The document discusses the filmmaker's plans to create a short film highlighting the hidden dark side of British youth culture. Specifically, it will focus on topics like addiction, violence, and money through the lens of how an innocent night at the pub can hide more sinister realities. Over two years in film school, the filmmaker feels they have improved technical skills in areas like editing, visual design, music production, and filming to take on this project. They have also undergone personal development that has inspired the film, wanting to bring attention to unspoken struggles facing young males. The filmmaker plans to authentically capture working class British culture through location, clothing, and music choices, drawing inspiration from films like This Is England that achieve a

1. FMP Contextual
research
I want to make a short
film that highlights
British youth culture,
and the hidden dark
side of it. I want to
show how an innocent
night in the pub can
actually be much more
than what meets the
eye. Topics like
addiction, violence and
money will be the
focus. The mood will
be dark, depressing
and almost sinister.

2. Over the past two years on this course, there has been various factors that have led me to making a film like this, in terms of
technical skill and personal development.
Production skill:
Since my first project of a music video my production capabilities have drastically improved. I
have made documentary's, animations, magazines and various other media types throughout
the course. I feel the combined knowledge from these projects has put me in the position to
make a full film. I have wanted to make a film for a while, and considered it for other projects.
My documentary was kind of like an easy option for something like this. Presenting the culture
I'm part of has always been my motivation for projects, and the doc covered this entirely. I feel
that was like a warm up for this, its easy to present your culture by directly describing it, which
is what I did. But I now feel I can combine that passion for promoting culture, and my
knowledge of filmmaking to turn it into an actual story. Also when working on my documentary
I learnt a lot of editing skills. My first project of a music video involved just simple cuts and
then a bombardment of pre-sets in an attempt to make it seem developed. The edit for my doc
involved a bit more, with some creative text design and colour grading.
When working on my project of a fanzine, I learnt lots of visual design skills. Although this was
a print project, I learnt many transferable skills. Things like graphic design – I learnt so much
regarding drawing logos, colour schemes and page layouts. I would like to use various graphical
elements in my film, things like lyrics for songs and location names. Skills from the fanzine
project will be used here.
With my film having music, the production of this music is as vital as the video. Although the
beats themselves will be produced by other people I know, the lyrics and mixing/mastering of
them will all be done by me. I have experience in this field already, yet with it being a film
there's things I'm yet to try. I want the songs to have intervals for dialogue, so these intervals
will have to be constructed effectively. I sort of did this with my documentary, as it used music
for an intro then cut into dialogue. I used a transition shot of a tv static glitch, and I'm thinking
something like this could work with my film.
I feel my actual filming has come a long way throughout the course too. My first project
used fast paced, rough and choppy film work. This made it quite easy as it was sort of
intentionally bad. I feel this was sort of cutting corners, and that the same effect could be
achieved and developed with proper filming. My documentary made me realise this, as I
incorporated much more thought out sets an angles. My docs narration was performed on a
simple set, with some effective mood lighting. I experimented with depth of field and bokeh
with the lighting, and I will definitely use this for the indoor shots in my film.
I also have new hardware since my other projects. I have a good camera and various lenses that
should be an advantage. I'm yet to experiment with lenses in any project so I'm looking forward
to that lots.
Personal development:
I feel I've somewhat changed as a person over the past two years and these
changes have inspired my film. My passion for promoting my culture and lifestyle has
always been present, yet my interest in making something a bit more meaningful is
new. I feel there's a lot of unspoken struggles within male orientated groups. The sort
of masculine identity of a group of lads means these struggles don’t get spoken of. I
want my film to expose the buried issues facing young adults, specifically males. I have
seen from myself and the people around me the damage certain lifestyles have. A big
focus of my film will be housing. As my film is based around 'youth culture', but more
specifically 17 – 22 year olds, it will present the challenges of entering adulthood while
living at home. I want to show how this newfound lifestyle of going to the pub every
night and smoking weed all day can affect the others you live with, and ultimately
result in you being pushed away. My main storyline will begin with someone being
kicked out of their house.
I feel excited to make this project, and there's various factors contributing to my
motivation. Firstly, with my focus on what I feel are very relevant struggles for
some young adults, I hope to alert and inspire. I want those who are unaware of these
issues to become aware, and those who feel them themselves to change. I'm hoping by
bringing attention to these topics, of which are rarely documented, I can provide a
reflection tool for those who may be struggling. As I said previously, groups with a
strong masculine demographic don’t really share their problems, or even acknowledge
them themselves. I want this film to be relatable to these people and make them reflect
on their lifestyle.

3. Although my film has a topic and message to present, I want to portray working class British culture
heavily throughout every aspect. I will explore some existing products that do this.
This is England
This is England is a film and Tv series that presents skinheads and other subcultures in the late 80s/ early 90s England. The way this film presents England inspires
me greatly. The majority is filmed in run down northern towns, council estates, pubs and industrial areas. This visual aesthetic is exactly what I want to achieve, and
also the gritty attitude to the characters I like too.
Here are two photos of some main characters in this is England. Visually this
inspires me lots, the location, attitude and clothing is quintessentially working
class. The undoubted authenticity of this is England is why it inspires me so
much. Its not even like they make references to British culture, its embedded
into every second the film plays.
Firstly, the clothing, this is England originally focussed on skinheads, and we
can see a shot of this on the left. To the right is when they moved on from that
lifestyle, yet the clothing still represents a lot. From the shirts to the pin badges,
the outfits directly replicate that of 80s English youth. One of the main scenes in
the film is where a young newcomer to the group gets his skinhead
transformation. He of course got his head shaved, and he teamed that with some
new boots and a ben Sherman shirt another lad got for him. This was almost like
an initiation to the group, and the importance of this uniform was clear. Its that
importance that fascinates me. My film will focus on todays youth culture, but I
find it interesting that even today there are unwritten rules with clothing in the
different groups, and the importance of these is still very high. For example in
our group we lace our shoes a certain way, and if you don’t you're doing it wrong.
Its this level of attention to detail I want to show, to hopefully replicate a feel of
realism like this is England.
Secondly, the location. The image on the right shows a rundown council estate. So
much culture has come out of buildings like this, in all areas of working class
Britain. I feel these buildings represent much more than housing. A direct reason I
feel these buildings hold significance for my film is their impact on the music scene.
As I want to make a large proportion of my films dialogue as music, and more
specifically British 'underground' genres, I feel I need to incorporate these buildings.
In early 2000s London the 'pirate' radio phenomenon was born in estates like this.
Likeminded residents would team together and create make shift radio stations in
one of the flats. This is where the genre 'grime' took off, and I would like one of my
films songs to be a grime one.
Even in the time this is England is set, the flats played a big role with music
production. Although a common perception is skinheads are racist, a large aspect to
the original skinhead culture was unity. This unity was formed with the
combination of music like reggae and dub, brought over from the early Jamaican
immigrants, and English music like ska. The idea of unity I feel is embedded within
any estate, as of the dense living conditions. People live side by side, on top and
underneath another, it’s a collective. Soundsystem culture was something the
Jamaicans brought to England, and like the pirate radio situation in the estates,
this was very much the same. It wasn’t restricted by individual estates, but small
areas had a Soundsystem where local artists would perform, and local people would
party.
Also, the visual aspect to these estates is something I think will give a great effect
for my film. My films overall mood will be dark, dismal and depressing. These
estates are often designed with brutalist architecture, which gives that gritty and
industrial look that screams working class Britain. I want to highlight the side of
England people don’t see, or choose to ignore. It’s a common perception that if you're
not from an estate, or an area that might be classed as deprived, you don’t go there.
My film will show people what's there, like that of this is England.

4. I want to make my film endlessly authentic; every aspect must be real and represent some aspect of English youth
culture. As mentioned on the previous slide, I feel this is England is very direct in the way it presents the culture it's
about. It's this authenticity I want to replicate, so I will now explore how they achieved such a realistic
representation of England, and how I can use these techniques in my film.
"It's my own story, basically. Nineteen-eighty-three was the year I became a skinhead myself. I shaved my head, put on a pair of Doc Martens and visited a
tattoo parlour. It's a tragedy that 95% of people associate skinheads with racism. The whole cult was born out of a love for black music and it was
originally a very left-wing, socialist movement. It was only later that the National Front took the anger and frustration of its members and directed it
towards minorities."
This quote from Shane Meadows, the director of this is England really resonates with me. My film is effectively my story too, just its exaggerated and with
added elements to form a storyline. The main reason I want to make my film is due to the personal struggles I've undergone over the years, I feel the only
way I can create a product that’s real is by making it about myself. This is clearly what meadows thought too. I have direct experience with the topic's ill
focus on, things like money, violence and addiction. Its something im passionate about documenting, and something I want to do simply for myself. Often
people are advised to write their thoughts down, this is a common practice to see things clearer and evaluate how you're thinking. This film is sort of like
that for me, I want to put everything I've seen and experienced into one.
Another reason I like this quote and feel so inspired by this is England is Shane's explanation of the racism within his culture. He explains how it's not true
that skinheads were racist, that this was an outer influence and a misconception. With my film, its all about showing what people don’t see. Often, the
people and lifestyles of the people I'll present in my film are deemed as negative. But by choice. People think a group of lads in the pub being rowdy, maybe
fighting, maybe selling drugs are just bad lads. I want to show what leads up to that life, how they got there and how they possibly can't get out. Even if
they want too.
A big element to my films structure and style is music, and I feel the way the skinhead culture embraced black music is quite similar to my own. The music
within my film will be prominently black music, and the film is a direct representation of my culture, hopefully presenting how this music is also
intertwined with us. I live in a predominantly white area, and the music within my culture that originates with white people is things like 'bassline' and
'donk'. Despite our identity having elements of white music, the majority originates from black people. Things like hip-hop, grime and garage were all
pioneered by black people, yet are worshipped here by everyone. I think the embracement of music from other cities is more apparent within my culture, as
the race element is almost eliminated these days. In the north, specifically york where I am, there isnt really a big music scene, and definitely not one for
music like hiphop and grime. Despite this, my groups culture is defined by this music, the lifestyle that originated in places like london and
birmingham has been fully embraced by us. That’s another element of unseen phenomena I want to present. When you think of the north of england the
last thing you relate to that is hiphop music, so I want to show that its here and here in an authentic way. This also adds to my idea of presenting the other
side to certain demographics, I want to combine the common assumptions of people, with the unseen ones. For example, I may have a scene where someone
is drunk and acting rowdy, but that scene will progress to then show the same person writing a song about it. Turning experience into art.

5. Bibliography
Web articles