Movie Comparison

Welcome to the punch & Headhunters comparison

The genre of both of these movies is thriller, this is seen through the use of dark colours, tense music, an antagonist and a series of difficult situations that the protagonists have to try to overcome. Both of these movies try to make the characters relatable to the audience through a theme of insecurities. In Welcome to the punch, the protagonist is unable to achieve things to his full potential due being shot in his leg during a spontaneous decision he made and continues to regret. This creates a sympathetic audience. This is similar in Headhunters as the audience is supposed to feel sympathetic towards the protagonist because he is insecure about his self image and lives in fear of not being good enough; this makes the character relatable to the audience as this is a common insecurity to have. Furthermore, it makes the audience understand some of the reasons for his actions during the movie.

However, I think the characterisation in the movies is different; we find out much more about the protagonist in headhunters than we do in welcome to the punch. This makes the audience more involved in the movie and feel more emotions when things happen to that character. Although both of the movies do represent women under a negative light, in welcome to the punch there are only two female roles and both of them are shown failing, one through death and the other by getting exposed. In headhunters the woman is also represented negatively as she is presented as a gold-digging and selfish female character. In comparison to the male characters in the movies, the females would probably be looked down upon by the audience.

Overall I preferred headhunters because I think the story line was very intriguing and unique, it keeps the audience interested throughout the whole movie. I also think that it is much better in making the audience feel sympathetic towards the protagonist, especially in one of the key scenes in the movie where he has to shave off his hair; this is a visual representation of how quickly his life went down hill. He went from a full set of hair to nothing in just a few days. Additionally, the protagonist went from wearing fancy suits to wearing other people's clothes; this highlights the dramatic turn of events that he has experienced.

Weekly News

The NHS and Tinder have formed an unlikely alliance

This article was written by Harry Readhead for Metro.co.uk; the purpose of it is to inform the audience of the positive action the popular dating app Tinder has taken to raise awareness for organ donation. NHS and Tinder are hoping to raise this awareness by inviting three celebrities to help them; Jade Jones (Olympic gold medallist), Jamie Laing (Made in Chelsea) and Gemma Oaten (Eastenders). The use of star power here is supposed to help attract a wide audience to their partnership and "throw a spotlight on the importance of organ donation". It is important to raise more awareness for organ donation as "millions more support donation but haven't taken the final step to sign up". Additionally the article includes some statistics to help people realise how serious this topic is: "There are nearly 7,000 people on the UK transplant waiting list and over the last 10 years more than 6,000 people have died waiting for an organ." The NHS campaign is hoping to educate Tinder's 18-35 demographic on its potential to save lives.

In my opinion I think it's great to see a popular app help to promote a positive cause, I also think it's good how celebrities have gotten involved to try and raise awareness. I hope it is successful and leads to many more people signing up to be an organ donor.

Weekly News

Mother decided to bring up her three-year-old son as a girl in Britain's youngest case of a child wanting to sex change

Kerry McFadyen found her son Daniel, who was aged three at the time, trying to cut off his penis so that "he could be a girl". When I first saw the title of this article I instantly thought that it was bad parenting to let your three year old child change genders but she says "Most people might think I'm a bad mother for letting my child transition so young, but I will do anything to make my child happy" she also mentioned that her "daughter is so happy now and a completely different child. As a boy she was quiet, withdrawn and miserable but now since since she has been living as Danni she is a ray of sunshine". This made me see things from her point of view and understand why she agreed to raising her son as a girl. Mrs McFadyen and her husband Craig approached their family GP for advice, after some time Daniel was diagnosed with gender dysphoria. This is a condition where a person experiences discomfort or distress because there is a mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity. "The parents will wait until Danni starts puberty, and then she will be prescribed hormone blockers until she is truly old enough to decide whether she wants to transition aged 16."

Weekly News

World's first anti-ageing drug could see humans live to 120

Scientists believe that Metformin, a current drug used by people with diabetes could increase a humans lifespan by 50%. The drug is set to have a human trial in 2016 where they're hoping to show that it slows down the ageing process and stops disease.

The evidence that suggests that this drug could possibly increase your lifespan is:

• "Belgian researchers tested Metformin on the tiny roundworm C.elegans the worms not only aged slower, but they also stayed healthier longer."
• "Mice treated with Metformin increased their lifespan by nearly 40 per cent and their bones were also stronger."
• "Cardiff University found that when patients with diabetes were given the drug Metformin they in fact lived longer than others without the condition, even though they should have died eight years earlier on average."

Although the evidence above seems reliable, I refuse to believe that this drug would work on everyone, and surely there would be some side effects for people. "However, if their trial performs as promised, experts say slowing ageing would be a 'public health revolution.'"

Link for the article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12017112/Worlds-first-anti-ageing-drug-could-see-humans-live-to-120.html 

Gone Girl Analysis

Gone Girl is a psychological thriller directed by David Fincher, I think it's extremely clever how the movie builds tension and suspense throughout the whole movie. The audience is kept intrigued because they have no idea how the movie will end as there are so many possibilities . While watching Gone Girl, your view of the characters is constantly changing due to the change of narrative throughout. At first you feel sorry for Amy Dunne, as the story she tells through the flash backs is supposed to make the audience feel sympathetic towards her, as it shows her husband, Nick Dunne mistreating her and implies he wants to kill her (although she admits to fabricating her diary). Amy tries to put Nick in a negative light.
However, this all changes when it show's Amy's part of the story after she disappears, it narrates what she has done to Nick and how she desires for him to get blamed for her death. This might encourage the audience to be on Nick's side, as she is clearly presented as a psychopath. This is further proved when they include the other men from her past, and the experiences they've had with her. Although, Nick did cheat and take advantage of her, so we can sympathise with Amy when she says "he does not get to win", even though her actions are very unreasonable, we can understand how she gets there. Overall the use of narrative in this movie was very effective as it revealed everything to the audience, leaving no questions.
The ending of the movie is definitely not what the audience would be expecting, Nick does't go to prison, although you could argue that he's in a prison of his own. He is spending the rest of his life with the craziest woman he's ever met.

Weekly News

'Boys' and 'Girls' categories ditched by Toys R Us

Toys R Us has stopped categorising products by gender, due to a campaign created by parents who complained that it was sexist as it was suggesting to children that they're expected to play with certain toys but not others, for example, baby dolls or cooking sets would not be found in a section for boy's toys. Instead, shoppers are now invited to browse depending on age, brand or type of toy; not by gender. 

The campaign group this is due to, is called Let Toys Be Toys, and they said "We'd want to say a big thank you to Toys R Us UK for bringing in the changes they have so far. This shows a real effort being made to be more inclusive to all children and the result will no doubt make a lot of children and parents happy this Christmas." So now Toys R Us joins other large retail chains including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Boots, TK Maxx; as they have all agreed to change the way they market toys.

I think that this is very positive news, as now children might be more likely to receive toys that aren't gender allocated, allowing them to widen their creativity and knowledge. On the other hand, although I think this is a good start, I don't think that parents will start buying their little girls toy cars or guns for Christmas.

Audience Positioning in Christmas Adverts

House of Fraser - #YourRules :

This advert isn't the most Christmas revolved one, however I think it's very refreshing as it's unique. It is supposed to encourage the audience to make Christmas into whatever they want it to be, explaining the hashtag "#YourRules". The dancing in the advert implies a sense of rebellion, which is included to help the audience see that they don't have to stick to the traditions and they can do Christmas in their own style. However, some audiences might view this advert in an oppositional way as isn't portraying the traditional Christmas image that they'd expect to see, especially those who are of a particular culture, as they might believe that there is only one way to celebrate Christmas, the traditional way. Therefore, this advert was created to aim at a younger/middle-aged audience as an older audience is more likely to be strict on their Christmas traditions. The advert is telling the audience that they can look for their very own style of Christmas at House of Fraser.
TKMaxx - Love Your Neighbour :

This advert sticks to the traditional Christmas image, it was created to encourage the audience to buy presents not just for their family and friends but those who "might not be your dearest, but they're your nearest", referring to their neighbours. This relates to the Bible as it says to "Love thy neighbour as thyself", further supporting the traditional image of Christmas. I think the message this advert is trying to send is very good, it's trying to make everyone's community spirit stronger. I reckon the audience would respond to this advert in a negotiated way as people will understand the message that is being portrayed, but most people are unlikely to act on it, as it's not something they'd usually do. Even if they don't buy a gift for their neighbour, they'll still be able to find "magical gifts for less" at TKMaxx.

Aldi - #AldiFavouriteThings : 

This advert for Aldi shows an image of what the audience are most likely to link with Christmas, it has a lot of food included because obviously Aldi is a food shop.The music in the advert is a Christmas version of 'favourite things', this gives them a chance to show everyone's favourite things about Christmas, and how Aldi can provide them with some of these things. The advert makes it clear to the audience that all the things that they'll need this Christmas, will be found in an Aldi store. The aim of this advert is clearly to persuade individuals to shop at Aldi this Christmas.
Boots #DiscoverMore : 

The Boots advert is simply trying to show the audience the variety of gifts that are available for them to buy. They make Boots seem like the best place to buy gifts as there's thousands of products to choose from, meaning that they're bound to find something that the recipient is going to adore. This is shown when the actors in the advert are using some of the products, and look very satisfied and happy. The advert could also be implying that the staff in Boots stores will be more than happy to help you find the perfect gifts to make your Christmas extra special.

Weekly News

Anonymous hackers declare war on Islamic state

French hackers from the activist group have official declared war on Islamic state following the attacks on Paris on the 13/11/2015.

Anonymous have joined the many people that have condemned the terror attacks that happened on Friday night and have vowed to hunt down the group (ISIS) responsible for these attacks. Videos like this have arisen before but in this specific one, the man in the distinctive Guy Fawkes mask stated that the violence that occurred leaving 129 people dead simply "can't go unpunished". On a different occasion involving the Charlie Hebdo massacre, Anonymous successfully shut down an extremist website. The group that call themselves 'Anonymous' warned that "the French people are stronger than you and will come out of this atrocity even stronger" they also warned the terrorists to "expect us". Anonymous are also active on twitter and further stated that they haven't just declared war, but they had in fact been at war for "quite some time". In the tweet they used the hashtag 'Daesh' which is a word hated so much by ISIS that they had previously threatened to cut out the tongue of anyone that uses it.

ISIS have claimed responsibility for the attack on Paris on Friday night when they targeted 7 locations filled with innocent people. I was speechless when I found out what happened, it is nice seeing the amount of support that France is receiving from millions of people all around the world. I am also glad to see that these Anonymous hackers are standing up for their country and what they believe in, I hope they succeed. 



Weekly News

Fast broadband to become a legal right for all

This article was written to inform people of David Cameron's plans for the future of the UK, he says "Just as our forebears effectively brought gas, electricity and water to all, we're going to bring fast broadband to every home and business that wants it", honestly I don't understand the point of this happening, as most of the people living in the UK already have access to fast broadband. A lot of the comments about the article suggest that they want everyone to have broadband so that we can be spied on more easily. Even though they're making it seem like they're doing it for our benefit, I don't think that's true, they could spend the money on much more useful and needed things such as education and health. I think that this idea is very unnecessary. There isn't much detailed information in this article as "The Prime Minister is expected to set out further details of the plan next week."

Censorship

Censorship is the name for the process or idea of keeping things like graphic images or obscene words from an audience. This is done in the media for people's safety, by people I mean children or people who might be exposed to the possibility of being harmed by these words or images, either physically or emotionally. It is run by the editors in media outlets. 

There are actually many things that might need to be censored as they may be considered harmful and inappropriate for some audiences. Censorship often occurs on TV when there is extreme violence, explicit sex scenes or other images that are unsuitable to be shown. However, these scenes are allowed to be shown on TV after a certain time. This is called watershed, this was created to protect viewers from seeing images that are inappropriate for them. After 9pm movies or shows that are of 15 certificate can be shown, this then moves up to 18 certificate after 10pm.

Censorship is also used in song lyrics, regularly there are two different types of one song; clean and dirty versions. Dirty versions of songs are the original ones, this version includes of many swear words and tasteless lyrics which people might find offensive, for this reason a another version is created so that it can intrigue a wider audience. The clean version does not include any swear words, these versions are produced so that they can be played on the radio, as it appeals to all audiences, this means the song is likely to get much more popular as it can be played everywhere. Clean versions of songs are created by replacing any rude language with acceptable words, an example of this is in the song "freak of the week" by Krept and Konan. Words like "bitches", "ass" and "fuck the feds" are all taken out in the clean version of the song so that it can be played in public places and the radio.

Another type of censorship is the age ratings for movies, there are six main types of age ratings used in the UK. Here is the list of them and what they stand for:
U - universal, suitable for all audiences.
PG - parental guidance, suitable for general viewing, parent/guardian should be present as some scenes might be unsuitable for some children.
12A - no one younger than 12 can can watch a 12A film at the cinema if they're not accompanied by an adult.
12 - contains material that isn't suitable for a child under 12.
15 - not suitable for people aged under 15.
18 - not suitable for people aged under 18.
These age ratings are created for the safety of the viewer, so that they don't see anything they aren't supposed to at their age.

Weekly News

Processed meats do cause cancer - WHO 

I'm guessing this article has caught many people's attention as it is about the very serious disease that causes thousands of people to die every year. This article was written by James Gallagher and Helen Briggs to warn people that processed meats do increase your risk of cancer. WHO is a world health organisation, and its report said "50g of processed meat a day - less than two slices of bacon - increased the chance of developing colorectal cancer by 18%" This should make people realise how bad processed meat is for them, however it is not saying that everyone should stop eating it because "It does not mean eating a bacon sandwich is as bad as smoking." I think this article is helpful as it should bring more attention to what people eat, and encourage them to have a healthy, balanced diet.

Weekly News

How Pauline Cafferkey's Ebola relapse tears up everything doctors thought they knew

This article caught my attention because Ebola was a massive, worldwide issue just a few months back, therefore I'm sure it caught many other people's attention too.

Pauline Cafferkey is a nurse that suffered from Ebola 9 months ago, she was admitted back into the infectious disease unit on the 9th of October. This was clearly a shock to doctors as Jonathan Ball, a professor of molecular virology, said "but I don't think anybody would for one minute have expected complications quite as serious as they certainly appear." This suggests that doctors and researchers of the Ebola virus didn't look deeply into the effect that it might have on someone, after they have recovered from it. However they now know that "while their bloodstream, their saliva and organs such as the liver are free of the Ebola virus, there are immuno-privileged pockets where it can hide out." These are parts of the body that the immune system cannot protect from the virus, for example, it was recently found in the fluid that is inside of the eye. "The genital tract is another immuno-privileged site", this means that Ebola can actually be sexually transmitted, although this is rare. Scientists are concerned that the virus could lead to recurrence of outbreaks.

The hospital that Pauline works in is identifying the people whom she's had recent contact with, to stop the virus from spreading. Doctors will also be more attentive of the long-term issues that might happen to survivors of Ebola.

This article is very informative, and it's successful because even though it informs people of an issue that they could possibly get worried about, it reassures them that doctors now know what they're doing and will be able to detect any future problems to do with Ebola right away.

Short Term 12 Analysis

Short Term 12 is a 96 minute drama directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. Some of its main characters include Brie Larson (Grace) and John Gallagher Jr. (Mason), although these names might not sound familiar to some of us, the cast did an amazing job in portraying their characters, I think this because I would consider this movie as quite an emotional one, and I think they expressed them very well as it should make the audience feel empathy towards them.

This movie uses a variety of different visual and audio codes to appeal to a wide range of audience. While this movie is classified as a drama, it includes romance and occasionally some comedy. Additionally, this movie changes from happy to unhappy moods and events all throughout, keeping the audience engaged. This is particularly seen when it's Masons 'parents' 30th anniversary, this perhaps might be one of the happiest scenes in the movie. This is because there is very cheerful music playing while the scene shows the audience children playing around and having fun along with Grace and Mason; this then continues onto showing us them dancing, with very clear expressions of their faces to show us that they're both very happy and content in that moment, this is done by a close up. This was the perfect moment for Mason to ask "will you marry me?", and of course Grace said yes.

However this mood is drastically changed in the next scene, when they wake up in the morning and get a phone call about Grace's father being let out of prison. This once again puts a very negative atmosphere upon the movie, this is done by using very blunt language in conversations that Grace is having with Mason.

Grace: Mason, you have no idea what I'm going through right now.

Mason: Then tell me. That's how this works. You talk to me about it so that I can take your hand and fucking walk through this shit with you. That is what I signed up for, okay? But I cannot do that if you won't let me in.

Grace: I can't. I'm sorry.

The language used in the quote above is very dismissive, making the audience feel sorry for Mason as he hasn't done anything wrong; it also makes the audience lose hope in their relationship. But like most movies, everything ends well for pretty much all of the characters which can come to as a relief for the audience because they all deserve happiness after everything that they have been through in their lives. Furthermore, the ending could give the audience hope for a better future, no matter what tough situations they face.

Crash (2004) Film Review

This movie was directed by Paul Haggis. There is a lot of star power in this movie, some of which include Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Ludacris and many more. This movie has won 3 Oscars and has had another 65 wins and 81 nominations; this suggests that it was a very successful movie. The genre of this movie is drama.

During this movie you continuously see racial based prejudice and stereotypes, making it the central theme of the movie. The audience sees racism to all cultures and colours, from the rich to the poor and the powerful to the powerless; all the characters become victims of it but are also guilty of it. The director did a very good job of interlocking multiple stories into one, the lives of the characters crash into one another by coincidence, serendipity and luck. This movie clearly teaches the audience not to make assumptions about people because they prevent us from seeing who people really are. For example, Jean (Sandra Bullock) wrongly accuses a Mexican locksmith as a gang member because he has a “shaved head, pants around his ass, the prison tattoo”, where in fact he is a caring family man. There are also examples from this movie that show people are aware of their stereotypes, and decide to live up to them. This is seen when the characters Anthony (Ludacris) and Peter (Larenz Tate) are having a conversation about how people treat/look at them differently because of their skin colour.

Anthony: Look around! You can't find a whiter, safer, better lit part of this city. But this white woman sees two black guys, who look like UCLA students, strolling down the sidewalk and her reaction is blind fear. I mean, look at us! Are we dressed like gang-bangers? Huh? No. Do we look threatening? No. Fact, if anybody should be scared around here, it's us: We're the only two black faces surrounded by a sea of over-caffeinated white people, patrolled by the trigger happy LAPD. So you tell me, why aren't we scared?

Peter: Because we have guns?

Anthony: You could be right.

Right after this, they both run up to the white woman and her husband and pull out their guns to threaten them and end up stealing their car. This was very shocking to me as they were so offended by the stereotypes people have of them, yet they turned out to be that stereotype.

After an extreme turn of events, towards the end of the movie the characters come to the realisation that stereotypes don't apply to everyone. Some examples of this are when Jean (Sandra Bullock) confesses to her maid Maria that "You're the best friend I've got", this is after she realises that no one else was there for her when she needed them most. Another example is when Officer Tom Hansen shoots Peter, because he thought he was in danger of Peter pulling out a gun on him, when in fact it was a St. Christopher statue that he had to keep him safe. This teaches the audience not to jump to conclusions about someone as it might lead to some horrible consequences.

Additionally, at the end of the movie it starts snowing which represents purification of the characters actions as the negative things are being covered with snow, which gives a sense of freedom. This was foreshadowed at the beginning of the film when Waters says he is freezing and a detective says "I heard it might snow", this is significant as it very rarely snows in Los Angeles, which implies that anything can happen, giving viewers hope. The last scene of the movie is a car crash and some more angry racist comments, just like the movie started; this suggests that people will never learn to stop being racist towards one another.

In conclusion, although I do believe the central theme of the movie is racism, I don’t think it’s what the movie is truly about. I think Haggis used racism as a catalyst for the actions and reactions found in the movie. He based them on race as it is one of the first things we notice when we look at someone. Haggis says “it’s a story about strangers, and how we affect strangers”. So yes, this creative film is well worth a few hours of your time.

Weekly News

Sugary snacks in hospital vending machines 'send wrong message'

This article puts pressure onto the NHS to provide their workers and patients with healthier food, as the things they're selling in vending machines could be the cause of why someone would be admitted to a hospital in the first place. "In a survey of hospital trusts in England, the Observer found that all of the 76 that responded sold a range of confectionary or salty snacks, yet half failed to offer plain dried or fresh fruit" This suggests that hospitals do not think about what they are selling to people who come there and they're sending out "entirely the wrong message" The article is implying that it's like the NHS want more patients to come in with the problem of diabetes and obesity, which is already very popular in the UK.

The food that hospitals offer is a particular concern for their employees as they often rely on vending machines when they're working late night shifts. I think that hospitals should provide much more healthy food for their employees and patients, as this will result in a healthy work force that can give good care to patients, and patients will be getting better, not worse during their stay at the hospital.

However, the article did include that "Many hospital trusts say their vending machine services are contracted out, and that they are unable to control which products are offered." This means that they have no input into the food and drink that is being sold. Therefore, I think that they should stop having vending machines to ditch all the unhealthy, sugary foods and try to encourage everyone in the building to eat better food.

Weekly News

Up to 13 killed in college shooting in Oregon

A 20 year old gunman killed 10 students and wounded at least 20 on the morning of Thursday 1st October in a school located in Roseburg, Oregon. He died in a shootout with the police shortly after and his motive for the deaths is unknown. Barack Obama demanded for tighter gun laws, as he has realised that these shootings have become a routine - 

"We are not the only country on Earth with mental illness or with people who want to harm each other, but we are the only country that has these mass shootings every few months."

Killers have turned schools, which are supposed to be safe institutions for their students into massacre sites repeatedly - "There have been 74 US shootings since Sandy Hook". I think that Obama's push for gun control is hopeless as America would've changed their laws by now considering their history on school shootings, I think he needs to try much harder to stop these incidents from recurring.

Teens Presentation

My presentation.

Weekly news

The article
This article is trying to present a bad image of British Gas, by highlighting words like "unreservedly" because it's suggesting that the company doesn't care about the mistake they've done. Additionally, they included the picture of the British Gas logo and their slogan "looking after your world" to alert people that their slogan is contradicting to their actions as they weren't looking after the woman who was attacked again by a previous abuser because they made the mistake of sending her new address to his house. The media here is trying to bring the audiences attention to the matter and possibly making the British Gas lose customers.

Coca-Cola - #MakeItHappy

This is one of the hundreds of commercials created for coca cola. At first we don't know what the commercial is trying to advertise but then an internet technician drinking coke is shown, the coke spills and goes into the system. All of a sudden, all the hate and rude comments that were shown right at the beginning are being changed to positive and happy comments. So at the beginning of the commercial the mood created was very miserable through the dark colours used, this is done to help portray Coca Cola in a positive light. This commercial shows the actors being abused by online bullying, or just sad in general and then as soon as the Coca Cola appears their emotions change to happy ones. Which is meant to make the audience believe that Coca Cola brings joyful emotions only, and that you could never go wrong with it; supposed to make the audience choose Coca Cola over any other drink. As to the sound included in the commercial, it is quite suspenseful during the beginning with a voice over of some of the negative comments being shown on the screen. But after the product is presented the audio changes to a cheerful song, which uplifts the general mood of the commercial.The advertisement tries to draw the viewers attention by altering the way we see the world, it shows us that the internet can be used to spread hate or happiness and it either hurts people or makes their day, also tells us that "the world is what you make it". I think the commercial is aimed at anyone but especially the people who uses social media and the internet.