Effects debate

Skins

Skins has influenced young people into partying and the evidence of this is 'Skins Parties' events which they advertise on facebook with an open invite, so that anybody can come.

In one case of a 'Skins Party' one girls invite esculated and ended up with her house being trashed by up to 50 yobs and dog being drugged. Causing £5,000 worth of damage to her parents home. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23445131-the-teen-party-where-50-yobs-trashed-the-house-and-even-drugged-the-family-puppy.do

Effects Debate - SAW

SAW - released 2004, rated 18. Contains strong graphic violence.
Directed by James Wan.




Should images be mediated/censored or should we have a free choice?

We believe that the film would not be suitable for a 14 year old to watch as they may be vulnerable to the images they see. However an 18 year old may have come across similar images later in their life and would not be as naive to the scenes in the film, we therefore think that certification is needed for Saw. However we do not think that images should be censored and that people old enough to watch the film should have a free choice to whether they watch it or not.

If we think films/TV can have a negative impact can the positive impact be as strong?

The positive impact from Saw is that it shows the goodness in people as they are willing to do things and be hurt themselves in order to save other people however they do not have a choice. This impact is not as strong as the negative impact as after watching the film people would be shocked by the images rather than thinking about the positive elements, giving it more reason to be rated an 18.

Do you agree that film/TV can change someones behaviour?

After researching the film, we found that no crimes were committed as a result of watching the film and the film also received more positive reviews than negative reviews. William Usher from Cinemablend said that Saw pushed the controversial boundaries and called it a 'tutorial for sadists to get pleasure from'. We do not agree with this view as we believe that people who have watched it have been genuinely shocked by it and we think that someone who gets pleasure out of watching people get hurt and who's behaviour would change as a result would have to be a bit mentally unstable to begin with.

Do you think the film should be banned?

No, we think that people should be able to chose whether they watch it or not if they are the age it is rated or older.

Effects Debate

Certain images should be mediated, and the choice we have should remain the same. even though it seems ridiculous, as if a 17 and 11 month year old cant take in what an 18 year old can. Things can easily be accessed on the internet also, for example for you-tube you can access videos with explicit violence can be accessed with the tick of box. Also porn is another example of something easy to access even though society deems it unacceptable. But if these ratings did not exist, there would be no boundaries and young children who would have been influenced by power rangers, would find themselves looking up to Leather face and Rambo.


We think the negatives will have more of an influence than the positives, for example if you were to rethink your life the negatives would have a bigger impact. We also agree that TV can change someones behavior, Mario Petrucci said 'Children take their role models from TV characters whilst adults increasingly relate to soaps'. We took our examples from the controversial film Texas Chainsaw Massacre, after the first viewing watchers experienced anxiety and depression whilst after a second viewing found it more enjoyable. This pushes home the point that violence after viewing becomes more acceptable.
We can see from the reactions of these video gamers, their virtual life is treated as if real. The reactions they give portray real feelings for a life that isn't reality.

CHUCKY AND HIS SEED

Chucky is a film about a possessed doll who sets out on a killing rampage. The film shows scenes of intense violence and a lot of blood is seen.

In 1993, a young boy was murdered by two 10 year old schoolboys. UK tabloid newspapers claimed that the attack on James Bulger was inspired by the film Child's Play 3, and campaigned for the rules on "video nasties" to be tightened. The sequel of the Chucky films are all classified as 15s. The classification is correct for these films however not when shown to a younger audience who do not understand the consequences of a murder. Alot of children these days are exposed to violent and gory films or on tv through the media. Some televisions do not have parental locks on and therefore, children can watch anything they aspire too.

Films definately can influence peoples behaviour, as this sort of behaviour has to be watched an learned in order to be carried out. We believe that the accused weren't not soley influence by the film however we feel that the boys would've been mentally unstable to carry out a murder like this.

These films should not be banned because most audiences who they are aimed at are mature enough to watch and not react in the way the films do. They have their own mind and are able to make their own decisions without necessarily being affected or biased by the footage.

" THERE were echoes of the James Bulger murder yesterday when the court heard that the two accused brothers watched pornographic and 'extremely violent' horror films at home.Among them were the Child's Play movies featuring a demonic doll called Chucky, who comes to life and kills people.Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, the young killers of James Bulger, also watched the Chucky films, their 1993 trial heard.Others seen by the brothers were the Saw movies which feature explicit scenes of torture." Daily Mail Jan 22th 2010

Effects Debate

A clockwork orange

A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 darkly satirical scifi film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange. The film concerns Alex (Malcolm McDowell), a charismatic, psychopathic delinquent whose pleasures are classical music (especially Beethoven), rape, and Ultra-violence. He leads a small gang of thugs (Pete, Georgie, and Dim), whom he calls his droogs. The film tells the horrific crime spree of his gang, his capture, and attempted rehabilitation via a controversial psychological conditioning technique. Alex narrates most of the film in Nadsat, a fractured, contemporary adolescent argot comprising Slavic, English, and Cockney Rhyming slang.

This film was withdrawn by Kubrick himself as his family along with himself were getting too many death threats. It was only after his death that it was shown again in cinemas and put on DVD and VCR.

The British authorities considered the sexual violence extreme, furthermore, there occurred legal claims that the movie A Clockwork Orange had inspired true copycat behavior, as per press cuttings at the British Film Institute. In March 1972, at trial, the prosecutor accusing the fourteen-year-old-boy defendant of the manslaughter of a classmate, referred to A Clockwork Orange, telling the judge that the case had a macabre relevance to the film. The attacker, a Bletchly boy of sixteen, pleaded guilty after telling police that friends had told him of the film “and the beating up of an old boy like this one”; defence counsel told the trial “the link between this crime and sensational literature, particularly A Clockwork Orange, is established beyond reasonable doubt”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article782393.ece

Three Spanish teenagers fascinated by the film Clockwork Orange burnt a homeless woman to death for kicks.

Popular belief was that those copycat attacks led Kubrick to withdraw the film from distribution in the United Kingdom, however, in a television documentary, made after his death, widow Christiane confirmed rumours that he withdrew A Clockwork Orange on police advice, after threats against him and family (the source of those threats are undiscussed).

After watching this film, it is shown why some people can be upset or offended by this film. we agree with certification to a certain extent but we do not agree with censoring as we believe that when you hit the age of 18 you should be sensible and mature enough not to be influenced by what you are witnessing.

Effects Debate

We chose to evaluate South Park episodes 200 and 201 as there are various debates and controversial issues which have been raised due to the use of the prophet mohammed as a character.

In the episode 200 the images of mohammed were uncensored as his character was dressed in a bear costume and as a result his face not seen. Following the story plot into episode 201 which was aired on 21st April 2010 on comedy central he is seen in a black censored box.

Following this episode there was a mass response from various communities including the Muslim population. It was taken to such an extent that al Amrikee wrote an April 15 entry on his Twitter page: "May Allah kill Matt Stone and Trey Parker (the cartoon creators) and burn them in Hell for all eternity. They insult our prophets Muhammad, Jesus, and Moses. As well as this a Muslim Organization threatened to kill the cartoon creators if they continued to show the episode with mohammed in shot.

As well as seeing the prophet mohammed in the episodes, we also see Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Joseph Smith, Krishna, Lao Tzu, and Sea Man. These characters have not had the same response to the extent of mohammed has even though they are all treated the same in the episode. This shows that it has become more acceptable to make comedy out of these faiths.

With all this happening it is clear why channel have been forced to censor material which is seen as others to be rude or discriminative, even though it is only a small percentage of the viewing figures who complain or who are affected. Because of this we feel that censoring is not a good idea and that people should be allowed to make up their own decisions whether they watch the program or not. However having an age rating is necessary as it cuts down the amount of exposure to violence that younger generations have.

Following on from this we don't think that films should be banned and that, again people should choose what they watch and when without other people dictating.

The Effects Of Manhunt 2

Manhunt 2 was banned in the UK due to Excessive violence however this ban was later lifted due to the public's protest to the BBFC forcing them the certify as legal to sell. This is because all video game bans only prevent the games from being sold, buying and playing the game will always be legal unless the game is banned worldwide.
Being developed by Take-Two Interactive, the same development team as the grand theft auto team, the game already has a violent reputation. After being praised for the immense graphics from RAGE, the game building software used on both manhunt and GTA, the game has huge publicity. This publicity soon rejected the game in society in response to mass murders that are believed to have been influenced by the game. the Hungerford Massacre is a perfect example of the violent influences the game has on players.

We feel there should be stricter restrictions on modern violence in video games. The negative impact Manhunt had on Robert Ryan is believed to have triggered the wave of attacks and doesn't compliment the graphics and game features which are the positive impact of the game.
Our group believe the BBFC ratings should have strickter guidelines on which games are suitable for different age groups. Advertising companies shouldn't appeal to incorrect age groups and in response to the manhunt influences, rating companies shouldn't be afraid to ban video games or discourage gamers to buy inappropriate games.

Mikey - Effects Debate

For the Effects Debate, we have chosen to research about the film 'Mikey' (1993). The film featured a little boy called Mikey Holt, who was adopted by a family, who expected him to be the kind kid they saw him to be. But instead Mikey hid his actual intentions, where it turned out he was a murderous psychopath. He ended up killing nearly all of the main cast and faking his own death, just so that he managed to escape capture and get adopted again.

The controversy around this film, mainly came from the coincidence of its release with the Jamie Bulger case where a little boy is stolen and beaten to death by two young boys. The British Government believed that the film could spur other kids to act violently towards each other.

The film was originally passed as an 18 by the BBFC. But after the Jamie Bulger case, the daily mail announced that the upcoming release of Mikey also featured a child killer. Other films had already been blamed for the violence of the two young children in the case, and so a scared BBFC director was forced to revoke the 18 certificate and the film became officially banned. (Source: The Independant)

From this film it is clear that governments feel that some films, such as this one, should be mediated due to events happening in a particular country at that time. I think a similar example would be a film showing planes crashing into a landmark due to terrorism being banned after 9/11. But to a certain extent other films that have been banned, without a relating event such as a murder, shouldn't be banned, unless the public oppose the release of the film. So this shows that to a certain extent Mediation and Censorship is good, but only to a certain extent.

We think that in relation to the publics view of a film the positive impact of a film can be as strong as the negative impact of a film, but we also believe that the media play a part in emphasising the negative impact more than the positive impact making it seem as though there is an imbalance.

In respect to the question that media can change someone's behaviour? we believe that types of media like, film, TV, games, etc. can in some respects change someone's behaviour for example someone who watches a lot of action films or plays a lot of action games may become so addictive that their behaviour changes to suit what they see in these media sources. But we think that the main behaviour related problem is that if someone is inclined to behave badly or are likely to commit a murder in their nature, then media sources featuring death, killing, torture, etc. could ignite the underlying part of their nature and make them commit a similar style murder/torture. We believe that this is a reason that the british government had for banning the film Mikey.

We believe that the film Mikey, had a justified reason for the film to be banned, but we feel that this could have been released a few years later after the event as the film itself hadn't had any effect on the children in the Jamie Bulger case, but the government saw that it could spur others to commit a similar crime.

Red Riding

The key scene i have decided to look into is the scene when we are first introduced to the journalist entering a pub. The pub is very badly lit and full of smoke by middle aged men who are smoking cigarettes or cigars. This is a good example of how 1974 pubs would be like as most people would go on their lunch break to the pub and have a drink. The bad lighting creates shadows and gives it a dim feel to the place and it doesn't seem very welcoming. The smoke gives it a musty, old feeling to it and shows that its old because we now have the smoking ban in place.

The journalist, Dunford, is wearing smart but casual clothing, in browns and greens which was quite popular in those days. Many of the other characters in the pub are either in suits or similar clothing to Dunford which suggest that they cared what they looked like and obviously, it was popular at the time.

The dialogue is quite limited to work and their families and their accents are yorkshire. Their is not much said between them in the pub as they continue their conversations back at work. THe dim mise-en-scene of the 1970s suggest that it wasnt a welcoming place as the pubs are smoking and badly lit.

<><>Red Riding Evaluation<><> First Bar Scene.

The scene we have chosen to evaluate is the First bar scene. In this scene it becomes clear to the viewer that this show is set in the 1970s. this is made clear to the viewer through the use of mise-en-scene, characters used to represent the time period.

A first example of the mise-en-scene is the highly accurate setting, the clothing of the charcters is wht we would expect to see from the time period, second fctor which makes the scene look authentic is the lighting used, this gives the scene an eerie and gritty feel characteristic of the time period.
A second example would be the objectification of women, In this scene every man is smoking and holding pints of lager and being loud, while the women are all sitting down in the corners in much smaller parts not enjoying themselves as much.

Red Riding Evaluation

The scene I have selected to evaluate the time period and location is where Dunford bursts into the newspaper office to see his boss who is engaged in a conversation with another journalist. Primarily, the mise-en-scene is used to portray the noir style and to represent the time period of the 1970s. The colour scheme in the office is dull and basic and the costumes are simplistic and monotonous, the weather also contributes to the gloomy atmosphere bu using pathetic fallacy. This visual dark look reflects the mysterious undertone and corruption within the officials of society. Further factors add to the narrative and location such as dialogue. The accents used are strong yorkshire accents.

Red Riding Key Scene

When Dunford went into a residential area in Yorkshire to talk to the person who found the first dead girl on the building site, It showed all the houses looked the same; gray, square buildings and also the weather is overcast showing that the areas where not necessarily nice places to live. this is also shown by the park or green area in front of the houses was covered in burnt patches and rubble and burnt out cars, where there are children hitting the cars and destroying other things, this also shows that children had more freedom to as they wanted and there there pearents were less concerned with where there children where. and inside the house the decor was very plan and there were not that many ornaments or things that did not have any use to show that money was less readily available and people only got what they needed, also there was a large gas heater dominating the room as it was the only heat source. An other in which it was shown that money was hard to come by was that there was a man around twenty still living at home and working when ever he could at the building site.

Red Rider - How time period is set

The scene were Dunford drives home to see his family, we see his authentic 'Morris' car and his dark heavy suit, which supports the tome period of the 70's. We also see him enter an under developed estate, with dark mise en scene and old stone building materials. There are other older cars down the street as he enters. The house its decorated in a dark green colour and has beige wallpaper, we'd relate this design to older houses as newer designs always seem brighter. his family all wear similar clothes to his, and style their hair in a conventional way; His male family all have greased back hair for example. The representation makes the 70's look unwelcoming to live in, due to the dark mise en scene and the corrupt representation of the police and news.

An Education

INTRO

Key scenes and give synopsis, Mention how the film uses stereotypes to Create a romanticized View of 1960's London, this film highlights the importance of Education and the family unit.

POINTS

• Key Scenes - Scene in club - glamorous lifestyle only available to Jenny because of David.

• Kitchen scene - doesn't need to go to university anymore because she has a rich husband now. This contradicts everything they said previously about needing a education.

Contrast Alfie

• Families (leaving Lady And Kid) when Alfie leaves the children and Gilda it highlights how important family is in 1960s Britain. This is in contrast to an education. Contrast working class to middle class. Careers in An Education
  

• Contrast to Fish Tank; corrupt family. Difference in family priorities.
  

Conclusion

• Refer to question
• Family priorities - husband is essential
• Family moralities/strong family unit
• Jenny doesn't take responsibility

Question

To what extent does the film represent the collective identity of the British Working class in a negative way?

PLAN

Two key scenes:

- Party

- Daughters and Mother Scene

Introduction:

Fish Tank represents British working class negatively through 2 key scenes (party scene and dancing at the end). Throughout the film we see Mia becoming more trapped in the underprivileged situation she is in. We see how the British working classes living standards, family life and relationships affect different characters.

Scene 1

The party scene represents the british working class as alcoholic, sexually active and abusive people who have no respect for themselves, their actions and what their emotional impact on others watching might be. An example of this would be Mia's mum who has organised this party and has forcefully told her children to disappear during the party. When she sees Mia downstairs she yells at her and pinches her to make her go upstairs and be out of the way, treating them like rubbish that needs to be out of the way./

Scene 2

The dancing scene represents a lovely hug between mother and daughter. The dance is like a hug because they both have a dancing talent in common. Mias little sister Tyler, also is involved in the dance and it shows the first connection in the film shared between the whole family. Mia and her mum aren't close enough to speak about feelings so instead the love is shared through dancing instead of words.

To conclude :

party scenes shows british society as alcoholics, sexually active and rude people. Also represents them as having no respect for themselves and other people.

Dancing scene shows for the first time family unity in the film, with MIa and her mother not close at all, the love between mother and daughter is reflected through dance.

However this is not a true representation of British society