Double page plan

Magazine article

Cover line: He’s been nominated for 5 Oscars, 2 BAFTAS and 3 golden globes… down to business with Armond.

Headline quote: ‘I wish I had never done that’

Interview questions-

Did you always get along with your co-stars?

I would say we got along quite well although we did get into minor disagreements but we pulled through in the end and had loads of fun.

How is shooting a film different to filming a series?

When on set for a film I feel like it’s more relaxed and there are more of the cast and crew to guide you, we also don’t spend as much time on set as we would for a series. A series takes longer to make as each episode is an hour and there are about 20 episodes in a series.

 Did you face any problems whilst filming?

Oh yes, there was this one time where we were shooting a stunt scene, I thought I’d be brave and take on the role, I didn’t need a stunt double. That was my worst mistake because I tried jumping onto a moving vehicle free hand and fractured my neck down to my arm. That was my worst mistake during filming because I couldn’t act for about 1 month, I wish I had never done that.

You’ve had a pretty good transformation getting fit for this series, was it tough?

              ‘I worked hard to get this body, I knew it would be hard work but it all paid off in the end. It was mainly because I didn’t want to let the director of this series down as she believed in me’.

How did your partner react when you told her you were taking on this controversial role?           

She was very supporting yet really excited for me, she’s gave me a lot of advice and encouraged me to prepare for the role which she also helped me with.  

It is rumoured you’ll be launching your own clothing line, is this true?

Well, it is true. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do because I admit I like to look good and want to share my style with everyone. Iconic figures nowadays such as the well-known musician Mr West has his clothing line which is quite successful, so why can’t I?

Director’s cut-

My inspiration came from a classic film starring Tony Curtis called ‘Peeping Tom, from here my vision prospered. The first person I called was my good friend and renowned producer Frank Darabont who produced and directed the hit series ‘The Walking Dead’. It was a long process but it was worth it in the end. I have no regrets and thankfully all the cast and crew were on board at all times. It was like a director’s dream! Everything just worked out perfectly. We experienced all kinds of emotions on set, the happiness, sadness, frustration and a ridiculous amount of laughter!

Ill Manors- MEST 1 music video

Media Forms: What techniques do the video use to establish the setting and engage the audience?

The music video was set in an estate run by the council in East London. Images were used from the 2011 riots to make it more realistic. The location was near to the Olympic village which Plan B intended to use to show the audience the other side of all the pristineness of where the Olympics were held. He portrayed the harsh reality of what goes on with youngsters. This engaged the audience because in 2012 all the lime light was on the Olympics, it was a great tourist attraction, however with Plan B releasing the music video he displayed acts of violence and vandalism around East London. Considering this the Olympics were watched worldwide, Plan B created a very controversial video because he didn't put the violence in a bad light. The song was written in reaction to the 2011 riots which was a good way to engage the audience as people would want to know why the teenagers/adults rioted, looted shops and vandalised the streets of London. Also why they would react in the way they did, to make the society understand. The setting was mainly in a rundown area being the council estate which engaged the target audience for the music video which is 15-25 year olds who probably live in council estates as they could relate to the video and the lyrics of the song. Actual footage is used from the riots which would probably engage the rioters as they would be able to say they were there and not care about the consequences of their actions.

Media Representations: How is gender/ethnicity/age represented in the video?

In the music video there are all males who are represented to be anti-social and come from unprivileged backgrounds and have nothing better to do than vandalise. They are seen as a threat to society in the music video. The ethnicities that are shown are white and black males who are mainly stereotypically the threat when something about crime is shown on the news. They are shown as criminals most of the time and the good is never shown which is what Plan B’s message in the video is.  This is almost the ‘female gaze’ which is the theory of Laura Mulvey however the males are not shown as ‘heroic’ but as the’ villains’.  The hypodermic needle theory suggests that information is injected into the society through the media, in this case they are showing how teenagers from deprived backgrounds act anti-social, what is being shown in the video is the stereotypical image they are given. Therefore this is injecting information into the society. The ages represented are mainly teenagers/adolescents which are also stereotypical for the age group of 15-25 to be acting anti-social. Levi Strauss’ suggests that representations in the media are informed by ideology and that some things are included and others are left out to create a dominant or preferred representation. In this music video the visual aspect of it creates dominant representation of youths that live in estates.

Media Institutions: In what ways is the video typical of music videos and what values does it promote?

According to Gillian Dyers lines of appeal which is what is used to create brand identities and attracts their target audience, this music video uses self-importance and pride to relate to the target audience which deals with the audiences social needs. This video is typical of music videos as the visual aspect of it creates a story and has a message to it. Clips from the riots in 2011 are shown which creates a sense of realism to it and values of anger and violence are portrayed. However the lyrics tell a different story which is typical of music videos as lyrics have a moral to the story. The lyrics suggest that teenagers are neglected in society and are only viewed in a negative light. Music videos depending on what they are about link with how fast paced the shots are, in this case the shots are quite fast paced and is a typical way to represent what the video is about and how it makes the viewer feel. These could connote values of anger and misbehaviour or violence and crime.

Media Audiences: Who does this text/artist appeal to and why?

This artist appeals to mainly teenagers who come from disadvantaged backgrounds who come from the demographic group of D and E who are lower class and mainly unemployed or on low wages. These people who come under the psychographic group of strugglers can relate to the music Plan B produces as he talks about their everyday lives and raps in their favour. He suggests that these people are not given a chance in society therefore it would appeal to them, Plan B is a voice for them therefore they are his main target audience. Due to the ‘hypodermic needle theory’ this suggests that the media injects information into the audience which is true according to Plan B, he is trying to stop this and raps about these teenagers in a positive light which is why his music appeals to them. In the music video he shows images of politicians in a negative way which is also another reason he appeals to youngsters as they feel betrayed and don’t feel accepted in society because of the way politicians make them out to be and this is why they have no respect towards authority. This links with the dependency theory which was pushed forward by Rokeach and Defleur, this theory suggests that people have become dependent on the media which determines their views on people such as teenagers. These are mainly stereotypes which are what Plan B is trying to get rid of. One use of gratifications which audiences get from the media is ‘personal identity’ which teenagers find themselves reflected in for being anti-social.

Ill Manors- Research Task

1.      Research all the institutions involved in the production of ill manors. List them with a summary of what their contribution to the film was.

Ill manors was distributed by Revolver Entertainment which is responsible for marketing the film, they chose the release date and marketed it well on Dvd, Blu-ray and in cinemas. The institutions involved were Film London Microwave, BBC films and Aimimage who funded for the film.

2.      How much did Ill Manors cost to produce (budget)?

The film was produced with a low budget of £100,000 and the film raised £453,570 in the UK box office.  

3.      How was Ill Manors funded?

The film was funded by Film London Microwave who started the production in 2009. Later funded by BBC films and Aimimage as they fund low budget films.  Plan B also went his ‘The Defamation of Strickland Banks’ tour for his music in 2010 which went towards the funding of the film.

4.      What is the target audience for Ill Manors?

The target audience for Ill Manors are mainly 15-25 year olds who could relate to the narrative and who come from less privileged backgrounds. These people would fit under the psychographic group of ‘strugglers’ who seek escape from the lives they live. The film would appeal to teenagers and adolescents who live in council estates and live in a rough area, who would result to violence, drugs and crime. 

5.      Who is the main distributor of Ill Manors?

The main distributor of Ill Manors was Revolver Entertainment as the rights of the film were sold to them in April 2005. The film made a great profit as it was made with a budget of £100,000 and made £453,570 in the UK box office.

6.      How was Ill Manors promoted using the broadcast platform?

Ill Manors was promoted in various ways, mainly through Plan B’s music and the soundtrack of Ill Manors. On 11^th May 2012 Ben Drew premiered his album tracks ‘Lost my way’ and ‘deepest shame’ during a performance on ‘Later with Jools Holland’. The track ‘Lost my way’ then played for the first time on BBC radio 1 in May 2012. In June 2012 Plan B then performed a live session in the BBC radio 1 live lounge.  An album launch party event also took place in July 2012 with other musicians invited such as Labrinth.  

7.      Compare this with a big budget blockbuster. What are the main similarities and differences?

Avengers Assemble was a blockbuster hit in 2012. The similarities between Avengers Assemble and Ill Manors are that they were both released at the same time in May/June 2012. In both the films they follow six or more characters and their different stories.  The differences are that the budget for Avengers was $220 million; it made $1,518,594,910 in box office. However the Ill Manors budget was £100,000 and made £453,560 in box office.

Avengers Assemble is a movie based on Marvel superheroes which have had individual movies and programmes about each superhero, the genre for this is action fantasy, and the genre for Ill Manors is crime drama.

8.      How does the trailer for Ill Manors hook audiences into the narrative and pose questions that the film will answer?

The trailer engages the audience because it is fast paced and shows snippets of the narrative. All of the characters are shown which would intrigue the younger target audience as they enjoy faster paced narratives. By showing all the characters this creates enigma code as the audience wants to know who is who and why they are acting the way they are in the trailer. The trailer poses questions that the film will answer because it shows violence and when watching the film we then find out why acts of violence are being carried out. There is also a voice over of music which is Plan B rapping; this also tells the story because throughout the film his music is like the narrator. This would appeal to 15-25 year olds who are from the psychographic group of strugglers and are from deprived backgrounds as they would probably listen to rap music to inspire and relate to the music.

9.      How does the trailer of Ill Manors balance plot and spectacle?

The dialogue used in the trailer helps the audience to understand the narrative which puts the plot into narrative and the visual content and images used in the trailer help put it into spectacle.

10.  Think about the film certificate of Ill Manors; outline what is deemed to be acceptable for this certificate. 

In an 18 certificate movie strong language can be used with no limit to it, the use can be aggressive, frequent and accompanied by violence. Very strong crude and explicit sex references can be used at 18. Explicit uses of violence and gore can be used and shown in detail.

What can be used in an 18:

·         very strong violence

·         frequent strong language (eg 'f***') and/or very strong language (eg ‘c***’)

·         strong portrayals of sexual activity

·         scenes of sexual violence

·         strong horror

·         strong blood and gore

·         real sex (in some circumstances)

·         discriminatory language and behaviour

Ill manors- music video

3) Research the Ill Manors track and soundtrack album - Record companies? Sales? Music reviewers' response?

The record labels for the sound track "Ill Manors" are 679 and Atlantic Records which are quite big record labels; especially Atlantic Records therefore showing how big of a hit it must have been. Ill Manors debuted at number-one on the UK Album Charts and received positive reviews by critics. The album was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize. Ill Manors peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart on 1 April 2012 with first-week sales of 37,455 copies. The track was also made available as a free download on pre-order of the deluxe edition of the album. After the release of the album, "Lost My Way" charted at #121 on the UK Singles Chart from download sales.

The average reviews ratings were 4 stars which is mainly 8/10. These reviews were from newspapers like the guardian, the observer, the telegraph and from the NME magazine. The lyrics in the soundtrack is what intrigued people to buy or listen to the album. He mentions ‘rich boys’ telling them they don’t understand poverty and to stay out of the neighbourhood. “There’s no such thing as Broken Britain … all that needs fixing is the system.” This line suggests he is having a go at the government for blaming youths for the damage of the country. The reviews were mainly positive for this album yet quite controversial because the older generations do not understand the life of teenagers from council estates and therefore believe Plan B is trying to encourage the youngsters instead of stating it is bad to result to crime. The riots were a very big part of 2012 and so this album was seen to be a bad influence on the teenagers later that year.

 In the soundtrack Plan B interests the listener about the inner city estate, pointing out the tabloids scare stories and derelict high streets. He also points out the hoodie-“give him a hug... On second thoughts don’t, you might get mugged”. Plan B tries to attack stereotypes.  The Olympics were held in East London which is where the film and music video was made. This would have increased the sales of his soundtrack as people wanted to see what was behind all of the pristineness of the Olympic village.

Double page examples

 

Magazine plan

Target audience for the ill manors music video

What target audience would this music video appeal to?

The target audience for this music video are male adolescents from the age of 15-25. These people would probably be involved in anti –social behaviour due to personal issues. They are most likely to live in a council estate or in a rundown urban area. They fall into the psychographic group of ‘Strugglers’; people who seek escape, they feel alienated and disorganised, they result to buying alcohol, junk food and lottery tickets as they would live on a low budget.  They would probably turn to alcohol to drink away their stress and problems which could lead to the abuse of alcohol and ensuing to anti-social behaviour leading to these youngsters being portrayed in a negative light. The demographic group of the target audience would be D and E who are unemployed, students or semi-skilled workers who would most probably be on benefits or a very low income. In the music video the youngsters are being depicted as carrying out crimes such as vandalism, rioting and hurting people, however this is being shown not to be a bad thing and the video is sort of encouraging it. Plan B is trying to give out the message that there is a reason to why youngsters act so anti-social, through the lyrics he explains why they do it and the video shows politicians being shown as rubbish. So this is why the target audience would be 15-25 year old strugglers.