Amendment to question

I chose to change my question slightly to include a word which related to crime otherwise there would be an assumption that I am implying that young Black men are criminals. Therefore my question is now...

Explore the links between representations of young Black males and criminality in contemporary British films.

Entry Five

One more primary research method

Another chosen primary research method is to use a focus group, to find out;

• The perceptions of people after watching the film (Impact of film)
• Whether they feel that Young Black men are portrayed positively or negatively and whether they feel it is accurate.

I am going to use a focus group consisting of four people, who have not yet watched Bullet Boy or Life and Lyrics. By doing this, I am able to have in-depth conversations about these films and therefore have a detailed analysis of these films from a number of perspectives as I will have a group of diversity.

Entry Four

One more secondary method

My other chosen secondary research method is an interview with the Kidulthood writer, Noel Clarke. I got this source from RWD magazine, which is an urban magazine for younger people. The interview talks about his intentions of the film and how he feels about people's reactions.
This was composed by a RWD interviewer and does not have a date or specific author name, however it is issue 52 of March 2006.

Entry Three

Primary Research

I am going to create and hand out a questionnaire to 30 15-35 yr olds of a range of different ethnicities. My objectives by doing this are to find out;

• how people feel young Black men are represented in Kidulthood
• whether people feel that their representation is accurate

I will hand out these questionnaires around London, which will contain a series of around 10 (majority closed) questions. I will then use my findings to collate an average answer and see how varied the responses are.

I have chosen to do a questionnaire only about Kidulthood as many people have seen it as it is the most popular, which will make it more easier for me to access.

Advantages of this method is that it is an easy way to standardise answers and due to it being a quite sensitive topic, I am more likely to get truthful responses due to the questionnaires being anonymous. I am also able to get a varied sample as I am not focusing on a specific target audience. Respondents will be easy to access and there are a majority of closed questions which will make my research faster.

Disadvantages however are the fact that I will probably end up asking a majority of south London habitants as this is easier to acces which means that a wide representation will not be as probable and the same ideas may be processed due to a similarity in growing up around South London. Truthful answers are not guaranteed and making sure that my questionnaire is perfect enough for everyone to understand will be time-consuming.

This is a pilot study of the first five questions of my questionnaire

1. How do you think young Black men are represented in Kidulthood?

Extremely bad, Bad, Average, Good, Extremely good

b) If you answered average, bad or extremely bad, then what do you think it is that is used to portray them as negative in this film?

Language, Clothing, Peers (Crew), Surroundings

2. Do you agree with the representations of them in this film?

Yes, No, Sometimes

3. Do you feel that their representations are exagerrated?

Yes, No, Sometimes

4. Do you think these representations affect how they are viewed in the public?

Yes, No

Some brief findings of my research of my findings so far are that, people feel that they can sometimes agree with how young Black men are portrayed in Kidulthood which is generally in a negative manner. These representations are exagerrated mostly using their language and expression which can consequently alter the publics' perceptions about them.

There were some problems understanding these questions so I shall alter them to help people understand better.

Entry Two

Secondary research

1. Reviews on these films Internet - I found these by typing 'Name movie review'

• Kidulthood review


• Bullet Boy review


• Life and Lyrics review

These reviews all have ratings, good and bad points about the films, however as it is a review it will be based on viewers' perception. Therefore the reliability of the source may not be very accurate. The appropriateness, however is reasonable as it will enable me to realise what the perceptions about these films are which consequently makes them useful. Yet there are many questions that still arise from reading these reviews that do not tell me anything about how race is used in these films and how it affects the audience.

2. Blogs Internet - I found these blogs by typing 'Name movie blog: representations of race'

• Kidulthood Blog - This is a blog which focuses on what impact Kidulthood has had on the public, such as a higher concern for binge-drinking teenagers and pregnancy. This seems like a very reliable source as many other soures are mentioned throughout and it looks like a very planned and well thought out blog. It refers back to the different types of stereotypes and how British youths are represented. Many theorists are mentioned which will help me with the rest of my research. This is therefore very appropriate and useful, however once again it does not focus on the race aspet of my question.


• Young black youths portrayal - This is a very useful blog in terms of seeing how people feel that young black men are portrayed and how the media has accounted for this representation. I think that this will help me a great deal for my research and is extremely appropriate for my question although it does not directly focus on the films I shall make a connection.

Amendment to Entry One

I have now altered my question to be more specific, which will allow my research to be more straightforward. I came to this question after looking at how young Black men are represented in films and thought that this question would be more appropriate;


How are young Black men represented in contemporary British films?


I will be looking at four films in particular; 'Kidulthood', 'Bullet Boy', and 'Life and Lyrics'.

Entry One

To what extent is crime sensationalised in the news media?

How I arrived at this question

Surrounded by crime in the media daily in different forms and ways, I thought it would be interesting to research into how crime can be exaggerated and sensationalised; specifically I will be looking into news media (newspapers, radio and tv). Initially this interest sprung from the amount of articles I have seen in the news about teenagers being the criminal or the victim. I think that the news have a way of portraying them in ways that influence the public's thoughts even though we do not have any knowledge of the person in context. I will be looking at images, language and titles used which could be used to excite or create a sense of unease for the public.

First steps of research...

I looked at articles portraying teenagers in a negative manner by use of language and imagery used. I have also started to read reviews about British films about teenagers in crime, such as 'Kidulthood' and 'Bullet Boy'.