The BBFC which is also known as the British Board of Film Classification, before 1985 known as British Board of Film censors. BBFC is a non-governmental organization founded by the film industry in 1921 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the UK.
All classification decisions are based on the BBFC'S guidelines which are regularly published and updated. the guidelines are the product of extensive public consultation, research and accumulated experience of the BBFC over many years. They reflect current views on film, DVD and video game regulation.
This is the official trailer for This is England. Throughout this trailer there is a variety of shots to send out subtle hints to the viewer of the story line.
The trailer begins with a wide establishing shot of a beach which instantly gives context to the audience where the film is set. However, as we can see the dark clouds and lack of blue sky within the shot reflects on the negativity within the realistic outlook of the 80s era in Britain. This shot is crucial to the genre as the audience will want to know what place the film is taking a social reality of. However, at the beginning of the trailer there is non-diegetic music being played within the background which is slow and moving. This sound track choice works effectively to draw the audiences attention and pull on their heart strings. In addition to the previous point, the music predicts the mood of the trailer and enables the audience to feel empathy towards the main character Shaun.
As we can see the following shot is of the main character Shaun who is represented as an ordinary mundane boy. However this medium close up shot allows the audience to recognise the character and familiarise themselves with him. In addition to this, hence that he was the first character shown in the trailer, it shows his importance to the film. By editing the character centre frame it again highlights the importance of his presence to the scene.
This is another key close up shot of Shaun found within the trailer. As we can the use of this close up allows the audience to see his facial expression which also represents his mood and feelings. When looking at this shot we gather that the character is feel unhappy and somewhat threatened. This shot overall pulls on the heart strings of the audience; drawing them into watching the upcoming feel as they feel sorry for him. Other important shots found within the trailer include:
It is important for any British Social Realism film to include iconography and regional identity in order to represent Britain's history. For example the two above shots, the first being Princess Diane and Prince Charles and the second Margaret Thatcher are three well known and important people in Britain's history. Furthermore, this device gives the film trailer context by relating to past events that the British audience will remember and be able to relate to. However hence the film is set in the era of the 80s these shots will also be current news stories; therefore realistically re-creating the time period of the feature film.
As we can see the trailer lacks narration throughout, therefore the Editor has included shots such as the one above to allow the audience to understand the storyline without giving to much away. However "Shaun went looking for a friend" tells the viewer that the film revolves around Shaun's life and again enables the audience to build a relationship with the character- (Blumer and Katz uses and gratifications theory).
This is another important shot to the trailer as it conforms to the common codes and convention of a social realist film. The significant use of the England flags work effectively to show the time and era the film was set in. This is because England was a very patriotic society.
LONDON TO BRIGHTON
This is the official trailer for the film London To Brighton. The editing within the start of this trailer creates a dramatic tone hence the use of fades to black after each shot which mirrors the slow piano music. However, towards the end of the trailer when the non-diegetic music picks up a fast beat, the editing becomes quick paced through the use of
The trailer begins with an establishing shot of London. This shot works effectively at the start of the trailer because it tells the audience where the film is set and gives them an insight into why the production company have titled the film "London To Brighton". Non diegetic music starts off the trailer and plays through this shot, however the choice of slow piano music signifies a disheartening mood. Although, this music works perfectly to replicate the mood the film and prepare the audience for later events that may not be positive in nature. In addition to this, this non diegetic music instantly draws the viewer into the trailer hence that it pulls on their heartstrings and leaves them wondering what is going to happen.
This an important shot to the scene as it is an close up of a main character. However, before this shot there was a voice over of this young girl saying "I'm twelve this year", and as we can see when observing this shot she has a cigarette in her ear. This represents Britain negatively when the girl of only twelve years of age and still a child is smoking. This is a main code and convention within the trailer, henceforth social realist films focus on social issues that are happening within society.
Film reviews are another key aspect to film trailers, for example London to Brighton have included several of them. By including specialist reviews within the trailer it portrays the film to the viewers as successful, therefore they will want to visit the cinema to watch it. However, this is another important device to advertise the film and gain larger audiences.
This shot from the trailer is a medium shot of some run down shops found within the film. The fact the shops are graffitied and closed down indicates to the viewer that the society is rough and broken. When observing this shot we can clearly see that this shot conforms to the genre as the shops would be recognisable of Britain.
Several close ups have been used with this trailer to allow the audience to see the emotions that the characters are feeling in each particular shot. For example the shot above is another close up of the young female protagonist, and here we see by her facial expression she looks increasingly vulnerable. In addition to this the low key lighting surrounding the females face adds a dramatic tone to the trailer and makes the audience feel empathy towards her.
By Jessica Rice
FISH TANK
Fish tank is a british social realism film, produced in 2009. The film is about a 15 year old girl called Mia who grew up in a council estate in England. She lives with her mother and sister and has a rough relation with them both. She is introduced to her mums new boyfriend and finds herself very attracted to him. Mia is also a dancer and as the film unfolds a lot of darker things happen, she finds herself in a lot of danger.
GENRE refers to the method based on similarities in the narrative fundamentals from which films are constructed. When watching a film, it will fall into a certain genre and will fulfill specific codes and conventions to relate to the genre. This allows the audience to notice typical settings, enigma codes and action codes within the films. As well as conventions such as iconography, props and clothing.
All GENRES have SUBGENRES. For example:
HORROR has several different subgenres such as psychological, gore, supernatural, thriller,sci-fi and slasher.
The GENRE for our film is British Social Realism. We have chosen this genre as it allows us to create a realistic outlook on todays society, using common iconography that the audience will relate to.
A trailer is an advertising campaign for a new upcoming film. A trailers main purpose is to display several different shots in a montage sequence to give their target audience an insight in the film without giving too much away.
however, the clips within the trailer are not necessarily shown in time order of the film which ensures that the plot is not given away.
PRODUCTION COMPANY
At the beginning of trailer, the logo of the production company is first to be shown. However this benefits the production company hugely, hence that audiences may particularly like a film created by a certain company, therefore will instantly be drawn into the trailer when they recognise the logo. In addition to this, it all gives the audience an idea of what film the trailer is advertising and trying to sell once the production logo is displayed.
EDITING
The font and colouring is important to the title as it gives away generic codes and conventions for a certain genre. For example if the film is romance we expect the colouring of the font to be red/pink tone. However if the film is a comedy such as Kick Ass the font will be light hearted and use bright colours to represent a comedic nature.
SOCIAL MEDIA
A new convention within film trailers is to add website URLS or hashtags for twitter users to check and receive updates about the film. This encourages the audience to find out more about the film. However social media is a good source of advertising for trailers and the film itself as word of mouth works effectively to gain audience.
CHARACTERS Like the production logo, names of the actress and actors within the film are a crucial factor to trailers. Displaying their names allows the audiences to identify them, making their decision to watch the film easier. However, on the other hand, if the target audience are familiar with certain actress and actors and particularly like the films they play in audiences will be drawn to the upcoming feature.
