Film Context Exemplar Grid

Contexts	Keywords from question and associated terminology	Describe the context - who, what, why it happened?	Explain the effect on/how it shaped/impacts film PDE	Give examples of Film texts
Technological 1. 3D 2. Online Piracy	- Digital cinema network - Greatly extended audience  choice - Since 2000 onwards	- Advanced broadband since 2000 – Therefore Online Piracy was invented. – For a “Unbelievable”/ Real experience, 3D was reinvented  - Don’t want to take risks (risk adverse) = Formulaic films (present)	Production – piracy has affected the revenue so they make more sequels and prequels to films – Distribution And Exhibition- they’ve now made Netflix, Hulu andletmewatchthis.com. The production companies have taken an ownership over them.	- Amazing Spider Man 2 in 3D - Captain America 2 in 3D - Rio 2 in 3D
				- Netflix - Youtube - Hulu
Social 1. Audience attendance 2. Audience attitude	- Recent years -Audience choice - In UK	- Due to the technological problems listed above – Cinema attendance started dropping, as people found movies just a click away. – At home means it’s free, and more convenient – So people don’t want to go to the cinema and pay so much money	Pre – production - Due to audiences decisions on watching pirated movies online. Studios put pressure on directors to make 3D films, for an unbelievable experience – Tis will bring the audience back into the cinema	-  People prefer staying at home because it’s free and convenience - 19% of theatrical sales have decreased whist ticket prices have been rising!
Economic 1. Recession 2. Piracy – Multiplatform devices (phones, iphone, ipad etc)	- Introduction - Agree with statement? - Audience choice	Recession – Renting more movie cause it’s cheaper compared to the cinema ticket prices. – Pirated videos have become available on mobile phones – This give audience more comfort and another reason to stay away from the cinema.	* Similar to the other points made above.	- 36% of people staying home due to recession - 93% increase in mobile data use of which 69% represented videos

Children of Men Revision

Exemplar from Luke Nutter

V for Vendetta Revision

THESIS STATEMENT

V for vendetta 2006 presents a dystopian vision of Britain in the near future where a corrupt and Fascist totalitarian government oppresses the citizens is challenged by a revolutionary Terrorist. The film's messages reflect the context of the early 21st Century the political and social unrest caused by the war on terror and 9/11. The film contains contentious and conflicting messages questioning the central character V's role as a both a Freedom Fighter and a Terrorist, and his motives condoning the use of violence for both personal revenge and to overthrow Fascism. Through the character of Evey the film makes the statement that the value of freedom is worth more than life, and that ideas are more powerful than the individual. Finally we are told that 'governments should fear their people' - that the rise of tyranny is the responsibility of the people's fear and willing dependency on government.

THEMES:

TERRORISM

Scene: Opening

V's mask is based on Guy Fawkes and celebrates him as a freedom fighter. He blows up buildings and uses acts of terrorism. Opening scene with Evey

MICRO – locations (blows up Old Bailey = Justice), mask- Guy Fawkes, music builds up to an overture – his monologue is all about vengeance

Message: Terrorism/violence is justified as a freedom fighter

OPPRESSION

Scene: Dietrich's house/Evey breaks curfew

MICRO - has a copy of the Kohran (threat of Islamic beliefs), sex pistols style poster of Sutcliffe (Punk rebellion), a protest poster (Coalition of the Willing) homosexual erotic images (also the Lesbian character in the flashback is taken away for being gay)

He is 'black bagged' - taken away by the Secret Police like Evey's parents (Nazis)

Message: Fascism = religious and sexual intolerance and restriction of rights of protest

TORTURE

Scene: Evey's is abducted, tortured and refusal to confess

MICRO – costume orange jumpsuits (Guantanamo), the small confined cell and shot in CU, her hair is shaved off – removing her femininity and fear/making her masculine and toughened, her rebirth is in the rain outside juxtaposed with images of Vs rebirth – one is fire, one if water (symbolism)

Message: Freedom is more important than the fear of death/Fear is a prison of your own making

REVOLUTION

Scene: Ending

MICRO - The population are shot together as one united, Evey pulls the lever to blow up Parliament (so her choice), the dead characters are behind the masks – everyone is V

Message: When the people are united behind an idea of freedom it cannot be killed

OR V's Monologue Revolutionary Speech, uses Terror tactics to take over the TV station. The people must take responsibility for themselves/not rely on government to protect them from Terrorism/take away their civil rights

VENGEANCE

Scene: Ending

MICRO - Evey pulls the lever NOT V to blow up Parliament the Revolution - is no longer about vengeance but the decision is taken by a Free person/V has killed everyone in power but has his own selfish motives for revenge.

Message: Mixed messages - is the Revolution for Freedom or for his personal vendetta? 

CONCLUSION

The film uses the themes of Terrorism, Torture and Government Oppression to express the values of Revolution and a message that calls citizens to be vigilant and mindful of their governments in the face of the threat of terrorism. It also appears to condone the use of violence for political ends portraying the terrorist V as a freedom fighter and a hero even though he is motivated by vengeance as much as he is freedom. The value of freedom is held greater than the life of the individual and the film communicates the idea that to be liberated from fear means to believe that the value of freedom is greater than personal safe or your own life – citizens ought to be wiling to die for this ideal. V for Vendetta addresses the conspiracies and fears surrounding the war on terror and the 7/7 bombings and 9/11, of governments using acts of terrorism to restrict of civil liberties and of protests.

Essay Mock

To what extent does internet piracy pose a threat to the film industry?

Internet piracy is the biggest threat for the film industry. Film industries are spending the money on making films but then gaining any profits from the audience as they are watching the films illegally. Audiences prefer watching the films online as its easier and cheaper than the cinema and really easily accessible. Also audiences find if the film is not good then they can turn it off and won’t have lost money on paying to go see it as the cinema. Cinemas are now reintroducing 3D to try and gain audiences back and also in attempt to halt people illegally pirating the films as 3D films are harder to pirate as you will loose the image quality. Due to the way technology has evolved we can now digitally distribute films ourselves to friends and each other. There are many sites that allow us to stream films easily and watch them such as MegaUpload.

The internet now allows us to share films so easily and quickly without needing to do much sites allow you to stream films straight to home and watch them straight away. Due to the amount of films that have been pirated the film industry have brought back 3D to gain more audience attendance and in attempt to stop film piracy. Films are much harder to pirate wen they are in 3D due to the technology used in making films 3D. Many directors are now being forced to make their films in the 3D to ensure audience attendance ad some form of profits. Some directors do not like the idea of 3D and feels it would ruin their work. Del Torro was being forced into releasing his film ‘pacific rim’ in 3D; he disagreed with the decision and so is releasing his film in 2D and 3D giving his audience members the choice on how they wish to view the film. Directors such as Cameron are very much pro 3D and his film Avatar is known as one of the best 3D films ever made making millions in profits. He felt 3D gave the film more depth and immersed the audience into the film.

By watching films online the audience are able to gain access to more films such as independent films as well as blockbusters. This means the audience would be able to gain access to many different film genres and watch something they wouldn’t normally watch. Therefore increasing their individual film consumption. Audience members may also feel “no risk free” and may watch genres of films they wouldn’t normally watch, as they don’t loose any money on doing so. If you were to find a goof film you can easily share the link to friends and ensure the film gets a good viewing, although this means that the film industry don’t make any profits and actually loose money. Another problem audience members have with cinemas is the cost. Now more and more films are being released in 3D as the cinemas the downside is how expensive it makes it going to watch the film. To see 3D film at the cinema can be quite an expensive experience. The good thing to 3D films is that they are much harder to pirate, as the image quality will be poor and blurry. Also cinemas are now releasing older films in 3D, as it’s cheaper to rerelease a film in 3D then making a new 3D film.

I think that piracy is a big threat to the film industry and could one day lead to the end of the film industry, as we know it. In some ways piracy has helped the film industry in bringing back 3D to cinemas and helping technology in making 3D in order to support the films. It has also meant the release of some great films 3D films, as the film industry has had to take bigger risks with films in order to gain back audience attendance. Overall I feel that piracy is damaging the film industry and is destroying cinemas and soon the traditional ways of watching films will no longer exists as the film industry can not afford to make films when they are not making profits. If there was a way to make viewing 3D films cheaper or to stop piracy on normal films and keep more options open to the audience would increase cinema attendance.

Film Censorship

"FILM CENSORSHIP IS MOTIVATED BY FEARS ABOUT AUDIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY"

 

Produced with Briony and Anna

Essay Mock

WHAT FACTORS LED TO THE DECLINE OF TOWN OR CITY CENTRE CINEMAS IN THE LATE 1970s AND EARLY 1980s?

At the beginning of the 1970s, there was a decline in independent cinema's called 'fleapits' as the development of multiplex's increased. This was partly due to the distribution of merchandising and marketing. When film producers spend money on these then the film is longer just a film, but an event. Films then become a spectacle and encourages others to see it, this leads to the rise of the blockbusters. An example of this would be Jaws (1975). Jaws had such an extremely large amount of publicity and hype towards it, to the extent where people started to believe they could see sharks in the water. Similarly to production this also resulted in large volumes of people in which the multiplexes were better equip to dealing with. However, multiplexes were also established around town centres and within shopping centres. This allowed for people to spend the day on other various leisure activities such as bowling and eating, all in one location. This caused Fleapits to suffer even more as less people just wanted to watch a film on its own. 

Production of films from 1970 to 1980 had to deal with legal matters such as what content can be included in the film and contractual agreements with stars. The Godfather (1972) included big names such as Al Pacino and James Caan. This brought in a larger audience and appeal, and also the establishment of sequels, all of which contribute in the generation of a franchise. This benefits multiplexes as they have multiple screens, capable of coping with the volume of people that which to view the movie. This ensures a return on any investments made, resulting on partnerships and deals with multiplexes, whilst Fleapit cinemas miss out on opportunities to screen popular blockbusters. This is partly because the involvement of A-list stars, raises the production cost of a film, meaning the money grossed from the films are required to be significantly higher.

Changing marketing tactics created event movies which started the idea of marketing a film for money using merchandise, advertisement, posters and promotions.The movie that started this formulaic marketing tactic is "Star Wars" (1977), which was the first event movie. It was so big and hyped because it was the first movie that introduced spectacles that was visually big and great for the audience to enjoy. Star wars was the first movie in Milton Keynes. It was shown because the Multiplex had bigger screens (spectacle), better seating arrangements and louder sound. Therefore more blockbuster films were made to make more profit from them.

Essay Mock

"FILM CENSORSHIP IS MOTIVATED BY FEARS ABOUT AUDIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY" 

DISCUSS THIS STATEMENT IN REFERENCE TO THE CONCERNS EXPRESSED ABOUT UNCENSORED AND UNREGULATED VIDEO CONTENT.

I agree with this statement because I believe that fears from organisations such as the Media Watch, affect the views that the government have on what films are allowed to be aired. The Media Watch was run by Mary Whitehouse, who disagreed against violence, gore, rape, psychological effects and graphic scenes. On one hand I agree with Mary Whitehouse, because I think that films should be monitored because some scenes should not be seen by younger views and now, because of technology and piracy, younger viewers are able to watch films online that are censored. However, I also believe that restricting certain scenes from films could be reducing the awareness of that subject. For example, rape scenes are often restricted, and although this can be disturbing for most viewers, it shows that it happens and more people could possibly tell someone if they need help. Margaret Thatcher is another person who wanted to 'protect' the public from psychological effects. Thatcher blamed media and video nasties such as Evil Dead and I Spit On Your Grave as a scapegoat to deflect from real problems. She alerted a moral panic which meant that people that these video nasties must be the cause of peoples psychological problems. However, this meant that socially, people wanted to rebel and see them anyway.

Technology helped people to see the films that they couldn't see in cinemas because of government regulation. VHS tapes helped made this happen because they were regulated which meant that the government couldn't control who saw the film. It also made it possible for some people to see films in their comfort on their own home using a VHS player. VHS players also made it easier for people to record films that have been aired on TV. However, this made piracy easier which meant that younger viewers could see films that would've been regulated if they went to the cinema. Fortunately, in 1984, the regulation of VHS tapes came about which meant that sellers could know who is allowed to watch the recorded films which made the process more ethical. 

The economical effects of the new technology such as VHS recording meant that less people were spending money in cinemas. For the public, this was a good thing, but for film producers it meant that they lost money. However, people watching films more frequently, it meant that some films got their films promoted more so for some people they would still liked to go and see the film again in the cinema for the technological and social experience. Even though some people owned VHS recorders, these were newly released and many people couldn't but it. Though often it would be criminals who had the money to buy one as it meant that they could make money out of it.

In conclusion, I believe that social effects such as the moral panic caused by Margaret Thatcher and the government, had an effect on how films are censored then and today. This caused the government to control what films were censored and that films were regulated because they feared that it had psychological effects on them.