In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?

Hannah Lenane, 4781

TitlingColour, font, style, timing etc.

• From research we understood the opening titles of films from the Brit Grit (British Social Realism) film genre to generally be simplistic: the credits written in a bold white font and placed over a plain black background, in the centre of the screen and shown between footage (seen in films such as Green Street, The Krays and Football Factory).

• Of course there were some exceptions, particularly in more modern films, such as Rock ‘n Rolla, where the titling has an urban theme to it,

incorporating graffiti-like images of city scopes and the actors/characters. Here the positioning of credits changes on screen position, the credits are not

always central.

• It was our intention to keep to the more conventional titling seen in the original Brit Grit films such as Football Factory. We chose a bold white font, in this case Ariel and placed our credits over a black background as opposed to over the footage or an image.

Comparisons can be made between our titling style and the conventional style seen in other films. E.g. the main actor being the first name shown.

Our Film Football Factory

The only way by which we challenged the conventional titling style is through our placement of credits. Instead of placing our titles in the centre of the screen we alternated placing our credits on either the right or left, placing only the title of the film and the name of the production companies in the centre of the screen to signify importance and to add an element of the variation seen in more modern productions.

• We used a minimal amount of camera movement in our production as a result of our aim to challenge conventional Brit Grit film.

I understood that many films of the genre used fast, jagged, sweeping camera movements to install feelings of chaos and excitement in their audiences via camera movement. The chaotic opening titles were a device to attract younger audiences who were looking for thrills and were impressed by the spectacle being shown.

After watching a number of Brit Grit films I found that there were two sub-genres within the genre. The first being the most popular type of British film, the one that focuses on the spectacle of violence and meets audience expectations without focusing on individual characters. Films such as Green Street, Snatch and Lock Stock fall under this genre. The second being films that focus more on individual characters, their mentality and are less interested in attracting audiences with chaos, instead choosing a more simplistic approach. The Krays and Sexy Beast delve into this type of film.

Camera MovementPanning, tracking, crabbing etc.

Taking into consideration our film treatment we felt that our film was better suited to the second type of film, therefore explaining our minimal use of camera movement. The only example of camera movement seen in our opening two minutes is an over the shoulder tracking shot, used when the main character is walking past the teenage mum.

This camera movement is used here to bring the audience closer to the main character. By using a tracking shot we are making them feel involved in the on screen action and as a result of this allowing audiences to familiarize and associate themselves with the main character, making audiences feel they are walking with the character and on an equal level to him –a technique seen in the opening to Green Street, when over the shoulder shots and tracking shots are used to make audiences feel involved in the action i.e. give the impression that they too are included in the fight.

Our Film Green Street

• We used a wide variation of camera angles and framing from extreme close ups, to medium long shots to extreme long shots in order to keep our footage interesting and entertaining while maintaining a sense of composure, avoiding falling into the chaotic style of some films within our genre.

Camera Angles and FramingClose up, long shot, high angle, low angle etc.

• Our choice of Mise-en-scène keeps to the conventions of the Brit Grit film genre and the expectations of our audience. From research we were able to understand what continuity there was between location, costume, props etc. and make every attempt to recreate that in our product.

• Firstly, our choice of location and setting of our opening two minutes is comparable to that of films such as Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and to an extent Rock ‘N Rolla. The locations seen in these films are very urban and derelict, in areas that are associated with the working class or underground ‘crime scene’, allowing audiences to understand the characters and film.

Our setting is urban, run-down and very much working class, similarly to that seen in Lock Stock. One location that I feel was particularly effective and vital in portraying our message was that of the pub. The St. George’s flag and Crystal Palace football symbol on the front of the pub allow audiences to further understand the main character and themes that will appear throughout the film.

Mise-en-scène Props, costume, setting etc.

• Secondly our choice of costume and props differs from the other films studied only slightly in that fashion and technology has changed over the years and in order to keep our film set in the modern age we had to update our choices. Yet, there are still similarities seen between our choice of costume/props and the costumes/props seen in other films.

Costume is used in the Brit Grit genre carefully to portray a social group in such a way that audiences will recognize the social group unquestioningly as it is something they will already be familiar with. For example, characters in Green Street are wearing Stone Island clothes, a make that audiences will already associate with football fans. Taking this into consideration we made efforts to reproduce characters that our audience will understand to be of a certain social group, be it football fans, the working class, teenagers etc.

Green StreetOur Film

• There are three characters whose costumes are particularly effective in portraying the chosen social group. Firstly of all the two youths standing on the estate. We chose to dress them in jeans, tracksuit bottoms, hooded jumpers and trainers. These clothes are associated with teenage boys in today’s society and our audience will recognize the two characters as teenage boys as they are dressed in the same way as teenagers that our audience will have encountered in their daily lives.

• Secondly the character of the teenage mum walking through the estate. It was important that we played on audience stereotypes here as we wanted the audience to judge this character along with the main character.

In order to play on the audiences expectation for a teenage mum to be from an estate and of the ‘chavvy’, working class culture –a culture that is conventional and explored in the Brit Grit genre of film- her costume consisted of tracksuit bottoms, a hooded jumper, exaggerated gold jewellery and UGG boots. In order to further play upon the stereotype we also equipped her with a pram, informing audiences that she is a teenage mum from a working class background.

• We firstly made efforts to examine the type of music that would be found in films of our chosen genre and found correlation between the songs used in the opening two minutes. The musical accompaniment tended to be fast paced, heavy and with a strong rhythm. Used to play upon the feeling of chaos originally provoked and as an audio representative of the fast paced, adrenaline filled lives of the characters, who were always involved in some sort of organized crime, whether it be violence, theft or hustling.

• Taking this into consideration we experimented with a number of different songs, all of which were of an alternative, rock genre to ensure that they had the fast pace and strong beat necessary to incite our required audience reaction. We finally decided on Fast Fuse by Kasabian, as not only was it an adrenaline fuelled piece of music but the lyrics were also applicable to the story of our film:

“Oh baby I was born with a fast fuse, I’ve got no time to love, just a city to abuse”“Wicked fines won’t arrest me”“I’m a hooligan crier, sire, sit don’t scatter”

Sound TechniquesSilence, dialogue, digetic, non-digetic etc.

• We also noticed that an effective technique used in other films is non-digetic sound, such as a voice over or a commentary over the footage of the film. These commentaries were often very smoothly spoken and informed audiences of the character’s personal thoughts and opinions. The voice over may also give audience’s an understanding of what topics will be addressed throughout the film.

For example, in the opening to Rock ‘N Rolla, there is a voice over before the credits begin. This voice over informs the audience of what they can expect to see in the film: sex, drugs and money. This voice over is paired with an image of a man pulling a gun out of his waist band, adding violent themes to this list. The inclusion of swear words gives the voice over a slightly more aggressive feel, making audiences feel inferior to the man speaking.

“People ask the question, what’s a rock ‘n rolla? And I tell ‘em, it’s not about drums, drugs and ‘ospital drips, oh no. there’s more there than that my friend. We all like a bit of the good life, some the money, some the drugs, others the sex game, the glamour or the fame, but a rock ‘n rolla… oh he’s different, why? Because a real rock ‘n rolla, wants the ‘fuckin lot.”

• Keeping to this conventional, smooth talking, slightly aggressive use of non-digetic sound, we decided to include a voice over in order to give depth to our main character and allow audiences into his head to explore his thoughts and the themes they will be faced with. Although as our voice over is intended as more of a criticism of the world in which we live, our script was some what more aggressive, more swear words and criticisms were included than in Rock ‘N Rolla.

“How do you get your kicks? Some will choose the easy way out of the shitty existence we've imposed upon ourselves. Waking up everyday at 6.30, to get the tube with a load of cognoscenti bastards, accept their place in the nostalgia of office life, take their orders from some big shot fucking cunt in a shirt and tie, then go back to the 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom semi-dethatched shit hole in the middle of 'no-wheres-ville'. Fuck that for a laugh. It's about life, it's about football, it's about the carnage that comes with it. The broken knuckles, chipped teeth, covered in claret -it comes from within. You either have it, or you fuck off.”

• Below you can find links to each of the songs we experimented with before deciding on a final song. You can also find a comparison between our film and another film from our chosen Brit Grit genre.