Saturday, 21 September 2013

Research and Planning - Trailer Analysis

This Is England 2006 - social realism film.



The establishing shot shows a beach looking to be somewhere in the south of England and helps to set the scene. Mise-en-scene included in this, shows that weather does not look particularly sunny or particularly glum, this is use of pathetic fallacy. Straight away shows text stating 'Winner Best Film, British Film Awards 2006', this immediately grabs the audiences attention and makes them realise there is more to the film than first assumed. First shot of a character we see is a mid-shot of child - Shaun - who we assume to be the main character, shot enables the viewer to see his facial expression - shown to be gloomy. It then zooms out to a long shot of character walking on his own whilst characters in the background carry on with their work and don't pay him any attention, this helps us see the age of him (as he is quite young) connotating his independence at such a young age. A fade cut is used to show the transition of time to him in his kitchen with a non-diegetic voice over of his mother asking how his day went. Mise-en-scene of the kitchen shows that it is decorated in a way that is typical of the 80's and sets the scene.
A series of images are used of the child on his own whilst flicking back to other children to emphasise the fact he is friendless. Whilst sat on the sofa, emphasis is placed on the fact it is just the son and his mother who are positioned on either end of the sofa, this shows the way there is distance between them and hints the fact that he keeps her at an emotional distance as well as physical.
At the point in which Shaun decides he has had enough of the bullying and jumps on one of the boys who is teasing him, as he does so, the music changes and suddenly becomes much faster and more playful, this connotates a point of plot change and also gives a much more happy ideology.

A fade is used showing text on a black background saying 'England, 1983' this is done to ensure the audience is aware of the time period in which the film is set. A short montage is used showing various pieces of film from the 80's, including that of a Rubix cube - a typical toy of that time - and a shot of royalty of the time.
The non-diegetic sound of upbeat music is used, the use of upbeat music throughout this section connotates that the film is somewhat happy, even though it is centred on bullying at first. Text is used throughout to help talk the audience through the main points of the film, as though a text narration.

A wider main cast are introduced through his main friend, who introduces the others through use of nicknames. In this scene, high key lighting is used to connotate the idea that these characters are good and friendly. A close-up shot is used upon Shaun in this scene showing his facial expression of him happy, this gives the viewer the idea that these characters will be good to him and that he has finally found friends.
The upbeat music continues playing in the background showing him with his friends and enables the audience to see the sort of setting the film is in. It shows urban scenery including graffiti and houses that suggest they are on a council estate.
Throughout these few scenes, emphasis is placed on the fact that he is happy, with his non-diegetic voice over even stating 'this has been the best day of my life.'

We are then shown the next main plot point, the introduction of new characters. This scene uses low-key lighting, and music of a more rock genre. This suggests these characters are not as necessarily good as the others we are first introduced to.
Shaun is positioned above these new characters, which is unconventional due to the age difference between the two, and the fact that the adult is normally in a more powerful position than the child.
We are shown a new main issue/theme of this film through the next scenes - racism. This is shown through the violence shown to a shopkeeper with a knife, and the voice over from the gang leader stating 'there are three and a half million un-employed out there, there's single parents who cant get a f*cking job'. This shows the theme of the new character/gang wanting to somewhat take England back.
In the flat scene, a contrast between the two sets of characters is represented by the lighting and each half being positioned on each side of the room.
The second half of the trailer is much darker and focuses on the issue of the racism, the lighting used is low-key and the music is much more rocky, violence is shown in a quite graffic manner throughout.
The ending is mainly used to show the awards the film has won and persuade more people to seeing it. This is often a point that social realism films struggle with, as they do not have features a hollywood blockbuster does, such as an all star cast , glamorous locations and special effects.

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