Bullet Boy
"you only get one shot in life"
“Bullet Boy throbs with restless energy. It’s grainy, gritty, authentic. It’s a desperate wail for help at a time when the words “British” and “gun culture” belong in the same sentence. And it’s heart-on-bloodied sleeve conviction and smoking gun editing recall the American black cinema......
BULLET BOY tells the story of two brothers growing up in one of London's most volatile neighbourhoods, where a minor street clash escalates into a cycle of violence that has tragic repercussions. A powerful and moving tale of young men on the edge, it reflects an emerging modern reality within Britain's inner cities.
The film explores themes of friendship, rivalry and revenge amid a generation of boys to whom guns have become a fact of life. When 18 year old Ricky is released from a Youth Offenders Institute he desperately wants to avoid falling back into his criminal past. However, his claustrophobic world and the huge pressure to conform proves inescapable.
This film creates suspense and keeps the audience on their feet, it tells a story about a man attempting to straighten out his life, with negative results. therefore this film can reflect upon the target audience as it portrays what a typical teenagers life on the streets can be like. The target audience for this movie is mostly teenagers but a spec of adults might watch it, because of all the guns, drugs, sex and violence it shows that there is a awareness of what life on the streets is really like. it also makes people aware of the danger of "the street life".
The narrative structure of Bullet Boy is a tough heartfelt British social picture which compose, powerful, panoramic wide shots of
Costumes- the clothes that the actors wear in this film is mostly tracksuits hoodies and caps which puts a big focus and represents the youths in todays society. Although in some parts of the movies the actor (Ricky) does have a change of clothes and wears casual jeans and t-shitrt. The clothes that the actors wear puts a major stereotype upon then which then refers them to things like guns, shop-lifting and gang fights.
Lighting- The lighting throughout this movie depics a genre and sets the mood for the audience. for instance some parts of the trailer i.e. gun fight the lighting goes dim and dark which represents something happeining or someone getting shot. However in some places in the movie like when the camera shows the city at the beginning its dark and cloudy which gives the audience a frame of mindof how the movie might.
Actors/ Actresses- The actors that were chosen for this movie were outstandly chosen very well for instance Ashley Walters who plays Ricky is well known for his music career in so soild crew and appeard in many movies like Life and Lyrics, Get Rich or Die Tryin', Sugarhouse and ofcourse Bullet Boy. All these movies are connected in a ways because they all show gun crime and are mostly aimed and viewed by youths and some adults. With his background in gun crime Ashley represents a youths life and through his movies he tells a story about his past and his ambitions for the future. His preformances are outstanding and protrays and image for our youths today.
Make-up- the make-up used in this movie isn't that bad, although is some scenes there are brutal fights where make-up is used for example there is a scene when one of the actors smashes a car window and blood gushes from his hand and the make-up used was very good and made it seem very realistic.
Props- the only props that were used in this move were mostly guns, knives and baseball bats. I think this movie raises awareness in gun crime within our society today and how easy it is for young children to have guns for example thier is a clip in this trailer which shows a young boy age maybe 10-11 years old pointing a gun at someone. The issue of gun crime is very important and not only occurs with teenagers but a lot of adults which influences teenagers.
Setting- the setting of this film is set in deprived areas of East London where crime has risen from 12% in 1999 to 15% in 2007.
Length of trailer- the length of this trailer is only 1:28 which is very short compared to other film trailers. However with only 1:28 a lot can be seen because the camera moves very fast and mostly shows scenes of voilence, sex and gun crime, which in some cases people want to watch and keeps the audience in suspence which makes them want to go and watch the film.
Language- the language used in this film is very characterised with our youth today and a lot of slang is used in this film and it creates a status within some societies.
Appeal- The target audience for this movie is (15-24) mostly teenagers butsome adults might watch it, because of all the guns, drugs, sex and violence it shows that there is a awareness of what life on the streets is really like. it also makes people aware of the danger of "the street life" and shows a very realistic approach in what takes place within our societies.
Sound- I think that the most important part of a film is the sound that is used because it sets a whole level to film because not only does it set the mood for the film it's also based on the genre of the film and the target audeince for example at the start of the trailer the music played is very calm and in the fighting scenes the music is loud and fast beat, which gives it a new aspect and appeals to the target audeince.
Representation- the representation of the film Bullet Boy shows how life can be changed from gun crime and gang fights to having a chance of becoming what they want. It represents teenagers who have been to prison and how hard it is to get a job after being convicted. And finally it shows how living in deprived areas can affecet the people through commiting crimes and using guns. It tells a "typical teenager" in the deprived areas of East London.
Camera shots- there are different camera shots used throughout this trailer for example clos up shots are used to give a theatrical stress on some charecters and some props like when a gun is show, which represents an importance of the issue. Meduim shots are used when there are fights to to show emtions of both characters, and long shots are used to show different locations for example when the city is shown a long shot angle is used.
Institutional value- this film can be used in different aspects because it can be there to educate people in a way to raise awareness about the issues that are facing not only teenagers but adults because of all the crimes occuring people are effected in different ways. Although there has been many criticisms about films that uses guns because people feel that it influences youths to use guns. Although it also shows how peer pressure occurs very often and how people can change thier lives from being in gun crime to having an ambition and becoming what they want to be. Depending on the message a certain film shows its audience can dipict a new meaning in what people want to watch and if some films are show realistic view of peoples lifestyle and our society.
Analysis Trailer 1
Life and Lyrics
"Live Life At Full Volume"
"An urban Romeo and Juliet that follows the feuds between rival gangs"
The target audience for this movie is for 15-25, i know this because the costumes depict a stereotypical view of hoodies and tracksuits where a "typical" teenager would wear. This movie represents youth culture and gang crimes in deprived areas. Set against the backdrop of London's urban music scene, a young DJ, kDanny, enters a local competition with his crew in the hope of winning the top prize - a recording contract with a major record label. But his crew's chances are threatened when their arch-rivals, The HARD CASH CREW, enter the same competition. Bound by life-long loyalties and fierce neighbourhood rivalries, the two crews are sworn enemies and The HARD CASH CREW, led by the volatile MONEY MAN, will stop at nothi ng to win the prize. When Danny falls for the beautiful and talented singer, Carmen, he is forced to keep their relationship secret after discovering that she is related to MONEY MAN's right-hand man. Caught between his love for Carmen and loyalty to his crew, Danny's secret threatens to jeopardise their futures and, as the competition looms, tensions reach breaking point.
The language this film uses is mostly "ghetto" e.g slang which may relate to teenagers and how they talk because it depics a real imag of what the youth nowaday talk like and how it creates a status within different subcultures. The sort of language used in films can play an important role withing the whole of the movie and the certain characters used tends to make the movies more realistic for example this movie has teenagers mostly in in, therefore it mostly targeted at teenagers. the lighting this movies uses dark colours which gives it a stereotype of voilence and drug use with guns because having dark colours withing a movie can represent something bad occuring or a gang fights.
The camera shots in this movie tell a story because it shows two sides to a story, and it has mostly close up shots and media shots. close up shots are usually there to show the actors and actreses facial expressions and medium shots show the loc ations of the movie. The length of this trailer is 1:44 minutes, this may be because the camera shots move so quickly to keep the audience in suspence which makes it more effective for the views to watch, because they never know what might happen next. The institutional values of this movie tells people and views of what the real issue is about when it comes to competitions with teenagers and how far they might go to see the other suffer therefore it does educate people in the "real life".
Kidulthood
Kidulthood is a 2006 British drama film about the life of several teenagers in the depreived Ladbroke Grove and Latimer Road area of Inner West London.
This Music Video to Kidulthood and Adulthood
Kidulthood and Adulthood Film Review
on the "Teen Media Forums" I started a discussion with my target audience about what their opinions are towards the movies Kidulthood and Adulthood and what they think this movies represents. I also asked what they like and didn't like and finally what this movie teaches people.
Some people responded saying:
I think the movie Kidulthood is meant to represent the youths living in
Adulthood is the sequel to Kidulthood, this movie shows the characters six years on. I think this movie is trying to get the point across that even if you have a rough start at life its never too late to fix it as the movie is based on a convict trying to sort his life out and clear the air with the friends of the boy he stabbed. What i liked about this movie is that unlike Kidulthood it portrays some positive points such as how one character overcomes peer pressure and decides to get educated and go uni and also another character learns how to forgive an enemy. What I disliked about this movie is that there wasn’t much humor in this movie as to Kidulthood; therefore it was on a much serious note.
I think that this film is a fair portrayal of today’s youth. I, being 17 myself, see a lot of this behaviour amongst my age group - I think the film is accurate in its implications which i liked very much..
I found the film accurate of what teenagers are like today. I, being a teenager myself, know that there are some people who act like this and all their ambitions are sex, drugs, violence etc. I think it is an honest, down to earth look at life in
