Saturday, 14 February 2015
Task 5 script
The film Four Lions does not help the Islamic communities representation by the media because it shows the main characters, who are Muslims, as being terrorists, this representation could have caused even more controversy for a film that had already seen its fair share. This is a very negative representation of the Islamic community. Many things are represented in the media these include: Gender, Age, Lifestyle, Ethnicity, Class, Communities etc.
There are two schools of thought regarding representation in the media, one school of thought is called the 'Hypodermic Syringe' (Theodore Adorno, 1930s) and it says that Mass audiences believe everything that they see or hear from the media. So if Four Lions shows the Muslim community as terrorists then this theory would say that the audience's opinion of Muslims would be warped or changed by what is shown in the film.
The second school of thought says that we have the ability to filter and adapt to content we see in the media (Gauntlett). So when we see a violent scene in a film or game we aren't compelled to replicate it because we can differentiate between reality and fiction.
The only stereotype present in Four Lions is that of the Islamic communities connection to terrorism, this is not a positive stereotype and caused problems for the film, both before and after release.
Now I will look at the film in terms of legal issues, this could be copyright infringement, however the main worry for a film is illegal downloading and it is worse for an indie film like Four Lions because the sources of illegal downloads are not regulated and taken down as effectively as they are for a Hollywood Blockbuster film.There are also ethical issues with the film Four Lions. I have already spoken about the representation of Muslims in the film however here are more ethical issues surrounding this film, such as the date it was to be first aired on T.V was the same day as the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. This caused lots of controversy and almost caused the air date to be cancelled completely. The representation the Islamic community in Four Lions offended many people with its very terrorist centered characters and dialogue.
There are two regulatory bodies in the film industry they are BBFC and ASA. The BBFC are the more widely heard of out of the two. They gave Four Lions an age rating of 15 because of the theme of terrorism throughout the film is not suitable for ages lower than 15. There is not really much physical violence in the film except for at the end when the characters blow themselves up. However there are lots of examples of strong language in the film which also contributes to the 15 age rating.
The ASA are the other regulatory body in the film industry, they use advertising codes in order to regulate what is advertised to the public and how it is advertised. in terms of four lions they could not include anything in the advertisements that could be perceived as offensive towards anyone. So the posters for Four Lions included the Crow from the film and that was it, there wasn't really anything else on the posters. I think that this is because the film is about such a controversial subject that they were scared anything else on the adverts would be deemed offensive, so they did adhere to the advertising codes.
There are two schools of thought regarding representation in the media, one school of thought is called the 'Hypodermic Syringe' (Theodore Adorno, 1930s) and it says that Mass audiences believe everything that they see or hear from the media. So if Four Lions shows the Muslim community as terrorists then this theory would say that the audience's opinion of Muslims would be warped or changed by what is shown in the film.
The second school of thought says that we have the ability to filter and adapt to content we see in the media (Gauntlett). So when we see a violent scene in a film or game we aren't compelled to replicate it because we can differentiate between reality and fiction.
The only stereotype present in Four Lions is that of the Islamic communities connection to terrorism, this is not a positive stereotype and caused problems for the film, both before and after release.
Now I will look at the film in terms of legal issues, this could be copyright infringement, however the main worry for a film is illegal downloading and it is worse for an indie film like Four Lions because the sources of illegal downloads are not regulated and taken down as effectively as they are for a Hollywood Blockbuster film.There are also ethical issues with the film Four Lions. I have already spoken about the representation of Muslims in the film however here are more ethical issues surrounding this film, such as the date it was to be first aired on T.V was the same day as the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. This caused lots of controversy and almost caused the air date to be cancelled completely. The representation the Islamic community in Four Lions offended many people with its very terrorist centered characters and dialogue.
There are two regulatory bodies in the film industry they are BBFC and ASA. The BBFC are the more widely heard of out of the two. They gave Four Lions an age rating of 15 because of the theme of terrorism throughout the film is not suitable for ages lower than 15. There is not really much physical violence in the film except for at the end when the characters blow themselves up. However there are lots of examples of strong language in the film which also contributes to the 15 age rating.
The ASA are the other regulatory body in the film industry, they use advertising codes in order to regulate what is advertised to the public and how it is advertised. in terms of four lions they could not include anything in the advertisements that could be perceived as offensive towards anyone. So the posters for Four Lions included the Crow from the film and that was it, there wasn't really anything else on the posters. I think that this is because the film is about such a controversial subject that they were scared anything else on the adverts would be deemed offensive, so they did adhere to the advertising codes.
Friday, 13 February 2015
Task 4 - Script
The film Four Lions is distributed in many ways, one such distribution channel is channel 4 because people can watch the film on channel 4 since Four lions is a product of a convergence between Warp films and Film4 so they show the film from time to time. The film is also advertised through channel 4 because they helped to make it, However because of the controversy around the film being aired on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks it almost wasn't aired, some people might see this as negative advertisement. Four lions was also promoted because around the time of its release (May 7 2010), as an indie film, it placed 7th in the Box office under popular Hollywood films such as Iron man 2 and the reboot of A Nightmare On Elm Street, this goes to show how popular the film was and surely attracted more people to watch the film in this way.The Film can also be accessed to stream on websites such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. It can also be accessed on illegal streaming websites such as putlocker and vodlocker. It was shown in cinema chains such as Cineworld and Vue etc. The film made $2,436,111 at the worldwide Box office. The film could also be bought on DVD.
Another medium that a film may be advertised through are online review website such as Rotten tomatoes and Metacritic. This advertises the film because if someone sees a good review score for a film on rotten tomatoes they are more likely to go and see the film. The review score for Four lions on rotten tomatoes was 82%, and on Metacritic a score of 68. So reviews also work as a form of free advertising for the film producers, however this is a gamble because if the reviewer praises the film it works as advertising, but if they give a bad score it could seriously knock the films reputation.Since the rise of Web 2.0 (David Gauntlet -2002) the internet has become a place where films are frequently advertised, be it through YouTube advertisements or regular websites for films or Facebook pages for films. The internet is where a lot of people have products advertised to them. This is because of Technological Convergence, which is when aspects of analogue media (e.g Radio) and digital media (e.g Internet) come together in one product such as a smartphone.
Other ways in which a film is advertised is through press conferences. These events create huge amounts of attention on the internet and are a very effective form of promotion for films. Another thing that causes press and public interest in a film is a premiere most films have a premiere event in order to showcase the film and cast to the press and through the press it is shown to the public, for example Four Lions premiere took place in Bradford and allowed the crowd that came to ask questions about the film and then actually see the film themselves. There is also the idea of Star persona (Dyer 1975), this would apply to a franchise like James Bond because people see the star persona of the main actor as being James Bond so they go and see the film (or Don't go and see the film) because of the main actor in it. Something like Star persona would not apply to Four Lions however because none of the main actors are very well known or have a star persona related to them.
Another medium that a film may be advertised through are online review website such as Rotten tomatoes and Metacritic. This advertises the film because if someone sees a good review score for a film on rotten tomatoes they are more likely to go and see the film. The review score for Four lions on rotten tomatoes was 82%, and on Metacritic a score of 68. So reviews also work as a form of free advertising for the film producers, however this is a gamble because if the reviewer praises the film it works as advertising, but if they give a bad score it could seriously knock the films reputation.Since the rise of Web 2.0 (David Gauntlet -2002) the internet has become a place where films are frequently advertised, be it through YouTube advertisements or regular websites for films or Facebook pages for films. The internet is where a lot of people have products advertised to them. This is because of Technological Convergence, which is when aspects of analogue media (e.g Radio) and digital media (e.g Internet) come together in one product such as a smartphone.
Other ways in which a film is advertised is through press conferences. These events create huge amounts of attention on the internet and are a very effective form of promotion for films. Another thing that causes press and public interest in a film is a premiere most films have a premiere event in order to showcase the film and cast to the press and through the press it is shown to the public, for example Four Lions premiere took place in Bradford and allowed the crowd that came to ask questions about the film and then actually see the film themselves. There is also the idea of Star persona (Dyer 1975), this would apply to a franchise like James Bond because people see the star persona of the main actor as being James Bond so they go and see the film (or Don't go and see the film) because of the main actor in it. Something like Star persona would not apply to Four Lions however because none of the main actors are very well known or have a star persona related to them.
Task 3 script
John Hartley (1987) and Len Ang (1991) said that producers invent invisible fictions or imaginary entities before creating a media product to show who that product would be aimed at.
In terms of Four lions the gender of the target audience would be about 60% male and 40% female because all of the protagonists in the film are male.
The average age of a four lions audience member would be 15-21 years old because this is generally the age group that watches indie films like four lions. They would enjoy indie arthouse style films.
The lifestyle of the average Four lions is that they would enjoy comedy films since Four lions is primarily a comedy film. Gary is 17 and is from Sheffield he likes seeing the places that he recognises on film so four lions appeals to him in that way. He likes to watch a variety of film genres but he especially likes indie films because they are different to the Hollywood blockbusters that flood cinemas. He talks to his friends about the films they watch and they influence each others opinions of films.
In terms of the National readership survey (NRS) the audience would be in the E: urban ventures category which would include young people and students. He does not have much disposable income so he does not have the money to go to the cinema frequently. The films that he does watch are small budget indie films with no additional merchandise. Gary's social grade is C1 Lower middle class, this means that he is in the ABC1 demographic. However the target audience of four lions could be seen to be the working class because the protagonist characters shown in the film are working class. The spending power of the audience is shown through the film by the general style of everything in the film, and the fact that it is an indie film and they generally target an audience with less spending power than Hollywood films.
In terms of Four lions the gender of the target audience would be about 60% male and 40% female because all of the protagonists in the film are male.
The average age of a four lions audience member would be 15-21 years old because this is generally the age group that watches indie films like four lions. They would enjoy indie arthouse style films.
The lifestyle of the average Four lions is that they would enjoy comedy films since Four lions is primarily a comedy film. Gary is 17 and is from Sheffield he likes seeing the places that he recognises on film so four lions appeals to him in that way. He likes to watch a variety of film genres but he especially likes indie films because they are different to the Hollywood blockbusters that flood cinemas. He talks to his friends about the films they watch and they influence each others opinions of films.
In terms of the National readership survey (NRS) the audience would be in the E: urban ventures category which would include young people and students. He does not have much disposable income so he does not have the money to go to the cinema frequently. The films that he does watch are small budget indie films with no additional merchandise. Gary's social grade is C1 Lower middle class, this means that he is in the ABC1 demographic. However the target audience of four lions could be seen to be the working class because the protagonist characters shown in the film are working class. The spending power of the audience is shown through the film by the general style of everything in the film, and the fact that it is an indie film and they generally target an audience with less spending power than Hollywood films.
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