Character Profile- Sarah

First Name: Sarah
Surname: Shaw
Age: 17
Occupation: Sixth form

Background

Sarah was brought up by her mum and dad in Moss Side, Manchester and worked hard in order to try and have a better life than both her parents who both had a tough upbringing. However, her relationship with her parents wasnt always great with many arguments and fights. Both her parents were alcoholics and after having a drink they would often become violent. At the age of 8 she was taken into care as her parents werent capable of bringing her up in a safe environment.

At the age of 10 she was adopted by a couple and raised her with love and care unlike her real parents. As a result of being well looked after by her new family, she did very well at school, getting straight A's at GCSE. She then went on to do her A- Levels.

Sarah moved from Yorkshire, where she had been living with her new parents, to go to Sixth form in Manchester. She wanted to move back to the area where she grew up as she thought she could forget about all the bad memories she faced in the past.

During her time at sixth form she becomes very close to Shaun who has experienced very similar situations to what Sarah went through. She gets closer to Shaun and she wants to help him like her adopted parents helped her as she feels it is best for Shaun and herself.

Character Profile- Dealer

Name: unknown
Codename: Dealer
Age: 19
Occupation: Drug gang leader

Background

The dealer was brought up by his mother after his father was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of murder. In his local area he is well known for his actions of dealing drugs and getting into trouble. He has never seen his father as he was sent to prison before he was born and his mother didnt allow him to see his father in prison as she didnt want him to be influenced by what she thought was a criminal. His mother had a tough time trying to bring him up as a child as he was known for getting into trouble with the police.

At an early age he was caught shoplifting and ever after he continued to commit crimes and get into trouble with the police. As he became well known he began hanging around with the wrong people and began working with a drug dealer, selling drugs in school and outside of school. However, one day his boss was arrested and he became the new gang leader, taking over the main role of supplying drugs for people to sell, becoming ever increasingly popular in the local area.

At the time drugs in the local area werent a massive thing until the dealer began selling more unknown drugs and after a while he recruits a new member to the group, the main character Shaun, who begins to sell drugs he has supplied to sixth form students.

The Dealer is a character you wouldnt want to get the wrong side of as he will punish you if you dont do what he wants. He is dangerous and thats why he is successful at being a dealer, as people respect him otherwise they are beaten up.

Character Profile- Shaun

First name: Shaun
Surname: Smith
Age: 17
Occupation: Sixth form

Background

Our main character is called Shaun and he lives with his mum and dad in Manchester. Like most families, they would often argue but would always spend quality time together. Shaun enjoyed his upbringing and loved his family.

Growing up he was always a popular person amongst his friends and would often be socialising. He was always very hard working and this showed in his results at school. He had a large group of friends, however, when his mum died.

His mother was killed in a car accident. This had such a negative impact on Shaun and after the funeral his dad was drinking again. As Shaun tried to help him they ended up fighting and arguing. This affected their relationship and they no longer spoke to each other. Shaun was no longer the same person after this.

As a result of no guidance from his dad, he began doing things he shouldn't have. He was amongst a bad crowd at school and began taking and dealing drugs with a local dealer. We see how Shaun gets into bad situations but could there be light at the end of the tunnel for Shaun?

Character Profile- Dad

Name: John
Surname: Smith
Age: 49
Occupation: Warehouse worker
Windowed

Background

John is the father of Shaun and he lived an ordinary lifestyle and was happily married. He had a good job which provided for his family. John as a child had a tough upbringing in rough areas of Manchester and he didnt want Shaun to grow up surrounded by violence and drugs.

They moved to the suburbs of Manchester and John continued in his role at work. Shaun was doing well at school, getting good grades and not getting into trouble. Everything was looking good for the family and Shaun was expected to do well in his GCSEs.

However, things began to change and John was beginning to notice that Shaun was being his normal self. He was staying out late at night and began smoking and when John spoke to him to try and help him, Shaun got very angry and caused a lot of stress between the two. This came at a bad time as shortly after his wife died.

John began drinking heavily to try and take his mind of the death of his wife and became quite violent, ruining any relationship between him and his son. He lost his job and any money he had was being spent of drink, providing no support for Shaun. This resulted in Shaun becoming something his father didnt want him to become.

Costume Research

Ive looked at some British film dramas so that I have an understanding of the costumes used within the films. However, the majority of the film dramas dont have teenage characters who are still in school. Therefore, some of the costumes that we use will go against typical British film drama conventions. Within most of the films I have looked at, the typical costume has been either tracksuit or jeans and a hoodie.


This is an image of Renton from Trainspotting in the opening sequence of the film trailer. As you can see he is wearing jeans, a top and a jacket, with what looks to be a hoodie wrapped around his waist. This style makes him look like a regular person walking the street, however he is not dressed smart and formal, which is evident in the films I have looked at.

This is an image of the characters from the film The Firm, which is to do with football hooliganism. As you can see the characters are dressed very casually and one of the characters is in a full tracksuit. The use of a tracksuit highlights that they get into trouble and it represents a sense of a gang. The others are wearing jeans and a tracksuit coat with trainers suggesting they dont have lots of money to buy more formal clothing.



This is an image of the characters from The Football Factory. The characters are wearing jeans and jackets with trainers. They are all dressed very similar as it highlights their unity as a gang. In addition, they are about to create violence so they are not going to be dressed smartly. Finally, some of the characters are wearing baseball caps to hide their identity.


However, in our film trailer we will be filming scenes within school, as our characters will be dealing drugs in school. Therefore, these characters will have to wear suits as they are sixth form students. This will go against typical costume conventions, but will highlight how different these characters are in school and outside school.

Font Research

I have been looking at various British films and have been looking at the different fonts they use for their film titles. Font will not only be important for our film trailer but for both our ancillary tasks as well, the poster and the magazine cover.

This font is from the Trainspotting, which was a successful British comedy crime drama. The font used is very simple, however does stand out. The title used is a white font on an orange background which stands out due to the contrasting colours. The font is just ordinary text and not in capitalised like most title fonts used.

This is font of the film The Football Factory, which is a British film drama about football violence. This font is bold, capitalised and in white font to make it stand out against the red background. The font has lines it and is not joined together properly which could signify broken bones due to all violence within the film.

This font is of the film The Firm, a 2009 British film drama about football hooliganism. The font used is bold and is all in lower case writing. However, the font used is similar to bubble writing. The blue font is a masculine colour relating to the story. It stands out against the white background.

Production Schedule

Lighting and Props Research

Group Roles

As a group we have decided that each member should do their own individual research on areas that will make up our film trailer.

Me: Lighting and Props
Chris: Camera shots and editing
Sam: Location and costume

I will be looking at the most common lighting and props used in British Drama films so that I can feedback my knowledge to the group and so we can include in our film trailer. I will create a presentation to show my research and post it on my Blog.

Location Moodboard

Finished Narrative

The main character is a 17 year old male who attends his local high school to study for A levels. However he leads a troubled life as early in his teenage life his mum died, driving his dad to alcoholism and an abusive relationship between father and son. They would constantly argue and bicker over the drinking and most issues that faced them, the petty arguments eventually led to physical confrontations that would ensue whenever the main characters father would drink heavily and as the months passed on this became every night.

Originally Shaun was an A grade, punctual and attentive student at school. He had a large group of close fiends with similar but also different interests to himself which complimented his ability to communicate with anyone no matter what background they had and this made him a very likeable character. It was unlike Shaun to get into trouble for anything with anyone, always did what he was told and finished classwork and homework on time with the occasional late hand in. He and three of his friends were very active together going to the GYM most of the days of the week and playing football on the weekends which kept him healthy and got him away from problems at home.

The characteristics that his father has past on only become prevalent later in the plot of the film. Before this the character starts hanging around with a friend he has met through his other close friends and he soon realises that this persons has different pass times than he and his normal group of friends do. This person introduces the main character to smoking cigarettes at first ,which is unhealthy but not too bad but as the weeks go by this escalates to harder drugs and getting up to criminal activities such as theft. He does these things to get money to purchase the harder drugs as he cannot hold down a part time job with the constant absences and going in late he gets fired from most of them.

Because of his regular drug use our character developed a working relationship with the dealer and began to sell drugs for him at school discretely as a way of making money to pay for necessities at home and personal items as his dad was still absorbed in alcoholism and spending the majority of money on himself. Despite the characters lifestyle he still managed to get 7 A-C grades at GCSE securing himself a place at his schools sixth form. Unlike the other students his priority wasn't to get the grades he needs for a better life but to keep him self close to his regular customers. By now he had developed enough trust to start selling harder drugs to his customers and was entrusted with introducing them to cocaine. This brought him an increased income, but his "mates" from high school who failed their GCSE's were stuck as runners, delivering drugs to houses that had ordered from the the dealer. They become jealous and begin to harass the character questioning him why he was abandoning them when they were the ones that made his "success" possible. This leads to a fist fight between the main character and his best mate that would also have a strong narrative within the early film to establish him as a character, but the main character ends up winning the fight and the mates split up with a sour taste lingering in their mouth.

As the weeks progress the main character becomes friendly with a girl who is new to the sixth form and doesn't know about his life and so as they begin to talk after sitting next to each other in a class, they begin to fall for each other. As they begin to date the main character opens up about his life and instead of her abandoning him like he expected she stays and helps him to turn his life around. Our main character begins to study for his subjects and gradually starts to move away from the life of a drug dealer eventually cutting ties with the dealer and his associates to go straight. He even begins to try and reconnect with his dad despite him still being a drunk, but years had passed since his mother death and their physical fights had decreased once the protagonist could fight back. they began to talk and slowly rebuild the relationship they had lost.

Around two months pass without the dealer having any contact with the main character and so he sends one of his enforcers to check out the situation by sending him to his house to ensure that he doesn't tell anyone about what he knows. The enforcer finds the house and knocks on the door. The protagonist opens it and immediately recognises the enforcer as one of the dealers people and tells him he is no longer under his employment as he can better himself through lawful means. The enforcer reacts by threatening the protagonist in order to ensure his silence, threatening him and his dad. Although the protagonist had been clean for two months and no longer associated himself with his criminal contacts he still had the mentality that had been drilled into in recent years. To not take threats and respond with violence. He grabs an empty beer bottle his dad had left by the door and glasses the enforcer over the head cutting him deeply. Surprised the enforcer recoils back in pain and the protagonist puts the broken bottle against his throat and tells him if any of his men come back he will do permanent damage to them. Clutching his head the enforcer runs off to inform the dealer of the confrontation and the protagonists words.

After hearing about the confrontation at the protagonists house the dealer decides that the protagonists knows too much about his operation and needs to be silenced. He orders a hit on the protagonist and tells his old friend to do it to make it more personal for the protagonist glassing his enforcer.

The friend knew where the protagonist lived and the route he took to and from school. He gets two of his other mates to help him ambush the protagonist on his way to sixth form and decides that the side street by the river is the best place to do so. They make there way to the spot the next day and he orders his two mates to sit on a wall and chill for a a bit whilst he took position in a hiding spot. When the protagonist arrived he would spring his ambush.


Unaware the protagonist walks down the passage holding his folders when he spots the two the two teenagers sitting talking by the wall and recognises them as the enforcers runners. He decides to walk past them to show them he isn't afraid of the dealer or his threats when both of them stand up and block his path. Before the protagonist can react his old fiend jumps out from hiding holding a knife and hearing him come up behind him the protagonist turns around to see his attacker as he plunges the knife into his stomach. The two lock eyes and pause for seconds that feel like hours before the attacker twists the knife and pulls it out and the group run off in multiple directions. The protagonist falls against the wall and holds onto his wound. His breathing raspy and his body cold he looks down at his wound and sees nothing but bright red. Looking up at the sky the thinks of the past few months and how he was changing his life around for the better and the girl who made it possible. He smiles as he thinks of her and looks once more at his wound. Despite what has happened, he wouldn't have changed  his decision to go straight he thought as he looked up once more. They were the best two months he had had in years and he was happy that he had tried his hardest to fix his his life. He smiles an even wider smile. Then he's gone.

Storyboard

In the lesson we have created a storyboard to follow when we begin our filming. It shows how we plan to film the shot and includes information about the camera shots and editing.

 

Film Narrative

We have decided that we are going to use a combination of Chris' and Sams narrative as our final idea. As a group we looked at each of our film ideas and tried to see which would be most suitable and relatable to our genre. We are going to create a storyboard taking into consideration both narratives in order to create one film trailer. We chose both Sams and Chris' film narratives as we felt the structure and the detail was there in order to be able to create a successful film trailer.

Production Company- Film4 Productions

Film 4 Productions is a British TV channel owned by Channel 4, which shows films, usually low budget British films. Film 4 Productions is not known for showing huge, popular films or blockbusters, but tends to show in house films which include many British actors. Film 4 Productions is a successful production company and we think it would be best suited for our film trailer as our film has been produced on a low budget and is going to be watched by a very niche audience. Film 4 Productions has released a lot of films that many have not heard of or are not regarded as huge films. These include; Fever Pitch, Mr Turner and 12 years a slave.

Narrative moodboard

BBFC Rating

The BBFC is an organisation that provides ratings to pieces of media so that it can be watched by people of the appropriate ages. The rating is a legal requirement meaning you have to be of the correct age in order to buy or watch a film.

There are seven different classifications as follows:

• Universal- Suitable for audiences aged four or over set within a positive framework. 
• Parental guidance- Should not unsettle a child aged eight or over.
• 12A- No one younger than 12 can watch a 12 A without an adult.
• 12- Not suitable for children aged below 12.
• 15- There may be strong language and sexual activity may be portrayed.
• 18
• R18-The R18 category is a special and legally-restricted classification primarily for explicit works of consenting sex or strong fetish material involving adults.

Our film rating:

As a group we have decided to make our film an 15 as our film is going to involve strong language and we will be relating to drug dealing. However, we think our film will still attract a slightly younger age group like a lot of 15 rated films. However, we dont intend to use inappropriate language or images within our film poster. 

Film Posters

Different films use film posters in order to advertise their film which is soon to come out. A film poster will include lots of information regarding the film, for example, the name of the film, release dates, actors and BBFC rating. It can also include different reviews from magazines or articles. All this information and the poster itself is used to create hype and to get people talking about the release of the new film. Through film posters we can get an understanding for the genre of the film and who the film will be targeted at.

Different types of posters: 

The teaser poster: A teaser poster is the initial poster used to grab your attention and to get the audience interested in the film. It doesn't often contain lots of information, but usually contains an image of the main character and the title of the film.

The main poster: The main poster includes most information about the film, including, actors, producers, distributors, release date and BBFC rating.

Video/DVD release poster: This poster is released just before the film is going to be released on DVD. The poster often contains most of the information included in the main poster, however, usually contains a review of the film from a publication.

Character poster: The character poster will include an image of either the main character or a group of main characters that feature throughout the film.

Magazine Analysis

Magazine Analysis

Magazine Analysis

My Narrative Idea- The Journey

• A teenager, the age of 17 has been raised by his single mum on a council estate, finds himself getting into many fights at school and into a lot of trouble with his teachers.
• One day he is involved in a fight, in which he is beaten up and hurt badly.
• After being discharged from hospital with minor head injuries, he realises he has to find away of controlling his anger in school.
• His mother wants him to turn his life around and that is exactly what he does.
• He visits the local gym where he decides he is going to get stronger, fitter and focus upon the sport he loves boxing.
• At school he is being bullied by the same person who beat him up, but he is struggling to deal with it and his only way out is through boxing.
• As he continues to train he gets better and better and discovers a true talent for boxing.
• However, he still getting bullied and wants to do something about it, however doesn't tell his teacher.
• Through boxing he has learnt true respect and has beginning to do really well at school.
• One day he enters a local boxing match, his opponent is the bully.
• Before the fight, the bully is still bullying the guy.
• However, the guy beats the bully begins to respect him.
• It all ends in happiness and they become friends.

Parent consent letter

The parent consent letter is for parents to sign if we intend to use their son or daughter as part of our focus group research, also informing them that our focus group video will be uploaded to our blog.

Focus Group Consent Form

In order to complete our focus group we needed to get all the peoples consent in order for us to be able to film and so that they knew we would be using the information gathered and be putting it on our blog.

Focus Group Feedback

After completing the focus group we gathered all our information and feedback that we received from the group members and we are going to take it all into consideration when we come to filming and producing our trailer. Overall, the focus group was successful and very helpful, allowing us to gain an insight into what are target audience like about our chosen genre and what they would like to see in order to make it unique. So what information did we receive from our focus group?

• Firstly, we received differing opinions on whether or not the narrative should focus on one main character or have a group of characters like in This is England. Some members of the group thought it was best to have a group narrative because if you have one main character, you soon know what he's about and can easily predict what he is going to do. Whereas with a group of characters you never know what could happen next and you are always learning new things about the different characters. However, some believed that a single main character was a better idea as it allows you to build a personal rapport with that character, so you feel more emotionally engaged in the story, for example the film Bronson just focusses solely on Charles Bronson.
• Furthermore, we noticed that the female members of our focus group didn't particularly like the way female characters were portrayed in the way they had little clothes on and were mainly sexual objects instead of women. Female characters are important in order to widen our target audience, however, I think we will only attract a female audience if they play a more significant role, instead of just being objectified. 
• Moreover, when we showed the different trailers to our focus group we discovered that they preferred their trailers not in chronological order as they thought it is much easier to predict what's going to happen when it is in order. They said they would prefer it not to be in chronological order so that it keeps them guessing, not knowing what might happen next. This is England uses a chronological trailer and so the member of the focus group could see what was going to happen at different stages of the film, whereas the film Legend is set in non chronological order making hit harder to predict and doesn't ruin the story.
• We showed our focus group two different British Drama films. This is England has a more relatable story line and narrative to what the audience are used to. On the other hand, Legend is not realistic and is not everyday occurrence. However, the group said they prefer to watch a film which isn't relatable to their every day lives and would watch something which is different and more exciting in order to follow the narrative more closely. 
• Finally, we wanted to have some feedback on the music that we should use. We have noticed that most trailers use music from the decade the film was set in. We got some good ideas, with some people saying that they prefer the music to match the on screen actions, whether that be an upbeat tempo for excitement or a slower tempo for a more depressing image. 

Editing our Focus Group

Chris and I

After completing the focus group we had to edit it in order for all the mistakes to be cut out and the time between the group watching a trailer and us asking a question to be filled with a transition. Chris and I began by uploading the video onto the Mac computers before we began to look for mistakes. When we found mistakes we cut them in order to get rid off them before Sam took over and added flash transitions in between the group watching the trailers so that there wasn't a massive gap between discussion. This made it look more professional as the trailer than began to flow and looked like there was continuous discussion and feedback. To finish, Chris made a few adjustments to the font and after that we had done our editing and it was ready for it to be uploaded.

Sam and Chris

Focus Group

Today we completed our focus group in order to gain an understanding of what people enjoy about British Film drama and their opinion on how we could make a successful product. I am going to do some analysis of the feedback and what information we gathered in a separate post.

We began our focus group by telling people what genre we were planning our trailer on and the typical conventions you would associate with this particular genre, asking for their opinions as we went through a powerpoint Sam had produced. We then shared a few examples of films that are categorised as British drama and asked whether or not they had seen any of them and if so were they successful and would you watch a film of that style again. We had a lot of really useful feedback and most people had seen the example films we mentioned, having lots of positives to say about them.

We then showed the members of our focus group three film trailers, Bronson, Legend and This is England. After watching each trailer we asked for what they thought was successful about the trailer, along with what they didn't like so we knew how we could make ours different and suitable for our target audience of 15-25 years. From this we got a lot of feedback, which has given us an insight into what we need to include and what not to include.

After watching the film trailers we had three important questions that we wanted feedback on to help us structure our film trailer. Our first question was whether the audience would prefer a group or single narrative. For example, Bronson is very much a single narrative focussing on the one main character. However, some films use more of a group dynamic, for example, This is England in which the story looks at more than one character in detail. In addition, we then wanted the groups opinion on a name for the film. We gave them a couple of our ideas, "Young Breed" and " Street Life" in which we got some useful feedback on. Finally, we wanted ideas on the genre of music that we should use. We noticed that many of the British Drama films are set further back in time and that the music they use tends to be from that time period. We wanted to know whether we should use modern music or a track from the past.

Overall, the focus group was a very useful and important task in order for us to see what our target audience like and dislike about this genre and changes that we could make to the ideas we came up with.

Focus Group presentation

Focus Group Ideas

We have decided to hold a focus group with students 15 and over. Our film is likely to be 15 rated as it will contain strong language and there will be a lot of drug abuse involved. The focus group will give us an indication into what people of this age like about British Drama films and how we can create a film trailer that gets people talking about how good the film is. We have produced a consent form for all members of our focus group to sign as we are going to film it and it will be put on our Blogs.

Audience Profile

Todorov Narrative Theory

I decided to do some narrative research to see the typical conventions of narrative structure and to see how we could link this to our film trailer.

Todorov's theory suggests that most plots follow a similar pattern and he demonstrates this by breaking down a storyline into five main steps. These steps are as follows:

1: The first step is known as Equilibrium- This at the beginning of the story in which all the characters are happy and everything is normal as it should be.

2: A disruption- This step comes after the first stage of equilibrium, where suddenly the happiness is disrupted by a problem or a threat.

3:Realisation: This is the moment when the characters in the story realise there is a problem which results in panic and often a lot of trouble amongst the characters.

4: Restored order: The characters try and solve the disruption and attempt to make to make the situation better.

5: The final stage is equilibrium again. This is when normality is restored and the problem is solved, resorting in happiness amongst the characters.

Trailer Analysis- Trainspotting

At the beginning of the trailer we see the logo of the institution, 'Miramax' which gives us an indication of who made the film and potentially what type of film the audience will get. Miramax is an American independent film distributing company. This may can be done in order to attract a cult audience who watch the majority of Miramax films.

We then see four characters running as if they have done something wrong and are in trouble. We don't know why they are running which creates an a enigma code, which is clever as it makes the audience continue to watch in order to find out what is going to happen. There is a voice over played whilst the four characters are running which says, "Choose life, choose a job, choose a career." However, this doesn't give anything away. As he continues running away from either danger or trouble, there is a low angle shot of one of the characters running down the stairs, which suggests we are inferior to this person. This character then gets hit by a car but doesn't get hurt. The camera is situated within the car so it makes the audience look like they have ran him over.

There is then a mid shot of the first character we are introduced to who is Renton. As he is the first character to be introduced we can assume he is one of the films most important characters. He has a big smile on his face and makes a weird laugh, however he looks a bit crazy and could be under the influence of something. We then see Renton in a two shot with a woman who seems polar opposite to him. He is a bit wild and mental, whilst she seems to be an ordinary intelligent female. It then jumps to the woman taking her dress off which suggests women are seen as sexual objects being taken advantage of by men. There is then a long shot of a group of men walking around the bar, which could link to Renton being a bit wild due to his fondness of drinking.

We are then introduced to the next character, Spud. He could also be important as he center of the shot suggesting he is a main protagonist within the film. Like Renton, Spud looks a wild character suggesting he could be alcoholic or drug user from the expression he has on his face. We then see him being interviewed shown by a long shot. He is acting very strangely linking to drug abuse. The room he is in looks very run down, representing the lower class status. Moreover, we then see a third character, Sick Boy. As with the other two characters he is shown in the center of the frame suggesting he is equally important to the film. We see him in the toilet and he is acting strange like the other two characters suggesting he might have just done some drugs.

We then see one of the protagonists lining up to shoot a man, with the target pointed at his head. This shows the danger and violence of these characters, along with not thinking what they are doing. This is followed by a low key lighting a shot of many people in a club having a rave. This represents younger people in society wanting to have and enjoy themselves with friends. We are then introduced to another protagonist, Begbie, who yet again is mental. There is then more violence as one character hits another with a snooker cue. This shows lower class people in a negative way suggesting they are troublemakers. In addition there is more violence when one of characters smashes a car window. During this part of the trailer the speed of the scenes are increasing building up drama suggesting something is going to happen.

There is some quotes of reviews for example, "A jolt of pure energy" and "Two thumbs up". This suggests that the film is a success and encourages more people to go and watch the film as they know it is approved by a number of different reviewers. Finally, the film finishes with a wide shot of the four characters in a line whilst a train goes past. One of the characters has their back to the camera suggesting he wants to be different to the other characters.

Trailer Analysis- The Football Factory

The film begins with the name of the institution which is Vertigo Films. Vertigo Films is a UK film and distribution company, focussing on lower budget films.  The Football Factory was the biggest independent UK DVD of all time. We then see a large group men in the street, all shouting and looking violent, which we would associate with football hooliganism. Furthermore, as a gang of men are fighting in the background, there is a close up of one of the main characters played by Danny Dyer, which could suggest he has an influential role within the film.

The trailer then has a review quote from a magazine, "F****** Fantastic". Throughout the film there is a lot of bad language and swearing and so the magazine has cleverly incorporated that into their review of the film. In addition, there is then a mid shot of the same character with a voice over of himself, sort of describing himself and what he enjoys and gets up to. It then cuts to show a large group of football fans like on matchday and police officers on horses, making sure there is no trouble. We then see a group of men in a bar and another group of men in a club. This is what we associate with a group of football hooligans, out drinking and getting into trouble.

There is then a wide shot of a man holding down someone on a bed about to attack him, when one man comes up from behind and hits him over the head with a cricket bat and then they run out of the house to pretend nothing has happened, more violence. There is then a coach full of men drinking maybe on the way to an away game. There all laughing and joking, having a good time. There is then another review quote from a magazine praising the film, "a nose bursting blow to the senses"which again relates to more violence.  We then see the F.A Cup draw on the TV screen and Chelsea are drawn to play Millwall, to massive rivals and violent sets of supporters. Both sets of fans are happy to play each other as they know there will be a lot of violence involved.

We then see a large group of men walking to the game as one big gang to try and put fear into the opposing team. The two large gangs then are face to face with each other and they are both shouting at one another. It then finishes with a voice over from one of the characters saying "what else you going to do on a Saturday?" Then the date of the film and the website for the film come up on screen.

Trailer Analysis- The Firm

The trailer begins with one of the main characters walking through the street and then cuts to him speaking with a man who is dressed smartly, who I think maybe part of another gang. It then has the Warner Bros logo and then the production company which is Vertigo Films. Vertigo Films usually produce low budget films as they are smaller institute.

We then see two men talking and smoking on the balcony of a black of flats. They distract the attention of somebody below and cause him to walk into a lampost, which shows their type of humour. We then see lots of people in a club, with one of the main characters headbutting somebody after a bit of an altercation.

Then the same character is in a pub when somebody comes up to him to apologise, which he appreciates. The character who apologises is then playing football with the main character and they seem to become close friends. They are then in the sports shop trying on new tracksuits. One of the men asks "Do I look like a post box?" due to his full red tracksuit with the other replying no. However, the other person tries on the same tracksuit and his mother is not happy as she thinks he does look like a post box.

It then cuts to a large group of people all fighting with the police and their police dogs trying to keep control. Whilst this is going on there is upbeat music playing over the top suggesting they dont care they are getting into trouble and in fact they actually enjoy it. It then shows them all on the train, having a laugh and drinking suggesting their on their way to a game. There is then another fight and then it cuts to all the men in a club, suggesting this is the type of life they live.

It then has the name of producer and two other films he has produced, which are both popular films, which is done to attract more people. Two firms then come together and there is more fighting and violence. It finishes with a rhetorical question, "Do you want to belong?" and the different companies associated with the film.

The Firm Poster Analysis

The Football Factory- Poster analysis

The Football Factory is a 2004 British film directed by Nick Love. The film stars Danny Dyer, Tamer Hassan, Frank Harper, Roland Manookian, Neil Maskell and Dudley Sutton. It is loosely based on the novel of the same name by John King.

Plot

The Football Factory is more than just a study of the English obsession with football violence, its about men looking for armies to join, wars to fight and places to belong. A forgotten culture of Anglo Saxon males fed up with being told they're not good enough and using their fists as a drug they describe as being more potent than sex and drugs put together.

Analysis

Firstly, the poster is a bright red colour which relates to the story of the film in which football hooligans use violent actions as a way of life causing chaos and a lot of pain. The title of the film, like most film posters, is centralised, capitalised and bold to make it stand out. The font has lines in it, with the letters not joined together properly. This could suggest broken bones as they are not aligned properly. Moreover, under the title there is a tag line which says 'What else you gonna do on a Saturday?'. This suggests that football fans live for football on a Saturday and that there is nothing better than to have a fight and cause mayhem at the football on a Saturday. The grammar isn't correct with the word ‘Gonna’ suggesting the people involved are from rough areas who have grown up with this way of life. The main image shows a large group of men having a fight relating to the plot of the film, with graffiti which makes it look like blood stains, representing violence. Overall, the film poster us successful as it gives a clear narrative and uses a colour scheme which links to the story of the film. You know the film will be good to watch with the reviews and the five stars it possess at the top of the poster.

Trainspotting film poster

Background Info
Trainspotting is a film directed by Danny Boyle in 1996 and is a black British comedy crime drama. The film was successful with a Box Office of £48,000,000 from a budget of £1,550,000. In addition, the film was ranked 10th in the list of top 100 British films of all time by the British Film Institute (BFI) and in 2004 the film was voted best Scottish film of all time in a public poll.

Purpose of a film poster
A film poster is used to get peoples attention and to advertise an upcoming film. The poster is used to sell the film and get across certain information regarding the film, for example, the release dates and the actors within the film. A poster will usually have the institution brand name on so that it attracts a cult audience who are big fans of that institution. A film poster will usually include the BBFC rating and have a scene from the film as the key image.

Analysis
Firstly, we can see an introduction of the characters as the key image which is centred along with the title of the film. This highlights to the audience the title of the film and is the main attraction of the film poster. Moreover, the title of the film is in white font which contrasts on the orange background to make it stand out. In addition, there are reviews, for example the five stars and the caption at the top giving a quoted opinion. Furthermore, it includes the makers of previous film that have produced this film as it shows they have been successful and that can help attract a cult audience who have enjoyed that film to come and watch this film. There is the name of the production institution so that the audience is aware of the company who has produced the film so that it can attract not only the intended audience but the a cult audience who always watch films produced by that company. It includes key information like the release date and warns the audience to check the age guidance as it might not be appropriate for younger audiences. Finally, it tells the different music groups and individual artists included within the film, as they play a role within the film and so need recognition as they are important.

Understanding Audience Research

In today's lesson we looked at effective audience research which will allow us to identify our target research. The two types of audience research can be quantitative (numerical data) or qualitative (opinions, ideas, etc). These can be carried out by either creating a questionnaire or a focus group.

Questionnaire
There must be a clear purpose behind each question in order to:

• Determine what's popular
• Determine what pupils like about the genre that appeals to them
• Determine what values they believe are important in the genre

A questionnaire should include a maximum of eight questions with a mix of multiple choice, closed answers and also opportunities to leave a comment.

A questionnaire would allow our group to get opinions from others regarding our ideas. In addition, it would allow us to see if people enjoy or dislike our chosen genre. Finally, it would give us important information on changes we could make, taking into consideration peoples answers.

Focus Group

A focus group is more useful for collecting qualitative data compared to quantitative data.

• A focus group is a small group of six to ten people, who are talked through the groups ideas by a moderator (a member of the group). Within the focus group there should be free flowing discussions regarding the idea.
• The moderators role is to educate the small group of our ideas, in order for them to give feedback and create a discussion. This allows for various opinions of what people like and dislike so that we can make the appropriate changes.
• A focus group usually contains a small number of predetermined questions, so that they cover all aspects of their idea.
• A focus group should consist of a homogeneous group of strangers so that people will give their true reflection instead of copying what their friends might say.

When taking part in a focus group, questions should be:

• Short and to the point
• Focussed on one dimension
• Open-ended
• Non-threatening or embarrassing

You should use three types of focus group questions:

1. Engagement questions
2. Exploration questions
3. Exit questions

British Genre Conventions

As we have chosen to focus our task on the film trailer, we decided as a group that the genre we would focus on would be British Drama. So that I can gain some knowledge of this particular genre, I am going to look at the typical conventions which make a British drama. An example of a British Drama would be 'This is England' or 'Football Factory'.

• Firstly, drama films can into consideration real life situations and use realistic characters, settings and story lines.
• The purpose of a drama film is to get the audience to feel emotionally engaged by the story being told. 
• Throughout the film you will see how a character changes or develops as a person during a certain time period within the film.
• There is also a lot of intense social interaction between the characters.
• In addition, the audience can relate to what they are watching as the stories often include conflicts of real life hardships or difficulty which many people face during their life time.
• There is often climaxes and anti climaxes so that the audience remain emotionally attached to the story.
• Finally, drama films often end happily.

However, the Titanic breaks the typical conventions of a drama film as the ending is very tragic and does not end well for the protagonists. Also, 'A Serious Man' breaks the conventions as the audience know how the film is going to end.

Chosen Task and S.W.O.T analysis

As a group we have decided we are going to the following brief- A promotion package for a new film, to include a trailer, together with two of the following; a film magazine front cover and a poster for the film.

I think this brief suited us as a group as we gained valuable experience last year when we had to produce a title sequence to an opening film. From this I learnt different camera and editing techniques which I think will be useful for us when producing a film trailer. I am also looking forward to creating both a film magazine and a poster as last year we didn't do any print work, so this should be challenging but interesting at the same time. This year we are completing the film trailer as a group, in which I will be working with Sam Warren and Chris George, however, we will be completing the ancillary tasks as individuals. This year we will be able to learn from the mistakes we faced last year in terms of editing and filming schedules in order to create a more professional looking piece of work. I think a plan for filming and editing will be made and stuck to so that we don't encounter and problems that could affect our final piece.

In addition, I think the film trailer brief is most relatable to the group and myself in comparison to the music video or a soap opera, as we all enjoy watching films. However, in order to make sure the brief chosen was best suited for me, I decided to do a S.W.O.T analysis of four possible briefs. The S.W.O.T analysis was a very useful task in which I weighed up the pros and cons of each brief and came to the conclusion of the film trailer brief. Here are some images of my analysis that I constructed in lesson.

To further my research, I am going to have a look at a couple of film trailers relating to the genre of film we have decided to do, British Drama. I am going to look at trailers and film posters for films that relate to the genre, for example, Trainspotting, produced by Andrew Macdonald in 1996.