"This chronicle of brutish violence doesn't exactly glamorise criminality – it's too seedy and depressing for that – but it does appear to regard it as worthy of respect, which is possibly worse." Independent.
I think that this is the best quote that best describes my text as it is hard hitting and no time for depressing moments its about respect. I can use this quote in my essay as states what my text represents.
"Guarding Essex club doors in the 1980s, it's a natural progression to distributing the drugs that the clubbers hoover up. And once embroiled in that game, it's only a matter of time before rival gangs and in-house treachery rear up, leading to the infamous 1998 'Rettendon Range Rover murders' shotgun slaying." Channel 4.
Ithink that this quote describes my movie as a time line which is good as it shows the film in stages.
Tuesday 30 September 2008
Sunday 28 September 2008
Cover work
M- There are lots of different typs of shots. the close ups show their facial expressions. The long shots show all the other people and their reactions to the violence in the scene. The music in the scence is diegtic. the lighting in the scene is of dark and light.
I- Instituions of the film is Carnaby International, Flakjacket Films. Writer and director - Julian Gilbey
G- The genre of the scene is of action and violence.
R- The scene represents violence, power, drugs and sex.
A- Audience of A and B for survailance purposes as they can watch this and see what had happened in the true story of the film.
I- Laura Mulvey's theory of women being objectified as sex obejctives, when the women was naked on the sofa.
N- The narrative of this particular scene could be the distruption from Todrov's theory.
Tuesday 23 September 2008
3 Assment objectives
A01- my target for AO1 will be that I will constantly go over the key concepts working togther to try and link them with MRAI so that the quailty of my written media work will flow better.
AO2- i have to develop my ability by researching my independant study or text and contexts following the examiners criteria of SHEP. I will have to reseacrh aspects scuh as the background of the text, how mcuh they spent on the text, what political issues are brougth up etc.
AO5- I will gather more research to do with my independant study such as the representation of men and new men. also get quotes which i can iclude in my study.
AO2- i have to develop my ability by researching my independant study or text and contexts following the examiners criteria of SHEP. I will have to reseacrh aspects scuh as the background of the text, how mcuh they spent on the text, what political issues are brougth up etc.
AO5- I will gather more research to do with my independant study such as the representation of men and new men. also get quotes which i can iclude in my study.
Thursday 11 September 2008
Movie Review by The Independent
You may recall the shotgun murder of three men in a Land Rover down Essex way that made headlines in the mid-Nineties. It was turned into a very feeble movie called Essex Boys, with Sean Bean, and damn me if they haven't gone and made another one about the very same incident.
Julian Gilbey's film starts out as A Yob's Tale in which a Seventies football hooligan (Ricci Harnett) graduates to an Eighties nightclub bouncer and thence to a Nineties drug baron in the Essex badlands. This chronicle of brutish violence doesn't exactly glamourise criminality – it's too seedy and depressing for that – but it does appear to regard it as worthy of respect, which is possibly worse.
The only point of interest is to see how far Gilbey will go in his tribute to GoodFellas. The three-decade span, the narrative voiceover, the gloating scenes of torture, the freeze-frames all tell us: too far.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/film-reviews/rise-of-the-footsoldier-12a-463952.html
Julian Gilbey's film starts out as A Yob's Tale in which a Seventies football hooligan (Ricci Harnett) graduates to an Eighties nightclub bouncer and thence to a Nineties drug baron in the Essex badlands. This chronicle of brutish violence doesn't exactly glamourise criminality – it's too seedy and depressing for that – but it does appear to regard it as worthy of respect, which is possibly worse.
The only point of interest is to see how far Gilbey will go in his tribute to GoodFellas. The three-decade span, the narrative voiceover, the gloating scenes of torture, the freeze-frames all tell us: too far.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/film-reviews/rise-of-the-footsoldier-12a-463952.html
Movie Reviews by Time Out London
A repugnant gangland romp in which a group of Neanderthalic, perpetually gurning ruffians get tooled up with axe handles, baseball bats and Stanley knives then knock ten bells out of each other for just shy of two hours. Based on a true story, the ‘Rise’ of the title refers to the ‘meteoric’ ascent of mockney street tough, Carlton Leach (Ricci Hartnett), from middle-rung football hooligan to, er, club doorman. Leach is then unceremoniously swept aside as the film hastily attempts to give the Rettendon Range Rover murders a once-over in its scrappy second half. There is fun to be had deconstructing writer-director Julian Gilbey’s laughable join-the-dots yob patois, as every sentence seems to start with an, ‘I’m gonna fackin’…’ or ‘You fackin’…’ or, on occasion, ‘So then I only went an’ fackin’…’, typically concluded with a mandatory ‘caaaant!’ The direction, too, smacks of sadism, especially the obvious glee Gilbey gets from filming violent scenes in close-up and, in the case of the bloody shotgun-to-the-face denouement, in triplicate.
http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/84539/Rise_of_the_Foot_Soldier.html
http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/84539/Rise_of_the_Foot_Soldier.html
Media Audiences
The target audience of Rise of the foot solider would be males over the age of 18. I would believe that the target audience is this because the certification of the film is 18 and as the film has violent scenes it is more likely that males would watch it rather than females.
The audience are likely to receive this text in a very hard hitting as the text is based on a very serious matter. The audience can be even more touched as the film is based on a true story which in the back of their minds they will be thinking, did this actually happened?
The audience of this film is not huge because it is a art house film which is based in Essex in London. Therefore, the film was only shown in the UK which limited the audience to only being in the UK and not around the world.
The uses and gratifications theory of the film is primarily personal identity and surveillance purposes. This is because the target audience can relate to this if they they have been in the same situation as situations like the ones in the film are still going on today. Also surveillance purposes for the A/B demographics so that they have an understanding of what happeed in the past and how they can help improve these issues.
The audience are likely to receive this text in a very hard hitting as the text is based on a very serious matter. The audience can be even more touched as the film is based on a true story which in the back of their minds they will be thinking, did this actually happened?
The audience of this film is not huge because it is a art house film which is based in Essex in London. Therefore, the film was only shown in the UK which limited the audience to only being in the UK and not around the world.
The uses and gratifications theory of the film is primarily personal identity and surveillance purposes. This is because the target audience can relate to this if they they have been in the same situation as situations like the ones in the film are still going on today. Also surveillance purposes for the A/B demographics so that they have an understanding of what happeed in the past and how they can help improve these issues.
Wednesday 10 September 2008
Media Values and ideology
In the film there are alot of issues that are brought up and as the film is based on a true story it makes it more hitting for the audience. The issues that are brought up in the film is the misuse of drugs. This is a big issue as in the world the drug rate is increasing rapidly and the quicker people realise the issue, the quicker it can be stopped. Prostitution is another issue that is raised in the film as there are explicit scenes in cars. Gilbey has added this particular scene as it may have happened in the actual true life event or it could be that it is a issue which needs addressing.
Media Institution
The writer and director of the film is Julian Gilbey.
He has directed three films which are Reckoning day, Rolling with the nines and Rise of the foot solider.
All three films follow the basic narrative of the action genre with something interesting always happening on screen.
Optimum realease realsed the film Rise of the foot solider in the 7th of September 2007.
He has directed three films which are Reckoning day, Rolling with the nines and Rise of the foot solider.
All three films follow the basic narrative of the action genre with something interesting always happening on screen.
Optimum realease realsed the film Rise of the foot solider in the 7th of September 2007.
Genre
The genre of the film Rise Of The Foot Solider is action/gang wars.
Conventions: violent/chase scenes.
Music is upbeat to go along with action.
Scenes with blood or murders in them.
Subversion's: The language in the film is colloquial and cockney.
Our protagonist (hero) has a break down and starts crying as if he is beaten and in our "everyday" action films the main character always wins.
Characters:
Ricci Hartnett plays the role of Carlton Leach. Leach is dressed in denim jeans a t shirt and a leather jacket. He starts off as a respected football hooligan then becomes a bouncer of a club were he built up his army of men and then onwards he became Essex's nortoious gangster.
Terry Stone who plays Tony Tucker is an "old timer" as they call them. He has been a Essex gangster for years in the film and brings Leach up the criminal ladder in the film by giving him the right links. However, he dresses the same as Leach and gets "his hands dirty".
Billy Murray who plays Mickey Steele is a friend of Tony Tucker who dresses differently to him and Leach. Mickey wears suits in the film which portrays that he is a weathly gangster which brings up enigmas in the audience's mind of what is he doing to get all this money?
All these actors play the perfect gangster as they have stared previosuly in soaps and films with the same criminal/villian role such as Eastenders, The Bill etc.
Conventions: violent/chase scenes.
Music is upbeat to go along with action.
Scenes with blood or murders in them.
Subversion's: The language in the film is colloquial and cockney.
Our protagonist (hero) has a break down and starts crying as if he is beaten and in our "everyday" action films the main character always wins.
Characters:
Ricci Hartnett plays the role of Carlton Leach. Leach is dressed in denim jeans a t shirt and a leather jacket. He starts off as a respected football hooligan then becomes a bouncer of a club were he built up his army of men and then onwards he became Essex's nortoious gangster.
Terry Stone who plays Tony Tucker is an "old timer" as they call them. He has been a Essex gangster for years in the film and brings Leach up the criminal ladder in the film by giving him the right links. However, he dresses the same as Leach and gets "his hands dirty".
Billy Murray who plays Mickey Steele is a friend of Tony Tucker who dresses differently to him and Leach. Mickey wears suits in the film which portrays that he is a weathly gangster which brings up enigmas in the audience's mind of what is he doing to get all this money?
All these actors play the perfect gangster as they have stared previosuly in soaps and films with the same criminal/villian role such as Eastenders, The Bill etc.
Narrative
The narrative in Rise Of The Foot Solider starts off with our main character. The camera follows our main character around and lets us see what he does and gives the audience an introduction of the character. However, as the film goes on, the main protagonist meets new people which expands the narrative and makes it a non-linear which we then have an introduction about them. later in the film all the other narratives slowly finish as the characters get killed off until Hartnett is left as there is only one narrative left which raises enigma in the audience's mind of what is he going to do now?
Media languages and forms
Conventions of Action: The typical conventions of an action film is that there is action in it. There is always a violent scene in the film which is the film's most energetic and upbeat scene. In an action film there is always a problem or a situation which the protagonist has to solve.
Subversion of the conventions: There are not many things that subvert the action genre as they are seen to be as action packed with everything in them such as violent scenes, romantic scenes etc. However, the subversion of the genre would be that the different race and colour of people that you get in action films such as brown people.
Non-verbal structure of meaning: The consequences of drugs (steroids) are seen in the film when Ricci Hartnett abuses the drugs. His actions become more violent as he craves for the drug in the film.
The costume he wears is very 90 with the denim jeans and the black leather jacket. However, not all characters are wearing that costume, the characters that are wealthy in the film are dressed in old cut suits.
The facial expressions are not seen much in the film because the director want the audience to focus on what their actions are rather than how they are felling. There are elements of when facial expressions are clear to the audience when Hartnett takes drugs for the first time.
Verbal structure of meaning: The language in the film is very cockney as the film is based in Essex. There is alot of swearing in the film and in some cases it shows that it is a patriarchal society as the men in the film talk down on the women and swear at them.
Settings: The setting of the film is based in Essex in the United Kingdom. However, there are a variety of different settings in the films such as clubs, pubs, houses and underground cellars. The underground cellars is a great use of setting as it brings enigmas in the audiences mind to what is this place? what do they do here? etc. The use of clubs and pubs shows the characters lifestyle and how they like to party and enjoy themselves alot of the time. finally, The setting of the houses are used to hide drugs or fellow ICF members so that they do not get killed.
Soundtrack/language: The language in the film is English however it is colloquial as well. The reason for colloquial language is that it gives more of a feel to the audience as if it is really happening. The soundtrack in the film is mainly non digetic as the director possibly wanted the audience to hear every conversation that took place in the film with the sound of the gun shots.
Visual techniques: As the film is based in 90's and is of a true story not many visual effects were used. However, the most recognisable one was when our main protagonist took drugs for the first time in a club. This is were the audience was put into Hartnett's frame of mind as the camera started to drop side to side as if he was drunk and the camera also went blurry as if his vision was blinded. There are alot of medium shots on the violent scenes to show that audience all the action that is going on and how much pain the person is going through.
Subversion of the conventions: There are not many things that subvert the action genre as they are seen to be as action packed with everything in them such as violent scenes, romantic scenes etc. However, the subversion of the genre would be that the different race and colour of people that you get in action films such as brown people.
Non-verbal structure of meaning: The consequences of drugs (steroids) are seen in the film when Ricci Hartnett abuses the drugs. His actions become more violent as he craves for the drug in the film.
The costume he wears is very 90 with the denim jeans and the black leather jacket. However, not all characters are wearing that costume, the characters that are wealthy in the film are dressed in old cut suits.
The facial expressions are not seen much in the film because the director want the audience to focus on what their actions are rather than how they are felling. There are elements of when facial expressions are clear to the audience when Hartnett takes drugs for the first time.
Verbal structure of meaning: The language in the film is very cockney as the film is based in Essex. There is alot of swearing in the film and in some cases it shows that it is a patriarchal society as the men in the film talk down on the women and swear at them.
Settings: The setting of the film is based in Essex in the United Kingdom. However, there are a variety of different settings in the films such as clubs, pubs, houses and underground cellars. The underground cellars is a great use of setting as it brings enigmas in the audiences mind to what is this place? what do they do here? etc. The use of clubs and pubs shows the characters lifestyle and how they like to party and enjoy themselves alot of the time. finally, The setting of the houses are used to hide drugs or fellow ICF members so that they do not get killed.
Soundtrack/language: The language in the film is English however it is colloquial as well. The reason for colloquial language is that it gives more of a feel to the audience as if it is really happening. The soundtrack in the film is mainly non digetic as the director possibly wanted the audience to hear every conversation that took place in the film with the sound of the gun shots.
Visual techniques: As the film is based in 90's and is of a true story not many visual effects were used. However, the most recognisable one was when our main protagonist took drugs for the first time in a club. This is were the audience was put into Hartnett's frame of mind as the camera started to drop side to side as if he was drunk and the camera also went blurry as if his vision was blinded. There are alot of medium shots on the violent scenes to show that audience all the action that is going on and how much pain the person is going through.
Tuesday 9 September 2008
Media Representations
Ricci Hartnett (on the left) is the main protagonist in the film. He his portrayed as a villain however, in the film he can be also be seen as the hero because towards the end of the film he ends up breaking out of the cycle of turmoil. Hartnett is playing the role of Carlton Leach as it was him who went through the dramatic real life accountant of the range rover murders. Leach made his way up the criminal ladder from being a feared member of football hooliganism to the most respected and powerful criminals of the 90's. Therefore, Hartnett is being represented in a criminal/villain perspective to portray Carlton leach because the film is based on a true story. The representation of Leach is fair and accurrate however, when i conduct my research into depth I should be able to find out what really did happen at these murders and if the director tried to mediate the text.
Meida language
The red text can connote danger and blood that is seen it the movie.
The image of a gun is used as an iconography.
Characters are shown in the gun as if to say that they all involved around the gun and that the gun has control over them.
The slogan "Goodfellas come to essex" brings a hollywood feel to this British film as Goodfellas is a famous Amercian gangster film.
Institutions
The certificate of the film is 18+.
The rating of the film is four stars.
Writer and Director of the film is Julian Gilbey.
Optimum pictures.
Genre
The genre of the movie is a violent, British gangster one.
The use of the gun makes it obvious to us the audience that the film is going to be action packed and full of fights and wars.
Representation
From the slogan it is clear to the audience that the film is based on a true story which represents that the main protaganist was a real.
The gun iconography represents that the film is going to be full of crime and gun shottings.
The red and white text can represent the blood and innocence that is mixed up in the film.
Audience
The audience of the film is foucused towards people who are the age of 18 and over.
The primary audience of the film is A and B of the demographic society for survailance purposes.
The secondary audience of the film is D and E for personal identity purposes.
Ideology
On the poster there are all men which suggests that it is a patrichal society.
Bharte's theory of engima codes as there are loads of faces on the cover.
Narrative
As there are many faces on the cover it shows that there is a number of narratives which are all linked together as they are all trapped in the picture of the gun.
Media Language
Fast paced cuts sugessts that the film is going to be action packed.
Shots of dead bodies and blood shows that in the end people are going to die.
The christmas carol "silent night" is played in the beginning of the trailer which is ironic as dead bodies are being shown on screen at the same time.
Slogans appear through out the trailer as a narrartor to guide the audience into the action.
Instituions
Carnaby International
Flakjacket Films
Writer and director - Julian Gilbey
Genre
Action
Gang wars
Representation
The trailer represents violence and murders.
Represents a true story which has been re-enacted.
Represents male violence through sports; football.
Represents male power.
Represents drugs and sex.
Audience
A and B social classes for survailance purposes.
D and E social classes for personal indentity purposes.
Predominatley for males as it is full of violence, murders and blood.
Ideology
Patrichal society.
Drug involved community.
Narrartive
Non linear narrative.
Theories/Theroists
The theories which i will reffer to for Rise Of The Foot Soldier will be Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze, Propp's theory of good vs evil. I will also pay attention to new theories of new men and the way in which they have been represented.
Contexts
The first issue that I will be focusing on will be male gang violence and how they have been represented in Rise Of The Foot Soldier. The other issue which will be covered is drugs and how they influenced our protaganist to do the things he did in the film. The final issue which I will look at will be the way in which women have been portrayed in the film. As the fim is based on a true story I will do a detailed analysis on the background of the actual events and see if/what the filmaker has kept or changed.
Other Texts
To test my hypothesis i will compare Rise Of The Foot Soldier to other texts such as football factory, green streets of hooligans etc. I will focuse primarely on these two films as they follow a similar narrative to that of RFTFS. I will foucus on how the gangs have been represented and if drugs was the main cause which lead to other more extreme issues.
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