Somers Town After Viewing

How would you categorise this film in terms of genre? Does it remind you of any other films you have seen?

4) I would class this film as a comedy drama because young Tomo has a particular cheeky attitude and you can see this in the film when he steals the photos from Marek and runs away into the private area of what looks like an housing estate, then when a man comes out and tells them to leave he gives him back chat and swears at him.
The film reminds me of This Is England even though I haven’t seen This Is England by watching the trailers they do look similar.


5) What do you think is the film’s appeal for audiences?
I think that the film’s appeal for the audiences is the independence of Tomo and the decisions he makes by himself and the way that he wants change things by moving from Newcastle to London. Also I think some of the appeal is about the romance between the two boys and Maria


6) As well as being in black and white, the film is subtitled during a conversations in Polish between Marek and his farther; there are also sections in French. In what ways do these factors affect your responses to the film, the situation and the characters?
Response: The use of using subtitles added almost another dimension making the film seem more real rather than scripted. I personally found this very interesting, it really managed to grab the attention of the viewer and gave me an impression of the two characters.
The Situation: As before it did make the situation feel more real, but it also made it feel slightly uncomfortable with people talking different languages that we wouldn’t understand if we didn’t have the subtitles.
Characters: I feel that the sense of it being uncomfortable also plays a part on Mareks father because we know from early on that he is a drunk. It also made me feel slightly uncomfortable about Marek until later on because his father’s actions could have been portrayed upon him


7)What similarities and differences can you identify between Somers Town and This is England?
Both the films are very British, I have not seen This is England but I can explain some similarities between them. Both the films are set around teenagers who are perhaps lost and are looking for independence in the way of getting as far away from their existing lives.


8)To what extent do you think the audience is expected to be ‘comfortable’ with this portrait of two teenagers?
When Tomo is beaten up by the three lads late at night it makes us feel as if he is vulnerable and that portrays upon us and makes us feel like if he were to be a real character in real life then he wouldn’t poses a threat upon us. Also all the little witty things he says and when he steals the wrong clothes from the dry cleaners, the fact that Tomo and Marek are funny and makes us laugh also helps us to feel comfortable with them. Also the relationship between Tomo and Marek is tight as and this reflects upon us and we’ve been watching them the whole time and this makes us feel as if we are in with their friendship.


9) A sign on the estate reads “children playing on these grounds is prohibited”. In what different ways do Tomo and Marek seek to amuse themselves within this environment? Do you think the film encourages us to judge any of their actions?
One way they seek to amuse themselves is by drinking alcohol in park and then having a party, playing loud music and drinking more alcohol and lots of it. They do this because they are feeling down by the fact that Maria left to go to Paris. I don’t think we are meant to sympathise for them because even though they are upset about her leaving they say that they are drinking to move on and get over Maria.

10)What message of childhood adolescence do you, or could you, take away from the film?
I personally do not see a message to take away from the film. The boys to me were acting somewhat immature by getting drunk over a woman who’s 10 years older than them. However there could be a message to others about how sometimes we learn to adapt in other situations in desperate times, when we are put into situations we don’t know or are comfortable with we as human beings learn to adapt and this is what Tomo had to do when he left home and went to London.


11)Do your reactions towards the boys change at different points in the film? Which moments in particular?
a) Encourage you to sympathise with the boys
When they get drunk like I mentioned before and start pondering on why Maria left them to go to Paris without telling them is defiantly a time when we should or are supposed to sympathise for the boys. It makes it even worse with the fact that they are in the park because this is place where people are supposed to have fun not to be upset.

b) Make you unsympathetic towards them
When they steal clothes from the dry cleaners but they are clothes that they would never wear unless they really had to. We all know that stealing is bad and because of this we know not to sympathise with the boys because what they have done is wrong.

12) Some of the other characters include marek’s father, Mariusz, Graham the cockney neighbour, and a French waitress, maria. To what extent would you agree that Meadows is playing with stereotypes in his representation of these characters?
We often see in films that French woman are waitress’s and Maria is a waitress in a small cafe. Also that France is a very romantic place and Maria is somewhat of a flirt with the two boys. Also we see immigrants as people who work for low income and can work hard, his house is small and in a bit of a mess which indicates low amounts of income.

Notes on Somers Town

What is a British Film??

. Britsh films are often low budget
. They are about ordinary people
. Classy
. Working class heroes

Depiction -
Comic Relief
Crime
Maids

They also often broke taboos

Alot of brit films are about leaving ID behind for instance in Somers Town Tomo moves to London leaving New Castle behind.

In the 80's there was huge un employment this was reflected on many films

The lecturer then decided to talk about simiar authors :-

Mike Leigh with the film Vera Drake

Shane meadows with This is England

Film Education Worksheet

1) Why do you think a modern director would choose to produce a film in black and white rather than colour? What effects might they be hoping to achieve?

Well there are many reasons why directors would want to produce a film in black and white, the most obvious one of course is because the film is set way back when colour tv's weren't invented so making it black and white and the effect of this sets the film back in that time. Black and white can also make the film seem more realistic as if there hasn't been special effects added.

2)Choose three films, and find out their release date, genre, directors reputation, and the critical reaction of the film.



Sin City - Released in 2005 by Frank Millar and Robert Rodriguez
Genre - Action, Crime and Thriller
Frank Millar - He was a big comic reader and writer in the 70's and 80's. He wrote and penciled the Marvel series "Daredevil" for a long time. He also wrote two spinoffs about the character Electra and did a miniseries about the "X-Men" character Wolverine. In 1980, he wrote the acclaimed "Batman" story "Wanted - Santa Claus - Dead or Alive!" for DC Comics.
Critics - The New York Times
"Hard to get pulled into the story on any level other than the visceral."




Raging Bull - Released in 1980 by Martin Scorsese
Genre - Biography/Drama
Martin Scorsese - He entered a seminary in 1956 - Martin Scorsese opted to channel his passions into film. He graduated from NYU as a film major in 1964.
Critics - The New York Times - Vincent Canby
"The entire film is played at such high pitch it may well exhaust audiences that don't come prepared. And, at the heart of the film, there is the mystery of Jake himself, but that is what separates Raging Bull from all other fight movies, in fact, from most movies about anything. Raging Bull is an achievement."



Manhattan - Released in 1979 by Woody Allen
Genre - Comedy Drama
Woody Allen - Woody Allen was born December 1, 1935 in Brooklyn, New York. He went into show business at age 15 when he started writing jokes for a local paper, receiving $200 a week and pumping out an estimated 2000 jokes a day. Woody's theoretical directorial debut was in "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" which was a Japanese spy flick that he dubbed over with his own comedic dialogue about spies searching for the secret recipe for egg salad.

3. The film is named after Somers Town, the part of London which it is set. Most of the filming also took place on location in the area.

a) What iconographic sight and sounds you might expect from the film?

Hussle and Bussle of city life (beeping horns, revving of engines e.t.c)
Kids playing in parks (football)
Dogs barking on estates
The British Museum

What are your expectations about character and narrative based on this setting?

Poor family or families
Poor Estates
Crime
Neglect
Adeventure

Once upon a time in the west

Non Diegetic Sound:-

Sound which the source is not visible on the screen or has been implied to be present in the action:
narrator's commentary
sound effects
mood music
Non-diegetic sound is sound that has been placed over the videos original sound.

Sound that's source is visible on the screen or the source is taken by the watcher to be present on the scene of the film:
voices of characters
sounds made by objects in the story

Diegetic sound is any sound presented as originated from source within the film's world

Definition from www.associatedcontent.com

“Diegetic sound is anything you hear that has a source within the story; non-diegetic is sound that has no source within the film itself.”

Sometime we can often hear what is diegetic and what is non diegtic for example when music is playing on a radio in the film and then gets louder as the person leaves the house you can tell its been placed on to the video but this adds an effect to the video.


At the start of Once upon a time in the west there are some immediate sounds that you can hear like:

> The Creaking Door
> Birds
> Wind
> The Chalk Board
> Footsteps

The most obvious one is the creaking door, the sound may have been amplified to add more effect to it. When the door creaks open and the man is standing in the door way it really gives him a sense of power and in away it makes him seem a bit rebellious when the other two men step into the door way because it makes you feel trapped.


The footsteps also contribute towards the mood of the film, they are slow paced and loud. The slowness of the footsteps puts across to the viewer that the cowboy is calm and in control of the situation and not the old man.




The men are wearing long brown coats with dark t-shirts underneath and the contrast on colours really helps the viewer decide whether or not the men are villains or heroes.

Camera angles have a huge part to play in many films and not just thrillers, camera angles can show many different things and not just pointing it at who's talking. For instance the pan up of the cowboy! It starts at the bottom of the cowboy and pans to the top because this give him a huge sense of power. The camera starts from a low angle and low angles are often associated with weakness. Another example of this is when the camera turns from the old man to the cowboy and the camera looks up at him which makes the old man look weak.

The reason why this film fits into the thriller sub genre because it does put you into suspense of wondering what's going to happen. The introduction is slow and it often makes us feel as if something fast paced and energetic is about to happen. Film makers can make this go along for along time which will make us very engrossed within the film.

No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men was released in 2007 and produced by the Coen brothers: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. Its is a Western Crime Thriller, and won many awards including: three British Academy of Film awards, two Golden Globes, and four Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin. The setting for No Country For Old Men is in West Texas in the year June 1980



No Country For Old Men conforms to the commercial opening of a thriller because it sets the scene by using Extreme Wide Shots of the desert and there is no sign of civilization, this makes it feel like a very desolate place. There is a explanation at the start if the film which sets the mood. Also its very very silent and the only thing you can hear is the wind which makes it very dreary, the best example of this is when the man is hunting deer and its so silent you can hear his footsteps and the shell hit the floor when he fires his gun.

Final Cut Express

Final Cut Express is a type of application that allows you to import and edit videos or video clips. Using Final Cut Express you can 'Capture' the footage from your camcorders so you dont have to mess around cutting and cropping clips.

We learnt that whilst doing the Capture you press 'I' to make a start point and then you press 'O' to get the end point and then Final Cut Express imports the footage inbetween these two points.

We also learnt that Final Cut Expess measures in Hours, Minutes, Secounds and Frames it measures in frames because this is then easier to get to certain points of your footage and edit it. Final Cut Express also makes editing easier by using a drag and drop system where you can simply drag footage from the browser to the Timeline,Viwer or Canvas.

The last thing that we learnt how to do was to make a new 'Bin' (Bin is another term for folder in Final Cut Express). To make a new bin you need to go to the top and click 'File' and on the drop down menu click new bin. Using the bin you can then drag footage into it, this helps keep all the clips organised so you dont mix up different videos.




In Friday's lesson we learnt how to import music into Final Cut Express, Go File, import files and find the music and double click it. Then drag it down into the timeline. If a red line appears above the timeline then it needs to be rendered, to do this you press and hold the Command button and then press 'R'. In one of the preview windows you can see a scale that shows the music waves, this is how Final Cut Express shows this type of media.


We also learnt how to import chunks of our video. What we had to do was (assuming you have your camera plugged into the Mac via the FireWire cable) rewind the tapes back to the start using the short cuts (J and L) then once it was at the start you can press the 'Capture Now' button. The video looks like it's just playing but its really importing the video and when you want to stop you just press the 'Esc' button. This then places a clip called 'Untitled' into the selected folder. It is important to make sure you re-name your clips because you can very easily muddle up clips.

Chris Ashwell

Thrillers

A thriller is a type movie that really keeps you in the dark and guessing until the end. Even once you think you've guessed what's going to happen there is always a twist which throws you off balance. There doesn't tend to be much blood or gore. The Dark Knight is a good example of a thriller because just when you think they've
caught the Joker he still manages to escape!

Top 5 Thrillers from IMDB.com
1. The Godfather (1972)
2. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
3. Pulp Fiction (1994)
4. The Dark Knight (2008)
5. Rear Window (1954)