Billy Elliotdirected by Stephen Daldry

Film Study

Analysing the Plot

Films, like novels, are primarily about storytelling. Although there are many ways by which a film-maker can capture and hold an audience’s attention, the most effective and most common way is simply by telling a good story.

A plot outline is a good check on how much the students have understood of what they have seen, and whether the mechanics and logic of the story have been appreciated. A bulleted list is probably more useful than a paragraph.

Write a brief outline of the plot of the film.

or

Complete the Plot Outline task-sheet

and

Answer the following questions:

1. Is there one plot or more than one?

2. If there is more than one plot, which is the main plot, and which sub-plots?

3. Are they connected, and if so, how?

Plot, by definition, implies an interdependent structure, within which every event and incident that happens has significance. Take any one out, and the whole pattern should be affected, the whole story should be diminished. This tightly plotted approach is sometimes called the step-stair structure. Episodic films, by contrast, are looser; individual scenes can be added or removed without really affecting the outcome of the plot.

4. Which of these two plot types has been used for Billy Elliot?

5. Does anything happen in the film that is not necessary to the story? Are there any incidents or scenes that could be left out? Explain.

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Narrative Structure Task Sheet

Narrative or plot structure is the term used to describe the order in which a story is told, and the way in which different strands of the story are linked.The most common ways in which stories are told are in chronological order, i.e. the order in which the events happen; using flashbacks, i.e. earlier events are included later in the story with a frame of later time, and the whole story a flashback with foreshadowing, in which future events are included earlier than they actually

happen.

1. Which of these descriptions best fits the structure of this film? Give details to show this.

An important aspect of storytelling is point of view, i.e. who tells the story, from whose perspective the events are shown and/or seen.

2. From whose point of view is the story told in this film? Is it consistent throughout or are other points of view shown?

The main element that drives any film story is conflict. As well as introducing characters and setting the scene, early scenes must set up the plot, providing the basis for future conflict.

3. What are the conflicts that provide the basis for the plot?4. What other conflicts develop as the story develops?5. Are these conflicts resolved by the end of this film?6. How are the conflicts established?

Narratives often involve a series of problems to be met and solved, or obstacles to be overcome, like taking two steps forward and one step back, until the resolution is reached.

7. List the main obstacles and/or problems faced by Billy.

Early scenes set up expectations of main character(s) that will affect the structure of the story.

8. Can you identify examples of this?

Time is always an important consideration in a screenplay; a feature film may cover days, weeks, even years of real time, so ways of showing time passing are needed.

9. How much time is covered in this film? Can you work out a timeline?

Some of the ways the passing of time may be indicated include: fades or dissolves changing light showing a clock or a calendar dates or times on screen seasonal differences – winter to summer references in dialogue cuts to the same scene at a clearly later time, e.g. from full plates to empty, or the same

people in different clothes or in a different places a montage of brief symbolic or typical images.

10. What techniques are used in this film to show time passing?

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Film-makers may wish to show different things happening at the same time. The usual technique for doing this is by cross-cutting. The editor cuts quickly from one scene to another and back again several times. It is a very useful technique for building tension and suspense, or for showing contrasting ideas and images.

11. Can you identify examples of cross-cutting?

Even stories that are told in a simple chronological structure will need to lay the foundations for future events, as well as keep the audience involved and expectant by hinting at the future.

12. Identify examples where: future events are 'signposted'; details function as 'loaded pistols', ready to 'go off later in the story

A film needs to keep its audience involved but also alert, off balance – a comfortable audience may fall asleep – through changes of mood or tone, e.g. from anger to humour and back to anger again.

13. Identify examples of mood or tone change like this.

Most commercial films – “classic Hollywood” type - are similar in structure to a three-act play: The first act introduces the main characters and situation, and ends with a scene that sets

up a complication around which the plot will revolve - the catalyst or inciting incident; it disrupts the equilibrium of the original situation.

The second act develops this complication. The third act brings the situation to a climax and resolution.i.e. – get the hero up a tree, throw things at him, get him down from the tree.Each act is structured to end on a moment of heightened tension or interest – a ‘turning point’ that will change the direction of the story.

14. Does this film follow this pattern? Can you identify three acts? What is the catalyst? 15. The opening situation of a film is usually one of equilibrium, of a peaceful existence. This

film is different. What are the already disruptive elements of the original situation?

The second act is usually the longest because it is built around a series of actions taken by the main character(s) to get themselves out of the difficulty created by the complication. These actions build up suspense because each successive attempt to resolve the difficulty brings a reversal in fortune. The reversals gain momentum because they are usually of greater magnitude each time they occur. Suspense can be heightened by the use of a 'deadline’ - the knowledge that there is not much time left, and the overhanging question of whether they will make it.

16. Is there a deadline? What is it and how does it affect the events? 17. How does the film build suspense?18. Look back at your list of obstacles – is each one of greater magnitude than the one before?

Supply details.

19. Getting the story told. Comment on the reason for including the following incidents: Billy’s tipping the mattress off the bed to hide the ballet shoes. Debbie’s making advances to Billy, which he refuses. Tony’s going out with the hammer. Tony’s getting arrested. Jacky’s deciding to cross the picket line and go back to work. The boy at the audition trying to comfort Billy.

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Plot Questions

How well did you watch the film?

1. What is Billy doing in the first scene?2. Where is Tony going?3. “Your 50 p is on the fridge.” What is it for?4. Where is Billy’s mother?5. Why is the ballet class sharing the boxing hall?6. When Billy joins the class, what does he do that makes Mrs Wilkinson take notice?7. What does Billy try to cut the grass on his mum’s grave with?8. Why does Billy hide in the changing rooms after boxing? Why does he not go to both

classes?9. Why does Billy steal the library book?10. How does Dad find out that Billy has been going to ballet lessons? What is his response?11. What does Billy do?12. Mr Wilkinson is angry with the striking miners. Why?13. When Billy visits his friend Michael, what does he find? 14. Tony is chased and caught by the police. How does this happen – and why?15. Why does Jacky chop up the piano?16. How does Billy persuade his dad that he is serious about dancing?17. How does Jacky raise the money to take Billy to London?18. How does Billy describe the way he feels when he is dancing?19. When Jacky runs to the social club with the news of Billy’s acceptance, he is immediately

deflated. What has happened?20. When Tony and Jacky go to see Billy in London, what ballet is he dancing in? What is

unusual about it?

How much did you understand?

21. Billy has to go and find his Nana when she is missing. Where is she and why?22. Who are the men with the vans on the road above?23. Billy obviously does not know how to play the piano. Why does he not get lessons?24. Why does Michael refuse to join the boxing club? 25. Billy tells Mrs Wilkinson he has to go to boxing next week, but we know he will go back to

the dance class. How do we know this?26. When Billy tries to talk to Tony about death, Tony swears at him. Why?27. Michael says his dad dresses up in women’s clothes. Why is this ironic?28. How does Billy feel about Michael?29. Where is Tony going to with the hammer? 30. When Billy gets his letter of acceptance, he acts as though he has been rejected. Why?

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Close Reading the Text – a Checklist

When you watch the film for the second time, you will need to look much more closely and analytically. The purpose is to identify and understand the techniques that film-makers use to manipulate audience responses.

As you watch each scene or sequence, look for the following, and make notes of what you see. Not all questions will need to be answered for every sequence.

Plot/narrative What does the scene contribute to the way the story is being told? If time has passed, how do you know? Would it matter if the scene had been left out? Why/why not? ‘Drama is conflict.’ Is there conflict in this scene? Between whom? Is it resolved or will it

lead to more conflict further on?

Setting Where is the scene set? Is this a new setting or one seen before? If new, do you know where it is? How? Are there any significant details that may prove important? Are any details included to provide local colour i.e. to make the setting realistic and

convincing? What time of day is it? How do you know? Is that significant? What is the weather like? Is that significant? Has the director used contrast, colour? How? Is there anything in the setting that affects the characters? Is there anything about the setting that provokes a response in you? What kind of

response?

Characters Are there new characters in this scene, or only ones we have met already? If new, who are they? How is their identity established? Do we learn anything new about the characters? What? And how? Look at the costumes. What do they tell us about the characters, the situation? Contrast is an important technique in characterisation. Are any of the characters

contrasted? How? To what effect?

Cinematic Techniques Consider the mise en scène – which is a film term meaning everything in a particular scene,

and how we are shown it. How is the scene filmed? What kind of lens (zoom, wide angle), shots (size, angle etc),

movement? What is the effect of this? How is it lit? Natural or artificial lighting? directional? colour filters? Listen for sound effects and for ambient sound (Foley). What do they contribute? How is the dialogue treated? Is it spoken to enhance the beauty of the poetry or is it

modernised, made more realistic? Is the treatment appropriate? Look for colour, use of repeated motifs, use of visual symbols. Look for links between scenes – outpoints and inpoints; listen for aural bridges

There are many other questions you could ask yourself as you watch each scene. To begin with, focus on a few that you can manage; as you get better, you will be able to deal with more difficult ones.

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Close Reading Tasks

Look carefully at the opening scenes and then answer the following questions:

1. List what you know already about each main character2. List the signifiers that tell you about setting – time, place, society etc3. Identify any recurring motifs or symbols that you have noticed4. Has anything been suggested so far that will lead to problems or trouble later on?5. Analyse in detail the camera shots and angles in the first few scenes. What do they help

reveal about this family?

Motifs and Symbols

A motif is an image/idea/word that is repeated several times in a particular work. It is a unifying device.

A symbol is an image/idea/word that represents something else, other than itself. Symbols may have universal significance – e.g. the Christian cross – or meaning only in the work in which they are used.

List the motifs and symbols that you notice as you watch the film. Which are motifs? and which symbols? and which both? Explain the meaning and significance of each symbol.

Use of Parallel and Contrast

Film-makers, like writers, use parallels and contrasts to make their thematic points, to facilitate characterisation and for visual and thematic unity.

Identify examples of parallels and contrasts in this film. Explain what effects are achieved.

Vocabulary and Research

The following words are used in the film. What do they mean?

1. scab2. made redundant3. picket line4. pawnbroker

5. plié6. demi-plié7. port de bras8. pas be bourrée9. jeté

Research

What can you find out about

10. The Royal Ballet School?11. The 1984-5 miners’ strike? What is the situation now in these areas?

Setting

It is important for a film to establish itself in time, place and social group every quickly. Mood and atmosphere are important too.As you answer the following questions, consider not just what you are told, but HOW it is made clear. A signifier is any item that signals time or place (or character).

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How many signifiers can you identify that signal time and place?

1. Where is the movie set? How do we know? 2. And when is it set? How do we know this?3. What is the age group the story is centred on? How do we know this?4. What is the socio-economic group? How do we know this?5. What signifiers tell us that Mrs Wilkinson and Debbie come from a different social

background?6. What sort of mood is created at the start? How is this mood created?7. How is the mine setting first shown? What is the effect of this?

The Concept of Mise en ScèneA useful and general term for the staging of a film; it includes lighting, costume, props, framing, camera movement etc. It is often used to describe an approach to filming where the actors, scenery etc tell the story with the camera recording it. It is characterised by unobtrusive camera work and minimal editing, which is the approach largely used in making this movie.

Freeze-frame the kitchen in the opening scene. [Easier with DVD than video.] All the things you can see, and the way they are shown to you, are part of mise en scène.List the details that you can see. What do these details tell us about the people who live

there?

Repeat this exercise with another set – Nana’s room, Mrs Wilkinson’s house etc. [A useful assessment exercise.]

Group work

Select a specific setting – Nana’s room/front room, the boxing hall, Mrs W’s home, etc- and list the signifiers that create the setting.

Consider what changes you would have to make if you wished to set and film this story in a NZ setting.

(Each group could present its ideas orally to the rest of the class.)

Impact of the setting

Read the following description of a mining town, written by D.H. Lawrence about 80 years ago. Is his view of the red-brick housing shared by the film-makers? Is some of Jacky and Tony’s aggressiveness explained by the way they are forced to live?

The promoter of industry, a hundred years ago, dared to perpetrate the ugliness of my native village. And still more monstrous, promoters of industry today are scrabbling over the face of England with miles and square miles of red-brick “homes”, like horrible scabs. And the men inside these little red rat-traps get more and more helpless, being more and more humiliated, more and more dissatisfied, like trapped rats.

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Social Class

In the production notes, screenwriter Lee Hall explains the source of some of the film's emotional bite. For him the miners strike “was a class war where the state was mobilised against a small group of people. It left me with a sense of indignation which has fuelled much of my work.”

The difficulties in setting up location shooting for the film are indicative of the harsh post-strike reality. “We didn't realize how hard it would be to find working pits [mines]. We had to go all the way to Lynemouth and Ellington to look for them, but luckily we managed to secure the last remaining mine in the North East and didn't have to rely on recreating the pits through the wizardry of computer technology,” explains producer Jon Finn. (It closed a few weeks after filming finished.)

The ultimate failure of the struggle is implied in the clashes between police and strikers. The faceless, inanimate riot police are far more imposing and formidable than the passionate workers.

However, the story does not focus on this clash, merely uses it as a background against which Billy’s personal struggle takes place. Implicit in this struggle – and articulated by Tony in his confrontation with Mrs Wilkinson - is that ballet is both an escape route out of this limiting world and also a betrayal of his class: “What are you trying to do – make him a scab for the rest of his life?”

To begin with Billy tries to fit into the world of his father and brother. He persists at boxing even though he is hopeless and his heart is not in it, and when Tony is arrested, his automatic loyalty is to his brother. Earlier, we see him try to warn Tony that he is running into the police presence.

That his father’s world is limiting is articulated by Mrs Wilkinson in a stereotypical way: “He won’t grow up to race whippets, grow leeks or piss his wages up the wall.”

The gulf of class and culture that Billy will have to cross if he is accepted at the Royal Ballet School is never discussed; yet we only have to see Billy and his father cowed by the school's neo-classical interior to feel (wrongly) that Billy will never join this world.

Billy sets out to cross the great class divide; his training as a dancer is only possible in an institution and among people of an alien social layer. His great artistic talent proves capable of bridging the gap. The film ends attempting to dramatise the transcendental power of art.

Although Tony sees the middle class as the enemy, the film does suggest that not all is wonderful behind the tidy front gardens. Mrs Wilkinson is not much better off than the Elliots; her husband is out of work, drinks too much and they sleep in separate beds.

List some of the ways in which class is shown to be a limiter of personal growth.

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Characterisation Techniques: check-list

Characters in literature are created by the writer’s pen and the reader’s imagination. Characterisation in film depends on the script, the casting, the actor’s interpretation, the director’s interpretation, costume, makeup, light, sound, music and camera angle. Any one of these things can affect our response to the character.

The ScreenplayAs with fiction, many of the significant qualities of the characters are designated in the writer’s instructions: what they are to say and do, how to react and respond, what others say about them.Expressing a character’s thoughts is easier in fiction than on film. What techniques do film-makers have to do this? Does this film include any of those

techniques?

The CastingCasting is a very important aspect of making a successful film. If the actors are miscast – which happens all too often – then no matter how good everything else is the movie will not succeed. How well do you think this film was cast? How well acted? Both Jamie Bell (Billy) and Julie Walters (Mrs Wilkinson) won acting awards for this film. Do

you think they deserved them? Did anyone else?

The ActingGood actors can show a character’s inner life though their facial expression and body language. Look for examples of this.

Use of Light, Sound, Music, Cinematography, Camera AnglesCharacterisation is helped considerably by these cinematic techniques – though they leave little for us to do but respond. Look particularly for the use of high angle and low angle shots to suggest power, threat,

vulnerability etc. Look for the way light and music especially are used to increase our sympathy for or identification with a character.

Use of CostumeCostume is a useful shortcut in drama and film, to give us an immediate idea of how we are supposed to see characters. How has costume been used to assist characterisation?

Introducing Characters Look carefully at the way each character is introduced. Our responses to them will develop

from this initial introduction. How does the director want us to respond? What techniques are used to create this response?

For each of the main characters, answer each of the following questions: Where is the character when we first see them? What camera shots are used? What does their costume, hair, makeup tell us? What are they doing? saying? Is contrast with other characters established?

Developing CharacterAs the film progresses, measure each character against your first impressions. Do subsequent events reinforce or contrast with the first impressions? Do we learn more? Does the character change and develop or stay the same? Look especially for character-defining moments – scenes that help us to understand

characters. Consider also the role, the function each character has in the narrative. What do they contribute to the story that is being told?

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Characterisation Tasks

Individual work or group work. Several different approaches are suggested.

Character Poster Allocate a character to each group (of no more than four) or student.

Create a poster to illustrate the character’s personality and qualities.Include quotations, descriptions, details of actions etc. Present and explain the poster to the class as an oral exercise. [optional][You may wish to get pictures from Internet sites – try IMDb.com]

orCharacter chart: Class to suggest character traits and then students find supporting evidence:

Set out as a chart, e.g.:

Billytrait how he shows thiscourageousstubborn defies his father’s order to give up

loving his kindness to his Nanaetc

orCharacter Diagram as above but set out in diagrammatic form:

Billy

quality/personality trait

evidence, i.e. how we know

stubbornnesscourage

and so on

and

Parallels and contrastsLike many books and films, characterisation is strengthened by highlighting the similarities and differences between characters and groups of characters.

Identify pairs of characters that are similar and/or different. Head up each of two columns with their names and underneath, list the ways they are similar and different. E.g.

Billy Michael evidence11 years old same age in the same class at school

andCharacter SignifiersShort-cuts to character. Useful for minor or flat characters. A policeman’s helmet is an obvious signifier; Grandma in her nightie outside signifies her fragile mental state. Identify examples of character signifiers.

Understanding the Characters

What do the following actions tell us about the characters in the film?

Billy Cutting the grass on his mum’s grave with a pair of scissors; that he knows his mother’s

letter off by heart. His sweetness to and care for his grandmother. The way he lies to Tony and his father. His reactions to Michael’s dressing up, his kiss.

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The pillow fight with Debbie. His rejection of Debbie. His ‘tantrum’ at Mrs Wilkinson. His ‘dance of defiance’ to his father. Hitting the boy at the audition. That he doesn’t know about Durham’s “famous cathedral”, that he’s never been to

Durham?

Jacky Closing the piano on Billy’s hands. The way he lashes out at Billy, thrusting him against the wall. The way he shouts at Nana. His futile attempt to stop Tony going out. His decision to break the strike, to go back to work. That he has never been to London. When asked if he likes ballet – which he doesn’t - he responds, “I wouldn’t exactly say I’m

an expert.”

Tony The way he treats Billy – swearing at him, thumping him etc. Going out with a hammer at night. His abuse of Mrs Wilkinson and his insistence that his brother is not going to do ballet.

Think about the character as a whole.

JackyIs he a good father? What makes you decide this?

TonyIs he the sort of brother you would like to have? Why/why not? Is there any incident that suggests he cares about Billy?

Mrs WilkinsonIs she a good teacher? What makes you decide this?Why does she offer to teach Billy for nothing?What do we learn about her home life? Who from? Is it reliable?

What is the importance of the episode on the kitchen, with Billy on the table and the other three screaming at one another around him?

“They are all wounded in one way or another.” How is this true of the main characters?

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Themes

Consider the following ideas, which have come from various writers and critics.

Which do you think are the most significant ideas in this film?

Explain how the film illustrates these ideas. For each idea, locate the scene and/or character that explicitly or implicitly illustrate(s) that theme.

the rewards of perseverance in following their dreams and not giving up in the face of popular opinion.

the redemptive power of love in a family under enormous stress and shows a father coming through as a parent after some egregious errors.

the tensions and sorrows of a family dealing with the loss of its wife and mother while the grandmother gently sinks into senility. (Billy lovingly takes care of his grandmother.)

a friendship between two boys survives the fact that one is homosexual and the other is not.

the far-reaching influence that a dedicated teacher can have on a child's development.

the sacrifices required of striking union workers and their families, as well as the anguish of a community whose way of life is doomed in the face of new economic conditions.

The script and Billy's robust dancing (which owes more to Michael Flatley than Frederick Ashton) work overtime to assure us that it's "not just poofs" who do ballet. Unfortunately for Billy, the example he cites to his dad here is Wayne Sleep, a dancer as camp as they come. But the film's notion of acceptable male identities is more polymorphous than this joke suggests. When unveiled as a cross-dresser, Billy's best friend Michael claims to have picked up the habit from his dad. Later, it becomes clear Michael is attracted to Billy. Billy doesn't reciprocate, but this doesn't provoke a crisis in their friendship, either. Billy's own sexuality remains undefined: he may not fancy Michael, but he is equally uninterested in his teacher Mrs Wilkinson’s daughter Debbie. "I wanted to write about [the strike] obliquely by looking at the various tensions within the community which were crucial in determining the strike's failure," screenwriter Lee Hall said. "The story sort of wrote itself once I had the image of the kid at odds with his family and the community and pitted against a larger, hostile world."

The strike had affected everyone living in the North East. "It was a class war where the state was mobilized against a small group of people. It left me with a sense of indignation which has fuelled much of my work," reflected Hall. "If there was to be a message, it would simply reiterate the sentiments of Arthur Scargill," said Hall, "Which basically suggested that creative people are left dormant because we, as a society, have no idea or ambition how to tap into them and that we are poorer for it."

Because while director Stephen Daldry's Billy Elliot undoubtedly takes a page from every underdog musical from 42nd Street to Flashdance, it's also a surprisingly wise and funny meditation on the nature of what it truly means to be a man.

Lee Hall: "It is about wanting something better and doing everything you can to achieve it. I think everyone has a secret ambition and will be able to connect to Billy's determination to fulfil his."

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Discussion or Assignment Questions

Historical Setting

1 What is the importance of miners’ strike in the film? What was at stake for the miners? 2 Why is it ironic that Mrs. Wilkinson's husband, who has himself been made "redundant",

takes the position that the miners should abandon their strike? 3 What effect does it have on a community when the police are seen as an enemy?

Dance

4 What is the real basis for Tony and Jacky’s objection to Billy’s dancing? Is it a valid objection?

5 What are the similarities between dancers and athletes who play football, rugby, basketball or tennis? What are the differences?

Education

6 What would have happened to Billy and what kind of life would he probably have led, if it had not been for his teacher, Mrs Wilkinson?

7 What was Mrs Wilkinson's motivation in teaching ballet class? 8 Why was Mrs Wilkinson especially interested in teaching ballet to Billy?

Parenting, Father/Son and Families in Crisis

9 Evaluate Billy's father as a parent. What did he do well and what did he do poorly? 10 What should happen to parents who commit serious errors as Billy's father did? 11 During the course of the movie, Billy's family endures several crises and conflicts.

Describe them and describe how the family dealt with them. 12 Billy's father made a number of serious mistakes, like throwing Billy against the wall and

making it hard for him to take ballet lessons. Is he ultimately a good father? Defend your answer.

13 Billy's family has a lot of problems but they have one big thing going for them. What is it?

14 The film-makers obviously approved of Billy being required to take care of his grandmother, but was it right for a young child to be given those responsibilities? If he didn’t do it, who would? [The film glosses over what happens to Nana when Billy is at school.]

Grieving

15 How does Billy grieve for his mother? 16 Why does Jacky break down and cry at Christmas? 17 Why does Billy show his mother's letter to Miss Wilkinson?

Breaking Out

18 Remember the scenes in which Billy dances against the walls. What do these scenes show? What type of literary convention is being used here?

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A Question of Ethics – Discussion Topics

The film raises many issues of ethics or morality. Discuss in groups or with the whole class.

1. Our society expects children to obey their parents, but there are times when Billy does not obey his father, especially over the ballet lessons. Is Billy right or wrong? Explain.

2. Rather than lying about going to ballet class, could there have been a better way to handle it? In what circumstances are children justified in defying their parents? Describe some situations in which a child would be justified in lying to his or her parents. Describe some situations in which a child would not be justified in lying to his or her parents.

3. Does dancing always come easily for Billy?

4. There are many incidents of violence towards others in this story. List them. Are any of them justified? Explain.

5. The police are usually seen as a force for good in a community; that is where we turn for help, protection, law enforcement etc. They are not seen or shown that way in the film. Do the striking miners treat the police with respect? Should they? Do the police treat the striking miners with respect? Should they?

6. Remember the scene when Billy "borrows" a library book about ballet while the librarian is distracted by a striker mooning the police? What do these two actions have in common and why did the screenwriter juxtapose these two scenes?

7. When Billy takes the library book, it is stealing. Isn’t it? Was there an alternative course of action Billy could have taken that would not be dishonest?

8. Why does Jacky try to stop Tony going out to destroy company property?

9. Why is it so difficult for Jacky to cross the picket line? Is he being disloyal to his class, his union and his fellow workers? What other moral values is he responding to?

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Extension: Discussion or Writing Topics

1. Billy is asked what it feels like when he dances. He replies:

"It sort of feels good. It starts stiff and that but once I get going, then I like forget everything and I sort of disappear. Like I feel a change in my whole body - like there's fire in my body. I'm just there - flyin' like a bird - like electricity, - yeah, like electricity."

Do you get that type of a feeling from anything that you do?

2. There was a case fairly recently where a teenage boy (now with the NZ Ballet) was forced to shift from a boys’ school to a co-ed to escape the persecution and bullying that resulted from the fact that he danced.Do you think this would be likely to happen at your school?

3. For boys: If you wanted to be a ballet dancer, how do you think your schoolmates would react? Would that reaction be justified? Would you have the courage to tell your friends at school that you were dancing?

For girls: It is much easier now for girls to do ‘male things’ – in sport anyway. But are there any areas – jobs perhaps – that are still difficult for girls to go into? How far would you be prepared to go to be allowed to do this?Do you think boys/men who do traditionally women’s activities – ballet, nursing etc - are less masculine? Would you go out with a ballet dancer?

Friendship/Sexual Orientation

4. Should Billy have maintained his friendship with Michael after he realized that Michael was homosexual? Can straight men and gays be friends?

5. Billy was able to set boundaries to his relationship with Michael that permitted them to be friends but stopped at any sexual relationship between them. Describe the scenes in which this occurred. Do you have relationships in which boundaries are set by you or by someone else? Can you describe the relationship, what the boundaries are, and how they have been set?

6. Do you have friends that are very different from you in some ways? What is the basis for these friendships?

7. When Billy left for ballet school and said goodbye to Michael, he kissed Michael on the cheek. What was Billy saying to Michael by that action?

8. Are all male ballet dancers gay?

Breaking Away

9. Describe some situations that you have heard about in your own life in which people have broken away from the expectations that their parents, family and community had of them and have done something unexpected with their lives.

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The Issue of Bad Language

Profanity pervades the dialogue. Jacky and Tony swear continually; Billy and Michael do so matter-of-factly. This no doubt reflects reality, but should films do this?

Do films need to include bad language? Does anyone feel The Lord of the Rings or The Matrix would be better with bad language?

Consider the following passage and the questions that follow.

Once again, we are confronted by a movie that might be ideal for teenagers near Billy Elliot's age, but has been slapped with the R rating (in America). While kids will gladly sneak into R-rated movies they hope will be violent or scary, the R barrier only discourages them from films that could be helpful or educational. In the case of Billy Elliot, the movie contains only mild violence and essentially no sex, and the R is explained entirely by the language, particularly the "F-word". The filmmakers believe that it is a word much used by British coal miners, and I am sure they are correct.There are two solutions to the linkage of the F-word and the R rating: 1. The MPAA should concede the melancholy fact that every teenager has heard this and most other

nasty words thousands of times, or 2. Filmmakers should sacrifice the F-word in order to make their films more available to those under 17.(Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun)

"Profanity is the last refuge of the unimaginative." What does this mean? Do you agree? “Swearing degrades the level of human interaction by reducing people, things and

situations to the scatological, the base or the animal.” What does this mean? Do you agree?

“Swearing shows a lack of style and finesse.” Do you agree or disagree?

Read the following newspaper column on the issue of bad language in films.

Summarise the argument. Do you agree or disagree. Give reasons for your stance.

Bad language

Last month, in my review of The Blair Witch Project, I was very critical of the excessive bad language used by the three young actors. My comments earned me some correspondence from teenagers accusing me of being ‘narrow minded’. Well, if taking exception to having to listen to a vocabulary that consists of little more than the same few four-letter words, repeated in various tones, to the exclusion of dialogue that communicates means I am narrow minded, then yes, I plead guilty.

The main argument in favour of this language seems to be that it is ‘authentic’, that young people talk like this. I do know that.

But let us consider the matter of authenticity.Those people who argue that authenticity is the only criterion by which we should judge

movie dialogue should try listening into other people’s conversations. Or, better still, tape one that they are part of, and then listen later, critically. They will find, I am sure, that other people’s conversations, unscripted, unedited, and without structure, are mostly monumentally boring to all but those who take part in them. But they are ‘authentic’; there is no doubt about that.

A few years ago our TV reception was being so badly interfered with by a phone illegally on the wavelength that we lost our picture. We were given a radio receiver so that when our TV picture disappeared, we could listen into the illegal phone and try to identify the caller. It didn’t work, because the people we listened to – for as long as we could stay awake – had nothing to say of any interest to other than themselves. The conversations were really ‘authentic’ but terribly dull. That is why soap operas like Shortland Street and Eastenders, while purporting to be ‘real life’, do not settle for ‘real’ conversation but actually write scripts. If we were all capable of improvising brilliantly, we could all be great writers. But most of us can’t.

If authentic conversation is not considered worthwhile as entertainment, then for the life of me I cannot see why excessive swearing, no matter how ‘authentic’, should be any more acceptable. Not because it offends but because it, too, is monumentally boring!

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There are some films in which bad language, while still objectionable to many people, is balanced out by other positives; Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Pulp Fiction are examples. But in most movies where bad language abounds, the constant swearing simply seems to be an excuse for nothing worthwhile to say.

A number of years ago, before the tidal wave of obscenity that constitutes the dialogue in a certain type of film became acceptable, Greg McGee wrote a play called Foreskin’s Lament, about rugby in New Zealand. He recreated a very ‘authentic’ atmosphere in the dressing room after the match by putting into the mouths of his characters just the sort of language we are talking about.

Along with most of the audiences at the time, I was initially startled – not shocked – but what became very obvious to us all was how impoverished this sort of vocabulary is. How difficult it is for those with such a limited vocabulary to communicate what they feel and think. Social workers talk of the problems that are caused for those who have so little ability to express themselves, but that is a whole different area that I don’t want to get into.

But young people, most of whom seem to read less and less, have increasingly limited opportunities for developing a wide and useful vocabulary if they are not offered good examples – from the people around them, and from the films and television they watch. And the lack of a wide and expressive vocabulary is a perennial and serious problem for many of the young people I see in the classroom.

For this reason alone, I will continue to hope and expect that movie language offers more than constant swearing.

But film at its best, like literature, music and art, is one of our important outlets for creativity. The great films of the past managed to recreate realistic and timeless worlds without recourse to this sort of language and I would like to think that modern screenwriters are no less skilful. Mind you, the current popularity in Hollywood of the great writers of the past – Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Henry James etc - suggests that maybe there is a problem.

But what I am sure of is that the films that will last, that will enter the list of the all-time greats, the classics, the films people will want to watch in 20 and 30 and 40 years time, will not be ones where most of the words have four letters.

And I will continue to comment on and criticise excessive and unnecessary bad language, even if only as a service to those of you who don’t like it either.

[Judy Lewis, Hawkes Bay Today, January, 2000]

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Review

Billy Elliot (M) ½

The grim industrial north of England has proved fruitful territory for films in recent years, with The Full Monty and Brassed Off both showing how art – music and dance – can be the saviour for men ground down by social and industrial miseries.

Billy Elliot, like Brassed Off, is set in coal mining country, this time with the 1984-5 miners' strike as its background, but whereas the latter film spread itself across a wider community, this one focuses on one family.

Billy's home life is pretty grim. His mother is dead, his grandmother on the verge of senility, and his father and older brother notice him only to shout and swear at him. As striking miners, they have troubles of their own.

But 11-year-old Billy finds joy even in the midst of this. He makes breakfast for his nana as if it were a dance. And when he sees a troupe of little girls in tutus having a ballet lesson, he is drawn inexorably towards them.

It isn't easy. Where he lives, ballet is for girls – or 'poofs'. Issues of sexual and class identity are touched on, but the real issue is the need, the drive,

of one boy to escape the stifling and constricting nature of his environment and find fulfilment.The danger of stereotyping the characters – a close-minded father (Gary Lewis), a bullying

older brother (Jamie Draven), the perpetually disappointed, chain-smoking dance teacher (Julie Walters) – is avoided by the power and subtlety of the performances.

But the film's greatest strength is in 13-year-old Jamie Bell who plays Billy with total conviction. You will be swept along by the sheer exhilaration of his performance, and his smile – rare and glorious – is a treat worth waiting for. The moment when he fumbles to put into words what it feels like to dance, a feeling he doesn't fully comprehend himself, is a moment of great truth in a film full of moments of great truth.

Yes, the story is a little predictable, and the dialogue sometimes trite. The screenplay occasionally lurches forward rather than showing change or development.

But the film transcends all this with its moments of beauty and joy, of despair and frustration, its honesty, and its refusal to pretend that the escape of one boy from the confining world that traps him will change anything in that world.

[Judy Lewis, Hawke's Bay Today, September, 2001]

Use highlighters (or underline with different coloured pens) to identify 1. plot information 2. other facts3. favourable opinions4. unfavourable opinion

What proportion of the review is fact, and what proportion is opinion? How much of it tells the story?

Write a review of another film you have seen recently. Briefly outline the basic plot but do not dive details of what happens. (Never, never give away the ending.) Comment – with supporting details – on script, acting, set, directing (if you can) etc, and general appeal of the film.

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List of Major Scenes

1. Billy makes his grandmother her breakfast.2. Billy and Tony go to bed.3. Morning: Tony off to the picket line; Billy plays on piano.4. On the picket line5. Billy goes to boxing6. He returns the keys and joins the ballet class7. Mrs Wilkinson asks him to come again next week.8. Billy and Nana visit Mum’s grave.9. Debbie tries t o persuade Billy to return to the class.10. Billy hides after boxing and joins the class.11. Billy hides the ballet shoes under the mattress.12. School scenes13. Billy steals a library book.14. Billy practises at home and in class.15. Billy dances in the street.16. Dad is told he hasn’t been going to boxing.17. The miners confront the police.18. Jacky and Tony meet a strike-breaker in the supermarket.19. Dad sees Billy in ballet class and orders him out.20. Dad forbids him to dance.21. Billy visits Mrs Wilkinson and stays to tea.22. She drives him home and offers to teach him privately.23. Billy visits Michael and finds him in a dress.24. Billy’s lesson” “I love to boogie.”25. Jacky tries to stop Tony going out with a hammer.26. Billy has a fight with Mrs Wilkinson.27. Mrs Wilkinson tells Billy the story of Swan Lake.28. Debbie chats up Billy but he isn’t interested.29. Confrontation between police and strikers; Tony is arrested.30. Billy misses his audition; Mrs Wilkinson comes looking for him.31. Confrontation between Tony and Mrs Wilkinson.32. Billy dances in frustration.33. Christmas: Dad chops up the piano for firewood.34. Michael kisses Billy, who tells him he isn’t a ‘poof’.35. Jacky finds Billy in the hall; Billy dances.36. Jacky visits Mrs Wilkinson.37. Jacky crosses the picket line; Tony drags him back.38. Jacky pawns his wife’s jewellery.39. Jacky and Billy go to London for an audition.40. Billy is intimidated by the Ballet School and dances badly.41. He hits another boy.42. He is interviewed by the panel.43. They wait for the letter from London44. It arrives, Billy opens it – he has been accepted.45. Jacky runs to the club with the news – and hears the strike is over.46. Dad and Billy visit the cemetery.47. Billy says goodbye to Mrs Wilkinson, Nana, to Michael and catches his bus.48. 15 years later, Tony and Dad arrive in London.49. In the theatre, they are seated beside Michael.50. Billy dances in Swan Lake.

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Glossary of Film Termsambient sound background sound (not music): footsteps, bushes rustling – FOLEY effectsanimation The process of assembling drawings to be photographed one frame at a time, to create an illusion of

movement. Cartoons are best-known form of animation. art director The designer of sets and costumes.aural bridge hearing the sound of the next shot before cutting to it - signals a transitionauteur A director (or occasionally some other type of film-maker) with a recognisable style and view of life.‘b’ movie A low budget movie of the kind used to fill out a double feature. (Compare the phrase ‘B side’ of a record.)backlighting Light from behind a person or object, sometimes creating a halo effect.back (rear) projection

Adding a filmed background to live action, so it looks as though the action is taking place in that location.

body language The way our feelings are expressed through our body.camera angle The angle at which the camera is pointed at a person or object (high, low, neutral = eye-level). A camera

tilted to one side so the horizon is on a slant is canted or tilted (not to be confused with a ‘tilt shot’.]cinematographer A movie cameraman, usually the ‘director of photography’.close-up (C.U.) A camera shot that seems to bring us close to the person or object being filmed; a shot of a person’s face

only is a ‘close-up’. + ‘Extreme close-up’ (E.C.U.) or ‘big close-up’ (B.C.U.).continuity The script supervisor keeps a record of ‘takes’ and makes sure that the details are consistent from one shot

to another (e.g. a character must wear exactly the same clothes even if a scene is shot over several days).crane shot A shot taken from a crane (a kind of high angle shot).credits The list of cast, crew, and other people involved in making a film. ‘Head credits’ at beginning, & ‘tail credits’.cross-cutting The alternating of shots from two different sequences, often in different locales, suggesting they are taking

place at the same time.cut The place where one shot as been spliced to another.cut-away A shot which briefly turns our attention away from the main action to someone or something on the sidelines.deep focus Every object is in focus to a great depth. [cf. shallow focus]dissolve One image fades in while another fades out, so that they are superimposed for a few moments.dolly Any platform with wheels that allows the camera to be moved: ‘dolly shot’, ‘tracking’ or ‘trucking’ shot.dub To record dialogue after a film has been shot, usually replacing one language with another.editing The process of selecting, arranging and trimming the various shots to make up a film. establishing shot Usually a long-shot, it gives an overview of a scene so the audience is not confused about what is

happening and where.exposition The basic information that must be supplied to an audience at the beginning of a story, so they can follow

the story and feel involved with it.extra Someone acting a minor part, in a crowd scene for example.fade-in An image appears out of blackness, gradually brightening to full strength. Fade-out = image fades to blackfilm noir A French term (‘black cinema’) for a genre of thrillers in which the universe is despairing and fatalistic.fish eye lens A very wide lens that distorts the image.flashback A return to a scene in the past. (A flash forward = a premonition of the future.)focus The sharpness of an image. To focus a camera is to adjust the lens so that it gives a sharper image.footage The amount of film used, or to be used (measured in feet or metres).frame A term used to refer to: 1. any single image of a film (there are 24 frames per second)

2. the rectangular shape of the image (like the ‘frame’ of a painting).freeze frame A single frame repeated many times so it looks like a still photograph. gaffer The chief electrician in charge of the lights. Their assistant is the ‘best boy’.genre A type of film (e.g. the western, sci-fi.).grain The texture of the film emulsion. A film image with coarse texture is said to be ‘grainy’. hand-held camera The camera is sometimes held in the hand, even though a tripod gives smoother results. see Steadicam.high key lighting Bright lighting, usually provided by one source of light (the ‘key light’).inpoint The detail or image at the beginning of a scene, selected for its impact, or because it provides a smooth

transition from the previous scene to the new scene. Compare OUTPOINT.insert A detail shot (for example a close-up of a letter).jump cut An abrupt transition between shots, usually deliberate, which is disorienting in terms of time and space; a

startling transition that requires a leap of the imagination. Peter Jackson uses the term ‘crash cut’ for really shocking jumps.

leader A square piece of film added to the ‘head’ (beginning) or ‘tail’ (end) of a film.location A place, other than a studio, where a film is shot.long lens A lens with a long focal effect that has a telescopic effect.long shot /L.S. A shot from a distance - it shows a person from head to foot, and perhaps more than this. master shot A long take of an entire scene, into which other shots e.g. reaction shots, are cut.matte A process of combining several images during the printing process (e.g. to add a background).medium (mid) shot [M.S.] A shot between a close-up and a long shot in the sense of closeness it creates. mise en scène Getting a scene together, the choices made about the details of the imaged; what items will be in it, and how

those items are to be presented.

montage A fast-moving sequence in which many shots are combined - to create a mood, or to sum up a long process, to suggest connections. A series of short clips which add up to more than the sum of the whole. Compresses a passage of time into brief symbolic or typical images.

morphing Transforming from one image into another

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outpoint The final detail or image in a particular scene. It may sum up what has happened, add a touch of irony, or point towards the following scene. Compare ‘INPOINT’.

out of shot [O.S.] A character speaks while the camera looks elsewhere. Not the same as voice over.out-take A take not used in the final version of a film.over-shoulder shot A camera position often used in dialogue scenes.pan The movement of the camera when it swivels from left to right or right to leftparallel montage Two scenes that the editor has alternated. Also known as ‘cross-cutting’.point-of-view shot [POV shot] A shot in which the camera is associated with the eyes of a character (‘this is what s/he sees’).pull focus To shift focus from one part of a scene to another (also known as ‘follow focus’ or ‘rack focus’)reaction shot A shot that shows a person’s reaction to what happened in the previous shot. (It is known as a ‘noddy’ if the

person is merely nodding, like a television interviewer!)reverse angle: A shot from the opposite side. When two people are talking, there is often a ‘shot and reverse shot’

alternation.rough cut The first edited version of the film, like a rough copy. It is revised to become the final cut.rushes (or dailies) ‘Takes’ rushed back from the laboratory so the film-makers can check that they got what they wanted.screenplay A film or television script.set-up The position of the camera and lighting, selected for a particular shot.shallow focus Objects in foreground will be sharp; those in background will be blurred or softened. Opposite = deep focus.shooting/ filming The ‘shoot’ is the period of time spent filming.shot A film is made up of many different shots. During the shooting of a film, a shot ends when the camera is

turned off. Each shot involves a different camera set-up. During and after the editing of the film a shot ends where the editor has cut it off. See ‘TAKE’.

side lighting light coming from one side – can create sense of volume, bring out surface tensions, fill in unlit areas. Skycam A lightweight camera is suspended via wires and pulleys and controlled from a computer. soft focus Opposite of sharp focus, sometimes produced by filters or Vaseline to add a romantic effect. sound mix The combination of different elements (dialogue, music, sound effects) to make up the sound tracksound effects Sounds other than words.special effects (SFX) Creating illusions by the use of trick photography, miniature models and various types of equipment. A

bomb can explode; a flying saucer can appear etc, thanks to SFX.split screen Two or more separate images within the same frame.Steadicam The camera is attached to a vest on the camera operator who can then move it without jerkiness.still A single photograph, the enlargement of one frame.storyboard A script presented as a serious of drawings and captions.sub-text A person’s private thoughts and feelings which may be different from those expressed publicly.synchronisation Matching up sounds with visuals. When words match the movements of the actor’s lips, the film is ‘in sync’.subjective shot A point of view shot, sometimes distorted to emphasise the character’s state of mind.tail The end of a film.take One attempt at a shot. To get the effect wanted, the director may ask for more than one version (or ‘take’).

Same as ‘shot’ but it refers more narrowly to the period when the film is being made.telephoto lens A long lens with a telescopic effect.texture A term used to refer to: (1) the actual physical look of a film image, those qualities that allow us to

distinguish it from a video, image or an oil painting, or other kind of image. (2) richness of detail – clouds, faces, wind tugging at clothes, cars passing in the background, etc. To respond to texture is to notice not just the main meaning or the main objects in a film scene, but also to notice the many details, colours and surfaces.

threnody an unnerving sound, signalling a change of mood (threnody = song of lament)tighter shot A closer shot, leaving less space around the people or objects on which the camera is concentrating.tilt shot The stationery camera starts at the top of an object/figure and scans down to the bottom (tilt down) or at the

bottom and scans to the top (tilt up). Only the lens moves; when the whole camera is lifted = crane shot.tracking shot the camera moves on a ‘dolly’, enabling it to follow people who are moving along.two-shot A shot in which two people are shown (cameramen also speak of ‘one-shot’ and ‘three-shot’).video Television filming. The images are recorded not on film stock, but on videotape.visuals The images of a film.voice over (VO) Commentary by an unseen narrator.wide-angle lens A lens with a broad angle of view, increasing the sense of depth and distance.wipe An optical effect in which one image appears to push the previous image off the screen.zoom A lens that can be adjusted from ‘wide-angle’ to ‘telephoto’. Such a lens can ‘zoom in’ or ‘zoom out’ (seem

to move closer or further away from an object).

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