quite graphically to shock the viewer. In this advertisement, the institution finds a better way of communicating to the audience that seatbelts save lives, not of just their own but of others.

Ill Manors Film Review

Review:

The movie Ill Manors is a low budged film in which had a tight amount of £100,000 to spend on to film the whole movie. In the end the movie came out a success as it won 2 awards for best cinematography, and Coup De Coeur award.  This was due to the hard work of the director Ben (Plan B) and also the actors along with the whole rest of the team who worked hard to produce an award winning film.

The director of the film “Ill Manors” is Ben Drew also known as “Plan B”. The director has not had any previous experience of directing meaning that everything would have been new to him. This would have meant that he may have needed some help as not only was it his first film that he was directing, but he also had a very low budged for the film making. This would have meant he could not have very expensive equipment or so. However, the director Ben is also a rapper which mean that he has seen things been done before behind the cameras from past music videos produced for his music. This may have come across as crazy as making a movie is hard work, in the interview where Ben talks about the film the director mentions how people said he wasn't going to do it. This meant he had a lot of doubts where people doubted the fact that he was going to make a successful film. Personally I think that Ben the director has proved the people who had doubted him were wrong as the film came out a success in Britain, winning two awards and getting nominated 4 times.

The actors used in the film were not well known, even though they played in a few movies in the past. Some of the actors were: Riz Ahmed, Ed Skrein, Natalie Press and Anouska Mond. Some of the actors were completely new to acting as they've never acted in their lives. However they have yet been introduced into the film. An example of an actor in the movie who had no acting experience is Lee Allen who has had no acting experience, he was given the part as the role suited him and his past as some of the things that has happened to him in the film has happened in the past. This means that it will look more real not only that but it shows how what happens in the movie could also be found in society.

The plot of the film is based on about the lives of four drug dealers, a user and a prostitute. We also see the lives of others in which are affected and who associate with the drug dealers, prostitute and the user.  All this is planned out and the characters used in the film are all common stereotypes we associate with in our society. However, in the film we see what influences these common stereotypes to act the way they act and do the things they do. We have the prostitute who is played Michelle who is played by Anouska Mond. She has in the movie been forced to be a prostitute because of her selling on the phone of a drug dealer. The drug dealer is furious about this as he has all his contacts in the phone sold. So then the drug dealer Ed, played by Ed Skrein takes action and starts selling her for sex in the society they live in. after the prostitute is released from prostitution by the drug dealer Ed, she in the end is ruined. So she carry’s on selling herself for money to pay for her drugs. The actor Riz Ahmed on his travels finds a baby on a train abandoned by the mother Katya played by Natalie Press. He then thinks of looking after the baby without a doubt. He faces the fact that he is not a dad and has nothing to give or to provide for the child what does he do next. Fast forwarding later on the baby is trapped in a room in a pub where there is a fire, the baby is all along. Ed hears the baby cry he runs in regretfully into the room upstairs where the baby is. He then gets trapped in the room on the third floor with fire flaming everywhere apart from the window. This shows that stereotypes can come out of their comfort zone and break it, proving others wrong of what they are. 

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.

There are a few films involved with the making of ill manors. One of the main one in which has helped out the most is the Microwave producers. They are well known for helping out low budget films. They specialise in getting the most out of low budgets. As we can see through the Ill manors film they have. The film had any nominations and won a few awards. The BBC have also contributed to the making of the film which has made it successful. The BBC also work with low budget films.

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

The Ill manors movie coast £100,000 to make and is known as a low budget film.

How was Ill Manors funded

The writer of Ill Manors Plan B had been refused to be funded with money to go out and make the film as he was inexperienced in directing and everything. So then after he wrote a film and filmed it called Michelle. Then by 2009 the London Microwave institution come and offered Plan B a chance and a small budget to film the film he had wanted to film in the first place.

What is the target audience for Ill Manors?

The target audience for the film ILL manors is mainly for the younger audience of the ages of 17-30. These people would have similarities to the characters in the movie as they could relate with the problems they have in the film. This is also targeted to middle and upper class people as the movie is all about showing what leads people on to the wrong path in life through society abandoning them, making them feel alienated. Also how they are influenced by other bad people.

Who is the main distributor of Ill Manors?

The main distributor was revolver entertainment as the rights of the film were sold to them in 2005. With the 100,000 budget from this in the box office made around 450,000 just in the box office sales.

How was Ill Manors promoted using broadcast platform?

The movie ILL Manors was promoted in many various ways through different platforms. The singer/writer Plan B has been to various events where he had spoken about the new album and also how he has used the album in the new movie which was to be released in 2012. For example Plan B has been on radio shows talking about the album and movie in the BBC Radio 1 talk stations. He had also done a live performance for the BBC singing one of his songs for the viewers on the TV and the live audience with in the BBC studios.

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

There are big differences between big budget blockbusters and low budget films like Ill Manors. A movie in which was released in 2012 in May same time as Ill Manors was The Avengers Assemble. The Avengers has been very successful it had a budget of $220 million the film had made around $1,518,594,910 just in the box office. Compared to the Ill Manos movie the budget for Ill Manors was £100,000 they made around £450,000. The Avengers was shown all over the world whereas Ill Manors was only shown in the UK which explains such the low profit made. The Avengers also had a much higher budget meaning they could promote their movie very well.

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

The film trailer Ill Manors is a great way of hooking the audience in. They have managed to do this through the use of the music building tension interesting the audience. They have also used good editing as the editing was really fast with each shot not being a single second long. This would mean that it would build up enigma codes as they don’t show the whole story. This would make them want to know what will happen making the audience go in to cinemas. They also showed various different stories to the movie showing there’s loads going on.

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

When viewers see the trailer they’ll understand the plot more through the dialogue being used as we know what’s happening and what kind of situations are taking place. It also does not confuse them as if there was no dialogue there would be confusion to what is happening in the scenes being watched.

Think about the certificate of Ill Manors (18 certificates). Research film certification and outline what is deemed acceptable for this certificate. What is the difference between a 15 certificate and 18 certificates?

The differences between the 15 and 18 certificates are very different.

15

strong violence

frequent strong language (eg 'f***').

portrayals of sexual activity

strong verbal references to sex

sexual nudity

brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence

discriminatory language or behaviour

drug taking

18

very strong violence

frequent strong language (eg 'f***') and/or very strong language (eg ‘c***’)

strong portrayals of sexual activity

scenes of sexual violence

strong horror

strong blood and gore

real sex (in some circumstances)

discriminatory language and behaviour

Ill Manors TEDX Lecture

1) Plan B’s beliefs are that in society today young people are being seen in a negative way, so there for being stereotyped many different things. However he explains how there is two sides to the story, what young people do is bad however they have their reasons for doing what they are doing. He believes that the government does not try hard enough to keep young people off streets as they've been closing community centres down. This would leave the young people out on the streets where they can be influenced by other bad characters into doing things they should not be doing. This is because they have nothing better to do. Plan b explains how they may have problems at home so they feel their home is out on the street where they feel freer to spread their wings, and to do something as they are bored of doing nothing. 

2) The target group   for the TEDX lecture would be university students or people who have an interest in lectures. The age range for this would be from 18-50 all these people would have been well educated or are currently being educated at university. This would be of an interest for them as they talk about stuff that may interest them. In this case people are interested in what Plan B has to say about the government and the people with in urban isolated estates with in society. This would be of an interest to them as they would be able to get a person who has been in the same type of situation as the lower class, unemployed, street thug that he was. This would also give the audience a chance to see what he has to say about the government. The demographics that would apply to this would be the A, B AND C1. This is because the only people who are well educated and interested in what others have to say about society and government would be attracted to one of these lectures. Also lectures do go on for quite a while and do contain professional people who use sophisticated vocabulary meaning people who fall under the category of C2,D and E will not fully understand what is being said during the lecture as they lack in knowledge and education. If this was compared to the audience for the music video, the music video would attract an audience of people who are currently unemployed and live in poverty. For those who are have miserable and unfit lives they could connect and relate to his music videos. As all the things that have said in his music videos may be currently happening to them. Whether it’s from the government portraying them in a negative way to the crime that is being committed by them and also others, this would mostly appeal to the E demographic however could apply to the D as well.

3) Plan B explains how the media portrays the young people of society and then explains how society wrongly perceives young people through not showing all that there is to know. What6 plan b mean by this is the media choose not to show both sides to the story, as it would make the story more interesting for people. For example a newspaper agent came to interview plan b about a misunderstanding/conflict between plan b and a group of youth’s that came down to where they were filming, claiming that the place was theirs. The youths were ready to strike at plan b however; help came along as another group of youths came to scare them away, not in violence but by words.  This broke the stereotype of young people that was already out there, yet the media chose not to show the ending of the story.  Leaving the bit where the youths came in violently at plan b, this is only one example of many other situations. He also explains how the media change the meanings of words and label people as “chavs” the word chav meant “boy” however the media have created another meaning for the word. “Council house and violent” is what people see it as now. 

Ill Manors Trailer Analysis

Trailer analysis “Ill manors”

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

The typical codes and conventions of a film trailer consist of various shots of typography listing the directors name, actors names, features, music producers, film producers and last but not least the title of the film. Film trailers also consist of music in which is usually parallel to the scenery being shown in the video. They may contain sound bridges with voice overs, the music or dialogue from the film. Film trailers also display the “BBFC” rating in some cases the age restriction has not yet been decided as it may be in progress.

How are trailers distributed?

Film trailers are promoted in various ways, one of which is through broadcast platforms such as television. Television is one of the most common ways of promoting films and raising awareness. They could also use radio to promote the film; this could be done by interviewing a few of the actors or maybe even the director. From this the interviewee could explain about what the whole movie is about and what they could expect form it. The film would also be promoted through the use of cinema adverts. Through cinema adverts it would target all the people who are in cinema this would be beneficial as the people being targeted are people who usually go cinema.

How does Ill Manors use trailer conventions?

The film ill manors use the conventions of film trailers like music for example. The music used in the trailer is from the director himself known as plan b. The music that is used in the trailer has also been used in the movie as well, which gives a little taster for plan b’s fan base as they would be interested in watching it as his music is in the music. The music in the trailer is also parallel music which suits the narrative and scenes. We can tell this by listening to the lyrics where it mentions drugs, violence ect. So through this it makes the sound parallel as the scenes have also violence, drugs and all the other stuff Plan B sings about. The BBFC rating has not been included with in the trailer as it yet has not been decided what age rating it should be given at that moment in time when the trailer was released.

Who is the target audience?

The prime audience for this movie would be teenagers and young adults aged from 17-30. This movie does have techniques where they could hook the audience and persuade them in to watching it through the scenes. The scenes play an important role alongside with the music, though the scenes not being even a second long and the music being dramatic with its lyrics. It would create tension for the audience viewing the trailer and wanting more of the adrenaline impact they get from viewing the trailer. The trailer also shows the main stars in action including Plan B as he is the director, this is yet another reason to why the audience would hook on to the movie as Plan be is featured in it also he was the director. This would automatically mean that his entire fan base would be interested in the movie as he plays a part in it. He is also the voice over Plan B is the narrator of the whole story. The trailer also has a release date informing the audience of when the movie will be released in cinemas. 

Ill Manors Documentary

Ill Manors Documentary

What does this tell us about Plan B's intentions in making the film?

Plan b explains about how he sets out on a mission to show viewers what goes on around in society and how normal people are portrayed through the use of stereotyping. Ben the director has included very stereotypical characters in his film. However, he shows how they get to where they are being in life and why people are tagged the way they are through their actions and decisions in life. Ben also says that it is because these people are not shown any “love” which could explain why people come out the way they do.

What do we learn about the production process for Ill Manors?

We had learned that there were some difficulties filming as the urban areas in forest gate was run and filed by gangs. The film crew had difficulty filming the scenes they needed so they were being scared off in the matter. However, the director managed to sort it out with some confrontation through using his own people to sort out an agreement. This shows to us that there are gangs out there in which are violent and the film that’s being filmed or has been is based on real life situations. As these type of situations that’s occurred actually happen with in society.

What can you tell about the possible target audience from this short documentary?

This documentary was probably aimed at the reformers in which being people of a middle wealthier class. This is because the documentary shows what the director has set out to do and the audience can view the director’s opinions and beliefs. The actors also are opinionated on what the movie consists of and what it’s set out to do. From this the audience can get a sense of what the film is actually trying to do, it’s not trying to show how evil these people in society are but what lies behind them showing what led them in the wrong path they are walking on.

 Does the film successfully do what director Ben Drew (Plan B) set out to achieve? Explain your answer with reference to both the film and the making of documentary

The mission that Ben has set out on he has personally I think accomplished. This is because the movie in which he has created has included real life situation in which real people actually go through in life and society. These people are the people that are seen as outcasts and stereotypically tagged. Ben shows these stereotypes through the use of his characters in his film however he does not show just the one side of the story. He shows what has led them to where they are in life for viewers to get a better understanding of what has become of these people living in urban isolated estates. 

Ideology

How does the video challenge or reinforce dominant ideology in Britain?

The video reinforces many ideologies that are in Britain in which are dominant common stereotypes about youths. Some of these ideologies are to be young people in which are violent towards the community and to themselves. This we see in the music video. We also see young people vandalising the community by blowing up and smashing stuff up. This reinforces the stereotype. We also see young youths stealing TVs and electrical products. The video does also challenge the ideologies in Britain, we see an example of this when a middle aged man throws an egg at a politician. This challenges it as it was not a young youth who had violated the politician it was a middle aged man. We also saw the police ganging up on a single person. This breaks the ideology of the police being fare to others and being in the right, as at that moment in time they were in the wrong. This is because five police officers went to strike at a single unarmed civilian. We also encountered on a video footage taken of a police officer punching and assaulting a member of the community.