The Inbetweeners - How accurately is British culture depicted?
Significance: 4
Structure: 3
Simplicity: 4
Rehearsal: 3
Total: 14/20
WWW: good background information. Some keywords used such as "demographic", "iconography" and "equilibrium." Good quotes used from reviews and theory embedded (Todorov's) and good use of institutional information.
EBI: made more eye contact with the audience and improve pace as there were many pauses throughout. Also, if the ending was better in terms of having more detail.
Overall, I am confident with my topic as British culture is heavily presented throughout my text. I have found out a lot of background information in terms of institution, however I have to focus more on theory and media representations. This will allow my critical investigation to be detailed.
·Who is being represented? In what way? By
whom? British teenagers are being presented through the four lead characters.
·Why is the subject being represented in this
way? To demonstrate the lifestyles they lead, in particular the idea of
going on holiday after finishing high school is a typical British tradition.
·Is the representation fair and accurate? Yes,
because it exposes what teenagers are like without being under supervision.
This includes excessive drinking, drug use and taking full advantage of their
freedom.
·What opportunities exist for self-representation by
the subject? The characters could relate a lot to British school boys as
elements of their lifestyle, such as going to parties, pulling girls and
drinking, are all stereotypical acts of an average schoolboy.
Media Languages and Forms
·What is the significance of the text’s
connotations? It exposes what teenage boys get up to and gives the older
generation an insight into the younger generation.
·What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in
the text (e.g. gesture, facial expression, positional communication, clothing,
props etc)? The appearance of the characters are illustrated as typical British
boys such as wearing polo shirts and shorts. Props include alcohol beverages.
·What is the significance of
mise-en-scene/sets/settings (CLAMPS)? The mise-en-scene includes exotic things
as the boys plan to go to holiday in Greece. The setting is a hot place. This
is a typical place for British boys to go on holiday.
·What work is being done by the sound
track/commentary/language of the text? The boys speak in slang and a lot of
swearing is used.
·What are the dominant images and iconography, and
what is their relevance to the major themes of the text? The use of the
characters having a strong British accent reinforces the British element.
·What sound and visual techniques are used to convey
meaning (e.g. camera positioning, editing; the ways that images and sounds are
combined to convey meaning)? A lot of exotic background music is used to fit
into the Greece element.
Narrative
·How is the narrative organised and structured? The
narrative starts off with the boys finishing their A-Levels and then one of the
boys, Neil decides to book a trip to Greece. The boys then attend numerous
parties and meet loads of girls.
·How are characters delineated? What is their
narrative function? How are heroes and villains created? The characters provide
a representation of how British boys are, The Inbetweeners is a dominant film
which embraces British culture.
·What is the role of such features as sound, music,
iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative? In terms
of music a lot of UK artists are featured. In terms of genre, is a comedy and
the mise-en-scene embraces a lot of British brands
Genre
·To which genre does the text belong? Comedy
·What are the major generic conventions within the
text? Through the use of dialogue, use of swearing and slang, fits into the
theme of comedy
·To what extent are the audience’s generic
expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text? Does the text
conform to the characteristics of the genre, or does it treat them playfully or
ironically? The characters all conform to the genre through dialogue.
·Does the text feature a star, a director, a writer
etc who is strongly associated with the genre? What meanings and associations
do they have? The five main characters have been featured in ‘The Inbetweeners’
TV series before and this was massively popular.
Media Institutions
·What is the institutional source of the text? Film4
Productions and Bwark Productions
·In what ways has the text been influenced or shaped
by the institution which produced it?
·Is the source a public service or commercial
institution? What difference does this make to the text? Both commercial
institutions. Bwark productions are famous for producing The Inbetweeners.
·Who owns and controls the institution concerned and
does this matter? Channel Four Television Corporation own Film4
·How has the text been distributed? Through
multi-platform – Cinema, TV, streaming/downloading online and buying the DVD.
Media Values and Ideology
·What are the major values, ideologies and
assumptions underpinning the text or naturalised within it? British culture is the most dominant theme
demonstrated throughout. It gives an accurtate representation of British boys.
Media Audiences
·To whom is the text addressed? What is the target
audience? (Demographics, Psychographics) The target audience would be mainly
teenagers, 13 – 21 years, mainly high school and uni students. 60% male, 40%
female, mainly a British audience as all the cast are British. ABC1 demographic
as the characters themselves can afford a holiday after finishing A-Levels.
·In what conditions is the audience likely to
receive the text? Does this impact upon the formal characteristics of the text?
Cinema, DVD, streaming/downloading online. The film was released in the summer
holidays just after results day and is a USP as most students automatically go
out to celebrate their results by going to the cinema.
·What do you know or can you assume about the likely
size and constituency of the audience? The audience are mainly British as they
would understand the banter.
·What are the audience pleasures, uses or
gratifications? (Refer to theory). Diversion – using the text as a source
of entertainment as its comedy based. Personal identity – helps boys especially
to identify their own personal traits within the characters.
Reviews:
James Buckley from ‘The Telegraph’ stated that: “doesn’t represent the actual young men in this country”, Buckley adds. “Most young men, or the ones I know, are quite nice and normal and good people.”
Daily Mail referred “49 best British films of all time.”
Todorov's narrative structure of equilibrium: Start - they have just finished school and decide to take a lads holiday to Malia Disequilibrium - meet a girl from their school, she causs a group divide New equilibrium - at the end the group is back together and the girl is out the way again
Uses and gratifications: Diversion - Inbetweeners is very comedic and entertaining because of the character's and their antics. Excessive use of swearing used throughout can engage with an older audience and they would understand the banter too
Hypodermic needle - the boy's express their opinions towards A-Levels at the start. They can be viewed as opinion leaders
