BBFC

BBFC

The BBFC is a highly expert and experienced regulator of the movong image. The BBFC serves a social function in society which is to advise and protect viewers from moving images.

 Provide public information that empowers them (and parents) to make appropriate viewing decision for themselves and those in their care. 

They help to protect vuneralble viewers and society from the effects of viewing potentially harmful or unsuitable contect while respecting adult freedom of choice.

Age Certificates:

Age certificates are provided by the BBFC and this is judged depending on the content displayed, which is in hope to protect all film viewers.

Certain viewing material, material is only appropriate for a certain age group.

 

This Age certificate represents children ages four and over. The film should be in a suitable set within a positive moral framework and should offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence threat or horror. Watch video!

This age certificate represents a general viewing for children but some scenes may not be suitable and considers parental guidance to be advised. PG rated films should not disturb any child around the age of eight or older but still in watching the film should be accompanied by an adult. Watch video!

This age certificate only exists for cinema films. This age certificate was brought in by the BBFC after the release of Spiderman back in 2002. 12A represents a PG rating but then also a rating of 12 which falls in between because certain scenes such as violence could be accompanied by an adult or old enough to handle the violence. Watch Video!

This age certificate represents awarded material which is suitable in general. Only for those aged 12 and over. Works classified at these categories may upset children under 12 or may contain material which parents may find unsuitable for them. The 12 category only exists for video works. No younger than 12 can rent or buy a 12 rated video work. Watch Video!

This Age certificate may contain some controversial  elements to it, but on the whole, there shouldn’t be any discrimination , drugs may be touched upon, but not promoted, violence can be displayed but cannot dwell on injury and pain, there may be a use of frequents bad language and nudity can be shown, but only where appropriate. Watch Video!

This age certificate may include criminal law, violence, sexual violence, nudity, sexual scenes, drugs, racism, discrimination, religious discrimination. Only the age of 18 and over can view 18 rated films and have access to all the films within any age certificate existing. Watch Video!

8 things what definitely need a certificate...

1. Nudity

2. Sexual Violence

3. Domestic Violence

4. Verbal abuse

5. Discrimination

6. Drug abuse

7. Corrupt the young

8. Violence

Cutting a film for a 12A rating...

12A is a fairly new age rating that came as a result of spiderman (2002)

Viewers argued that spiderman was too violent for children, and had a convensional narrative, so should not be given a PG rating.

Therefore, the BBFC gave it a 12 rating.

Other viewers argued that spiderman was a childhood comic hero, so it was only fair children were allowed to watch it.

It was given a 12A rating which meant those under 12 could only watch it if accompanied by an adult.

Censorship

Censorship

What are the things you think will get censored?

. Violence

. Graphic representation and realism

. Corrupt the young

. Controversy and the press

. Sex and Nudity

. Sexual Violence

. Religion

. Class

. Language

. Shock

. Drug abuse

Banned or cut:

Banned: When a film is taken away from cinema viewing completely due to indecent, harmful or offensive material.

Cut: When a film is edited or has had scenes taken out of it to make it appropiate for viewing.

Forna VS Kermode

Back in the late 90's there were programmes on censorship which shared different views on how censorship should be done. Both Forna and Kermode gave their views on Censorship, one for against Censorship and one against Censorship. Each made their views and opinions on the subject.

 Forna's Points:

1. The power of words and images on the public freedom of expression is allowing people to stir racial hatered e.g. Romper stomper "Nigga out".

2. Social stereotypes "KKK"

3.Public associate thenselves with the characters they see.

4.Undersuitable acts such as rape and illigal incidents encouragrs the audience to carry out those acts.

5. Manipulate humans desires "Seducing the audience".

6. Films start to break down barriers- a film about a woman getting raped and then enjoying rape.

Kermode's Points:

1. Being told what you can't and can watch difference between right and wrong.

2. Fear of expression- freedom of speech.

3. Sex doesn't occur during the making of films so there's no need to censor it.

4. The public should be able to distinguish between fiction and non-fiction.

5. Everyone has their own response to things-not just general emotion

6. Responsibility- Policing films is impossible - are films encouraging people or just shoe them realistic situations?

Overall, in my opinion I think it is good to have censorship, not just to warn the audience but to also look out for their safety especially the younger audiences. Films these days are more likely to corrupt different audiences minds because they are more exposed to things. Also censorship is a guideline in where audiences are suppose to be.

Body language and Facial Expression/Character Representation

Body Language and facial Expressions

L.O: To critically analyse body Language and facial expressions.

Body Language:

The way the character is positioned to the audience. It is their actions, their movements and the way they present themselves

The body language can tell you a lot about the type of character in the film. The way they hold themselves or act, will be conventional to many other films of the same genre. For example... even their physical appearance will be similar to others of the same genre. This ody language helps us to understand who they are and how they will be represented.

So we will need to look and anaylse the bodymovement and overall look (including clothing) of the character.

Body Language of a Protagonist:

. Self-confident

. Determined

. Relaxed

. Good looking/Handsome

.Strong Physically and Mentally

. High Status

Body Language of an Antagonist:

. Self-confident

. Daring/Challenging

. Hyped up

. Ugly

. Strong but weak minded

. Low Status

Facial Expressions:

Facial expressions is the way the characters emotions are portrayed to the audience. It is the look on their face,and the meaning this creates to the audience. This facial expression representation in more detail.
The facial expression can tell you a lot about the type of character in the film. The way they express themselves will be convensional to many other films of the same genre. For example... Even their facial expressions will comote similar representations to other characters of the same genre.

Character Representation

. Character representation revolves around understanding the choices that are made in a characters portryal.

. Some aspects of personality and character can be empathised so that the viewer will focus on them.

. Can you think of any aspects that are often empathised in films or films or TV Show?

Using Stereotypes:

. Sometimes stereotypes can be used in character representation so that the viewer can recognise aspects of a character straight away.



Scream Analysis

Scream Analysis

How is the Opening sequence of scream coventional to a Thriller opening?

In this Analysis I am going to analyse and look at the different Coventions of a thriller opening in Scream.

Cinematography:
Looking at the cinematography of the opening scene, it uses a lot of mid shots to show the character and also  her surroundings. For example we can tell from the scene that she is in the comfort of her own home. This scene also uses a range of other shots to convey what is going on, where and why it's happening. Canning shot is a very good element of cinematography that has been used because it shows everything what is going on as she moves across the house keeping track of her every Movement and the antagonists every movement. Another camera shot that was often used was close ups. The close ups were mostly focused on the objects of the film. For instance, the telephone. The telephone was a very important part of the film because it mostly symbolised danger. Same with the bag of Popcorn on the stove. Every time the popcorn was shown, the shot was taken closer and closer as it eventually became in flames. This illustrated the protagonist's lack of concentration as her attention drew away from being responsible to being paranoid and afraid in her own environment. The close ups of the telephone and the popcorn also create tension with in the audience because these objects represent danger nearby.

Sound:
Sound has been used very effectively in this scene to create tension with in the audience. One example of sound which was used effectively is on screen sound. For instance, the telephone would be a part of on screen sound because the audience and hearit ring and know it'sthe telephone. The ringing of the telephone also creates mystery and suspence because of who is on the other end of the line, which can also leave the audience confused because the voice has been disguised. Another good example of sound which has been used is diegetic and non- diegetic sounds. The diegetic sounds in this sceen are the dialogue between characters, the smashing of the window, the popcorn and the telephone. All these sounds are a part of the film. The non diegetic sounds are the sounds which aren't a part of the film. For example when the protagonist gets closer and closer into the trap of her death the dramtic sounds get louder and faster to build up tension with in the audience creating an  uncomfortable atmosphere.

Lighting:
At the beggining of the scene, there is a high key lighting to begin with. As more tension is created within the scene you can notice time by time that the light begins to darken as it turns from a happy home into a negative atmosphere and uses Low Key lighting towards the end.

Mise en scene:
Iconography:
The Iconography of this scene are the things that are set up in the house for a reason. For example the way how the kitchen looks, the objects used in this case for a kitchen. Things like utensils, the fridge the oven/stove to indicate to the audience that this first part of the scene is the kitchen due to the objects used. also by looking at the rest of the house, you can tell by the objects that the protagonist has an easy and well off lifestyle and that they're from a wealthy family, not just looking at the style of the house but also looking at the objects making the audience think that the family is rich.
Setting:
It's set in a family home. By looking at the size and style of the setting you can infer that the characters live in a rich area and that they are well off.
Colour: There are a lot of colours used in this scene to covey what is going on and who's who. For example, all the lighter and softer colours are mostly associated with the protagonist and their surroundings this illustrates to the audience their vunerability, purity and mostly their innocence. Where as the antagonist is mostly associated with darker and duller colours to illustrate to the audience their negativity.
costume:
Looking at the costumes in this scene the protagonist is dressed in lighter and softer clothing than the antagonist to show their strength and weaknesses through the costumes they where giving the audience their sense of character. The antagonist in this scene wears more heavier and darker costumes than the protagonist also giving a sense of character to the audience in this case which comes across as more scary and intimidating.
Body language:
Also the body Language of the characters. In the beggining of the film the protagonist looks confident beoing in the comfort of her own home, that confidence is the destroyed by the antagonist leaving the protagonist looking scared and feeling uncomfortable and showing the real weakness of that character. On the other hand, the body language of the antagonist is all over the place giving the audience the impression that it doesn't really care or have any feelings and is just out to kill.

Editing:
Lastly editing. This is really effective because it gives different reactions towards the audience. For example in the beggining of the film the editing pace is quite slow... this is called slow pace editing. This is used to build up tension in the audience and a sense of fear. As more action is taking place for example the chase scene between the antagonist and the protagonist it uses more of a fast pace or a montage to create excitement in the audience because so many things are happeneing at the same time that the audience need to be awear and keep up with.

Mise en Scene

 Mise en Scene

In this post today I am going to go explain the Tems of mise en scene and how Mise en scene is presented through Thriller films.

The 5 elements of Mise en Scene are an indicator of the genre of the film and as an audience we have expectations of the Mise en Scene depending on the genre.

Definition: French for "Everything that is put on Stage" or "What is put into the scene or frame"

Going into further detail, put on stage with in reason. The way things are set out on stage is to have a representation for something in that particular scene. It is anything that creates a believeable world and adds to the understanding of the story.

Five parts of Mise en Scene:

. Iconography

. Body Language/Facial Expression

. Costume

. Lighting/Colour

. Setting/Location

Iconography: Iconography is another word for props and objects of the scene. The props used in a certain scene depend on the setting and the location of the Scene. For example, if a scene is set as a classrom, the iconography expected in that scene would be tables, chairs, a chalk board etc.

Body Language/Facial Expression: Facial expressions are a clear indicator of how a person feels. The film maker may use a characters eyes to drraw our attention for something or a slight change in a characters face can tell us something has happend.

Costume: Costume plays a large part because it can indicate a character's personality, social status and job. Make up also plays a big part because it involves colour and colours can show the different sides of a character. For example, Bright make up can indicate innocents, angelic, Crazy and an outgoing personality. Whereas Darker shades would represent evil, suductiveness, trouble maker etc.
Also in Costume, certain characters are expected to wear a certain colour or style of clothing to represent their role in the film. For Example,
Typical action hero:
. Bright colours
. Superhro altfit (Superman)
. Capes and carries weapons

Typical Villain:
. Capes
. Dark Colours (Usually red and black)

Someone ready for battle:
. Armour
. Protective clothing

  Someone Vunerable:
Light Colours (Mainly white)

Lighting and colour: Lighting can help to give a scene a relative look (Lenghtley) or a dramatic look (Low Key). Colour is a big part of mise en scene because colour can be used to represent the personality of the character or to determine if a place is meant to look bad or good.

Setting: Settings are chosen very purposefully and are NOT just backgrounds for acting, Film makers can choose to build a set from scratch into a studio.



Editing

Editing

How does the speed of editing empathise the action?

When there is action, the speed of editing increases because so much is going on at once. When it's building up to the action the editing starts from being slow and eventually gets faster as the tension of the film builds up.

Comparisons

Halloween and Psyco

. Both use same weapon

. Innocent blobe woman (Protagonist)

. Victim alone to start attack

Speed of editing:

. Films are joined together at certain points. The length of each shot determines the pace of the film and helps determine mood.

General... Trailers...

. Film trailers are an excellent way of commencing an audience to a film. Film trailers mainly use a mixture of editing styles, techniques, and also speed to appeal to an audience and also advertise a film.

Straight Cut Example:

When one shot moves into another shot in an edit and it does not confuse the audience.

Fade to Black Example:

When one shot goes/moves into another and then is black further in between.

Wipe Cut Example:

When the shot slides into another.

Dissolve:

When one shot disintigrates into another.

Reaction Shot:

Any shot (often used as a cut way) in which a subject reacts to a previous shot.

Montage Example:

Id the speed of editing, where shots are quickly juxposed together to create excitement.

Slow editing: Is when clips are put toghether at a slower pace and this is to create suspence and capture action.

Fast Editing: Is when clips are put together at a fast pace and this is to create suspence and thrill.

The editing types you need to know...

. The 180 degree rule: When you stay within the 180 degree line to view the scene if you go beyond the 180 degree line the shot wouldn't make sense and it'll confuse the audience.

Shot reverse shot: This is mostly used in films where a conversation is taking place and it is one shot quickly follows another.

Jump Cut Example: A drastic camera movement that is noticeable to the eye. The shot/edit almost "jumps"

Narrative Theory

Narrative Theory

Storyline:

. Characters effect on the narrative

. Structured BME

. Non-Chronological Order

. Plot

. Things that happen in the story

. Message 

Narrative:

. In Media terms, narrative is the coherence/orginisation given to scenes of facts.

. The human mind needs narrative to make sense of things.

. In everything we seek a beggining, Middle and an end.

. We understand and construct meaning our experience of reality and of the previous texts. Each text becomes a part of the previous and the next through its relationship with the audience.

Expected in a tradtional Fairytale:

. Princess

. Prince

. villain

. Love

. Wishes

. Happy ever after

. Castle 

. Mystical Creatures

. Quest

. Sexist

Film as Fairytale:

Vladimir Propp, a Russian Critic, active in the 1920's published in his morphology of the folk tale in 1928. While the soviet cinema was producing excellent films , Propp was essentially interested in the narrative of folk tales he noticed. 

. Folk tales were similar in many areas. They were about the same basic struggles and they appeared to have stock characters. He identified a theory about characters and actions as narrative functions.

. Characters according to Propp, have a narrative function; they provide a structure for the text.

Characters that perform a function

. The hero- A character that seeks something

. The villain- Who opposes or actively blocks the hero's quest.

. The Donor- Who Provides an object with magical properties

. The Dispatcher- Who sends the hero on hbis/her quest via a message

. The false Hero- Who disrupts the hero's quest by making false chains

. The helper- Who aids the hero

. The Princess- Acts as the reward for the hero and object of the villain's plot.

My 10 points of a Narrative story
1. New girl moves to a cottage
2. The most beautiful girl in thew cottage addresses the new girl
3. The guy of the town introduces himself to the new girl and taking a keen interest
4. The beautiful girl gets jealous and dispises the new girl
5. The beautiful girl has men to capture the new girl in a tower house where there is no way out.
6. A few days later the guy of the town realises the absence of the new girl as the beautiful girl lies and says the new girl had moved away immediately.
7. The guy of the town is then forced to Marry the beautiful girl by her father but then realises this is all a trap.
8. The new girl manages to escape as a worker in the tower who hates the beautiful girl and her family helps the new girl out by letting her escape.
9. The new girl then runs to bump into the guy of the town and explains what has happened. The guy of the town plans a get away before the people of the town can track them down.
10. Before the beautiful girl could find them, the guy of the town and his new lady get away and live happily ever after.

Sound

Sound

Sound in Films:

Sounds are used in films to create understanding for the audience and to create more meaning about the character and their emotions.

Sound is also used to create a response from the audience.

Terminology:

. Diegetic sound: Sound, which is part of the film world e.g. dialogue, music from a radio or jukebox, the sound can be seen on screen.

. Non Diegetic sound: Sound which is not part of the film world e.g. a sound track, sound effects, voice overs.

Parallel sound:

. On screen sound: You can see where the sound is coming from (Radio or Car)

. Off screen sound: You can hear sounds but cannot see where the sound is coming from, but it makes sense to the film world (Traffic sounds, Coughing)

. Parallel sound: Is when the sound you hear in a film is what is expected e.g. a scene with children playing on a beach the parallel sound would be laughter, talking and the sea.

. Contrapuntal sound: Is when the sound does not match the expectations of what you are viewing. An example of this is Jaws. The scenes of the beach are accompanied by the contrapuntal sound of the theme tune "Dur dur". Which does not fit in with the happy images

How to use PEER?

P: The sound you are discussing.

E: Provide a detailed explanation of when you here it in the film.

E: Explain your example and discuss why you think it has been used.

R: How does this create a chilling response from the audience?

Example:
Scream
P:Diegetic sound of the popcorn
E: In Scream, when the tension builds up bit by bit, a shot is taken of the popcorn on the stove. This is to show that the protagonist's attention has been drawn away from responsibiliy and focused on the antagonists distractions
E: The sound of the popcorn has been used to symbolise trouble and lack of concentration from the protagonist.
R: By doing this, it gets a fearful and confusing response from the audience.

P: Non- Diegetic sound

E: The Non-diegetic sound creeps in minutes after to create tension.

E: As soon as she gets worried and becomes aware the non-diegetic sound creeps in.

R: It makes the audience feel a sense of fear.

Lighting

Lighting

Lighting: Lighting helps tp convey mood and atmosphere in a scene/film. It can also be used to guide the audience's attention to a particular object, person, emotion of gesture. Lighting can also be used to cast shadows and build tension and suspence.

Key Terms... Angles of Lighhting 

. Under Lighting: Main source of light comes from below the person. This tends to have a distorting effect on the character and is often used in horror films.

. Top Lighting: Min source of lighting comes from above highlighting the features of a character. It is often used to create a glamourous look in a character.

.Back Lighting: Light source is behind the person. If little or no light used, silhuouettes are created.

. Low-Key lighting: The lighting is dark with small areas of light, which also creates shadows.

.High-Key Lighting: Lighting appears more natural and realsitic to our eyes. For example used in film to recreate a sunny day in the park.

.Natural Lighting: When no light has been added, it is what you expect to see.

High-Key lighting:

1. Sci-fi

2. Romance

3. Acrion

Low-Key Lighting:

1. Horror

2. Thriller

3. Action

Lighting is a very important micro element because the light is based on the mood of the film in addition to always being low key when it comes to the thriller genre.

Cinematography

Cinematography

In cinematography, there are three very important things included which is angle, size and movement.

Cinematography: Is looking at the way the shot is framed, the angle it is taken in and the movement of the camera. All these things give the audience a different representation of the character and allow the audience to respond in different ways.

Shot sizes:

. Establishing shot (Set a scene) XLS

. Long Shot (Shot from head to toe) LS

. Medium Shot (waist up/captures action and shows detail in shot) MS

. Medium Close Up (Between the waist and shoulders up) MCU

. Close Up (Shoulders up) CU

. Extreme Close Up (Usually in face to show emotions in detail) ECU

Camera Angles

Low Angle: Represents character as superior, strong and powerful, someone to look up to.

High Angle: Represents character as weak, looked down upon, more sympathy from the audience for this character.

Camera Movement

.Canning shot: Camera moves showing what’s in view. Usually when someone is walking.

. Tilt Shot: Camera looks up and down. As if someone is giving a dirty look from head to toe.

. Crane Shot: on a crane, camera movement can be quite flexible (Always used by action and adventure)

. Zoom: Capture emotion or to get away from it finding something out.

. Point Of View: When it looks like it’s from the person’s view. It Creates tension and suspense.

.Handheld: When the camera moves with the person

. Over Shoulder Shot: Shot over shoulder to capture conversation.

What Makes a Thriller?

Thrillers Media AS

There are many different genres within the film world.  Some of these are more intense than others. For instance the Thriller genre. Let’s take a look at what makes a good classic hair standing and disturbing thriller.

What makes a conventional thriller Opening:

. Tension

. Fast movements

. Storyline not in chronological order

. Mystery Character

. Antagonist/protagonist

. Low- key Lighting/flashes

. Time (Past, present and future)

. Sound

. Dark and gloomy Colours

. Camera Shots

What are Genres? Why are they important?

A genre is a category a film falls into for example “Norbit” would fall into Comedy

Film Genres are very important to both the film producers and the film audiences because the producers need to engage their target audiences in order to be successful, whilst the film audiences need to be interested and engaged in the genre so that they go and watch the film. Genre theory is used in the study of films in order to put the films into categories. Genre is dependent on various factors such as the story line, the twist to the story line, which the director is who the characters are and the actors of the film and what are the audience expectations. By using this genre theory, it creates short cuts in how we are to describe the films.

Thriller:

A Thriller is a genre that follows a storyline which also includes the conventions that will thrill a particular target audience. For example

. Fast and slow movements

. Airy sounds that are used to build up tension within the target audience

. Mystery Characters

. Lighting (Mainly Low-key lighting and flashes)

.Twists and surprises

. Storyline jumbled up

.Time Warp (Past, present and future)

. Cinematography (film shots)

Example of Thriller Films:

The Grudge

The Grudge first released in 2004 a horror/thriller film set in Tokyo which is based on a curse that is passed down to the victims from a person who has died to re-gain their revenge. The evil curse is then stuck inside the body of a young woman and a little boy who goes around Tokyo killing people for revenge. The grudge has Three Films the first released in 2004 the second in 2006 and the third in 2010.

Dressed to kill

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Dressed to kill released in 1980 is about a mysterious blond woman who murders one of her patients and is witnessed by a prostitute who then later becomes the victim for the woman to murder.

Final Destination

Final Destination first released in 2000 thriller film is based on a group of friends or people who get trapped in situations where the result of it ends up with all of them getting killed by freak accidents. Usually the storyline following the order of the people getting killed. Final destination is followed four more films which make 5 films of Final destination.

Sub-Genre:

Sub-Genre of thrillers: Sub- genre is a Stems of classical Genres combined.

Action Thriller: “Sand Sharks”, “The Girl from the naked eye”

Psychological Thriller: “The talented Mr.Ripley”, “Fatal Attraction”

Comedy Thriller: “The Lady Vanishes”, “Fright Night”

Common Themes:

In every thriller there has to be a common theme to answer the questions of the storyline “Why has this happened” “What do they want?” For example the antagonist is always getting payback by using these common themes murder, revenge, a curse, Family, fights, religion etc. These common themes are usually in the storylines of Thrillers that grow into more and more answers.

The Audience’s response to thrillers

When watching a thriller film there are a lot of different reactions from the audience, different reactions depending on how much you can take in from the film and the type of person you are.

The most common reactions:

. Fidgety/Flinch

. Goosebumps

. Tension

. Uncomfortable

. Funny (LAUGHTER)

. Nervousness

What do you think?

As I watch thriller films I usually get a lot of mixed emotions from these different thrillers. For instance, scenes that use surprises usually make me very uncomfortable and flinch. On the other hand if someone is to fall into a trap of the antagonist due to their stupidity and unawareness I would find it quite funny.

Conclusion: How can this help your understanding?

This has all broadened by understanding of thriller due to the research I’ve done. I am also more confident in understanding the reasons for this genre and how it affects the film and the Audience.

I now Know and understand what conventions in thriller will appeal to an audience and how they will react to the thriller films.