Director- Shane Meadows
Writer- Shane Meadows
Release Date- 27th April 2007
Genre- Crime, Drama
Award- Won seven awards total was nominated for fourteen
Young Audience Award, BAFTA Film Award, British Independent Film Award, UK Film Talent Award, Best European Film, Young European Jury Award, Best Director Award
Company- Big arty Productions

The film itself was set around Shane’s younger life; it’s a coming of age take about a young boy looking for his place to fit in. The film set in the Northern working class town in 1983 and includes strong anti-conservative views. ‘Thatcher is a twat’

It's hard to describe Shane Meadows' latest film without making it appear a great deal less interesting than it actually is. It's a semi-autobiographical tale of a young boy adopted by a gang of skinheads in a grey seaside town. And on that basis, This Is England sounds, in short, like typical grimesville British filmmaking - concrete, rain and misery. This couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, the film is fizzing with energy and humour, powered by brilliantly engaging performances.
Chief among these is newcomer Thomas Turgoose as Sean, a put-upon 12-year old who finds unexpected friendship with a group of local skinheads led by the sweet natured Woody (Joseph Gilgun, another stand-out performance). These skins are a far cry from the image of racist thuggery that the movement became known for in the 80s. It's all about the music, and of course the clothes - although Sean is too small for Doc Marten boots, he still gets the haircut, the plaid shirt and the braces. For a while, everything is sweet in Sean's world. He even shares his first kiss with a Boy George lookalike with the charming name of Smell.
"A FUNNY AND DEEPLY MOVING PORTRAIT"
But soon, conflict arrives in the form of Combo (Stephen Graham, also superb), an old mate of the gang whose time in prison has left him with a strong sympathy for the National Front. Combo's racist agenda splits the gang and Sean, tragically, finds himself turning to Combo as a substitute for the father he lost in the Falklands. Meadows is an exhilarating filmmaker and This Is England is his best film to date - an honest, emotional, funny and deeply moving portrait of growing up. Don't miss it.

Broken nuclear family- Shaun’s father was lost in the Falkland’s war he was very close to him and so has lost his role model, because of this he lashes out at his mother who is trying to as he sees it control him not allowing him to have the Doc Martins. When he meets the gang (Woody) he finds a new family and when he is introduced to (Combo) he finds the father figure that he has been missing. Stereotypical single mother no money household.
Broken community- Shaun doesn’t get on with the children at school he is also fighting against his mother. With the Skinheads he finds that community, which is defined through the clothing they wear and their political views.
Antisocial behaviour- They are all into criminal behaviour, however what the youngsters do is a lot less than the older ones what they do is a lot less serious. Combo robs a store with a machete.
Racism- There is heavy racism in the film which comes to a climax when Combo violently beats Milky this racism shows the biased views of the time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2007/04/23/this_is_england_2007_review.shtml

Director- Hettie Macdonald
Writer- Abi Morgan
Release Date- 10th March 2008
Genre- Drama
Award- won best single drama award
Company- Tiger Aspect Productions

White girl is a single length drama based around an eleven year old girl from an unstable British working class family. This is a review from the daily telegraph, with quotes from Maxwell Martin who plays Leah’s father.
Tells the story of a hard-up family who relocate to Bradford. They find themselves in a racial minority, vulnerable and alone in a community they don’t understand, whose customs and religious faith they do not share. The most startling thing about this minority family’s predicament, however, is that they are white.
Maxwell Martin plays Debbie, an illiterate, borderline alcoholic mother of three, who moves her family to a new city to escape her lazy, pot-smoking and abusive husband, Stevie (Daniel Mays). You’d think from this description that Debbie would be a largely sympathetic character. In fact, says Maxwell Martin, she’s, “very frustrating, and not always particularly likeable. You just want Debbie to get a grip and be a mum, which, even after the move, she doesn’t really manage.”
Debbie soon slips back into bad habits and Stevie reappears, joint in hand, which leaves the family’s only responsible member looking after everyone: Debbie’s 11-year-old daughter Leah (Holly Kenny).
Leah, though, is struggling to cope, firstly with her alien surroundings (she and her younger siblings are the only white children at the local school) and then with Debbie’s repeated relapses. Inspired by the example of her classmates and a family of good-natured neighbours, Leah takes refuge in an unlikely place: Islam.
“For me, Leah could have adopted any religion,” says Maxwell Martin. “I don’t think it specifically has to be Islam. Hers is not so much a spiritual awakening as the case of a young girl finding something that gives her solace and a sense of community.”
The sight of Leah wearing a hijab [a Muslim headscarf] at a family wedding enrages Debbie. But, over time, Leah’s religious resolve starts to rub off on her mother. “Debbie has always laid down and taken the punches. She’s very self-pitying. But thanks to Leah’s example, she has a gradual awakening. Debbie realises, almost by osmosis, that she doesn’t have to be guided by Stevie, or her mum, or alcohol. In a way, this is a love story between a mother and a daughter: they’re both trying to reach each other and find an equilibrium.”
There are further fraught battles to be won, not least against Stevie, but White Girl finds cause for optimism in an otherwise bleak situation. “The really wonderful thing about Leah,” says Maxwell Martin, “is that although she berates Debbie, she always has faith in her. And, in the end, I think Debbie wakes up to that.”
Main themes-
Broken nuclear family- The first image is that of the family running away from the father and the last sees the mother and her three children crouched together in their new home.
Broken community- Leah tires to find a new culture to fit in with her new community as she can’t find it in the one that she is in. However there is a British community evident in the drama although it is flawed, when the mother is out for the hen do and at the wedding we are presented with a stereotypical ‘British’ culture. In both situations alcohol is present though making the community flawed. In comparison the Muslim community the attitudes and values seem to be aimed more towards family, happiness and a real community which is bound by their devotion to their religion. This is important as it reverses the stereotypical views we hold on other cultures and suggests that of the British culture is coarse in comparison.
Anti social behaviour- The father is laced in with criminal behaviour, but so is the grandmother which suggests the main role models are flawed. The mother herself is reliant on alcohol. This projects a negative outcome on the children themselves in fact Leah’s brother is being used as a drugs mule by his father. This behaviour is the catalyst for the two above categories.

Front cover.Front and Inner cover.

In order to construct our audience research myself and Amy Nolan conducted a focus group, distributed questionnaires and interviewed a professional music video producer from Triggerset, Matt Clarke. Below are the videos produced from our focus group which included five females of the ages seventeen and eighteen. The girls were chosen as the corresponded with our ‘stereotypical’ target audience ( http://flincoln.blogspot.com/2010/03/target-audience-profile.html ), of fashion interested, aspiring, down to earth, middle-class white females, in further education, who listen to mainstream music channels. The focus group which we filmed in a school classroom was filmed in individual slots to collect more detailed and truthful feedback, as shown in past studies when audiences are interviewed in a group it is less likely that you will gain information from all of the members as the shyer characters will always rely on the more dominant ones. Also peer pressure and embarrassment can cause people to be untruthful and vague in their answers so not to draw attention to themselves. All of this means that one on one interviews are more relaxing for the participant and gain feedback from sources that may have otherwise been overlooked.From the feedback it became clear that my target audience felt that the video worked well to compliment the genre of the song, and overall was an appealing professional and appreciated piece of work. The comments have highlighted some weak points within the video which could be reworked to make the piece even more professional, however none of the comments were worrying or unexpected.
Target Video 1

Target video 2

Target video 3

Target video 4

Target video 5

From the feedback it became clear that my target audience felt that the video worked well to compliment the genre of the song, and overall was an appealing professional and appreciated piece of work. The comments have highlighted some weak points within the video which could be reworked to make the piece even more professional, however none of the comments were worrying or unexpected.

Video:
This is a list of the key points and criticisms from the focus session.

• Some of the colours in the shots contrasted with the rest of the video. These were the close up on the singer’s mouth, the shot of the purse and the ending sequence outside. Also our audience felt that the close up mouth shots didn’t fit in with the rest of the video as they contrasted heavily to the softer shots.
• Another shot which the audience didn’t like was the use of the plastic balls. Though they initially liked the shot, it wasn’t clear to them why it had been included. However I don’t think this is a problem as they didn’t think it affected the video aesthetically.
• The audience said that their favourite shots were the opening stills as they immediately broke the ice and drew them to the video. Also they felt that they worked well with the genre of music and suited the rest of the video acting as a mini prologue. They also felt that the ending shot was fairly strong when the use of ellipsis jumps the singer further along the path as it broke up what could have been a monotonous sequence.
• All of the girls interviewed placed the video in a similar genre, and said they expected to see the video on main stream music channels. Each girl said that the video would influence them to look further into the artist which was very good to hear. The fact that they all had similar view of positive as it proves the genre conventions we tried to use were correct and obvious.
• When it was revealed to the girls that the girl in the video wasn’t the actually artist and just a representation they told me that they felt she fit in with the role. Her face was feminine and friendly and her attitude captured what the song was about. This was good to hear as casting the correct artist was difficult, as you can see from my planning I tried many different isles before finally focusing on Freya.

Ancillary feedback video

From my ancillary task feedback it became clear that my consumers felt the use of similar imagery and colouring within my digipak, magazine advert and music video made a marketable and obvious brand, with each person giving the products as a package nine out of ten. This is pleasing as it supports my ideal of constructing my artist as a brand and breaching into many different forms of consumerism. Also by successfully linking the products my audience has been able to make a clear link between the merchandise, and as they mentioned that the pieces may make them look further into the artist, being able to clearly know what they are looking for is a positive.
Something which was mentioned during the research was that the colours used could have been brighter and warmer, to better entice an audience. I agree with my audience and feel that the use of a brighter colour also would have connoted the summertime feeling of the song and worked well to advertise the folk genre of the music. Both girls mentioned that the products colouring was weak, and so if I was to revise my designs I would add another dimension or colour to the products to attract my audience.
When asked which of the panes appealed most to my audience I was given contrasting answers, whilst one person said they liked the lyrical pane and felt that the guitar pane was the worst as it did not bring anything to the package another said that the guitar pane was her favourite. However when later questioned the girl that picked the guitar pane divulged that she was a fan of metal and rock music, which suggests that the visual aspects of a case are just as important when advertising the style of an artist as the actual music.

Magazine advert

• Both girls said that the advert linked well with both the digipak and the video through my use of similar imagery and themes, which is helpful for marketing my artist as a brand. It also suggests that I have created a sustainable brand.
• One girl said that the advert doesn’t grab the reader’s attention enough, and another explained that the light colouring wouldn’t make her stop to look. As this problem also occurred when speaking about the digipak I feel that I need to revaluate the colour schemes that I used, and instead of focusing on the brand of the product, try to make the individual aesthetics pleasing.
• The two girls said that the Advert gave them enough information without giving to much away, and the slight ambiguity left them wanting to know more. However one participant felt that the name should be brought to the top of the page as it should be the first thing you see and the thing that remains in your mind which I agree with. Also they felt that the chosen quotes suited the genre of music.

Digipak

• One of my audience said that the digipak was whimsical and reminded her of a fairytale, which connects to the story telling nature of folk music. She said that seeing the digipak would lead her to assume that the music was folk/pop. This reflects her point about the fairytale in that the designs are very light and feminine and happy.
• The other member of my audience said that the digipak wouldn’t make them want to buy the album as they are into rock music and heavy metal. This showed me that because my designs conform to my genre, they immediately deter anyone who listens to other genres of music. This will have a negative effect on the range of audience I attract and so I would be inclined to release another range of packaging to see what response I received. Especially since the girl said she liked the song once she had heard it.
• One girl said that she liked the close up pane of the artists face surrounded by the tree as it clearly introduced who the artist was and linked backed to the music video. She also said that the guitar pane was the least affective as it didn’t tie in with the rest of the package. However my other audience member stated that the guitar pane was her favourite, as it related to the music that she likes. This once again shows how important genre can be for marketing.
• Both girls felt that the digipak linked in well with the video, by using similar imagery and colouring, which is what I wanted to achieve. However they both felt that the colouring if the case was to pale as it didn’t draw their attention, and said that it was to cold for the summery music. If I was to re-evaluate my packaging I would use a warmer colour pallet, to attract my audience but also to make the packet more fun.
• Both of my audience members liked the fact that the digipak offered the bonus DVD as they felt it added a special quality to the case and gave it individuality compared to a normal CD case. They also liked the design and the inclusion of the lyrics as they felt they were getting their moneys worth. This reflects what I wanted to achieve when planning my design.

Another form of feedback for my music video, used was questionnaires. Ten questionnaires were handed out to my target audience age group of seventeen to eighteen year olds (as these are the people that watch and listen to mainstream music channels and music.) However instead of only asking my specific demographic audience of females, I decided to address males as well to see whether the music and video is appealing to another gender. From the research it became clear that whilst 100% of the females would want to watch the video again only 40% of males said that they would, commenting that they didn’t connect with the music or performer. One specific member said that the performance shots were boring whilst another said ‘It’s just not my style.’ highlighting that I am appealing to my perfect target audience.
90% of my audience said they thought the video belonged either to the folk or pop genre (with other suggestions being Indie and Alternative) and 100% of the group said they felt the video suited the genre. This is encouraging as I want the video to be as appealing as possible to my target audience and genre specific.
These are some comments collected from the questionnaires:
What did you think of the video?
‘Smooth pace strong transitions.’
‘Story worked well with the song’
‘Suits the genres, happy, cute and fun, nice colour tones and good actors’

What did you find most enjoyable about the video?
‘The stop motion at the beginning’
‘Performance shots, very effective’
‘The stop motion frames were pretty damn cool!’

Where would you expect to see the video?
‘MTV mainstream music ’
‘4Music, VIVA, MTV etc.’
‘Internet blogs, YouTube’

These were the comments that I received from a processional digital animator, and producer from Triggerset, Matt Clarke.
“The tone of the video complemented the song and style of the artist. The speed and composition of the piece was very good, synchronising well with the music. It used an impressive and varied use of shot types which held my attention. It made me feel as though I was watching a story as well a music video, which transcends your genre and accolades the song. The outside ending shot was very well put together however contrasted with the gradient of the other performance shots. You used very good transitions which didn’t appear jagged or misused. If you were to recreate the video again I would suggest that you looked at the grading of the shots, to give your audience a suggested time frame of what time the video was shot.”
I feel that the comments Clarke made correspond well with the views of my target audience and that if I was to remake or tune my products I should look at the way I use colouring and saturation as it is very important to the genre and theme of my music, and can make a measurable difference to how appealing and eye-catching a products are.
Below is an example of one of Triggerset’s videos and a quote from their website.
“Triggerset is a video production company specializing in the creation of bespoke visuals for the music and events industry.
We have many years experience of performing visuals live and the unique way in which we perform gives us an ideal platform to build content for live synchronized visual shows.
Over the past four years Triggerset has continued to grow, seeing its range of artists and clients with which it collaborates expand.”

This is a basic spider diagram of what I would expect my target audience to be like:These are some general bullet points I think would also apply to my audience:
Female
Fashion conscious
Fun
Summery
Outgoing
Sporty
Laid back
Music loving
Happy go lucky
15-19
To produce an idea of my target audience as a whole, I visited the website http://www.findyourtribe.co.uk/ and inputted the data that I thought best applied to a member of my target audience. Find your tribe states that everyone belongs to a 'click' and that all you need to do is find the right one for you. I think that my audience will be living in the south of the country, so I looked up which groups were the most popular in the region they were; 'Townies', 'Rahs' and 'Indie scenesters', descriptions to which can all be found on the webpage.The site profiled my audience member as a ‘Rah’ with ‘Blinger’ influences. Below are two screen shots which profile each of these groups.Though I agree that my audience members do conform to the Rah stereotype, I think that they are not as materially possessive or elitist. I don’t really agree with the Blinger profile as it refers more to listeners of RnB and Hip hop. I also had a look at the profiles to see if there were that were connected to my target audience, below is the profile for DIYers as I felt some of the aspects retained to my audience.

Fish Tank,
Misfits,
White Girl,
The History Boys