ASSIGNMENT 5: FILM STUDY &

CONVENTIONS IN A FILM

B Y M O N A E - C O L O U R B L U E

&

N I C O L E - C O L O U R R E D

E D I T I N G D O N E T O G E T H E R

FREEDOM WRITERS

•Racial conflict

•The film is about teens

•Students going through a hard time in life

•A struggle but shows you can succeed

•Negative stereotypes

•Aspects of poverty and racism

•Can relate to troubles and stress of school

GENRE: DRAMA

• The main genre Freedom Writers falls under is

drama.

• That is because of the serious issues involved

Such as:

• Poverty

• Domestic violence

• Racism

• Death.

Subgenre Evidence

Tragedy drama • Little boy accidently shooting himself.

• Paco shot dead in the corner shop

Romance drama • Mrs Gruwell & her husband.

• Ending in divorce.

Crime drama • Gun crime.

• Growing up witnessing shootings.

Historical drama • The holocaust museum

• The woman that hid Anne Frank

The hybrids included in Freedom Writers are:

Courtroom

Historical

Domestic violence

Freedom Writers defined under

Budget based, racial identity,

the location, story content

• Ethnicity focus: the characters

of all different races (e.g. Latino,

black etc.)

• Budget: $21,000,000

(estimated)

• Well known actress Hilary

Swank seen in more serious

films

MITTELS THEORY

Mittel‟s theory is that genre is uses codes and conventions to sell

products.

I can agree because:

Racial prejudice is portrayed

Based on a true story „The Freedom Writers Diary‟

Based on a book

Examples of this genre

Dangerous Minds (ex-marine teacher struggles to connect with

her students in an inner city school)

Take the Lead (the real story of a dance teacher who believed in

the talent of a group of problem kids)

SEMANTICS

Characters White middle class character

Troubled teens

Different ethnicity groups

Story trait Teacher facing “Un-teachable, at-

risk” teenagers

Teens witnessing shootings,

murders of random people or of

friends and family

Shows different categorisation

The influence of Negative

stereotype given to them

A key to freedom

Turn their life around

SEMANTICS

Location Real-life settings of the ghetto

Shootings near a shop

At high school

Courtrooms

Jail

Balcony/home

Costume Loose, street like clothing

Teachers smartly dressed

girls dressed similar to the boys

male teenagers giving a

negative connotation

Props Weapons, such as knives and

guns (strengthen the negative

views).

Classroom props such as

tables, chairs and a board etc.

SYNTAX

• The syntax of the film is that the power of one person can

have a good impact on everyone else.

• Also that everyone has and will make the wrong decisions,

you just have to learn from them.

- In addition, the “Toast For Change” scene is very bright with all the natural lighting

involved from the outside. It also has quite bright colours in this scene grab. Blue

representing nature, calm, and fresh and yellow representing bright, happiness and

summer.

Natural lighting bounces

of Eva‟s face

Lighting creates

shadow to seem

sorrowful

Darker

background

to show

•Intensity

•Hidden

•Enclosure

This was a close up shot

to show Eva facial

expression

CONVENTIONSConventions of genre/sub/hybrid Examples from range of real films

Students disrespecting teachers The Breakfast Club. Out smarting the

teacher.

Poverty Slumdog Millionaire – The kids grew up in

poverty

Stereotypes of individuals Philadelphia – The man with aids was

stereotyped

Family loyalty My Sister‟s Keeper – Family helped her,

through her battle with cancer.

Sticking with your gangs The Godfather – You need to stick together.

Racism The Secret Life Of Bees. – The black boy

getting arrested for being with a white girl.

Racial prejudice Crash

A struggling relationship The Time Travellers Wife

Character dealing with a problem Pursuit of Happiness

CONVENTIONS ANALYSIS

Conventions of

genre/sub/hybrid

Examples from your film

(bullet points and

screen grabs)

Comparison to other

films in the same

genre/sub/hybrid?

Racial prejudice White characters

have higher authority

Eva‟s dad being

arrested

Crash – White cop shots

a black guy for reaching

into his pocket.

(Thinking he had a gun.)

…

Conventions of

genre/sub/hybrid

Examples from your

film

(bullet points and

screen grabs)

Comparison to other

films in the same

genre/sub/hybrid?

A struggling

relationship

Ms Gruwuell

relationship with her

husband

Struggling

relationship with

students at first

One of the black

characters with his

mum

The Hunger Games –

Peeta exposing his

feelings for Katniss on

national tv.

Katniss not fully

returning his feelings.

…

Conventions of

genre/sub/hybrid

Examples from your film

(bullet points and

screen grabs)

Comparison to other

films in the same

genre/sub/hybrid?

Character dealing with a

problem

Eva‟s dad in prison

Black female

character gets

beaten by her dad

Being kicked out.

Pursuit of Happiness –

The man is homeless,

broke and has a child to

look after.

CONVENTIONS ANALYSIS

Conventions of

genre/sub/hybrid

Examples from your film

(bullet points and

screen grabs)

Comparison to other

films in the same

genre/sub/hybrid?

Racism -Separated in to their

racial groups in the

classroom

-Gangs sticking to their

own race

-When the black boy

gets an insulting picture

passed around the

classroom.

The Secrete Life of

Bees.

………..Conventions of

genre/sub/hybrid

Examples from your film

(bullet points and screen

grabs)

Comparison to other films in

the same

genre/sub/hybrid?

Students disrespecting

teachers

Students stating that they will

not have respect for his

teacher just because she is a

teacher. She has to earn it.

The Breakfast Club.

Out smarting the teacher.

Ignoring his rules.

………..

Conventions of

genre/sub/hybrid

Examples from your film

(bullet points and

screen grabs)

Comparison to other

films in the same

genre/sub/hybrid?

Stereotypes of

individuals

Because they were form

the lower class, the

head of department

looked down on them.

Philadelphia – The man

with aids was

stereotyped

DOMINANT IDEOLOGY

Details of

audience

Target

audience

Secondary

Audience

Explanation of why they would be

attracted to watch the film

Age 13-19 20-40 Its about education / the star of the film.

Gender Girls Boys The violence within the film may attract

them.

Ethnicity Mixture

(Blacks,

Latinos,

Asians)

White The target audience may be attracted as its

about their backgrounds. The secondary

audience may be attracted to see how

different white people portray themselves

to other.

AudienceDetails of audience Target audience Secondary

Audience

Explanation of why they

would be attracted to

watch the film

Social class •Lower class

•working class

•lower middle class

•upper middle class

Upper class -Variety of classes shows

mixture of opinion

-Can change how different

classes think

Social group •Young boys (gang

members)

•hippies

•Chavs

•Punks

-Attracted to gangs, violence,

drugs and life

-Shows the hard way of living

-Shows you can achieve no

matter what your story was

Sexual orientation Straight •Lesbians

•Gays

•bisexuals

- May be of their interest

Profession/ Role •Students

•Teachers

• Parents

• Workers

• Historical

People

•Related to their life

•A good message from the

film

•Educate them

Reasons why people watch the film Explanation

Entertainment - In their holiday they began to make their

changes, for example:

Moving back in with the mum

Throwing the gun away

Telling the truth in court

- They are breaking free from the old

them.

- Making a better person out of

themselves to get out of the

stereotypes.

Reasons why people watch the

film

Explanation

Personal Identity - The characters are from different

backgrounds

- They all share different norms and

values within their culture

- They tend to look after their own

Reasons why people watch the

film

Explanation

Integration & social interaction • It‟s about different races.

• Those different races would most

likely come together to discuss

the film.