EXPLORING A PROMOTIONAL PACKAGE

APPLYING DEPTH TO YOUR WORK

Most films promote or represent certain political/ social/ cultural issues.

A recent example of this is Netflix's 'Okja' (2017) which follows the life of a girl trying to rescue her 'super pig' from a corporation specialising in meat production. On the surface the film is showing the bond between man and animal but on a larger scale it is commenting on the disgusting conditions and unsustainable future of the meat industry.

Interestingly, Disney's Zootopia (2016), though sporting a fluffy rabbit protagonist, implicitly dealt with themes of social division, focusing on racial tensions, and promoted community cohesion. This was undeniably a response to the rising racial disturbances all over the world and in America specifically, with the black rights movement gaining publicity and the return of prominent white power groups.





The dialogue in our film opening presents our protagonist as a 'broken man'. He is divorced, requires medical care, has recently been fired from his job and has a strained relationship with his daughter. The plot depicts his journey of self realisation as he is forced to re-evaluate his life by his kidnapper, who sees him as failing to fulfil his worth, under the threat of death.

I think our film opening lacked clarity and therefore it is hard to find a message within it. The protagonist represented an ordinary man so it could have advocated for the normalisation of mental health issues for men. Furthermore, his struggles could be interpreted as symbolic of the modern man battling under the capitalist regime, conforming and challenging the ideologies presented in Marx's theory.

To make my film opening more pertinent to the world I would have emphasised the protagonist's economic situation, possibly showing him seeking financial aid from the government, which would have related to concerns over conservative power and the wealth gap in the UK. Additionally, I would increase the daughter's involvement in the film which would comment on father/ daughter relationships and perhaps the effect of divorce on children.

Capitalising on the current fear of terrorism I could alter my film opening to present the antagonist as some sort of terrorist who has captured a white citizen as part of a political statement. Her threat would have been increased by her non-white ethnicity, which was not important to the original plot, because Western media has a policy of demonising the East; focusing particularly on the America vs Asia power and threat  dynamic.

FILM THEORY

An aspect of film theory that I found particularly interesting was bell hook's writings on gender and race representation. I am in the process of writing an Extended Project Qualification examining Hollywood's treatment of ethnic minorities on screen and behind the scenes and found her work very stimulating.