Ill Manors: e-media Tag London campaign

1) Summarise the Ill Manors Tag London campaign in 100 of your own words.
The Ill Manors Tag London campaign was a project created by the people behind Ill Manors to promote their film as obviously and provocatively possible. In this campaign, they encouraged the public to tweet "#illmanors" in an attempt to gain as much online, social media attention as they could, after which they would project these tweets onto famous London landmarks all over the city in the style of graffiti, to ensure everyone in London would be made aware of the film and the message they were trying to convey.

2) How does the Ill Manors Tag London campaign help to promote Plan B, the soundtrack and the film?

This highly unorthodox method of advertising was very effective in promoting the film, soundtrack and Plan B simply due to its unusual, provocative approach. By advertising it online and through social media, they would undoubtedly have become massively well known on Twitter and other social media platforms but they also took into account those members of the public that don't necessarily have social media so they made the innovative, slightly risky decision to project the tweets onto buildings/landmarks, allowing as many people to get involved with the campaign as possible. To project tweets and messages of such an intense nature onto well respected, well loved buildings and landmarks in the capital city in the style of graffiti is not what you'd expect to see so this would inevitably end up capturing the public's attention and evoking a reaction from them, therefore enabling them to become aware of the film, the music video and Plan B.

3) What synergy (links) can you find between the Tag London campaign and other texts you have studied as part of the Ill Manors case study? One other text we studied that this campaign could link to is the TEDx talk that Plan B did shortly before the film's release. One way that this could link to the Tag London campaign is that in both incidences, he was addressing people of a class that would be considered much higher than the class of the characters in Ill Manors, his aim being to get across the message that people of a higher class tend to have predetermined views on young people with no thought about how some end up in the circumstances they're in so he wanted to use his own methods to get their attention.

4) Why might user-generated campaigns like this be more successful than traditional media campaigns? Offer three different reasons UGC-driven campaigns are popular with media institutions.

- One reason is that it gives the public the opportunity to have their say and get involved in something that they ordinarily wouldn't be able to so it provides them with the chance to engage with the campaign and offer their opinions.

- Another reason is that once they see their points/views have been acknowledged (by being projected on the buildings), they can see that their voices aren't going unheard as they might have been previously and they'll therefore feel encouraged to continue to be part of the campaign.

5) Choose FIVE of the tweets above and for each one write what target audience the tweet could appeal to (demographics/psychographics) and then link the tweet to one other media text you have studied as part of the Ill Manors case study (TEDx lecture, music video etc.) Justify your link for each tweet using examples from the film/promotional material.

#ILLMANORS JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF CAMERON'S BROKEN BRITAIN
This tweet has a definite sarcastic tone to it as it is mocking something said by David Cameron so I think it would definitely appeal to the youth in society who some people would argue Cameron was probably aiming that statement at. It also links directly to the Ill Manors music video as it is one of the lyrics.

#ILLMANORS INCLUSION NOT EXCLUSION.
The target audience of this tweet would most likely be older, middle class people - the aim of the tweeter was most likely to have been that they wanted middle class people to see that by judging and reprimanding young people, they're excluding them so this is essentially a plea to stop doing it. It could link to the TEDx lecture because that was effectively the same message that Plan B was trying to get across to his audience there.

@ILLMANORS #ILLMANORS OLYMPICS GONNA LEAVE US WITH A LARGE BILL A LARGE VENUE THAT WILL CLOSE BY THE NXT PROJECT AND IS A TERRORISTS WISH.
The target audience of this tweet would probably be wealthy, upper class people and maybe even people in power e.g. David Cameron - its aim being to confront the wealthy people of society about the fact that they've spent a huge amount of money on the Olympics that will only take place once in London and yet there are people living in the same area with massive financial difficulties.

Ill Manors print: Branding

1. What are the key conventions that help you identify the print text (e.g. title, central image, review quotes etc.)? - This poster features several key conventions of print texts. Firstly, the title of the film is positioned in the centre of the poster, sitting on top of the smallest pair of orange lines which could potentially be seen as an arrow, pointing to the title, drawing the audience's attention straight to it. The colour scheme of this poster, particularly the orange, has probably been used deliberately to create contrast between itself and the grey - this helps make the poster more eye catching for the audience. In terms of a central image, it's not entirely clear what the central image is so this could be to tell the audience that all the images on the poster are equally important and they all play crucial parts in the narrative. At the top of the poster there are two review quotes and star ratings, most likely used to encourage audiences to go and see it. Below the reviews, the names of the cast are listed and this is an important key convention as it gives the audience an opportunity to form initial opinions on the film based on who's in it and therefore potentially convincing them to go and see it. 
2. What design features help identify the Ill Manors brand? - Similarly to the previous answer, the colour scheme and the shapes that feature could be clear indications of the branding. The harsh contrast between the main colours and the sharpness of the triangular shapes could be representative of the brutality and intensity of the narrative. This could be further reinforced by the typeface used for all the text on the poster.

1. On this DVD sleeve, the same typeface has been used for the title, which has been made bigger and is positioned in front of the central image which, in this case, is the protagonist (Aaron) who appears in all three of these print examples, possibly indicating his superiority and significance as a character. The layout of the title and central image together is successful in conveying the genre of the film due to the image of the gun that appears in front of the title which is highly suggestive of a dark and violent narrative. Furthermore, it could be argued that the way Aaron's arm has been positioned around the title could be implying the idea of young people protecting what is important to them and as we are already aware, 'Ill Manors' could be referring to the area the young people in the film live in so this image could be subtly telling the audience that that could be something the film is going to revolve heavily around. One convention of this DVD cover that doesn't appear on the last print example is the age rating. It appears a total of six times and this is essentially just to stress to the audience how brutal the film is going to be. Something else quite significant on this print example is the fact that when crediting the director, they have used both 'Ben Drew' and 'Plan B' and this could potentially be to attract more people because the film's target audience are more likely to know Ben Drew by his professional name - Plan B - so using both of them gives the film an opportunity to attract a wider audience. One other thing this cover has done is at the top, it's made reference to the lead actor's previous work and this is a key convention because it tells the audience that if you enjoyed The Sweeney, then you'll probably enjoy Ill Manors.

2. The use of the background images on this DVD cover e.g. the urban, London buildings, the dark clouds, the shadows at the end of the road behind Aaron are all successful in advertising Ill Manors' brand. They all reinforce the idea that the film is going to be gritty, dark and intense and not in the slightest bit happy.

The most obvious example of synergy present on this text is Plan B's name because this links to the music video that was released alongside the film.

1 & 2 . On this billboard poster, the central image is again, the protagonist Aaron positioned behind the title. However, it could be argued that the tower blocks could also be included as the central image, especially since for this poster, the title has been cleverly manipulated to look like the tower blocks. Another convention we see on this poster is the release date at the bottom, which lies between the age rating, appearing only once this time, and the social media links. The colour scheme of this poster is mainly yellow and grey. Interestingly, yellow is a colour usually associated with happiness which could cause some confusion because there are very few happy incidences in Ill Manors so it makes us wonder why yellow has been used. Something else that features on this poster that doesn't feature on the other two texts is the film's tagline that also appears in the trailer. The second line of the tagline could possibly link to what is actually happening on the poster (Aaron is essentially vomiting on the 'tower blocks') so when it says 'some environments are just harder to survive in', the central image could be symbolic of that - that having to survive in this environment is literally sickening so this could give some subtle hints at the genre of the film and potentially its narrative.

The synergy that this poster has is definitely the social media links because this then allows the audience to go onto Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. and talk about the film, increasing its popularity, advertising it more.

Ill Manors trailer analysis

1. What are the typical codes and conventions of film trailers - what information is usually provided? - The aim of a film trailer is usually to advertise and promote an upcoming film and give the audience enough information about it to persuade them to see it, without giving the ending away. In a trailer, you would normally expect to see names of the cast members, the director (along with names of films previously directed by the same person), scenes from the film crucial to the narrative e.g. backstory of the protagonist and the problems they'll be facing in the film.They usually also include music from the film's soundtrack to give the audience further insight into the genre and what the mood of the film will be like.
2. How are trailers usually distributed? - Trailers are distributed in many ways including: in the cinema before a film of the same/similar genre is shown e.g. in the screening of a Tarantino film (Pulp Fiction,1994), the trailers that would be shown beforehand would most likely be films of the same genre to that of Tarantino's work (Se7en, 1995). Trailers are also distributed on TV along with regular TV adverts, and similarly to the cinema, they are distributed with DVDs of the same genre to the trailers e.g. the DVD of this year's Beauty and the Beast will most likely have trailers for future live-action Disney films.
3. How does the Ill Manors trailer use film trailer conventions? - One of the most noticeable conventions of this trailer is the music which, beginning at 0:56 is the song of the same name released simultaneously with the film. The music before the song starts however, includes a short excerpt from Saint-Saens' 'Aquarium' from 'The Carnival of the Animals'. I thought this was interesting because on its own, it's such a therapeutic piece of music so to use it to advertise a film as intense and brutal as Ill Manors and play modern music over the top of it could suggest to an audience that the film they are about to watch could be about the corruption of something good and innocent. This could be further emphasised by the fact that while that music is playing, we see clips of young children and the adults that they turn out to be. Another convention of trailers that this trailer uses is reviews. At just over half way through the trailer, two reviews appear on the screen and these can be a crucial element to a trailer because reviews allow the audience to see the positive things that have been said about the film and could potentially convince them to go and see it.
4. Watch the trailer carefully and discuss how it might attract an audience. Firstly, think about who the target audience for Ill Manors might include. Does it have a unique selling point or use particular techniques to appeal to the audience? Consider the way the scenes are edited together – does the trailer give away any clues about the narrative? Are the main stars visible in the trailer? Is there information about the director of the film? Is there information about the release date? Is a narrator’s voice-over used? Why? - Right from the beginning of the trailer, we can immediately assume that the target audience are older teenagers/adults, most likely 18-30. This is because we are shown short clips of the different issues that are going to be portrayed in the film e.g. drugs, violence, crime - things that would not be suitable for a younger audience. Based on the trailer alone, I'd say that in terms of social class this film would be more aimed at the psychographic group D because I think the issues raised in the trailer are more relatable to the people of those psychographic groups. In terms of gender I think that due to the largely male cast and violent, intense nature of the trailer I think that the film would be targeted more at males than females. I think one of the conventions of this trailer that would probably be most attractive to the audience is the fast paced editing that shows you enough about the film to make you excited about it, but not enough to reveal the ending. Unlike a lot of trailers, it doesn't really give many hints about the narrative at all, it just shows us the issues that the characters will be faced with but not necessarily the circumstances the characters are in when those issues arise. This is effective in encouraging an audience to want to see the film because they become intrigued by the plot and want to find out more. The main stars are visible in the trailer but we don't really find out much about them, again creating more intrigue for the audience watching the trailer. Apart from the brief moment at the end when the credits appear in small print, there is only one other moment where information is given about the director but there is none at all about the cast and I think this could be to create the first sense of realism and to allow the audience to become as immersed in it as possible, without being distracted by text on screen. Also, I think another reason behind this could be so that after watching the trailer and feeling intrigued by its exciting tone, they feel compelled to do their own research into finding out about the cast and the release date which was also not mentioned.
5. How has the genre of the film been represented through characters, settings, lighting, colour, music/dialogue, camera shots/movements/angles and editing? - In terms of characters, one thing that could be noted is that apart from Kirby, it's very unlikely that any of the other characters are over 30 so this could indicate that the narrative is going to revolve strongly around the lives of young people and given that the majority of settings in the trailer appear to be run-down estates, the streets, alleyways, small houses etc. and that a lot of it takes place at night, we can assume that all these things contribute to the crime drama genre that this film falls under. Regarding camera shots and editing a huge amount of the shots in the trailer were close up and the editing was extremely fast-paced all the way through and I think the aim behind this in terms of representing the genre was to show the emotions on all the characters' faces at various points during the film and to convey how fast-paced and intense the film itself will be - this is done so the audience gets a clear idea of what to expect when they watch it.

Ill Manors - Film Review

Ill Manors is the 2012 debut British urban crime drama set in east London from singer/songwriter Ben Drew, more professionally known as Plan B.

This film successfully outlines the gritty, harsh realities of the lives of young people living without the right guidance or morals on the mean streets of the East End during the time of the 2011 London riots which are acknowledged in the film's music video; less so in the film itself. The cast of this film consists of actors that are probably less known to the film's audience e.g. Riz Ahmed (Four Lions), Ed Skrein (Game of Thrones), Natalie Press (My Summer of Love), Keith Coggins, Anouska Mond and Lee Allen. The benefit of casting less known actors in a film like this is that it creates a strong sense of realism and allows the audience to bond with the characters more and have more of an emotional response to the issues communicated and therefore possibly change any predetermined views they may have had on the British youth.

Ill Manors' portrayal of British young people living at the time of the London riots does support some of the dominant stereotypes that are frequently reinforced by society and the media but what it also does that the media doesn't do is tell the audience why some young people are led astray and almost forced into this lifestyle and it gives the audience the opportunity to understand their situations rather than make judgements. Characters such as Jake and Chanel are interesting because they represent the younger teenagers susceptible to being drawn into the 'gang' lifestyle by older, more manipulative people and while they think they are entering a 'better' lifestyle, they are ultimately bringing themselves into situations worse than the ones they are already in, situations that will have inevitably bad consequences. The structure of the film's narrative is very cleverly manipulated in ways that initially give us the opportunity to make judgements on the decisions made by certain characters before being told their genuine reasons/justification for doing what they do. A good example of this is when Katya leaves her baby on the train and as an audience we initially think of her as being selfish and thoughtless and we dislike her for abandoning her baby but when we learn her reasons for doing it, our opinions change immediately and we feel guilty for thinking whatever we may have previously thought about her.

Personally I think this film is very successful in illustrating the brutality and hardship of living as a misguided young person in London and, as mentioned before, making known the real reasons for why some young people with little choice or opportunity are unknowingly misled into circumstances that are virtually impossible to get out of. The small events that happen in the film and our reactions to them are representative of society's fixed view of young people but then our exposure to the reasons behind some of the events that occur is what makes us stop and think and change our assumptions and consider every possible reason that could be behind the things we see.

Ill Manors index

1) The British film industry: Media Factsheet questions

2) Institutional context of the British film industry: Factsheet questions

3) Ill Manors: Film Review

4) Ill Manors: Trailer Analysis

5) Ill Manors: music video

6) Ill Manors: TEDx lecture

7) Ill Manors: broadcast platform concluded

8) Ill Manors: print platform (newspaper interviews)

9) Ill Manors: Print Branding

10) Ill Manors: e-Media Tag London campaign

11) Ill Manors: e-media social networking research

12) Ill Manors: official website analysis

13) MEST1 Section B: essay plan

14) A Field In England: reading, research and questions

15) A Field In England: the appeal of arthouse cinema

16) Ill Manors, A Field In England, Warp & Vertigo: institution research

Audience: The Battle of the Christmas adverts

John Lewis 2014 - Monty The Penguin

John Lewis 2015 - Man on the Moon

John Lewis 2016 - Buster the Boxer

Marks and Spencer 2016

Sainsbury's 2016

Heathrow Airport 2016

Aldi 2016

Very 2016

1) Which do you think is the most appealing and why? Try to use some of our audience theory in your answer. 

Personally my favourite is the Marks and Spencer one because I think as well as having the simple theme of family/friendship like most of the others, it also uses the relationship between the brother and sister to convey a further message that Christmas can mend what may seem like broken/breaking relationships and therefore gives its audience hope that the Christmas they would otherwise be dreading could be unexpectedly happy and enjoyable. I think one theory that could be associated with this advert is Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory, specifically personal identity because the problems depicted in this advert are prevalent in most families around the country and so it could have more of an emotional impact on people that can relate to it, making it more appealing to them than the other adverts.

2) Are there any audience pleasures that two or more of the adverts have in common? Choose two examples to illustrate your point. 

The Very and Sainsbury's adverts are both animated and this allows audiences of all ages to become immersed in the Christmas spirit that these companies are trying to spread throughout society. They also both give us brief insight into different groups of people's lives at Christmas e.g. the elderly and similarly to the M&S advert, it lets these groups of people feel welcome and included in their community's celebrations, especially since a lot of elderly people tend to spend Christmas on their own, so watching these adverts and seeing elderly people in the adverts being included and remembered at Christmas gives them reassurance and comfort that they are on someone's mind.

3) Choose a different advert and identify the target audience for the advert. Answer in terms of demography and psychography. What tells you this?

I think a potential target audience for the Aldi advert could be children for a number of reasons. Firstly, the main character in the advert is an animated carrot and this could be Aldi's way of getting children more interested in eating vegetables, rather than turning their nose up at them as most children typically do. Furthermore the story being narrated by Jim Broadbent is a slightly different version of The Night Before Christmas, a story normally told to children at Christmas so this could also help in retaining the attention of a younger audience, therefore making them excited about more than just the 'presents' aspect of Christmas. Also, the music in the background is the score of Home Alone which some older children may recognise so this use of synergy could be something that initially grabs their attention and keeps them interested throughout the whole advert. In terms of psychographics, I think of the seven groups suggested by Young and Rubicam, the people most likely to watch this advert and feel compelled to buy its products I think would come under Mainstreamers because Aldi is a very family oriented brand, as demonstrated by the advert and they always put emphasis on their food being very good value for money which is what Mainstreamers favour in brands.

4) Why do you think Christmas adverts, in particular, often use emotive language and narratives to appeal to a wide audience?

Similarly to their common use of animation, I think it's so audiences of all ages and backgrounds can feel the excitement of Christmas together. For children I think it's so they can see that Christmas is literally everywhere and it enhances the magic of the season and brings it to life for them. For adults though, it could be seen as a small form of escapism that enables them to briefly forget about the realities of life and feel like children again and perhaps if they're feeling particularly stressed about Christmas, the way Christmas is portrayed in these adverts could potentially relieve some of the stress/anxiety they are facing and allow them to enjoy Christmas more.

5) Choose an advert with a narrative and, just for fun, apply one of our narrative theories to it. Why does a narrative have a place in an advert? 

This is this year's Waitrose Christmas advert that tells the story of a robin's perilous journey at Christmas time. If I were to apply a narrative theory to it I would use Todorov's theory of equilibrium. We could say that the beginning of the advert when the robin starts its journey and the girl is putting another mince pie out is the equilibrium - we assume that the mince pie is for the robin and we expect it to arrive safely but its journey is disrupted by several things - predators, bad weather, getting stepped on by a sailor etc and these are what cause the narrative's disequilibrium. But then after all its ordeals, we see that it has been looked after and it is finally able to continue its journey and it eventually finds its way back to the girl's house and gets to eat its mince pie - this is the new equilibrium because it restores the happiness in both the girl and the audience. I think a narrative has a place in an advert because it grabs the audience's attention in a way that just showing them the products doesn't and if (more often than not) the narrative is a happy one which leaves the audience feeling happy, they should feel more compelled to go out and purchase whatever is being advertised because they now have this positive preconception that the product will appeal to them as much as the advert has.

Audience - The Effects Debate

1. Do you play violent video games and/or watch violent films? Are you violent in ‘real life’?

I used to play violent video games with a friend on her brother's PlayStation and I used to watch my dad playing Medal of Honour when I was younger and I do watch violent films but I'm not violent in 'real life'.

2. Do you ever see a product advertised on TV or on the internet and decide you want to buy it?

Yes, if it's similar to things I'm already interested in but if I've never seen/heard of it before I'm less likely to want to buy it.

3. Have you ever seen a documentary which has drawn your attention to an issue which you now feel strongly about?

A few months ago my mum and I watched 'Surviving Aberfan' which was a BBC documentary about the disaster in the Welsh town of Aberfan that killed 116 children and 28 adults in 1966. This resonated a lot with me because it took place in the country that all my ancestors on my mum's side are from and some of them would have been living very close to that particular town when it happened so it's made me feel a lot prouder of my heritage.

2) What are the four categories for different effects theories?

-Direct Effect Theories

-Diffusion Theories

-Indirect Effect Theories

-The Pluralist Approach

3) What are the examples provided for the hypodermic needle theory - where media texts have been blamed for certain events?

One example provided is the Columbine massacre in 1999 being blamed on the lyrics in Marilyn Manson's music. Another example is the Jamie Bulger case being blamed on Child's Play being watched by two 10 year old boys and taking inspiration from it. The other example given is 'Natural Born Killers' being the cause of multiple murders committed by romantically linked couples.

4) What was the 1999 Columbine massacre? You may need to research this online in addition to the information on the factsheet.

The 1999 Columbine massacre was an extremely intricately planned attack on a Colorado high school in which two of its senior students killed 12 of their fellow classmates and 1 teacher in shootings and bomb explosions.

5) What are the reasons listed on the factsheet to possibly explain the Columbine High School massacre?

- The ease of access to firearms and the social acceptance of gun ownership

- The alienation felt by teenagers who felt they did not fit in

- The hopelessness caused by living in an area where unemployment was high and was economically disadvantaged.

- The general desensitisation caused by access to a range of violent images: TV, film, video games, the news, the internet.

6) What does Gerbner's Cultivation theory suggest?

Gerbner suggests that exposure to violent images affects attitudes rather than behaviour and that repeated exposure to these things may lead to us becoming more accepting of the issues and seeing them as 'normal', essentially becoming desensitised and not critical on issues that should usually be seen as wrong/inappropriate.

7) How does this front page of the Daily Mail (from this week - Wednesday 16 November) link to Cultivation theory? The Mail Online version of the story is here.

This front page links to the Cultivation theory because it is fundamentally highlighting in a short, cogent way the realities of the relationship between our new generation of children and technology and the Cultivation theory warns us of the effects of constant exposure to media, which is what the Daily Mail says seems to be happening amongst our children.

8) What does the factsheet suggest about action films and the values and ideologies that are reinforced with regards to violence?

The factsheet suggests that violence in action films is not just used with bad intentions and that sometimes a person's motive behind exhibiting violence in an action film is in the hope that something good will come out of it e.g. protecting a family member or stopping a criminal. However there is still 'bad' violence in action films and this tends to happen when the instigator's intentions are e.g. for financial gain, to threaten weaker people or to threaten the government.

9) What criticisms of direct effect theories are suggested in the factsheet?

One criticism that is suggested in the factsheet is that some theories e.g. the hypodermic needle theory have a tendency to scapegoat, in that they habitually blame the same types of media texts (horror films, rock music, video games) for the things that are supposedly resultant of the over exposure to those texts (Jamie Bulger, Columbine massacre).

10) Why might the 1970s sitcom Love Thy Neighbour be considered so controversial today? What does this tell us about Reception theory and how audiences create meanings?

11) What examples are provided for Hall's theory of preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings?

He mentions that the Sun and the Guardian may both report the same facts but in very different styles depending on what they want their audience to read and what they know their audiences will enjoy taking from them.

12) Which audience theory do you think is most convincing? Why? It is important that you develop critical autonomy in judging the arguments for and against different theories and form your own opinion on these issues.

I think the Cultivation theory is most convincing because unlike the Direct Effect theories, it doesn't jump straight to the conclusion that by watching violent films or playing violent video games that your behaviour is going to become violent, instead it suggests that only our attitudes are altered when exposed to violence in the media and I think this rather more psychological approach would leave it as less of a target for criticism because I think it would be harder to disprove than the likes of the Hypodermic Needle Theory.