GENRE EG5 '71 (Warp, 2015)

'71 is a 2014 British historical thriller film set in Northern Ireland. For our mock exam we analysed the opening of this film under timed conditions in a style similar to the summer exam format - I have embedded the essay (after typing it up) at the bottom of this post as it has lots of relevant points (many of which have been extracted and put in the bullet point format throughout this post).

'71 poster

PRODUCTION CONTEXT/HISTORY
PRODUCTION: Crab Apple, Warp, Film4, BFI, Screen Yorkshire, Creative Scotland

DISTRIBUTION: Studio Canal; 11 territories

BUDGET: £8.1M

BOX OFFICE: $3.2m
BBFC: 15

This production is a Warp production, but it had a much higher budget than the majority of their films. It did receive grants form the BFI and Film4 - typical of indie productions. This ensures that films with more diverse/controversial representations are still made and the industry is not monopolised by conglomerates.
This film lost a lot of money, and it was a big risk for art to have such a high budget in the first place.

The hybrid aspect of it being a historical thriller/action/social realist film did give it a higher chance at being commercially viable than the majority of Warp films, and though Studio Canal is a well-established distributor it did not put much of a gamble into the film and marketing was limited.

The film did have a week long theatrical release in America (to qualify for the Oscars), showing the ambition o this film in comparison to Warp's other productions, but the amount of territories it was related in was still a low number in compassion to WT films (and there was no distribution in China).

No. of territories (BoxOfficeMojo)

Company list (distribution) (IMDB)

The 15 rating form the BBFC is interesting, as This is England got rated an 18 mostly due to cursing and the violent scene at the end (which is relevant to the moral values the film condemns), but '71 has extremely graphic and violent scenes throughout (when his friend is shot in the face when they arrive in Belfast, when a bar is later blown up with a child inside, the homemade stitching done o the protagonist etc.). This is an examples of how more commercially acceptable films are given more chance for commercial success than more controversial ones.

Although the film was ultimately a commercial/financial flop, it was nominated for BAFTAs, BIFAs, and O'Connell won the EE Rising Star award. This shows how although the film was not a financial success, its' critical reception proved it to be a success in ways that many other Warp films are.

IDENTS/COMPANIES

• Studio Canal
• distribution and production company (mostly distribution)
• Subsidiary of NBCUniversal (one of the Big Six)
• co-production financing (that way risk is spread if the film is a flop)
• can be part of meaning (has worked with WT and Warp)
• shows range
• Film4
• tv channel (UK)
• denotes low budget
• BFI (British Film Institute)
• gives grants to low budget indie films they think require subsidy (which do not need to be repaid)
• government funded
• previously known as UKFC (UK Film Council)
• Screen Yorkshire is a regional branch -  the film was not shot on location, and the extensive creation of the streets with houses in varying states of destruction show where much of the budget was spent.

TITLES

• informational words are smaller than company names
• small serif font (white on black)
• signifies serious drama 
• 'presents'
• production and distribution
• co-production between Crab and Warp
• the Warp logo is also on screen - larger contributor

...

MISE-EN-SCENE FOR EXPOSITION

• blood, sweat, costume, hair
• all wearing green military costume
• all sweaty (including those not fighting)
• all crew cuts (functional, military)
• creates high level of verisimilitude
• on the bus:
• is not a sports car
• signifies poverty
• man wearing a flat cap and smoking
• connotes Yorkshire
• signifies film is set in the past (cannot smoke on busses now), hence the name '71
• in the café
• is not a fancy 5 star restaurant
• run down, cheap looking place
• signifies poverty
• Is very similar to the sudden cut to the unappetising, greasy food in Withnail and I 
• Though not in the opening, when the locals bang their metal bin lids on the ground
• metal bins are now out of date, so signify the time period (maintain verisimilitude)
• preferred reading: it was a warning that police/army were approaching
• signifies target audience (older, native to the uk/Ireland)

EDITING

• fight scene:
• no ELS (establishing shot)
• fast-paced editing, short takes
• action genre
• cuts closer to protagonists face and cuts to see his reactions
• anchors protagonist
• centrally framed protagonist
• Training montage:
• quick fade from black (ellipsis)
• longer takes
• hand-held camera
• documentary style of realist genre
• sticks to 180 degree rule
• morning scene:
• almost a match cut done through the audio (the sound of the gun is similar to the lights turning on)
• fade-up from black
• shows ellipsis
• Café scene:
• fast-pan to reveal brother's face
• shot reverse shot in the conversation
• continuity editing
• 180 degree rule is used
• match on action with the fork and food

...
CINEMATOGRAPHY

• fight scene:
• no long shots (M/MCU)
• no fade-up
• cuts straight to action
• impact
• shows brutality
• whip-pan and hand-held tracking shots (realist)
• Barthes action codes
• low-key lighting
• brutal/grim
• natural lighting?
• shallow field of focus
• protagonist in focus (and foreground), but can still see detail in the background
• anchors protagonist
• cuts back to protagonists reaction (and centrally framed)
• Training montage:
• ellipsis (there is an overall ellipsis, not just here)
• tracking shots of protagonist
• cuts back to protagonist
• anchorage
• morning scene:
• begins with tracking shot of superior officer
• becomes MCU
• long take
• lighting as man steps forward (lowkey and shows shadow on half his face)
• signified as villain?
• establishes power dynamic
• protagonist is in the edge of the frame
• sets up equilibrium with protagonist having very little power within his situation

...

SOUND; GENRE SIGNIFICATION

• Fight scene:
• audiobridge over titles
• sound is unclear: basketball? fighting? shouting and hitting noises
• creates narrative enigma (Barthes)
• audio does not fade up - cuts in
• impact
• brutality
• diegetic sound
• ambient sound (crowd shouting and hitting)
• only coherent speech is coming form the coach
• Northern accent (Yorkshire)
• all for verisimilitude
• Morning scene:
• audiobridge fade-up
• music is sinister
• foreshadowing

...
CENTRAL PROTAGONIST/NARRATIVE

• Anchorage:
• the camera repeatedly cuts back to the protagonist to show his reactions
• the protagonist is the first character we see in an MCU
• As the fight scene comes to a close there is a tracking shot of the protagonist, form an MLS to an MCU of his face, showing the blood and sweat on it (verisimilitude)
• Todorov's narrative theory:
• the protagonist's equilibrium is established almost entirely through the editing of the opening:
• he is established as the protagonist by repeatedly cutting back to show his reactions
• in the training montage, there is always an establishing shot of the area, with the troops training, then it cuts to a close-up of the protagonist's face - this shows him as indiscernible from the rest of the men (a 'cog in a machine')

...
MOCK EXAM ESSAY


...

GENRE EG4 My Beautiful Laundrette (Working Title, 1991)

My Beautiful Laundrette poster

My Beautiful Laundrette is a social realist/black comedy film, and was made by Working Title before they became a subsidiary of NBCUniversal (when they were an indie company similar to Warp). The film is completely different to the kind they make now, with the plot following the (eventually) romantic relationship between Omar, a Pakistani living London and the street punk/squatter Johnny (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) as they become managers of a laundrette. (Wikipedia)


OUR INFLUENCES

• Initially we were going to have the protagonist be in a mixed race gay relationship, but due to issues of casting we had to change this despite wanting to include non heteronormative representation to explore social issues surrounding the subject (more on this under the "other points" sub-heading)
• The happy music that begins to play (which doesn't seem to fit with the genre) is something we want to avoid, as the example of Tyrannosaur uses incidental, acoustic music much more effectively and fitting with the genre 
• The detailed shots of the set dressing for verisimilitude (similar to Withnail and I and Submarine)

...
PRODUCTION CONTEXT/HISTORY

PRODUCTION: Working Title, Channel 4 films DISTRIBUTION: Orion classics
BUDGET: £650k
BOX OFFICE: $2.5m
BBFC 15, MPAA R

• the film was never intended for theatrical distribution
• got it because of Channel 4's interest in the film
• was screened in America
• managed to make a (very large) profit

  

  BoxOfficeMojo

• The BBFC gave this film a 15 rating - but how justified is it?
• There is cursing throughout
• there is a very graphic and realistic looking shot of someones skin rash
• lots of drinking
• In one scene a woman takes her shirt off and her nipples are censored or covered in any way through framing (there are scenes like this between Omar and Johnny where nether are wearing many clothes, but it is often the case that female nudity is more likely to be censored/sexualised)
• The interesting point is the violence: there isn't any graphic violence, or shots of realist looking wounds, and in the climax of the film a car is destroyed followed by a brawl in the street. In the example of This is England the fight scene at the end has graphic shots of Milky's bashed up face, with lots of blood - much more extreme than My Beautiful Laundrette - but the amount of violence and swearing in both of these films is nothing compared to the mindless and graphic violence you see in many WT productions, such as Hot Fuzz (which includes someones head being speared by a model church spire, someones head being crushed by a piece of falling building, someones hand being stabbed and many more) which also was given a 15 rating.
• 1988 Margaret Thatcher passed a law which banned the 'promotion' of homosexuality in schools and by local authorities (Local Government Act 1988, Section 28)
• lead to a general avoidance of non-heteronormative representation and the propagation of homophobic sentiment in a lot of media
• Thatcher's homophobic sentiment was largely emboldened by the 1980's AIDS/HIV crisis
• this film was subsequently politically controversial 
• Marketing strategy:
• in the US trailer the film is portrayed mostly as a comedy in hopes of being more successful at the box office
• there is also no reference to the homosexual content in the trailer (they refer to the relationship between the two main characters as "a partnership of 2 young entrepreneurs", and include a scene of one protagonist kissing a girl)
• lots of neon lights were used 
• made the film look more upbeat/comedic
  
  
• Low-key lighting used throughout the film
• part of social realist genre but also signifies low budget
• Hand-held cameras
• reflective of the British Documentary Movement
• also signifies low budget
• adds to realism
• 
  

...
TITLES

• The titles don't fit at all with the genre
• The white serif font is similar to what was in other films (Withnail and I, Tyrannosaur, This is England), but the animation is very different to any of the other examples 
• The jokey washing machine animation really doesn't much sense as it does not signify the genre, and there is only a small a comedy aspect to the film
• All these could be a part of the hybridity aspect in hopes of making the film more marketable (similar to the misleading US trailer)

...
MISE-EN-SCENE/FIRST SHOT

• First shot:
• not an ELS
• is immediately grim, no grand image
• immediately the action begins - adds impact, reflective of the violence which pervades the film 
• also follows Barthes action codes, very similar to in '71
• the furniture is old, cheap looking, dirty
• blocking the door
• not fancy
• walls are decaying (similar to in This is England)
• low-key lighting 



first shot

• immediately signifies poverty/social realist genre

• Props:
• the mattresses do not have sheets on them
• neither do the duvets
• multiple mugs are on the floor
• protagonist uses a black bin bag to pack his (very few) belongings
• all adds to verisimilitude
• connotes poverty (makes sense as you find out they are squatting in the abandoned house)



2nd shot (mattress, costume, protagonist in foreground)



wearing a coat but no shirt

• 

  mugs/rubbish for verisimilitude

• Costume:
• character asleep on the chair is wearing a large coat to sleep warm
• the fact that he's asleep on a chair rather than in a bed in the first place is a part of mise-en-scene
• clothes are all worn and dirty looking
• one man is wearing a large coat with no t-shirt underneath 
• prioritised keeping warm
• protagonist's jeans are ripped
• may be purposefully to signify he is a rebel/punk
• may be to show that he cannot afford new ones
• could be both

...
PROTAGONIST

• how he is anchored as the protagonist (in the opening only, the 2nd protagonist is introduced later):
• shown in MCU high angle 2 shot in 2nd shot

  

  durable jacket, bleached hair, packing
  clothes in a bin bag

• is closer to the camera 
• is the first person you see
• camera follows protagonist and cuts back to show his reactions
• also uses varied focus to keep shots of him clear for longer than other characters
• one of the first characters to speak
• is on-screen for longer than any other character
• costume/hair
• the ripped jeans make him look like a rebel, but also suggest he might not be able to afford another pair
• is wearing two pairs of trousers to keep warm (further signifying poverty)
• oversized jacket (on top of a t-shirt and jumper) with the collar turned up
• connotes rebelliousness/non-conformity 
• is a durable jacket (made to last), part of a 'fashion' statement but also suggests he does not have enough money to regularly by more 'trending' clothes
• the layers signifies poverty (is a squatter, so he can't be assured he'll have a warm place to sleep)
• bleached hair
• is not bleached at the roots (suggests it has been a while since he last did it/can't afford to get it done again)
• signifies rebelliousness
• shows he does pay attention to his appearance/artificially changes it
• may be part of the non-heteronormative representation as it is stereotypical of gay men to pay more attention to their appearance (though there is no explicit gay content in the opening)
• Actions/dialogue:
• tells another man staying in the house to get up because they are being raided, and then physically hauls him off the ground
• when leaving the house he walks in front of the other man
• establishes the protagonist as the 'leader' of this group
• has a northern accent



throwing his bag out the window 

• does conform to stereotype that associates northern accents with poverty/lack of education (he is homeless)
• also conforms to stereotype of northern English focus on community (wakes up his friends when police arrive rather than just leaving without them)
• throws his clothes/belongings out of the window
• they are not very valuable/breakable, no sentimental attachment 
• This does change as the film goes on (character arc) as he gets a job and is given a place to live by Omar's uncle (realistic character arc/development)
• part of the social realist genre, as the character is also forced to face up to his fascist, anti-Semitic past
• non of this is seen in the opening though
• These things a UK audience would be more likely to pick up on than an international audience
• Stuart Hall's theory of readings: this reflects cultural knowledge and an element of preferred reading (similar to the banging of the bin lids in '71 as a warning for authorities), which makes sense as initially the film was never going to get an international theatrical release at all, so was made for a UK audience

...
SOUND; GENRE SIGNIFICATION

• Though not explicitly stated anywhere, this film can be said to be a part of the emerging New Queer Cinema movement (coined in the 90's)
• This emerged in a similar way to feminist theory in the 80's, focusing on turning societal shame into pride
• Throughout My Beautiful Laundrette, Omar and Johnny have to repeatedly hide they relationship, and despite being rejected for it by the Tania character they continue to be together
• The depiction of their same-sex relationship is unapologetic, and other characters are created as antagonistic/villainous (Propp's archetypes) in their disdain/disapproval

• The happy music that begins to play with the titles does not fit at all with the genre, the scene or the rest of the film (but as stated earlier may be part of the hybrid aspect to increase audience appeal)

…
OTHER POINTS

• To be clear, we did not intend to "straightwash" our initial idea, and we want to maintain the integrity of the social realist genre by exploring controversial themes in gritty, realist light, but now this will not include non-heteronormative representation (due to casting issues)
• Although when My beautiful Laundrette "came out"... there was inherent shock value with it being not only a same-sex relationship, but also a mixed race one, a film with central queer representation would be far less radical today, though still controversial
• a good demonstration of this is 2017's Call Me By Your Name, distributed by Sony and WB (2 of the Big Six), set in the 80's with the plot flowing the romantic relationship between a 17 year old boy and and the visiting 24 year old graduate-student assistant, Oliver. 
• This film won 12 awards in total - a critical and financial succes
• The other protagonist of this film (Omar, an young, enterprising anglo-pakistani) is not seen in the opening, but the casting of a '"model minority" in the lead marked a positive change in the representation of non-caucasians in film. Though the majority of representation is still caucasian and heterosexual, and this film was a low-budget indie production, it shows the importance of government funding (grants and the BFI) for more controversial films and the need for more diverse representation (also shown by the critical success of the film).
• Although Omar is not shown in the opening, this maybe an attempt to initially make an audience more inclined to continue watching (through identification, but also the narrative enigma created in the first scene)

...

GENRE EG3 Withnail and I (Paul Heller and HandMade Films, 1987)

Poster

Withnail and I is a 1980's British black comedy/social realist cult film. Set in the 60's, very effectively, with the actor portraying the protagonist having stated "Its provenance is from a different era. None of the production values, none of the iconography, none of the style remotely has it down as an 80's picture". the plot follows two unemployed and unemployable actors, Withnail and "I" (played by Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann, respectively) who share a flat in Camden Town in 1969. Deciding to take a holiday, they visit Withnail's uncle Monty for a key to his house in the countryside, but plagued by alcoholism, drug abuse and constant rain, their 'break' is far from relaxing. (Wikipedia)

OUR INFLUENCES

• The use of somber incidental music to set the tone and signify an older target audience (also conventional of indie)
• Use of set dressing for character exposition (though not to show poverty or lack of up-keep)
• shown through panning shots as music plays
• White serif font of the titles to signify social realist
• low-key lighting (showing both the low budget and realism)
• Morally ambiguous characters that do not fit neatly into a single Proppian archetype (the protagonist of our story is both the hero and an antagonist/villain)

...


PRODUCTION CONTEXT/HISTORY

Budget: £1.1m
Box office: UK £600k; US $1.5m
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
BBFC: 18

The author of the unpublished novel was paid by an oil heir, Moderick Schreiber, to turn the manuscript into a screenplay, and on its completion Paul Heller (producer) convinced Schieber to direct it after he had found funding for half of the film.
George Harrison (of The Beatles) then agreed to fund the rest of it through his company HandMade Films.
The film was nearly shut down 3 days into filming by Denis O'Brien who was overseeing the film on behalf of HandMade Films, as the film had no "discernible jokes".
In total the film cost £1.1m, although £30k was invested by the author to film scenes which the company refused to fund which he was never reimbursed for.
This film is a good example of the amount of artistic freedom indie productions have in contrast to studio films, as they have diverse and complex representations which were not so commercially viable in the 80's, and still are not today - although this film received no government funding through the BFI/UKFC, grants or TV station funding, theses are all very typical for indie productions as they exist to ensure wider representations.

• This indie/low budget is reflected in the film
• mostly shot on site, although none of the filming was done in Penrith, they were locations near Shap and Bampton
• there is no CGI or SFX used
• the image quality is often grainy, unlike how it would be for a Big Six production - this is probably because of the cheap digital transfer which is more typical of indie films, contrasting completely with studio productions of the same period such as Star Wars, with multi-million dollar upratings overseen by George Lukas

  

  The limited information given on BoxOfficeMojo

• On BoxofficeMojo and The Numbers there is very little information about domestic and international gross (number of territories, US, China), though the film did get theatrical release in the UK
• the film isn't extremely popular outside of the UK - mostly because it is too "English" and International audiences are unable to identify with many aspects of it, but also because it's success wasn't expected
• It is also more common that indies do not have non-domestic release, though auteurs such as Ken Loach, Mike Leigh and sometimes Shane Meadows are exceptions form this as their names are more marketable
• Daniel Day-Lewis (who was in My Beautiful Laundrette) was considered fro the role of Withnail, but it was ultimately given to an unknown actor (also reflective of indie)
• The trailer, similar to My Beautiful Laundrette, aims to portray the film as more of a comedy than a depressing social realist (although the film is a dark comedy)

• in 1999 the BFI voted the film as the 29th greatest British film of all time, and in 2017 Time Out magazine ranked it as 15th best ever
• Re-issues and re-masterings have been released since the film came out, continually making money
• Editionalising - commercial movies are often re-released in box sets, special editions, genre boxsets - even Shane Meadows has boxsets

  

  Withnail and I 20th anniversary 3 disc special edition on Amazon

...
TITLES

• the simple white serif font is typical of the social realist genre, similar to '71 and Tyrannosaur
• There aren't many extra words like "starring" "with" "introducing"
• 3 minutes ling
• a total of 17

Withnail and i credits from harriet Barlow

• 

  Withnail and I

...
SOUND; GENRE SIGNIFICATION

• The film begins with slow jazz music playing
• sets the mood - depressing, mellow - completely contrast with something you might expect to find in a horror film (e.g. the drums and high pitched strings in Bride of Chucky - this clearly reflects the genre), this is more like the incidental acoustic music of Tyrannosaur 
• also signifies the target audience (not teen, older - also reflected in BBFC rating of 18)
• Ambient sound of the kettle and walking is heard as the song comes to an end
• some of the sound mixing is very poor - as actors walk towards the camera their voices become a lot louder, and are difficult to hear when far away
• this is representative of the budget/technology available at the time

...
FIRST SHOT

• fade form black, slow zoom, medium shot to close-up, hand-held
• Naturalistic lighting, low-key 
• make it look cramped, dark
• also reflective of the low budget into context
• Dusty dark wooden cupboard and dark brown lamp
• connotes poverty, lack of care
• all the dark colours make it  seem claustrophobic, oppressive, gloomy and depressing 
• Clothing is simple, practical, dull colours
• masculine 
• inexpensive
• representative of target audience (mature), more through identfication than aspiration though
• The film title is seen in the first shot, which isn't extremely conventional of the films we've looked at, and is not distinguishable form the rest of the credits there than the slightly larger font

...
PROTAGONIST AND NARRATIVE

"I"

• overgrown 'shaggy' hair and beard
• unkempt 
• lack of upkeep
• does not need to look presentable/professional for an office job
• Glasses and cigarette
• make him look intellectual
• troubled artist look
• 'suffocating' in the apartment
• introverted and bookish look, but also pretentious
• When he goes to the cafe for food there are close-up shots of headlines, unappealing looking food and an ageing woman eating a greasy egg sandwich, the camera cuts to a close-up of the protagonist's eyes
• they are slightly red with massive bags underneath them
  
• he looks tired, depressed
• The voice over is very cynical, but comedic
• is used for exposition 
• his criticism of mundane daily life, but also detachment from it (he "feels sorry" for people because they have to wake up to depressing headlines everyday without marking that he himself does exactly that) creates narrative enigma, but also emphasises the gritty and negative light that the film is shown through (as it is all form this character's point of view)
• Propp:
• The Hero: "I" is signified to be the 'hero' of this film as the camera repeatedly cuts back to show his reactions, and he is the only character we are offered insight into through the voiceover
• The Donor: Withnail's Uncle Monty is definitely the Donor of the story, giving them the key to his house in the Lake District
• The Princess: the princess could be "I" desired career as an actor, or it could be Withnail as there are a lot of homoerotic undertones (in a scene they refer to each other as "lover", and at a bar "I" is threatened by an irishman and called a "poof" - a derogatory term)
• The Villain: Withnail is the villain, as he is one of the obstacles blocking "I" from succeeding in his career, is more active in creating conflict (with both a local farmer, a drug dealer and a policeman), however there is also recognition of "I"s own involvement in a lot of theses situations. 
• The Helper: it's impossible to avoid the fact that the apparent protagonist has no name in this film, and Withnail's narcissistic tendencies clearly show that he perceives himself to be the protagonist of his own life, and he views "I" as his Helper/sidekick. Although "I" is the one who proposes going on holiday
• The Dispatcher: "I" is undoubtedly his own dispatcher, sending himself to the Lake District, but also deciding to leave Withnail to his alcohol and drug addiction to work on his own career at the end of the film
• As there are so few characters in the film there are a lot of overlaps between the propping archetypes, which is also reflective of the realistic and complex representation of the social realist genre

...

MISE-EN-SCENE

• the first shot is followed by a panning shot of the apartment, lots of set dressing has been done

• wine bottles, mess, dirty clothes
• everything looks dusty or dirty
• the walls look grimy
• used cups lying around
• a British flag is hung carelessly from a chair  - shows lack of patriotism, and England isn't painted in the best light throughout the film
• As the camera moves into the kitchen the protagonist re-enters the shot to fill up the kettle and you see the real extent of the mess
• the sink is full to the brim, empty and full milk bottles are thrown on top of drying racks loaded with plates and a curtain over the window looks to be on its last leg
• The curtain pattern is good for verisimilitude, as the film is set in the 60's and it is a stereotypical pattern style of the decade
• All the furniture is clearly very fine
• glass cabinets, wooden chairs, a grand dining table, leather sofa
• but all clearly uncared for, maybe even second hand, all mismatching

...
OTHER POINTS

• There were some issues that probably wouldn't have happened were the film a high budget studio production
• the author "forced" Grant, the actor playing "I", to binge drink so he could more realistically portray the character, although in real life he was Teetotal and had a health condition which prevented him from being able to process alcohol, so he was violently sick
• The original ending saw Withnail killing himself by pouring wine into a shot gun and firing it whilst drinking form it, but it was deemed 'too dark'
• the film is already too grim to be considered by a conglomerate, and the low(ish) budget does mean that theres is less pressure to make a profit
• the involvement of HandMade Films is what really prevented this
• demonstrates the amount of freedom low-budget index have in contrast to subsidiaries/conglomerates who use the tentpole format

...