IF case study

'How does the film illustrate British values and represent the genre of 'social realism'?'·In what ways could this film be seen as British?*We watched the film 'IF', IF is a film created in 1968 adn was released in august in 1969, it is based on a british boys school where one boy known as 'mick' and a few of his fellow friends rebel aganst the school and the society back then violently. The film was originally givena rating of a UK 15 due to the violenceand mild swearing.We watched this film so that we could gain an insight into what sort of things film directors use to representbritishness.the main plot throughout:-a boy arrives at his all boys school for the start of a new year-the main protagonist 'mick' steals a motorbike and also has a sexual affair witha cafe waitress-the protagonist and some fellow friends find weapons such as 'grenades' and 'guns'in the schools basement when clearing it out.-the protagonist his friends and the waitress female plan to use the weapons to rebel whenparents of the boys school visit.-a fire is started by the protagonist and his friends, from there they proceed to shoot the parents dead asthey exit the church-the film concludes with the protagonist that is followed throughout the film on the roof aiming at the head teacherhowever, it is the female waitress that shoots the teacher dead (in the head).The Films Cast:*Malcolm McDowell (Mick Travis) Protagonist*David Wood (Johnny)*Richard Warwick (Wallace)*Christine Noonan (The Female)*Rupert Webster (Bobby Phillips)*Robert Swann (Rowntree)*Hugh Thomas (Denson)*Michael Cadman (Fortinbras)*Peter Sproule (Barnes)*Peter Jeffrey (Headmaster)*Anthony Nicholls (General Denson)*Arthur Lowe (Mr Kemp)*Mona Wasbourne (Matron)*Mary McLeod (Mrs Kemp)*Geoffrey Chater (Chaplian/Reverend)*The film is written by David Sherwin and John Howlett. It is directed by Lindsay Anderson, Lindsay was born in 1923 and orginated from India. He based his work upon british film, theatre and documentaries. His most memorable film that made his name recognisable in the late end of the 60's and early 70's was the film 'IF', this film later recieved an award at the Cannes film festival in france.* Theatre productions produced by Lindsay:-The Lily White Boys (1960)-Stages (1992)-The Fishing Trip (1991)-What The Butler Saw (1975)-Diary Of A Madman (1964)*Other film productions produced by Lindsay:-Look back in ager (1980)-The Whales Of August (1987)-O Lucky Man! (1973)-The White Bus (1967)*Locations Sites From The Film:Alot of the filming locations below are quiet popular today also as they have beenused to film other films such as for example, Adenham School where 'Being Bonkers (2002)' wasalso used as a filming site.-Tewkesbury Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, UK(Packhorse Cafe, no longer there)-Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK(Motorbike shop)-Elstree, Hertfordshire, England, UK-St John's Church, Berkeley Street, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, UK-Cheltenham College, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, UK-Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, UK-Carew Manor School, Church Road, Beddington, Surrey, England, UK(corridor, staircase and bonfire scenes)-Beddington, Surrey, England, UK-Aldenham School, Elstree, Hertfordshire, England, UK*The film was created for a typical british audience this is as the plot of the film is based on thingschanging in britain such as strict corporal punisment then, which a british audience can relate too unlikeother cultures that may not have recieved the same punishment attributes that the british community did.*The film can be represented by being british through its use of british actors, british actors will have a british accent and therefore this contributes towards british values.Another thing also is that the film also has a british director (Lindsay) and uses british locations for the settingof the film throughout. The director orginated from India as he was born there however, he is actually english whichcontributes well towards representing a true british atmosphere as its important to have a british director for a british based film.*The film also is majorly set in a boys school, back then schools were split into all boys and all girls schools as this wasseen as being 'properly efficent' it also may of been viewed as socially correcy due to stereotypical roles back then ofmales were the dominating beings who had a good education in order to get a good job to support their family.Whereas, females roles were 'house work' jobs such as cooking, cleaning and minding the children.This is also a good representation of britishness as british boarding schools back then due to the strictness we see in the film. This also an example ofsocial realism as it portrays the way in which hieararchy at the time was showed through enpowerment and also dominance and inferiority between cizitizens back then.For example in the film we see strict corporal punishment used during a scence where the protagonist (Mick) is 'caned' for stealing amotor bike from a motorbike store. Moreover back then it was also seen as british politeness to thank the punisher after the punishmentwas recieved, again we see this in the film as Mick says 'thankyou' after recieving a severe caning.*Mise-en-scene also contributes to british values with the use of uniform. The unform consisted of a long sleeved t-shirt and tie, black trousers, black shoes, and a blazer. This is a formal way of dress that is used throughout british schools today. It a stereotypical attribute us 'brits' are given today, when people are asked about the british nation in relation to schools then near enough everytime posh/formal 'uniform' will be mentioned.*Music is also used briefly used throughout the film, in the start of the movie and then ocasionally throughout a 'choir' is used, the song is then repeated throughout the movie. The protagonist also constantly plays an african song throughout, in his room and also in the cafe after meetingthe waitress. This may be as back then the Vietnam war had only just began in the 1960's and therefore as Vietnam is in Africa the song originatesfrom there the protagonist feels the song has a deeper meaning. For example the boy seems deeply interested in the war that was going on and hadimages of soldiers posted all over his wall, this is also a moment in the film when he chooses to play the song. The song also has a tribal themeto it which adds a war vibe to the scences it is featured in.*Black and white is often used throughout the movie aswell as colour. This is as the director said that by doing this in certain scenes it portraysthe darkness behind the meaning of the film. For example where the scenes take place in a chapel whereas, you would expect this to be happythere could also be a hidden meaning to this such as, the parents and headmaster at the end of the film are murdered outside of the chapel whichis an emotional but also dark and deperessing outlook. Also a fire also originates in the chapel too which is a negative attribute. Although the director maynot have intentionally even used this idea it can still be explained as a reason, it can be seen as a form of forshadowing using black and whitecolour to express it. Furthermore, the director used black and white scenes in scenes that are darker for example the bedroom scenes. Thiswas supposedly as the lighting back then was very poor and therefore, the footage was easily viewable if in black and white compared withcoloured footage. The most popular and recognised reason for the miss match of the black and white scenes throughout the film is that backthen the production team ran out of money for the funding and making of the film. It was said that it cost more to film in colour than it did in black and white and therefore, the director and production team decided to film the 'less insignificant' scenes in black and white to save money.Some Of The Main Camera Shots Used Throughout The Film:Birdeyes view: This is good because it is shown in the major scenes in the film. For example in the scene in which the protagonistand his fellow pupils are reminded of the school rules the head master and prefixes are stood on a higher platform in contrast with thepupils. This is an example of the headmaster being dominant, it shows that in this particular scene he is the one who holds the power aboveall the other people in the scene. Also, back then and even today the role of the headmaster is dominant as they are in charge of a schooland the pupils that attend the school. Moreover, this role switches in the final scene of the movie as when the main character and his friendsgo to rebel against the school and parents the birdseye view shows that the students are the dominant and controlling ones who are in controlof the current situation at hand as they are situated on the roof of the chapel with loaded guns and grenades. Whereas, the headmaster, parents and prefixes are below on the ground with loaded guns aimed at this. This shows a role reversal of who holds the power as the originaland stereotypically assumed power of authority have now been demeanered and are now viewed as the inferior ones in the scene.Long shot/ Close Ups:Long shot is often used during the scenes relating to the school, for example in the shots that show all the boys in the dining hall of the school.This shows british school unity and togetherness. Moreover, long shots throughout the movie are also used to portray to the audience the surrounding background in the shot. For example, in the scene where the protagonist is in his room playing his 'african music' relaxing to thisforshawdowing is briefly used as you can see the posters of the vietmanese and US soliders on the walls of the room. Later on however, a closeup scans across these images. The foreshadowing of this may not be automatically picked up by an audience on the first viewing of the film.Close ups are also used especially on the main character to demonstrate emotion, an example of this is shown in the punishment scene of thefilm where 'Mick' is being caned, in the scene the camera goes from using a long shot showing not only mick but also the punishing prefixes andthe gym to a close up of Micks facial expression after each time of being caned. This is to portray to the audience how the protagonist feels duringhis punishment and also the pain that he is experiencing. Another example of this also is at the end of the film where a shot is used to show themain characters facial expression right before the headmaster is murdered. This shot is to show the audience how Mick is feeling in his moment of superiority over the headmaster and the parents.*As for camera movement other than the brief use of panning on the protagonist camera movement was very limited and rarely used togive significance to anything.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Warhttp://www.archivist.f2s.com/cpa/mainpage.htmhttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063850/plotsummaryhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000755/