Question 3: Need to talk a little bit more from the trailer, use examples Question 4: Develop last paragraph a little bit more Question 5: Potential for a top level but need a little more in terms of examples, depth and theories My target grade is to get an A, I was 6 marks away from my target grade and could have got that quite easily if I had not missed question 2 completely. Using the mark scheme I can see that I talked about a majority of the points that were expected by the examiners. To get the full 12 marks, I would have to see which points that I missed and use them consistently. My strongest questions in Section A were both question 3 and 4 because they were well developed and talked about a variety of different aspects of the clips which helped me to answer the question. These points were all backed up consistently with examples and explained thoroughly with theories. My weakest question in Section A was question 2 because I didn't answer it at all. I was unable to understand the question and come up with any points to talk about. This means that for future exams I need to focus more on the institutions part of Section A. This is especially important as I was only 6 marks away from an A, even if I could talk about a few points and not finish the question I would've been able to pick up some amount of marks. The trailer created many brand and media product links, one of the most obvious was the use of action genre films. This was evident through the use of Megan Fox which alludes to the idea of a well known film called Transformers which she is well known for being in and also for the fact that Transformers was a movie that was filled with fast paced action combined with explosions. This is something that would ultimately appeal to their target audience demographic that is mostly young to middle aged males.
Further more, the use of the Las Vegas setting would also appeal to a male audience as the setting alludes to the different connotations of how Las Vegas is seen as a place for alcohol, strip clubs and gambling. These are generally aspects of Las Vegas that are associated with grown men and are also generally targeted towards a male appeal. This is very effective as the use of this helps to allude to other films with Las Vegas settings similar to the trailer such as Ocean's Eleven. This could also be linked with the heist genre of films which traditionally filmed with action and targeted towards a male audience. Finally, the trailer has a setting where the characters are in space with guns in astronaut suits. This appeals to the audience through the allusions of other space genre films such as Interstellar or Gravity which are very heavy on the drama and action. Ultimately, this would appeal to the trailers audience as these types of films are generally seen to be very exciting which links with the trailer's original aim. Yes I talked about all three different platforms quite consistently and also talked about all three films even if it was a minimum amount but this meant that as I talked about all three platforms and film, I had already matched the criteria and got a higher level. I consistently used key words that related and linked back to the question for both Section A and Section B. There were one or two paragraphs where I didn't, so I need to think about minimising those types of paragraphs to help me get more marks for the rest of the paragraphs. The examiner's report talked about how focusing on the question was something the stronger candidates were able to do. This is something that I feel I did quite consistently linking most if not all of my ideas back to the question to show that I was consistently focusing on the question and not the general vague ideas. I consistently also focused on the excitement of the trailer and how that helped with it's promotion through brand association, audience appeal and camera work. Three things to do for the real exam:
Do more timed practice exam papers
Focus and revise a lot more on institutions
Focus and revise a lot more on Section B's theories and independent case studies
What examples can you find of the Ill Manors brand on the Ill Manors website homepage screengrab above? There are many examples of the Ill Manors brand presented on the Ill Manors website. The website uses the brand features to make the over all theme consistent and flow as it all becomes relevant to each other. The most obvious examples of these brand features are, the colour scheme which is a dark greenish-grey colour which is used to represent the dark and gritty themes of the film. There is also the use of the Ill Manors logo in the top left corner which is consistent and is used to represent a block of estates which also fits with the narrative of the film. We can also see a film poster in the distance which is shown on a curved and distorted billboard, this film poster is actually the poster for the Ill Manors film. Finally, we can see that the main character which Riz Ahmed plays is holding a gun, which is part of the main narrative and also iconic as it is presented in other media such as the film poster and also the film trailer. How does the website encourage the audience to buy or interact with Ill Manors products? The website encourages the audience through the use of the words such as "Buy now". This is presented in the navigation bar on the left side of the page under the logo, the fact that there is an entire section for buying the film, emphasises how they really want you to buy the film. Also, there is a clever use of graffiti on the central image of the house which says to buy the film, this is very effective in the sense that it blends in with the central image and also its right in the middle so it's one of the first things that the people see when they visit the website. Finally, right at the top of the website there is a tagline in big bold letters which tells the visitors that the film is available on multiple platforms such as download, on demand, and can also be bought on Blu-ray and DVD.
Look at Plan B's official website. How does it use social media in terms of content and design? The website uses social media in terms of content and design by creating a very blocked and "wall" like layout. This is reflective of a lot of modern social media which incorporate this type of layout to create a user specific homepage. It encourages people to visit the website as it makes people feel as if the website was made especially for them. It is also efficient in the sense that each post takes a small amount of space and users can quickly absorb all the different events, posts and information very quickly simply by scrolling up or down. Scroll back through the wall to look at posts from around the release date of Ill Manors. How does this statement on Ill Manors link to other texts we have studied as part of this case study? Do you agree with his claim that he "won't justify" the riots? The statement that Plan B posts is linked heavily with the riots as he talks about the reasons behind the thinking and logic of the film. He talks about how the main concern for the country should be the children that were involved in the riots and that there must have been a reason behind the riots which is something that the government is not listening to. I think he won't justify them because although he feels strongly about the subject, he doesn't want to have to defend the people behind the riots.
Why do you think social media is overtaking official websites in terms of film promotion? I think social media is overtaking official websites because through social media, the audience has a lot more control on the content and dominant readings of the film. They can talk about it in anyway or form and come up with their own opinion about the film without the restrictions of the website which are a lot more structured and try to make the reader think specific things. The social media is also used a lot more as it is very easily accessible and easy to use.
Summarise the Ill Manors Tag London campaign in 100 of your own words. The Ill Manors Tag London campaign was a user generated content campaign which allowed people to send their views about the state of the UK at the time through the social media platform of Twitter. In total, 300 tweets were then recreated by graffiti artists in a video which were the projected on landmarks around Central London. How does the Ill Manors Tag London campaign help to promote the film? The Tag London campaign very effectively helped to promote the film. This is because the film focused on a very controversial themes and topics, through the campaign the audience was able to voice their opinions and thoughts on these types of topics. This eventually helped create a buzz about the film and essentially made many people want to watch the film. This campaign was also very unique in the sense that it was projecting the tweets on famous landmarks, especially something significant as the House of Parliament, this would create a lot significance and help to generate a lot more interest in the film. What synergy (links) can you find between the Tag London campaign and other texts you have studied as part of the Ill Manors case study? The Tag London campaign was linked with the Ill Manors music video as both used parts of the music video which showed the audience that both projects have the same meaning which is to get the young generation's voice heard in a rebellious way. The use of graffiti is also prominent in the campaign which also links in with Ill Manors as it is a very stereotypical way of showing vandalism and gang mentality. Why might user-generated campaigns like this be more successful than traditional media campaigns? These types of user generated campaigns could be a lot more successful than traditional media campaigns as they attract a lot of attention from its target audience. This is because they are a lot more interactive and reliant on its audience to get involved. The audience then feels a sense of identity with the brand and feels like they can relate and also have the feeling that they are actually a part of it. They can also then see the views of other fans and either see opinions from different perspectives or relate with similar opinions to their own. They are also generally a lot more cheaper than traditional media campaigns as they take advantage of platforms such as social media which have already been developed and use them to get their audiences involved.
What are the key conventions that help you identify the print text (e.g. title, central image, review quotes etc.)? The key conventions of the DVD cover are:
Central image of Riz Ahmed
Smaller images of other characters, and of screencaps from movie
The film title
Institutional titles and information such as the director and distributor name
Reviews such as the star ratings and also quotes
There is also the convention of the BBFC ratings in the bottom left corner
What design features help identify the Ill Manors brand? The design feature that helps to identify the brand is the dark and gritty theme used in pretty much all of the promotional print platform. The idea of the estate houses is also present as they are in the background behind the main character. Finally, the main title also used as the logo, it is very consistent in the branding as it is used to portray the estates and helps to show the audience the brand. What examples of synergy can you find with the broadcast platform or other print examples? In terms of synergy, this print platform is also linked with the soundtrack platform of the director. This synergy is used effectively to link the director's work together with his other work and it helps to increase promotion across the audience and in theory bring a greater audience that would be interested Plan B's work.
What are the key conventions that help you identify the print text (e.g. title, central image, review quotes etc.)? The key conventions of the film poster are:
Central image of Riz Ahmed right in the middle of the page
Similar sized images of all the other characters surrounding the main character
The film title, release date
Institutional titles and information such as the director and production company
Reviews such as the star ratings and also quotes
The names of all the cast members in the top to show who is in it
What design features help identify the Ill Manors brand? This poster is unique in the sense that unlike the other print platform, it does not focus on the dark and gritty colours. It does however, use a high contrast and creates vivid colours to create a distorted effect for each character and the over all poster, this helps to reflect the overall theme and ideas behind the plotline and how everything is "distorted" and not to be taken literally at face value. What examples of synergy can you find with the broadcast platform or other print examples? The film poster has a small line in the bottom right which emphasises the fact that the soundtrack of the film is also by Plan B who is the director of the film. This links both pieces of his work together to attract a similar audience and his fans.
What are the key conventions that help you identify the print text (e.g. title, central image, review quotes etc.)? The key conventions of the film poster are:
Central image of Riz Ahmed right in the middle of the page
The film title, and release date
Social media links related to the film
The BBFC rating in the bottom right and that it contains strong language
The tagline on the top
What design features help identify the Ill Manors brand? This poster also focuses on the dark gritty theme with high contrasting colours that the general print platform follows consistently. It also focuses on the fact that it has a selective colour palette which is pumped up in contrast and made to look very vivid. This makes the poster stand out quite a lot as the black and yellow work well together to make it every eye catching. What examples of synergy can you find with the broadcast platform or other print examples? The synergy present in the poster is through the social media links in the bottom left. This is due to the fact that the social media platform of Facebook, Twitter and the film website, creates a platform on the e-media for the films fans to check out and talk about it with other fans. This also opens up the people in charge of the marketing to give the fans updates and additional content which could help link other products of Plan B with the film such as the soundtrack.
Identify the target audience (demographics/psychographics) for this magazine. How is that particular audience attracted? The interview is targeted at a generally male audience in their twenties or thirties that are focusing more in their fitness and health. It also targets the audience that are a bit more of an upper to middle class, certainly above working class, this is due to the fact that it presents the main focus of the interview in expensive and trendy suits or clothing. This would attract the type of people who are aspirers or people who generally are very focused on success or linked to material wealth. Does the article do more than just entertain? How? (Think of Uses and Gratifications theory) What audience pleasures does the article offer? In terms of the Uses and Gratifications theory, the article focuses much more on the personal identity of the audience and in some cases, the diversion aspect for the audience. It allows the audience to get away from their everyday problems and experience the successful lifestyle of Plan B and use it to, in a sense, motivate them for their own problems. It also allows the audience to personally identify with the article as Plan B talks about personal experiences and emotions which are easily identifiable for example, when he mentions being "concious" about his weight. This is something that many people can relate to and therefore would be eager to read the rest of the interview. What codes/conventions of print interviews can you find in the article? There are the obvious and generic codes and conventions of a print interview, such as the names and titles of work and people, and also the fact that the article has many quotes from the main person being interviewed. How is narrative used to tell a story in each interview? Clue: what is it that keeps the reader interested in the article to the very end? The narrative that is presented is very simple, it shows Plan B's journey from before starting his fitness routine, all the way through out it, and finally after the routine. It begins by talking about the reasons why Plan B decided to get in the routine and also generally about his emotions and how he felt not being in shape. It then talks about the main struggle of a work out routine; starting out. Finally it ends with the consequences and generally focuses on his feelings and also his confidence. This acts as a sort of success story and keeps the reader wanting to read until the end and find out how Plan B changed from start to finish. What synergy can you find between this text and the broadcast examples we have studied so far? The article talks Plan B's upcoming film and this works as a lot more of a positive promotion for the film. The article does touch upon the influences and thoughts of Plan B behind the making of the film.
NME Magazine interview
Identify the target audience (demographics/psychographics) for this magazine. How is that particular audience attracted? The article is targeted at an audience that is a lot more focused on music, this is because NME is generally a music based magazine and as such this means that many of their articles and content will focus heavily on music and generally interviewing musicians. This is especially good for someone like Plan B as he is already a very established musician and his film's soundtrack was an entire album that is uniquely incorporated into the narrative. The demographic would be a younger and a lot more of an urban audience due to the genre of Plan B's music and the fact that he talks about the London riots and generally speaks out against the government. Does the article do more than just entertain? How? (Think of Uses and Gratifications theory) What audience pleasures does the article offer? The article does in a way target the audience's Personal Identity in the sense that many young people that read the article or magazine would have been in some way affected by the London Riots and this is a topic that was a great concern in terms of society and media in general. It also could possibly be focusing on the idea of Surveillance as the article talks about the London Riots and this was a huge part of the media coverage at the time and in a gives the audience some information in one way or another. What codes/conventions of print interviews can you find in the article? There are the obvious and generic codes and conventions of a print interview, such as the names and titles of work and people, and also the fact that the article has many quotes from the main person being interviewed. How is narrative used to tell a story in each interview? Clue: what is it that keeps the reader interested in the article to the very end? The narrative of this interview is that Plan B talks about how he blames David Cameron for the London riots and generally feels upset that the London Riots happened. This is because he feels that the people in charge have a stereotypical and judgemental views towards young people and so the London riots gave them the opportunity to express these perspectives and reinforce these stereotypes. This in turn resulted in the deprived areas getting more deprived as their funding would get cut, which Plan B completely disagrees with. What synergy can you find between this text and the broadcast examples we have studied so far? The synergy is that the article talks about his upcoming film but also as NME is a music based magazine, it focuses on the soundtrack as well. Due to this the soundtrack is talked about in a bit more detail in terms of its style and genre and influences by Plan B.
Guardian interview
Identify the target audience (demographics/psychographics) for this magazine. How is that particular audience attracted? I think the article is targeted at a much more mature and middle class adults that would consider his work to be very serious and focus on his ideologies of the work rather than just the basic themes behind it. This demographic is easily presented through the article as it focuses and uses very complex and analytical language to thoroughly go through the work of Plan B. Does the article do more than just entertain? How? (Think of Uses and Gratifications theory) What audience pleasures does the article offer? Instead of the obvious aspect of entertaining it's audience, I think the article thoroughly goes through every aspect of the main focus of the interview. This is done expertly as it talks about Plan B's other works and talks about his inspirations and also the ideas behind the reasoning for his works. It generally has a very intellectual format and structure to it's writing. What codes/conventions of print interviews can you find in the article? There are the obvious and generic codes and conventions of a print interview, such as the names and titles of work and people, and also the fact that the article has many quotes from the main person being interviewed. How is narrative used to tell a story in each interview? Clue: what is it that keeps the reader interested in the article to the very end? The main narrative used in the article is the main focus of the interview, and that is Plan B. The article focuses purely on his life and his story, going from start to finish. This thorough analysis and breakdown of his personality and real life gives the audience a very clear insight of the main focus and lets us to easily relate with him. What synergy can you find between this text and the broadcast examples we have studied so far? There is a ton of synergy throughout the article, as the article has a very huge focus on the Plan B himself, especially his work as a musician and not just his work as a director. The article focuses on his previous albums and talks about them thoroughly as well as talking about and presenting the film and it's soundtrack.
Daily Mail review of Ill Manors
Identify the target audience (demographics/psychographics) for this magazine. How is that particular audience attracted? I think that the target audience for the Daily Mail article of Ill Manors would be focused more for a working class group. This is due to the very low level and conversational language used in the article in order to attract them and essentially make the article very simple and basic to read. This makes it easily accessible to pretty much every class or group of people. Does the article do more than just entertain? How? (Think of Uses and Gratifications theory) What audience pleasures does the article offer? I think it is mostly used to entertain the audience to a greater extent, as well as the fact that it tries to show the audience how terrible the film was. For this exact purpose, I think the article tries to crack jokes and parody the film in a way and generally makes fun of the film as if it was a joke and essentially makes their audience entertained. What codes/conventions of print interviews can you find in the article? The article is very unusual in the sense that it doesn't follow generic interview conventions, as there is no one being interviewed at all and it doesn't seem very professional as it quite literally just takes everything apart and treats the film as a comical object rather than a piece of work. How is narrative used to tell a story in each interview? Clue: what is it that keeps the reader interested in the article to the very end? There generally seems to be no narrative apart from the very obvious ongoing theme of ridicule and just breaking apart the entire film and making fun of it in a sort of comical manner. What synergy can you find between this text and the broadcast examples we have studied so far? There seems to be a little amount of synergy apart from the fact that during the review, there is use of the screenshots of the actual film and then the article talks about the use of Plan B's rapping as the soundtrack in the film. It finishes off with a trailer to the film, for the audience.
What are Plan B's beliefs/politics? What are his values/ideologies? Explain your answers. His beliefs are that in the media and also through the government, many young people and those from a very dysfunctional background are treated negatively. They have a very poor image in the media and are stereotyped quite a lot in every day society. He believes that this is not right at all and as such is consistently trying to challenge these stereotypes and making people see that there is a positivity rather than all the negative perspectives. He believes this passionately as he is someone who also went through the same experiences as young people with dysfunctional backgrounds as he was kicked out of school. He talks about the stereotyping around people living in estates and the word "chav" as he believes that this has a very negative image and stereotype which he tries to challenge regularly. Who is the target audience of the TEDx lecture? Demographics? Psychographics? How do you know? How does this compare to the audience for his music/films? The TEDx lecture is targeted at a young audience as well as the professional level audience. This is due to the fact that the content of the lecture focuses a lot on the lifestyle of young people and would very effectively attract them in order to check out his work and also watch the lecture, as he focuses more on the challenging stereotypes towards the youth especially in the media and the government. As he talks a lot about challenging the stereotypes of the media's perspective on young people, he would also be targeting the people that actually work in the media profession as he would intentionally be asking them to rethink their perspective and change their minds. He is trying to show everyone that the youth are not a negative group but there is a lot of positivity that should be focused on. I think this is relatively very similar to the audience of his music or film, as he consistently is trying to challenge stereotypes and make people see from a different perspective. What does Plan B say about the media? Explain how this can be linked to Cohen's media theory of moral panics? Read this summary of moral panics and the definition from Wikipedia and use them in your answer. Plan B talks about how the dominant ideology of the media is that the youth have a very negative and stereotypical representation, which creates a very bad image for them in the media. He believes that this is not correct and something that should be challenged. In terms of Cohen's theory of moral panic, it shows how many people consider the youth as "folk devils" as they threaten the interests of a prevailing society. This would be accurate as in Plan B's views, the youth would be threatening the society and the media would be trying to cause the moral panic in order to help society prevail.
What are the typical codes and conventions of film trailers - what information is usually provided? Some typical conventions of a trailer include
Institutional information, such as Actors/Director names or the production/studio company
The release date and maybe the release format
Action sequences or dramatic moments of the plotline to build up action codes or suspense
The title which is normally presented at the end
Voice over/ text on screen/ dialogue or narration to establish a narrative or character
Music or soundtrack, which are mostly non diegetic
Promotional information such as the film's website, a twitter hashtag or other social media links
Enigma codes
Narrative, the general dilemma or disequilibrium (Todorov's theory)
Characters are generally established (Propp's character theory)
Review, quotes, with maybe star ratings
Tagline
How are trailers distributed? Trailer's are mostly distributed online and through social media. They can also be distributed through film festivals or during the previews section of a movie screening. Specifically speaking, many "comic" related movies such as Marvel/DC will show their previews or trailers specially for people who go to Comic Cons. How does the Ill Manors trailer use trailer conventions?
There is reference to the institutional information of the studio company that made the film.
The release date, film title and other social media links are at the end of the trailer. The social media links help to create promotional information for the viewers.
The trailer uses non-diegetic but parallel background music which helps the audience to easily identify with the genre and narrative.
The trailer uses dialogue to establish a narrative
There are many action codes and enigma codes such as the punching and pointing of the gun.
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? Why? The target audience for the film is young adult from aged 15-25. It has the unique selling point in the sense that it is very focused on violence and graphic scenes to appeal to it's audience and also hook in the younger audience, especially considering the fact that their target gender is more focused on males rather than females. Many of the main stars are in fact visible and shown in the trailer however, they're over all plot line arc is not revealed so their appearance is very subtle, and generally the trailer does not give away the plot line of the film. It does however create a very general and generic idea of the film being about an urban gang warfare and how it is based around the under privileged of East London. There is a few parts of the beginning of the trailer that is about the director, it shows the logo of Plan B and shows his name after that. It also uses the soundtrack by Plan B which could give the audience an idea as to who the director is. There is also some information about the release date right at the end to let the audience know when it will be released. How has the genre of the film been represented through characters, settings, lighting, colour, music/dialogue, camera shots/movements/angles and editing? The genre of the film is represented through the different aspects of the film and focuses mainly on the fact that it is a crime drama set in East London. Many of the characters are perceived and shown with a very angry and violent personality, their appearances are also affected by their personality and regional area, as they wear hoodies or tracksuits which are stereotypical to the region of East London. This stereotype helps to accentuate the genre of the crime and urban drama set in London. The setting is absolutely crucial to this as it reinforces the genre especially the idea of it being an urban film. The colour of the film is generally using a darker theme than most generic film which is parallel to the entire theme of the plot line. The music is tense rapping which also is very parallel to not only the genre but also the plot line in the sense that is considered to be very "urban" and associated with gangs.
