Background & Context

Based on Mark Millar's comic book by the same name. The rights to a film version of Kick Ass were sold before the first issue of the comic book was published. Both the film and comic book were developed at the same time but they took a different  direction. The film writers took the direction of a chick flick, with more emotional filled characters. Mark Millar took the direction of a somewhat autobiographical piece which included his ideologies of his life as a kid. He wanted to portray a relatable book which demonstrated the common gullible nature of a 15 year old kid. As the films took different direction they seem to reach the same conclusions. Mark Millar acknowledges the differences, explaining that a comic usually has eight acts, while a film usually has a three act structure.

Vaughn said that, "We wrote the script and the comic at the same time so it was a very sort of collaborative, organic process. I met Millar at the premiere of Stardust. We got on really well. I knew who he was and what he had done but I didn't know him."

Controversy
In January 2010, an uncensored preview clip of the film was attacked by family advocacy groups for its display of violence and offensive language. A particular line delivered by Chloe Grace Moretz, who was eleven years old at the time of filming, was criticised heavily.

Representations This is England

Representations of masculinity in This is England are contrasting between the two main male characters.  Woody is the first character we are introduced to. In the underpass scene woody is able to make Shaun laugh after his terrible day at school. Shaun has been bullied in school and is very defensive but innocent. Woody makes him laugh and genuinely wans to make him feel better. He is protective over him when the other gang members try to pick on him. For the first 40 minutes, before Combo turns up, Woody is seen as the father figure.

When Combo enters the house he automatically sets an awkward tone. He also becomes the oldest and most dominant figure changing the atmosphere of the party. He uses his dominant figure status to change the dynamics of Woody and shuans relationship.

This is England Narrative

This is England has the task of putting 6 weeks of real time into a 95 minute film. Using time and space Shane Meadows is able to put Shaun's 6 week holiday into his film. He has the decision what to include to make this film as interesting as possible. Shane Meadows makes us feel we are living in the moment; we are given the sense of an era. During the 1980s the skinhead culture is in full force and we are introduced to a gang of skinheads when Shaun meets Woody in the underpass. Props such as the fashion and the cars are typical of this era. 

The main characters in This is England are 3 dimensional as they are plot devices. Shaun is the main character and the character that the audience are forced to connect with. Shaun is in nearly every scene and we must accept the decision he makes. This is Shaun’s story of how his life has changed over this holiday. By the end of the holiday he has been through events that are typical in adult life. These events have grown him up, giving him opinions taking him away his young innocence, which every 12 year old has. 

The film in many ways is split into two. The narrative of the film effectively starts again in Combo’s flat after Shaun makes a crucial decision in his life. Combo gives Shaun gives Shaun 2 choice where he draws a line on the floor almost indicating the middle of the film. This is the centre scene to the film. After this scene the narrative resets as a symmetrical story to what happened earlier. At the very start of the film Shaun is filmed alone, with no dialogue, bringing us closer to his character. This type of scene occurs happens at the very end. Using the centre scene as a mirror the features of last scene is symmetrically reflected. Some shots of the first half of the film are not identical but they reflect the same iconography of each other. Shaun is forced to make the same decisions in both friendship groups from both sides of the narrative. It is as though the woody’s gang has had perfect swaps as the father figure which woody represents is replaced by Combo.

Combo as a racist character which has unorthodox opinions compared to the rest of society could relate to Stuart Hall’s enigma codes. Throughout the film we question whether he is this way to be offensive but the scene where he beats up Milky expresses his opinions.

This is England Genre

Genre, Influences & Shane Meadows

Through discussion, I believe that the film's genre is social realism. From its Aesthetics, Functions and themes I had no choice but to choose this genre. I view ‘This Is England’ as an issue based film about a past era. However from watching it, you must see the aesthetics as incontrovertibly real. The mise en scene of the film shows us high-rise flats and a gritty look. The gritty look is born from the saturated colours and the naturalistic lighting. In combos flat the scene feels as grim as the grey sky outside because no extra lighting has been used. A social realist film commonly uses people with little or no acting experience. Their performances seem more realistic and deliberate than professionals. The actors in ‘This is England’ challenge us because they are unknown. Thomas Turgoose is the main character and had no acting experience until this film. Each actor has a regional accent defining the setting of the movie in Nottingham. This is England discusses themes and issues that occurred during this era. Themes such as the national front and the Falkland’s war also convey the social realist genre. Social realist film commonly has an allegory within its narrative. The allegory of ‘This is England’ makes us challenge ourselves as the actors portray the English people of reality. An allegory is common in the social realist genre. The issues used include the social and political views of the working class people of Britain during the 1980's. The film starts taking a turn in genre in some parts. It moves towards a film about a certain character’s emotions, conveyed in Lol and Combo's car scene. There are other ways in which this film can challenge the social realist genre. In ‘This is England’ we see a montage, which keeps us aware that we are watching a film. This film could be considered a Shane meadows film. Meadows likes to reflect his personal creative visions and you see this creative style in other Shane Meadows film. Shane Meadows likes to use the same motifs, themes and actors in his films. This is England includes actors such as Vicky McClure and Andrew Shim from his other films. 

Slumdog Millionaire Genre

The genre of Slumdog Millionaire looks like a romantic drama, as Slumdog contains many of the key conventions of a romantic drama film. Without the film explicitly using Propp’s character types we know they are present. Jamal is our hero, who is chasing his princess, Latika. Propp’s character types include the role of a villain which is played by Prem and Salim. The main theme of Slumdog bends the genre of the film towards the romantic drama. The theme of chasing a lost love across a big city defying all odds is common of the romantic drama.

The use of flashbacks, flash-forwards and montages helps the narrative create a difficulty for Jamal and Latika to be together. They convey desperation and innocence as he is interrogated by now his only hope is for destiny to push him that extra bit closer to Latika.

Although by every difficulty seems to increase the odds of failure. Destiny is mentioned so often that we are reassured, as the audience that, the guy must get the girl. This is always the case in the romantic drama genre.

Close-up shots of Latika enhance the importance of her to both the narrative and Jamal. Emotion between them is highlighted whenever Jamal sees her. It is demonstrated by a POV shot that will stay on Latika for a relatively long time. During the shot we have time to understand her beauty and vulnerability. The shots are voyeuristic portraying that she is a prize worth struggling for.

Slumdog also uses clues of a romantic drama unfolding by the use of iconography. The film uses visual signifiers such as many close-up shots and most obvious, a kissing scene. Without the kiss at the end of the film we would be puzzled to believe that this is a romantic drama. The narrative makes this scene importance by making it the only kiss in the film.

However the individual kiss could influence Slumdog to be of the Bollywood genre. Bollywood genre conventions include the idea of a single kiss. Other conventions of Bollywood seem to be involved in Slumdog’s narrative. Conventions such as: references to religion, dramatic changes of fortune, kidnapping, a love triangle and sacrifice. It is clear that Bollywood has had influence on the song at the end Slumdog Millionaire.

To summarise conventions from both the romantic drama and Bollywood genres are present. I believe that the romantic genre appears to have more influence due to the iconography, character types and main themes.

Symmetrical Narrative

The film in many ways is split into two. The narrative of the film effectively starts again in Combo’s flat after Shaun makes a crucial decision in his life. Combo gives Shaun gives Shaun 2 choice where he draws a line on the floor almost indicating the middle of the film. This is the centre scene to the film. After this scene the narrative resets as a symmetrical story to what happened earlier. At the very start of the film Shaun is filmed alone, with no dialogue, bringing us closer to his character. This scene is 1 minutes and 20 seconds long.  This type of scene occurs happens at the very end and last for 2 minutes. Using the centre scene as a mirror the features of last scene is symmetrically reflected.

Some shots of the first half of the film are not identical but they reflect the same iconography of each other. These shots are evidence of the symmetrical narrative and are plentiful throughout the film. The most obvious shots are the shots that involve the first gang including Woody, and the second gang including Combo. The shots have the gangs in a line across the screen. Both with the same iconography however with different characters after Shaun make his decision to stay with Combo.

Another example of a scene, which is symmetrical to each other, is the football scenes. Each filmed at the same location but however both with different gangs. However the scene with woody’s gang is light hearted and includes the gang having fun. The scene with Combo is more serious and racist. This demonstrates the type of choice Shaun has made replacing a fun with a more menacing gang.

Here is another example of using the same location but the two scenes are from different halves of the film. The first one conveys an innocent shaun after being bullied at school taking time to play with a catapult and eat sweets. The second picture conveys him after a horrific incident where he was forced to see Milky get beaten up by Combo. He is almost letting go out the patriotic theory from Combo when he leaves his flag in the boat.














Another time where i believe the narrative are symmetrical is when Woody's gang go hunting, where they destroy unused houses for fun. This is activity harms no one and is fun for the lads. However after Shaun's decision to stay with combo, they find fun in robbing the corner shop causing menace to the shop owner.