Now that you know a lot about the film and the director you need to focus on one aspect that will help you to construct an answer in the exam.
We will focus on the marketing of the film. The film is primarily aimed at
an educated, media literate and socially aware audience but tries to
broaden this appeal with an innovative marketing campaign which proved to be very successful in the online age of social media. The film has grossed over $8 million which is much more than previous Ken Loach films. This is largely ascribed to the marketing strategy.
TASK ONE
Study the trailer for the film. Analyse messages and meanings by conducting a textual analysis of the trailer.
TASK TWO
Now look at the posters used to market the film. Analyse them using your toolkit for analysis. We will complete the analysis together in class to add to our understanding.
Cropping
Framing
Use of mise-en-scene
Anchorage
Star
Awards
Title
Body Language
Facial expression
Colour
Font
TASK THREE
Marketing Campaign : Key Facts You need to know how this marketing campaign became a model for success in the industry. This is one reason why this text has been chosen and you will be expected to know about it.
The distribution company for the film was 'eONE' Explore this company by clicking on the link. A grassroots campaign was led by Alex Hamilton
The Premiere was held in Newcastle rather than London. Trinity Mirror also promoted the film through a series of articles in the left leaning 'Daily Mirror'
Disruptive Display Advertising included masthead and front cover takeovers.
Marketing stressed the realist element such as filmed on location using real settings such as a food bank. Extras were not actors but local people and were featured in the marketing linking to authenticity. No special effects and no soundtrack.
Dirty graffiti was used where a stencil is sprayed to leave a title.
A variety of other techniques were employed. We will use an article from Media Magazine to revise these. See if you can find some other techniques employed to market the film.
TASK FOUR
Study how social media was used to market the film
The following information is form the EDUQAS fact-sheet which you should also be using to revise your knowledge of the film.
Consider how media organisations maintain,
including through marketing, varieties
of audiences nationally and globally:
The marketing materials establish the status and reputation of the film – positive critical
comments on the poster, reference to the
Palme d’Or award in the trailer.
The genre (British social realist film) and
director Ken Loach are important factors in
maintaining an audience. Loach has a long
history of directing work in the genre (Kes from
• There are specific and distinct potential
audiences that the film is attempting
to target through its marketing:
The trailer references the BBC, BFI and the
Palme d’Or. Discuss the extent to which these
references suggest an assumed education and
level of media literacy in the target audience.
The trailer explores specific governmental
policy which also may suggest audiences
will have an awareness of political and social issues in the UK.
The only specific “star” identfied in the
trailer using intertitles is the director Ken Loach. Loach’s work whilst having
broad appeal sits firmly within the niche of
social realism and candidates may discuss
the extent to which the fans of his work
are pre-sold based on his name alone.
Consider the extent to which the trailer is a challenge to ideas set out by Curran and Seaton. »The trailer seems to offer an experience that sits outside the logic of profit and power and may arguably also demonstrate a level of variety and creativity that does not reflect Curran and Seaton’s ideas about the impact of media concentration. »
Candidates might also consider whether the trailer is able to offer a more adventurous production due to socially diverse patterns of ownership or (as above) Loach’s own pre-sold audience.
Watch this video made by Mrs Fisher. It outlines what you need to know in order to answer a question about the film industry. It is clear that there is certain knowledge you need to know about how independent films are made and this film is your case study.
You may get a question like this;
'Consider the significance of economic factors, including commercial and not-for-profit public funding, to media industries and their products'
Your answer will compare this film to 'Black Panther' which is a mainstream film. This film was made without a concern for profit (Curran and Seaton) Ideally the film will at least pay for itself through box office receipts and add ons such as streaming and DVD sales. However, the primary concern is the message in the film. The film-maker Ken Loach wants to expose the system that is causing the issues represented in the film. Therefore the primary purpose of the film is to raise awareness amongst audiences. This is different to the more commercial approach of a mainstream Hollywood film.
'Vast financial profits might be less important for practitioners working in this genre of film' (EDUQAS)
You will be expected to apply Curran and Seaton's theory in your answer.
The film was funded by public bodies such as the BFI (through National Lottery Funding) and the, public service broadcaster, the BBC. You will need to explain that these institutions have a remit to promote British culture and to 'educate, inform and entertain'. The film is also a collaboration between the UK and French film industries. French audiences like Ken Loach films because they have a message and a purpose to represent important social issues. This is a key point in your answer. You could say that some French audiences see film as an art form whereas American audiences see film mainly as entertainment. We will explore this idea further by looking at streaming services. NETFLIX is mainstream whereas Curzon cinema or MUBI is more independent. The film was popular at film festivals and won the coveted, 'Palme d’Or' at the Cannes film festival, which proves its popularity with European audiences.
It was also nominated for many awards including several BAFTA's In the next post we will concentrate on how the film is primarily aimed at an educated, media literate and socially aware audience but tries to broaden this appeal. We will also look at whether it has been successful in its aim.
Hopefully you have watched the film 'I, Daniel Blake' by now. If not, then watch it and write a review of the film so that you can remember your reaction.
Use the resources and the questions below to prompt your response.
What is your opinion of the film?
How did the film make you feel?
Which parts of the most memorable?
Is the film a fair representation of modern Britain?
What does it say about life in the UK?
How did the film make you feel?
Hayley Squires and Dave Johns play the main characters. What did you think of these performances?
Do you think that the current crisis will make us re-consider injustices in society?
Ken Loach discusses the film and his reasons behind making the film.
Outline the issues and themes in the film.
Social cleansing
Universal credit
The benefit system
The poverty trap
Food-banks
Child poverty
Regional deprivation
Inequality
Absurdity of bureaucratic state systems
Compassion of humanity
The film represents the human cost of the politics of austerity and what Loach calls 'conscious cruelty'. He represents the lives of those people caught in this system.
Now listen/ watch the incredibly articulate Mark Kermode's review of the film. As media students you need to be following or watching cultural commentators like Mark Kermode who hosts regular film review shows online and on the BBC.
Mark Kermode references the food bank scene which you can find below. He feels it is a very powerful one, 'A silent scream of rage..' showing people, 'reduced and humiliated by circumstance which is so transparently unjustified and undignified.'
'The resonance of the film will raise questions and discussion beyond the cinema. '
The film has the intention to raise awareness and action. Therefore it has a distinctly political message. A Conservative government has just gained a huge majority. What is your view of the message in this film?
Consider your own reaction to this film. Remember Stuart Hall's theory about audience reception. Different audiences will receive this message in different ways depending on a number of factors. For example;
education
parents
environment
schooling
socio-economic factors
type of employment
friendship groups
regionality
media usage
Identify the following readings:
Preferred reading
Negotiated reading
Opposite reading
Aberrant reading
What factors do you think are most influential in deciding how audiences will interpret this text?
Do you think the message cut through during the last election or was society more concerned with other issues like Brexit than social justice?
Do you think the current health crisis will change public opinion in any way?
We will analyse this key scene when we return. Reference it in your case study and analyse how it has been constructed.
You will now study an independent film which will allow you to offer comparisons with your mainstream film. Try to involve your parents. Watch films with them and see if they know any of Ken Loach's films.
Explore the links and take notes for your case study.
Your first task is to immerse yourself in the wonderful world of the director, Ken Loach. Hopefully this will be one of the finds of the course and you will come to enjoy his films and explore his many and varied works. He is widely revered as the best British director working at the present time. He is particularly well loved by certain audiences, which we will identify in detail.
Where do we start ! Well here is a list of some of his films that I would recommend. They have all had a profound effect on me and stay in my memory;
Kes
Land and Freedom
Carla's Song
Sweet Sixteen
The Wind that Shakes the Barley
The novella, 'A Kestrel for a Knave' was written by Barry Hines and has been on the GCSE English Literature syllabus for as long as I can remember. This is because teachers can use the film alongside the book. The film is now 50 years old and has a place in the hearts of the British public. For the first time many working class people saw the place where they went to school shown on film. The experience of Billy Casper was authentic and represented life in a Northern pit town. The scene that most people remember is of the PE teacher. I remember PE teachers when they picked you up by the sideburns and threw basketballs at you. Your parents and grandparents will all have stories of idiosyncratic teachers like this one played by Brian Glover. There was plenty of rough justice in those days meted out by harsh but fair teachers who had a real passion for their subject and enjoyed their job.
Another scene shows aspects of school life that have gone. Look at the performances of the schoolkids. Perhaps they haven't changed that much !
Could you get that authenticity or realism today? Andrea Arnold is a British director who we could compare to Ken Loach. Arnold found that the only way to find this level of realism for her film 'Fish Tank' was to use an unknown actor who she saw arguing at a train station. This allowed for a performance undiluted by acting classes which could create a level of artifice.
Here is the opening scene. It is not a Ken Loach film, rather less subtle and a bit more edgy, but I imagine you can see the influence on this generation of directors. The DVD is in the library.
Loach was born in Nuneaton about 10 miles form here as the crow flies. His breakthrough came on 'Play for Today' on the BBC where he made films representing working class life. This was a new direction for BBC audiences and ground breaking. It fitted with a movement in literature by a group of authors classed as 'the angry young men' and the new film genre was often referred to as, 'kitchen sink drama'. It was gritty and realistic often set in urban areas showing the reality of life in post war Britain. Themes often shone a light into areas that had not been filmed before such as pregnancy outisde marriage in 'Up the Junction'
'Cathy Come Home' deals with homelessness and had a profound effect on audiences as it raised the profile of this issue and its effect on society. Through film Loach was able to touch a nerve with the British public and the political nature of his work has been evident throughout his career.
He saw film as a powerful medium to expose injustice and to highlight abuse of power and inequity. He has influenced creative people to us their imagination to create art that has something to say and to enlighten the public. His films are about truth and challenging those who abuse their hegemonic power. They are as relevant today as they were then and this is why his filmography endures.
His first film is 1967 is Poor Cow is a bit more experimental is about working class London and great if you are interested in the swinging Sixties.
Loach tries to 'keep it real' and show life as it really was. This credo has been emulated by many British directors since. Most of whom will credit Loach as being a key inspiration. For example, British female directors like Lynne Ramsay and Andrea Arnold work in this realist tradition. Authenticity comes from representing reality. We could look at some short films and investigate the influence of Loach. For example, Andrea Arnold's short film 'WASP'.
My favourite film in this style is not by Loach but you can see the similarities. 'Saturday Night, Sunday Morning' stars Albert Finney in a gritty representation of working class life in Nottingham.
Not a lot happens but the character is convincing and the mise-en-scene reveals a time and a place in post war British society that was going undocumented and was under represented in mainstream media. Audiences were more likely to see Westserns and Hollywood glamour than people like themselves depicted on the silver screen.
This was adapted from a novel by one of the 'angry young men' Allan Sillitoe. Other notable films include 'This Sporting Life' starring Richard Harris and the more famous 'Look Back in Anger' starring Richard Burton. Shelagh Delaney was another writer of plays which were adapted into films such as , 'A Taste of Honey.' These landmark British films greatly influenced television and popular culture. After these 'realist' films creative people demonstrated a desire to show a true representation of British life. Up to this point the BBC had catered for a middle class audience predominantly. Accents were all similar in plummy tones, almost received pronunciation rather than standard English. These prejudices and stereotypes continued well into the late century as the BBC felt they had certain standards to uphold as part of its remit. Anything edgy or contentious was avoided. Popular music was avoided until Radio 1 was launched in response to pirate radio stations like Radio Caroline broadcasting from the English channel. This story is told in the Working Title film that we look at, 'The Boat that Rocked.' The BBC is always been behind the curve in response to societal changes as it is an institution and change has to be incremental. This leads to criticism that it does not represent the changing diversity of the UK. For example it did not have a soap opera until Eastenders in 1984. Populist soap opera aimed at the working classes such as Coronation Street was left to the commercial broadcasters like ITV who are reliant on advertising. This was because it saw the genre as low brow, although The Archers was somehow OK because it was on Radio 4 and accessed by the middles classes.
He doesn't always get it right and I don't think the set text is one of his best films. I think it is a bit overwrought and some of the acting is ropy. However, if you watch one and don't like it, then I encourage you to persevere as there is humour and love and passion in his films and they come form the heart. This is film-making a world away from most mainstream Hollywood product that will move you and make you laugh and cry. It is immersive as you believe in the characters and the narrative. In my opinion it provides a totally different experience due to its independent nature. The creative freedom enjoyed by the production team including the writer and the director allows film to feel authentic.
You need to compile a case study about 'independent film' as a contrast to the mainstream film that you have just studied.
Firstly you need to conduct research about the film. I, Daniel Blake by following the information in the web-log and making notes.
Ideally, watch the film.
This blog post is a general introduction which will hopefully interest you in realist film and some of the techniques used in more 'independent' form of cinema.
Ken Loach can be considered an auteur because his films have a certain style. Films have been ungainly termed 'Loachian.' So what does this mean?
His films deal with similar themes such as;
social injustice
oppression
exploitation
injustice
prejudice
poverty
abuse of power
Loach makes films in a different way to mainstream directors or classical Hollywood films where the script would dictate the days filming. Actors in traditional films have their lines and step up to the mark when called. For example, a classically trained actor like Patrick Stewart may find playing a character in X-Men quite straightforward. He turns up, says his lines and may not even watch the finished film. It is popcorn, a bit of fun and highly lucrative. However, another approach for an actor would be to take a script and then inhabit the character.
Method acting taught by Stanislavsky and others became a big thing in America in the late 60's. Actors like Marlon Brando would invest in the character and try to live the role. Actors needed to know their motivation if they were to be sincere. This is not quite the same in Loach's films but the idea is similar. If the actor doesn't believe in the role then how will the audience?
For an authentic performance a more independently minded director might as an actor to risk a little and introduce a bit of licence for interpretation; a bit of jeopardy for the actor to explore their raw emotion. Sometimes this works such as when Brando played Colonel Kurtz in 'Apocalypse Now' and other times it can be damaging to the psyche of the actor. Robert De Niro got very fit to play Jake La Motta, then put on weight to play the boxer in later years. There are a number of stories of actors who have made sacrifices to inhabit a role. In some cases like Heath Ledger this can have a debilitating effect.
Great actors are able to get a balance right and look forward to the challenge of working in this way with directors they admire. They often feel that their craft has been given more worth and that film is approaching the realm of art rather than commercial entertainment. I will try to explain through a film from another great British director Mike Leigh. If the acting is great we can believe in the characters and become immersed in the narrative.
Actors are given parts but not the whole script. In 'Vera Drake' a backstreet abortionist helps local women when they have nowhere else to turn. This is illegal and the audience become aware of the danger and the difficult ethical position Vera is in. Omnipotent narration is the term used when the audience knows more than the characters. This creates suspense. We know the truth but the family does not. When the police come knocking we feel tense as we know what will happen. Hitchcock explains this through the analogy of a bomb under the table. If it goes off and we are not aware of it, this creates shock rather than suspense. The actors did not know until the scene was filmed that their mother aborted unwanted pregnancies. The shock that we witness is real as the actors have invested in their characters. Arguably this lends more power to the performance. There is a British tradition of this style of film-making where actors are asked to move out of the comfort zone of using a script. There is also a tradition of using film to inform and educate as well as to entertain which can be attributed to the BBC and public service broadcasting.
It is this authenticity that realist film looks for. I think the most powerful film by Ken Loach is set in Ireland and deals with the reality of oppression of the Irish population by British colonising forces. The film is set post World War one and many of the soldiers sent to subdue the Irish independence movement are traumatised by war themselves. This also won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes film festival.
The bitterness and tragic consequence of oppression, invasion, coercion and abuse of power is exposed. Film is used to tell stories and to illuminate history in the hope that audiences are educated and moved to understand the tragic consequences of injustice. A writer can only hope to represent the actuality of events but with research they can aim for accuracy. This is the goal of 'realist' film. If a film engages on an emotional level it can have a huge impact. It also helps to have a great actor and Cillian Murphy has a presence that few actors can achieve. Amongst modern actors perhaps Tom Hardy has this X factor also. It is interesting to see how television drama is becoming as worthy as film acting.
This film leaves an impact as this blog comment shows...
'The Wind that Shakes the Barley was mostly shot in West Cork and, as far
as I understand what Ken Loach did... he didn't give a script to the
extras so much as gave them the idea and gist of what the scene was
about. He then let it up to them to act/talk as they thought they
should. The droll, laconic, sing-song nature and tones of Cork people
shone through. It lent an authenticity and immediacy to the film.'
'Realist' film is admired by those who see themselves as lovers of film as an art form. These audiences feel that film has the power to move people on an emotional and artistic level. Film has the power to communicate important messages. For example, French audiences are more likely to view film as an artistic achievement than mere than commercial entertainment. They may believe that films have the capacity to move you on a human level and must have something to say. This could be political or certainly emotive. The film should search for an emotional connection with the audience.
I will give two examples of the style of film-making that you will encounter in Ken Loach films. I encourage you to watch some of his work to gain a better understanding. We will then get onto your set text 'I, Daniel Blake.'
'Land and Freedom' is a film about the Spanish Civil War, a pre-cursor to WW2. This was a war that many British men travelled to Spain to fight in, against rising fascism. They went with the ideal that there was a binary opposition between good and bad, fascism and socialism. This binary opposition is very clear in Pan's Labyrinth between the good socialists and the evil fascists. This is not always that clear cut in the theatre of war where atrocities are committed by both sides. The left fought between themselves and a lack of unity is one reason they tragically lost to the fascists who were supported by Hitler and Mussolini. The legacy of the war and the shared pain that Spain went through is clearly shown in the film 'Land and Freedom'. Families are torn apart and villages are set against each other. This legacy that still haunts generations of Spaniards. In a key scene Loach set up cameras in the corner of the room so that they filmed long takes. He directed mise-en-scene as accurately as possible such as food, costume and even weaponry to try and get the detail correct. He used villagers who had experience of this era or had parents who had gone through these times. The experience was still raw and painful emotions lie just below the surface. If you have ever tried drama and role played then this is a similar technique. Actors are asked to adopt a role and have empathy with a character. As the discussion got more heated, Loach let the cameras roll. He wanted the villagers to improvise and let the emotions build rather than provide a script. In using real people rather than trained actors Loach often achieves a more 'realist' effect. Results can often produce very powerful film-making. This documentary taught me a lot about how Loach approaches film making and gives a great insight into his craft. Perhaps it is a technique that you could try!
I have been asked to make direction for note-taking clearer. Therefore ensure that you have answered these questions in your notes;
What is an auteur?
What are the recurring themes in a Ken Loach film?
How is Loach's approach to film-making different to mainstream (Hollywood) film-making?
What is method acting?
Why would actors enjoy working with a director like Ken Loach?
What is omnipotent narration?
What is 'realist' film?
How might French audiences view film as an art form?
What are your first impressions of the films of Ken Loach?
Finally, watch this scene from 'I, Daniel Blake'. We will use this in class when we return, focusing on social issues and representations.
Write a paragraph analysing 'how the sequence creates 'realism'.
