Representation of Regional Identity

Representation of Regional Identity

 

Regional Identity refers to the part of the United Kingdom someone is from. It could refer to a general area such a “north” or “south”, a country such as “English” or “Scottish” or specific towns such as “London” or “Manchester.”

There are several regional stereotypes widely seen on television:

•Scottish – often shown as being money obsessed, won’t pay for anything, drinks a lot of alcohol, loves the outdoors, wears kilts, eats haggis, quite aggressive and violent

•Welsh –Often shown as living in the middle of the countryside, less intelligent, good at singing (Male voice choirs),with people making jokes about them “shagging sheep” - 

Stella she has a quite easy job that does not require much labour as she may be seen as less intelligent. The programme is also set in a small Village in Wales called Pontyberry.

• Irish – often shown as living in the countryside, working in rural areas such as farms, being very religious, being good at dancing and singing (love a good craic), very friendly but less intelligent

• English – often shown as being racist (think St George cross on houses or cars), obsessed with beer and football living in London. Sometimes the stereotype goes in the opposite direction of showing English people as very rich, posh, happy, living in castles and being very “royal.”

•London – There are two main stereotypes of Londoners. One is that they are often shown as being rich, posh, snobby, upper class, Hugh Grant types from central or west london. The other is that they often shown as being from north, east or south London, poor, common, lower class, criminalistic, violent “Kidulthood” style
Luther is set in West London  which a upper class part of London and we see this from the way that Luther dresses and the setting and background of some of the shoot. When he visits a house we see it is large and gated which shows the owner must be well off.

•Manchester / Newcastle / Liverpool – Often shown as being “chavs”, wearing fake designer labels, or tracksuits, drinking a lot, being aggressive, uneducated, criminals

• Essex – often shown as being glamorous but cheap, footballer’s wives, lots of partying, being quite stupid

•Yorkshire – Often shown as living in rural countryside, with rolling hills and cobbled streets, being quite old fashioned (despite Yorkshire being the biggest county and containing large cities such as: Leeds, York and Sheffield)
Happy Valley is set in West Yorkshire and it is set in a old fashioned style as we see there is elderly police which shows that it does not keep up with modern times that much.

•Cornwall / Somerset – Often shown as being “backwards”, living in rural areas, working on farms
Doc Martin- We see that he is a elderly man and he is working in a rural village, this represents that a common stereotype in Cornwall.

•South England – often shown as being the centre of culture, modern, classy, clever, sunny, richer, doing middle class jobs where one dresses smartly
The Interceptor- This is set in the south of England and we see that some of the costumes used show that they are well off and the characters are police which shows that they are middle class.

•North England – often shown as being poorer, bad weather, lower class, aggressive, less culture, less clever, doing working class jobs such as builders etcv

Distribution for kill list, ex machina and mad max fury road

What Is Distribution?

What part of the supply chain is distribution? Considered the most important stage in film making and production. It is the 3rd stage in the supply chain.

What is distribution often referred to as? The invisible art

What does 'vertical integration' mean when discussing distribution? This is where the 3 stages are seen as one whole task or process which usually happens in Hollywood and is controlled by on company where as in the UK the distribution stage is focused on marketing and to also sustaining a global product in local markets.

Why isn't 'vertical integration' so common in the independent sector? This is due to produces not having long term links which large distributors.

What three stages are involved in the independent sector? The three stages that are involved in the independent sector is Licensing, marketing and logistics.

Licencing

What is licencing?  Licensing is the phase in which the distributor receives legal rights to distribute and exploit the film. 

What are the two levels of licencing? International distribution makes sure that films find their way to the 90+ market 'territories' around the world and the other stage is local distribution, which involves the distributor receiving the licence to release and exploit the film in a particular country.

What is the advantage of being a major US studio? The major US studios generally have their own distribution offices in all the major territories. By contrast, independent producers have to sell their films to different distributors in each territory. So if they own there own US studio they avoid participating in a long process.

What three different types of rights can you acquire on a local level?

What are royalties?

What is the most effective way to increase interest in a film?

How long does it take for a film to reach 'free to air' TV?

Use the link below and find answers to the following questions

Marketing

What are the two key questions surrounding the marketing of a film?

What day are films typically released on?

What will a distributor look at before releasing a film on a Friday?

What is a 'light' week in terms of distribution?

What does it mean to 'position' a film distinctively?

Why has this become increasingly difficult in the UK?

What are P&A?

How much can P&A cost?

Use the link below and find answers to the following questions

Marketing - Prints And Adverts

Typically how many prints will a 'specialised' film have?

How many will mainstream films have?

What is a key factor in developing the profile of a film?

How else can awareness of a film be raised?

Why is distribution in the UK seen as risky?

Why are companies looking towards viral marketing?

What are the benefits of a 'talent visit'

Use the link below and find answers to the following questions

Logistics

In the pre digital film age what was a distributor responsible for?

How much does a 35mm print typically cost?

How many reals is a typical feature print?

Why do 35mm prints get damaged?

Where are prints stored?

How long did a theatrical release used to last?

Use the link below and find answers to the following questions

Digital Distribution

When did digital distribution begin in the UK?

Name two advantages of digital distribution

Which countries adopted digital distribution early and why?

How many screens were digital in 2005 and how many are now (you'll need to google this)

Why has digital distribution radically altered the operating model of distributors?

What has happened to the typical release period for a film?

What is a loss leader (google it) and why are companies using the Cinema as a potential loss leader?

Class and Status homework

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of class & status using the following:

• Camera shots, angles, movement and composition

Camera shots, angles, movement and composition

The first shot that we see is of two ladies to what we perceive as very upper class and well off money wise this shot is known as a establishing shot.. The establishing shot also shows us the setting of the room and the environment around them, this will give the audience a first impression of the two ladies and where they are sat in the room and what is going on around them. The establishing shot also shows the lady on the right with a strong posture which the audience may present her as powerful and well brought up into the family. Furthermore, the audience will assume the setting is like a living room and it looks very upper class which then reflects on the two female characters that the audience see.  A mid shot is used for the audience to witness both of the ladies from the hip upwards which allows the audience to see the representations of both female characters and whether they have class and status or not. The audience will straight away presume that the two female characters have a high class and status due to the clothing that the audience can see. The first female character is wearing a expensive, well crafted violet hat which indicates to the audience that she is upper class, furthermore she is wearing a cream colour cardigan which also shows that she is classy. The first female character is also wearing a rich violet dress which also presents the upper class of her lifestyle. The second female character that we see from the hip upwards is also wearing a rose pink dress that looks very elegant and designed to each point so the audience also immediately presume that she is of an upper class as well.

A dolly zoom is  used to zoom into the third female characters face so that we have a close up shot, the dolly zoom is used to portray the characters appearance and then show her facial expressions as it zooms in on her facial expressions. The audience can clearly see that the third female character is portrayed as a maid or a servant due to her clothing as she is wearing black which is presented a lower class and compared to the other characters the audience can clearly see that the third female character is at a lower class to the other characters. The audience can also see her facial expressions which portray her as not being happy in her work place and has clearly had enough of working for others that are a higher class than herself. A shallow focus is then used on the bright pink flowers that may also be used to reflect the high class of the character that is blurred out in the background. The flowers are then blurred out and the audience get to see the character in a substantial setting, we can see that the male character is being presented in a higher class setting as we can see the gold candle sticks and pillars which indicates to the audience that he is working in a high class office and is using his power and authority.

A over the shoulder shot is used when the female character is looking down on the male character which may represent that the female character is a higher class due to her looking down on the male character which shows he is using his authority to control her. A Long shot is used to show the house, the audience will perceive this as the people to be very wealthy and upper class.A mid shot is used so the audience see many male characters that are wearing shirts and ties which the audience assume that they are higher class due to the stereotype of a shirt and tie being smart. A low angle shot is used to look up at the male character which reflects that he might be upper class as the shot is looking up towards him. The character is also wearing a shirt and tie which indicates that he is the upper class. A hand held camera is used in the fighting scene to emphasise the fight, it is used to build the tension and show the audience that the fight is intense.

• Editing-

• Sound-

 Throughout the clip digetic sounds is presented to the audience to signify the characters conversation with one another and how they talk to each other, this is the upper class family talking to the servants and maids badly and not showing them respect as they are seen to have no power over the family members of the house.

• Mise en scene -

We see the ladies wearing very wealthy clothing to show that they are a upper class family. The clothing also represents how old this programme is and when it was set. We see the lady who walks into the room is wearing black clothing which shows she is a servant and a maid of the house. She is wearing black to show she has to comply with a uniform as the other two lady's are wearing brighter clothing. The room is set out very clean and tidy and they have furniture that is worth lots of money, the room is organised so everything matches which shows they are upper class. We see the man who is sitting and working in a suit and his hair is perfectly put in place which shows eh has a very high class job or occupation. We see him looking down his nose at the lady who is dressed in her servant uniform. We see the lady is wearing a hat even though she is in the bath and she orders the maid who is dressed in black to pick up her soap. We see a shot of the house which shows the audiences how big the house is and how wealthy the family actually are as they can afford to keep the place in good condition. We also see the abbey around it and the grounds which are all very neat and tidy and this shows they employ people to do there dirty work for them. We see the head of the maids is a man and he is also wearing black so this could symbolises that the job the maids are doing id depressing and dirty. We see the next shot of all the maids and assistants sitting in their working room in which it is dirty and dark which shows that there lifestyle is dirt and also dark.

50 marks

EAA: Explanation, analysis, argument-20 marks

EG: Use of example-20 marks

T: Terminology-10 marks

Class and status

The social class is broken into 3 categories which is upper class, middle class and working/lower class. The upper class is usually people who have lots of money and have a good jobs or may even not have to work,. The middle class is people who are not poor but are not rich either and usually work in good jobs but may work lots of hours to provide for their families. The lower class is people who spend most of their life working on low wages for long hours and struggle to pay for things so they may rely on benefits or bonuses to keep them afloat.


Examples

Upper class-
Downton abbey is a example of upper class people who live in a large and expensive house and is a good example of upper class as they pay for lower class people to do their 'bad' jobs for them such as cooking and cleaning and these staff are seen as servants.





Upper class-
 This example is from the TV drama holby city and this character is called Dr Hansen, he always wears a suit when he is working unless he is performing operations and speaks very formally to his staff he is highly intelligent and runs the hospital and uses his upper class to gain power over the other members of staff.











Middle class-
This example is from the TV drama Doctor Who and her name is Clara. She lives a fairly normal lifestyle when she is not travelling and ahs a occupation as a teacher. She is not wealthy but also not poor and usually dresses well and looks after herself so she is not scruffy which represents her character having enough money to support this.




Middle class-
This example is from the TV drama Cuffs the character is called PC Ryan Draper who is a policemen and is not high up in the forces but is known for having a good record as a policemen he provides for his two kids being a single father of two who live in a normal house and are able to eat every day when they want and also have fresh clothing to wear.




Lower class-
This character is taken from the TV series The Walking Dead in which he is classed by other characters as a 'redneck' which is another word for working class members we see he wears scruffy clothing and spends lots of time hunting and has lots of skills that involve nature and the outdoors which shows he may have not been able to get a good education so he spent the majority of his time with nature as a child.

Lower class-

This example is taken from the TV drama Downton abbey and these characters are employed by upper class members of society to do their 'dirty work' we see them being spoke to informally and badly and they usually wear old and battered clothing.

Race and ethncitiy

Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of ethnicity using camera shots, angles and movements, editing , sound and mise en scene.


Camera work
 In the first part of this extract we see a close up of the actor who is staring at his computer and reading a document, they use a close up so we can evaluate and see the characters reaction to what he is reading and see the strain it has on his facial expressions, this is used to show that he is stressed out which goes against the stereotype of most black people being relaxed and chilled out, they use this to show the situation he is in is serious and they will feel sorry for the character. They use eye level movement to show he is shocked and surprised by what he has read on this page, they do this to show he is trying to stay calm and comply with the countertype of him being calm but he is stressing out. They track his face when he is looking at the screen which shows they want the audience to be aware that he is anxious. We see him leave the office with a long shot to show his overall body language and so we can see how this has affected him we see he is considered a smart man from the clothing he wears which shows he is high in the job which countertypes the stereotype that most black men are seen as a sidekick to a white man.


In the house scene  we see a long shot to show that he is linked with this women who is high class which shows he does not comply with the stereotype of black people being middle class or lower class. We see the white women is trying to find a way out of this by using lust to seduce him. The long shots show how he is a strong man which conforms the stereotype of black people being strong. It then moves into a midshot to show he has control over her and this is a countertype as he is no longer her sidekick.


In the car scene we see how the stereotype of white people being upper class is being conformed as we see she is wearing expensive clothing on a normal day of her life. We then see a mid shot of the car that he is driving which conforms a countertype of him being wealthy and higher class as he is driving a expensive car and if it is a company car it shows he is high up in his work. We see her trying to plead with the male character and they use a canted angle to show she is confused as she believes she hasn't done anything wrong which is a stereotype of white people being innocent and conforming with the law. The stereotype of black people be caring is used when we see her talking about his kids and he starts  to cry as we see a mirror shot of his eyes to show he values his family lots.

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Ethnicity and race

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