'WEEKEND' and 'PRIDE' Compare & Contrast Analysis

WEEKEND

DIRECTOR: Andrew Haigh

WRITER: Andrew Haigh

PRODUCER: Tristan Goligher

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Glendale Picture Company

BUDGET: £120,000

The Drama/Romance film 'Weekend' directed and written by Andrew Haigh was released on the 4th of November 2011.

The movie is about two men (Tom Cullen who acts as 'Russell' and Chris New who acts as 'Glen') who meet at at house party. As time time proceeds the pair begin to form a close relationship where they eventually fall for each other. 

Russell (Tom Cullen) and Glen (Chris New)

In my opinion, the movie follows the conventions of the reality genre and romance genre and merges them into one. Throughout the movie, the audience sees the two men living an ordinary life of which the audience can relate to. The use of camera shots and angles is effective as they show facial expressions, communication and body language. An example of this is of the panning mid shot which shows the opening sequence; this is when the audience is first introduced to Russell (Tom Cullen) as he enters the house party. The use of the panning mid shot is strongly effective as it suggests to the audience that they will be following his life and the relationships that he creates with others such as Glen.  

Throughout the duration of the movie, it becomes clear to the audience that Russell and Glen have formed a very close relationship as a gay couple. This follows the typical convention of a Romance film as the boy would meet the girl (mainly the main characters in the film). However in this case, the boy meets the boy. 

Stereotypically, the main audience of a Romance film would be females (aged 12 and above), I think this is because women tend to show their emotions more in comparison to men who would rather present their masculinity. Additionally, women are more emotionally in terms of relationships. I believe that men believe if they show their emotions especially to the opposite sex, they are presenting themselves as weak and their masculinity has decreased.

Mid shot of Russell and Glen conversing 

In my opinion, I would say the target audience for 'Weekend' would be young men (17 to 35) because of the ages of the main characters Russell and Glen. Additionally, another reason as to why I think this is because men in this aqe group may experience feelings not for females but for males, they may relate to the film and what it is attempting to portray to the audience which is acceptance of gay couples in UK society. By males being able to relate to the film relationship-wise, this ties in with social interaction of the Reception Theory.

As the United Kingdom is originally a Christian/Catholic Country and was mainly in previous decades, over time, it has increased in diversity, religion and race. I believe that the message that Andrew Haigh wants to put across is that if a variety of religions can be accepted into a Christian country by society and the typical heterosexual and lesbian couples can be accepted by society, gay couples should be too as they do not differ from other people. Individually, everyone is human but mentally has their own preferences.  

PRIDE

Director: Matthew Warchus

Writer: Stephen Beresford

Producer: David Livingstone

Production Companies: BBC Films and Calamity Films

Box Office: $16.7 Million

Pride is a UK film that was released on 12th of September 2014 in the UK. It rated a 15 certificate and is identified as a film of the comedy and drama genre whilst also adventuring into the elements for the genre of romance. The film is about a group of young gay and lesbian activists who aim to help miners. They did this by performing a strike for the National Union of Mineworkers during Summer 1984 and created a campaign called L.G.S.M (Lesbians and gays support miners). The film explores the themes of solidarity, prejudice, sexuality, relationships, equality and pride. 

In my opinion, if there was to be a protagonist it would be Mark (who is played by Ben Schnetzer). This is because members of the audience and myself view him as the leader of the L.G.S.M campaign and the spokesperson of the campaign when they attended the community hall. Following from this, an example where Mark can be seen as having the qualities of being a leader is when himself and the rest of the team, the audience see a low angle shot displaying Mark in front of the team when they get off the truck. The effect of the low angle shot shows that Mark has dominance and power above the rest of the team. This differs from the film 'WEEKEND' because in my opinion I would say both Glen and Russell are the protagonists as the film is about the promotion of gay relationships and spreading a positive message that gay, lesbian and heterosexual relationships should be accepted and not gone against. 

Furthermore, in terms of what both films are attempting to portray message-wise, they are both trying to spread good word about not only gay relationships and how society should be accepting of them but also about individuals coming out to their families and relatives being accepting. This is shown in a scene when one of the main character; Joe (who is played by George Mackay) has difficulty in revealing his sexuality to his family, this is similar situation in 'WEEKEND' when Russell (played by Tom Cullen) in confirming he is gay to Glen. I believe this is because he is afraid of being seen in public with Glen and is also afraid of what society thinks. This is when the theme of sexuality and relationships come into effect. 

Throughout the film, an panning (zoomed in) extreme close-up of Steph and Joe holding hands occurs. This suggests a solid and strong friendship. After this camera shot, it then transitions to close up's of Steph and Joe looking at each other, Steph then says "if we were normal, this is where we would kiss". This piece of dialogue conveys to the audience that she views heterosexual relationships as the norm within society and gay/lesbian relationships as different. Even though she herself is a lesbian, this can also imply that she is not confident in herself, if she did, then she would class her sexuality as "normal". This is similar to how Russell in the 'WEEKEND' is not comfortable in classing his sexuality as gay. This scene links to the themes of relationships and sexuality. 

Joe and Steph

Towards the end of the film, the audience see a wide shot/long shot of the Lesbian and Gay 1985 pride walk on London Bridge. This shows representation of regional identity as the Pride walk has managed to take place in London, the capital. The wide shot/long shot shows a backdrop of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. The effect of this is that in conveys that the Lesbian and Gay 1985 Pride walk is of high significance to the characters and the director as it has reached the capital of the country. Additionally, the midshot of Joe jumping in the air in slow motion conveys positive body language and happiness as he revealed that he is gay to his family, also the success of the walk in my opinion has made him feel overwhelmed.  This scene explores the theme of pride and equality.