Kingsman & Moonlight comparison

Kingsman and Moonlight are two very successful films with two very different budgets, Kingsman's budget was 104million USD whilst Moonlight's budget was much less at just 4million USD, you can tell that the budget in Moonlight is small due to the camera shots, lighting and editing. Moonlight is a text about a young black boy growing up trying to identify his sexuality, set in Miami it frequently shows how black people live their everyday lives. Kingsman shows the life of Eggsy who is brought up through a working class lifestyle trying to make his deceased father proud, in this text he see our protagonist  encounter many different people who represent different classes and stereotypes.

Kingsman's genre is action/ comedy with Eggsy joining the Kingsman being an MI6 equivalent in the text, so it is a spy film as well, whilst Moonlight is a drama and that is it. immediately just by watching the two texts you can identify that Kingsman is more exciting and fast paced with witty comedy and Moonlight is for older audience with  more patience with a powerful and meaningful message which makes the audience aware of homosexuality as it happens everywhere and that is the misconception which homosexuality as people think that you can only be white to be gay.

Similarities with the two films are that our protagonists are brought up from a poor working class background, with the parent figure being female and being easily influenced by a male figure, however both characters show emotion and love for their mother even though they make mistakes. as well both texts show the contrast of class, with the Kingsman service in Kingman being upperclass and the housing estate representing the lower class, and in Moonlight 'the hood' represents a poor working class atmosphere and Juan the dealer being a richer more upper class representation, as well as the school showing a middle class representation, stating that Terrance is in some sort of secondary education.


In Kingsman the most nostalgic scene is the bar fight scene, in the beginning of this scene we see Harry who is played by Colin Firth a very well known actor talking to Eggsy about his father, he patronises Eggsy in a way by offering him a shot into Kingsman, whilst talking to Eggsy, the two men are approached by several men who are angry at Eggsy for what happened in a previous scene, they tell Harry to move out of the way and on his way out one of the men say something behind his back. Here Harry says the following 'manners maketh man' and engages all of the men in a fight, it turns into guide a violent intense and comedic brawl with fast camera shots. Here we the audience can see that the film has a large budget because of the editing a the way the shot is film, for example in Moonlight we see a lot of scenes filmed with cameras with less quality and there is a bit of shaking to set a more natural and raw environment.

Both films are very male dominated, and about young men trying to identify themselve. in Kingsman we see Eggsy trying to figure out his life and eventually become part of a gentlemen's club. However in Moonlight we see Terrance grow up and figure out his sexuality, both plots are very masculine but are very different. the only glimpses of females we get in both texts are shown as secondary characters such as mothers, or helpers. We see Roxy in Kingsman who is always helps Eggsy on his quest into Kingsman, and in Moonlight we see Teresa who always offers help and takes care of Terrance when he needs it. Clear difference in both texts is obviously as stated above genre and pace, however Kingsman has considerably more diversity than moonlight, Kingsman features Black, white, Latina and asian, however never really features another race or religion at all, Moonlight is however set in a predominantly black community showcasing black lives.

Kingsman's budget was 104million USD which is quite large, it then quadrupled that in box office making a staggering 414million USD. We can see that Kingsman is very star studied with actors like Michael Caine, Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Mark Hamill. It has very good reviews as well with 7.7/10 on IMDB and 74% on rotten tomatoes, it also won two empire awards with the actor who plays Eggsy, Taron Egerton winning best male newcomer and the film in general winning best british film. This film did give lead role Taron Egerton his breakthrough in his career as he has also featured in other films such as Eddie the Eagle, Legend and a voice performance in Sing. Kingsman The Secret Service was successful so the producers decided to make a sequel, it is common with mainstream action films that a sequel is made, and generally the 2nd film in just to make more money and will never live up to the representation of the first. For Moonlight only having a budget if 4million USD, then to have a box office of 65million USD is very impressive, it isn't very star studied and from what I know none of the actors relay made a breakthrough onto the scene, it also scored a 98% on rotten tomatoes which is near perfect. The text itself Won the most prestigious prise of the year, taking the Oscar for best picture, as the genre of the text is a drama, the film is highly unlikely that it will have a sequel, the reason being it doesn't need one, the text is a powerful moving film with a great message, and it is more of a one off standalone film.

In conclusion both films are hugely successful due to the plot and the idea of the movie, as both movies contrast they stray away from mainstream films, for example Kingsman is similar to James Bond however in James Bond we know what we are going to get with the film, as it usually follows a path. with Kingsman we know nothing and have to keep up with the storyline as it develops. Moonlight is a very Unique text as it is something we have never seen anything like it. Winner of the 2017 best picture we the audience can see why as it is so powerful it becomes more than just a film it changes opinions and views. when watching this text when first released it would have stirred controversy and would have left audiences leaving screening in disgust. however more people understood the message isn't a problem it is a young black mans sexuality, and has changed how many people think of young black males not just in America but all over the world.

Bomb left at Holy Cross school gates in Belfast 'to murder police'

source= Sky news

Dissident republicans have been blamed for a bomb left at a primary school in Northern Ireland. The bomb was an attempt to murder police, according to a senior officer. It was found in an alleyway beside Holy Cross Boys' Primary School in Ardoyne, North Belfast, Shortly before midnight on Saturday two days before children were to return from Easter holidays. Around 20 homes in the area had to be evacuated while the bomb was dealt with.

PSNI Chief Superintendent Chris Noble said "Its a very Significant device more than capable of causing death and serious injury". He also said that the plot was provocative as the Holy Cross school name ins synonymous with violent sectarian protests in 2001 and 2002 targeting Catholic schoolgirls.

I choose this story as it is quite shocking to see that someone would make an attempt to kill police and possibly innocent children outside a school and schools are considered to be safe places for children to be, fortunately no one was killed, however it could have been a major headline if the bomb wasn't found in time.

Hunt for two men after four-year-old girl dies in hit-and-run

Source: Sky news

A four year old girl has died following a hit-and-run in St Helens, Merseyside. Violet-Grace Youens was walking on Prescott Road with her grandmother, when they were struck by a stolen Ford Fiesta on Friday afternoon. CCTV shows two men leaving the scene of the crash shortly afterwards. Violets mother, Rebecca Youens, paid tribute to her daughter after she had died in hospital on Saturday from her injuries. In a Facebook post, Ms Youens wrote "Thank you for all your well wishes ... she was just too poorly." "However my Brave baby girl saved two lives by donating her kidneys and pancreas".

Toilet's Family say they hope the organ donations will "benefit other children and give them a chance to lead long and happy lives". Ms French (grandmother), remains in hospital, where she is in serious but stable condition. Merseyside police are appealing for information about the pair who ran away from the crash on foot, who were both white and aged between 15 and 20 years old.

I chose this story as it is tragic to see that something like this happens, where two completely innocent people, were the victims of reckless driving, the men should feel extremely guilty as they hit down a four year old girl and her grandmother, then ran away without facing up to what they had done.

Paris airport attacker 'was on drugs'

source= Sky news

A suspected Islamic extremist who launched an attack at a paris airport on Saturday was under the influence of drugs. Tests showed an alcohol level of 0.93 grammes per litre in his his blood, and the presence of cannabis and cocaine. The gunman 'Ziyed B' shouted "I am here to die for Allah - there will be deaths", before attempting to gun people down at Orly airport. He was initially stopped for speeding at a road check on Saturday morning, where he injured a policewomen after shooting her in the face with an air pistol, he then held a women at gun point, stealing her car and from then driving to the airport. Once in the airport terminal, the attacker assaulted a patrol of three counter-terrorism soldiers. The man was shot dead by patrol officers.

I choose this story as I heard about the whole story before seeing it online and didn't realise the man was on drugs, I think that if he wasn't on drugs he wouldn't of done launched attacks at the airport, how people use drugs should be on more of a concern to the government.  

Mosul: No safe areas for civilians in a city 'being reduced to rubble'

Source = Sky news

Hundreds of men, women and children are forced to walk through the front lines of Mosul towards an uncertain future. The speed of the Iraqi forces advance into western mosul constantly changes, sometimes it is fast, at the moment it has almost ground to a halt. As the innocent people walk through the front lines they have to deal with Sniper fire overhead. Soldiers say that everything is fine and that it is safe, when in fact it is the opposite. The Iraqi forces have used huge mortar and artillery strikes against these snipers, once specific targets are identified they call in the gunships. Despite the Iraqi soldiers efforts, IS still controls most of westerns Mosul. As each day passes the city is being reduced down to rubble. 

For civilians inside Mosul there is no safe area at all, and that is why they are being forced out of there homes to get to safety. In small groups they carry what they can and walk through the front lines into the hands of an army that they are scared of. The children in particular are left severely traumatised over the gunfire.

I chose this story as it shocks me to see that families in Mosul are taking massive risks by walking though the front line without any sort of protection, and they are having to walk though the front lines as everything around them has been destroyed by IS.

Demographic and psychographic audiences

Demographic profile:

a demographic audience profile categorises an audience from A to E according to their class, occupation and income, categories A and B are the wealthiest and the more influential members of society and are therefore assumed to have the most disposable income. It is used by advertisers to determine where advertisement should be placed according to the demographic profile of the audience. Retired people used to be categorised E to reject the loss of income, but with the rise of early retirement, this group has moved to a higher category to reflect their disposable income and their obvious appeal to advertisers.





 Psychometric profile:

a psychometric audience profile defines an audience by their values, attitudes and lifestyles. As the concept of class and income became a less appropriate way of defining an audience considered different ways of categorising audiences.

-mainstreamers: these make up 40% of the population. They like security, tried and trusted brands and like to think they belong to a group of like-minded people. They like value for money and are less likely to take risks.
-aspirers: this group want status and prefer brands that show their place in society. They are happy to live in credit and will buy items like designer labels. They are stylish and dynamic and may be persuaded by celebrity endorsement.
-explorers: like to discover new things. They are attracted by brands that offer new experiences and instant results.
-succeeders: these are people who already have status and control and have nothing to prove. They prefer brands that are serious and reliable and believe that they deserve the best.
-reformers: this group are defined by their self-esteem and self-fulfilment. they tend to be innovative and are less impressed by status. They are not materialistic and are socially aware. They may be more inclined to buy brands that are environmentally friendly or those that are considered healthy.

Woman raped in front of toddler in the middle of the day

source= BBC

A women in her 30s was raped in front of her young child in the middle of the day near Redcar seafront, Teesside, at lunchtime on Friday. Both mother and child were taken about four miles to Longneck Lane, near Yearby, where the mother was raped. They were then made to get out of the car six hours later in another area of Redcar. Police are investigating whether the attacker knew the victim. Insp Matt Murphy-King said it had been a "very traumatic ordeal for the victim and her child". There were two men involved in the incident, The driver who is in his late 20s, early 30s, and the other man was in his early 20s, both men were white.

I chose this story as I found it very horrific, it awful to rape someone, and to rape someone in front of their child is a whole lot more sickening, This incident will always be in the mind of the mother for the rest of her life, leaving her extremely traumatised.

Woman deported to Singapore despite 27-year marriage

source= BBC

A women married to a British man for 27 years has been deported to Singapore. Irene Clennell was being held in a detention centre in Scotland, and told the BBC she had been sent back to her country of birth without any warning. She had been living in Durham with her husband, and has two British sons, as well as a granddaughter, in the UK. She is believed to have been abroad to care for her parents, this may have invalidated her residential status in the UK. She also told the BBC she was put in a van and taken to the airport from a detention centre in South Lanarkshire (Scotland) on Saturday. She said that she was unable to contact her lawyer and did not have a chance to get any clothes from her home. She also says that she has made repeated attempts - both in Singapore and in the Uk - to re-apply for permission to live with her husband, who is in poor health and she has become his carer.  Mrs Clennell, who had been living in Chester-le-street, was given permeant residence in the UK after her marriage.    

I chose this story as it is extremely unfair that she has been deported, especially as she was given permission to stay in the UK and also the fact that she has a family in the UK and has been living here for 27 years.

British suicide bomber dies in attack on Iraqi forces in Mosul

Source = BBC

A British IS fighter died in a suicide bomb attack on Iraqi forces in mosul is a former Guantanamo Bay detainee. Originally known as Ronald Fiddler, was 50 and from Manchester, was sent to Guantanamo Bay prison 2002. It was 19th of February  where he detonated a car bomb at an Iragi army base, south west of Mosul.

It is reported that he recieved a million pounds in compensation from the government when he came back into the UK. The BBC has seen IS registration papers signed by Fiddler in April 2014 when

he crossed into Syria from Turkey. He volunteered to be an IS fighter, saying that his knowledge of Islam was basic. 

I chose this story as it is interesting how British people are joining IS and are under there influence to commit extreme violence.

Colombia police arrest teenage hitman accused of more than 30 murders

Source = Sky news

A 17 year old has been accused of carrying out 30 murders and has been arrested by the police in Columbia. known only by his Nickname "Frijolito" - was held in the city of Cali in Columbia. Police have described the teenager as a "highly dangerous criminal" and said that he was caught after a four-month manhunt.

Police Chief Hugo Casas said "He is only 17 years old and has committed more than 30 homicides. he is a really dangerous person, it was good to get him and lets say the city is free of a person who could continue going these deeds outside authority." Officers have claimed that "Frijolito" means 'Little Bean' and that he started killing people at around the age of 12. They allege he was head of a gang of drug traffickers and assassins who ruthlessly terrorised the city of Cali. He is being held at a juvenile detention centre until he turns 18 when he will be moved to an adult prison.

I chose this source as it shocked me, if a middle age man had killed 30 people in Columbia then i would not ahem found this story, as it was a teenager it makes the story quite interesting and rather unbelievable.

Stacey Dooley girls, guns and ISIS summary

In the documentary Stacey Dooley goes into Northern Iraq to investigate the all-female group of Yazadi soldiers seeking revenge on the Islamic state. The documentary ultimately looks at some of the shocking stories the women and girls tell, and shows you what so of the girls lives are like now. one story was about how a women had been raped then killed and thrown out to the dogs, whilst all the other women enslaved watched the dogs eat the dead women, and another story was how ISIS raped a 9 year old girl in front of other women. Both stories are equally sick and horrific however these are only 2 of the many stores told through out the documentary. I think that the this documentary would be aimed at the western world and Stacey Dooley fans, the western world because it shows families that there lives are so easy compared to these womens lives, as normal families wake up not having to worry about being murdered by a terrorist organisation and take what they have for granted. The representations that this documentary covers are Religion, age, issues and gender. The mode of address is Informal as Stacey presents the documentary in a chatty light hearted way. she also makes the situation that the women and girls are in seem a little better than they actually are. i personally think that the documentary is very entertaining because of the way it is presented, if the documentary had been presented by a white man in his 50s with a very boring voice it would make the documentary seem dull and not worth watching, as the documentary is presented by a young women who connects with her audience, it makes you think that it is quite exciting. Overall the documentary is very depressing and emotional, personally it makes me feel grateful that I am not living in a war torn country, and also grateful that I have never experienced what these women and girls have experienced in their lifetime.

Virtual reality 'could help treat vertigo'

Source: BBC news

Virtual Reality could be used to treat vertigo, according to a team of Cardiff university phycologists. Vertigo is a symptom, sufferers can endure dizziness and a loss of balance and nausea. vertigo is  incorrectly used to describe a fear of heights, when a fear of heights actually means acrophobia.

A team of psychologists are working to develop virtual environments to help with diagnosis and rehabilitation. the scientist at Cardiff university say this method of treating patients with vertigo has "real potential". Dr Georgina Powell, of the school of Psychology said: "Vertigo can extremely debilitating, it can mean that a patient can't leave their house because the feel so sick and nauseous every time they walk around in their visual environment".  she also added "the patients are very different and some environments might trigger symptoms for some patients whilst other environments might trigger symptoms for others".

I chose this story as i found it vey interesting as it is quite bizarre that Virtual reality can treat patients with this symptom, its not your average story and it shows that brand new technology that is being introduced is being introduced to help treat people with all types of symptoms or conditions 

Reggie Yates review

Reggie Yates Life and Death Chicago ~ Review ~

I looked at 'Life and Death in Chicago', a  Documentary made by the BBC on Policing in Chicago, the Documentary is presented by Reggie Yates who is investigating Police brutality in Chicago. At the start of the Documentary He tells the audience that in 2015 9 people were killed by police, he goes on to say that only 1 of 9 were white. I was quite shocked by this as it is no coincidence that 8 out of 9 killed were Black. As i watched further in to the documentary, one man with his baby was talking about his experience with the police in Chicago, he described the streets being like third world countries. Another man was giving a story about a young girl who was laying in a puddle of blood beside her mother,  the man said that the young girl looked up to the police officer, and the officer said "she's dead, get over it". This is very sick to think that the police don't think of the amount of people they effect when they kill one person. However further into the documentary you do find out that the police are slightly misrepresented by the media, as one women who lost her Dad was in the police being interviewed by Reggie, says that  "They go to work, and think to themselves that they are going to shoot someone, in fact thats the last thing they think of doing". Police themselves do fall victim to shootings in Chicago, an I think that there is still a very strong stereotype going around that is, all young black males belong to some sort of gang in Chicago, so the Police only think of the stereotype when they shoot someone. A bit further on Reggie Yates says that there is a shooting almost every two hours in Chicago, this may have changed now as the documentary was set last year, however taking nothing away, this stat is unbelievably horrific and to think that people, whether police or gangs are involved must make everyone else feel extremely uncomfortable in Chicago. Reggie then follows police, with a news reporter to a crime scene, they get there ,and there are lots of police officers at the scene, they put up tape, and stand around for 5 minuets, after 5 minuets they get in the cars and drive off. There could be two interpretations of this incident the first is that the police don't care and believe that the shooting has happened therefore they wont actually need to be there, and the second interpretation is that there are so many shootings that they need to patrol and be ready to stop the next one happening and they have left the crime scene to detectives. It could be either, however I think that it is a mix of both really. Overall once watching the whole documentary it shocks me, this is simply because the stats and stories said in the documentary are so unbelievable they have to be true and if everything in this documentary is true then police in Chicago are given a very poor name. I also think that the police themselves subconsciously know that they are being brutal to a whole stereotype of young black males and females, as they don't want to speak to Reggie about the issue in the documentary at all. i also think that Police do lose many officers in shooting so it is a 50/50 in terms of victimisation.

Browned toast and potatoes are 'potential cancer risk', say food scientists

Source= BBC news

Bread, Chips and Potatoes should be cooked to a golden yellow colour, rather than brown, to reduce our intake of a chemical 'acrylamide' which could cause cancer. Acrylamide is produced when starchy foods are roasted, died or grilled for too long at a high temperature. The Food Standards Agency recommends carefully following cooking instructions and try to avoid browning, they went on to say that you should also avoid storing potatoes and parsnips in the fridge, this is because sugar levels rise in the vegetables at low temperatures, and this could potentially increase the amount of Acrylamide produced when cooking.

The Food standard agency says it is not clear exactly how much acrylamide can be tolerated by people, but it is believed that we are eating too much of it. Research in Animals has shown that the chemical is toxic to their DNA and causes cancer, so scientist have assumed that it is the same with people, although there is no evidence.

I chose this story as i thought that it was quite shocking to see that something that most people eat on a daily basis could slowly be killing them. It is even worse to think that this could be the main cause for most peoples cancer (along with smoking).

How Antarctic bases went from wooden huts to sci-fi chic

source = BBC

For decades Antartica -  the only continent with no indigenous population population

 - had only the simplest huts as human shelter, however now architecture there is getting snazzier.

The design will temporarily hold 65 people at a time with its futuristic design costing a price tag of 

$100m, and whilst a Chinese company are building it, it is not in China and almost no-one will ever see it.

The 'Brazilian Ferraz Antarctic Research' was originally burned down in 2012, the Brazilian 

navy then launched architectural competition for a replacement design, which was won. It is due to be finished 

being built in 2018. Located on a small island off the coast of Antarctica, it lies 1,000 km south of the tip of South 

Africa. It is closed off from the public as there is no scheduled air routes and it is way off any shipping lanes, virtually

nobody other than crews posted there will ever see it.

I chose this story as it is quite eye, and it is something different to everything that people normally see in the media.

I think this is a very unique event, that someone has built more than just a hut in the Antarctica, it also addresses

how technology is moving to another level.

More people die as European chill maintains its grip

Source = Sky news

Eight people in Italy have died due to freezing weather as blizzards continue across Europe. One man died in a Basement in an unused house while another passes away on a street flanking Florence's Arno River. While the UK has not been hit by this whether there is warning of it coming by the end of next week, as artic ear moves south.

Firefighters in the city of Hamburg have been called 415 over the weekend due to weather related accidents, and in Hannover (Germany) one person died as their car skidded against a tree on an icy road. As well as four Portuguese nationals were killed when a bus skidded down an icy road in Eastern France.

The reason I chose this story was because that although it isn't massively devastating, the natural disaster has spread around Europe taking many lives on its way, it is also quite shocking to see how that much snow can cause that much harm to people.

Turkey must prepare for ongoing violence in 2017

Just after the stroke of midnight in an Istanbul club two gunman opened fire starting the year of with violence, this could suggest more ongoing violence in 2017 to come.

Bombings and shootings happen almost a daily occurrence in Turkey, Turkish troops are fighting on two fronts in Syria. Last year, IS killed 45 and wounded many more in an attack on one of Istanbul's airport, there are many more examples of attacks from IS in Turkey and Recently have conducted suicide and gun attacks inside Turkey. A coup last year against the Turkish president, shook the security establishment to its core. Thousands of officers were arrested for being involved in the coup as a result of this incident. These domestic dramas have left Turkey even more vulnerable to terror attacks

I chose this story as it is shocking to see the ongoing Threat of IS inside Turkey, and the fact that the year was started by terror attacks in Istanbul makes it worse.