The riot club (2014) ppt
- 1. The Riot Club (2014) Trailer Analysis Kerry Pether
- 2. The Bull’s Head pub links to alcohol abuse and violence, stereotypically British named pub. The male characters are stood together with a direct mode of address, which adheres to the Female gaze theory by Gamman and Marshment. There is synchronous music playing, representing the male’s upper class status. The wide shot of the characters highlighting their costume. They are wearing old fashioned suits including waistcoat (all matching) which have connotations of the characters being affluent and wealthy, as well as highlighting their unity (“It was all me” “no it was the club”) There are intertitles throughout the trailer, beginning with the words “At the world’s oldest university”. This helps to show the audience that it is set at Oxford University, which is well known within the media for being upper class, rich and stereotypically British. The intertitles inform the audience of important narrative features, including the films main location. The writing which is used for the intertitles is in black and white, representing the negative themes within the film (such as violence and alcohol abuse), and is written in an affluent font, as if to represent the upper class setting and characters. There is a frame within frame, low angle shot at the university where the film is set, which allows the audience to see the large scale of the university, as well as highlighting its importance within Britain. This shows the mise-en-scene, and juxtaposes against the negative themes which are shown throughout the trailer. This could also help to highlight the binary opposites (Strauss) of the upper class, large university and the small, lower class pub which we see later on in the trailer.
- 3. The next shot highlights once more the two binary opposite characters (Strauss) as we see an over-the-shoulder shot of the lower class female character, and the male upper class character. The mise-en-scene is also evident in this scene, as the university setting can be seen in the background, having upper class representations. The differences between the characters become more evident when the female character says “Miles are you posh?”, as if insinuating that she is lower class and looks down on the upper class character. The wide shot that we see next highlights the upper characters costumes, showing that they are very affluent and very expensive- looking. Shooting is a stereotypical thing for upper class males to do as a hobby, which is often shown in social realist films and is a typical stereotype within the media. The sword and guns which can be seen could represent violence or the upper class as they use these items for sport which adheres to Earp & Katz ‘All men are violent’ theory, whilst the large house which is evident in the background is opulent, again conforming to representations of the upper class within the media. The painting of the character which can be seen in the next shot represents his high status and wealth, and is a traditional prop for the upper class characters in social realist films. It could also represent him as being very narcissistic and self-centred, as he has his own portrait hung up in the house. The low angle shot of the male character makes him look powerful and quite intimidating, adhering to Earp & Katz ‘All men are violent’ theory, and also adhering to common representations of upper class people within the media.
- 4. The male character is then seen looking at the female character in a sexual way, as if degrading her. There is a slight low angle shot of the male character, and the female is only seen from over the shoulder, which again makes him look more in control of the situation than she is, as well as presenting the upper class as being overly-sexual, and misogynistic, which is a common representation within the media. (MEN ACT, WOMEN APPEAR THEORY) The female is also blonde and quite pretty, which adheres to Naomi Wolf’s ‘Beauty myth’ theory. The main female protagonist can then be seen in low key lighting through glass, which makes her look less powerful and highlights how the upper class male characters feel that they are in control. It could also represent binary opposite characters (Strauss) as the lower class character is often seen in low key lighting and at a long shot, whilst the upper class character is always in high key lighting and is quite close up to the camera. There is a close up shot of one of the main upper class characters to show that he is one of the main protagonists/antagonists, and that he is in control within the film being an upper class, male character. It could also be used to attract the female gaze (Mulvey), as he could be considered attractive, and his smart, clean clothing highlights to the audience that he is quite rich, and one of the upper class characters. He appears to look quite smug and in control, again showing typical representations of upper class characters within social realist films.
- 5. There is a close up shot of a lighter which has connotations of fire and destruction, and is gold and black which could be considered quite opulent as if to represent the upper class. The negative, violent connotations of the lighting adhere to the Earp and Katz – ‘All men are violent’ theory, whilst the close up shot and zoom into the lighting intensifies these connotations for the audience. The editing then becomes quicker, fading in and out to build tension for the audience and suggest that the trailer is beginning to reach an important moment. We see a destroyed bedroom, which represents the destruction and violence of the club, highlighting to the audience that the upper class characters don’t care about the new member of the club who could be considered a lower class. This adheres to Earp & Katz theory, whilst the audience is left not knowing who has destroyed the bedroom and only being able to speculate who it was by the word ‘Riot’ which is written on the wall (Barthes –Enigma code). The negative representation of the upper class is intensified when the female character says “These people are not your friends”, again showing that they don’t care about Miles or anyone of a slightly lower class than them. There is a woman who is being objectified by the upper class men and who we assume is a prostitute, highlighting how the upper class views women only as objects for sex and for things for them to look at. (WOMEN APPEAR THEORY). This also reflects patriarchal views within society, as well as within the upper class people. The lighting has changes to become low key lighting, implying that the mood will soon change as the characters become more intoxicated.
- 6. We hear Foley sound as one of the upper class characters punches the lower class owner of the pub, highlighting how violent the men are becoming as they become more intoxicated. This also shows the binary opposite characters (Strauss) as it is the upper class man attacking the lower class man, again a common representation of upper class people within the media. The music has changed, becoming more dramatic and synchronous in order to fit the action that is happening on the screen, and letting the audience know that the mood of the trailer has changed to become negative. The male character is covered in blood implying that a fight has taken place, probably between the lower class and the upper class characters as they have become more intoxicated throughout the trailer, which is a common convention for social realist films. This adheres to Earp & Katz ‘All men are violent’ theory, and is emphasised when we hear an upper class characters say “People like us don’t make mistakes”, which implies that they aren’t sorry for the violence which has taken place. The music is now slow and synchronous to fit the now negative tone of the scene. The next key scene shows one of the main upper class protagonists shouting “I’m sick to death of poor people!” whilst clearly being intoxicated. This adheres to typical representations of upper class within the media as hating the lower class, and being quite discriminative and violent towards them. The music has now suddenly turned loud and fast, to represent the confusion and the negative nature of the club, whilst the low key lighting also shows these negative representations of upper class characters.
- 7. The lower class, female character is shown being attack by the club which represents her as being quite weak, and again as being objectified by the upper class males. This is a dominant ideology within the media, and adheres to the John Berger – Men act, women appear theory, as well as showing the binary opposite (Strauss) characters, the upper class male being in control and the lower class female being weak and unable to fight the male off. This could be quite a shocking scene for audience members as it is not shown in most mainstream films, however it is a common convention of social realist films, and it will encourage the audience to see the film as it is dealing with issues which occur daily. Intertitles showing the films tagline which is eventually shown fully towards the end of the trailer, and are used to inform the audience of important narrative features e.g. tag line “Filthy. Rich. Spoilt. Rotten.” This tagline highlights key representations about the upper class e.g. being spoiler by a rich family. The writing itself is still black and white, and in quite opulent font, however it appears to be discolours around the edges which could represent the damage that the upper class males have done, and the negative lifestyles that they lead. There is a low angle shot of one of the films main protagonists which is shown in bright lighting, making him look angelic and like a heroic character which we can tell from the ending of the trailer that he isn’t – this juxtaposes the films theme and could show a potential twist in the plot.
- 8. Flashing lights showing ideologies of a police or ambulance – this suggests that there is a fatality at the end of the film, and the audience is left wondering if it is one of the upper or lower class characters. This is an enigma code for the audience (Barthes), and will encourage them to go and view the film in order to feel a catharsis and find out whether someone has been killed by the upper class, male characters. The ending of the trailer shows the film’s title in bright pink which juxtaposes the patriarchal dominance within the film only three main female characters all of which are sexualised. The end titles encourage an active audience through social media sites and a website, which also links into social interaction and could create a larger audience for the film despite it being a niche genre.