How does Essex Boys use British signifiers and thriller technique to establish the audience expectations?

The first scene in the film is set in a dark, run down garage. This uses the technique of building up an audience's expectation of a thriller theme. The dark lighting and use of cobwebs also adds to this affect. The bright harsh lighting outside contrasts with the darkness in the garage which could also suggest a contrast in good and evil, implying that he has a good and bad side. This brings out an anti-hero character which is commonly used to film noirs. Essex Boys uses many film noir or neo-noir techniques - for example, the greyness and dullness of the film - to portray the theme of thriller and crime.

This is the first time we see Jason, and the fact that there is a blinding white harsh light behind him creates a sense of deception which is often used for thrillers. The way he is standing as if he has appeared from the light could suggests that he is a good guy as it gives a halo affect, which we soon find out isn't true.  Also the bright yellow shirt, and long black leather jacket contrast against eachother to build on the deception of the film. His outfit shows a classic eastend ganster's style, which signifies the Essex theme, and establishes to the audience what type of people they will expect to see throughout the film.

The darkness surrounding the tunnel suggests that there is only one way to go, and there is no way of Billy getting out of it. The use of claustrophobic space is used in the tunnel, and is often used in thrillers to create a sense of panic as there is no way out. The green light that appears through the tunnel represents evil, and gives the audience a clue to expect from the film.

This view of Billy and Jason through the wind screen includes long white bars of light overlapping the image. They could represent a prison, suggesting that they are behind the prison bars. This gives the audience a clue to what may happen during the film, implying that Billy, or Billy and Jason perhaps will end up arrested. The darkness in this scene, again builds on the thriller as it creates a sinister feeling. The lights outside suggest that all the goodness is trapped outside of the car.

  When they arrive at the fish market, Jason immediately begins beating up another man. This brings out the theme of crime into the film, and gives the audience an idea of what the thriller is about. The fact that they are surrounded by dead fish could bring comedy into the film for some types of audience. This also sets the scene of a typically English working area.

This shot shows the view from Billy who is in the white van. It shows how we are seeing everything from his point of view; therefore we begin to relate to him. Also the voice over adds to this affect as Billy becomes the male protagonist character, which is commonly used in thrillers or film noirs. The fast that Jason always seems to be higher up during the fight suggests that he is the type of character that is always violent and in control.

This long shot of the English beach indicates the English landscape, and the dull, grey darkness of the clouds signifies the typical view on English weather. The dullness also adds to the negative feel of the scene, as they have just dropped of the beaten up man in the middle of nowhere. This shot contains a view of the white van in the background. A white van is a classic vehicle that creates a untrustworthy atmosphere. The fact that the man is so small that you can hardly see him, suggests that he is completely insignificant in the film.

Explanation Of Neo-noir

Neo-noir is a term given to the modern type film noir. Neo-noir uses updated elements of film such as themes, content, style, visual elements. Film noir was created in the 1940s period unlike Neo-noir which is much more recent. Neo-noir normally uses colour rather than black and white, but still uses the aspects of film noir including urban cities, costumes, crime and the use of props and shadows. Film noirs usually tended to use more camera movement, and tracking shots and close ups. The film noir genre generally refers to mystery and crime dramas. Films of this genre feature stories involving femmes fatales, doomed heroes or anti-heroes, and detectives. The neo-noir genre refers to crime dramas and mysteries produced from the mid-1960s to the present. They do not always include the visual style of classic film noir but often use the themes and plots made famous by the film noir genre.

An example of a neo-noir film is China Town. It was filmed in 1974 and is in colour. It uses classic film noir aspects, including a femme fatale character, a protagonist character, deception and murder. The film also uses shadows and chiaroscuro lighting. A common aspect of neo noir is the use of venetian blinds. China Town uses this to create lighting in an office to represent the contrast of good outside the office, and the evil that is lurking inside.

Film Noir Conventions

Film noir

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Media Questionairre

Year 12 Media Studies Student Questionnaire

Hattie Setford

GCSE Results:
Maths – A
Additional Maths – A
Statistics – B
English Language – A
English Literature – B
Science – B
Additional Science – B
French - A
Art - B
Drama - C
ICT - A
RE - C

My hobbies include things like listening to music, being with friends, learning the guitar, photography, camping, taking videos, and generally just being out and about.

MEDIA INTERESTS

Print Media
What newspapers do you read/dip into and why?
I often read the ‘What’s on TV’ magazine to check the daily TV schedules, and also to read Horoscopes sometimes. Also I occasionally like to read magazines like, Look or OK magazine and sometimes music magazines. For example, Kerrang or NME as it has a lot of news and information about old and new bands and types of music.

Radio Media
If I listen to the radio I normally listen to Radio 1 which provides entertainment and news. But if I just like to listen to music I will sometimes listen to other such as Heart or Kiss.

Music Industry
- My favourite types of music are Pop, Indie, Rock, Acoustic etc. I generally like most types of music. I listen to music every day as it usually helps me to express my feelings and couldn't imagine living without it.
- I am not officially in a ‘band’ but I am learning guitar and occasionally get together with my sister and friend to play.
- Yes, when I listen to music on the internet it is normally via Youtube.
- In my opinion, I think that downloading music from the internet shouldn’t really be illegal as most people are doing it anyway. However I can understand why it is not right to get free music from internet sites.
- A lot of people’s dress sense is inspired by the type of music they listen to, maybe because of the way the artists they listen to/watch dress. Music can also affect someone aspirations to play music, dance, etc. Also music can strongly affect someone’s attitude as the songs they may listen to have so much meaning or emotion.

Video Games

I don’t really have a favourite video game, as I hardly ever play them.

Video games can have negatives affects. Games that involve men running around shooting or beating each other up obviously is a bad influence, in the sense that young children may start to see the video game as reality, and think that it is reasonable to act this way.

New Technology

In a way I think that new technologies possibly could have increased my understanding of the world through internet. It definitely is a good way of learning about anything and everything you want around the world, in just a few seconds. It has helped me to understand things that I am not sure of. Technologies have definitely have increased my ability to communicate with others. It is quick and easy now to get hold of someone, either through Mobiles phones, Instant Messaging or Social networking sites. Also it has increased my access to music, through sites such as Youtube, MySpace, etc. which is a great way of hearing about new music. And occasionally I can catch up on TV programmes that I have missed. Finally, it is easier - with such great and new technology - to be able to create your own media texts, in many different ways.

Television

- I have many favourite television channels, such as: channel 4, E4, BBC 1, and all the music channels on Sky. These are the main channels that I usually watch as they provide most of the things that I find interesting.

- My favourite television genre is probably Comedy, because it creates humour out of everyday situations, and is always interesting to watch in my opinion.

- A definite programme that I find memorable and always will is Friends. I used to watch it when it was first showing on TV and still watch the repeats that are years old. I think it is a programme that most people enjoy and will always remember. Also, because some Soaps like Eastenders and Coronation Street have been going on for years, I think this is a big factor that will make them forever memorable.

Feature Film

- Similar to TV, I enjoy comedy films as they are very easy to watch and laugh to. I also like to watch Romance films and chick flicks as they are stories that are very realistic and can sometimes relate to.
- There are a large amount of films that I love. And the one that I immediately think to be outstanding is Avatar as it was one the good recent films that I have seen. I think that the new technology and skills used were very well done and so was the storyline. Another film is The Parent Trap. I think it has an excellent storyline, and I think that the way they put it together so that it looked as if they were twins instead of just one actor was outstanding. It is definitely a film that I will always enjoy. One other film out of many that I also love is Bend It Like Beckham. I think that the way they portray different religion and culture helps the audience to understand it more. Also the A-list actors/actresses make the film more successful.
- I prefer to consume films at the cinema than anything else. I think that it is definitely the best way to experience a film as it has a very large screen and there is nothing to distract you.
- When going to the cinema I normally go to Vue, as it is nearer and easy to get to. Although I prefer the Odeon as it is bigger, more comfortable and seems to be very reliable.
- I generally to prefer watching films with other people rather than on my own, as it allows the group to share opinions about the film and I find it easier to connect and laugh along if I am with friends or family.

Are you a media producer?

- I wouldn’t consider myself much of a media producer as I haven’t had much experience yet. However I do own a video camera and enjoy putting videos, pictures and music together on Movie Maker, and I am looking forward to learning more about media producing.






Conclusion

An example of the interesting things I heard in the news not too long ago was that Primark was getting some of their clothes from young children workers. It was said that the children were working in very poor conditions and were paid very little. I thought this was interesting to know as there are millions of people who shop in Primark every day, and it makes me wonder how many of those people think about where the clothes they buy are coming from. Or is it just they don’t have much choice as they cannot afford many other shops? I think that the media in many ways helps to portray how much suffering there is in the world.
I wouldn’t be able to pin point any particular media text that has offended me personally, but I know that there is a lot out there. For example the discrimination towards certain culture and race, the violence that goes on in the world because of war, and the way that women are sometimes portrayed in adverts of music videos.
I wouldn’t say there is a media text that has altered by overall opinion of the world, but there is a lot out there that is able to change people’s opinion’s of things. For example, the last general election was one of the first times I really paid much attention to it. I watched some of the debates on television and realised how certain people can have completely different views and opinions, and how much of a responsibility the government has.
I think that if I was asked to construct a media text I would prefer to do it by developing a short film or music video. I wouldn’t be sure on what message to communicate, but the fact that most of the messages given out are normally negative, I would quite enjoy to focus on the more positive side of things. For example, I might choose to make a short film on the things that are good about my community and country.
I have chosen Media studies as an option because I would like to learn more about the world of media and how everything works. Also I am interesting in films and making films or music videos.

Industrial Process of Love Actually

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How does the opening of Sin City use film noir conventions to establish themes and audience expectations?

The first shot fades in from black and starts very slowly. This creates a mysterious atmosphere which straight away gives the audience an expectation of a crime or thriller theme. Also the sound of the everyday city traffic immediately sets the scene to form a classic urban city film noir location. This long shot contains a view of the city full of large buildings which makes the woman in the red dress seem insignificant but at the same time begins to create a femme fatal character because the colour of her dress stands out from the film noir setting.

This is the second shot of the opening which introduces the male character. The fact that he is stepping out of the shadows creates the theme of moral ambiguity. In film noir the use of shadows helps to portray this theme. Both the characters have parts of light and dark on their faces to show chiaroscuro lighting which portrays a good and evil side. This also brings out the theme of deception because the truth of the characters is being hidden from the audience.

This over-shoulder shot also shows the chiaroscuro effect on the woman’s face and the fact the camera has moved in closer might make the audience start to expect something more as it makes the scene become more emotional. The man in this shot is about the same size of the tall building which may suggest he now has authority over the woman who is shorter than him in this shot.

The green in her eyes in this close up shot suggests that there is sometimes more to her lurking beneath the surface. It makes the audience gain expectations and has them waiting for the outcome. 

This is another long shot where the colours have been inverted so that the black and white are opposites. The shot has also been given a cartoon affect to bring out a 1930s comic theme. This shot makes the audience believe that these too close and in love, so brings out the theme of deception.

The camera angle then changes back to a close up of the two of them, which adds to the deception as it hides what is truly happening. In this shot the man unexpectedly shoots the woman and at this point a bright white background flickers across the screen, which is made to shock the audience. It also suddenly brings out the theme of murder for the first time in the scene. It shows hardly any light left on his face which suggests his evil side has taken over. He is holding her with an emotional expression to show that he feels guilty and doesn’t like what he has done.

 

This last shot of the scene has the camera zooming right out to eventually show thousands of dark tall buildings. It gives the effect that the audience are now looking down on the two of them to show how they are insignificant and vulnerable compared to the rest of the city.