Somers Town - 'After Viewing' [Part 1 - Genre]

(This part will be covering Genre)

4. How would you categorise this film in terms of genre? does it remind you of any other films you have seen?
 -  I would categorise Somers Town and a comedy, Drama because there are some parts where Tomo (Thomas Turgoose) shows his cheeky Nottingham side, he does this when him and Marek ( Piotr Jagiello)are discussing the pictures of Maria (Elisa Lasowski) and how that Tomo would be better as Maria's boyfriend than Marek would be. Also then Tomo first meets Marek, he nicks his pictures and runs off with them, and Marek hastily follows wanting his pictures back, Tomo runs to what i think is a housing estate. Another example is when Tomo swears are people, he swears a Marek in the cafe, the man who tells him to get off the estate etc. Somers Town  reminds me of  This is England because how Thomas Turgoose plays both characters in both films, they are very similar in different ways because of how the cheekiness and how daring both the character Thomas Turgoose. This is England and Somers Town is quite similar as in both lead roles in both films Thomas Turgoose  plays boys who are trying to find their way in life and and and who are lonely at the beginning at the the films but then they find their way and by the end of both films they have new friends who were originally strangers at the beginning.


5. What do you think the film's appeal for audiences?
-  I think that the film's appeal for the audiences is that how it can connect to the realistic things, by how that there is a lost boy who is trying to make it by himself by running away from a broken home, and he thinks he can make it in London, but he does really think it over. By the film being shot in black and white helps the effect of the emotions that can come across, also the violence that is in the film, but then the comedy side comes in and it helps ease the hard facts of the realistic side of things. Overall i think most people would like watching this film as they could relate to it, by from there own experiences, what they have seen on the news etc.


6. As well as being in black and white, the film subtitled during the conversations in polish between Marek and his father; there are also sections in French. In what ways do these factors affect your responses to the film, the situation and the characters
-   Using the subtitles in the film help make it more as if you were there because, when Marek & his father, Mariuz  are at home cooking tea, they are speaking in polish, this add the effect to what it would really be like if this wasn't a film but also it is nice how it they are speaking some English which they are learning so it does help mix the film abit, so it not all in English etc. Another section is where Mariuz finds Marek and Tomo drunk at is house, when he is shouting at Marek in Polish, you can feel the emotion between them and the tension which is built up. Also the section in French adds the feel to the film and  how it effect the feel and emotion feel. It also shows the connection between characters, and therefore makes it feel more realistic.



7. Shane Meadows' 2006 release, 'This is England', won a number of awards. Research and explore the film's critical reception and suggest what similarities and differences you can identify between 'Somers Town' and 'This is England'.
-  Well i haven't seen This is England but i can say that from i have read and seen trailers etc etc, that both films are about teenage boys trying to find their way in life and their own independence, which i have pointed out above questions. The Film  This is England  has won a number of including 'Best Film' & 'Most Promising Newcomer' at the Independent Film Awards and 'Special Jury Award' at Rome Film Festival, also 'Best British Film' at the British Academy of Film Awards.

Somers Town - 'After Viewing' [Part 2 - Representation]

(This part will be covering Representation)

8. To what extent  do you think audience is expected to be 'comfortable' with this portrait of two teenagers?
-  From watching the film, I feel that the audience shouldn't be 'Comfortable' with the portrait of the two teenagers as in the film when Tomo first arrives to Somers Town he get beaten up by the 3 boys from around the area, this makes Tomo venerable and makes you feel for him. Also the film makes you feel uncomfortable because of both the boys were lonely until they befriended each other and were each others company it was if they were little lost sheep until they met. Although Marek has a farther, he is out at work all day, he comes home and has tea and then goes out drinking with friends, or stays in, invite friends over and drinks, so basically he is never there and is always drunk in the evening, therefore making Marek having to grow up faster than he should. But with Tomo it is a case of he needs to grow up fast because he has no family about, to help him or provide. This is what makes the audience uncomfortable. Yet there are some parts of the film for example when the boys are talking and having a laugh with each other make you, the audience feel comfortable with the teenage boys.

9. A sign on the estate reads 'children on these grounds is prohibited' in what different ways do Tomo and Marek seek to amuse themselves in this environment?
-  Tomo and Marek find different ways to amuse themselves, one is by going to the cafe but this is earlier on in the film when Maria was still in England, they go to surprise her but she had to leave for Paris all of a sudden , so they went to the local park is and started drinking alcohol they had brought. they then go back to Marek's flat later on and have a party between themselves playing loud music, getting  drunk, drinking  their selves stupid, like they were trying to forget about her. 'drowning their sorrows' would be the term to use. When watching this scene in the film you can see the two teenage boys being teenage boys, having fun, being immature, letting their hair down and being kids. it is quite amusing to watch. Another thing they do in the film is when Tomo and Marek go to still the clothes form the dry cleaners because Tomo wanted to some new clothes as the only things he has left after his bag was stolen was the items he had on. but his amuses the boys.

10. What messages about childhood and adolescence do you. or could you, take away from the film?
-  The messages that you could take away from the film is that children are made to grow up faster, and that children don't really have that much of a childhood any more. Also  you could say that the boys have had to adapt to what ever happens. Therefore you could say that you have to Grit your teeth and get on with life.

11. Do your reactions towards the boys  change at different points in the film?
      Which moments in particular:

a) Encourage you to sympathise with the boys;
    -  Is when Marek's farther comes home from work and he comes home to find that Marek is drunk and he had a brought a friend over, which his father does not like Marek doing, but this doesn't help they are bother drunk but Marek's father completely loses his temper with Marek and Tomo and shouts and hits Marek, demanding him what is going on. Also when Marius shouts at Tomo to get out of his house chucking his clothes and saying never ever to come back, this makes you feel sorry for the boys as they were only out to have a good time. Also another part of the film where you would sympathise, is when Tomo first comes to Somers Town, and he gets beaten up by three other teenage boys. Also for Marek, for when his father leaves him to go drinking, most night, you feel sorry for him as he is left at home all day while his father works and then he is left at home all night  while his father goes and drinks.


b) Make you unsympathetic towards them?
    - The Time where you  would be unsympathetic towards them is when they steal the laundry from the dry cleaners as  it was someone else clothes of which they will have to replace no expense to Tomo and Marek. Also i think why we would feel unsympathetic towards what they done is because stealing is wrong and that most people think it should be punished for and it doesn't help that they were someone else's clothes they stole.

12. Some of the other characters include Marek's farther, Mariusz, Graham the cockney neighbour, and the French waitress, Maria. To what extent would you agree that Meadows is playing with stereotypes in his representation of these characters?
 -  This film is fairly stereotypical because  of how Meadows presents some of the characters for example Mariuz, Marek's father, who has come to England to work and his boss is saying how well he works and that he is the best worker that he has seen in a long time, etc etc. Another is the French waitress, and how Paris, France is related to the place of love and how the French are meant to be very charming and flirty of which Maria shows to the boys when she kisses both of them on the lips after they brought her home in the wheel chair. This shows Meadows is playing with the stereotypes.

Notes From Somers Town Screening (15-10-2009)

Class & Identity in British

    
     What is a British film?
           - Not normally a block Buster
           - Not normally a Musical
           - It is pretty low budget
           - About ordinary People
           - Intimate/ domestic detail
           - Focus class

 
 
 
British new wave 1939-1963 ... (British new wave focused on the north)

         - Tony Richardson
         - Lindsay Anderson
         - Jack Clayton
         - John Schlesinger



 
 
• Working class

                                            = Jules & Jim (1902)
• A comic relief Criminal

Working Class Heroes’ - (Room at The top)

- Broke Taboos

Getting Ideas

- Look Back in Anger (1958) – Tony Richardson


A Scene of Place
- The Loneliness of the long distance runner (1962) – Tony Richardson


Displacement
- Billy Liar (1963) – John Schlesinger


Outsiders

- A Taste of honey (1961) – Tony Richardson

Coronation Street first started in the 1960s

Eastenders first started in the 1980s

Brit Grit/Brit Film

      - Mike Leigh

      - Ken Loach

      - Shane Meadows

    Films They have Produced...

• Mike Leigh - Vera Drake

• Ken Loach - Looking For Eric & Full Monty

 About Shane Meadows & Somers Town

Shane Meadows Self taught himself he is also a working class man. He started filming etc in 1999.

Shane Meadows also got the funding for Somers Town From Euro Star.

The Lady who was speaking to us at the lecture told us to watch out for Tomo wearing the Apron at the then. To be honest I didn’t really understand this but I did note down that he was cleaning brasses in an apron which had a ladies body on it in a Biniki.





 More may be posted at a later date ....  Enjoy :)

Somers Town - 'Before Viewing'

Somers Town is a Black and white film we are going to go watch it at Cinema City on Thursday 15th October. The director, Shane Meadows may have chosen to produce this film in black and white because it could add affect to where the film is set, to show that it is not a great place to grow up or even live, to show the harshness, or how Meadows wants to create the mood and feel of the film.

3 FILMS I CHOSEN TO BRIEFY RESEARCH AS THEY ARE SHOT IN BLACK AND WHITE...
   
Film: Rumble Fish
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Release Date: 21 October 1983
Genre: Drama
Directors Reputation: Francis Ford Coppola studied film at UCLA and while there, he made numerous short films, including some pornography. In the late 1960s, he started his professional career making low-budget films with Roger Corman and writing screenplays. In 1986 Francis Ford Coppola, with George Lucas, directed the Michael Jackson film for Disney theme parks, Captain Eo, which at the time was the most expensive film per minute ever made. Also in 1990 Francis Ford Coppola completed the Godfather series with The Godfather Part III, which while not as critically acclaimed as the first two movies, was still a box office success.
Critical Reaction to the film: The film was nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination



Film: In Search of a Midnight Kiss
Director: Alex Holdridge
Release Date: 2007
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Directors Reputation: He won 4 awards in his career. He is famous because he directed the movie "Sexless". Alex's previous film, "Sexless," is the only film to have won both the jury and audience award at the South by Southwest Film Festival. It is a sex comedy about twenty-something couples' last month in Austin, Texas.
Critical Reaction to the film: It is listed on the National Board of Review's Top 10 Independent Films of 2008, won the Independent Spirit's John Cassavetes Award in 2009 as well as having earned awards at festivals around the world. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007 and since has played at festivals around the world from Mill Valley, Chicago and Los Angeles in the U.S. to London, Edinburgh and many more places.



Film: Raging Bull
Director: Martin Scorsese
Release Date: 10 April 1981
Genre: Biography, Drama , Sport
Directors Reputation: Won Oscar. Another 82 wins & 61 nominations.
Critical Reaction to the film: Won 2 Oscars. Another 19 wins & 16 nominations. After receiving mixed initial reviews, (and criticism due to its disturbing level of violence, and upsetting material) it went on to garner a high critical reputation and is now widely regarded among the greatest movies ever made. It is one of five films that has been named to the National Film Registry in its first year of eligibility


 

(The Reason for Choosing these 3 Films is beacuse the title drew me to interest and i wanted to find out more)

 
 

 

 

 

About the Filming and the Area of Somers Town

 
In Somers Town, the Iconographic sights and sounds i would expect from the film are:

      • people fighting

      • traffic e.g. buses, cars, lorries
      • alarms from buildings/cars

      • people chatting

      • people doing washing

The expectations of the character and narrative based on the setting of the film is, I think that the film will be about the child trying to fit and with everything around him and being new to everything doesn’t help his situation very well, and he will find it difficult settling in, making new friends, people to trust, just living in general.

Once Upon a Time in The West - Analysing the opening (Plus brief definition of Digetic and Non Digetic sound)

Outline/Summary: In the opening scene of Once Upon A Time in the West there is not much action happening, apart from 3 cowboys come in to the train stop but they all come in different entrances so they all surround the conductor but still blocking all the entrances there for there is no escape for the old conductor to run. If you look closely you can see that one of the cowboys is black, this wasn’t seen a lot back in then. One of the cowboys who I would expect to the leader comes up to the conductor, he doesn’t say anything, you can see the conductor is quite nervous and there is a bit on edge to what is going to happen, he also stutters. Also one of the other cowboys torments the budgie in the cage, this shows there isn’t much respect for the conductors things. Then it goes back focusing on the main cowboy and the conductor, after the conductor gave the cowboy lets the tickets the conductor gave him they lets them blow away, the conductor then sees the cowboys hand coming towards him. This gesture was very quick but was firm. The conductors face then drops as the cowboys hand is on his kind of around his neck. The face of the conductor fills with fear because he doesn’t know what these 3 cowboys will do to him. It doesn’t help that the cowboy then gives smirk. The conductor has a disadvantage that he is old and also there are 3 cowboys so he doesn’t really have a choice but to follow. As the cowboy then walks the conductor to a cupboard which the then firm pushes him in, he kind of trips and but is quickly to turn around. The cowboy then tells him to hush up. The other cowboys then shut the conductor in and leave him there. While all this is happening and Indian lady is watching but saying nothing. After the Conductor is shut up she Indian lady then run off .This is probably because she is scare of what the cowboys may do to her.

Sound: There is a lot of sound in the beginning which helps bring the tension of the scene up, as you don’t know what is going to happen.
  At the beginning the door creaks really loudly open which wouldn’t expect in the west. The screech of the chalk on the black board is something that a lot of people don’t like and it makes people cringe at when they hear it. So your already wondering what is going to happen. You can hear the wind in the background which helps set the scene and what is like it shows it desolate, empty, open space. The footsteps of the cowboy as he walks towards the conductor as anticipation, because you don’t know what the cowboy is going to do. He also sounds like is powerful and controlled and calm.
  There is also a repeating noise in the background which also helps add tension of what about to happen. One of the cowboys torments the bird in the cage by making a weird sound and then the bird replies like it giving a warning. This makes you think what the cowboys are going to do.
  A few second after this, the conductor talks about tickets etc, the cowboy then lets them blow out of his hand etc. But then the main cowboys puts his hand on the conductors shoulder, you hear it ‘lump’ on to the old man shoulder he did put it there also as soon as this happens you can hear a rooster in the background.

Camera Shots: There are a few different shots but they are used again and again. For example when the cowboy first walks in there is a wide shot so that you can see the door opening. Then it switches to what is happening on the chalk board which is close up then it zooms out to reveal a medium close up which with the conductor with the black board in the back ground.
   These camera shots are used though out the first scene. Also there is the use of panning around the room they are in. So you can take in more of what’s happening. The first scene also has a medium close up, a mid shot, a kind of over the should shot ( where the conductor is talking the cowboy, from the cowboys view) there is wide shots, also possible cutaways.

 

Click here to View the Opening scene of Once Upon a Time in the West

Definitions of Digetic & Non-Digetic

Digetic = Natural to the film. E.g Voices, wind, doors

Non-Digetic = Not natural – has been added. E.g Music, sound effects

Thiller research

There is no real definition to what a thiller is. From what i have looked at on the internet, according to  'International Thriller Writers', a thriller is characterized by "the sudden rush of emotions, the excitement, sense of suspense, apprehension, and exhilaration that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace." so basically to put it simple ... In short, a thriller thrills!

 How? .. well it is through very skillful plotting!

Thriller is a genre of fiction in which tough, resourceful, but essentially ordinary heroes are pitted against villains determined to destroy them, their country, or the stability of the free world. Part of the whole thriller  comes from not only what their stories are about, but also how they are told. High stakes, non-stop action, plot twists that both surprise and excite, settings that are both vibrant and exotic, and an intense pace that never lets up until the adrenalin packed climax.


Types of gerne Thriller....  - Drama Thriller
                                        - Conspiracy Thriller
                                        - Action Thriller
                                        - Physiological Thriller



 Some example of thiller films are:  - The Godfather (1972)
                                                     - The Great Escape (1963)
                                                     - The Dark Knight (2008)
                                                     - The Departed (2006)
                                                     - District 9 (2009)


 One Thiller i have seen is 'WALL·E' which was released in 2008. it is an computer-animated science fiction film, produced by Pixar Animation Studios. The film is about following the robot named WALL-E who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future. Later in the film he falls in with another robot named EVE, and follows her into outer space on an adventure that changes the destiny of both his kind and humanity.
   The reason i liked this film was it had a meaning to it and  about what the future was like, also you didnt really know what was going to happen next, some parts of the film your hanging on the edge of the seat hoping 'WALL-E' is going to make it! Other parts you feel so sory for him, with 'EVE' who doesnt really notice him until quite later on. There are some very funny parts for instances when he accidently runs over his little friend which is some sort of bug.
   All in All WALL-E is a thiller, bit of an action thriller as there is alot going on.

                                            

Labels? .. help?

G322A TV drama, G322B Film industry, Induction unit, G321 Preliminary task, Exam

Final Cut Express

Final Cut Express was created by Apple Inc. It is an non-linear video editing software which we have been learning to use in our As Media lessons on a Friday mornings. The video editing software is used my professional people and my amateurs such as us the media students. The man who came in, runs is own business in doing promational videos for people/companies. He was experienced in final cut express. to begin with he showed us some of his latest work which was a promotional video of a company who worked locating people in Vienna or something along the lines of that. After showing us that he started showing us the basics of  the Apple mac software for example showing us how we could customise our area and the things to do with are area

Here you can see aparts which are  breify labeled, the main parts should i say.

   In the top left hand corner where the label 'browse clips and effect'  you can add folders or they are know as 'Bins'  you can create as many as you like of this, to store and organise all your clips, effects and audio pieces. Next to this is the 'Clip Viwer' this is were you can view your chosen clips from your folders/bins.   The next window along is the viewer in which your final project piece is displayed in real time.
  
  The 'Timeline' at the bottom of the page, have bits of video editied into it as chopped, swapped and changed about in it as the software is non-linear.
 
Also learned that there are 25 frames in a second which is basically 25 moving pictures in one second, this is for the english the americans have something like 29.97 frames. but we are only working on the English technology. For Now. This then leads me to saying that the Timeline would show your project in it final Timeline, which will have 'Timecode'  ( 00.00.00.00)  which then equals to ( Hours.Minutes.Seconds.Frames )

This picture on the left is what  you find when you first open Final Cut Express.





                          

Before we started editing and uploading our video software  we had to reccored on to a DV tape which take up a lot of room something like 12.2GB, i cant really remember! After spending a couple of hours recording we got about 20 minutes of footage. We plugged the video camera in to the Mac and opened up Final Cut Express  the very nice man showed us how to import our video also she showed us how to 'Time In' and 'Time Out', which are 'i' and 'o' on the keyboard for a short cut. This then leads me to saying that the very nice man showed us other short cuts on the keyboard.as you can see  above are some of the buttons which help make editing easyier and quicker on Final cut Express.

Labels? ...

G321 Thriller planning, G321 Audience research, G321 Thriller research, G321 Thriller evaluation, G321 Thriller construction, Coursework