Shameless

SHAMELESS SERIES 1, EPISODE 1

How are sexuality and regional identity represented in this episode?


Sexuality

Ian doesn't act like a stereotypical gay but this is because he doesn't want his family finding out he is gay so in fact he acts like a stereotypical straight teen by having up posters of girls etc. He is more feminine then Lip and this shows the stereotypicalness of gays and them being more calm and girly and we see this when he's crying in bed because Lip has caught on that he's gay and also he doesn't like it when a girl is sexual with him.

Sexuality is also shown when Karen is being sexual under the table with Lip and then after with Ian and we see the different reactions with the straight and gay boys. 

Lip is a stereotypical straight boy because he brags about his experiences and he doesn't like gays as most straight boys don't, also he has a typical straight boys room which is messy etc.

Sexuality is shown when Steve and Fiona are having sex on the kitchen floor which is also part of regional identity because you could say higher class people wouldn't do that.


 
Regional Identity

The mise en scene in the film is quite a dirty environment and we would stereotype it as a northern place. The people in the programme, for example the dad, looks like a tramp and is all dirty and makes the family look as if they have little money and can't afford much. The house that the family live in is really small in comparison to how many people live in the house showing they have little money. The family live in a council estate which could show that they are quite rough but this is stereotypical of what we assume.

Male Gaze music video

WHEN I GROW UP: PUSSYCAT DOLLS


The video is very sexual and includes the main singer and the rest of the group all dancing in a sexual way with very revealing clothes and camera shots which you can see down their tops and can see lots of leg. It is a sexual fantasy from a male point of view. All of the females in the video are really pretty and have a perfect body

Paul Blogs

PAUL BLOGS

WHAT are Paul Blogs

The blogs show the main actors and people who are feautured in it

Show behind the scenes cast and crew

Documents production

Shows what the films about (concious of spoiling plot)

Teaser of the real film

WHY are they filmed

Connection with audience

Incentive to watch the film

Fans of Working title films

Simon Pegg fans

Same humour as would appear in film

Extras on DVD (Bonus features) incentive to buy on DVD

Audience participation cast answer audiences questions

The Male Gaze

MARGORIE FERGUSON
Chocolate Box 
Half or full-smile, lips together or slightly parted, teeth barely visible, full or three-quarter face to camera. Invitational 
Emphasis on the eyes, mouth shut or with only a hint of a smile, head to one side or looking back to camera
Super smiler 
Full face, wide open toothed smile, head thrust forward or chin thrown back, hair often wind- blown.
Romantic or sexual
a fourth and more general classification devised to include male and female 'two somes' or the dreamy, heavy lidded unsmiling big heads or the overtly sensual or sexual


TREVOR MILLUM
Seductive
Similar to the cool/level look in many respects - the eyes are less wide, perhaps shaded, the expression is less reserved but still self-sufficient and confident; milder versions may include a slight smile.
Carefree
Nymphlike, active, healthy, gay, vibrant, outdoor girl; long unrestrained outward-flowing hair, more
going than the above, often smiling or grinning.
Practical
Concentrating, engaged on the business in hand, mouth closed, eyes object-directed, sometimes a slight frown; hair often short or tied back.
Comic
Deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated, acting the fool, pulling faces for the benefit of a real or imaginary audience, sometimes close to a sort of archness.
Catalogue
A neutral look as of a dummy, artificial, waxlike; features may be in any position, but most likely to be with eyes open wide and a smile, but the look remains vacant and empty; personality has been removed.

Eva Mendes

EVA MENDES
Eva Mendes has the perfect body that all girls would want and isn't too skinny. She has wet hair in the imgaes to show a messy look as if shes just had sex along with the sweaty, wet body and the sexual pose. She has parted lips which is very sexual and looks like an orgasm face and also she has a sexy powerful stance as if she's ready and in control but also vulnerable at the same time. Her eyes are closes, as if she's fantasying about something she wants. She has really long legs and she is on tip toes as well as wearing heels to make her looks even taller, also girls all dream of having long legs. She looks like she is very confident with herself as would any other girl be if they had the body she has, and also by the stance she is holding shows she doesn't care and she's looking away as if to say she doesn't care.

Freddie Ljungberg

FREDDIE LJUNGBERG

Freddie looks muscley, strong and fit. He's posing and it's in a teasing position as his hand is pulling his boxers down. He isn't smiling and instead he's pouting which isn't normal for a man to do. The flowery tattoo draws a feminine side to him and he has a tan line which is quite feminine and makes us question if he uses fake tan. The lighting is right in front of him showing shadow behind him. He is promoting the Calvin Klein boxers and it's the only thing he's wearing. He has a toned stomach and his skin is very sweaty and greasy, as if he had been working out or he's been at the gym or in the shower. He has a very masculine hair cut, it's a skin head and makes him rough. His necklace makes him look less naked, but makes him look more feminine. He has defined cheekbones which makes him look thin and he also has stubble which makes him look manly. The picture shows that he's shaved which isn't very manly and very feminine. He is pulling his pants down which is very seductive and also looks too posed. His hands in a fist which shows he's aggressive. He has very strong biceps. The background is red which shows lust and shows heat and danger. The prop of the bar to show off his muscles and his nails are perfect as if he's had a manicure. He is trying to seduce the readers and the picture is aimed at both females and mails, straight and gay and feminine and masculine so it covers lots of bases.

Hot Fuzz and This is England Comparison essay

HOT FUZZ AND THIS IS ENGLAND COMPARISON ESSAY


How do Hot Fuzz and This is England appeal to a British audience?
This is England and Hot Fuzz are both directed by British Directors. Edga Wright directed Hot Fuzz and Shane Meadows directed This is England. Both directors use their own experiences to write their films, Shane Meadows uses his childhood experiences which are related to the film and Edga Wright uses past humorous film experiences and childhood wishes to make another humorous film. Both the films are made from British film companies. They are both made by British companies, This is England is made by Warp films which is a sister company of Warp Records, an English record label which was set up in the year 1999 and based in Sheffield, England. Hot Fuzz is made by Working title which is a British film production company, based in London, UK and is a mainstream covered by Universal. Hot Fuzz uses well known actors that are famous for working together and producing humorous films whereas This Is England uses brand knew actors which are unknown to the audience which is risky but also cheaper. Both films are located in England which relates to the British audience and both films incorporate elements of humour in them.

Shane Meadows grew up in an area like one that is used in This is England replicating the atmosphere that he lived in which shows the audience what life was like for him, it shows his experiences in the film which makes the film more realistic. He uses social realism and people that have been through the same situation as him will be able to recognize specific things that happened because it happened in their childhood. Many things that happen in the film are based on his early experiences, it aims at a British audience because people that have been through the same experiences will be British people and will be able to understand the humour and the events that happen in the film.
Edgar Wright uses his experiences in Hot Fuzz as he uses his own judgements ‘You kind of have to imagine yourself as the target market’ he uses his own judgement to make the films and as he is British he has a British mind set so people will be able to get the humour and understand the film. The film is based on personality and his childhood dreams. He uses his experiences from his film Shaun of the dead to produce a film that is similar to it because it sold so well so he uses elements from it to produce Hot Fuzz e.g. repeating the use of characters. British people that have already watched the British film Shaun of the dead will want to watch Hot Fuzz.    

Shane Meadows used a range of completely unknown actors in his film, it was a very risky strategy but it worked, also it was cheaper to do because you wouldn’t have to pay them as much as known actors. He used unknown actors to focus more on the British stereotypes rather than the characters themselves; it makes you think more about the stereotypes e.g. skin heads. It appeals to the British audience and an audience which is more interested in Britain itself. He also used actors which were less known because it means people will focus more on the stereotypes rather than the actors themselves and how the stereotypes relate to Britain in the past.
Edga Wright is famous for his work with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost so he used them in Hot Fuzz because people liked them acting together so he decided instead of making a sequel to Shaun of the dead which is what most people wanted he made which would have put pressure on Edgar to make another outstanding Shaun of the dead film but instead he decided to make Hot Fuzz which was a new film with the same actors. Also a lot of famous actors had volunteered and asked to be in the film because they know Edgar is a good director and know the film will be popular. Edgar uses a lot of stock actors, this is good because it saves money auditioning and also it means he knows it’s going to be popular because the actors are popular. By using these famous British actors it ensures people to watch the film and also as them being most famous in Britain, mostly British people will watch the film as they are aware of the characters.

This is England had a budget of 1 million which is a small budget for a film but by using a small budget it means that they could make more profit. The small budget means there is less money for special effects and advertising of the film but also it means as there is less money for special effects it may provide a more realistic view of the film. It will provide a realistic view of what Britain was like and this appeals to a British audience because they can see the realistic side of Britain and what is was like.

Hot Fuzz used a budget of 8 million which is a massive contrast to that used in This is England. The bigger budget means that they would have had more money to advertise their film so that more people were aware of it and also it means that they can use more special effects which makes it more of an action film and makes it more humorous because it shows things that may not happen in reality. Hot Fuzz can use more detailed camera work and editing and can also make it more professional looking. 

This is England is set in Grimsy, Nottinghamshire, where there are a lot of council houses, showing it’s a lower class area, it is set in areas that are cheap to film which keeps the budget down. It is in a British area so helps relate to a British audience.
Hot Fuzz is set in London and Standford, Gloucester village and both have their own police station which is where Simon and Nick work. The atmosphere in Standford is somewhat different to that of London and we see a difference in the two British locations.

The use of stereotypes in This is England are the use of skin heads to show what gangs were like in the past and how different and similar it is to nowadays, it relates to a British audience because it’s showing past experiences of Britain and past Stereotypes.
The use of stereotypes in Hot Fuzz the stereotypes of the different types of police officers are used, the harsher police force in London and the non caring police force in Standford. The difference of the two characters makes the film humorous because they contrast with each other. The use of stereotypes in this aims at a British audience because they are what we see police officers like stereotypically.

To conclude the use of all these elements in This is England and Hot Fuzz relates to a British audience. The directors using their own experiences make the films more realistic to what British people like and their past. Shane Meadows use of his own childhood experiences makes the film appeal to the British audience because British people will want to know what life was like in the past in their country and people that have been through the same experiences will watch it, in contrast Hot Fuzz doesn’t use his childhood experiences but instead using his childhood dreams and his own judgments making himself the target market so being British we get the humour and what’s happening etc. The use of using unknown actors in This is England appeals to a British audience because they focus more on the stereotypes, in contrast in Hot Fuzz they use actors which people are aware of which pulls in British people to watch the film as they are aware of the actors and how humorous they are. The contrasts of budgets makes a difference between the films because they have a different visual effect, Hot Fuzz has more of a more professional look to it and This is England has more of a realistic look to it so British audiences will want to watch the films because of the realisticness of This is England and the unrealistic view in Hot Fuzz which makes it more humorous because it shows thing that wouldn’t happen in real life. The settings of each of the films are in British areas which make the play appeal to a British audience because they know of the area and know the background of the area. The use of stereotypes in the films makes the films more humorous because it over exaggerates them. Hot Fuzz is a comedy film so it is very funny and people that have watched Shaun of the dead will want to watch Hot Fuzz because they know the high standards of Edgars British films. This is England uses the stereotype of skinheads and gangs which make the film more rougher and this appeals to a British audience because there are a lot of gangs in Britain so people British people will watch it to see what gang violence was like in the past. The films relate to a British audience because they have specific elements which relate to Britain which pulls in British people to watch the film and be interested in watching the film because of the humour, stereotypes etc. which shows why British people watch both the films.

Rushmore - Representation of Max Fisher

MAX FISHER

Rushmore (1998)

Directed by Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson's films

Bottle Rocket

The Royal Tenenhaums

The Darjeeling

The life Aquetic with Steve Zissov

Fantastic Mr Fox

Wes Anderson

Considered to be an Auteur ( loosley meaning author)

Has a recognisable visual style that is apparant across most of his films

Jason Schwartzman

Bill Murray

Olivia Williams

Bran Cox

Rushmore - Representation of Max Fisher

- Wants to be clever (dreams of solving a hard maths equation)

- Goes to Rushmore school (a posh school)

- Is described as a 'Sharp little guy'

- Is one of the worst students they have

- Does a lot of clubs, which he is either founder or president of

- Looks geeky

- Not a stereotypical teen

- Unusual (dreaming about solving maths equations)

- OCD?

- Wears a blazer (part of school uniform)

- Level of confidence

- Comfortable with adults

- Lots of interests

- Mulitcultural

- Hardworking

- Tries hard to fit in - attention seeking?

- Doesn't try to socialise (seemingly)

- His social life is connected to his hobbies

What he's wearing

He is wearing a tie when he doesn't need to be wearing a tie when the other students aren't wearing them. He wears a red beret some times which makes him look a bit silly, he is always wearing his blazer, could show that he is proud of school he goes to, he wears brown trousers and wears the same clothes for most activities, maybe he's poor. He wears braces and has a combover.

The Bees

The bees on the notebook represent Max in lots of ways. Max is in a colony, stuck together with his groups and the leader. He's busy as a bee. People don't like bees, represents him (do people like him?). Hes always buzzing around. He's like the queen bee of all the groups. He's the bee's knees of the groups.

Clubs

He is always at the top of clubs, he's either the founder or the leader of the club. He wears school uniform at the cluns when others have on club uniform. He's the publisher showing he's the top dog of the club. He wears a red beret for french club and he looks rather sad wearing it. When he's wearing the Russia hat it shows he has power of the club and as Russia is one of the superpowers it shows he has power and he chose to be the most powerful country and either side of him are lower countries. He hangs around with little kids at the clubs showing he has no friends of his own age. He's founder of Stamp and coin club, showing he's not a sterotypical teenager because most teens wouldn't collect them. He's the Yankee racers founder and his cart doesnt doesn't even have a steering wheel showing he can't afford to buy a cart. He's part of the Lacross team and whilst the Jocks are watching the game, he is more obsessed with arranging the equipment and sorting them out, he's acting like a mother to them. He's the founder of caligraphy club and he's the only member of it. He's the founder of astronomy club and wears a beret, looks like he doens't want to be there. In the debate team he's wearing uniform when they're wearing tweded trousers and bow ties. The dodgeball club shows him playing against little kids.In Kung fu club he's a yellow belt which is quite low and he's against little kids which some are higher belts than him.Track and field club, he's on his own, not in a posh place.For the fencing team he is still wearing his brown trousers when the others are wearing the right clothing. When he's wearing the bee outfit he only has the headwear showing he's poor becasue he needs the whole outfit becasue he may get stung. 

Max Fisher
Is Max a stereotypical teenager?
Montage sequence.

Max fisher is not a stereotypical teenager because he is very unusual in what he does. The first thing we see is him having a dream about solving a really hard maths equation which is unusual for a teenager to dream about. Most teenagers don’t really do a lot of clubs however Max Fisher does lots of clubs where he is either the founder or the president of, one of the weirdest clubs he does is stamp and coin collecting club which is a club you wouldn’t expect a teenager to be interested in showing he has a mature attitude. He looks very geeky looking, most teenager would be embarrassed to look like that, also he has a comb over showing he has an old fashion sense and mind, a normal teenager would feel silly with a comb over. Most teenagers are quite messy whereas Max is a bit of a perfectionist and has to have his stamps and coins in a specific place and order; maybe he has a bit of OCD. He is always wearing his school blazer showing that he is proud of his school, stereotypically teenagers hate their uniform and wouldn’t be proud to wear it when they don’t need to wear it, it shows he’s a bit weird but also that he’s really glad he got in to Rushmore school. He is very confident and comfortable with adult and approaches them like you’d approach a friend, this isn’t really normal for a teenager to do because they would normally act different with adults and wouldn’t generally just go up to them and casually talk to them. He wears very geeky clothing and clothing normal teenagers wouldn’t wear showing that he is quite different and doesn’t really care what people think of him. To conclude Max Fisher is not a stereotypical teenager because he acts like an adult and acts very mature and does adult hobbies compared to what a stereotypical teenager would do.

Comparison Table

Comparison Table