Shameless

Representation of Gender in Shameless

Shameless, a series set in the heart of Manchester, follows the lives of the Gallagher family. The series shows many aspects of a brit-pop inspired show through its use of location, costume, props and characters. Being set in Manchester, Shameless emerges from the heart of brit-pop music where bands such as Oasis were formed and the English rock ’n’ roll scene configured. This rock ‘n’ roll attitude is evident in the characters of Shameless as they are purely rebellious. The fact that the series is set in the North of England connotes a typical social-realist drama feature as this is the poorest area of the UK, which means it will gather more rebellion and trouble.

Firstly, the representation of women in the series shows a semi-positive side of the female gender. Lynn, the sister of the family, is shown to fit the typical ‘housewife’ role in the beginning of the extract as she is seen cleaning. However, her blonde hair suggests connotations of femininity. Furthermore, her hoop earrings and blue eye shadow suggest that she is a part of the ‘chav’ culture in the North. Hoop earrings are a typical feature of chav culture, along with brightly coloured eye shadow to suggest cheapness. However, the connotations of blue eye shadow include purity in Lynn’s personality and that she has a ‘good heart’. Also, the use of blonde hair and blue eyes may suggest that she is the ‘perfect woman’ to the audience as this is typically seen as two perfect features. Additionally, Debbie, the young girl of the family, is shown to be innocent as she is seen smiling with a blue shirt on. The colour blue connotes purity in this character, which is also evident in her young age. Brown, being the colour of her hair, connotes that she is very intelligent and has educational superiority over the boys in the family.

The camera shots surrounding women in Shameless represent their gender to be much dominated. This is shown as Debbie is introduced to the audience, which shows a high angle shot of the camera zooming in on her face as she looks up at it innocently. This connotes that Debbie is extremely vulnerable as the camera is overpowering her whilst it sits above her.

The use of sound surrounding the series is a very important factor of the show. The non-diagetic voice-over that is evident in the clip I have chosen describes each of the characters individually. This reveals the personalities of the characters to the audience. Whilst Frank is describing Debbie, he mentions that she was “sent by God” and an “angel”. This suggests that she is extremely innocent and fits the intelligent, youthful role in the series. However, there is a contrast to this statement as the camera cuts to Debbie holding a knife, which suggests that she might be an ‘angel in devils shoes’. Furthermore, the description of Lynn says that she

The representation of men in the clip is shown to be extremely dominant and ‘jack the lad’ like. This is seen in Charl’s description as he has a skinhead and is wearing a red jacket and chequered clothes. This suggests that Charl’s image was inspired by the British punk/skinhead culture, which was a very violent cult who wore cheques and shaved their heads. This suggests that Charl is extremely violent and dominant. Additionally, Charl’s red jacket suggests anger as red is typically the colour of rage. Liam, on the other hand, is shown to be very innocent as he is seen smiling in the introduction of his character. Liam’s brown hair and blue eyes connote vulnerability and innocence, which is also shown through his young age. The dog toy that is seen in the background whilst Liam is on the screen suggests youth in his character, which connotes virtue. However, Liam is seen having a tantrum which suggests that he may be developing a ‘jack the lad’ attitude like his brothers. Lip, another brother of the family, is shown in a dark tracksuit as he is introduced. This suggests that he is also part of the ‘chav’ culture, which may suggest violence in his character as this cult is typically violent. His body language suggests ‘jack the lad’ features also as he slumps whilst he walks, suggesting he is of a careless nature. Lastly, and most importantly, Frank (the narrator) is shown to be a careless alcoholic. This is seen as the audience is brought to his long, brown, greasy hair with a pale face drinking alcohol. This suggests that Frank is careless of the upbringing of his family and leaves it to the oldest woman in the family. The nurture of his children is not as important as his family, which is a negative aspect of men in this extract. Frank’s long greasy hair shows that he is too lazy to wash/cut it and may not even be capable of this due to his excessive drinking/drug taking. His green ‘Happy Mondays’ inspired jacket suggests that he is a drug user as this look suggests that brit-pop scene that evolved in Manchester surrounding bands such as Happy Mondays, who were heavily in to drugs. Overall, the men of this extract are suggested to be rebellious and dominant as towards the end they are seen throwing beer cans in to a fire with the arrival of the police. This suggests that the male characters in this community are careless of authority and see themselves as the authority of the place. The lighting surrounding male representation is very dark, suggesting that the place is run down and not very nice possibly due to the characters that live there taking place in rebellion and anarchic activities.

The representation of Charl through camera angles and movement is shown to be very superior. Charl is shown in a shot as the camera moves backwards and he moves towards it, without any fear. This shows that Charl is dominant over the camera and the audience, which is a fearful feature of men in this extract. Furthermore, there is a birds eye view shot of Frank Gallagher laying on the floor drunk, which suggests that he is lower than the audience in terms of class etc. Additionally, a low angle/point of view shot is shown from Frank’s point of view where his children are standing over him. This suggests that Frank is lower than them and they have to look after him – he is seen to be the child of the family.

The voice-over done by Frank suggests that he is the main character of the series, which means that he is the most dominant character as he controls what the audience believes about the other characters. His rough Manchester accent connotes that he is from a bad area of the UK, which brings fear to the audience. This is evident as he says that “Manchester isn’t the Garden of Eden”, emphasising the rough aspect of the area. In addition, as Frank is describing each of the characters it is clear that his male children are extremely rebellious, like himself. This is shown as he decides that Phillip is not called Phillip, but Lip due to his ‘gobby mouth’. This suggests that he is easily getting in trouble and does not know when to stop.

The fast transactions that are used in the editing of this piece suggest that there is chaos in the area and the characters are creating this chaos. This suggests that the male gender is extremely rebellious and careless of authority. Furthermore, the cuts between each explanation of each character show that despite their gender, the family is a whole and are very close with one another.

How does ownership impact upon a film companies working practices?

How does ownership impact upon a film companies working practices?

Warp films, along with working title, do extremely well in the USA due to their individual outlooks on England. Working Title, a company owned by universal, have a more positive outlook on England, romanticising the city of London to be traditionally English, which may be described as ‘Curtis land’. Actors such as Hugh Grant are in many Working Title films, attracting many women due to the charming vibe that is given off through his acting. Furthermore, the plots in Working Title films are all very similar. Films including ‘Love Actually’ and ‘Notting Hill’, not only have the same actors, but similar plots in the rom-com genre. This suggests that the same audiences are drawn in to each of their films, due to the familiar atmosphere in their actors and plots. This is the case for many Working Title films due to their ownership by Universal. This causes Working Title to make many similar films, with little risks involved in them due to them being a mainstream company and they would not be prepared to lose out on money. Working Titles financial stability is very steady due to Universals investment with them causing them to have a 25 million dollar budget for each film with permission. This means that Working Title is unable to go over this budget so they are unable to take risks with their films. Warp films, on the other hand, take many risks involving films such as ‘This Is England’, which shows a realistic representation of the country and the company is based around film itself over profit. Working Title, however, always make their money back through UK box office takings.

Working Title films are aimed more towards a foreign audience, as well as English. This is due to the popularity of their films abroad being larger than in England. Their films are designed to be strong exports so they do not lose out on money due to their investment from Universal and their budget. Working Titles comedies and romantic comedies are their most expensive output, which shows that they are unable to take risks with other genres of film as this is also their most successful output. Warp Films, however, aim towards the English audience as their films show a realistic representation of the country, which a UK audience would be able to relate to. Warp films have a narrow distribution, rather than a mass distribution like Working Title. Nevertheless, Working Title does take two risks on films and two films that will definitely succeed every few years. This shows that ownership may not totally impact the risk taking of a company’s working practice.

Universals access to easy music shows that it benefits Working Title as they are able to use this music in their films. Warp, however, have many other media outputs in their company, such as a record label. This means that Warp are also able to access music easily, which is a huge benefit to both of these company’s work as it shows that it will cost less for their soundtrack and the audience will be familiar with the kind of soundtrack that they will use. For example, Warp Record Label may use Arctic Monkey’s as a soundtrack because they have directed videos like ‘When the Sun goes down’ for them. Working Title, however, have a larger range of music to choose from due to Universal being a large company and having more access to different genres of music. However, Warp show that you do not have to be owned by company’s such as Universal to have access to music because Warp have formed their own independent record label, which has been of great success without any ownership upon them.

Film Distribution in Norwich

Film distribution in Norwich

Vue in Norwich, over the course of one weekend, have eight different films showing with many different showings. For example, Alice in Wonderland has eleven different showings from 2D to 3D. Overall, there are forty different showings on a Thursday. Cinema City, on the other hand, has four different film showings on a Thursday with a total of eleven showings a day.

Shutter Island, in Cinema City, is shown four times on a Thursday. Additionally, it is being shown four times on a Thursday at Vue similarly. This means that each of the films is equally popular in the independent and mainstream industries. This also suggests that the film is popular within the public and the audience are able to have a choice on the timing of film they go to see. Furthermore, it is clear that customers are mainly available after work/school. The Crazies, on the other hand, is shown five times at Vue and not shown at all in Cinema City. This shows that the film is a mainstream/Hollywood based film that is only shown in mainstream cinemas. Crazy Heart is shown twice at Cinema City and not shown at Vue, which shows that it is a piece of independent film that is only shown in independent cinemas. Furthermore, the film timings are shown mainly at the time of three, which suggests that they are less interested in the money base of the film industry but the film in itself being a work of art.

The amount of mainstream Hollywood films in Vue outnumbers the amount of independent films. However, in Cinema City there are a huge number of independent films, with only one or two mainstream films showing. This shows that Cinema City is not money based and is based around the art of film. The fact that there are mainstream and independent cinema’s in Norwich shows that there are different audience that the Norwich film industry caters for.

Film Noir

How do ‘The Third Man’ and ‘Insomnia’ use conventions of film noir?

Film noir, which is based mainly around the crime drama genre, was a term used by French critics for dark film. A popular period for film noir was 1946, when this term was first used. This period was discovered to be a time of dark, bleak insecurity amongst society, possibly due to the recent end of the war. Therefore, film noir was a representation of this insecurity, which society was then able to relate or escape to - this was an explanation for the popularity of this genre. The main themes based around film noir are the idea of despair, paranoia and injustice, which is evident in both of these films.

The use of media language both Insomnia and The Third Man suggest the genre of film noir. However, this is seen more in ‘The Third Man’ through the typical codes and conventions of film noir. This is seen in the constant contrasts and extremes of light creating shadows, which is a typical feature of film noir as it connotes mystery and insecurity/paranoia in society of the time. This is comparable to the mist effect and extreme bright light in ‘Insomnia’, where everything seems somewhat disorientating to the audience. This creates a sense of mystery and paranoia also, as seen in ‘The Third Man’. Furthermore, the characters in each of these films are faced with a moral dilemma and are slightly displaced in society, which is a typical convention of film noir. The idea of insecurity is brought out in this idea which may affect the attitudes of the audience and the social dilemmas used are a reflection of the audience, as it makes the reader think about what they would do in this dilemma and if they are really perfect. Therefore, judgment can not be passed on the characters in each of these films. Furthermore, the sewer scene in The Third Man has many contrasts of light, creating a light coming from the end of the shot. This may be seen as “the light at the end of the tunnel”. The idea of the sewer also represents Harry Lime to be ’the rat in the sewer’, meaning he is at his lowest point. Furthermore, the contrast of light and dark is seen to be a metaphor for good and evil in the characters. It also creates the idea of some things being hidden but others are seen.

The City of Vienna and town of Troms are both represented as insular and are controlled by local laws, creating a hostile environment for strangers. This is seen in ’Insomnia’ as Swedish Jonas finds himself in Norway, an alien place to him. It is also seen in the shots in The Third Man and Insomnia of the train station and the plane. This is a typical convention of film noir and thriller as it creates the sense of the characters being outside their comfort zone, connoting disorientation and insecurity towards the audience.

The representation of women in film noir is seen to be ruthless and disloyal. The ‘femme fatale’ aspect of noir represents women to be feeling trapped by marriage, going against all the roles that society has given them. A sexual yearning within women is shown through film noir. This is shown in character Anna in The Third Man, who is very ambiguous to the audience. This is seen through her costume as she is seen in a long coat and a hat, which hides her identity from the audience. The typical sexual needs of a woman in film noir are also seen through Anna as she yearns to be with Harry Lime. This is also seen through Tanya in ’Insomnia’ as she is seen wearing a low cut blouse and has a modern brown hair cut. However, Froya is seen to be the more intelligent female character in the movie as she is seen very covered up in dim clothing, with a heart necklace around her neck. This heart necklace suggests she has a love interest and not a lust interest.





In addition, the male protagonist is represented as a flawed character in ’The Third Man’ as Holly Martins is in fact not an innocent man. However, Jonas’ representation of a protagonist is ambiguous, but is finally seen to be immoral by the audience - going against the idea of a protagonist. The costume of the characters in The Third Man creates a romanticized 40’s criminal look for Holly Martins with his hat and suit, which creates ambiguity in his character as a hat is generally covering his identity. Also, the use of a suit connotes supremacy and dominance, which is a typical convention of film noir as the male roles are generally seen to be higher in dominance.

Additionally, the music in The Third Man was cutting edge for the time it was made. This genre of music was typically seen in the thriller genre to keep the audience on edge. Therefore, it was a conventional thriller aspect for its time. Insomnia, similarly, uses cutting edge music to keep the audience on edge.

The use of camera shots in ‘The Third Man’ include many extreme long shots which capture the use of shadows and lighting in the shots. Additionally, there is a vast use of extreme close ups in both the Third Man and Insomnia, which is a typical convention of film noir as it creates ambiguity in the characters. Furthermore, high and low angled shots are used to illustrate the dominance, which is mainly seen in the male characters, or inferiority, which is usually seen in the female gender, of the characters. The Third Man also uses tilted camera angles, which creates disorientation to the audience and is a typical convention of film noir and is also seen in Insomnia. Additionally, the fast transactions in each of the films creates the idea of chaos, which is typical of the film noir genre.




In conclusion, The Third Man and Insomnia meet the codes and conventions of film noir through many things including lighting, camera shots, costume, characters and music. The lighting of the films creates ambiguity through the use of high contrasts of light, creating shadows. In addition, the use of suits creates supremacy which is a typical convention of film noir. The idea of threats and supremacy is a large convention of film noir.

Conventional Thriller Character

Patrick Bateman’s character in ‘American Psycho’ shows a conventional thriller villain. Although he is the main character, he is the main villain in the movie. This is shown through Bateman’s mental instability as he is narrating the film with careless ideas and motives. This is evident through Bateman’s attitude towards women in the film as he describes to friends “what their heads would look like on sticks”. This is a typical convention of thriller villains as mental instability is generally shown to be a fear of many peoples as it is ruthless and dangerous in some cases. Furthermore, the killing of a homeless man in the street with no motive shows Bateman’s lack of planning and carelessness to be caught. This may suggest that killing is merely in his nature and it is his instinct to kill. This shows how dangerous his character is and that he is the villain.

Bateman’s threat to society is also seen through his lack of personal relationships with other characters in the film. This suggests that he is socially incapable, which may be a reason for his insanity. His personal relationships consist of company of prostitutes and his business. The sex involvement with his prostitutes happens in a very unusual manner, which creates a bizarre atmosphere for the audience and makes him seem like a villain. Prostitution is a typically wrong thing to take part in as it is now socially accepted. Therefore, this emphasises his villainous behaviour. In addition, Bateman’s consistent killing of friends makes him untrustworthy to the audience, which makes him a definite villain in the audience’s eyes.

The lighting surrounding Bateman is mainly dim, but non-ambient, lighting. This creates a dark atmosphere around the character, emphasising his villainous behaviour as dark lighting is a fear of many peoples. His costume is also very smart as to gather no suspicion for his hobby. This also connotes power and superiority in his character, which may suggest that he is able and wants to control things – this creates another motive for his killings. This is also shown through his profession as a business man, as that industry is very power driven. Bateman’s cleanliness could suggest obsessive compulsive disorder in his character, which is another mental disability that could affect his motive for killing. The classical music in the scenes creates a calming atmosphere mixed with the brutal image of murder, which creates the impression of insanity due to the massive contrast. The idea of insanity is a huge convention of thriller villains.

The use of close ups to the villains face creates a threat to the audience. This is a typical thriller convention as it creates a sense of ambiguity to the audience about the villain. This lets this audience know that Bateman is the villain in the film, along with the dark, husky dialogue that is voiced over the filming.

By Harriet Bliss

Notes for Eastenders

Mise-en-scene

Lighting – Dim, looks as though it is ambient lighting in opening scene.

Costume – Bradley and his pink tie: symbolism for love. Everyone wearing black and white apart from Bradley – stands out, possibly for latter events. Black and white suggests death.

Stacey – fashionable, glamorous girl. Innocence, only brunette – intelligent. White to symbolise wedding.

Ronnie and Roxy both in dark colours – dismal environment, casting a dark shadow over lives. Roxy has a pink hat above her head, symbolises goodness and could be related to a halo – the good daughter, loyal to her dad.

Lucy could be seen as a sex symbol, young (15) suggests reaching maturity and indecency. Attitudes towards women are very sexual, despite the young age. Drinking suggests carelessness and willingness. She is blonde – stereotype of ‘bimbo’, as well as Ronnie. But not Stacey – this could suggest

Stacey is the dominant female of the three.

Phil shows a dominant character through his body language, bald head, through intertexual references.

Bianca in white dress, low cut, cheap chav culture. Loud mouthed, angry, drunk – this could suggest a negative view point of women.

“Plain Jane” – Janine. Normal costume – stands out, women that don’t wear fashionable clothing don’t fit in to society.

Peggy – elegant but old, shows that age doesn’t restrict confidence and dominance, queen of the pub – reference to Archie.

Jack – dominant body language.

Max, loyal; standing by his son. Head to head with jack and max shows violence, authority.

Diagetic sound – makes it more realistic, all throughout no music.

Props – Red paint over Ronnie’s father’s face – suggestion of blood, death, suspicion as to who is the killer. Below picture reads “the king’s head” – this could relate to Archie controlling them still even when dead – king of eastenders. Committing treason – who ever did this will have a large price to pay. View point – looking up at him, suggests authority.

Objects –

Editing – quick transactions between shots due to the footage being live, mainly cuts.

Camera shots/angles

Mid shots, over the shoulder as max and jack head to head; loads of OTS shots to engage the audience and make them feel a part of the action. Tracking shot of Janine walking out of the pub, shows her being thrown out, makes her seem hated as it is panning to people in the pub slating her. Close ups of Stacey’s face shows worry and innocence, caring.

Sound

“It was you, wasn’t it?” – Roxy: this suggests that the fathers tearing them apart even when dead, authority etc.


Introduction – in the opening sequence of Eastenders there is many different representations of women depending on the characters. Go on to say about mise-en-scene of characters, mainly costume and props, possibly body language.

Representation of men through costume, body language and props.

Short paragraph of lighting, then go on to say about the props of Ronnie throwing paint over dad’s face, include sounds and intertextual evidence.

Camera shots to do with women.

Camera shots to do with men.

Quick paragraph of editing.

Treatment

Our thriller storyline shows a teenage boy aged 18/19 who has turned to the warped world of murder. After murdering a young girl brought home from a night out, you are brought to the scene of the killer coming to terms with what he has done. Many flashbacks occur in the scene due to the killers guilty conscience as he explains in a voice over what has happened to him. The film bases its story around the villain’s mistake and him coming to terms with what he has done whilst his guilty conscience drives him insane.

We have decided on a modern colour film fitting the genre of psychological thriller. However, we have used certain shots in black and white to highlight specific features, E.G. During flashbacks. Furthermore, we have used the influence of Gus Van Sant’s ‘Paranoid Park’, which is an independent alternative thriller basing the storyline around a teenage boy who takes part in the accidental death of a security guard and watches how he deals with this. Our thriller is going to represent young people in the same way as they are represented in ‘Paranoid Park’ as it shows the innocence of a young killer, which is a very alternative view for a thriller film. Typically, younger people are portrayed as either rebels with a limit or innocent, naïve characters as this is how society sees them. Therefore, this is brought across in the media. However, our killer is going to fit both of these conventions as he is innocent, yet has gone to the extreme level of rebellion by taking part in a murder.

The alternative narrative will continue throughout our thriller film – it will be portrayed through costume, character and concept. Our characters show this alternative narrative through their young age of 17-19 and through their costume design/general look. The villain in our thriller has a Lennon inspired style through his alternative hair and clothes. His costume includes slim jeans, braces with a plain top and smart point shoes – this may connote that the character is an outcast and refers back to the alternative ‘indie’ scene.

The mise-en-scene is constructed through a huge base of unconventional camera work. This is seen through many tilt shots, creating ambiguity to the scene. Furthermore, there are many tracking shots included in the mise-en-scene, which creates a sense of movement to the audience making the scene seem more realistic. In addition, there are shots which include low angles so the characters seem superior, but are walking in a nervous manner. This creates a contrast to the shot and makes it seem more mysterious. Furthermore, the mise-en-scene is constructed through the ambient lighting used. This creates a more natural feel to the film and creates a sense of realism for the audience. The setting of the thriller is an essential to the mise-en-scene. Our setting includes an underground which our character is to walk through in the dark. The dark features of lighting will create mysteriousness and will seem thrilling. Furthermore, the graffiti on the walls of this location give

The target audience chosen for our thriller film is young adults from ages 15-24. This is due to the characters used being young and impressionable, which this audience may be able to relate to. Furthermore, the costume of our characters may appeal to this audience through their alternative independent look being in fashion and up to date. Moreover, the soundtrack may also appeal to this group of people as it is a popular genre for troubled teenagers because they are able to relate to the music. The audience may also enjoy this film due to the thrilling aspect of it exciting and entertaining them.

By Harriet Bliss