60 second film

Ill Manors Essay

How have representations been constructed in the music video 'ill manners' by Plan B?

In Mach 2011 the rapper Plan B released an album called "Ill Manors" to go alongside the film which was then released in 2012 portraying the lives of different characters living in council flats in Forest gate, London. The film was directed and written by Ben Drew; also known as Plan B. Ill manors is a hip hop protest song of which it follows 8 main characters and is a multi-character based story. The film shows one perspective of their lives which would not be shown normally due to the media having such a negative view on the youth of London council estates. It shows how they fight for survival and how they gain respect where they’ve grown up.

In the music video for "Ill Manors" different forms are used to engage the audience in the song and this therefore, makes them want to watch the film. Drew used specific shots like a long shot for example which was effective and enabled the audience to see the background and notice the setting the characters are in. The very first shots that are shown is establishing shots of London looking from the council estates and in the background you can vaguely see the tourist hub of London. Plan B effectively used mine en scene to highlight the rich area of London and make the front, worse part of London seem darker and less desirable. In one of them you can see Drew looking down into the council estate areas. The area is more shrouded with sunlight of which contrasts the dark, run down estate. 

The background scenes involve a lot of violence and typical "gang" behaviour and this draws in the teenage demographic. There is lots of fast pace editing and this emphasises the violence which appeals to the audience. Another camera angle used is point of view. This is used to make the audience feel as if the violence is aimed at them. It also could be used to show the anger the council estate kids have for society for portraying them in such ways, breaking the windows of protection we have up against them, isolating ourselves from them. The kids are portrayed as cruel and rebellious through these different camera angles and the effective use of mise-en-scene which really emphasises the feelings of the council estate kids and how fed up they are. Other elements of mine-en-scene such as setting are used to construct beliefs. The first shots we see are rows of council houses and because they look quite run down and not as nice as the tourist ridden parts we he form negative mindsets towards the people who live there. The negative views are also formed by the clothing the characters are wearing; all black tracksuits with their faces covered. We automatically assume they are suspicious due to them hiding their identity. 

Establishing shot of London

The representations of the music video and its lyrics portrays a dominant ideology in terms of peoples views on council estate kids. Ben Drew was suspended from school in year 10 and got moved to a pupil referral unit. He had no respect for authority and felt ignored by society along with hundreds of other kids in the same position as him. The only people they would listen to was rappers and this causes some issues due to the lyrics of many rap songs romanticising street life like gangs and drug deals. Drew believed he could "father"the unfortunate kids who grew up believing they could amount to nothing. Drew believes that the media has demonised the youth and that anything to do with kids from council estates have a negative view. Even the word chav has now got negative connotations due to the media and Drew believes that it now stands for "council housed and violent" rather then its original meaning which was just another word for a child. Plan B's lyrics challenge these interpretations and tell people that not everyone who lives on a council estate is an evil criminal that is heartless and brainless. In his lyrics he refers to the city as a 'concrete jungle.' the connotations linked with jungle are dense and overgrown. The word 'overgrown' gives a sense that the estate has been left to rot and die along with the people who live in it, as if they never existed.

Point of View Shot

The music video included scenes from the 2011 London riots. Although the London riots started because of the police shooting Mark Duggan, who was under suspicion of starting an attack due to him carrying a firearm. It had massive repercussions and triggered numerous riots across different parts of London and even outside of London.  Many people saw it as a chance to prove a point to people by burning buildings and cars. There was also looting of shops and robberies of innocent people. Drew said that  "The point being made in my song 'Ill Manors' is that society needs to take some responsibility for the cause of these riots." He was not trying to promote violence nor rioting and he was just highlighting them both. He feels society is to blame for the kids feeling like they can amount to nothing and that they don't care about having a criminal record. He believes that there's a lot of pubic prejudice towards the lower classes and they're ridiculed in the press because they dress and talk in a different way to the social "norm". The kids don't care about society because they feel society has made it clear that they don't care about them. 

The music video was filmed in Forest Gate, London where Drew grew up. He did this not only because he was on a low budget of £100,000 but to really show the points he was trying to get over in the video and also to give the kids in the community a chance to feel special. The gender most commonly shown in the video is young men of which are presented in a violent way giving them a negative stereotype to young men making the general public weary of them. There is few women shown in the video and Drew did this deliberately to show the dominance of the young males. There is a wide range of different ethnicity's and ages used throughout mainly aged (16-24).   

Editing Using Premier Pro

Editing Using Premier Pro

What was the task?
The task we were given was to produce a simple, basic edit using videos and audios provided to us on the editing software premier pro. The footage we were given was videos of a fly board competition, the crowd watching and then the audio "oops upside your head" by DJ Casper. To do this I went through each video that was provided and strategically placed them in order to fit with the music and also used specific video transitions to assist with the videos fitting with the audio.

What did you find easy?
I found that actually importing the videos and putting them together was quite easy and a basic process when I had been shown how to do it by my media teacher and when I watched a tutorial on how to use premier pro correctly.

What was more difficult?
The hardest part for me was trying to get the videos and the music to fit together so it was more appealing for the viewers. It was not easy trying to incorporate all the different camera angles we were provided with and trying to fit them all together so they look right. For example, going from a high angle shot to a close up under water.

How did you overcome any challenges?
To overcome challenges I encountered I would either ask my teacher so he could assist me or go back to the tutorials and go back through each step so I can do it correctly. One of the challenges I faced was I didn't note which videos I used in what order so then when it came to adding more videos in it was a longer process because I was trying to figure out which videos I had already used. although this isn't a massive challenge I have faced it did delay the whole process slightly.

What do you think is successful?
I think this task went quite well as it has numerous camera angles entwined into it as well as a variety of different transitions between clips. Not only that, but I think the music fits quite well with each part of the videos and that makes it more interesting and enjoyable for the viewer.

What could be improved?
The video could be improved by using a wider variety of the clips I was provided with as I only used a number of clips which could be seen as quite similar and it might be more enjoyable to watch if there was a wider variety of clips. If I was going to redo this I would take more time into considering which videos I use and where. I would also note which videos I used to save me time when picking videos and I can put more time into editing.

The Media and Me

The Media and Me

The Internet

The internet has been a big part of my life for a very long time. From a very young age I've used the internet for a variety of things including gaming, social media, an information source and for school work. Even in primary school most of our homework was on the internet. Not only this but my dad is very modern so I had a very modern upbringing where the internet was incorporated quite a large amount. Now I am extremely reliant on the internet and use it daily without fail whether its for school work or for social media and it is a large part of my life.

Video Games

When I was younger I used to be into gaming a lot more then I am now. I started off having a Nintendo DS, DSi, PSP and a Wii from a very young age which I loved and spent a lot of time on especially my DS/DSi. I have an older sister and we also use to play on her PS2 quite regularly. When I then got a bit older I got an Xbox 360 and a PS3 of which I loved my Xbox a lot and spent a lot of time on it playing games like Call of Duty and GTA. When I was 14 I then got a PS4 however I didnt like it as much as my Xbox so I sold it. I then went away from console gaming for a while and went on to PC gaming playing games like CSGO and again GTA.

Television

I used to watch lots of TV when I was really young including programmes like Teletubbies and dora the explorer. As I grew a little bit older I sort of lost interest in TV and got more into gaming even though from a young age my dad always watched quite a lot of TV. I then hit 12 and got into hollyoaks and I have watched every episode without fail since. That is the only TV programme I really watch now however, I will occasionally watch horse racing and football when Manchester City play.

Film

Even when I was younger I was never really that interested in films in comparison to other things like video games and the internet however, I would watch some films with my family. I was never interested in the Harry Potter films or anything like that when I was young and found them quite boring. Even now I don't really watch films however I do love a good rom-com or a horror film every now and then. My most recent favourite film has to be the new Mamma Mia!

Advertising

Advertising is seen everywhere however, its never had a massive impact on me and if anything they're annoying because they interrupt whatever you are doing if its online like watching a video or trying to play a game you have to stop and watch a completely irrelevant advert. Most of the time I will ignore adverts unless its something that looks interesting however, this is rare.

Radio

The main time I will hear the radio is in the car because at home most of the time we just play music through bluetooth speakers on our phones. But even in the car we use an AUX cable so we can play our own music. Occasionally my dad will put on the radio if we are at home and most of the time we listen to either Heart, Radio 2 and Connect.

Magazines

When I was much younger I used to love magazines!  I used to get one every week when my dad would go shopping and I absolutely loved it. I used to love reading all of the stories and the little free gifts you would get inside. Nowadays the only magazine I receive is a British Horse Society one that I got with my membership and I will sometimes read it but if I do it is mainly for discount codes for new stuff for my horse.

Newspapers

I've never been interested in newspapers and they've never really had an effect on my life because none of my family read them either. The only time we would have them in the house was when my grandad lived with us for a while and he used to read them a lot. Most news is on the internet and my dad watches the news on the TV so we've never had the need to have them in the house. 

Music Videos

When I was younger I used to watch music videos a lot more then I do now however the main reason for that was because I didnt have Spotify or Apple Music like I do now. When I used to listen to music it'd either be on the music channel on TV or on youtube of which both showed music videos. Now if I do watch a music video its normally because a friend has recommended too. I love the music video/song below because it has such a strong meaning.

Media Language- Use of a Camera

Basic camera shots

Extreme long shot- A shot from a distance where people are shown in indistinctive shapes, also known as an establishing shot.

Extreme close up- A very close shot normally on someones eyes, used for a dramatic effect and you cannot see their emotions.

    Close up- A shot of shoulders and above.

Mid shot- A shot of waist and above.

Long shot- A shot of a persons whole body.

Two shot- A shot of two people.

Point of view- A shot from someones point of view.

Basic camera movements

Tracking- The person is stood still while the camera moves in and out.





Sideways tracking- The person is moving and the camera is tracking sideways.

Tilt- The shot moves up/down.

Zoom- The shot gets closer without the camera actually moving.

Arc- The camera moves around the subject.

Crane- The shot is taken on a crane and is normally controlled by a remote.

Panning- Swivelling the camera horizontally.

Basic camera angles

Over the shoulder- A shot taken over the shoulder of someone.

High angle- A shot taken looking down on someone/something.

Low angle shot-A shot taken looking up at someone/something.