London to Brighton

London To Brighton

Media Forms- how does the trailer use media language to establish the films genre?

The movie, London to Brighton, is a dramatic thriller about the life an 11 year old female who is homeless and has to cope with the various struggles that come with being homeless. At first, the trailer begins with a quiet and calm piano themed music. This connotes to the audience that it is going to be a calm and peaceful movie. However, this is not the case. Therefore, the opening soundtrack is shown to have been constructed to lull the audience into a false sense of security. Often when movies are misleading, this is because the purpose of the movie is to make the audience feel uncomfortable, which connotes that the genre of the film may be thriller or drama.

The audience immediately knows that the genre of the film is a drama/thriller. This because during the course of the trailer, there are various extracts from reviews about the film shown on screen, where one of the extracts tells the audience that the film is a dramatic thriller.

During the course of the trailer, there is a wide variety of camera shots being used . These shot types vary between close-ups, medium shots, medium shots and long shots. For example, there is a shot shown where 2 females, one being the 11 year old and the other being slightly older, are walking into a room behind an old man. The whole shot is constructed to connote that they are going to prostitute themselves, because this is how they can make money. However, when they walk into the room, they look anxious and they walk with a big gap in between them. This connotes that they are not together and connotes that they are both vulnerable due to them not walking in together. Here, a long shot is used to show the gap between them and the room. The size of the room and facial expressions of the girls, shown by the camera angle, connotes that a sexual reference will take place, which shows that film may be very dramatic.

A close-up was also used to show the 11 year olds facial expression. At one point, she was in a car. We knew this because the camera zoomed in on her face and her shoulders, which showed a seatbelt. She had lipstick on, and the close-up of her face added emphasis to her facial expression, which showed that she was worried. This makes the audience wonder as to where the girl is going that may make her worried. This adds drama to the trailer.

Media Representations- How is gender represented in the film?

The two central protagonists of the movie as shown by the trailer are two females, one young at the eleven years and one middle aged, both shown to be prostitutes.

In the opening shot of the trailer, the 11 year old female is shown sitting on the floor in a tube station, with an empty cup in her hand scrounging for money from passers by. This connotes that she is poor and homeless, and is resorting to begging in order to get money. This portrays the female as being of a very low social class, because she is poor. This therefore represents the female as being generally inferior to the public.

One of the shots that shortly follows is the eleven year old female being taken somewhere by a male against her own will. We can tell that she is being taken against her own will because when she is being dragged away, she looks back at the other female behind her. At this point, the camera zooms in on her face to put emphasis on her facial expression, which showed her being scared and worried. This shot effects the representation of both the males and females in the movie. The fact that the female is being dragged away against her own will connotes that she is weak and inferior to the males. However, due to the fact that the male is dragging her away, this makes him seem dominant in the scene and therefore makes him seem superior to the females.

Due to the fact that the 11 yr old female is homeless, she resorts to prostitution in order to gain some funds, for her to gain some type of living standard. The fact that she teams up with another prostitution to get some money affects the audience’s opinion of the females. The fact that the females are resorting to prostitution makes them seem emotionally weak and also makes them seem desperate, as they will do anything to get some money. It also makes them seem as if they are sexually driven, because they choose to have sex to get money.

Media Institutions: In what ways is the film London to Brighton a typical low budget British film?

The audience can tell that the film is a low budget film and is also shot in London through many things, such as the accents that the actors speak in, the locations used and also by the actors used.

During the course of the trailer, the majority of the trailer is shown being shot in run down and dirty areas. However, one of the shots also shows the Sanyo buildings, which are based in London. By showing these buildings in the trailer, the audience will know that the film is being set in London.

Some of the shots that follow show some other run down areas, such as dirty flats, which are stereotypically represented with London. The type of location can be combined with the setting to show the audience that the film is low budget. Quite often, Hollywood promotes high budget films, which mean that the producers would often use man made sets, so that they can make the set to the standard that they need. However, because London to Brighton uses natural sets, this shows that they cannot afford to create their own sets and therefore connotes that it is a low budget film.

The actors and actresses used in the movie are relatively unknown, which means that they have not been in productions before, because nobody recognises them. This connotes that they will not charge much in order to be in the production which shows that the film is low budget.

Media Audiences- In what ways does the trailer promote the film to its target audience?

The trailer has been constructed to appeal to a teenage audience, as well as an audience up to the age of 26. This is because of the explicit nature of the trailer. For example, the trailer deals with struggles that people may face. For example, the young 11 yr old female prostitute may be used to empathise with teenage females, which connotes that the film is targeted to them.

Also, the various extracts from the reviews connote that the film caters to a range of different audiences, as it contains extracts from a range of reviews that cater to a wide variety of audiences.