Plan B E-mail

Dear Plan B,

My name is Raghuveer Ladwa and I am a 17 year old that is currently studying media at Greenford High School. In our media exam we have to study 2 films, and we have chosen Ill Manors as one, due to it being a low-budget British Film that was able to be such an amazing blockbuster. The movie on a whole was marvellous and portrayed such solid and rigid ideologies being challenged, which I am in full support of and believe you’re the leader of the revolution of change for the perception of teenagers in the eyes of society and the world. I loved the use of the riots in your music video, which really impacted and supported your point. And I would be delighted, if you would honour our school and media class with your presence and take part in a lecture of Ill Manors for us as media students, to gain an even greater understanding of your reasons for this movie. Furthermore, take part in a question and answer session for us.

Sincerely,

Raghuveer Ladwa

Trill Magazine-paper draft

Trill -Interview

An exclusive Interview with the upcoming actor that is debuting in the lead negative role in the next big teen drama 'TRILL' Armond Shkupi, a young, and well-built 17 year old stepping in to the spot light with his outstanding skill in acting.  

Q1) How does it feel entering the world of acting at such a young age playing such an important and malevolent role? 

Armond: "Well...it’s just a whole new world that I have to explore and my first adventure starts with Trill. Playing such a contrasting role was difficult but intriguing and more over unique. At first it was hard, at the moment I can willingly step in and out of character."  

Q2) What was the hardest part of your transition from a simple life to a life in television?

Armond: "Personally I believe the hardest part was saying good bye to all my mates from high school, down my ends in Northolt everyone knew me, but in some sense I will now be known by the whole country."

Q3) How have your co-stars treated you, as you’re a new face? 

Armond:" Well at first it was a bit awkward as I was the rookie on sets and I really didn't have a clue about what they were saying and sometimes I was even lost completely. However, after the directors had introduced me to the other stars and we all instantly just clicked."

Q4) How were the shoots on the sets of Trill? 

Armond: " The shoots were long and tiring, we spent several hours shooting the same scenes as the director wanted to get it right....but most of the times either me or Kyle would start to crack up and create bloopers."

Q5) Final question. Why should people watch Trill? and What other shows/films may we see you in?

Armond: “Trill is the next big thing on British television; it’s awesome and well should impact the viewer’s massively, as it breaks stereotypes down about criminals and their ethnicity. Well I am going to star in a Hollywood film with the beautiful Megan Fox.”

Ill Manors MEST1 Questions

Media Forms: What techniques do the video use to establish the setting and engage the audience?

The music video starts off with an establishing shot of an urban council estate in East London. This connotes an immediate impact on the audience as it makes them remember a stereotypical view of council run estates. An example of a stereotype from the music video is the long shot of the groups of teenagers in covered up clothes hovering around in the area, looking shifty. Furthermore, there is animation of a tour bus with Plan B and passengers going on an ‘Urban Safari’. This is symbolic as it recreated the representation of them being animals and a form of entertainment for the intelligent higher class. The lighting in the video varies from hi-key and low-key lighting. At points where Plan B is presents in the beginning there us typical British weather, goes on to night scenes where filler lights have been used to present the emotions of the teenagers through Plan B’s expressions. The expressions and body language of Plan B and the teenagers presents a replication of reality and how they have been said to act. In addition, the music video uses a lot of animation to simultaneously mock and put out plan B’s points of his dislike of the media demonising youth. This is especially effective in engaging the audience as it presents the points of the movie in a smaller and simplistic way. There are many uses of props that help engage the audience. For example there is a glass piece that is smashed by Plan B which is largely effective as it the glass represents the stereotypes created by media and the smashing represents them being broken. Another prop that is used is the car being blown up.  This connotes that the teenagers are fighting back and want to have a better representation in the media and not be out casted by society. Another technique that is used is flashback. There is a repetition of flashback in the music video of the riots that had taken place in 2010. This connotes the retaliation of the teenagers being suppressed and denied by society. This engages the audience as it makes them form an opinion on the controversial case.

 Media Representations: How is gender/ethnicity/age represented in the video?

The representation of gender in the video is all male. This presents that they are all anti-social and outcasts from the society built by the media and authority/government. These lead them to do more destruction, than production and are more likely end up working against the machine. The ethnicities that are presented in the video are also stereotypical views of criminals and the undesired masses of blacks and whites. This supports the dominant ideology of Britain as they are presented as the main criminals of the country and are most likely going to steal. The ideologies of Plan B present evidence for the hypodermic needle theory. The theory states that information is directly injected into our brains by the media, which has happened in the case of teenagers being attacked by the media and being presented as the villains. There is a dominant representation of youths that live in council estates supporting the theory of Levi Strauss. The theory stated that representations of things, like the youth, are created by dominant ideologies. The main ages are mainly adolescents being presented as violent and bent on destruction.

Media Institutions: In what ways is the video typical of music videos and what values does it promote?

Gillian Dyers theory of the lines of appeal attracts their target audience. The music video for Ill Manors utilises the traits of self-importance and pride, this is used to deal with the needs of the audience. This video is a typical music video as it narrates a story like most music videos and has a deeper message. The riots add factual evidence and more realistic for the audience, making them considers it to be a real story, which it is. On the other hand the lyrics of the music video paint another more moral story. The lyrics connote that teenagers have been out casted by society and are being view in the negative light of the media.

Media Audiences: Who does this text/artist appeal to and why?

This artist appeals to his fan base, this is mainly people who like and listen to his genre of music and people who relate to his lyrics of the song as the can identify where he comes from. The artist acts like a beacon of light for them as it is an escape from the barren dusk land that they have been placed in by the media and their stereotypes. The demographics that are going to be attracted to the music and artist is the D and E group this is because they are made up of the lower class and the unemployed/low income people.  

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Ill Manors: Research Task

1) Research all the institutions involved in the production of Ill Manors. List them with a summary of what their contribution to the film was.

There are 3 institutions that are associated with the production of Ill Manors. The first is Film London Microwave. This is a film production company that helps in the production of low-budget films like Ill Manors. This production house was able to fund Ill Manors. BBC films are the feature film-making division of the BBC. Similar to Film London Microwave BBC films also help in funding small-budget films. Aimimage is a film equipment company that is based in Camden (Central London), that enables the sale and hire of filming equipment. In the distribution of Ill Manors, Revolver Entertainment had a major hand.

2) How much did Ill Manors cost to produce (its budget)?

Ill Manors was a low-budget British film that had cost £100,000.

3) How was Ill Manors funded?

At first Ben Drew (Plan B) was refused funding as he was an inexperienced director, so he wrote and directed his own short film called Michelle in 2008, which he financed himself. Ill Manors had struggled to get funding three years prior to filming, until in 2009 Film London Microwave scheme enabled to receive funding and start filming. Furthermore, in 2010 Plan B went on ‘The Defamation of Strickland Banks’ tour for music which also funded his film.  

4) What is the target audience for Ill Manors?

The target audience for Ill Manors is people between the ages of 14-25, but also people with a stereotypical view of teenagers, such as upper class people.

5) Who is the main distributor of Ill Manors?

The main distributor of Ill Manors is Revolver Entertainment, who was sold the rights in April of 2005.

6) How was Ill Manors promoted using broadcast platform?

Ill Manors was promoted using different mediums under the broadcast platform. The main method to Ill Manors being promoted was the soundtrack of the album, which Plan B premiered in May 2012. The albums include ‘Lost My Way’ and ‘Deepest Shame’. In May 2012, the track ‘Lost My Way’ was played for the first time on BBC radio 1, and then in June 2012 Plan B then preformed a live performance at BBC radio Live Lounge.

7) Compare this with a big budget blockbuster. What are the main similarities and differences?

The Dark Knight Rises was a major Hollywood blockbuster in 2012 and was only 2^nd to Marvel’s Avengers. The similarity of both films was the release date as they both happen in middle of the year. The differences of Ill Manors and The Dark Knight Rises are that the storylines and narratives are completely; also the budget of both films was significantly different. Ill Manors budget was £100,000, where as the Dark Knight Rises Budget was $250-300 million. Also, the amount each film made at the box office was different, as The Dark Knight Rises Made $1,084,439,099, whereas Ill Manors made £453,570. Finally the genre of the films was completely different as The Dark Knight Rises is a superhero movie based around DC Universe, where as Ill Manors is a British Crime Drama.

8) How does the trailer for Ill Manors hook audiences into the narrative and pose questions that the film will answer (Barthes: enigma codes)? Identify 3 ways/techniques.

The trailer of Ill Manors is able to hook audiences into the narrative by using different techniques. The trailer presents a series of clips compiled together, that present all 6 main characters, in a way that creates different enigma codes that surface the questions of who each character is and what is their significance in the narrative of the film. The trailer presents the questions these questions that can only be answered by the film, as it is the root of all the violence and illegal activity in the trailer. Furthermore the technique of a voice over is used by Plan B, however it is an evolved version of a voiceover as it him rapping his song ‘I am the Narrator’, this produces synergy as it links in his music and his production in to each other to promote each other.

9) How does the trailer of Ill Manors balance plot and spectacle?

10) Think about the certificate of Ill Manors (18 certificates). Research film certification and outline what is deemed acceptable for this certificate. What is the difference between a 15 certificate and 18 certificates?

Ill Manors was deemed with an 18 certificate, this mean that no theme is prohibited at 18. Adults are free to pick their own entertainment within the law. The following presents the topics of a 15 certificate:

Ø  Strong violence

Ø  Frequent strong language (e.g. f***)

Ø  Portrayals of sexual activity

Ø  Strong verbal reference to sex

Ø  Sexual nudity

Ø  Brief scenes of sexual violence/verbal references to sexual violence

Ø  Discriminatory language/behaviour

Ø  Drug taking

The following presents the issues of an 18 certificate:

Ø   Very strong violence

Ø  Frequent strong language (e.g. f***) and/or very strong language (e.g. C***)

Ø  Strong portrayals of sexual activity

Ø  Scenes of sexual violence

Ø  Strong horror

Ø  Strong blood and gore

Ø  Real sex (in some circumstances)
   > Discriminatory languages and behaviour 

Ill Manors: Music Video Analysis

How does the video challenge/reinforce dominant ideologies in Britain?

The music video reinforces dominant ideologies in Britain; this is because the video actually presents the stereotypes of young teenagers in urban estates, which the media has created. It promotes and glamourizes violent and anti-social behaviour, examples of this are the rioting in London and dressing in hoodies with a covered face whilst hanging in groups in isolated areas like a car park. Furthermore, it puts the youth in to a negative light as the video shows they beat up people and rob expensive commodities, like a television. On the other hand, the music video is able to challenge some of the dominant ideologies in Britain. This is done by portraying authority in a negative light and showing them as the aggressors, this evident from the section of the music video where the police officer punched a rioter in the face whilst other officers were no being as aggressive. Also, the music video manages to provide evidence for the continuation of the riots as it shows the community centres being closed down, this links to why urban teenagers manage to end up as criminals.  

Ill Manors: Ted X lecture

What are Plan B's beliefs/politics? What are his Values/ideologies?

 Plan B's beliefs are that the disrespect for authority in youth today is based on the fact that society has ignored the youth of today, so they are not bothered to listen to the authority, and rather they would listen to their favourite artists and listen to the lyrics of songs. There were different types of rappers, but the one he listened to was conscious hip hop. He believed this was poetry, like reading a book, and ended up changing his life. He states 'just one sentence could change your life'. Furthermore, he believes that the teenagers in urban areas are led in to a life of drugs and crime because of their parent’s conditions, for example drinking and being drug addicts, and ends up neglecting their children. Also he believes that in the modern era there are many different stereotypes of teenagers. The media is known for exaggerating stories and being biased (against the poor and less fortunate). His ideology is to bring out the side of the story that the media leaves out and show the true and good natured side of the teenagers in an attempt to change the perception of teenagers in society.

Who is the target audience of the TEDx lecture? Demographics? Psychographics? How do you know? How does this compare to the audience of his music/film?

The target audience for the TEDx lecture are people who have believed in the stereotypes that the media have created on teenagers. Also, the group of people that are interested in Plan B’s productions and also the types of characters he will be portraying in Ill Manors. The psychographic group that can be identified is reformers as they believe in freedom. This relates to his target audience as they can identify themselves with the characters and they can seek freedom from the rigid stereotypes that have been created. Also along with his film his music has an essence of reality in it and the target audience can also identify themselves with the situation. The demographic group that this would appeal to are the groups A, B and C. This is because the intention of Plan B is to break the teenagers away from the stereotypes and portraying them to the higher, wealthier classes who are willing to believe anything the media say. This film and music is medium, which can assist the teenagers to show their side of their story.

What does Plan B say about the media? Explain how this can be linked to Cohen’s media theory of moral panics?

Plan B states that the media ‘demonises’ teenagers and has a very negative perspective of them. This is due to the fact that he states the media is the root of all the negative and brutal stereotypes that young people are put into. The media has presented them as untrustworthy, deficient criminals. This leads the young people to feel like outsiders and rejected from society, this cause them to react in the manner they are being presented in stereotypes and rebel. They detest authority, like the government. This creates a cycle of hate between the youth and media. Cohen’s theory of moral panic states that when the dominant view is challenged then it becomes a concern for society. This links to the theory as the view of young people is being challenged by Plan B’s film. This will cause society to go in to a moral panic as the positive side of young people is being portrayed. 

Progress Report 3

Individual Progress

This week I was able to watch videos on Photoshop and how to use it and learn a few basic skills.

WWW- I now have a better knowledge of Photoshop and how to use some of its features, like getting rid of the background. 

EBI- If was able to take pictures of Armond in costume for my print work.

The Next Step

The next step is to preform the photo shoot and take the pictures i need for my print work.  

Group Progress

As a group we were able to talk about the time we need to start editing and the date at which we need to re-shoot. 

WWW- we were able to decide a date and time for editing and re-shooting. 

EBI- we weren't able to edit or re-shoot any of our work.  

Next step

Our next step is to edit our work, re-shoot any scenes that aren't up to standard and then edit that again.