Mohamed Abikar 12L

How are teenage Protagonists represented in Attack the Block (2011)

and Detention (2011)

In this essay, I will be discussing the ways teenage protagonists are

represented in my two case studies, Attack the Block (2011) and Detention
(2011).
The film Attack the Block was released in (2011), BBFC certificate 15 and is
a British sci-fi thriller film directed by Joe Cornish and produced by studio
Canal, for a niche audience. The film's main stars are John Boyega, Jodie
Whittaker, and Alex Esmail. The narrative is a group of troublesome teens
who are out one evening, and witness the first of many meteorites that crash
in their neighbourhood. The boys decide to go after it, and kill off hundreds
of more aliens successfully.
In the opening sequence of Attack the Block, a high angled establishing shot
of the area is used to introduce the setting to the audience. Through the use of
this shot the audience recognise the lifestyle of Moses and his group, the
director has used this to enhance the theme of fear and simple stereotype, this
creates excitement and draws the attention of the audience to the film. Miseen-scene of low lighting and young teen out late at night on the roads also
conveys more fear and thrill. The director intentionally does this to make the
audience to feel alone, as this is how the women about to get robbed feel. The
scene creates isolation and fear, the director achieves this through the rise in
the pace of the non-diegetic sound to show the woman is alone and scared,
this means that the audience begin to see how the location of the film is
dangerous and how the womens situation is scary and harsh.
In Attack the block, alien attack scene, fear is created through various
microelements. For example Mise-en-scene of setting is used to create
fear. The setting in this scene is what the group called the block a south
London estate where they all live. Through the use of natural low key
lighting, and a high angle shot the director is able to implement fear.
Darkness suggests that it is dangerous and something we fear is about to
happen. This creates a tension and fear as the ambience and darkness is often
used to convey danger and fear, further suggesting vulnerability.There is
violent abrupt movements with in camera shots focussing on Moses through
a close up and a long shot of the aliens surrounding the police van to show
the Moses group is watching from the rooftop, this is paired with fast paced
non-diegetic eerie music, which creates tension and fear, as the audience
doubt if the protagonists are going to survive. As Moses continues to fight off

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the aliens, the non diegetic music gets louder and louder. To enhance the fear
of Moses, A series of cut shots starts taking place to show that the group is
being chased by the frustrated aliens. This is done to dramatise the fear and
danger the protagonists are in. Close up shot reverse shots are used through
editing to show the fear in the protagonists fear as he is not sure he will make
it alive, but also to keep the audience intrigued, as the aliens get closer and
closer to the protagonists, this is done to evoke fear and suspense. The
movement of the camera and characters is very fast paced which brings
anxiety to the audience. The lighting at this point is still dark and gloomy
further evoking fear.

In Attack the Block, the audience are introduced to the scene, where Moses
and the group are at Tias house were they feel safe and far away from the
aliens, after saving the women who they previously tried robbing she decides
to stay with them as she feels its more safer and her chances of surviving is
higher. A close up shows Pest talking about the events that just happened the
close up was done to show the fear but also relief in his face, however it soon
becomes clear they havent got rid of the aliens which becomes apparent to
the audience with the use of a low angled shot, loud non- diegetic suspended
music and low key lighting in order to show the power of the aliens and also
to promote fear into the audience. We then cut back to a close up Moses and
then a medium shot of the group and the others to show how scared and
shocked he is.

ThecloseupstoMosesweretoshowthatheisthemaincharacterandalso
theleaderofthegroup.Howeveritisalsotoshowthatalittlepartofhimis
scaredanddoesnotwanttodowhatheisdoing.Theextremelongshotsare

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toshowthesettingsofthefilmandwheretheyarebased.Theroughestates
showtheareastheyhavetogrowupinandimmediatelyscreamoutthatthey
areabad,rude,dangerousgroupofteens.Thediegeticlanguageusedis
urbanslang,shownby Dennis when he says to Moses Hey, bruv. I saw her
ID card thing. She's a nurse, innit? these are wordscommonlyusedwith
youngteensofBritaintodayandthisbringsoutthestereotypethatthisisall
howyoungteensspeak.Throughoutthefilmatvarioustimesnondigetic
musicofaScifithemeisplayedtoshowthatthefilmisaboutaliensand
othersortsofthingsnotfromthisworld.

The second film, Detention (2011), BBFC certificate 15 and is an

American comedy/horror film directed by Joseph Kahn. It's plot is about a
group of teens who go to a school called Grizzly Lake high. One of their
classmates is killed by someone dressed up as 'Cinderhella' (a character from
popular horror film), they all fall under suspicion, but when they all get
detention, they try to work out who it is. Its main stars are the likes of Josh
Hutcherson, Shanley Caswell and Spencer Locke
The opening sequence is similar to Attack the block, although in the film, the
theme of fear is represented more with comedy. In the opening sequence
of the film, fear is established through creating the sense of unknowing and
mystery of whats behind the door, the audience is introduced to the existence
of the antagonist even though we do not see it, instead through a silhouette.
The director uses loud suspended non- diegetic music and close ups of the
door knob to draw the attention of the audience and also to establish the
genre of the film. Through using this, the audience are left at edge of their
seats and wanting to watch more. The location in which the opening scene is
set in is the house in which Taylor Fisher and her parents live. The first time
the audience are introduced to the house using, a medium shot, in order to
show the whole house. This magnifies the size of the house, this makes it
appear bigger and more horrifying, this is coupled with creepy music to
create suspense which fits the simplicities of a horror, and this evokes fear as

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we commonly associate such convention with fear. The lighting is low key
and very dull, with just a street light as an only source of light outside and the
light in Taylor fishers room. Through the use of low key lighting the director
can convey fear to the audience. This is because darkness commonly
represents ideas of fear. The lighting is very specific in each shot, for
example when in the detention classroom there is just the one light bulb in
the middle and little lamps spreaded out the classroom, this creates a dim
atmosphere and the emotions of the characters for staying back late after
school.

The lighting is used effectively by the

director to create fear as it makes it hard for the audience to visualise what is
taking place in the scene, which creates fear, hence the reason it is not too
bright or too dark. Non diegetic sound of fast, upbeat music is heard is used
when action is about to happen as it builds up the tensions extremely quickly
through its pitch, the other sounds like the piano and footsteps, predominate
throughout the extract. The use of such high pitched instrument allows the
director to create a sense of insecurity and discomfort further denoting fear
into the audience. The use of sound when Taylor Fisher hears a loud thud is
highly effective. It is a sudden burst of loud non- diegetic music in the
background for a short time which along with the action on the screen really
makes the audience jump. The editing is slow leading up to this scene; the
slow paced editing is used to match with the tension building up to the scene
where the protagonist is walking the door knob to see what is behind the
other side. The slow paced editing is used to create and build fear as the
audience realise that the protagonists are in danger.

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In Detention, cinematography is used to create fear, through facial

expressions and slow paced editing to change. For example in the
scene when Josh Hutcherson and Shanley Caswell are walking through the
school corridors, a close up is used to show the protagonists expression. The
audience can see how she is scared by the way she grinds her teeth and
sudden movements of her head every time she hears a noise,
This theme of fear is continuously portrayed throughout this scene. When
Josh Hutcherson and Shanley Caswell start running from the mass murderer
behind them, diegetic sound is used coupled with creepy music to give the
audience an adrenaline rush, she bangs on the door of the detention
classroom begging the others to let them in and a close up is used. From this
shot the audience can see how very scared they are as Shanley Caswell is
close to bursting out with tears. The other students rush to let the others in as
the director uses a medium shot of them rushing,
quickly followed by a close up of the killer in his
hideous mask, which was taken out of a popular
horror movie. The close up of the murderer was
to promote disgust and fear into the audience and
that also the killer will go to great lengths,
furthermore showing the group is in serious danger and to again show the
theme of fear.
In both films they both have teenage protagonists and the mise-en-scene used
shows how they are the main protagonist in the respective films.
Teenage protagonist Moses in Attack the block is represented in a negative
way because he is part of a group of teens set out to attack one woman who is
all alone in a pitch black scarce road. The women is immediately seen as an
innocent person, so when she is confronted by Moses and his group you start
to feel sympathy for her, this is also continued by the fact that they bring a
knife out on her. Bringing out the prop on innocent women just connotes
violence and brings out more of the stereotype that all young black teens who
live in washed up and beaten estates carry around weapons in order to protect
or promote fear. The low angle shot suggest to the audience that Moses is
more powerful than the women due to his larger size, him being surrounded
by his group and of course because he is carrying a weapon. The low angle

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shot also show the power the knife has and the fear one would have if
brought out on you.

Whereas in Detention where they are not carrying knifes and other weapons,
they are still carrying on the theme of simple stereotypes which is seen in the
film such as the blonde bimbo, the bully jockey and the lonely nerd who falls
in love with the most popular kid in school. They are being confronted by a
killer and need to survive detention. With the killer already pouncing on
one unsuspected student, they need to work together in order to
survive, however, hatred for each other gets the better of them and one by
one they get killed by the mass murderer.

Both of the films show the audience how sound is

a common micro element that is coupled with fast paced camera movements
in order to create fear. Both films' opening sequence are very similar in the
way they use low key lighting and graduated pace of sound track to show
fear. However Detention uses the conventions of a horror film like creepy
music and low key lighting to create fear, where as Attack the block uses it to
show how rough life is growing up in the estates of South London. Diegetic
sound is the most common form that is used but is often coupled with other
types to enhance fear. The two films also follow there narrative structure
although Detention uses it to create more fear and Attack the block uses it to
create isolation and mystery. From what I have seen, it looks like both films
use the most of Mise-en-scene to their advantages in creating scary looking
scenes to fit with the genre. And movies nowadays represent teens in a bad
light and give them a negative meaning to life, from the way they dress to the
way they speak they are constantly judged, and all films use the same
stereotypes. Through my analysis I believe that overall the protagonists
Moses and Taylor Fisher are represented as scared, dangerous, heroic and
important throughout the films they respectively played. This is shown in

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their character positioning and the shots used, which I highlighted earlier in
my analysis. Showing this means that they are clearly different from the other
characters, making them the subjects. Both directors find a way to emphasis
their protagonists importance using semiotics and dialogue.
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