set text: I, Daniel Blake

I, Daniel Blake (Loach, 2016)

      

group 1- production, distribution and marketing 

• produced by Rebecca O'Brien 
• often worked together on films with ken Loach, the film was set primarily in Newcastle.
• produced by the BFI and le pact in france
• marketing on social media sites mainly twitter and facebook
• film got many review which gives the film more publicity and reliability.
• many awards won including palme d'or at the cannes film festival, and best british film at the empire awards.
• two lead actors, Dave johns and haley squires, both smaller uk actors.
• target audience is mainly adults, age rating of a 15.

group 2- textual analysis of the advertisement 

• advertisement follows multiple genre paradigms correlating to drama film such as the following:
• correlates to working class britain
• audio visual advertisement
• focusses on the lack of jobs in the uk, by targetting this issue head on.
• The format used allows producers to immerse the audience into the narrative of the text, by using multiple senses to engage the audience. For instance, the audience can see and hear what is occuring, giving short cut-scenes of what to expect from the film. This idea of knowing what to expect is further reinforced by reviews embedded between scenes. Similarly, the short snippets of scenes correlates to Roland barthes’ Hermeneutic (enigma) codes, leaving viewers on a cliffhanger.

group 3- Ken Loach fact file

political ideologies- 

• member of the Labour Party. In August 2015, he endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's Labour leadership campaign.
• Loach said he had been going to Labour Party, trade union and left wing meetings for over 50 years and had never heard anti-Semitic or racist remarks, although such views certainly existed in society. Ken Loach appealed for a new party (left unity, founded in 2013) to replace the Labour Party (which according to him failed to oppose austerity and had shifted towards neoliberalism). Loach had over 10,000 supporters.
• He argues that his films must be placed in their political context and that have inspired thousands of people in to social action. For example “cathy come home” had an enormous impact on social attitudes towards homelessness, spread awareness of the problem and encouraged support for a newly formed charity shelter.
• Ken Loach has criticised “fake left politicians” such as Ed Miliband and Tony Blair, whose brand of “caring capitalism” he says has resulted in rising job insecurity.We have what we call ‘fake left’ politicians, like Ed Miliband and those who went before him,” said Loach. “Blair we don’t even mention. They talked about this mythical beast, ‘caring capitalism’. Everyone talks about it but no one ever sees it. If we believe in the free market, then that leads to the big corporations taking power, that leads to this competition to lower wages, and that leads to precarious work.” 

Filmography-

• Ken loach has 37 films in total, his first being “up the junction” in 1965.His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his films, showing the social issues such as poverty, homelessness and labour rights.
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  ‘I, Daniel Blake’ is a 2016 drama film. It stars Dave Johns as Daniel Blake, who is denied employment and support allowance despite his doctor declaring him unfit to work. The film created controversy; A Former Conservative work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith said that this film included unfair criticism in its depiction of Jobcentre staff, showing them as strict and unkind.
• Cathy Come home was another big success, and had a lasting impact on how homelessness is viewed in the UK. The camera style that Loach used made the drama appear more like a documentary, and shocked viewers who were unsure if what they were watching was actually real; the film was a huge success, and brought Loaches message to millions of people who may have had a different or perhaps stereotyped view of homelessness beforehand.

Auteur-

• This describes the way that a director has a distinctive style of film, they are recogniseable to the audience as being their work. 
• He was in the royal air force for two years, which may have had an influence on his outlook on life and therefore reflected on to his work in the years to come.
• His distinctive style is based around social realism and the coming together of politics and real life.
• Social realism is an international multi-stranded art movement focusing on the everyday lives of poor and working class communities. Often criticising the social structures that reinforce bleak conditions, it also maintains a focus on family and celebrates community solidarity. In Britain, the tradition can be traced back to the literary work of Dickens and Hardy and has always been an important part of cinema.
• He uses names in his film titles like “Eric”, “daniel” and “Joe” which can be seen as typical common british names, possibly reflecting that his films are targeted and reflect the everyday person. his films often show the hardships of the working class such as “sorry we missed you”where we follow the life of a postman and his family, and the issues they run into. 

group 4 political ideologies around the film

• The film is written from a left wing perspective.
• The film was created in 2016 when Britain was under the conservative rule of David Cameron. (Right-wing)
• With the talk of Brexit and Britain under conservative policies, this film was timed to shine a light on the harsh reality of many people’s lives and the politics of Britain.
• The film is used as political keyhole into degrading Britain and what life is like for working class Britain in the 21st century. For example; a woman shoplifts in order to feed her children which is against the law. This shows that she is so desperate, she isn't thinking about the consequences that she could take on.

group 5- the role of regulation in film

• The British Board of Film classification is an independent regulator with over 100 years experience. They have been classifying films and giving them age ratings since it was established in the film industry. It is independent and non-profit to focus on helping children and families choose appropriate films by giving guidance on what’s right for them and what to avoid. They reflect people’s views on film, DVD, blu-ray, video on demand and are regularly updated.
• The process: Films for release are seen by at least two compliance officers where the age rating recommendations are approved by the Manager or Head of Compliance.
• The issues they look for: Bad language, dangerous behaviour, discrimination, drugs, horror, nudity, sex, violence and sexual violence. They also consider context, tone and impact - how it makes the audience feel and the way it’s released as at home films are more likely to be seen by underage viewers.
• film was given a film reting of 15 because of: Strong language: infrequent use of 'c**t', more frequent use of 'f**k'. Milder terms include 'bastard', 'bullshit, 'wanker', and 'twats'Other issues include visual and verbal references to prostitutionSexual references, including prostitution out of necessity.
• In order for this film to be rated a 12A, the film would've had to remove the use of very strong language and significantly reduce the number of uses of milder strong language. They noted in reports that the film would likely have a limited appeal to those under 15.

group 6- reception

• The debates the film provoked was the benefits system, difficulty of finding jobs and how medical issues can be tied into it.
• People who criticised the film said that it wasn't accurate. However, many people in similar situations to the main character (Daniel Blake) said it was accurate, as they walked into the JobCentre and left feeling disgusted by what they said for them to do.
• A JobCentre Manager in Newcastle gave criticisms as the film was portrayed negatively by the director, Ken Loach.There were criticisms from some media commentators from the Daily Mail and the Sunday Times who said that the film didn't appear very true as it says it does.

• The film became director Ken Loach's biggest success at the UK box office. On Rotten Tomatoes, it received an impressive approval rating of 92%. The Guardian gave the film five stars out of five, calling it a "celebration of the decency and kinship of (extra) ordinary people who look out for each other when the state abandons its duty of care".

some of the awards this film recieved were:

• Best British Film at the British Academy Film Awards
• Best Actor for Dave Johns at the British Independent Film Awards
• Most Promising Newcomer for Hayley Squires at the British Independent Film Awards
• Palme D'Or for director Ken Loach at the iconic annual Cannes Film Festival
• Best Foreign Film at the Cesar Awards
• Best British Film at the Empire Awards

group 7- the role of the benefits system

• In 2015 pensions were the largest governmental welfare expense, costing £86.5 Billion followed by housing benefit for £20 Billion.
• expenditure (£bn): state pension 86.5, tax credits 29.7,housing benefit 23.5,disability living allowance 15.4.
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