Kick Ass Essay

Kick Ass Representation Essay

The Marketing of 'The Soloist'!

The Soloist was a generally unsuccessful film. After failing in America it came to England with a similar reception. One of the main reasons for this was the advertising for the film.

The American release for the film was put back from November 2008 to April 2009. This was so Universal could spent more of its final marketing money on advertising for films such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Revolutionary Road. This also meant that these films had more of a chance at winning Oscar awards. So instead they decided to put an advert for The Soloist in the show instead.

A ban on film adverts in the Oscar show was lifted with the idea it wold be the prime way to show a film to the film loving audience whilst getting money for the industry, after the economy fall. The advert created to appear on television was specifically aimed at middle-aged women and cost $1.4 million. This advert was the main downfall in the marketing of the film, as it would not reach the wide audience of the Oscars or the huge population of America.

Tim Bevan Research!

Bevan is a successful film producer from New Zealand. He has worked on films such as Love Actually, Notting Hill, Atonement and the new Frost/Pegg film Paul. He originally co-founded Working Title with Sarah Radclyffe in 1983 but now co-owns it with Eric Fellner. In 1999 Bevan signed a $600m merging agreement with Universal.  He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Film Empire) in 2005 and in 2009 he was appointed Chairman of the UK film council.

Production Notes of 'The Soloist'!

• The film was worked on by Dream Works Pictures, Universal Pictures and Working title
• The  director  of  photography  is  Seamus  McGarvey,  production designer is Sarah Greenwood, editor is Paul Tothill and the costume designer is Jacqueline Durran.
• The music was done by Dario Marianelli
• Susannah Grant said that she wrote the film 'about the secret, yet transcendent dreams that existeven at the American margins; it was about crossing the gulf between the privileged and the outcast; and, perhaps most intriguingly, it was about the often perilous task of trying to change a friend’s life, and how such a quest can lead paradoxically to exhilarating revelations about one’s own'
• Joe Wright felt that the film was 'The chance to present a fresh cinematic view of Los Angeles'.
• The screenplay also 'intrigued the director, who sees the film as setting up a mirror image to the glitzycity, which encompasses great beauty and streets of squalor all within blocks of each other  desire to bring the rich humanity of this invisible part of the city’s population out into the open.'
•  Jamie Foxx made an emotional connection with the character of Nathaniel before meeting him. After he felt even closer to him. He says this about his aims for his performance, “I wanted to get his speech down, I wanted to getall his subtleties down but, most of all, I wanted to capture his spirit.”
• To take Foxx through a musical boot camp, the production recruited LA Philharmonic cellist Ben Hong, a real life friend of Nathaniel
•  Foxx worked closely with Alyssa Park to learn the violin

Ethnicity Essay - Spooks!

In the Spooks clip we see a main character Danny, a black man, in a terrorist kidnapping. He gives himself up to save the woman with him, Ruth.

Danny is the exact opposite of what we would stereotypically thing of a young British black man. He speaks in received pronunciation which suggests that he was well educated, we know that this is true as well as he has a good job in MI5 and he seems very intelligent. He is also shown to be a proud man, proud to be British and proud to be fighting terrorism. We see that he is a brave, selfless man as he gives his life to save the woman's. This noble act is not mirrored in any of the white characters within the clip who all seem are all speechless and actually seem quite helpless, especially when compared to Danny. When he says 'If I'd been born somewhere else...' we know that he is referring this to his skin colour and admitting that he was lucky to be born in England. Just before he antagonises the terrorist we see Danny whispering a prayer which gives the viewer a hint of what he is about to do, and shows that he still has faith in religion no matter his current circumstances.

There are two terrorists in the room. We can see that the main terrorist is middle eastern, presumably Arabic. However he is very non-stereotypical. He wears a nice suit which suggests that he is a middle-class business man kind of person, and he makes no attempt to hide his identity which is often seen in the media. On the other hand, however, the man accompanying him is the epitome of a modern stereotypical terrorist. This man is rather large, he is carrying a very big gun and his face is covered with a balaclava.

The other white people in the clip all react similarly to Danny's sacrifice. Ruth cries through out the clip. However when on the phone to Adam she says 'I love you' to him, which really comprises his choice and gives us an idea why he cant choose. She breaks down and tries to stop Danny from doing what he does but without success. Adam, who listens to the conversation, also similarly breaks down when Danny dies. As a main character and high member of the MI5 team it is strange that through out the crucial moments he is in silence unable to calm the situation in anyway. The two other white people in the clip are Harry, the head of the team and a stereotypically superior character, and an intelligence officer. We see these two listening to the events through headsets. When Danny is killed they are both stunned into almost motionless silence. All these white characters are shown to be useless and to have no control over the situation, which contrast to Danny's character. It is almost a role reversal from stereotypical media.

The mise en scene is used in this to create a dramatic effect. Mainly light is used to create this effect. The room and the clothes are dark and bland and there are very dark shadows. But this is broken by the bright white light, this light almost dazzles the viewer which could symbolise the sadness of the time as though vision is being distorted because of the light reflecting on tears. From the bright light bars are formed in shadows which represents that the MI5 agents are imprisoned and trapped.

The rhythmic drum through out the first part of the clip is used to build tension as to what Danny's decision will be. It then changes to an Islamic call to prayer. The use of this Arabic tradition, I think, is a direct address to the terrorist's religion, as the Quran states that they cannot murder people. Also the music is quite haunting which is another reason it may have been used.

Propp's character roles can be applied to the clip. The hero is obviously Danny, this is unusual as black people are often portrayed in Britain as being evil or bad, as he carries the events and save the life of Ruth, who could in fact be considered as the princess as the gun is focused on her and then she is saved by the hero. The villain is the terrorist. Adam could be classed as the helper as he is asked to save them on the phone however as he cannot choose he tries to save both by not answering. The dispatcher is the character Harry who is in charge of the other characters in the show, and he could also be seen as the father as he rewards the agents (heroes) when they complete missions.

The clip does not conform to Todorov's theory of equilibrium. We join the action in mid-disruption and it only worsens as the clip progresses. There is no calm or equilibrium, there is only disruption through out.

Following Levi-Stauss, the binary opposites featured in the clip are good vs. evil, east vs. west and black vs. white.

The Making of 'The Soloist'!

1. Who produced 'The Soloist'? 

The Soloist was produced by Gary Foster and Russ Krasnoff.
2. What did Steve Lopez question about the film from the start?

Steve Lopez question 'how could they make a movie, if it doesn't have an ending'.
3. When did the producers meet Nathaniel?

The producers met Nathaniel at LAMP in 2005 after meeting Lopez for a lunch about the creation of the film.
4. Where were the real life locations of the film?

There were many real life location used in the film. For example the LAMP centre, the bridge where Nathaniel performed and the Disney Concert Hall. Skid Row was also a real location however they recreated it in Anderson Street becasue they didn't want to have to disturb all the people who lived there.
5. What was Susannah Grant's aim when screen writing?
Susannah Grant's aim was to 'humanise' the homeless people of LA and to show that they all had their own 'heart-breaking' story for being on the street and that they weren't born that way. She also wanted to show that a homeless person is someone's son, daughter, brother, sister etc.
6. Why was Joe Wright apprehensive about making the film?

He was apprehensive about making the film because he didn't know anything about America. He said in the feature that 'the more time he spent in America, the less he understood it'.
7. What does Robert Downey Jr say about the role of Nathaniel?

Robert Downey Jr. says that the role has a high degree of difficulty.
8. Why did Joe Wright want authentic locations and authentic people in his film?

9. How long did the set designers have on location to build the set?

The set designers had 4 weeks on the actual locations in LA, before having to make the sets.
10. What process did the actors go through to ensure that the acting was authentic?

The cast had a 'three week trust exercise' with the real homeless people from LAMP and Skid Row, which included theatre games. This was done to create relationships and build trust between the actors and the real life people. Also Jamie Foxx learnt to play the cello to create more realism in the film
11. What comments are made about the ending by Susannah Grant and Russ Krasnoff?

Let The Right One In Essay!

Let The Right One In (2008) is a Swedish horror film and was directed by Tomas Alfredson. The film is about the relationship between Oskar, a 12 year old boy who is a loner and is bullied at school, and Eli, a strange young girl who moves in next door to Oskar. The two have many encounters and soon Oskar realises that Eli isn't a normal girl.

We are first introduced to the character of Oskar as he stares out of his window as Eli arrives. From this activity we can instantly tell he is not a regular 12 year old. He then produces a knife and starts to practice jabbing around whilst saying the words 'squeal like a pig', which is our first introduction to his malicious, violent side. We then see that Oskar isolates himself at school with his knowledge of things such as murders and is always bullied by a boy called Conny and his friends. As well as a large knowledge of murder facts we also find out that he collects articles from murder reports which could be considered very suspicious as though he was plotting himself, which he is. The first time he meets Eli he is once again practicing stabbing someone but this time taking it out on a near by tree. These practices are obviously what Oskar wishes he could do to stand up for himself against the bullies. On his second meeting with Eli Oskar is tries to connect with her by offering her his Rubik Cube, which shows that he is a kind boy and not just filled with violence, however he is very blunt to her as he just says 'You smell funny'. In another scene in the school we see that he hides in a toilet. This shows us that his interest in violence doesn't matter as he is just a vulnerable young boy.

When meeting Eli we quickly learn that she cannot feel the cold. So when she wears a coat in one of the first scenes we know that it is just a show to pretend to seem like a regular little girl. This shows that she has an attention to detail and does everything she can to not be found out. When Eli first kills the man in the underpass we think that she is horrible and generally blood thirsty, however when she cries after the act we realise that she hates killing people and feels horrible afterwards. Another example of her compassion is when she visits Håkan in hospital after he was caught. With his face severely deformed she takes pity on him and kills him. After resisting at first Eli then connects with Oskar and end up spending a lot of time together. This connection with Oskar shows that, like him, Eli is also very lonely. 

The film is set in a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden in the depth of winter. As it is winter it is very cold and the ground is always cover in thick snow and ice. At the beginning of the film the I think that the hard weather reflects the children as they are both miserable, through out the film though as their relationship builds the weather improves until the sun shines all day. Another set in the film is the apartment block. From the decor of their homes we can tell that the film is not set in the modern day. In Eli's empty apartment there little things to give away the time period, but the old magazines she uses to cover the windows look to be of the time period of the 70s or early 80s. The décor is also very simple to keep attention on the characters

Another tell that the film is not set in the present day is the clothes the character's are wearing. A definite example of this is when the school children go ice skating their female teacher is wearing a pastel all in one and a large fur hat. Oskar and Eli always wear very plain clothing. Oskar is usually wearing shades of brown and Eli is often in pink or white, which is completely against their characters as Oskar is not the boring person you would think he was and in no way is Eli sweet and innocent. Some of her clothes however do reflect her personality more though for example when she first meets Oskar she comes out in a white shirt and black jeans. The black jeans signify her horrible dark side whilst the white shirt reflects the innocent child in her who hates killing and regrets it.

Through out the film there are many long shots used. An example of one is after Oskar gets home from school and he is stood in the snow looking up at Eli's apartment. This shot helps to create the idea of bleakness in Oskar's life as all that surrounds him is plain snow and a mundane high rise apartment block. A long shot is also used when as Håkan runs away after killing his first victim. This type of shot is used here to help convey the horror of the event. Another time a long shot is used is when Eli is sat in the dark underpass calling out for help.
  
The film starts with Eli arriving with her carer Håkan. The music over this scene is eerie and dramatic. Which helps to reflect the dramatic consequences of Eli's presence in the town. This music then reapers as a theme through out the film. 

The Soloist Research!

The Soloist (2009) directed by Joe Wright was a Working Title film, with the budget of £60,000,000.  It starred Jamie Foxx as Nathaniel Ayers, a schizophrenic, homeless street performer with an incredible musical talent who studied at Juliard Conservatory who is found by the struggling columnist Steve Lopez, Robet Downey Jr. Lopez then tries to help Ayers succeed with a career in music and writes a series of articles around him.

This review by the Times gives an insight into why the film failed, http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/film_reviews/article6847491.ece. The line in it that really sums up its failure is ' The problem is that audiences are so accustomed to a big emotional payoff at the end of stories such as this that the lack of one feels wrong, as though we’ve been cheated of our rightful reward after sitting through all the depressing stuff about homelessness and schizophrenia'.

From this I have found out:
-A star cast and large budget doesn't automatically mean success
-If a film doesn't have a good marketing campaign no one will know about it, for example The Soloist's campaign was very misleading
-Marketing is a main reason for a films success
-Joe Wright is an unknown director so his name would not instantly attract a viewer
-As the film was based on a true story not many details of it could be changed
-Audiences enjoy a film more if it has a happy ending
-Audiences may not enjoy seeing disabilities used in a film

Disability in Media!

Disabled character:
Professor Charles Xavier (X-Men)
Professor X is paraplegic. This means that he can not move from his waist down. His disability is portrayed in the X-Men films very accurately as through out he is confined to his wheelchair. His character is represented well and treated very fairly as he is seen as the idol for all the young mutants in his school and receives no discrimination.
Professor X is an example of the super cripple stereotype as he is in X-Men considered to be one of the wolrd's most powerful telepaths. Also the stereotype of an atmosphere creator fits as when he appears in the film the audience knows something important is about to go down.

Film Production!

Production

The Male Gaze Video!

The Weezer vide for I Want You To shows a young girl arriving in town and the band members all lust after her. Through out the video we see the girl using an invitational smile as her mouth is closed but her eyes call out to the men she looks at, her look is one of seduction. We especially see this in the clip of the video below. In the clip Rivers has a romantic look as he gazes at the girl.

Star School!

Pitch!

When Emily first arrives at the school she is a mild mannered, shy teenager, but after revealing her performing talent she is shot straight into the limelight.

Will she rise to the challenge and reach her potential or will the 'teen queen', Paris Maglar, over-ride her dreams.

This fun packed, all singing, all dancing film is sure to have you moving to the beat!

Budget!

View more presentations from Sarah Daniels.

The Male Gaze: Facial Expressions!

Marjorie Ferguson
Chocolate Box: half or full-smile, lips together or slightly parted, teeth barely visible, full or three-quarter face to camera.
Projected mood: blandly pleasing, warm bath warmth, where uniformity of features in their smooth perfection is devoid of uniqueness or of individuality.

Invitational: emphasis on the eyes, mouth shut or with only a hint of a smile, head to one side or looking back to camera.
Projected mood: suggestive of mischief or mystery, the hint of contact potential rather than sexual promise, the cover equivalent of advertising’s soft sell.

Super-smiler: full face, wide open toothy smile, head thrust forward or chin thrown back, hair often wind-blown.
Projected mood: aggressive, ‘look-at-me’ demanding, the hard sell, ‘big come-on’ approach.

Romantic or Sexual: a fourth and more general classification devised to include male and female ‘two-somes’; or the dreamy, heavy-lidded, unsmiling big-heads, or the overtly sensual or sexual.
Projected moods: possible ‘available’ and definitely ‘available’.

Trevor Millum
Seductive: similar to the cool/level look in many respects - the eyes are less wide, perhaps shaded, the expression is less reserved but still self-sufficient and confident; milder versions may include a slight smile.

Carefree: nymphlike, active, healthy, gay, vibrant, outdoor girl; long unrestrained outward-flowing hair, more outward-going than the above, often smiling or grinning.

Practical: concentrating, engaged on the business in hand, mouth closed, eyes object-directed, sometimes a slight frown; hair often short or tied back.

Comic: deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated, acting the fool, pulling faces for the benefit of a real or imaginary audience, sometimes close to a sort of archness.

Catalogue: a neutral look as of a dummy, artificial, waxlike; features may be in any position, but most likely to be with eyes open wide and a smile, but the look remains vacant and empty; personality has been removed.

The Male Gaze Adverts!

Calvin Klien - Freddie Ljungberg
Lips: pouting, shimmery- feminie
Stomach: toned abs, tanned, greasy, sweaty
Hair: masculine, skinhead, rough
Necklace: makes him look less naked
Cheekbones: defined, high
Stuble: masculine, attractive to women?
Below navel: tan line, shaved- feminises him/ makes him look like a boy
Underwear: pulling it down, looks possesive
Fist: aggresive
Bicep: masculine
Tan: unmanly/ gay
Red background: lust, hot, heat, blood, danger
Bar: prop to show off muscles

Other hand: manicure, loosely holding on
Gaze: trying to seduce

Calvin Klien - Eva Mendes
Lips: parted- "sexy"
Hair: messy, wet, sweaty- has a 'sex' look
Body: toned, oily, wet, sweaty- SEX!
Legs: really long, on tip toes and wearing heels
Stance: powerful, sexual, ready?
Gaze: closed , gritting her teeth, orgasm face, looking away, doesnt care, cofident

Shameless: sexuality and regional identity!

How are regional identity and sexuality represented in the open sequence of Shameless ep.1?

In the opening sequence we see the Gallagher family and their neighbours on a normal day. The stereotypes for sexuality and regional identity all feature in the clip.

All of the Gallagher family and their neighbours appear to be from the north of England. We can tell this from the stereotypical things done to show this, for example: they all talk with the same strong accent, they all live on a council estate which implies they are poor and unemployed and they all seen to be quite rough. They behave in a very laddish way, even the female characters, of talking about sex, insulting people and being irresponsible. An example of this laddish, rough behaviour in the clip is when Fiona and Veronica are thrown out of the club with Steve and Veronica says to the bouncer "you fat twat". This is very un-lady like and you wouldn't expect a young lady to say that. Another stereotype of the northern characters is when Frank is brought home and is paralytic from how much he has had to drink.

The more southern sounding character is Steve, his accent contrasts with the others. He has stereotypical southern qualities such as having a good job and therefore being able to afford a nice car, also he wears smarter clothes than all the other characters seen, which not only indicates that he takes pride in his appearance and wants to impress but that he has more money too. However when Steve defends the girls' honours he acts very irresponsibly by punching a bouncer in the face and then exposes himself to the bouncer, which is more of a common northerner thing to do.

The sexuality of the characters, especially the straight ones, is also very stereotypical. For example Karen and Fiona both come across as being stereotypical slutty girls who give out sex as payment, in Karen's case or sleep with someone they have only just met. All the characters seem to be quite obsessed with sex. Lip for example accepts it as a payment and then he brags about it to his brother, which shows he considers it to be almost a contest. 

The gay character Ian, however, does not conform to stereotypical views. There are no signs like his looks, voice or personality that shown him to be gay as he is very ashamed of his sexuality and hides it, especially from his brothers. This fear shows that he knows his brothers homophobic towards him as stereotypically straight men are. Ian only has one quality a stereotypical gay person would, that he likes Kylie who is a gay icon.

Throughout the clip the theme tune continuously appears. This music is very repetitive, which helps to indicate that this is just an average day on the estate. However is does play when a pinnacle moment is happening, to focus the audience on the event. Another piece of music that appears is when Steve and Fiona kiss there is a piano tune which would be linked to love, this shows that this moment is the beginning of their love.

Video Prelim!

Our group prelim film, The Shock..

Paul Video Blogs!

Why make vlogs?
-Give an insight into the plot and genre of the film
-A teaser for the audience
-Entertain existing fans of Pegg and Frost
-Gives an incentive to watch the film
-Documents production



How does it promote the film?
-Helps attract the target audience
-Shows the same humour that will be in the film, so if you find them funny you will probably like the film
-Can interact with the cast (asking questions)
-Features main actors which may be an incentive to watch the film

How will it promote the film?
-Extras on the DVD (an incentive to by the DVD)

Max Fischer!

Is Max Fischer a Stereotypical Teenager?

Max Fischer, the lead character of Rushmore is clearly shown not to be an average teen. The montage scene has many examples of this.

For example Max's choose of clothing. In every activity he wears his school uniform, which he seems to have adapted to include a blazer and tie. This shows his uniqueness as none of the other boys wear such a formal uniform. Even when he is fencing, he is the team captain, Max is still wearing his chinos with the rest of his fencing clothing whilst the other team members have the proper protective trousers. He also wears his school uniform in the bombardment game. Another strange item that Max always wears is a red beret, which is a very unusual item for a teenager to wear. The fact he is always in his uniform and hardly ever has the correct attire for his activities poses the question 'does Max have any money to buy these clothes?'.

Another example of Max's unstereotypical behaviour is how he is in or has actually founded or is the president of so many groups.  These groups are mainly very bizarre activities, such as stamp and coin collecting which is a very unusual hobby that no typical teenagers do. Another example is bee keeping, which Max also wears his uniform for instead of protective keeping clothes, this is also a very unusual hobby. It also seems like Max is the only one or one of two in these strange groups. Being in all these groups we see that Max obviously has no time on his hands and that he doesn't try hard to socialise, it seems that he gains his social life from his hobbies and no one really enjoys his company.

One thing about Max that seems stereotypical is that he tries extremely hard to fit in with people by joining a variety of different clubs. This and his clothing choose seems like he is quite attention seeking and almost self centered. We see this in the school group he has named after his-self, 'The Max Fischer Players', in the montage he is center of the group and wears his uniform which makes him stand out. An group shown in the montage that shows he is self centered is his evolvement in the model UN, in this group he represents Russia. I think as Russia is a super power it shows that he thinks of himself as a super power in the school. Also he tries to improve himself and others opinions of him, especially to his older role models.

All of these elements of Max indicate that he might have an obsessive condition, as he always likes to be in control and the center of attention.

Compare How Hot Fuzz and This is England target a British Audience!

Compare How Hot Fuzz and This is England Appeal to a British Audience

Prelim Magazine Evaluation

Our first prelim task was to create an example of a school magazine front cover and contents page, both pages had to be produced in Photoshop to reflect some knowledge of the basics in this program. The front cover had to include a mast head, a mid-shot photography, and appropriate and positioned text.  

Before we created our magazines we had to sketch out the initial ideas and create a colour scheme. The colour scheme I chose was light blue, navy and white (shown in colour in the sketches). I chose these colours because they go well together. My magazine was aimed at an audience of 14-18 year olds and targeted as a general interest magazine. For my contents page I kept a minimalist feel so that the reader could focus on the articles, which I chose in order to appeal to the general interests of most students.

The picture I took for the front cover was of someone holding their GCSE results and looking upset because of their grades. I chose this image because it reflects the main article of the magazine "How are your results". For this image I edited the background out of Photoshop using the magic rubber tool, this was to improve the look of the picture and help the text to stand out on the front page.

American Beauty, The Dining Room Scene!

What we learn about the Burnham family..

-They are all very distant                                     -Repetitive lives (the music is always the same)

-Family photos:                                                   -Father and daughter used to be close

 Happy once?                                   

 Show traditional family hierarchy

The Mise-en-Scene..

-The roses are the centerpiece of the table

-Table positions: the daughter is sat in the middle suggesting she is holding the family together

-Muted colours reflect the dullness of their life

-Red roses in the center of the table

 Blue walls in the dining room

 White kitchen

-Red, White and Blue: repeating motif

Camera Work..

-A long shot/establishing shot is used at the beginning of the scene to help introduce what's happening at that moment

-The camera very slowly moves into the conversation: 

 This focuses our attention to the conversation

 Suggests we are spying

Music..

-The music Caroline repeatedly plays is Bali Hai from South Pacific (old fashioned):
  Gives the idea she is also trapped but in the past
  Shows that she is in complete control
-The non-diegetic sound reflects the feelings or actions of the characters:
  When Lester and Jane are talking about how they used to be close the music reflects that they are upset
  When the boy is focused on the music sounds creepy which reflects the creepiness of what he's doing

Hot Fuzz and This is England Contrast!

Film Comparison

This is England Research!

 Warp Films.. -Warp Films is the sister company of Warp Records and was set up in 1999 with money funded by NESTA. The company was originally based in Sheffield but now has an office in London.
-In 2008 plans were announced for the collaboration of Warp Films and Madman Entertainment.
-Warp has now produced a total of 23 films.

Shane Meadows..
-Meadows, a self taught film maker, was born in 1972 in Uttoxetor, Staffordshire which explains the location choices for his films. He left school before achieving any GCSE's and went to Nottingham.
-In 1994 he volunteered at Intermedia Film and Video in Nottingham in exchange for free use of camcorders and editing software. With this equiptment he was able to make a huge amount of short films with the help of his friends. They set up a film festival to show Meadows' films called 'Six of the Best', which is where he was first noticed for his film 'Where's My Money, Ronnie?'.
- Since then he has directed 12 films, which have won many awards including the BAFTA for Best British Film for 'This is England'.

Prelim Magazine Task

This is my school magazine front cover and contents page.

Hot Fuzz targets a British Audience

How Does Hot Fuzz Target a British Audience

American Beauty!

Lester Burnham: played by Kevin Spacey 

Character: -Pessimistic                       -Regretful and disappointed in life 

                   -Controlled by his wife      -Given up

                   -Submissive                      -Bored and lazy         

                   -Mundane voice

Family: -Seem Typical/Cliche              

             -The mum acts like the father stereotypically would

             -Burnham Family Hierarchy 

              1. Mother

              2. Daughter

              3. Father 

Trapped: -In many scenes Lester looks like he is behind prison bars:

                 1. For example when he is looking out of his window the bars cover his face 

                 2. Also when his image is reflected in the computer screen the data appears across his face

               -Trapped by his wife        

               -Only let out to go to work

               -In the shadows when in bed, like he's hidden away 

Colour: -Red, White and Blue repetitive motif, which links to america

             -Natural/bland colours reflect Lester's image as he seems to be boring and bland

             -Also it helps the colour motif to stand out

Music: - Repetitive, as the tune is repetitive it reflects Lester's life  

            -Awkward/Uncomfortable sounding                      

            -Music fits the visuals       

The Man

My first impression of this man was that he was poor, homeless and scruff, his beard and hair indicate this as they look very unkept. After looking for a minute I noticed that he was posing which indicates that he is proud of how he looks.

In fact the man isn't homeless or poor, the picture was on The Sartorialist webpage. It was taken outside the Ralph Lauren flag ship store on Lexington Avenue in New York where he works. On closer inspection you notice the patches in his trousers aren't scruffy to cover rips but placed neatly and the folds on the bottoms are clearly very neatly folded. His shoes are also not the shoes of a homeless person as they are not dirty or damaged in any way.

Hello, my name is Sarah..

Academic
-GCSE results: I got 10 GCSEs with a B in English language.
-AS Course: Media, English Language, IT and Psychology

Media Interests
-PHOTOGRAPHY!
-Films: Comedy films, Tim Burton Films, Romeo + Juliet,  The Labyrinth and Pixar animation films
-TV: Comedy shows, The Mighty Boosh, The IT Crowd, The Big Bang Theory, Heroes, Miami Ink, The Clangers
-Music: Rock, Indie and Alternative ( Blink 182, Klaxons, Bring Me the Horizon, The Beach Boys, Kasabian, Lostprophets)
-Magazines: Music and photography magazines
-Internet: Photography and shopping
-Games: SSX and Kingdom Hearts

I am studying media because I am very interested in the media industry and finding out more about the areas within it.