Name of Film: Children of Men (rated 15)
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Other info: Film released 2006-rated 4 stars by The Guardian
Scene: Chasing car scene
USE OF CAMERA
Close-ups inside the car-360 degrees-shows key emotions
When Miriam says 'look out', that's when fast action begins
Frames were spot-on
Camera followed every bit of action
EDITING
No editing cuts - makes it more realistic
Rhythm was fast - cuts provide rhythm
MISE-EN-SCENE
People outside of car dressed as a different genre (zombie horror)
Stolen car (writing on back of car)
Walkie-talkie
Lewis didn't look like a character who would kill, then kills two policemen
Ping-pong ball - symbol of the past, shows they are comfortable between each other
Ki dressed in black to match surroundings like camouflage - trying to hide
SOUND
Music at the beginning - radio in the car - plays throughout scene
Impact alarm
Ringing in ears as soon as gun shot
Motorbike engine fades out - Ambulance sirens fades in
Police walkie-talkie sound effect after policemen got shot
Gun shots not loud, Screams louder
Glass fire bottle not loud, Motorbike louder
When cart drives off, back to normal sounds (birds chirping - peaceful)
SCRIPT AND DIALOGUE
Realistic dialogue - gives more emotion - gives backstories
Background screaming
Everybody shouting in the car - shouting
'pressure on the wound' - Medical term used by Miriam - Medical background
Dialogue in action scenes lets you know what's going on
THE fireworks and bonfire display at Sanderstead Recreation Ground has been cancelled after more than 40 years and may never return. The Rotary Club of Croydon Jubilee has called time on the event due to the escalating costs of staging it. More than 3,000 people attended last year and in its heyday there were more than 6,000 packed in to the Limpsfield Road recreation ground. However, Dhiraj Shah, of the Rotary Club of Croydon Jubilee, said the bonfire night tradition had become too costly after Croydon Council indicated it could not provide it with the same level of funding. The cancellation leaves Croydon with only one major fireworks display at Crystal Palace Park, which is technically in the borough of Bromley. Mr Shah said: “It’s a real shame, we would have liked to keep doing it but unfortunately for one reason or another the council cannot offer the same level of support. “We would like it to come back in the future but we would need more help. Last year, we did it as a community service and there was no fundraising side to it for us. “The numbers have gone down a bit as well, we thought a lot of people would come to us once the fireworks were cancelled at Royal Russell School but it didn’t really happen that way.”
According to this story, the comments have been mixed. One comment explains this move is a positive view to the move, which people have disliked and another comment showing hat they have had fond memories of taking their children to the fireworks for many years and is a big shame. This comment has been liked 8 times and shows that the fireworks need to come back.
1) Did you ever attend the Sanderstead Fireworks at Bonfire Night?
2) Do you have any fond memories the Sanderstead Fireworks?
3) Do you think it is a shame they were cancelled?
4) Would you want the Rotary Club of Croydon Jubilee to bring them back?
5) Have you attended any other firework display since the cancellation?
6) How many times have you attended the Sanderstead Fireworks display?
7) If you had to say anything to the Rotary Club of Croydon Jubilee about bringing back the fireworks, what would you say?
8) If the fireworks were brought back, what would you want changed?
9) Would you ever want to raise funds so that these fireworks could come back?
10) What did you like/dislike about the Sanderstead Fireworks?
This was the display from 2011, three years after they were cancelled in 2014. This was a very impressive display that brought everybody, as a community together, as one, but won't happen again because the Rotary Club of Croydon Jubilee won't have enough funds to fund the fireworks.
Another story similar to the Sanderstead Fireworks being cancelled:
The fireworks show at Enfield Town Park could fizzle out for the first time in 40 years.
There will be no sparklers or Catherine wheels at the annual show as Enfield scouts, who are the organisers, claim it is not feasible to host the event.
This is the scouts biggest fundraiser of the year, with the group making on average £10,000 profit.
However, Stephen Way, head of communications for the scouts, has told the Enfield Independent that despite negotiations with the police and Enfield council, they have had to postpone.
Elements of Issue
SOCIAL: Since the cancellation of the fireworks in 2014, this has became a very mixed issue amongst the residents of Sanderstead. The positive point being it is much more peaceful now near in the month of November but it also has lost community spirit in Sanderstead, which is a very negative point.
Report
So far, my research has been extremely useful to me. I have used newspaper articles (Croydon Advertiser) to research the issue and I have used other cancellations across England and the UK to help with my point. My issue mainly affects younger people of the community of Sanderstead because, with these events, they can make new friends and all come together as a community. My issue is a social issue, which really doesn't have an effect on a global scale but on a social scale amongst a community.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Before partaking in this questionnaire, have you ever attended the firework display in Sanderstead?
Age: 12 - 14 15-17 18-21 21-25 25+
1) How long have you lived in Sanderstead?
2) Do you have any fond memories of the Sanderstead Fireworks?
3) Do you think it is a shame they were cancelled?
4) Would you want the Rotary Club of Croydon Jubilee to bring them back?
5) Have you attended any other firework display since the cancellation?
6) How many times have you attended the Sanderstead Fireworks display?
7) If you had to say anything to the Rotary Club of Croydon Jubilee about bringing back the fireworks, what would you say?
8) If the fireworks were brought back, what would you want changed?
9) Would you ever want to raise funds so that these fireworks could come back?
10) What did you like/dislike about the Sanderstead Fireworks?
Proposal:
What I am trying to achieve in my particular social action documentary is to raise awareness of the closure of the fireworks based at the time of Bonfire Night in a small village located in South Croydon named Sanderstead. The population, according to the 2011 census, was 12,777 people which shows that I feel this particular issue has had an effect, especially for the younger population. In my research file, I explained that this particular event has been running for 40 years and cancelling it has had an effect, whether it being a positive effect or a negative effect among a community. In my documentary, I will also use similar stories to this one that has had an effect. In my research file, I used the story including the cancellation of Enfield Town Park's fireworks, so in my documentary, I might visit Enfield Town Park and interview residents around the area and see how this has had an effect on them, whether it being a positive or negative effect to the area. In my documentary, I will also create a fundraiser specifically focused on fundraising the Sanderstead Fireworks. This fundraiser will be focused on paying for different type of fireworks, we hope if the fireworks come back, we will make a 20 minute display instead of a normal run, which would be between 10 minutes long. The cost of our 20 minute display would be £4500, which is quite a lot of money, so we will make this key in my documentary, so that this will stick in the audience's minds. As this issue affects those of a younger audience, I will use a different type of theming to documentaries normally shown to adults, so I will use different type of imagery and videos that will appeal to a younger audience. As my documentary is going to be targeted at a younger audience, aged between 12 to 16, I will make sure I use the right type of language by making it simple and easy to understand than what an adult documentary would be about. I want my documentary to be similar to Children In Need's 'Looking After Mum', where Children In Need follow three school children who have to look after a family relative. I want my documentary to be similar to this in the type language that is used.
Purpose of interview (e.g. research, enhancement of audience, understanding, informative, expressing opinion, holding to account, justification, emotional appeal to audience)
Communication skills (building rapport, active listening, body language, telephone techniques to obtain comments or gather information)
Name of interviewer: Jon Snow
Name of interviewee: Vitaly Milonov
Starts with a quote from a Christian father
Milanov verbally attacks Jon Snow 'stop telling lies to your children'
Not much questions - a lot of statements made
Milonov always changed the subject to drugs and abuse, instead of focusing on the issue at hand which is homosexuality
The name of the interviewer is Jon Snow, a 67 year old presenter who has presented Channel 4 since 1989. He was interviewing a well-known Russian politician named Vitaly Milonov who is extremely against gay people. The role and importance of the interview was to get the views of a Russian homophobic politician who believes living as a homosexual is like 'living in a evil scheme'. It is also important to get a views of Vitaly's opinion on what he thinks living in Russia is like as a gay person. The purpose of the interview was to get the views of Vitaly Milonov, a homophobic Russian politician, after he said before, they should ban the chief of Apple, Tim Cook, 'for life' for being gay. It appears in the interview that Milonov is very expressive and believes strongly in what he believes in, and that is hating gay people. There is no emotional appeal to the audience but Milonov said it himself, that 'people in the UK and the western countries won't believe in what I'm saying. At the beginning of the interview, Jon Snow welcomed Vitaly Milonov and said to him a quote said by Father Sergei Rybko that said 'Where gays are around, pedophilla will flourish', and then he asked do you agree? This is a direct question to Milonov which showed Jon Snow immediately wanted to ask the major questions first just to let the audience know what they are talking about. During the interview, Snow wanted to always stay on the topic at hand which was homophobia and gay rights but Milonov always changed the subject and accused the UK instead of giving back answers.
You are to individually research and prepare a report or detailed presentation explaining in detail the main features of single camera productions . You should use a range of examples of serials,series and dramas, focusing on specific episodes and scenes. This must include explanation of the following :
Format Series/serial/feature film/ one-off drama
Summarise how you know your examples' format, and analyse how your examples use or change the conventions of their format, such as closed endings , longform narratives etc.
GenreCrime, comedy, action, horror, scifi, period drama, drama documentary etc.
Analyse how your examples use or change the conventions of their genre , such as setting, themes, plot, characters, props, and costume. You can also analyse how your films and programmes mix or refer to other genres.
Narrative features
How the story is told, and how information is given to the audience about the plot and characters of the film
Single strand or multi strand narrative
Short form or longform narrative
Narrative pace
Linear/nonlinear structures
Narrative openings
Open/closed endings
Realist/non realist elements
Technical methods used to build scenes and narratives
Use of camera shots, framing , angles and movement
Use of editing: cuts, fades and pace of edits.
Use of lighting and colour
Use of sound : diegetic music, non-diegetic music, sound effects.
Use of script and dialogue : Information about plot , character and setting. Amount and level of information, including use of slang and terminology.
At the beginning of this documentary, we get told that we are going to follow three young children/teenagers for six months and we are going to see what life is like looking after a family member when you're only a teenager. We first of all get introduced to Tom and his brother Joe from Stockport who looks after her mum who has liver disease. The first thing that made me feel a bit saddened for Tom was that when he's older, he wants to be a doctor and said he wants to give his money to his mum to maker her better. At first hearing that, I felt quite emotional at the time because beyond the caring side, there is a very important relationship that needs to be recognised between a mother and daughter and we see what the relationship is like as the relationship went on in the documentary. We then get introduced to Antonia-Rae who is 11 from Worsley. From the first image of her, we already see her working, waiting outside the bathroom, and then having to wash her mum's back. Her mum, Leslie, had a stroke when she was younger and since then, she's been forced to do jobs such as washing pots, vacuuming the floors, do the bedding, dressing her up in the morning and a very important thing, making sure her mum takes her tablets. When the mum had an interview, she talked about after her stroke, she was very down for many years, she didn't know what to do but the most important thing that came from the interview was the appreciation she gave to her daughter, Antonia-Rae. She called her 'my pride and joy', which almost warmed my heart because she appreciates what she does all around the house and without her, she would have been in a very worst state. We then get shown back to Tom and his mum as they go into Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where we see his mum being checked to see if she can survive a liver transplant. Tom gets interviewed during the check and he tells us he likes to come with his mum to the hospital because this is where he wants to work when he is older and he has a chance to see what everything is going on and also he cares for his mum. We then get showed to a new young carer, Kashanna who is 18 from Slough. She has to look after her mum who is blind. Kashanna talks about what she has been gong through since the age of 4, she talks about having to help her mum pay the bills, take her to the corner shop, she also talks about when she goes out with friends, she has to, first of all, do a load of jobs before she goes out because her mum is not capable to do it. We then hear the emotional story of how her mother went blind after having an operation that without it, she would have died so she had to have the operation to save her life. There was only one thing - the operation would have made her blind. This made me quite emotional because this is the real reason why Kashanna has had to look after her mum for this long and it was a very emotional story that might stick in the audience's minds.
This particular documentary, on YouTube, has been seen 40,850 times (Sunday 20th September 2015 figure) and was presented on BBC One leading up to Children In Need in November of last year. I believe that this documentary is extremely effective as a social action documentary in the way it is trying to reach into people's hearts and to think of other people and to help other people, whether it's just total strangers or even family or friends.
From my own opinion, this is a very effective social action documentary because it allows teenagers aged between 12-18 to look at their life and see how lucky it is compared to the 700,000 children who don't have those kind of luxuries that we do because they are normally spent inside looking after a family member, in this documentary it showed their mum's being looked after. I chose this particular documentary because I also have a granddad that needs looking after every day by my grandma and the stories told by these amazing teens really hit my heart because this is what my grandma goes through on a daily basis and I always want to do my bit to help her so whenever she wants to go out, I always sit with my granddad because she deserves the chance to go out after all the things she has to do inside, so this social action documentary is really effective to me.
To create access to media production for non-traditional groups
To challenge dominant representations and agendas
To create or strengthen community ties
To provide information
To campaign (work in an organised and active way towards a goal)
To change voting behaviour
To infiltrate mainstream
To build relationships with subjects
Homelessness
Which of the list of purposes apply?
To change attitudes of people to look out for those who have nothing, To raise awareness that this is an issue that we can help, To provide information to mainly people in America that this is happening right now, To build relationships with subjects especially with homeless people, To bring about national change as this video is in America.
What is the media form trying to tell us/make us do?
Give back to the homeless (make a package and put essentials in like toothbrushes, books etc...). The video gave a list of celebrities that were homeless before, which is a good motivation for people to help.
What emotional techniques do you think they have used and why?
Photos of homeless men on the streets of America, Interview of past homeless woman talking about her time on the streets and how she is trying to rebuild her life.
Food For Thought
Which of the list of purposes apply?
To bring about local change and to give local businesses in Covent Garden a chance instead of larger businesses, To change attitudes of people in Covent Garden that other people's lives are at risk, To provide information that this is happening in London today and this is why 'Food for Thought' closed down, To campaign against the larger business.
What is the media form trying to tell us/make us do?
It's trying to tell the local population that 'Food For Thought' was a good, unique place to eat and unfortunately closed due to financial problems, To not be greedy because greed can change everyone.
What emotional techniques do you think they have used and why?
Music in the background (solo piano) that suited the advert well.
The Controller
Which of the list of purposes apply?
To challenge dominant representations and agendas as it shows a teenager running away from video games, To raise awareness that more people play violent video games, To change attitudes of teenagers playing video games.
What is the media form trying to tell us/make us do?
To challenge a teenager's interpretation of video games. Set in real life so this could be a normal teenager's life.
What emotional techniques do you think they have used and why?
Set in real life so following what a normal teenager does when is addicted to video games.
Which of the list of purposes apply?
What is the media form trying to tell us/make us do?
What emotional techniques do you think they have used and why?
At the beginning of the documentary, made by Invisible Children, we get introduced to the narrator, Jason Russell's story about the birth of his son, Gavin. We get introduced to what he likes, for example being in movies and jumping on the trampoline. Then we get told about about the narrator visiting Uganda, Africa to see his friend, Jacob and we see a flashback to see children, including Jacob being forced to sleep on floors and starving. We see an interview between the narrator and Jacob and Jacob tells him he would rather die than live in the future in his country. This particular bit of the documentary made me feel very saddened and upset because nobody should ever live in a world where they would rather die than live, I feel that it's not right. Then we get shown photos of the narrator's journey to keep a promise made by him to Jacob that he was 'going to stop them'. He then gives a message to the audience saying that he needs our help to fulfil the promise he made not to just Jacob, but to the whole of Uganda. We then see almost like an interview between the narrator and his son, Gavin, who knows nothing about Kony or the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army). At first impressions, I believe that children shouldn't hear about war or destruction happening in other countries because they are extremely young and should not get told about current affairs. Gavin's answer is exactly the same as mine: sad. I glad the narrator didn't go on to tell his son how much destruction there is because it wouldn't be right at all. We then get some very distressing images of Kony making children mutilate their own skin which was extremely distressing from an audience's point of view. We got introduced to the International Criminal Court, which deals with finding and executing the world's biggest criminals, Joseph Kony being number 1 on the wanted list. His crimes include murder, sexual slavery, rape etc which, I think, are inhuman crimes. We then see politicians of Uganda, wanting their children back and we see they are willing to contribute with 'any friend of Uganda' to stop the mindless killings caused by Joseph Kony. After, we see Invisible Children being set up, talks being taken, more and more members joining all around the world. The Invisible Children Facebook group and we see a rising figure of how many members joining the group, which, I think, is extremely positive and I felt happy and supportive by what they had done that would benefit thousands of people in Uganda. At the end of the video, the documentary gave us 3 things we need to do. 1= Sign The Pledge To Show Your Support, 2= Get The Bracelet And The Action Kit and 3= Sign Up For Tri To Donate A Few Dollars A Month And Join Our Army For Peace. If you was older enough, aged between 17-18, I would have definitely signed up to join the Invisible Children group and I would have done all 3 pledges. Unfortunately, I was too young to understand what was going on and I saw a lot of Joseph Kony photos but did not know what it was about at all. At the end of the documentary, we get shared a message: SHARE THIS MOVIE ONLINE, which shows that we live in a world where messages need to be shared online which was a rousing success.
I believe that this documentary is extremely effective in the way it coveys its message to capture Joseph Kony. On YouTube, it has reached 100,676,517 views (Friday 18th September 2015) and has had over 1 million likes. I think Invisible Children's social action documentary is extremely effective in the way it conveys its message to share this documentary on sites and social networking services. It is also effective because the documentary shows many countries coming together to fight a cause to capture an evil war lord. It shows what they have been doing around the world, like putting posters up around the world at night time and giving action kits around the world so that they can do something about what they believe in. However, out of 7 billion people, only 7% of the earth's population took part which is very, very little but I think that figure will rise if more people watched this documentary
In my personal opinion, I believe that this social action documentary about 'Kony 2012' is extremely effective and makes me want to do something about the cause. I think this particular documentary will stick in the audience's minds and make them want to do more about the cause, like meeting people in Uganda and joining rallies or marches to get into politician's minds that this needs to be a number 1 priority.
