Winstanley Analysis

Winstanley is a period drama set in the 17th based on the novel 'Comrade Jacob' by David Caute.

Overview



Like most period dramas that I have watched the credits to Winstanley are at the beginning of the film.

 The titles at the beginning of the film are presented like this.

 This is the first shot of the film, a long shot of a field with the outline of soldiers crouching behind the hill, the shot is also covered by nettles.

 this screen introduces the prologue.

 After the prologue screen the outline begins to move and people are seen walking along the edge of the hill.

 A command is given and the people start to rise.

 The prologue is now over and this title introduces the next chapter of the film.

 The army starts to rise over the hill with flags and what seems to be jousting sticks.

There are also close ups of soldiers loading guns and getting weapons,


The target audience for this film would be people interested in socialism, this film is based on the story of a man, Gerrard Winstanley's, attempt to complete a socialistic experiment to create the first self sufficient farming community in Surrey, England.

Jane Eyre analysis

Jane Eyre 1943

Overview 

Small, plain and poor, Jane Eyre comes to Thornfield Hall as governess to the young ward of Edward Rochester. Denied love all her life, Jane can't help but be attracted to the intelligent, vibrant, energetic Mr. Rochester, a man twice her age. But just when Mr. Rochester seems to be returning the attention, he invites the beautiful and wealthy Blanche Ingram and her party to stay at his estate. Meanwhile, the secret of Thornfield Hall could ruin all their chances for happiness.

The film opens with a close shot of the famous book Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

The credits are cleverly integrated with the pages of the book and the title sequence consists of the names of the actors and actresses on each turning page.

A characteristic I have noticed about period dramas is that they have very long title sequences and usually address the story at the beginning, for example, after the credits in Jane Eyre the book begins and is accompanied by a voiceover by a woman who introduces herself as Jane Eyre.

The voiceover gives the audience insight into the context of the film as Jane talks about the religious bigotry at the time. The opening two minutes of this film, although very uneventful, I feel that they are effective in setting the tone for a period drama. When the book turns to the first chapter it zooms in, this tells the audience that this is where their focus should lie.

The fact that the voice over is read directly from the book makes me, as a first time viewer think that maybe the rest of the film will be maybe read by someone as a memory or just as a story?

This film conforms to the codes and conventions of period dramas in the way that period dramas are often literary adaptions, therefore this being a film based on an infamous book means that this falls under the codes and conventions of a period drama. 

The target audience for this film would be someone who was interested in literature or someone who was interested in history, This film would appeal to them as it follows the book Jane Eyre which is a very well known piece of literature. Someone who was very interested in film would be interested in this film as the famous director and actor Orson Welles plays one of the main characters, Edward Rochester.