Secret Examiner

A Level Film

IB Film

Film Library

Codes & Conventions

Legacy Resources

Useful Materials

Viewing entries from category: Crime

Tsotsi Case Study »

Rob Miller | Sunday January 23, 2022

Categories: GCSE, WJEC GCSE, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, World Cinema, Tsotsi, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Drama, Hot Entries, Key Concepts, Audience, Film Language, Representation

Clips Tsotsi Opening Sequence Tsotsi End Sequence Further Reading Studying Tsotsi: Judith Gunn (Auteur Publishing) Awards Best Foreign Language Film - 2006 Academy Awards Institutional Factors and Representation of People, Places, Events and Issues Tsotsi (urban slang – thug) is a film based on a novel by Athol Fugard set in the impoverished township of Soweto, Johannesburg in South Africa – Fugard is best known for his plays with political narratives opposing the historical South…
[ read full article ] »

Elephant Single Film Study »

jclarke | Saturday January 19, 2019

Categories: A Level, OCR A Level, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, Independent Film, Elephant, Directors, Gus Van Sant, Non-Hollywood Films, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Drama, Thriller

YouTube link to trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htlsOf3PnGY Copyright © 2019 Edusites. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for educational use within the subscribing school only. Copying or lending of any part of this document in any form or by any means to external bodies and / or individuals is prohibited. Context Cinema is always evolving and it’s an exciting process to witness, to explore and to understand. A film such as Elephant is just one example of…
[ read full article ] »

City of God Single Film Study »

jclarke | Wednesday November 28, 2018

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, Directors, Katia Lund, Fernando Meirelles, World Cinema, City of God, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Drama

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcUOO4Itgmw Copyright © 2018 Edusites. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for educational use within the subscribing school only. Copying or lending of any part of this document in any form or by any means to external bodies and / or individuals is prohibited. Component 2: Global filmmaking perspectives For this component, learners must study: two non - English language films, one European and one from outside Europe (two -…
[ read full article ] »

Pulp Fiction Single Film Study »

jclarke | Monday September 10, 2018

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, Independent Film, Pulp Fiction, Directors, Quentin Tarantino, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Drama

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7EdQ4FqbhY Copyright © 2017 Edusites. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for educational use within the subscribing school only. Copying or lending of any part of this document in any form or by any means to external bodies and / or individuals is prohibited. Context Cinema is always evolving and it’s an exciting process to witness, to explore and to understand. A film such as Pulp Fiction is one film that has gone…
[ read full article ] »

This Is England Single Film Study »

jclarke | Monday September 03, 2018

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, Directors, Shane Meadows, Non-Hollywood Films, This is England, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Drama

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXDNsPRTANw Copyright © 2018 Edusites. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for educational use within the subscribing school only. Copying or lending of any part of this document in any form or by any means to external bodies and / or individuals is prohibited. Contexts Cinema is always evolving and it’s exciting to witness, to explore and to understand. A film such as This Is England is one that has gone some way in…
[ read full article ] »

The 400 Blows (Les quatre cents coups) Single Film Study »

jclarke | Wednesday May 23, 2018

Categories: A Level, OCR A Level, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, Directors, Francois Truffaut, European Film, The 400 Blows (Les quatre cents coups), Genres & Case Studies, Avant-Garde, Crime, Drama, French New Wave

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdXTtX_cz3s Copyright © 2017 Edusites. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for educational use within the subscribing school only. Copying or lending of any part of this document in any form or by any means to external bodies and / or individuals is prohibited. Introduction In studying a film that is widely regarded as a ‘classic’, there’s typically find a wealth of discourse about it and The 400 Blows…
[ read full article ] »

Double Indemnity Single Film Study »

vikiwalden | Friday January 05, 2018

Categories: A Level, OCR A Level, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, American, Double Indemnity, Directors, Billy Wilder, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Drama, Film Noir

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKrrAa2o9Eg Copyright © 2017 Edusites. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for educational use within the subscribing school only. Copying or lending of any part of this document in any form or by any means to external bodies and / or individuals is prohibited. Rationale Section A of Paper 1 focuses upon the micro-elements of film form and the construction of meaning and response by both filmmaker and spectator, with a…
[ read full article ] »

Sweet Sixteen Single Film Study »

jclarke | Wednesday November 22, 2017

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, Directors, Ken Loach, Non-Hollywood Films, Sweet Sixteen, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Drama

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzunVk_wJNc Copyright © 2017 Edusites. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for educational use within the subscribing school only. Copying or lending of any part of this document in any form or by any means to external bodies and / or individuals is prohibited. Contexts Context of Production Every film reflects the concerns of its time, the particular way of looking at the world in that culture, that society, that time. To…
[ read full article ] »

No Country for Old Men Film Study Part 1 »

Graham Panton | Wednesday September 06, 2017

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, American, No Country for Old Men, Directors, Coen Brothers, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Drama, Thriller

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/embed/38A__WT3-o0 No Country for Old Men Single Film Study Part 2 here Contexts Context of Production Films are shaped by the contexts in which they are produced. They can therefore be understood in more depth by placing them within two important contextual frames. The first involves considering the broader contexts of a film at the time when it was produced – its social, cultural and political contexts, either current or historical. The second…
[ read full article ] »

Bonnie and Clyde Single Film Study »

Darin Caudle | Thursday August 31, 2017

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, American, Bonnie and Clyde, Directors, Arthur Penn, Genres & Case Studies, Action, Biography, Crime, Drama

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ACCpXaA-MU Copyright © 2017 Edusites. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for educational use within the subscribing school only. Copying or lending of any part of this document in any form or by any means to external bodies and / or individuals is prohibited. Contexts Context of Production Every film reflects the concerns of its time, the particular way of looking at the world in that culture, that society, that time. To…
[ read full article ] »

OCR A2 Film Sec A Messages and Values in Global Film: Battleship Potemkin & Les Quatre Cents Coups »

Rob Miller | Tuesday September 15, 2015

Categories: A Level, OCR A Level, OCR A2, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, World Cinema, Battleship Potemkin, Les Quatre Cents Coups, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Drama, History, War

1. How is style and theme used in communicating messages and values in the films you have studied? (50) The two films I have studied are Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin from 1925 and Francois Truffaut’s Les Quatre Cents Coups (The 400 Blows) from 1959. Both films are encoded with a filmmaking style that both reflects a period in cinematic history and also with narrative themes deeply embedded revealing underlying messages and values. ‘Potemkin’ is considered a classic of 1920s…
[ read full article ] »

Film Studies Contemporary English Language Film: Gone Too Far! and Sightseers »

Rob Miller | Friday September 11, 2015

Categories: A Level, OCR A Level, OCR AS, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Gone Too Far!, Sightseers, Genres & Case Studies, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Drama

This resource will be studying the seven frameworks for analysis in Gone Too Far (2014) and Sightseers (2012). Gone Too Far! Authorship Gone Too Far! (GTF) is a British-Nigerian comedy/social realist drama directed by Destiny Ekaragha. She is only the third black British woman to have directed a feature length film that received UK theatrical distribution (cinemas). All of her previous short films premiered at the BFI London Film Festival (LFF) while GTF premiered at LFF in October 2013 and had…
[ read full article ] »

WJEC AS Film Studies FM2 US Cinema Comparative Study: Taxi Driver and No Country for Old Men »

Rob Miller | Monday September 07, 2015

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, FM2, Section C: US Film Comparative Study, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, American, No Country for Old Men, Hollywood Films, Taxi Driver, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Drama, Thriller, Hot Entries

FM2 British and American Film Section C: US Cinema Comparative Study For further details of assessment requirements and past Section C exam questions, please go to FilmEdu’s Gilda (1946) and L.A Confidential (1997) Comparative Case Study  and FilmEdu’s Minority Report and Blade Runner Comparative Study for other comparison resources. Taxi Driver Like No Country for Old Men, Taxi Driver is a film about nihilism – with 31 years between them both films have characters that…
[ read full article ] »

WJEC AS Film Studies FM2 US Cinema Comparative Study: Goodfellas and American Gangster »

Rob Miller | Monday September 07, 2015

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, FM2, Section C: US Film Comparative Study, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, American, Directors, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, Hollywood Films, American Gangster, Goodfellas, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Key Concepts, Audience, Film Language, Genre, Narrative, Representation

Goodfellas (1990, Martin Scorsese) American Gangster (2007, Ridley Scott) Centres can choose from a range of different American film texts. The three main areas of study are Messages, Themes and Values, Narrative and Genre, Representation of Time and Place (often linked to Messages and Values) and Representation of Character. You can compare in Section B but in Section C you must. The above choice of texts reflects films belonging to the same genre but it is very possible to explore two films…
[ read full article ] »

The Battle of Algiers (1966) Case Study »

Rob Miller | Wednesday October 29, 2014

Categories: A Level, OCR A Level, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, World Cinema, The Battle of Algiers, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Drama, History, War, Hot Entries, Key Concepts, Audience, Film Language, Representation

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd5Pz8KJeU4 Copyright © 2018 Edusites. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce for educational use within the subscribing school only. Copying or lending of any part of this document in any form or by any means to external bodies and / or individuals is prohibited. In 2010, The Guardian newspaper published a story entitled “Algeria (national football squad) prepare for World Cup battle by watching The Battle of Algiers.?.…
[ read full article ] »

WJEC AS Film Studies FM2 US Cinema Comparative Study: Gilda and L.A.Confidential »

Rob Miller | Tuesday September 23, 2014

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, FM2, Section C: US Film Comparative Study, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, American, L.A Confidential, Hollywood Films, Gilda, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Drama, Film Noir, Mystery, Romance, Hot Entries, Key Concepts, Representation

Introduction In this section of the exam you will get a choice of one question from two – an absolute must is that you compare and contrast two films, either from the same genre or that both deal with a specific theme. Genre, narrative and representation are key areas of study - see below examples of past questions:How far do the American films you have studied convey key themes in similar ways? How far is the representation of characters in the American films you have studied influenced by…
[ read full article ] »

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971) Case Study »

Rob Miller | Monday September 22, 2014

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS A2, FM4, Section C: Single Film Critical Study, Analysis, Film Analysis, Film Industry, Censorship & Regulation, Film Distribution, Film Marketing, Film Publicity, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Drama, Independent, Thriller, Hot Entries, Key Concepts, Representation

FM4: Varieties of Film Experience – Issues and Debates Section C: Single Film – Critical Study Section C of FM4 offers students the ability to engage in a critical study of a single film, within a synoptic framework – this means the micro and the macro features need to be studied, as well as issues of representation. Useful will be placing the film in an institutional and cultural context in reference to production, funding distribution, audience, audience reception but also genre and…
[ read full article ] »

Popular Film & Emotional Response: Understanding Emotional Responses »

vikiwalden | Monday March 25, 2013

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS A2, FM4, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, Hollywood Films, Schindler’s List, Non-Hollywood Films, World Cinema, La Vita e Bella, Genres & Case Studies, Action, Biography, Comedy, Crime, Drama, History, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller, Key Concepts, Audience, Film Language, Representation

click on image to enlarge Students can find studying spectatorship challenging.  There are many theories of spectatorship, but starting with the theory can lead students to list theoretical ideas rather than engage with the texts. Let’s not forget this A2 Film Studies unit is about “emotional responses? more than critical ones. This is a good place to start with students. What is “emotion?? What is “popular film?? And what elements of the film experience trigger emotional…
[ read full article ] »

Living with Crime »

jclarke | Friday March 22, 2013

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, Analysis, Film Analysis, Film History, Cinema in Context, Film Industry, Film Distribution, Production Companies, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, London to Brighton, Sweet Sixteen, Genres & Case Studies, British Film, Crime, Independent, Social Realism, Thriller, Hot Entries, Key Concepts, Audience, Film Language, Representation

click on image to enlarge Crime and cinema have a longstanding relationship. Going right back to early cinema one of the landmark silent films was The Great Train Robbery (1903). There is a shot in that film which is overtly referenced as the last shot that we see in the American crime film GoodFellas (1990). click on image to enlarge However, whereas we might argue that the criminal life that’s represented in the Hollywood-produced GoodFellas is somewhat glamourised and told in an overtly…
[ read full article ] »

Sherlock Holmes Case Study »

nicoleponsford | Monday September 10, 2012

Categories: A Level, EDUQAS A Level, EDUQAS AS, FM2, Analysis, Film Analysis, Film Industry, Production Companies, Films & Case Studies, Hollywood Films, Sherlock Holmes 2: Game of Shadows, Genres & Case Studies, Action, Action Adventure, Adventure, Crime, Key Concepts, Audience, Film Language

AS WJEC FM2: Producers and Audience For FM2, British and American Film each question is worth 40 marks, and there is 2.5 hours to answer three questions. The paper is made up from resource material and 12 page answer book. Candidates are asked to explore the relationship between film producers and audience. The resource material can include: Home page of a fan website Table illustrating box office figures Poster of a film Front cover of a magazine Press release Cinema programme Blog extracts…
[ read full article ] »

Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers Case Study »

vikiwalden | Thursday November 10, 2011

Categories: Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, Wallace and Gromit, Genres & Case Studies, Animation, 1990 Onwards, British Film, Comedy, Crime, Independent, Hot Entries, CCEA, CCEA Case Studies

Synopsis It is Gromit’s birthday and he is feeling particularly ignored by Wallace. When the post arrives, he eagerly seeks it out but find a rather tacky and unoriginal card ‘To a dear dog’ from Wallace and nothing else. Wallace presses his alarm for breakfast and reminds Gromit that it is his turn for breakfast, so Gromit obliges. Wallace finally gives Gromit his presents, which bemuse him - a collar and lead (so he can finally look like he “belongs to someone?) and techno-trousers…
[ read full article ] »

Romeo and Juliet Case Study »

vikiwalden | Tuesday November 08, 2011

Categories: Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, Hollywood Films, Romeo and Juliet, Genres & Case Studies, Crime, Drama, Romance, Hot Entries, CCEA, CCEA Case Studies

Synopsis A television news report provides the prologue / chorus for Romeo and Juliet, introducing the tale of the “star-crossed lovers?. The city of Verona is divided by a feud between the two wealthiest businessmen - Lord Capulet and Lord Montague. As the Montagues arrive in a petrol station, they are met by the Capulets. Whilst Benvolio (leader of the Montagues) tries to maintain peace, Tybalt (leader of the Capulets and “King of Cats?) cannot be persuaded and leads them into battle.…
[ read full article ] »

The Dark Knight Case Study »

nicoleponsford | Thursday November 03, 2011

Categories: GCSE, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, Hollywood Films, The Dark Knight, Genres & Case Studies, Action, Crime, Drama, Superhero, Hot Entries

Paper 1 | Superhero Films Case Study | The Dark Knight Synopsis The Dark Knight opens with a bank robbery in which the Joker kills his accomplices. A news report then explains that public opinion of Batman is decreasing, yet when Batman tries to stop some gangsters a number of ‘copycat’ Batmen try to help him. At home, recovering from his wounds, Bruce Wayne (Batman) pines after his lost love Rachel, who is now going out with Harvey Dent, Gotham’s new District Attorney. Harvey and Rachel…
[ read full article ] »

This is England Case Study »

Rob Miller | Wednesday November 02, 2011

Categories: A Level, Analysis, Film Analysis, Films & Case Studies, Non-Hollywood Films, This is England, Genres & Case Studies, British Film, Crime, Drama, Independent, Hot Entries

Production Context & Key Notes Written and Directed by Shane Meadows (UK) Shane Meadows films include Once Upon a Time in the Midlands, Dead Man’s Shoes and Northern Soul Produced by EM Media (East Midlands) Distributed by Optimum (Independent UK Distributor : Brick, Vera Drake, Dead Man’s Shoes, 9 Songs) Additional Funding – Film4 and UK Film Council (£668,000 – New Cinema Fund, £90,000 P and A Fund) Theatrical Release: April 2007 Independent British Film Genre/Tradition: Social…
[ read full article ] »