Task 1 - city of god

City of God is a 2002 Brazilian crime drama film (gangster film) directed by Fernando Meirelles. In this analysis i will be explaining detailed points in comparison to target audience, genre, representation, narrative and use of violence. 

The genre of City Of God would be gangster. The genre is established through the motel scene, where Lil'Dice, ( also known as lil ze)and the tender trio rob a motel, although this causes an enigma as the audience have to wonder what happened considering everyone ends up dying, but it doesn't show who had done it. The genre is made clear throughout the film by the narrator, use of violence, language and drugs. This is because the narrator is explaining everything everything that happens and why and the violence, language and drugs makes it clear that it is a typical gangster film. The personalities portrayed through the characters and the gang wars also make the genre clear, due to the explicit content and feud over control of the city and selling the most drugs, which results in the most power. The sense of realism is created through the film because the location, this is because the film is made in the location where the real events happened, which impacts the audience to feel more sympathetic to the characters. Also, the use of children when fighting, relationship between the characters and lack of education adds to the sense of realism as it gives the audience a feel of what is really happening in the city of god and also makes them feel sympathetic to the characters. The fact that the characters in the film are people who actually live in the city of god that were trained to act in the film adds a sense of realism because its like the audience get to see life from their point of view. Also, the struggle shown through the lifestyles of the characters and the use of drugs add to the sense of realism as it shows what really happens in the city of god and how each character is living. 

The target audience for this film would be 18+ because of the content (drugs, sex and violence). Also because of the fact it has subtitles and younger audiences may not be able to focus on the actual film and reading. The film is targeted mainly towards a make audience due to the fact that the majority of characters in the film are male, also because of the level of sexual references and nudity and violence. A male audience would be more interested in those themes, whereby a female may find it more offensive. The typical audience for this film would be interested in music, films that contain violence, crime and drugs, drug warfare and the lifestyle of which these characters live in.  The audience has been targeted through the use of violence and real life events that make the film seem more intriguing. In terms of demographics, i feel the audience would be in the group D because of their interest and lifestyle. 

The violence and use of drugs drives the narrative forward. City of God is a non-linear, multi-strand narrative as it has more than one person's point of view and the order of events is in non-chronological order. The beginning of the film starts off with an introduction to the end of the film. It starts off with an event that happens at the end of the film and then goes to the beginning of the film and tells the story that leads up to that moment. This is because it creates enigma and causes the audience to question what is going to happen and create situations in their head of which they think is going to happen. The beginning of the film also gives the audience an introduction to the characters and their background of when they were younger. The middle of the film shows a montage of short clips that identify what has been happening for the characters through the years up until the present. The end of the film shows how the city of god had divided into 2 separate groups at war and how it impacted the city. It also starts back at the beginning, where the opening scene of the film becomes clearer for the audience. The themes of the film would be jealousy, violence, poverty, revenge, loyalty, friendship and betrayal. Each of these themes are represented at various points throughout the films especially through the violent scene such as when benny dies, during the war and the motel scene. 

The main characters in the film would be Rocket, Lil Dice/Lil'Ze, Benny, Carrot, Knockout Ned and the runts. Rocket is the narrator, he is aspiring to be a photographer and is the only one of the characters the is serious about getting an education. Rocket is a calm, friendly person who then gets a job as a photographer for the city paper. He gets paid by Lil'Ze to take pictures of him and put on the front page. Rocket is a character that the audience generally feels sorry for as he is often put in situations where he is scared or doesn't know what to do. Lil'Ze is the man character as the film follows his life from when he is younger till when he is a lot more grown up. Lil'Ze is represented as a very violent character, who from a young age got himself involved in violent acts. He is also one the leaders involved in war/feud against Carrot. He is also one of the city's top drug lords and a lot of people are scared of him, and respect him due to all of the power he has. Benny is the best friend of Lil'Ze, he is killed by mistake when someone was trying to kill Lil'Ze. Benny is the only one that could keep Lil'Ze calm and restore peace in the city. He was a fun and loveable character and was a ladies man which made him very popular. Benny gave Rocket his first camera, which made him want to pursuit his photographer career even more, which shows he is a caring person. The runts were represented as violent, unruly and desperate for power, which is why they killed Lil'Ze. They kill, steal and have no parental guidance or education which makes them feel more powerful as a lot of people are frightened of them.

The stereotypes of the film would be that the slums consist of poor people of a black/Portuguese ethnicity. This is shown as they are the only race in the city of god in comparison to the local town where there are people making more money of a white portuguese ethnicity. Violence and sex are themes in the film. Women are seen as sexual objects in the film and violence is portrayed through the characters struggle and desperation. The people of the city are living in poor conditions and they do not have much variety of clothing which shows they are struggling. 

The positive representations of the film would be that Rocket had goals and knew where he wanted to go in life which beat the representation of the uneducated children in the city of god. Also, Benny tired to create peace and wholeness through the city. The negative representations would be that the police were corrupt due to bribery from Lil'Ze.  

The use of violence in the film is quite explicit. The main violent scenes in the film would be when Lil'Ze kills the people at the motel, steak killing the 2 boys and benny's death. The scenes within the film that could cause offence/controversy would be when Lil'Ze rapes knockout ned's girlfriend and when shorty murders his wife. All of these scene show what really happens in the city of god and how much struggle. 

Task 2 - reception theory

Reception theory. 

The reception theory indicates that films do not have an effect on the audience whereby they are influenced to carryout similar acts to what is shown on screen, e.g. a viewer that sees a violent act when watching a film brings in their own morals and can determine that using violence is the incorrect way to act. This theory suggests that the audience is able to interpret the meaning of the film based on their own background and life experiences.

The texts that they are in the process of consuming might include a preferred, oppositional, negotiated or aberrant reading.

A preferred reading is a way of understanding the film to be consistent with the ideas and intentions portrayed throughout. This means that the viewers may accept the values shown through the film and are more likely to be effected by the film in terms of how they interpret the different acts of violence in the film in comparison to how they act in everyday life.

A negotiated reading is the understanding that individual has a choice as to whether or not they accept the preferred reading. This means as well as accepting some of the consistent ideas and intentions of the producer, the audience is also able to filter their own ideas and argue that a particular social group may be unfairly represented.

An oppositional reading (or radical response) is where individual members of an audience may completely reject the acceptance of the preferred reading, which would be the dominant values within the text. This indicates that the audience is able to interpret the film in their own way.

An aberrant reading is where an entirely different meaning is produced by the audience from that intended by the producer. This could be when individual members of the audience do not share in anyway the same values of the producer. A famous example of this was the television series ‘To Death Us Do Part’ – the makers of the film created the racist character ‘Alf Garnett’ as a figure of fun but some members of the audience saw this character as a hero.

The reception theory can be used to interpret films 

In terms of how the audience would be affected by the exposure of violent content in films depends solely on the narrative and message picked up by the audience whilst watching the film. In some cases i feel that violent films can have a huge impact on the way individuals react to a film, mainly depending on their age, lifestyle and mental acuity. For example, the Jamie Bulger case is one about a 2 year old boy who was abducted, tortured then murdered by two 10 year olds boys after watching Child's play 3. Jamies body was found tied to a railway track two days after his murder. This shows that violent films do have an affect on people as they choose to interpret these films in their own manor. Although, many will argue that these two boys should not have been allowed to watch this film, others argue that the film may have influenced them to do this but is not the only reason they may have done so, as they had planned it out thoroughly. On the otherhand, people who are more prone to seeing violent acts or have watched a fair share of violent movies are a lot less likely to be affect by them, whereas people who are not exposed to violent acts or do not watch violent movies would not expect to see a certain level of violence and would react a lot differently towards them. Films such as Scarface and City Of God has caused controversy as people believe that the violent scene shown in these films could have a negative affect on the audience, whereby they copy the violent events being shown. 

Scarface is a very violent film that focuses solely around the involvement of drugs.  Due to the fact that the reception theory states that the films are not passively accepted by the audience but the viewer interprets the meaning based on their individual cultural backgrounds and life experiences, i feel that Scarface would have a negotiated reading. This is because the individual has a choice as to whether they accept the preferred reading or not. They may accept some of the dominant values and exsisting social structure but they are prepared to argue that a particular social group may be fairly represented. When an individual watches Scarface they are seeing life through another perspective that may be very different to their own. The audience are able to accept the fact that Tony Montana is a immigrant that came to America for a better lifestyle. They are able to accept this as it happens no matter where you are in the world. Although, killing the lawyer in order to get the green card may come to a surprise to some of the audience as it comes across more exaggerated and non-realistic. Seeing things like this allow the audience to filter the film through their own personal agenda and understand that people react to different situations in a variety of ways without letting it affect them in a negative way. In Scarface the women are very poorly represented in a way by which they are always shown wearing minimal clothing, they take drugs and are generally sexually objectified as the narrative progresses. The audience may feel quite offended (especially female viewers) whilst watching this, although they are willing to accept that women are portrayed this way massively in films, especially in the gangster film genre. The audience would be willing to argue that the women in this film are being unfairly represented, but are able to bring in their own morals to decide that women are not as sexually objectified as they once were, and take into account that in reality the majority of women compose themselves alot better than they are shown to in this film.

 The violent scenes in Scarface that can potentially influence the audience into copying what they see would be Tonys death, Franks death and Manolo's death. These scene are potentially suggesting that killing someone who has betrayed you in any way is okay. In many instances people have already done this in reality which may be linked back to violent films that they have watched. Although, in this case the audience are able to determine that violence is the incorrect way to act, which allows them to interpret the meaning. 

Just like violence, the use of drugs in Scarface is very frequent. Just by seeing the type of lifestyle Tony Montana has before his major downfall may encourage people to start taking drugs or selling drugs. Many people watching this film are influenced into selling drugs by thinking it is a gateway to wealth and power when in reality it isnt. Especially if you are growing up in an area where there is alot of drug related activity going on around you, you are more influenced to join this lifestyle thinking it will be as easy as Tony Montana makes it seem. However, the reception theory shows us that although this is what is being shown to the audience they are open to the idea that people to do live this kind of lifestyle and they are able to interpret the meaning based on their individual background and life experiences. Meaning people from a similiar background to Tony will understand more about the life of illegal sellings of drugs and accept the preferred meaning of understanding that the film is consistent with the ideas and intentions of the producer and potentially determine that taking drugs is wrong. 

Just like Scarface, City Of God is a very violent film based around drugs and a feud between two characters. Due to the fact that the reception theory states thats the films are not passively accepted by the audience but the viewer interprets the meaning based on their individual cultural backgrounds and life experiences, i feel that City Of God would have a preferred reading. This is because it is a way of understanding that the film is consistent with the ideas and intentions of the producer and it may lead to an acceptance of the dominant values within the text. There are many scenes in the film that may influence the audience into copying for example, selling/taking drugs. The selling and taking drugs may influence the audience massively because the film shows young children smoking marijuana so they could possibly think that it is okay to do, especially as almost everyone in the film does smoke it. The selling of drugs may influence people (mainly children in similar circumstances) into doing this aswell, as it is the fastest way to make money in areas where not many people are educated and have a chance of leaving.  The preferred reading shows us that the audience accepts the dominant values within the film, mainly based the film is based on real life events and this is what happens on a day-to-day basis in the City Of God. Although, the audience are able to determine that using drugs is not an acceptable way to act. Other acts of violence include children killing, shooting children and the war between Carrot and Lil'Ze. The fact that the film uses children to illustrate just how bad things are in the City Of God, makes the audience uncomfortable yet realise just how bad people are living. For other children that could be potentially watching this film with a similar cultural background and life experiences, they may feel influenced to start selling drugs as it is portrayed as a positive thing whereby uneducated children can make money. Although, the general audience agrees to the film being consistent with the ideas and intentions of the producer, they can potentially determine that this is an incorrect way to act. 

City Of God portrays the lifestyle of Lil,Ze positive. It shows him making his way to becoming the top drug lord for the city, making money, controlling the city and bribing the police to avoid getting arrested. This can potentially make the audience feel like they can do the same things and get away with them, especially if they have the same cultural background as Lil'Ze. Although the audience understand that it is not the best way to act, they accept the intentions of the producer and the dominant values within the film. 

In conclusion, the preferred reading tells us that the audience accepts the ideas and intentions of the producer and also acceptsbthe dominant values within the film even if they cannot directly relate to the events that occur, however they understand that acting in a way similar to what is shown throught the film is not acceptable and do not allow themselves to be influenced into copying them. The negotiated reading tells us that an individual has a choice as to whether or not they accept the preferred reading based on their own morals and culture. So based on this, the audience is not likely to be influenced into copying the acts shown in the films. 

Task 4 - gangster article

The typical gangster film is focused around ruthless characters with loose morals in their pursuit of a glamorous façade of the ‘American dream’. Most gangster films show the protagonist through their quest for more power, which often leads to a downfall, whereby the protagonist (almost always) ends up dead. These films always contain some sort of violence, use of drugs and sexual objectification of women. Although, many question ‘what is it about this genre that had captivated millions of viewers and world-wide critical praise?’ But since this genre is laced with an abundance of crime and brutality, what more can we expect? A typical modern day genre film contains a desensitising amount of violence and sexual references, whereby the audience expect to see this and would be less interested if shown anything less. The gangster genre has remained very successful throughout the years, gaining critical approval for the films such as Scarface, City of God, Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction. Scarface is a 1983 American gangster film starring Al Pacino, which was directed by Brian De Palma. Most gangster films are single strand narrative although you get a couple that are multi-strand or alternative narrative such as City Of God. They do this to captivate the perspective of different characters or to establish previous events. Most of these films have some sort of enigma whereby the audience are left trying to figure out why something in the film has happened, just like in City of God. The film starts off with a group of people chasing a chicken! you just have to think to yourself, what the hell is going on! why is the chicken so important? But, It all becomes clear in the end. 

Scarface is one of the most violent and humorous: yet one of the most controversial films in its genre due to the explicit content shown in almost every scene. The use of drugs/selling of drugs in Scarface is very significant as the film is solely based around the selling of drugs to gain the power, money and respect Tony Montana is trying to achieve. The majority of scenes in Scarface consist of the characters taking/selling or discussing drugs (in this case, cocaine.) Just like Scarface, most gangster films are based around the involvement of drugs. For example, drug culture in City of God is expressed through many ways in the film. It is represented as a common trade, which is accumulated with wealth in the City Of God. This is because of the lack of education and the selling of drugs is also the quickest way to make money in the City of God. A significant scene in this film that expresses the importance of drugs would be the war between the two drug lords Carrot and Lil’Ze. The war shows a divide in the city, which results in a break out of war as they are competing to be the wealthiest drug dealer and have the most power of the city. Although, this gives the audience an insight to see the lifestyles of these real-life characters and that the drug use is not as exaggerated as they may have thought it to be.  The use of drugs in gangster films, are just as expected to see as the violence. The violence is influential on the audience. Ever heard about the Jamie Bulger case? No? Well it involved two ten-year-old boys who kidnapped, tortured then murdered a 2 year old boy, just after watching Child's play 3. Now, the hypodermic needle model would suggests that the two boys passively received the information transmitted via the film, without any attempt on their part to process the data, But who would expect a 10 year old to do so? Children copy anything they see! But can their upbringing be at fault here? 

Representation 

scarface audience

In terms of the audience for Scarface, the classification would be 18+ due to the explicit content and use of language within the film. Although the film is generally aimed towards people aged 18+ i feel like it targets people more in the late 20's to 30's. this is because the film was made in the late 1980's which means the expectations in gangster film have changed a lot from that period of time in comparison to now. Reasons as to why i feel that the audience would be more for this age group is because of the content of the film and the way each action is shown. e.g. the taking of the drugs/the drug dealings and the violence shown throughout the film. The parts of the film that involved drugs i feel was quite frequent in comparison to modern day gangster films. also, in comparison to modern gangster film the characters are from different backgrounds and the struggle from coming from nothing to having everything is completely different, which is why i feel it is for an older age group as they can relate to what is happening more, because they grew up around what is being shown through scarface, whereas teenagers now wouldn't not quite relate to the narrative portrayed through the film as much as the people who experienced it.

task 3 - audience report

Task 3 – audience report

Both the Lift and Bowling for Columbine use different techniques and conventions to target their audiences. In this report, I will be exploring those techniques, as well as explaining who the audience are and the similarities and differences in relation to the way the audience has been targeted between both documentaries.

Bowling for Columbine is a documentary focusing on the high school massacre that occurred in 1999 in Columbine, as well as exploring violence and gun crime in the USA. The target audience for this documentary is segmented as it has aspects that appeal to more than one target audience through the content being shown. Because of this, the target audience would be mainstream as many people of different ages and who have different interest would be open to watching the documentary. Bowling for Columbine is a documentary that is more aimed towards citizens in the USA who are concerned about violence and gun crime. I also feel that it is aimed towards young adults e.g. people in high school who can relate to some of the issues shown through the documentary. The ideal audience for the documentary would be young adults e.g. 18 +, also I feel the documentary if more targeted towards a male audience. As well as this, the documentary would relate to other audiences, although the overall effect of the documentary would differ to those who maybe own a gun for protective and do not use it otherwise.

Reasons as to why I feel it targeted these groups of people is because, it is more enlightening than serious, which is why it would relate to a younger audience. Also it makes the audience think about the subjects he is exploring and puts the younger audience in a position as to where they think about themselves being put in life threatening positions and whether having a gun is the safest option. It explores different qualities of having gun as well as showing the audience how easy it is to be in possession of a gun and the local shops/supermarkets you can buy one from. He had done interviews with some students that were injured from the massacre that occurred in Columbine High School that had spoken about the experience and the students that caused it. I feel that parents may have been able to relate to this more as they think about their own children in this type of situation, which would naturally make them want to do anything to prevent it from happening to a member of their family, which may also make them think twice about having a gun in their household.

Bowling for Columbine uses many different techniques and conventions that relate and engage the audience. For example, they use interviews, CCTV footage and public opinions to convey a certain meaning through the documentary. Interviews are used the give the audience a further understanding of the topics being discussed and to hear different peoples personal opinions. An example of this would be towards the start of the documentary, when Michael wen to visit a man who was arrested on attempt to build mass destruction weapons e.g. nuclear bombs. Just by hearing this title the audience would automatically jump to conclusions, which is why a personal statement from the man allowed the audience to get a better understanding of the situation. This is similar to the lift in the sense that they both use interviews, although it differentiates because of the meaning behind the interviews. In bowling for Columbine, the purpose for the interviews was to allow people to have their say on the subject matter or to confirmed/set straight allegations made against them. Whereas, the lift used the interviews to allow the audience to get to know the characters.  The documentary used CCTV footage, when showing exactly what happened at Columbine High School in 1999, following from the massacre already mentioned. Doing this, contributed to the awareness the audience had on the subject matter and allowed them to think about whether having the right to own a gun is the best thing for their country. Another convention that was used throughout the documentary would be images and facts on the U.S government, which gave an insight to how the U.S government funded Osama Bin Laden’s training, sent weapons to Iraq etc. This also differentiates from the lift as; it didn’t use CCTV footage, as it was more simple and straight forward. Another technique Moore used in the documentary was using past students from Columbine high who were affected by the massacre to try and put a stop towards the careless selling of guns in the U.S. This was shown when Moore took 2 of the students to the Kmart headquarters and explained what happened to them. This resulted in Kmart decreasing the amount of bullets and weaponry they sell in store.

The lift is a documentary focusing on the lifestyle of residents from a block of flats in east London. The target audience for this documentary would be niche, as it targets a smaller group of people that may have similar interests, although this documentary may appeal to more than one audience. I feel as if the target audience would be people who live in areas like east London, although not necessarily in a council flat. Also, I imagine that the audience would be a mixture of male and female, of any ethnicity and above the age 0f 30. It makes the audience feel engaged to what is going on by content of what is in the documentary as it allows them to emotionally connect with the characters shown to them. The audience would be able to relate to some of the things shown through some of the documentary as it shows how different people act towards situation and it also shows that everyone has their own story and to judge someone before getting to know them is unfair. This is shown especially through the man who had schizophrenia, as the audience may have felt confused when first introduced to him as he acted in an off-manner. However, once the documentary progressed it allowed the audience to hear more from him, which resulted in feeling sympathetic for the man.

The lift uses many different techniques and conventions to engage the audience and make them feel involved in what is happening throughout the documentary. This includes the narrative, interviews, editing techniques etc. The narrative from the beginning to end was to get information on the lifestyle of residents in London, however the documentary started by showing a bee, that was flying around in the elevator, trying to escape, and throughout the whole documentary, they used cut away shots to show the bee. Each time the bee was shown, it was less lively each time until it eventually died in the elevator, confirming that the end of the documentary was close. Both documentaries had their own narrative, although they were explained in different ways. The narrative of bowling for columbine would be about gun crime and violence which is why they use a lot of supporting evidence, whereas the lift was not as serious and did not need a lot of detail. The use of interviews engaged the audience to the characters in the in documentary as they were introduced to a number of interesting people, that by the end of the documentary the audience got to know a lot about. The editing techniques used would be cut away shots; this was used so that the content did not get too boring for audience, as well as it being used to show different parts of conversations at different points. The cut away shots also helped to tell the storyline of the bee. Bowling for columbine also used cut away shots, although they used them to switch from one story to a next. They also used a wide range of shot size e.g. mid shot (for interviews, to ensure the audience is concentrated on the person), close up (to show the different expressions of the meaning in the characters face) and establishing shot to add context to the different scenes.

In conclusion, Bowling for columbine used a lot more conventions and different ways they could target the audience, due to the subject matter and length of the documentary in comparison to the lift.

task 2 - audience profile

Audience profile – bowling for columbine

 

Name: Maria Scott 

Age: 36

Gender: Female

Ethnicity: White

Nationality: American

Geo –Graphic location: United States

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Educational background: Dropped out of school and age of 14

Marital status: widowed

Occupation: sales assistant at supermarket

Income: $14,500 P/A

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Favourite       TV programme: Cops

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Religion: Catholic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interests: watching TV, babysitting, going out with her children.

 

Demographics: In terms of demographics, Maria would be classified as, D. This is because she works as a cashier (sales assistant) so she wouldn’t be received a high salary, also she is widowed so there is no other income in the household and is completely dependant on the job she has.

 

Socio-economics status: Low SES. This is because income, education and occupation are taken into account. In terms of income, it refers to wages, salary, profits and rent, social security or any other governmental, public, or family financial assistance. Due to the fact that Maria does not receive a decent income and relies on things such as benefits, child support and tax credits she is deemed financially unstable, especially as there is only one source of income going into the household, which puts her at a disadvantage in comparison to someone who would be MID-HIGH SES. In terms of education, Maria did not get the best start as she did not finish school, which means she did not get any qualifications to progress onto higher education, and ended up with less of a chance to receive the best career pathway. Lastly, her occupation effects the amount of salary received as sales assistants in a supermarket would not be earning enough each month to leave Maria in a financially stable position, taking into consideration she has 3 children, 2 of which are under the age of 10.

 

 

Audience profile – Lift

 

Name: Paul Bretton

Age: 42

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: White

Nationality: British

Geographic Location - London

 

 

 

 

 

Educational background – studied public services in university. Graduated.

Occupation – fire fighter

Income: £28,766 per annum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Favourite TV programme – Banged up abroad

 

Religion – No religion/Atheist

 

Interests: spending time with family, watching TV, passionate about work/ a lot of over-time.

 

Demographics: In terms of demographics, Paul would be classified as a C. This is because he has a well-paid job, which allows him to live a decent lifestyle. Due to the fact he works within the public services field. There is also a second income within the household, as he is married and his partner works, so as a whole they are financially stable, and doesn’t have to dependent on anyone from source of income.

 

Socio-economics status: Middle SES. This is because income, education and occupation are taken into account. In terms of income, it refers to wages, salary, profits and rent, social security or any other governmental, public, or family financial assistance. Due to the fact that Paul receives a decent salary that doesn’t put him in a position whereby he has to depend on others around him or benefits, he financially stable and can afford to live his preferred lifestyle. Therefore, Paul earns a relative income as it dictates his family savings and consumption based on family income. Education also comes into terms in relation to socio-economics as the higher level of education you have to the more likely you are to earn a better salary. This benefitted Paul as he has completed the highest qualification he could have and went on the pursuit a career in his chosen educational field. Lastly, occupation is a major factor, as it determines the amount of income that will contribute to the overall household income each month.