CONTEXT: The Basics!

– Knowledge Organiser
• Relevant dominant attitudes and beliefs
• Debates and representations about ethnicity, gender, national identity, etc.
Social • Challenging or reinforcing prevailing dominant attitudes to particular social groups or concepts
• The society in which the film was made. How people live, the type of work they do, the kind of lives they live –
how is this reflected in the film?
• Significant film movement
• Significant artistic movement
Cultural • A sense of fashions and ideas significant at the time of the film’s production
• Direct influences on a film’s look and style
• Beliefs and opinions of different groups of people which are reflected in the film. (Religion)
• Political movements taking place at the time of production that shaped the film
• The imposition of restrictions on freedom of expression
Political • What political message is the film conveying (if any)?
C • Impact on the themes of the films, their representations, and the production process itself.
O • When was the film made and when is the film set?
Current or What was going on in the world at that time?
N Historical
•
• How has this effected the story, plot, theme and look of the film?
T • Is the film typical of films from its country of origin in that time?
E • Who made/produced the films? How this has shaped the film’s content and tone.
X Institutional,
•
•
Auteur? Authorship?
Studio or independent? Do they meet the codes and conventions of these?
T including • Financial and technological opportunities and constraints (e.g. censorship)
Production • How does this film fit into the business of film making?
• How did the budget effect what appears on screen?
• Did the film have an easy production?
• What technological limitations were there on the film makers when they tried to put what they wanted on
screen?
• What technology appears in the film?

Technological
Context