SoCo Regional Awards Show

[Mike Shaw]

I have to agree 100% that a) receipt of an entry should be acknowedged and b) all entries should receive a critique. And by that, I mean more than one sentence along the lines of 'An interesting film that held our interest', which is what I received from one competition.

On the question of language, I sit on the fence. Sometimes it is simply gratutious for effect and has no value in the film at all. A bit like the comedians who have to use bad language as part of their routine. Sometimes it is a part of the humour, but most times it is simply gratuitous because 'they can'.

I have been at one of our County festivals (Kent) where there were young children who'd come along because maybe grandpa had a film being shown ... only to be confronted with a film of foul language and obscene scenes. Now the Kent organisers do give a warning before such films (whether the film maker has mentioned it at the start or not), and such films are shown at the start of a session - with a warning before that session - so people can opt not to come in and watch. And i believe at the last Kent Festival one winning film wasn't shown at all because it simply had far too many F words, amongst other swear words: this was done in agreement with its maker.

Some people are simply not amused by the unecessary use of foul language. Rarely is it an essential element of the film - atmosphere and emotions can be created without the use of such words.

It doesn't worry me unduly - I swear along with the rest. But not in the presence of ladies or children (just the way I was brought up). And it perturbs me to hear kids of 7 and 8 (and younger even) using such language because - that's what they do in the movies and on telly. I guess that makes me an old fashioned and toffee nosed fuddy duddy. It's inbred, and too late to change.

I started to watch the film here earlier today but had to break off unfortunately (something else cropped up) - it looks interesting and I will definitely go back later on and watch it all. I probably won't be upset by the language. But I can understand people who do get upset. Could be an age thing...

[fraught]

Hi Mike,

I agree with you on the use of Bad Language... it can be used to great effect. What's frustrating is that my film 'Room 4' has very little bad language. Other than a short dance sequence with a topless dancer, everything that is lewd about this film is mostly implied. You never 'see' anything.

I look forward to hearing your comments after you've watched the full film.

[Brian Saberton]

Language is a funny thing and the degree of offence may well have as much to do with extent or context as anything else. When we are writing scripts at XDL we avoid using the extremes of profanity because we can never be sure of who will be watching the films, particularly once they get into the film libraries. TV Companies seem to get quite a few complaints about it and yet, if you have seen the TV comedy series "Mrs Brown", for example, the main character makes considerable use of the "f" word throughout each show (even though none of the other characters swear) and yet it is a very popular programme. Is it the comedy context and the way the character is portrayed that makes it broadly acceptable? A friend of mine, who doesn't like swearing, really enjoys the show and told me that after a while she got used to the bad language and didn't notice it. Maybe this comes back to the point Mike was making about the adverse influence on some children who think it's ok to swear because they've heard it on the telly. Personally, I think the Mrs Brown show would be just as funny, if not more so, without the swearing; yes the author would have to be a bit more inventive in his dialogue but on the other hand the programme would probably reach a wider audience. To get back to Geoff's film I think the couple of instances of bad language were in context and, as he says, the really rude material was not actually seen though you do hear sound effects of what was happening. Of course you then get into the fascinating subject of the imagination of the audience filling in the missing action! It might have been Alfred Hitchcock who said that an audience can imagine far worse things than you can ever show them. If you take Psycho for example, you see very little blood in the shower scene and yet audiences were so terrified after watching it that Hitchcock could then rely on suspense to keep them on the edge of their seats for the remainder of the film. People might come away from Psycho thinking that it's a violent film but if you study it there is very little actual violence in the movie. I remember seeing the Daily Mail winner "Helping Hand" at BIAFF this year with a very large audience and although this tackled a very tough subject and had a challenging opening scene it seemed to find broad acceptance when screened in that particular context. A whole other subject is, of course, audience members being embarrased or offended by something on, or off screen, on behalf of people who might have come along with them on the day.

[Mike Shaw]

Yes, I can relate to and go along with all of what Brian says. I too watch the Mrs Brown series with mixed feelings - would it be so funny if she didn't swear? She could take a leaf out of the Fascinating Ada ladies' song book perhaps!

I've now watched Room 4, and was a little disappointed - perhaps because I expected more from the 'build up'. The acting was good, the story line was OK (though, sorry, I totally missed the ending - I'll have to think that one through a bit more obviously! Was it a joke that I don't get, or an attempt at horror? I'll work on it!). Scene setting, camera angles, lighting - all well done, though I think the 'night-time' effect could have been better coloured: a little too blue perhaps and the brightness level maybe a touch too high. Nevertheless - it was quite clear what time of day was being represented. I guess the camera shake in the outdoor scenes was intended - that didn't unduly worry me, though I can see purists asking 'why no tripod?'

Overall, I did think it was a bit over indulgent in several places though. As Brian said - several scenes were far too long for the story line. Sometimes one needs to linger on a scene or a situation to establish important points, create a mood and so on, but that didn't work too well for me. I actually found myself thinking at several points - 'get on with it!' Yes, I could have watched naked girls dancing/prancing as long as you show them - but as part of the story - why was that scene included at all, really, if not to titillate?

As I say, the punch line went straight over my head unfortunately - I think I'd been set up to expect something else (and maybe THAT was the point of the ending!). I shall have to revisit that one!)

A well executed, well acted, generally very well scripted and for the most part very competent and witty movie - but as I say, for me, over indulgent in places. Not a theme I would want to share watching with my grandchildren, and so not a film I would like to see at an open festival I'm afraid.

[ned c]

The problem with adult themes is that they need an audience that is willing to accept the content and see past the sexy bits to the theme. Fraught's film has some interesting sub texts for those of us who enjoy such analysis and he is right; the film uses words and looks rather than actions to set the audience up. On most levels it is superior to many of the n-c films I have watched.

The language issue is quite separate. For those of us who served in the military the f word was an essential part of normal conversation and any army film would be less than honest if it avoided this (perhaps the army is different now?). In 2000 I was part of an industrial film production of a very large civil engineering project off the West coast of Scotland, I shot part and wrote the script. The chief engineer was a Dutch woman and when I told her we had a Scot to do the narration she asked where I had found a Scot who could complete a sentence without saying f***. She was semi serious.

I grew up in the East End of London and like Mike there were certain conventions to be observed; no swearing in front of women and children; that is until I met my sister-in-law; a very county lady who sprinkles most conversations with the liberal use of f*** and somehow gets away with it.

Good films hold a mirror up to life and sex and language are a part of that; I agree that audiences should be warned of what some may find unacceptable but judges should be above this.

ned c

[TimStannard]

I don't know whether this is interesting or not, but I had to watch a few clips of Mrs Brown's Boys on YouTube to convince myself she had sworn on it (she had). It had gone right over my head when I watched the series - I'd assumed she'd used that good old Irish standby "fecking". It rather concerns me that I've become so f***ing immne to swearing on TV.

[fraught]

I'm really chuffed about all this feedback, this is leaps and bounds above anything i've received before. Thanks everyone.

Brian... the ending is exactly as i intended, some people will get it straight away, some people wont. (it took nearly two weeks for a friend of mine to get it) I want people to talk about the film, especially the ending. In my eyes, you can have a really average film, but it's the ending that you leave with. So you must always make it a good/interesting one.

An example would be the film 'The Mist', a pretty average film and in some places pretty awful... but the ending is so shocking and thought provoking that I've learn't to forgive the rest of the film.

As for the use of bad language, a good example of how well this is used is the film 'Hellbound : Hellraiser II'. There is a mute character in the film, and during a scene where she has an encounter with a monster for the first time, she utters the words "Oh SH**!"... which was both funny and shocking.
And as for Hitchcock's quote... he is so right. A good example of his theory is the original film 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. That film was banned in the UK for a long number of years, yet there is very, very little blood/gore in the film. There is also very little violence on screen. The nasty things that happen are all offscreen... which proves how powerfully the mind influences the way we watch films.