Last Min Revision:

AMC's Mad Men S5E11 - ' The Other Woman' Directed by Phil Abraham and Written by Matthew Wiener. Attracts its audience by use of enigma codes , ensemble cast and relatable plots.

 ABC'S Lost S1E2 - ' The Pilot Part 2' Directed by J.J Abrahams ,story by Jeffery Lieber. Attracts is audience by use of a polysemic narrative, complex character roles and lack of non diegetic sound.

 BBC's Louis Theroux - ' The Most Hated Family In Crisis' Directed by Emma Cooper. Attracts is audience by keeping to the BBC's permit of Inform ,Educate and Entertain. Theroux attracts a niche subject matter and his presenting styles.

 Sin City (2005) Directed by Frank Miller is a neo noir graphic novel adaptation (hybrid genre) . Uses conventions of voice of via non diegetic sound. Superhuman strength and reoccurring motifs of depression , paranoia and Corruption.

 District 9 (2009) Directed by Niel Blomkamp is a hybrid genre of Sci/Fi - Part Mock Document. This conforms to its genre via the uses of interviews holding time codes and on screen graphics allowing breaking the fourth wall (acknowledgement of the camera) Aliens and humans coexisting with body gore.Similar films: The Fly(1986) , Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956) and Avatar (2009)

  Fish Tank (2009) Directed by Arndrea Arnold. Lies within the social realism genre.Conforms to its genres conventions by the use of hand held camera cinematography , shallow depth of field, no non diegetic music, evolving around the representation of the under represented ( working class)
Similar films : Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (1960) A Taste Of Honey (1961)

 Nirvana - Nevermind (1991) Produced by Butch Vig and signed to Geffen Records after leaving Sub Pop. ' helped popularize the Seattle grunge movement' 'changed the ideologies within mainstream music.Smells like teen spirit replaced MJ'S 'Dangerous' at no1# on the billboard. Has had over 107,000,000 views on youtube. Over 30,000,000 hard copies were released worldwide. They used PR stunts to gain more fans by the two step flow theory of T.V shows. Given producers such as Andy Wallace who did Slayers 1990's album more job opportunities.

 Lady Gaga - The Fame (2008) Interscope records.Hold Para social relationships with fans. ' Product Placement' a 1/3 of her income is via product placement.Huge success in global sales.Is the most followed person on twitter with 37mil+ followers. She used her para social to answer her fans questions via youtube. 

Radiohead - The King Of Limbs (2011) Self released via the internet. ' changed the mindset of distribution and record companies' 'DIY music marketing' . Was the 8th studio album and released as MP3 and WAv formats before hard copies of Vynil and Cd. The album was one of the most successful selling albums as they allowed fans to pay what they felt should be paid for the work.

B4. Explore the marketing strategies used by your selected industry? - Nirvana

The music industry had relied on certain market strategies to promote and gratify it's audiences. For example Nirvana an alternative grudge three piece band from Seattle. For Nirvana's promotion and releasing it was left down to self promotion and the record label as digital technologies (on demand) wasn't available at the time in the 1990's when 'Never mind' Nirvana's second album which was signed to DGC's records. Due to digital technologies not being available at the time Nirvana's promotion was typically due to the relevance on mainstream T.V to which the band would pull PR stunts in order to put the water cooler theory into place to establish word of mouth via its audiences gratifications. For example when the three piece band went on top of the pops to promote the band they were told to lip sync to the music. The band took this to their advantage's to promote the subculture and ideologies of 'Nirvana' being an anti-mainstream band that are rebelling against mainstreamers consumption habits.

In the 90's the band switched record companies from Sub Pop and underground indie label who took first steps to popularise 'grunge' music however the record company was too underground to gain the band any promotion this was shown in the release of Bleach (1989) as it failed to chart which is why the band signed to Geffen records to re-release the album and managed to hit number 33 in the charts . Geffen is an mainstream american label that artists such as Elton John , Kylie Minogue and Cher were all signed to. This allowed Nirvana to gain slots within TV shows such as Top Of The Pops and Jonathan Ross's show to allow promotion. Although the band was unable to release their music digitally at the time of the album to major companies such as iTunes , Spotify and Youtube at the time it didn't stop them releasing it later as digital copies making the music more accessible to their audiences creating a longevity for the bands income. Digital technologies have allowed an audiences consumption habits to change , audiences can now access the music within an impulse purchase allowing the new generating to access the older music. Digital technologies allowed nostalgia marketing to take place through fan sites such as youtube, twitter and Facebook to which the 20th Anniversary release took to a mass audience.

Old and New Comparisons Of Genre With John - Genre Theory

"Genres are created through a process of repetition and recognition leading to anticipation and expectation" Graham Burton 2000 - Film Theorist

Genre (Conventions)  - Representations (Characters / CRASH ) - Narrative (Themes / Roles / Theory)

How typical are your three main texts of their genre:

Answer by referring to:

- Key signifiers and iconography

- Storyline's and plots

- Characters and their functions

- Stars / Celebrities

- Camera , sound , editing

- Dialogue , language, music.

Genre / Expectation

 - As genres become established audiences begin to have certain expectations.

- Ever genre contains generic conventions that an audience could expect.

- Sin City , Fish Tank , District 9 rely upon differing conventions relating to genre.

Like Genre:

Familiar , understand them and like them.

Give us an informed choice.

How Genre Changes

- All texts combine:

"familiar and unexpected" (G.Burton 2000)

"same but different" (Mickey Lace 1999)

How Genre Changes

- repetition of the conventions could lead to boredom. To keep us interested producers offer us what we know with a  twist. This can be within:

- Hybridity 

- New technologies

- Modern in social issues

- Different characters

Hybridity/hybrid: 

-The fusion of combination of different genre styles.

- Repetition and difference: most media texts have a pattern of repetition and difference. They have identifiable similarities, but contain new elements.

Steve Neale: (Film Theorist)

"genres are instates of repetition and difference" he add's that "difference in absolutely essential to economy of genre"

Social Realism - Fish Tank

1) How typically are your chosen texts of their genre?

Fish Tank (2009- Directed by Andrea Arnold) is very typical to the social realism genre this is shown through narrative structure and genre conventions within the medium such as diegetic sound , hand held cinematography and unknown actors.Fish Tank uses predominantly diegetic sound through out the film this is shown in the scene where Mia (Katie Jarvis) shows Connor (Michael Fassbender) her dance for her audition to work .By using diegetic sound only it add's no emphasis towards the daily ground the characters take part in allowing an audience emotionally react to the situations realistic.The use of close up's in this scene highlights where the sound escapes from being speakers plugged into a cd player. The cinematography in Fish Tank consists of hand held work with a narrow depth of field this convention is used to make the issues appear realistic as the eye would see. For example in one scene Mia runs away from Joanne her mother (Kierston Wareing). We are shown a sequence which chases Mia with hand held camera shots following her down the corridor and the stairs again to focus on the reality of the location and how the eye would see.Another convention which makes Fish Tank typical to its genre is the use of unknown actors such as Katie Jarvis. Arnold spotted Katie in the location of Barking London arguing with her boyfriend when she approached her with the role of Mia. Katie portrayed Mia's character in the location of filming making the use of unknown actors a typical genre convention.

Louis Theroux - Audience Response

Louis Theroux: 'I'm not out to take advantage of anyone. I'm just being me' 'The Independant'

Critics have accused the presenter of tricking interviewees by pretending to be a bumbling fool – a faux naif - 'The Guardian'

So Louis bumbled along in his typically goofy – but unusually straightforward – manner, rebutting the Westboro arguments with simple comebacks - 'Metro'

There was nothing sly or underhand about Theroux’s approach to his subjects and at no point did he attempt to trick or cajole them into looking bad. - 'Metro'

So when you cover a group like this, you take a gamble that you will be able to get under its skin and reveal something - 'Louis Theroux BBC News Interview'

Theroux pretty much gets nothing other than a replay of the things he already got in the first film.- ' Bob The Moo - User Review- IMDB'

Theroux is seen as a weasel and they are keen to make sure and give him only the party-line without any cracks. - ' Bob The Moo - User Review- IMDB'

This was a unnecessary film that offers nothing and one of his weaker films as a result.- ' Bob The Moo - User Review- IMDB'

EVIDENCE 

Grace is surrounded by three other members of the family to make sure Louis can't break her down.

Louis questions Gramps the paster of the church how many children he has. In response Gramps confronts Louis about this as he knows that Louis knows how many children Gramps has. Louis tries to question him about the loss of his children yet Gramps doesn't give him an answer and requests that Louis questions him about something important.

Lost Audience Responses:

Season	Timeslot (ET)	No. of episodes	Premiered		Ended		TV season	Rank	U.S. viewers (millions)
			Date	Premiere viewers (millions)	Date	Finale viewers (millions)
1	Wednesday 8:00 pm	25	September 22, 2004	18.65[61]	May 25, 2005	20.71[62]	2004–05	#15	15.69[63]
2	Wednesday 9:00 pm	24	September 21, 2005	23.47[64]	May 24, 2006	17.84[65]	2005–06	#15	15.50[66]
3	Wednesday 9:00 pm (October 4, 2006 – November 8, 2006) Wednesday 10:00 pm (February 7, 2007 – May 23, 2007)	23	October 4, 2006	18.82[67]	May 23, 2007	13.86[68]	2006–07	#13	15.95[69]
4	Thursday 9:00 pm (January 31, 2008 – March 20, 2008) Thursday 10:00 pm (April 24, 2008 – May 29, 2008)	14	January 31, 2008	17.77[70]	May 29, 2008	13.99[71]	2007–08	#19	13.17[72]
5	Wednesday 9:00 pm	17	January 21, 2009	13.32[73]	May 13, 2009	9.43[74]	2008–09	#28	10.94[75]
6	Tuesday 9:00 pm Sunday 9:00 pm (May 23, 2010)	18	February 2, 2010	14.30[76]	May 23, 2010	13.57[77]	2009–10	#31	10.08[78]

In addition to traditional terrestrial and satellite broadcasting, Lost is available from various online services, including Amazon Instant Video,Hulu, and Netflix.It was one of the first series issued through Apple's iTunes Store beginning in October 2005.On August 29, 2007, Lost became one of the first TV programs available for download in the UK iTunes Store.

A video game, Lost: Via Domus, was released to average reviews, developed by Ubisoft, for game consoles and home computers, while Gameloft developed a Lost game for mobile phones and iPods.

"The Lost Experience. An official fanclub was launched in the summer of 2005 through Creation Entertainment.

- Most Media Texts Target A Wide Range Of Audiences , How True Is This To Your Chosen Texts?

Matthew Wiener's 'Mad Men' aired on AMC and Sky Atlantic targets a niche audience therefore not targeting  a wide range of audiences. I will use reference to the series 5 episode ' The Other Woman' to which it  reached over 2million viewers. It's preferred audiences are typically targeted by the scheduling of the show as most viewers are typically aged 18+ thus AMC and Sky Atlantic's airing time of 9pm allowing it's preferred audience to be active. By airing the show at 9pm it will target it's niche audience as they come home from work and settle for the night gratifying them. 'The Other Woman' plot is based  around a pitch to the car company Jaguar to get the job in their advertising campaign.'The Other Woman' holds an ensemble cast which have various ideology's within for example in ' The Other Woman' this is shown through the complex representation of female cast and the models of behaviour they hold. 'Peggy' played by 'Elizabeth Moss'  a work enthusiast uses her knowledge to gain employment and leave the company .The reason for casting 'Elizabeth Moss'  for this role is she is less attractive than 'Christian Hendricks' who plays 'Joan'. 'Joan' is totally the opposite to 'Peggy' she suppresses herself by sleeping with Jaguar's Boss in order for the company to get the job. 'Joan' is sexualised throughout the episode as they purposely use costume to hug her curves allowing her cleavage to be on show at all times where as 'Peggy' is constantly covered in smart attire.  Mad men attracts it's niche audience by gratifying it's audience through personal identity as due to the scheduling time of 9pm it's audience will be at home from work while the children are in bed as they can relate to the work life and family aspects that 'Mad Men' holds as the plot evolves around 'Don Draper' and his work and family life which is why the show is aired at 9PM. So therefore i believe that although most media texts do target a wide audience it's proven by 'Mad Men' that you can target a preferred niche audience through certain techniques.

Mad Men : Facts And Figures

• Mad Men is an American television period drama series created and produced by Matthew Weiner

• The series premiered on July 19, 2007, on the American cable network AMC and is produced by Lionsgate Television

• Mad Men is set in the 1960s

• The focal point of the series is Don Draper (Jon Hamm), creative director at Sterling Cooper and a founding partner at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, and the people in his life, both in and out of the office

• Mad Men has received critical acclaim, particularly for its historical authenticity, visual style, costume design, acting, writing, and directing, and has won many awards including fifteen Emmys and four Golden Globes.

• TV Guide ranked it #6 in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time

• Each episode has a budget between US$2–2.5 million, though the pilot episode's budget was over $3 million.

Exam Question - B4. Explore how your chosen text use digital technology in their making ? (30)

Point 1:
Lady Gaga used marketing via digital technology when producing and releasing music videos in order to promote each of the five singles that she released from the album 'The Fame' . These music videos were cleverly designed in order to gratify her target audience with a specific mode of address . An example of this if visible in the music video of Paparazzi when the opening shot of the sun , her mansion and gardens via external shots , internal shots are then used to allow the audience to feel like they are invited into the home of Lady Gaga giving her audience a sense escape into the world of being famous. Iconography is used to aspire an audience into riches and glamor , Paparazzi allows an audience to gain information into a different lifestyle. Paparazzi highlights the rebelling towards the similar themes of 'girl power' that the Spice Girls incorporated to gain a heavily female dominated audience. In Paparazzi a clear narrative is set out for a mainstream audience to feast their eyes upon as Lady Gaga overcomes an abusing boyfriend who sells her out to the Paparazzi this makes an audience sympathise Gaga as she stands up for herself this narrative structure will force an audience to use the two step flow theory to talk about her rebel gaining a greater audience.

Point 2:
Lady Gaga uses social mediums such as twitter and instergram to communicate with her fans. By using these mediums it allows her social networking to her teenage fan base to be in connection with everything that  happens in tour out of tour her day to day life this is used to promote and sell her albums. By using social media as a digital technology strategy to increase her marketing. By gaining a relationship with the her fan base by using social media they feel a sense of belonging as she uses parasocial interaction  gaining over 33.5million followers who will receive every tweet posted giving direct communication to her fans allowing promotion of sales. Lady Gaga uses social mediums to gain an audience as she asked her fans to ask questions ,over 54000 questions were uploaded onto the forum for her to respond this social interaction allows her fans to gain a sense of identifying with others to gain social integration. By applying the cultivation theory to the use of social media a fan would buy out to the interaction and would by the album because she has tweeted its on offer or exclusive.

District 9 - A Postmodern Film?

Discuss the issues of representation of gender and race?
Discuss how typical the text is of it's genre?
How is the film post modernism?
What is the text contextual cultural content in the text?

GENDER:
In the opening scene of District 9 the use of screen graphics introduce the characters to the audience giving name and job description this highlights a negative representation of women as the women's job description is 'wife' 'mother' where all the males will have 'project manager' 'Head of MNU' this represents women negatively as they hold no stable job or have income from a job or intelligence. However the men are represented negatively this is portrayed in the dominating violent morals they hold, having no emotions in the actions they take reference to the scene where 'Smit' is happy to make his daughter suffer while he gains income by her sufferings.

Fish Tank - Exam Question - Typical Genre

"To What Extent Are Your Chosen Texts Typical OF Their Genre?"

My chosen text is Fish Tank this film lies under the genre of social realism following Todorov's equilibrium to keep to the linear narrative as the equilibrium keeps to the narrative in which the audience can understand giving a linear structure this narrative is used to reflect on the happenings at the time. Social realist films are made to educate an audience of the minority, in this case the working / underclass.This is portrayed within the linear narrative a typical genre conventions used throughout the film for example in one particular scene a clear use of cinematography reflects the social realist genre by using a hand held camera keeping everything in shallow focus this is used in the scene where Mia see's Connor brining her mother home as Mia walks down the stairs the camera jots with every movement she makes demonstrating the common convention within the genre of social realism as it reflects every movement of the protagonist to what she see's.Diegetic sound is prominent within Fish Tank this is a typical convention used within Social Realism films this is used in the same scene as Mia shows Connor her dance we are reminded that this film is a social realist film due to the constant reminding of the diegetic sound , this is used throughout this scene  due to making the audience see the day to day life of the working/ underclass the iconography used shows a portable CD player to what typical to when the film would be made an MP3 would be used reflecting the representation of the minority the sound quality of the diegetic sound through the speakers is poor and tinny reflecting the income, reflecting what the protagonist hears. Natural lighting is used within this scene again to remind the audience that it is a social realist film and we are watching someone else's lifestyle being the working / underclass by using natural lighting it allows the viewer to see exactly what the protagonist sees. All theses conventions contrast each other and work together in demonstrating a clear representation of social injustice reflecting the transformation of society of the time this is shown within the miss-en-scene in the film showing an urban decayed council estate in which the protagonist is effected by showing what Mia sees and hears as this doesn't manipulate the audience into being forced into feeling a certain emotion they are allowed to think and feel how they want about the film which is what social realist films want to active.

Fish Tank : Social Realsim Conventions

Fish Tank : Social Realsim Conventions: This film is typical of social realism genre conventions because they use:

Cinematography:
Hand held camera's and P.O.V shots are used throughout this film this is a common convention within social realism for instance in the scene where Connor leaves the family to escape the encounter with Mia however this back fires on him when Mia realises what has happened and begins to run after Connor as he leaves the estate shooting in a P.O.V shot of all the doors and miss-en-scene capturing Mia's P.O.V this is so the film can showcase an everyday life of a 15 year old and how she see's instead of a middle class would see the underclass. Mia run's down the corridor and out the steps a hand held camera is in use in this scene as it follows Mia's pattern and rhythm as she exits the estate this is used to enhance the social realism and make the film more believable as it reflects the life of when it was filmed.

Diegetic Sound: diegetic sound is used more often then not over diegetic this reinforces the fact of reality. The camera will focus on the item the music is being played out of to enforce this by doing this the sound quality will have been different when played through different items such as the T.V and speakers as the audience only hear what the character hears so the audience isn't manipulated via non diegetic sound. Connor and the mum are watching T.V later on in the scene the T.V is turned of and the CD player is on a clear sound quality is changed making the audience be fed the social realism in which they would ignore or not associate with.

Unknown Actors:
Unknown actors are used throughout this film this is due to the director making this film a real as possible. Mia's character was approached when the directer spotter her and her boyfriend arguing at a bus stop using fowl language in a underclass estate this is reflected in the film as they use the word 'CUNT' highly and the mise-en-scene. The reason for using unknown actors is due to making the audience believe what they see is real life if they would have used a well know character as Bruce Willis in this film an audience may only watch as they are attracted to him however in this film it strips this all from the audience. What they see and hear is reality.


Social Realism genre represents the underclass who are not represented or are different the the well know , this is why Fish Tank takes on the genre of Social Realism as they want to gain an audience awareness of a certain class and how they are affected by the issues at the time.

Socialrelism

so·cial re·al·ism noun The realistic depiction in art of contemporary life, as a means of social or political comment Themes - money , drugs, prostitution , sex , class , religion , issues happening at the time the film was set for instance Billy Elliot - Margret Thatcher, This Is England and Kes. - examples Mirrors a transformation of society within it's time on screen.  Became popular in the 20th century in America - photographer documented the working class within still images.  Social realism was forced to find a new home, and became a television staple from the 1960s onwards. Fish Tank (2009) is further evidence of her special ability to probe complex personal emotions while more broadly reflecting the disenfranchisement of modern youth. Between them, and other emerging names, the genre looks set to be revitalised. Social Realism in films is representative of real life, with all its difficulties. The stories and people portrayed are everyday characters, usually from working class backgrounds. Typically, films within the social realist genre are gritty, urban dramas about the struggle to survive the daily grind. The Social Realism Genre was born in the 1960s in an era called British New Wave. Amongst the many films that emerged during the new wave of social realism

SIN CITY

SIN CITY: THREE CONVENTIONS FROM THE GENRE'S ; FILM NOIR / COMIC BOOK

Film noir:
- Character roles (cynical protagonist/ femme fatel) - Shelly and Dwhite scene where Jack Boy want's to break in to  Shelly's flat and have sex with her to what he finds is Dwite ( Cynical Protaganist) i waiting for him as Shelly (Femme Fatel) needs Dwhite for her protection from the Jack (Villan). The *Cynical Protagonist : always have flaws such as an illness or an issue such as smoking , heart condition they don't value their lives and therefore the Femme Fatel character role can easily manipulate the cynical protagonist into there biddings. Usually a detective / cop who is on an investigation , usually very street wise and a tough guy who is a loner who suffers with paranoia.
*Femme Fatel 'deadly women' they use there beauty and seduction to get the male protagonist into a scheme leading them into his death the typical femme fatel will use her ways for money , power or revenge by using their seductive ways they are able to use this against the cynical protagonist as they want/ need sex.

- Voice Over - Opening scene introduction to the corrupt lifestyle of old town telling the story from the protagonist eye's we here there emotions and thoughts, this is the first thing we here is the non diegetic voice over of John Hartigan's explanation to the story of Nancy the voice over is typically used to tell the protagonist's story explaining his death and decisions which link to society of not valuing life (cold War) and his character as a hero.

- Themes which run through out the film (paranoia/corruption) this is showcased in the scene where Dwhite is sat in the car getting rid of Jacky's body where Jacky begins to smoke with a gun in his head this clearly shows Dwites mental state. Becky shows the corruption within old town as she snitches up the prostitutes killings to gain power and money when it back fires when Manute state 'kill her' once the information has been processed.


Comic Book
- Special effects (CGI) this is used in Sin City clear of examples are shown of CGI in this film for example as Marv runs away from the police force when he is intruded he runs at a car and the car fly's into the air. This film is filmed on a green screen allowing the mise-en-scene and landscapes to be what ever the director wants them to be also the weather conditions used on the scene's pushing harsh rain onto the scene's this is used a special effect - Pathetic Fallacy

- Superhuman Strength is commonly used within the protagonist such as Marv this is showcased in several scenes one being when Marv and Lucille are stuck in Kevins basement whilst waiting for him to come and kill / eat them both however Marv manages to break the concrete and bars in the scene. The next example would be within the set up scene, where Marv is framed for Goldie death and the police force break into the flats; Marv smashes through the bricks and makes the cops fly. He jumps off the staircase down the middle and grabs onto a rail and pulls himself back up and continues his escape. When Manute hit's Gail her and the chair fly across the room.

- Character roles (Propp) - Hero , princess that needs rescuing by the villain which is shown in each three stories. For instance John and Nancy , he saves the sweet innocent child from the pedophile. This then gets disrupted (disequilibrium) by the shooting of John. A flash forward is used to when Nancy is a woman and is in love with John showing them together and being protected however he then is killed. Todorov theory can't apply to Sin City as this film follows conventions of Film Noir ending unhappy and not the typical 'fairy tale' ending. However Propp is defiantly applicable in Sin City as common roles as the hero is played by the protagonist - John , Marv and Dwhite and the princess is by the femme fatal - Goldie/Wendy , Shelly and Nancy and villains Jacky Boy , Roark . Side kick is played by Bob who turns into a villain.

Both
- Costume design - Trench coats - In film noir the trench coat hides the identity of the cop and in comic book it acts as a cape , its taken on and off to represent good / bad acts. In Sin City a clear hybrid genre is shown within the use of costume on screen for instance a trench coat in the film noir genre is used to hide identity of a secret cop where as comic book's use capes to signify they are a hero which is how the trench coat is used in the film as it flaps in the wind when running to a crime. Marv takes of his coat when he is involved in a non heroic action for instance taking a violence action and puts back on when they begin there hunt to complete the mission in killing the villain.

Special Features 'The warriors'

Special Features The Warriors:

The Begging:

Walter Hill discusses how the studios forced him into the comic book idea, for it to make sense to Hill , by doing this he created a different kind of reality. 00:04:16  00:04:30

Bobbie Mannix - costume designer for The Warrior's . Hill had told Mannix when she brought in a wacky weird idea to the table to go with it as this showed the false reality. At 00:11:41 a screen play of the list Hill gave to Mannix showing exactly how over exaggerated representation in New York City.


When James Remar went out to do his research on Cony island to get a grasp of the area and the pople who lived there. He visited the board walk of Cony Island he says that he saw one stall with a tough looking man running a ball tossing stall. So Remar asked the man 'what kind of people come from here' and his reply was 'the waste kind' This highlights the scene when David Partick Kelly's character 'Luthur' pulls up through Cony island as Luthur gets hit with a knife and the beaten to be left it suggest 'the waste kind' 00:12:50 onwards.

Glamorisation & Exaggeration Of Warriors : Opening Scene

In the opening scene of the Warriors we are immediately introduced to the hyperbole of this film. The film opens up to a comic book story board which is where the film does originate from however they include this to re-enforce the fantasy gangster genre. The gang ‘The Warriors’ are immediately compared to soldiers in the Greeks day of 401 BC we can see a clear contrast in time and comparison the comic book image of the wonder wheel turns into real life as the film begins. A train begins to flow across the screen title L to R telling the audience that we will see traveling on a train , this is the form of transport that ‘The Warriors’ will use. The film is filmed at night so hard lighting plays on the mood of this film being very dark and scary. The mise-en-scene used shows a heavily graffitied environment exaggerating on how gangs/ rough area’s appeal to the eye. ‘The Warriors’ are all wearing the same leather vest as costume with the warriors on the back of their vests showing that they are all part of the one gang, this shows that they are proud to be stuck wearing the same as others as it shows belonging a cut is used to then show the other gangs some of which are all dressed in purple ,  mime look alike , cadets uniform ,  Koreans ,  bright yellow jock jackets, silver jackets. When using this amount of costume to differentiate the gangs from each other and in groups all wearing the same we can clearly see that they all belong to their own gangs. Costume is heavily used through out this film as it separates the gangs , this has been shown from the minimalistic to the exaggerated for instance one of the gangs wear jeans and vest tops however the baseball furies are covered in face paint in baseball outfits with a bat the costume difference ad make-up also show the exaggeration on the gangs as they are all wearing the same clothes to belong to one unit. All of the gangs have been called for to have a meeting with Cyrus who has the biggest gang in the city. We see a gathering of 9 reps from each gang a gathering of 900 at this meeting many other gangs. This clearly shows an exaggeration in number of gang members in one area , the meeting clearly depicts the issues of the gangs wanting to become one and take over the police force by doing this they will all become equal not as little gangs but one gang just back to normal life really. This film uses the radio as a form of medium to tell the story and give messages to other gangs , theses scene’s show clips of a woman’s lips next to a microphone giving the messages across not directly but with hidden meanings such as the opening scene of the radio DJ saying ‘ alright now , for all you bumpers out there in the big city ,  all you street people with an ear for the action . I’ve been asked to release a request from the Gramercy Riffs , it’s a special for The Warriors that’s that real live bunch from Cony and I do mean The Warriors here’s a hit with them in mind’ and plays track on a record player which may suggest a time in which the film was set in , the lighting used in the shots are of red tints showing a colour connotation of danger to the messages by using this medium to publish the messages it allows everyone to know what is going on , making them aware and involving them which is where we see the story play when The Warriors are getting hunted down by many gangs as they believe that they killed Cyrus this message glamorizes how a message can be sent to everyone as this Is on the radio is can’t be hidden from the police force however we don’t see much action from the law side suggestion a one sided story of the gangs views by using a female to tell the story hints to a seductive manor of telling especially as the only thing in shot is her lips.

Introduction Draft

Introduction Draft:

For my research investigation I have decided to discus what extent the films ‘The Warriors’ and ‘A Bronx Tale’ present different extremes of representations of gang culture.  My aims of my investigation will be to discover how the films glamorises violence and make  realistic/unrealistic situations on locations. By applying the uses and gratifications theory I will identify why they make gangster films aesthetically pleasing to an audience i shall also be looking at the representation of the gang culture.
Both films are set in different time period's A Bronx Tale is set in the 1960's where as The Warriors is set in the future. I will be discussing the social and political issues within the films to show the different extremes. A Bronx Tale is set 1960's and is about American/ Italian culture narrated by Calogero (Lillo Brancato) showing how he is stuck in the middle of parting with his fathers up bringing and get an underpaid job and part with crime to receive riches and respect to follow his hero Sunny. This film shows the confrontations and social issues that went on in the 60's including racial and political whereas the film The Warriors is set in the future and the crime ratings has developed and taken over parts of America this film lies in the fantasy genre. This film shows how area's in the states are broken up into gangs and no one will pass each others land. This is Cyrus the leader of a most powerful gang in New York want's all the gangs to join as one to defeat the law and police and live the life as a gang eat gang world. Both films are shot in different time periods which clearly shows the extreme's from the 60's and a local gang to the future with gathering gang leader to get 60'000 'soldiers' to defeat the laws. A Bronx Tale follows a childhood of Calogero in his town admiring his hero to which befriends him to join him breaking laws and crimes , A Bronx Tale is more realistic to the matter of gang culture in the time but because The Warriors was just set in the 'future' we have no time period or social issues to back up the representation of the gang culture in that day and age but we can compare and contrast the difference in the exaggerations of numbers, crimes, positioning. How has the gang genre became something so little to so high? What do the character socially stand for? The Warriors lies under a hybrid genre as although it has elements of gangster conventions it also plays with fantasy this film also plays with hyperbole making the issues appear worse then they are and exaggerated on the issues which appear in the film. A Bronx Tale shows a calmer way of the gangster genre this may be because we don't know when The Warriors is set but a time difference is defiantly shown through mise-en-scene and low and high key lighting. We can see a clear differentiation in the realistic situation that happen in both film what is real and what is fantasy.