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Billy ElliotDirected by Stephen Daldry

+ Setting

■ It is important for a film to establish itself in time, place and social group.

■As you answer the following questions, consider not just what you are told, but

how it is made clear. A signifier is any item that signals time , place or character.

OPENING SCENES

+Plot

■Billy is no boxer. He is different to Jacky and Tony, which makes them despair over him.

■ It's the 1980s. Thatcher's government is closing down mines. As the son of a striking miner, Billy should be sticking up for the pits and traditions. Link to info on Margaret Thatcher

■He discovers a hidden talent which ignites a fire in his spirit. So he

spends his boxing fees on ballet lessons.

■His dad has burnt his mum's piano for firewood, and Billy wants to go to London to audition for the Royal Ballet School. This is unheard of for a boy from his class and his area.

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+ Setting: WATCH OPENING SCENES AGAIN

■ Where is the movie set?

■ And when is it set?

■ What is the age group the story is centred on?

■ What is the socio-economic group?

■ What signifiers tell us that Mrs Wilkinson and Debbie come from different social backgrounds?

■ What sort of mood is created at the start?

■ How is the mine setting first shown?

+ The kitchen in the opening scene.

■List the details that you can see. What do these details tell us about the people who live there?

■yellow sliding doors, strongly patterned wall paper

■ clothes hanging inside to dry and peg bag

■ formica-topped table with sauce bottle, teapot

■bottle of beer on mantelpiece, the iron

■general clutter

■Mise-en-scene gives you more than setting:

■They tell us that this is a male-run house, not too well off, working class. Role of females in this film?

+Setting answers

■1.Where is the movie set? Everington, a mining village in County Durham, North East England

■Durham is mentioned a few times; Billy tells the panel he is from Everington; it is on the door of the hall; Geordie accents

■Click on this link for more information

+Answers continued

■3. What is the age group the story is centred on? How do we know this?

■Billy is 11; his brother old enough to have left school (at 15) but looks about 18 or 19; Dad in his 40s; Grandma in her 70s.

■2. And when is it set? During the miners’ strike in 1984-5.

■The presence of the police, the strike posters, shots of the mine , the snippet of radio news.

■A link to more info on the strike

■Wikipedia link to the strike

+ 4.What is the socio-economic group? How do we know this?

■ Coal miners. Lower middle class. Billy’s mother has a piano, and her pawned jewellery earns enough for them to get to London – but the strike has meant no wages coming in and this has hit the family hard.

■ The type of home they live in. Two up, two down. Joined and made to look stifling and claustrophobic.

■When his Dad smashes his late mother’s piano with an axe, we assume this is yet another act of aggression. But then we see the piano hammers burning as firewood. The gulf of class and culture which Billy will have to cross if he is accepted at the Royal Ballet School is never discussed; yet we only have to see Billy and his father cowed by the school’s neo-classical interior to feel that Billy will never join this world.

+ Mood

■5.What signifiers tell us that Mrs Wilkinson and Debbie come from a different social background?

■Mrs Wilkinson has a car; Debbie speaks with less of a Geordie accent; their home. Ballet epitomises sophistication. Boxing is symbolically seen as savage and primitive.

■6.What sort of mood is created at the start? How is the mood created?

■Lively, exhilarated, bouncy. The music and Billy’s bouncing. His lively and bright breakfast making technique. Sudden change when he discovers his Nana is missing.

+ Mood■7. How is the mine setting first shown? What

is the effect of this?

■Although we see the picket lines, the buses and the

police presence, the first time we see the actual mine and the slag heaps is when Jacky goes to sign in. It is dreary and depressing – all black and grey, no green.

■Tough existence and the strike makes it tougher.

■The police seem to be omnipresent. That coupled

with the tight shots of the houses, the strikers, the road, the cages, all combine to create a claustrophobic feeling.

+ Main scenes

■Opening titles

■A disgrace to the gloves

■The ballet class

■Dad finds out

■Private lessons

■Tony seen as a union leader

■The chance to dance

■Christmas

■Dance of defiance and dad's decision

■Audition and interview

■The letter

■Billy's big night

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+Theme: Social Class ■The ultimate failure of the struggle is implied in the clashes between police and

strikers. The faceless, inanimate riot police are far more imposing and formidable than the passionate workers.

■However, the story does not focus on this clash, merely uses it as a background

against which Billy’s personal struggle takes place. Ballet is both an escape route out of this limiting world and also a betrayal of his class: “What are you trying to do – make him a scab for the rest of his life?”.

■Describe a scene that emphasises this theme.

■ Include both a visual and verbal example.

+ Theme:Social class / Unusual relationships

■To begin with Billy tries to fit into the world of his father and brother. He persists with boxing even though he is hopeless and his heart is not in it, and when Tony is arrested, his automatic loyalty is to his brother. Earlier, we see him try to warn Tony that he is running into the police presence.

■That his father’s world is limiting is articulated by Mrs Wilkinson in a stereotypical way: “He won’t grow up to race whippets, grow leeks or piss his wages up the wall.”

■During the film, Billy's family face a number of crises. What are they?

■ Is Jacky ultimately a good father? Discuss.

■Was it right for Billy to have the responsibility of looking after his Nana? Discuss

+Themes continued■Perseverance in following one’s

dream

■Sacrifice

■Family violence

■Breaking gender stereotypes

■Conflict between different

socio-economic classes

Choose at least ONE theme and discuss with reference to a particular scene. Include techniques

+Music: Make a YouTube playlist

■Fred Astaire: Top hat, white tie and tails

■T Rex: Cosmic Dancer, I love to Boogie, Children of a Revolution, Get it on, ride a white swan.

■The Clash: London Calling

■Stephen Gately: I Believe

■The Jam: Town called Malice

■ Eagle Eye Cherry: Burning up

■NOW think of ways you could use music and lyrics as techniques in

an essay

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+ Symbols and motifs

■Shoes and gloves : opportunity and tradition

■The piano : was mum's. Firewood= necessity

■Cages : tight confines of society

■Mirrors: symbol of identity

■Swans: dreams

■Police : juxtaposition of children's point of view and harsh reality of strike

■Discuss the importance of these symbols with reference to

particular scenes

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+ Use of parallel and contrast: Discuss

■Boxing versus ballet

■Houses and buildings

■Police versus strikers

■Mrs Wilkinson versus Jacky

■Billy versus Michael

■Billy versus Tony

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+ Link to a site with good technical terms

It is a TECHNICAL essay. You need to effectively use film techniques. Read through the link below for some vital terms. Aim for one visual and one verbal technique per paragraph.

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+ Link to NCEA exam questions

You should now be ready to tackle a text essay

+Important dialogue■Listen. I boxed. Me dad boxed. You box.

■They were my father's gloves.

■ Just because I like to dance, I'm not a poof.

■Leave it Billy. / Mum would've let us.

■Scab! Scab! Scab!

■Lads do football or boxing or wrestling.

■ I hate you!

■She must've been a very special woman, your mum. / No, she was just me mum.

■ 'The sun will come out tomorrow.' Fat chance.

■ I don't want a childhood. I want to be a ballet dancer.

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+Sources

NZQA website Artemis teaching guide BBC History The Guardian