Themes Analysis

Theme 1: Family IssuesTheme 2: corruption of youthTheme 3: Aspiration and EscapeTheme 4: PovertyTheme 5: Race

Theme ONE: Family Issues

Clip used: Looking For Eric ( 5.57 - 7.03 ) 

The key theme established in this clip is family issues, in this clips we see a father arguing with his adopted son, using foul language such as "Fuck!" etc. The tone of his voice suggest that he is very distressed and is clearly having issues that he cannot deal with. Him being a single father cannot tame his children on his own and needs a motherly figure in his life and in his children in order to have a fully stable family. In this scene we see him fully loosing it and starting to go some what crazy and starts to beat his teenage son and his friends with a pillow, obviously not to hurt them but to get the message across that they should be here and they are not just taking his for granted. He also says "For God sakes Jess! It's nearly 2 o'clock for Christ's sake, get up for school your late". This shows one of the problems that he has to deal with and how his teenage son who should be in school right now and is old enough to have the common sense to know what is right still has to be told these things which causes stress on the father. We see this very clearly because he looses his temper very quickly, bad language is used from him to his kids but it doesn't come as a shock to them, they just see it as everyday language because they are use to it and its something that is commonly said within the household. Whether if it where one of us we would be shocked because we are not use to this type of behavior.
How I may use this when it comes to my film is I would take the way its set up on screen and take notice of the build up that takes place, from the point where he is just simply calling his name to the point where he is using a pillow to hit them. I think the build up is important because it gradually give the audience something to hold on to and excitement rahter than just giving the whole thing in one point and later on not having anything for them to be looking forward to later on. I want to leave them asking questions and contemplating in their mind what's going on and what is going to happen next.

Theme 2: corruption of you

Clips used:  kidulthood

The key theme which is showed here is corruption of youth and this is shown through all the negative things we see these teenagers doing. Corruption of youth is established here through  all the crime, violence and situations we have to see these teenagers deal with. We see a young girl finding out that she is pregnant and is shown to us to be very distressed and worried and helpless. We see her in a panic state of mind and how she can't cope. A young female shouldn't have to be dealing with things like this at such a young age because it shouldn't happen in the first place this shows how she has been mis-guided and how she has not been as careful as she should of been. We secondly see quite a bit of violence in this through a lot of the fight scenes and we see an appearance of a gun a lot through out the whole clips and a gun symbolizes power and when power is given to you at a young age you can't handle it. And lastly a lot of drugs are shown in this quite frequently and we shown then being taken and dealt and they are shown as being used to calm/relax someone down. Also this shows teenagers getting into something so serious and corrupted at such a young age already that they can't stop. The sequence portrays the theme by having a fast pace edit with loads of cuts showing quite a bit of what goes on in the film without giving you away too much. It portrays it well because it covers all the key areas and straight away you can tell what the theme is which helps give you a clear understanding about what it is going to be about.
How I might explore this theme in my own film is by taking the way they have put this together here and copy the style of that and try make it my own because again they have left you wanting more because we see a lot of action and corruption and all throughout there is a build up being created leading up to the end and it just leaves you grabbing your attention.

Theme 3: Aspiration and Escape

Clip Used: Fish Tank

The key theme showed here is aspiration and escape. It is established to us through the scenes where we continuously see her trying to dance and practice throughout. We see the theme firstly established to us through the determination of the character. We see her in the beginning dancing and we see she has an interest in it, but because of the area she lives in she can't and it holds her back. We see her aspire to be something better and actually change her life and she see's it as a reality but to the audience we see it as something that is not likely to happen firstly because where she is from and when we see her dance her talent is not as good to get her recognized. We see her encouraged by people around her to pursue what she wants to do. We see her try up for job dancing at some club and we then see her back out because she looses confidence this helps show a message to an audience that it is hard and you really have to work for something it doesn't come easy to you. The sequence portrays the theme by showing your firstly what she wants and secondly her working for what she wants. How I might use this in my film is use the way how its made clear what she wants and achieves and show the character work for it through all the struggles showing the real reality of what you have to go through if you really want to get something.

Theme 4: Poverty

Clip used: London to Brighton

In this film the key theme established is poverty. We see this in many ways through this film. We see them rushing into a dirty toilet area and trying to catch their breath. We see them trying to recover, later on the shut themselves in a cubical because we are shown they have no where else to go so they have to go there, we then see the older lady go out to buy the girl some food because she hasn't eaten yet. The conditions we are shown are terrible are truly show the poverty theme very well. We see a very unhygienic bathroom with loads of graffiti on the wall and the wallpaper faded and discolored. We are also shown when she goes to get food she leaves the little girl in the cubical because there is no where else to her to leave her and the food she gets is simple and cheap chicken and chips because she isn't able to afford anything else for them. This theme is established very well and quickly within the opening and not much is revealed to us let we learn so much and it has engaged us really quickly and caught our attention straight away, already making us thing of possible reasons why this is happening. How I could use this when making my own film is that from this opening sequence a lot has happened but also a lot hasn't been given away and by doing this it is an automatic trick to involve your audience and truly capture their attention.

Theme 5: Race

Clip Used: Four lions

In this clip the theme that is established is race and culture. This is mediated established to us as an audience because it has right at the start a re-enactment of something that has happened before religious wise. The theme is firstly established by the characters who are shown to us they are all obviously of Asian decent and have Asian names, but are portrayed to us as Muslims who want to follow there religion truly an abide by every rule. This shown to use by there costumes and how we see them act and also there location. They are shown to us in a racist way though because they are shown trying to only blow up things and shown in a bad light. Because of what happened at 9/11 they are trying to convey the same message again here and the theme of racism ties in here is-well because it is not showing them in a truthful form. How I may explore this theme is like they have based this on past events, I would try take something that was historically significant and try recreate it and make it my own with this theme so it has so background to it but it will also help create a more believable story because it will be based on something which had already happened and the views on it will be already set.