The Kuleshov Effect

The Kuleshov Effect is a film editing (montage) effect demonstrated by Russian filmmaker Lev Kuelshov in the 1910s and 1920s.

Concerning emotional resonance in cinema the Kuleshov Effext is an important concept. It rests on the theory of montage and the effect that film editing has on evoking emotions from a viewer.It is not simply the content of a scene or the expression on the character's face, but the way in which images are cut together can induce a feeling from the audience.

Below is a clip of the Kuleshov effect.

In our trailer we have used this in several ways. One scene when the Kuleshov Effect is shown is when the boy is taking drugs again the wall, the smoking scene and the running scene. All of these were not filmed in Brighton but due to the miss-en-scene, such as props and costuming, it gives the illusion that he is in Brighton.

Representation in our Trailer

Representation is “the way in which ideas, objects, people, groups and life-forms are depicted by the mass media [and] is the method used by the mass media to create meanings.” (Price)

“A stereotype is a label which involves a process of categorisation and evalua-tion… an easily grasped characteristic (usually negative) is presumed to belong toa whole group…”(O’Sullivan, Dutton & Rayner)

Perkins (1979) argues that:

1.some stereotypes are positive ( “The French are good cooks.”)

2.they are not always minority groups or the less powerful

3.they can be held about one’s own group

4.they are not rigid or unchanging

5.they are not always false

Perkins suggests that stereotypes are not always negative and sometimes contain a grain of truth. This relates to our trailer as stereotypes feature throughout. One stereotype shown in our trailer is 'teenagers', the protagonist conveys several stereotypical aspects of a teenager, such as the idea that teenagers take drugs and drink. He is conforming to these ideas of teenagers, however, the narrative of the trailer allows the audience to be empathetic towards the protagonist and understand why he is taking part in these activities. Another stereotype depicted in our trailer is Mods, a common image which represents Mods is a violent gang. However, the image illustrated in our trailer is towards to fashion aspects of the Mods, shown through clips of the boy imitating style, seen in the 'MODS!' book, by wearing a suit and parka. 

Representation of Youths

A convention which we have developed in our trailer is the common representation of youths. In our trailer we have shown the boy with his hood up in the scenes when he is misbehaving, a common impression that all teenagers wear hoods and rebel. We have conformed to this stereotype in these scenes as it represents his behaviour and hides his identity while he is taking part in the antisocial activities, such as kicking over bins and throwing things. This convention can be seen in films such as Kidulthood and 8 mile.

Poster deconstruction - Submarine

1.) Title - The title is centralised however not in the middle of the poster, it is quite low down just above the billing block and actor and directors names. It being placed here works well as it means all the text is in one place and it is just below the main protagonist's face on the image. The colouring of the text (orange, white and red) is unclear why its that colour unlike This is England where the colours are linked to Engalnd. One reason they are these colours could be because they stand out against the cyan blue background.
2.) Newspaper Reviews -  The 3 reviews from well known newspapers and magazines are in a line and centralised. Each group of text is also individually centralised with the source of the quote underneath. The review text is in black and the source is in colour, which relates to the 3 colours of the title, however in a different order. This works well as it makes the bold colours of the title more relevant.
3.) Directors name - The directors name on this poster is larger than the actors which usually happens when the director is more famous than any of the actors used in the film. It goes well where it has been placed as it reads just after the title. the lettering being in white also matches with all the other text used underneath the title over the image, which keeps it all quite simple and easy on the eye.
4.) Actors names - Challenging a convention of film posters, this poster hasnt made the actors names big and bold, instead they are under the title and the directors name in a smaller less bold font. This could be due to the actors starring in the film not being very well known therefore they dont need to stand out, they just need to be included. There are 5 actor names incldued on the poster in one line, this looks aesthetically pleasing as it looks neat and fits to the edges well, however they are slightly difficult to read because they are written in one line.
5.) Image of protagonist -  The image of the protagonist is really interesting as he is alone, in other youth culture flim posters we have looked at, the main character is always central however other characters are included smaller on the poster. The expression on the boys face is very plain and innocent and he looks quite young in the photo as hes in a school uniform which is clear from the shirt and tie and his age.
6.) Producers opinion - The producers opinion which is right at the top of the poster is unusual on a film poster however gives more credit to the film and goes well with the newspaper reviews just below.
7.) Billing block - The billing blocks font is the typical small thin lettering with varies of letters in and out of capital. The block is quite thick and square looking as it hasnt been stretched right out to the edges however this may have been done so that it doesnt go wider than the protagonists body in the background image.
8.) Production company images - The amount of production company logos on a film poster varies, some only include a few however this poster has aboutn nine. All nine logos are kept together underneath the billing block which looks neat and round of the billing block well.

Poster deconstruction - This is England

1.) The title is entirely centralised in a bold font and written in capitals. It is cleverly coloured so each word is red white or blue, which is related to the Union Jack, the flag of England. The title is made out to look as though it has been graffitied onto the corrugated metal background.
The bold font makes it easy and clear to reading also matches the genre of drama as its making a statement.

2.) The image used on the poster suits the theme and genre really well, it also gives a good impression on the film. The image shows a variety of main characters and supporting ones. The main character is the young boy who in the line is central which is a convention of a film poster.Each teenager in the image is posing differently and it doesnt come accross as though it is a posed photo, it looks how you would expect that group of people to stand.

3.) The film awards are located at the very top and centralised, the 3 award logos show which awards This is England won from the British Independence and Rome Film Festival awards. They give credit to the film and show off how good it is. Therefore they have been placed where they can be seen. Also the logos are well known meaning by looking at the poster people will be able to recognise it has won awards without having to read them.

4.) Under the film award logos there are 3 review quotations. The 3 reviews quote the review, say where its from and two of the show how many stars it was rated. the reviews being at the top and central make them easy to see and by using actual stars the reviws can be uderstood without actually needing to look at them. They are also placed well on the poster as they are just below the awards which means all the opinions on the film are kept together.

5.) The billing block is in typical small, thin writing as it contains everything which has to be out of the poster, however isn't as important as the title, image, tag line and actors. There's two billing blocks on this poster, one is central and contains all the names and production companies needed to be included, as well as some of their logos. There is another smaller billing block bottom right centralised with the 'Universal Music' logo and some text about the sound track. The two billing blocks work well as it means the centralised one is smaller meaning there can be more room in the poster for more important features.

6.) This is the age certification of the minimum age allowed to watch this film. Conventionally certification is placed in a bottom corner, however on this poster it is just underneath the title which is in the middle. The certification isn't very clear as it is white text with a transparent background against a grey/white blue background.

7.) 'A film by Shane Meadows' is an important like as Shane Meadows wrote and directed the film. It is written as though it has been sprayed onto the corrugated metal which makes it authentic and closely links it to the theme of the film as its about youths and crime. It being placed underneath the title means it is read straight after, which is appropriate as it is quite important as the name of the director is a main convention of a film poster.

8.) The tag line is above the title which is challenging a convention of a film poster as they are usually under the title so they are read second. The tag line is in the same font and affect as the title but in black, so it still looks as though it is printed onto the corrugated metal. The tag line is short and is in two parts. 'Summer 1983' is a statement giving the viewer a clear idea of the time period its set in, the second part 'a time to stand out from the crowd' indicates its going to be about youths who are all trying to standout, meaning doing things they'll get in trouble for.

9.) This shows the website address (www.thisisenglandmovie.com) It is part of the billing block however at the bottom and centralised. It is also in a bigger and slightly bolder font so it is more noticed.

Website homepage

We have recently added the film award logos and film review quotes to the homepage of our website. We were inspired to do this after looking at other film websites, such as the Electrick Children film website.

Below are images of the film reviews which are shown on our website and in our trailer.

Here is an image of our final homepage with the film awards and film reviews added.

Website (tabs)

For the tabs on our website we have got 'HOME', 'ABOUT', 'TRAILER' and 'CONTACT'. 

We have also included links to social networking sites (facebook and twitter) of Fluoxetine.

The 'CP' logo stands for chemical productions which is the production company we have created for our film. 

HOME- The homepage is a general page for the website and will have a link to our trailer. The title on the homepage will have the Royal Air Force Roundel logo on the 'O' of Fluoxetine as an intertextual reference to the MOD culture. 

ABOUT- The about section will have a brief description of our film to allow the audience to find out more about the trailer they are watching.

TRAILER- This section will have a large version of our trailer on enabling people to watch it without leaving the website.

CONTACT- This sections shows how we are using conventions of real media texts, as other film websites all have a contact page. This is more for visual aspects of out website. 

Existing Media Texts (website)

Other websites that we looked at before creating ours include 'Les Miserables', 'Ted' and 'Life of Pi'.

The 'Life of Pi' website is interactive and plays automatic clips about the content of the film when you enter the website. We liked this aspect of the website and incorporated it into ours by using random clips which are played when you enter. We also liked the white text over the moving images and have used this in our website.




Another website we looked at was 'Ted', an aspect that we liked about this was that it included 'From the creator of Family Guy' which gives the audience the impression that it will be simular to Family Guy. Therefore people who like that genre of film are likely to enjoy this movie too.



We also looked at 'Les Miserables' and liked that the website included the award the film has recieved as a focal point on the homepage. We also liked that it was a simplistic and 'easy to use' website.

Website background

For our website background we used a moving image which is automatically play upon enterance of the website. The images chosen we images previously filmed when we filmed the footage for our trailer. The images are in an irrelevant order so that the content of the film is not given away, we also did not want people to think that this was the actual trailer. However in the footage we have used clips from all of the locations to show the transition of time through place and weather, for example, we have used different weather such as snow and sun to show that time has passed and he has changed over this time. These clips also include several action clips that we were unable to use in our trailer and wanted to show as a preview.

Homepage of the Website

For the homepage of our website we have used an automatic video of several unused clips from our filming. Thisi s played when you enter the website and acts as a background. We felt that this gave the website a professional look and replicates the genre and mise en scene of our trailer.
We put the title of our film over the video in white as it shows up well. We also showed intertexuality through the mod logo in the title which relates to the content of our film, for example, the boy following his mothers dreams of becoming a mod. We have shown the tagline of the film as is gives the audience information about what the film may be about and we have links to social network pages and other parts of the website. The production companies name is on own page 'Chemical Productions' as well as their logo as this is a convention of most film websites.

Similar films (Certification)

Quadrophenia:

Quadrophenia is a Seminal cult film about the snappily-dressed mods, riding scooters, popping pills, and fighting the hated rockers on the beaches of Brighton. The film has a similar genre to ours and has been very influential when creating our trailer. The certification of the film is 18 as in includes drug taking, violence, sexual activity and course language.

Fish Tank:

Fish Tank is a Youth Culture film about a young girl fighting with her mum and rebelling. The genre is similar to ours, along with the content. However we have used a young boy instead of a girl. The certification of the film is a 15 as it has strong language, violence and portrayals of sexual activity.

The Weekender:

The Weekender is another Youth Culture film about two young men on a  journey, as their success continues to grow, they attract a more dark and sinister world. The film is a 15 as it contains drug use, strong language and a mild portrayal of sexual activity.

Using colour

This 2012 Tropfest short film finalist is similar to Fluoxetine in the way it is all about a boy and how it it mostly black and white.
We have been looking at this short film to see weather we should incorportae some colour into our trailer. In the short film it is incorporated by using lots of editing so one colour is shown at a time. However we are thinking of using colour in the title, or the reviews.
To see if this is a good idea we will experiment with out title in both B&W and with some colour.
We can also look at more 1960s mod films to see how and if they use colour.

Fish Tank trailer deconstruction

We chose to deconstruct the trailer of Fish Tank due to it being the same genre; a social realism film.
The protagonist in Fish Tank is a teenage girl who has a difficult childhood due to a problematic mother and also getting involved with the wrong group of people, ending in her getting into trouble. Throughout the trailer clips of her dancing are included showing this is her escapism and the contrast throughout the trailer of her troubled teenage life and dancing creates a variety of emotions from the girl.
This timeline deconstruction goes through the trailer shot by shot analysing the shot type, colouring of the shot and also what the shot is portraying. The sound used in the trailer is also analysed in the timeline by showing when scores are used and other sound techniques for example dialog and diegetic sound.

Deconstruction of Weekender Trailer

 

Deconstruction of 'This is England' Trailer

We decided to create a deconstruction of This is England as it is a very well known youth culture film. By carrying out the deconstruction it meant we had better knowledge of the genre and its conventions.