TEDx blog task

Key points

·         No respect for Authority

·         Ignored by Society

·         Raised by music; Grime and Underground Rap

·         Conscious Rap

·         Broken Families and Broken Mentalities 

·         Encouragement and Motivation

·         Chav: Council Housed and Violent

·         Media 'demonised' the Youth

Plan B strongly believes that the youth are misjudged and the media demonises them, and due to this Plan B tries his best to help these kids that come from dysfunctional/broken families. He is against the government and their policies stating that they are not doing enough to keep kids off the street by closing down youth centres. He believes that all kids should be treated equally, whether they come from a council estate or mansion, or whether they were lucky enough to be born into a caring family or were unlucky to be born into a dysfunctional family. Furthermore, he can relate more with these kids as he's experienced what they have and therefore can understand them more better than anyone else. In addition, the word CHAV meant something good and positive to him. However, society nowadays have changed that and changed it to mean something negative, which Plan B is against.

 I think the target audience for this TEDx lecture would mainly be middle aged working class people. It would be aimed at people who want to do the same as Plan B and help the less fortunate. In terms of psychographic groups I think this lecture would be aimed at reformers, as they would want to be educated about this topic so they can help youths in deprived situations. This relates to the audience for his music/film, the only thing that would be different is that the audience for his music/film would be much younger, 16+. 

Plan B believes the media conveys the youth in only a negative way, and almost demonises them. He believes that by the media doing this and stereotyping them to be "CHAVS" they're going to be against being a part of society and decide to riot, as they've feel like they've been pushed out due to coming from a less fortunate family. According to Stanley Cohen, a moral panic occurs "When a person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests" and people who threaten the social order have been described as"folk devils". Moral panics raise a strong theme of concern as there's some wrong behavior going on that has a negative impact on society. 

Ill Manors Music Video Analysis

How is it typical of a music video?

Plan B’s music video was used as a tool to promote his debut directed film Ill Manors. There are many things that could make this extract a typical music video or another way of saying it, conventional. The first thing it uses which is typical is that the video is around 4 minute long; this is the case for most of the mainstream music videos. In this duration the clips that were included were very short and snappy which is very common. Fast paced editing works in synergy with the short clips to follow the up beat nature of the song as well as to add to the meaning and pleasure of the extract. Action set pieces were present in the music video this is because the image on screen reflects to what the words are saying. There is a multitude of performance elements showcased in this music video, match on action moments, rapping to the camera, breaking things. All of those elements allow the viewer to be engaged and fascinated with the extract, which may convince them to tune in to watch the film, or even buy a DVD.

How does it represent the London riots/rioters?

Ben drews views on the rioters is that they are the true victims at the end of the day. He feels like the under class, urban teenagers were abandoned by society due to the fact they don’t seem to fit in it. In simpler terms, the reckless people of the riot were forced to make that statement because of the general society view on them. However, this is not the way when it comes to the clips of the music video. The rioters and teenagers reinforced the upper classes thoughts of them as they explore the emotional side of things rather they show the violence. This is why some people feel the music video contradicts the concept as not enough of the protest was involved to show.

What audience pleasures does the music video offer?

There are all sorts of pleasures in this 4-minute extract, one of which is a sense of personal identificated as explored by Blumler and Katz. The concept is applied to the already existing fans of Ben Drew (Plan B), this is seen because he targets the urban teenagers and young adults of rough upbringings, typically in council estates. They can easily identify to what his message is in the music video. Another pleasure that perhaps can be applied is the sense of diversion. This is because there are many action set-pieces in the music video alone, showing the gritty side of the victims of society. A normal viewer could see this as entertainment due to the action codes applied from Barthes theory.

How does the music video help to promote the film of the same name?

The film and the music video provided to promote the film intertwine to provide synergy between the two media types. There are actors from the film featured in the music video too, maybe sparking a sense of recognition.  This idea allows the viewer to be atheistically happy due to the fact he spotted the characters in the music video too. The Characters involved in the music video too were the characters of Ed, Chris and Riz Ahmed’s character. The audio track is a promotional stand too, this is because the sound track performed by the same directors could be just enough to make someone who already is interest in Plan B’s work watch the film.

The record companies/institutions behind Plan B
Labels:

679
Atlantic
Mercury
Pet Cemetery
Warner Bros.
Asylum

Sales/downloads for the soundtrack

Chart (2012)	Peak position
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)	89
Scotland (Official Charts Company)	9
UK R&B (Official Charts Company)	3
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)	6
UK Official Streaming Chart Top 100	89

Music reviews

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	83/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Drowned in Sound	8/10
The Guardian
MusicOMH
NME	8/10[
The Observer
Spin	8/10[
The Telegraph	[

Plan B's fans' reviews and comments
The Guardian comments:
"Drew's a talent and a polymath, and while I admire his desire to represent, I don't think he's bringing any clarity to the issues he wants to highlight"

"Genuinely a great album. Fits right in with The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers and Dead Kennedys records I have. Genre is stripped away, more obvious as ever on the title track (The Prodigy remix isn't too bad either), and we have the desperate poetry and hard-hitting social commentary of the man. Simply a great album. To paraphrase one of the best lyrics, "We're not in broken Britain, we're just Broke in Britain".

NME.com Review:
http://www.nme.com/reviews/album/reviews-plan-b-13466

The Guardian Review:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jul/22/plan-b-ill-manors-review

500 word review

Ill Manors is a rap film about a drug dealer and a prostitute on a London housing estate. Ben Drew also known as Plan B, is mainstream British rap artist who wanted to go into a filmmaking career debuted as a director in this low budget movie. This film addresses many issues in society and messages overlapped by an illustration or a lyric. One of the strong messages is ‘Look what happened to children when they are abandoned, neglected or abused by their parents and adults. This represents the gritty surroundings and environments the children are around in. Drew issues to makes sure that his audience understand this message and main concept of the film.

The narrative involves a set of characters with intertwined fates at the end providing synergy. It starts with the introduction of some drug dealers: Chris (Lee Allan) a private worker in drugs and criminal acts, typically a dominant character. One of the main if not the main protagonists, Aaron (Riz Ahmed) and Ed (Ed Skrein) friends from the same care home, who are involved in minor crimes except for dealing with drugs. The next characters introduced to the plot are the prostitutes of the estate who are also drug users, Michelle (Anouska Mond) another lonely operative regularly mistreated by everyone and Katya (Natalie Press) a lady from East Europe who has runaway from the human traffickers that imported her into Britain. From some lyrics performed by Plan B forecasted some flashback clips of the two females, showcasing how their life came about and how they ended up in their current situation.

Plan B or Ben Drews’s intensions are to show us what kind of things impacts people current state and he expects us to understand what made them be abnormal, this is consistently emphasised in the film. It is to inform the viewer as well as sympathises them. This is one of the film's strengths strong sets.

Chris is represented as a dominant antagonist who is antisocial male with no loyalty or any set on stone moral codes to live by. Ed is a masculine thug who mistreats Michelle just simply because he has power over her, which reinforces some theories that men have power over females. 

Performances were outstanding even from minor roles who don’t show case their skills in most of the film. The soundtrack is fantastic performed by Plan B and some collaboration work. The film ends with the intense track Drug Dealer (the story of Chris's life). Drew has used some young rap artists/singers feature on some of the tracks.

The finale is dreadful and heartbreaking in equal measures but the end offers anticipation, as three of the characters seem to make a positive change to their lives for the good. Appropriately this occurs because of the troubles of Katya's baby, highlighting the film's focus upon young children and their need for adults to assist them to mature into vigorous adults that can contribute to society. That is controversial as some people disagree with what the aim of the film is.

Ill Manor film reviews

What are the typical codes and conventions of film trailers - what information is usually provided?

- Short clips from film, dramatic set pieces

- Fast paced editing

- Title, Tagline

- Age certification 

- Social Media / Websites

- Release dates

- Institutional information / Logo

- Review quotes

- Music sound track

- Cast / director

-Text on screen

How are trailers usually distributed? 

Trailers are usually distributed and release through the E-media service, typically through the websites IMDb and video viewing giants, YouTube. This is because many people could easily come across and access the extract to get awareness. And simply because its how the world is connected.

How does the Ill Manors trailer use film trailer conventions?

Ill Manors used many conventions from the typical trailer which are text on screens to give out a message to the viewer or to inform them, Institutional information was displayed on screen to establish the business the created the film. They added some social media pages to access such as twitter pages where they get in contact with the consumer, this technique of social media allows the consumer to do some user generated content for the film to popularise the film further. Used short action scenes which are seen as action codes as well as enigma codes because of the way they played with the narrative. This allowed an opportunity to have an upbeat sound track working in synergy with fast paced editing.

Watch the trailer carefully and discuss how it might attract an audience. Firstly, think about who the target audience for Ill Manors might include. Does it have a unique selling point or use particular techniques to appeal to the audience? Consider the way the scenes are edited together – does the trailer give away any clues about the narrative? Are the main stars visible in the trailer? Is there information about the director of the film? Is there information about the release date? Is a narrator’s voice-over used? Why?

The typical viewer of Ill manors is most likely and older teenager probably 18 or above who lives in a working class area and not highly educated. Considering this Ill manors have used many things in the trailer alone to communicate to the viewer, One of which is the fact they added establishing shot of the setting which can be inferred as similar to the average viewer as they con identify and relate to the place. Another way they could identify is by characters and their roles, They could be seen as familiar due to the friends they may know or they might someone generally who is similar to the character. Ill Manors unique selling point could be the genre their film is in which urban drama, this not conventional is British, or holly wood films and this is why the film was liked by audiences. There are many scenes edited together to allow a flow in narrative or a follow up in the shots to set a certain mood for the film and trailer. The issue with the trailer might be that they didn't really show the main stars of the film in the trailer in ratio to the villains or antagonists, which might be a marketing techniques.

How has the genre of the film been represented through characters, settings, lighting, colour, music/dialogue, camera shots/movements/angles and editing?

The genre of the film, which is a hybrid genre of crime, action drama, has been shown through the use of montage. This is evident in the montage shots of guns prostitutes and violence. Another way in which the genre was shown was through the use of establishing shots of locations Iconic locations in London. An example of this is the establishing shot of a rural estate as well as the big and well established area of London. Furthermore, the use of having this shot reinforces how the media only show the wealthy parts of London and not the council houses that require the most help. This reinforces Plan B's (Ben Drew) ideologies of how London is corrupt and the wealth needs to be redistributed evenly.

MEST 1 EXAM Feed-back

WWW:
- You've picked out plenty of key aspects of the clip and also tried to use media terminology and theory.
- All your answers  contains the basis for a higher response.

EBI:
- There is a lack of depth, detail and organisation to your answers that is holding you back from the higher levels.
- You need to be aiming for level 3-4 well- developed paragraphs for each question.
- Basic English errors could could cost you top grades.
- You need to focus sharply on each question using key words (appeal, impact).

LR:
- Re-write question 4.

Question 4:
 Why does the film appeal to such wide audiences?

There are many reasons why this advert was appealing to the audience. One simple example is the fact that it doesn't have a specific age limit which means it could relate to people of all ages, there is a little child which kids could relate to and get a sense of personal identification from Blumler and Katz theory. Adults parents could appeal to the actors involved as they are middle aged people, Not too young or too old. Not only subverting the casual road safety advert, it uses original techniques to give the viewer a sense of diversion and a need to carry on watching it. You see this concept in role when the father is seemingly driving an imaginary car with real life effects of crashing, the viewer must of being curious on 'How could this happen?' or 'How could this be?' commonly known as enigma codes from Barthes's theory.

The concept of having a family is reinforced highly in this advert production, as well as the the love emotion between family peers and individuals in a group. This supports the idea of having a wider spread of audiences due to the fact its relatable to anyone and everyone. Todorvs theory of equilibrium could be applied highly to this advert too. The narrative plot of the short extract starts with a peaceful calm atmosphere called an equilibrium. This is applied when the father character is driving the invisible car to make his family laugh, Suddenly a disequilibrium comes into play when a serious sinario is acted up (the car crash) and the family member including the mother and daughter hold on to their loved one for protection.

Finally the final thing that allows this advert to be appealing to all types of audiences are.. Firstly the fact this film have a distinctive soundtrack which is emotional and heart warming to the viewer. The idea of not have a specific language spoken also plays a big role in relating to different types of audiences, the characters communicate using human emotive actions which is recognised by everyone. This allows the avert to be release to the media digitally for the hope that anyone can could watch this no matter what gender they, and what ever age group they're in.

1) What is the 'cultural test' to see if a film counts as British?

The cultural test, which was introduced in 2007, is used to allow production companies to apply for UK film tax relief and is administered by the British Film Institute (BFI) on behalf of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

2) What is the main problem for the British film industry?

Many British films are led by British crew rather distributed, this is because the Americans are seen as being better at doing this. If a British film is made to exhibit in the UK there are many things they have to face. One is that it must be sold to by distrusted by a firm, who release it to multi media platforms including cinemas, DVDs ext. This means all of the turn over they get is gone.which is why many big name brutish distributed films don't have a large financial success.

3) What are three of the strengths of the British film industry?

One strength is they bring forward up cominf stars to the spot light, creating popularity and so on. 5% of box office liquidity is of British ownership which is impressive. And finally not forgetting the amazing performances of British practitioners and their creative skill set.

5) What are the two options for the future of the British film industry?

One option is that they can join forces with Hollywood and its huge budget studios. However, the British identity of the film may be lost as it is set in America rather than the UK. An alternative way is to  go back to British film roots to target to a niche consumer with ow budgeted production that would save expenses and still make an impact on the viewer. This means that the film would be purely British although the institution wouldn't be very happy as they are loosing out on serious money.

6) In your opinion, which of these two options would best safeguard the future of the British film industry?

I really think the wise choice is to collaborate with the Americans to produce master pieces, even though some elements of 'Britishness' may be lost along the way. It would also create opportunities for filmmakers to spark a reputation for themselves allowing them to produce more films further on.

1) Write a one-sentence definition of what makes a film British.

When British values are represented in a film its usually considered British. 

2) What is the difference between a Hollywood production context and production context of a British film?

Mainstream industries in holly wood could easily make big budget film which advertise to a wider more diverse audience. British could be seen as the other side of film making where they use minimal amounts of money but still produce fantastic productions at the end. They have a habit of bringing up coming stars for Hollywood to be interested in. British films are also targeted at a specific age range. However, people of other ages might be interested too.

3) When did the James Bond franchise start?

The 1960's gave birth to the world known 007, James Bond franchise. The franchise was made for American Entertainment as well as funded by American money. On the other hand, it is still seen as a British due to th fact it represents British standard values.

4) In terms of film censorship and graphic content, what began to change in British film in the 1970s and 1980s?

During the 70's society started to change, acts such as violence, graphical content and harmful language were acceptable by the British Board for Film Censorship firm to be added into the films at the times. This meant more people of a wider range could be granted access to view those films freely. Acts like swearing were shifted down an age ground simply because society were aware of them and there wasn't a need to restrict it.

5) What groups are often represented in British film? Give examples of films these groups feature in.

The younger generation are portrayed in all kinds of ways, most the dominant representation they have is that they are reckless, dangrous, careless and up to no good. One film portrays these ideologies is 'ill manors'. In urban places these thoughts are reinforced simply because of the teenagers upbringing. However, this also means thee is many youths that don't relate to those stereotypes.

6) What does the Fact sheet suggest might be the audience appeal of British film?

The conventional and also subvertive  British cultures and traits appeal to many foreign viewers as they want to learn and relate to the British values. They seek this from either the setting of British film or even an actor who has a role reinforcing the British culture. The strong language segment of the taboos allowed after the 70's contributed to the success of comedy shows.