BBFC

What is the BBFC?
BBFC stands for 'British Board of Film Censors', and is a company that is not run by the government. It was founded in 1912 thats main purpose is to censor films in the United Kingdom.

What sort of things do they do?
When it comes to films, it is up to the BBFC to watch the films and censor it based on the rules that the BBFC has made. They can look at things like; discrimination, drugs, horror, language and nudity to name a few. Films are all graded by:

• 
  Suitable for all
• 
  Parental guidance
• 
  Cinema release suitable for 12 years and over
• 
  Video release suitable for 12 years and over
• 
  Suitable only for 15 years and over
• 
  Suitable only for adults
• All of these Classifications tell the audience what they are likely to see and not to see when watching the movie. In almost all of the classifications there is something that can slip through if used properly or not a lot for example, a 'U' rated film can get away with violence and threats, if it is very mild and if the problem is resolved very quickly, they also have to show that violence is bad and not the way to solve things.

Does the BBFC cover any other types of Media?

Yes it does, it covers TV programs as well as music videos they can also cover streaming services like, 'Netflix' or 'Amazon Prime'. They are graded in the same sort of way however there are some changes due to the platform and access to the type of Media.

Dierctorial Styles

When it comes to directing films there are a wide range of different techniques that directors use to create their film. They all do very different things and all focus on a certain area in the film.

The Dictator

This way of directing is very get stuck in role, there main purpose is to make sure that the performance by the actors is at the quality the director wants. If the director takes this sort of role then the actors are more likely to not have a lot of say in what they can and cannot do on set. This may turn away the actors passion towards the project and their performance my be worse.

The Creative Artist

This way of directing is more about using what you have got, (in this instance the actors) to create a film that everyone is happy with. Idea can be thrown around but the final decision has to be made by the director. Using this strategy could mean that the actor could be more ardent on set and the performance could turn out better than before.

The Negotiator

This director is all about using improvised and past rehearsal work to his benefit they tend to use ideas from the production team and sometimes from the actors to give a more democratic style. Like the, 'Creative Artist' allows its own actors to add a bit of input into the film and allows them to be more flexible with their work.

Mini Films Act Structure's

Wake

The three act structure in this short film goes as follows:

Act 1:

An introduction to the characters and the problem. How the characters got to the point they are at is unclear and is up to the audience to figure out/decide.

Act 2:

The problem happens and the main character has to try and find a solution. The problem may be too hard for the character and this adds tension.

Act 3:

The problem is resolved and the character is safe. However, the audience is still left on a cliff hanger and therefore left wondering what will happen next.

Treatment

Title - Corruption

Log line - The protagonist is a scientist that has discovered sustainable cold fusion and his job is to convince his girlfriend that they should ‘do good’. The girlfriend is the antagonist and believes that they should abuse the power they now hold.

Synopsis - The mini film is set in the future, however technology has not gone far. A scientist called Jerry has created a sustainable cold fusion generator that will allow sustainable power forever. However, Jerry and his girlfriend Frankie cannot agree on what to do with the new discovery - one character wants to give it to the government and ‘do good’, while the other wants to give the information to a private investor so that they can gain a big profit. Nonetheless, by giving it to the private investor, this could mean that the private investor could take the money for himself or could use it against the government.

Target audience - young adults +

Characters:

Jerry - He is a male that is aged around 25.  The person who finds the cure (very smart, lots of ideas). The scientist knows what he wants to do with the cure and wants to help the government by giving them his information.

Frankie - She is a female that is aged a bit younger than the scientist (22-24). She has a different opinion than the other person and believes that they hold a mighty power and should sell it for a massive profit.

Jerry - The private investor is a male that is aged 35. He is quite a shady person and may make the audience feel uneasy when he is in the scene. He will be covered up, meaning that the audience will only be able to see half of the Investor’s face. He knows about how much power he could have with the information so he is determined to get his hands on it.

3-act structure:

The first act consists of Jerry telling Frankie about his newest discovery and we find out that Frankie wants to use this information to get more money. Jerry starts arguing with Frankie about what they should do with the new power source, however Frankie decides not to listen and calls her brother (Private Investigator) to find a client who wants the information. The two characters get to develop their personalities in this act.

The second act consists of Frankie giving Rick the information about the new power source. When Rick is about to leave the house, Jerry is not happy with what Frankie has done and starts arguing with Rick. Rick manages to leave the house.

Lastly, the final act is set just after the last act. It is set outside the house and we see Rick get into his car. Jerry is shouting after Rick telling him he has some misinformation. Rick does not listen and proceeds to drive off while Jerry heads to the mail box to deliver the letter he was writing in the last act. Jerry then admits to Frankie that it was all a test and that he is leaving her because of it.

Audio - what sound recording could you create to help define the world in which the film is set?

The sound of rain would represent the film quite nicely due to the mini film being very dim and dense due to all of the bad things that happen in the film.

What I have looked at so far...

Representations of gender in TV and Film

In our first media theory lesson this term we looked at how men and women are represented in TV and film and how they are represented differently in each. We talked about how men are presented as quite unintelligent when featured on TV. They are usually the people who add the comedy to the TV show, whereas women are shown as being quite intelligent and are usually the person who has to look after the male. A good example of the could be, 'The Middle' and 'The Simpsons' both of these show a family where the males (son and the father) are not very smart and are the cause for the problem in the shows. The females (daughter and the mother) are the responsible ones who are usually the people who have to solve the problems that the males could have caused.

In films men and women are represented very differently, men are usually the main role of the film and are usually quite muscular and smart. They tend to control what is going on in the films and they stereotypically the hero of the narrative. Women on the other hand tend to be a supporting role that may help the male with their task, they contribute a whole lot less to the narrative but they usually look up to the male. A test was created to try and get women to be more of a central role in the film, this test is called the 'Bechdel Test'. In order to pass this test the film has to include two different females that talk to each other about something other than a man for over 60 seconds.

YouGov Profile

   

Another thing we looked at on our first lesson was newspapers and how they write articles to appeal to their specific audiences. To found out what kind of audience they were targeting we went on a site called, 'YouGov' as seen above, it gave us an overview on the people most likely to read the newspaper. The Sun are known for there over exaggerated articles that tend to not tell the complete truth. Looking at their YouGov profile we found out that their audience tends to be of the young adult variety and are quite argent, this might be one of the main reasons why The Suns articles are the way they are. I think that information provided by 'YouGov' is not reliable due to only around 100-1000 people putting forward their data on each newspaper.It states 'Top Regions' however that may not be the 'Top Regions' and may just be where they received the most information from.

Debate

In our second lesson this term we were told that we were going to do a debate that argued about, 'Can anyone be a journalist?' for this debate we were arguing 'for' the statement. Our group decided that we should go to local library to try and find some information to back up our argument. After a few minutes of trying to find some books that were relevant to what we were talking about we decided to read up on what some people had to say. 

When we finally came back to college to start our debate, we had realized that we had forgotten to write down notes. This put us at a massive disadvantage, one top of that we realized that we had gotten confused and read up research for the arguing against. This being a silly mistake on our part, we had learned that for our next debate we would have to make sure we know what we are arguing for and to write down quite a lot of note so we are prepared for the debate. To no ones surprise we didn't become victorious in the debate but we did learn a lot from the experience and will be more prepared for our next debate.