Kick Ass

Kick Ass

Case Study Questions

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Working Title Synthesis

Working Title

Synthesis

                As we know Working Title are a production company based in London. They were founded in1983 by film producers Tom Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe. In 1991 it was involved in an unsuccessful franchise bid for ITV London, along with Mentorn, Palace and PlayGram. Following a year onto that, PolyGram, became Working Title’s new owner, and funded the company to expand upon the previous productions for which Working Title had made. During the takeover, Sarah Radclyffe decided to leave, and was soon replaced by (the then) unknown Eric Fellner. They immediately began work on their first hit production, Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). In 1999, PolyGram were then sold onto Universal Studies citing “big things” for the company, and were now allowed to produce a film of up to $25 million. They were now also able to call upon a wealth of experience over at the headquarters of Universal Studies in California. Since the takeover, Working Title has now gone onto produce many hit films such as Hot Fuzz, Love Actually, Jonny English, and Green Zone.

Influence of Ownership:

                There are various influences which an owner can have on a production, be it a multinational media giant such as Hollywood, or an individual such as Mark Herbert at Warp Films, any type of owner has a significant effect on the productions. For example, Mark Herbert of Warp films, produces many of their productions because he feels he has the right ideas to create a successful production. This is evident in the production from 2006 called ‘This is England’ where he, and director Shane Meadows created a successful film about the skin head culture of the 1980’s. Also at Working Title, their lead producer Eric Fellner is good friends with Hugh Grant. This has enabled Fellner & Bevan to include Hugh Grant into many of their productions, such as one of Working Title’s highest grossing film – Bridget Jones Diary (2001) which also starred Rene Zellweger. This would have been different in a film created before the take over, this is evident when Working Title produced ‘This is England’ because they have to use ‘untried’ or unknown actors, because they wouldn’t of been able to afford a big household name, so in ‘this Is England’ they used Tom Turgoose who had never performed in a film before, and was a rebel at school. Shane Meadows was quoted as saying “it was a risk worth taking”. However, when a film company, such as Working Title is owned by a media powerhouse such as Universal Studios, they can have a massive influence into their productions, this is because Universal provide the funding (aswell as a wealth of experience for WT to call upon) for Working Title’s productions, in return Working Title offer the rights for distributing the film (pre-sales), and Universal are also allowed to “have their say” in how the film is produced.

Advantages of Investment:

More of a budget available for your productions meaning you can incorporate new features into your production e.g. 3D technology, special effects, and new cameras such as silicon cameras etc.

The subsidiary of the two companies may be able to use the experience of the larger company e.g. Working Title asking Universal for advice etc.

Increased avenues for advertising the film, the parent company will help the subsidiary advertise the film because as they parent company will want the film to make as much as possible so that they can maximise the return on their investment.

Disadvantages of Investment:

If you have too many investors, it may result in conflicting ideas, and may disrupt the production

If the company has just one financial ‘backer’, they may decide to pull out, therefore ending the production

The investor(s) may try to have too much influence into the production, causing the producer & director to have less control

           

Working Title Timeline

Working Title Timeline

Essay - Impact of new technologies

Media

Representation of Race - Spooks

How is the representation of ethnicity constructed in this extract?

Within the two minute clip we watched from Spooks, it contained a scene of Danny’s death. There are various features included within it that help construct the representation of ethnicity.

The scene is set up in that Danny (spy) is tied to a chair alongside a woman (another spy), they are being interrogated by a Arab extremist (terrorist, who believes in the Holy War), who is dressed smartly in a dark suit, looks like a business man, speaks very good English. This man is guarded by another man standing by the door, this character is a stereotypical terrorist – dressed in all black and a balaclava, he is also holding an automatic firearm. Danny finds himself in a difficult situation in which he and his fellow spy are being held at gun-point by the terrorist. The terrorist looks of white skin colour, which I feel that this could be representing that whites are held in higher regard than black people, this is because Danny (who is black) finds himself inferior to the terrorist. The terrorist is also holding a phone, which is connected to (I think) Danny’s boss, the terrorist is asking which one he should kill, and the response from Danny’s boss is silent, which shows that he is being indecisive. So Danny decides to take the moral high ground, he first ‘plucks’ up the courage by talking to himself, he could be praying, Danny then confronts the terrorist, and states about evil etc, the terrorist replies, “and you know what my response would be?” and then shoots Danny. This results in two other people listening to the conversation via earpiece (could be at MI5 offices) being shocked .

During the scene we see various representations of ethnicity, evil vs bad, etc. One thing that stood out was that during the whole scene there were always contrasting colours during the images. For example, when Danny is in the chair, one half of the screen is light, and the other is dark. I feel that this is trying to enhance the separation of black & white. Another feature used during the scene was the excessive use of close up shots. The reason why I feel that these have been used is to show the emotions being portrayed by the worried spies. Also I feel that the use of close up shots maintains the tension, and reinforces the suspense during the scene. During the scene, we also notice that there is the sound of the call to prayer, and the drums. The reason why I feel that this has been used is to enforce the fact to the audience that this is a deathly scene, and that Danny is worried about the events to follow, and confirms our suspicions that Danny may have been praying when trying to get the courage to confront the terrorist. Finally, after Danny’s death, we notice that all the different shots shown have a added steak to the pictures. It could also be seen as beams of light (heavenly), which is giving us the message of holiness about the scene.

Targets for Essay

• Remember the focus on this section is the on the British Film Industry, you must use British examples

I used one example from Warp Films, however, I will need to study further examples from British Institutions to expand my knowledge of films that British institutions produces - so I can include other examples in my essays

• Examples must be used from your case study, Warp & Hollywood should be used as comparisons.

To improve grades for my essays, i could include examples from different institutions, British/American, I could also compare these, and relate them to the essay question.

• Always refer back to the question. In this case the impact on the film industry.
• Institutions & Audience is your main focus within any given question. you must discuss these two areas in which you have studied.
• Use the term audience as a substitute for people/you/us unless you are giving an opinion.
• Terminology is key, make use of the terms e.g. process, conglomerate etc.
• Detailed points and explain, not describe - PEE (Point, Evidence, Explain)

Representation of Race

Race

(Ethnicity)

Stereotypes of white people in the media

Stereotypes of black people in the media

-          Boring -          Sarcastic -          Law abiding -          Blonde – perfect women -          Drink alcohol – wine/beer -          Class structure – upper, middle, lower -          Stressed -          Trailer trash/hillbillies/white trash -          Educated -          Academic -          Eloquent -          Nerdy -          Uptight -          Stiff (upper lip) -          Stupid characters are usually white e.g. Neil from the Inbetweeners -          Usually play the ‘bad guy’ -          Bitchy -          Size zero -          Different hair colours -          White men can’t jump -          Can’t run fast -          Formal speech R.P – Received Pronunciation -          Dry humour

-          Big booty -          Big lips -          Gangs -          Rap -          Drugs -          Black people can’t swim -          Well hung -          Black character always dies -          Criminals -          Relaxed -          Power hungry – Robert Mugabe -          Cooler than white people -          More muscular -          Musical -          Rythmatic -          ‘black’ always mentioned in crime -          Slang lingo patois -          Loud, friendly, bubbly -          Swagger -          Attitude -          Terrible father -          Big noses -          Pimps -          Single parent families -          Religious -          Big families – small house -          Paired with disability -          Gospel -          Unusual names -          Loud laugh

Representation of Age

Young	Old
-          0-25, includes children, teenagers and young adults -          At 40 a politician is ‘young’, seen to lack experience	-          60-65+ -          At 40 a footballer is ‘old’ – most likely to have retired
Stereotypes
-          Lazy -          Anti social -          Gangs -          Chav -          Rude -          Noisy -          Druggies -          Outgoing -          Rely on others -          Immature -          Sexual -          Pregnancy -          Sub groups: -          Chav -          Emo -          Goth -          Townies -          Geeks -          Grebs -          Moody -          Crime -          Argumentative	-          Narrow minded -          Traditional -          Grumpy -          Disrespectful -          Unsociable -          Smell -          Deaf -          Hunched back -          Racist -          Stubborn – set in their ways -          Illness -          Awkward -          Hobbies -          Knitting -          Flat caps -          Community minded -          Wrinkly -          Old cat women

Audience Theory

Task One

1.       Do you think the audiences for most media texts do come “from all walks of life” or do different kinds of people watch very different kinds of programme? Are there any examples of media texts that you can think of that do seem to have audiences of all kinds of people?

Many different people watch different types of programs, for example, a young child is more likely to watch programs on the Cbeebies channel, rather than the Discovery channel. Whereas adults are more likely to watch action programs/films such as Die Hard, rather than watching animated programs such as Teletubies.

However, there are various programs in which any type of audience within the marquee theory (Old, Young, Male & Female) such as News programs (however there is a special news program dedicated to the younger viewers – Newsround) also many tv soaps such as Coronation Street, and Eastenders can be viewed by all audiences, but different ages will interpret the action in different ways.

2.       How much of your media experience occurs when you are on your own and how much when you are with others? 

Many media experiences occur when you are with others. However, from my own experiences I feel that you are more passive whilst watching the content alone. This is because you are more likely to focus on the program/film. On the contrary, when you are watching films/programs whilst in the company of other people you don’t tend to focus on the content of the program, as you may be easily distracted by other people. Also, you maybe more likely to channel flick, because you may not all be able to decide on a program to watch, due to conflicting interests.

3.       Are there any ways in which you share your experiences of the media with other people who weren’t around when you experienced the text? List as many ways as you share experiences (e.g. Msn etc)

-          Conversation

-          Internet social networking sites:

o   Facebook

o   Twitter

o   Msn

o   etc

-          Phone calls

-          SMS messaging

Task Two

1.       Can you think of any examples where the media have been seen to influence public behaviour or have been blamed for an individuals behaviour? 

There is at least one example of where the media have influenced the behaviour of viewers is Manhunt. Manhunt was a video game released in 2003, and was soon discontinued due to the controversy with it surrounding the death of Stefan Pakeerah. As it was claimed that the graphic images of executions influenced Warren Leblanc to commit the murder of his ‘friend’.

2.       Is this influence always negative?


No, many programs or films have a positive influence, be it from encouraging people to cook through masterchef, or some programs also include a positive message, for example, in Russell Howards good news, there is a good news section at the end of the program, where he states that, "it isnt all doom and gloom".


 

Task 4

Place the following genres into their correct category.

Information	Identity	Social Interaction	Diversion
The News Horizon Escape To The Country	X Factor Cribs	EastEnders Hollyoaks The Bill Friends Life On Mars Coronation Street House	Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Qi I’m A Celebrity

Which of the above programmes might be guilty of employing the ‘Hypodermic Model’ and which therefore might also reflect Blumer’s views on audience?

The type of programmes which would be guilty of the Hypodermic Model would be social interaction programmes, such as Eastenders, The Bill etc. This is because many people become passive when watching these types of programmes, and tend to absorb the action. Another sign that programmes use the hypodermic model is that at the end of some programmes, there is a message informing the audience to contact the help line if they have been affected by what has happening within the programme.

Task 5

Look at the opening of ‘Nanny McPhee’. Think about the way the text has been constructed through the use of codes. What has been encoded for the audience to decode?

Many films are coded in different ways. What this means is that a film is produced to portray one message, and the audience interprets in another way. However this can change depending on the age of the audience, for example an adult is more likely to understand the action of the film, whereas a child would interpret in another way. In the case of Nanny McPhee, children will look at the film as a comedy/horror, with the case of a nasty carer, whereas the more mature audience are more likely to look at the film as a comedy, as they will understand that the storyline is not real.