Pre 1980's film

Information on the BBFC

'The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/ DVDs since the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984.

Cinema

The British Board of Film Censors was set up in 1912 by the film industry as an independent body to bring a degree of uniformity to the classification of film nationally. Statutory powers on film remain with the local councils, which may overrule any of the BBFC’s decisions, passing films we reject, banning films we have passed, and even waiving cuts, instituting new ones, or altering categories for films exhibited under their own licensing jurisdiction.

Video

In 1984 Parliament passed the Video Recordings Act. This act stated that, subject to certain exemptions, video recordings offered for sale or hire commercially in the UK must be classified by an authority designated by the Secretary of State. The President and Vice Presidents of the BBFC were so designated, and charged with applying the new test of ‘suitability for viewing in the home’. At this point the Board’s title was changed to the British Board of Film Classification to reflect the fact that classification plays a far larger part in the BBFC’s work than censorship.

Finances

The BBFC is a not for profit organisation, and its fees are adjusted only to cover its costs. In order to preserve its independence, the BBFC never receives subsidies from either the film industry or the government. Its income is solely from the fees it charges for its services, calculated by measuring the running time of films or DVDs submitted for classification.  The BBFC consults the Department of Culture, Media and Sport before making any changes to its fees.' - http://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-bbfc

Preliminary Script Analysis.

Preliminary Script

After discussing ideas for our preliminary task, my group and I decided to make a story line based off of a crime thriller, as we thought this would be the most effective way to incorporate all of the aspects that were required in our preliminary. We had a scene of a Superintendent discussing a case with an Inspector. We carried on with the thriller genre so we could get used to the codes and conventions of a thriller film and decided whether or not we wanted to use the same genre for our actual film opening. we used our own actors which were Alex and Jordan, as we didn't feel the need to audition actors for our preliminary. Here is an annotated version of our script.

Ideologies presented in Wild Child.

Ideologies presented in Wild Child.

'An ideology is a world view, a system of values, attitudes and beliefs which an individual, group or society holds to be true or important; these are shared by a culture or society about how that society should function. Dominant ideologies.'

In Wild child, the director has created this film to relate to the generation of now, as everyone in this generation is seen to always be on their phone and want to party 24/7. It shows the difference of life's in different countries, however they all have the same expectation. For example, the main character was from America, but the film was based in England, so it shows that as she has been moved all that way to have the same mannerisms as the stereotypical English, every country goes back to the same roots of what they would like their children and the younger generation to be like. Therefore the ideology of beliefs throughout different countries are all roughly the same, as even though generations are different in different countries, we all really want the same thing. In this film, it also conveys the typical love story between a girl and a boy, however the twist in this particular  love story is that the love story is between the American and the Head teachers son, which is seen as 'forbidden'. So even though Nick Moore has tried to show the generation trying to repair themselves, it also shows a little bit rebelliousness as otherwise the target audience would not be as interested as it would not be seen as fun to them.

The society side of the ideology in this film is very different, as the English girls all refer to Poppy Moore (Emma Roberts) 'The American' instead of her name, as she is put down to her country, not her personality, which shows that there is not much interaction between countries for our generation until it is right in front of us and forced upon us. Nick Moore (the director) also addresses religion in the film as the English girls at the boarding school are all supposedly 'Christian' whereas Poppy is not and makes fun of that aspect, which again shows a difference of the ideologies of each generation is different countries.

Elements of mise-en scene shown in Suicide Squad, Batman and Oujia.

The mise-en-scene is an important aspect and part of each film. It entitles the watcher to have a more enhanced sense of  being intrigued as the costume and lighting play a very big part in each film as it creates different effects of emotion and connectivity between them and the character. An example of where mise-en-scene shows effect in the use of costume is where in suicide squad 'Harley Quinn' uses her costume to sexualise herself, in the way that her costume is tight and short, as it also effects the target audience of increasing as more males will want to see it. Harley Quinn uses her costume to sexualise herself to make herself seem innocent, as knowing that full well they all know she's crazy. In one of the scenes to Suicide Squad, the lighting is dim when it is facing on Harley Quinn also, as it shows the shadow of her, which then conveys that she is mysterious in that aspect, and the fact that it is dim when only facing on her shows danger and could also connote that something bad is about to happen. The camera shot used is a close up shot, so therefore this created the effect of focusing on one particular thing, her face, which shows many different emotions and facial expressions. Her facial expressions really differ in only a short amount of time, which then makes you wonder why? What happened? What is about to happen? This creates a cliffhanger in the scene and makes it again, more interesting to the watcher. The questions of why, what happened and what is about to happen are wondered even more after the lighting is continuously dim when faced on Harley Quinn, and creates much more interest to the audience.


The mise-en-scene in Batman is very varied as there are many different characters which means many different types of costumes. The costume of the Joker is supposed to be 'scary' and make people afraid, and his actual costume does not give this effect, whereas his facial makeup does. He has blood slotted around his mouth in a line which gives off the effect as though h's face has been slit, and he's eye makeup is so dark it conveys the idea of black eyes etc. The reason this is a good choice for a supposedly 'scary' character. is that even though his costume might not scare you, he's makeup will give you an effect of past background and what may have happened to him. this then brings emotion into the film of the character and relatability. The mise-en-scene is also an important part of the film in batman by the use of the lighting that is used when something bad is about to happen, for example when the Joker and Batman first get into the heated argument, the diegetic sound is a low sound of music which conveys danger and the lighting and setting is also dark which again conveys that something is going to trigger and something bad will happen.`


The mise-en-scene in Ouija contains many different types od diegetic sounds and non-diegetic sounds that creates more than one effect. For example, when the group of friends first start to sit down and try to play the Ouija board, the diegetic sound goes from low sounds to high sounds very quickly to enforce the 'scary' music stereotype, the non-diegetic sound then is the banging of floors and creaking around the house, this helped with creating effect as it showed the characters in the film getting 'scared' which made it more personal and relatable. The different range of lighting also made a difference within the film as the lighting was always very dim throughout the whole film, even when it was light outside, as it still needed to create that 'scary' film stereotype and the film Ouija has done that very well. The mise-en-scene in films such as this are focused on more as the was the film is presented is what makes it scary, and which increases the audience as the film is portraying what it is supposed too.

Script analysis

Preliminary Task

Uses and Gratifications Theory

Uses and Gratifications Theory

Uses and Gratifications Theory

People watch thriller films for a range of reasons. Some of these include entertainment, information, social interaction, escape from daily life and personal values. All of these combined contributes to the popularity of the Thriller genre. People watch thriller films in order to escape from reality and become engrossed in the life of those who live much more entertaining and interesting lives. On top of this, thrillers tend to provide a mental challenge for the audience, meaning the film is not empty entertainment, which causes the audience to be much more active when compared to other genres like dramas and comedies. Thrillers also help to increase social interaction as they can force the audience to theorise the ending of the film and discuss with their friends. An example of this would be Shutter Island, as it leaves us guessing what’s happening for the whole film. The psychological aspect of a thriller also impacts this, as people like to show off that they managed to work out the ending of the film before their friends or the characters. Some thriller films help to inform its audience, as it shows us the impact that our actions can have on the world around us, like ‘A Day After Tomorrow’, which shows the consequences of global warming. 

Uses and Gratifications theory does help us to analyse why Thriller films are so popular, but it doesn’t give us an explanation to all aspects of the film. It helps us to know why we watch and engage with Thriller films, particularly when these films can be considered grotesque, like ‘The Silence of the Lambs’. However, it doesn’t tell us anything about the filming of these films, or why directors feel compelled to make them, especially extremely mentally challenging films like ‘Inception’. 

https://youtu.be/pXqArZIRBCg