Ill Manors e-media: Tag London campaign

Ill Manors e-media: Tag London campaign

1. The Ill Manors Tag London was a campaign in which people were requested to make/posts tweets with the hashtag #ILLMANORS. What this actually helped the record label (Atlantic Records) to do was promote the album in a way that was both cheap for them and more likely to generate attention, with user generated content (UGC) being something more easy for people to associate themselves with rather than things from an institution. In conjunction with this, these same tweets were projected on notable London landmarks, some in direct relation to the content of the tweets such as the Houses of Parliament - further enhancing the promotion aspect of the album.
2. The campaign helped promote the film not only through the use of hashtags on Twitter itself, but also through their projection on recognisable landmarks throughout London.
3. One of the main aspects of synergy here are present between this campaign and the music video. The tweets that were posted during the campaign had themes that were very similar if not identical to what the Ill Manors music video had to offer in terms of opposition to the existing sense of establishment within the country. Not only this, but the campaign video also had scenes from the music one further showing the relationship between the two.
4. User-generated campaigns (UGCs) can tend to be more successful than traditional campaigns since as said before, other people taking their own time to promote something can often seem more believable/something to take note of to another person than if an institution did it since it's generally believed that whatever an institution does is in the name of money, whereas with people there can be a chance of general interest.

     5.

• THE RECESSION IS A WORLD SCHEME TO KEEP THE POOR, POOR. THE RICH OF THIS WORD HAVE NEVER BEING RICHER. #ILLMANORS

The target audience this tweet would most likely appeal are the strugglers, explorers and to some extent reformer groups in terms of psychographics. With it challenging what is usually believed in the world, pertaining to the explorers and possibly reformers groups, and being essentially in favour of the poorer people within society (strugglers) it's not hard to understand why the tweet appeals to these groups.

The text that could be linked to this is Plan B's interview with NME. The article includes content from Drew himself that has an anti-establishment theme and this matches up here since the tweet has a hint of defiance to what is usually thought about the government.

• @ILLMANORS #ILLMANORS OLYMPICS GONNA LEAVE US WITH A LARGE BILL A LARGE VENUE THAT WILL CLOSE BY THE NXT PROJECT AND IS A TERRORISTS WISH,

For this tweet, the target audience is likely to be that of the struggler group. With them talking about the supposedly immense bill that will be brought about due to the Olympic Games - money usually being something of worry for them.

This tweet could be linked to the music video/song 'Ill Manors' in which Plan B himself says 'We got an eco-friendly government, they preserve our natural habitat, built an entire Olympic village, around where we live without pulling down any flats.' These lyrics here also go on to discuss the impact the London 2012 Olympic Games have had on residents in London, albeit from more of a negative slant.

• ON PRINCIPLE, WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TEENAGER LOOTING TRAINERS AND A POLITICIAN STEALING THOUSANDS IN EXPENSES? #ILLMANORS

In the tweet above, the psychographics groups that can be associated with it the most are the explorers and reformers. With the tweet essentially making a challenge and having a more complex outlook on things that often go on within the country, pitting them side-by-side, it can definitely be seen as fitting in with the nature of these groups who are quite independent and enquiring in their ways.

The TEDx lecture would be a point of comparison here since in this it is discussed how the media can often demonise teens by Drew himself. This demonisation however does not carry on to an individual like a politician however, therefore being essentially in agreement with the tweet.

• SOUNDS LIKE THE TRUTH #ILLMANORS

This post can be said to have came from someone part of the reformers psychographic. This talk of 'truth' brings this about particularly since reformers seek social awareness as something of great value.

This can be linked in with the DVD extras of Ill Manors, where the intention of the film is talked about in which it is to make people aware of the 'other side' of London, even if you are a Londoner yourself. This sense of reality is what is also being talked about in this Twitter post.

• AND BY THAT I MEAN, IF YOU WANT SOMETHING TO CHANGE YOU HAVE TO START WITH THE MORAL HIGH GROUND AND NEVER GIVE IN. #ILLMANORS

The post above can also be something that can be linked with the reformers group. Talking about bringing change through, it is essentially what the group stand for as a whole and what the word 'reform' literally means.

Ill Manors print: branding

Ill Manors print: branding

1.

• Title
• Release date
• Slogan
• Social media accounts
• Name of the director

2.

• The main thing that helps me identify the Ill Manors brand is the title which is used from both the film and also the soundtrack. However what also helps are the characters themselves who all make an appearance throughout the film playing main roles in it.

3.

• Synergy is present in this poster as it links into the trailer of the film in that the exact same logo/title is used to present it. In addition to this is the fact that the some of the characters in the poster can actually be seen in the music video for Ill Manors.

1.

• Title
• Release date
• Social media accounts 
• Name of the director
• Review quotes

2.

• Again, the use of the same title is implemented here as well as one of the main characters from the film and one of the individuals from the music video.

3.

• Synergy can be seen here in that Riz Ahmed is pictured with a gun which is something seen not only in the trailer of the film but also in pictures in articles from publications like the Daily Mail and the Guardian.

1.

• Title
• Name of artist

2.

• The very same title that was used to advertise the film Ill Manors is also used here, albeit in black instead of white just adding to this sense of continuity between different products within the same Ill Manors brand.

3.

• There's synergy between this and the printwork above for the film as they both have depictions of the council blocks/estates that act as the premise for the film and also the album. It could also be said that it's present through the presence of Plan B himself who as the creator of the brand itself, is in the television, radio, DVD extras and YouTube video having to do with Ill Manors.

Ill Manors: print platform

Ill Manors: print platform

Men's Health

1. The target audience for the Men's Health magazine is likely to be 18 to 35-year olds. With body image being quite an important thing among young people, it can be seen why the magazine appeals to this age group. When it comes to psychographics, the magazine can be associated with aspirers since they'll be interested in knowing how they can keep aspects of themselves like their image at an optimum.
2. The article does work to do more then entertain mainly through the fact that it helps inform its intended audience on ways in which they can keep fit. This information is evident with there being a section where Plan B discusses things such as the fitness regime he undertook and effects of weight loss. Not only this but it also has aspects of the personal identity appeal, in that readers may be able to feel that certain situations apply to them such as thinking about losing weight.
3. Some of the conventions of print interviews that can be seen in this article are the use of subheadings, images and captions under them to name a few.
4. When it comes to the flow of the article, you can see elements of Todorov's equilibrium theory with equilibrium present in the beginning of it where he talks about the development of Ill MaThnors, disequilibrium where he faces the consequences of losing wait and restoration/new equilibrium where he's made more confident through his weight loss.
5. There are elements of synergy between this text and the broadcast examples in that he does talk about things like the inspiration behind the creation of Ill Manors.

NME

1. The target audience of NME magazine is men between the ages of 18 and 30. What's likely to attract them is the fact that they can get access to not just news about new releases in music, but also interviews from artists themselves that they may have an interest in.
2. The article does do more than entertain and this is seen firstly through the fact that readers may obtain a sense of personal identification with the article. This is likely going to be the case with Drew's opposition towards the government which they may be on common ground with him on. Not only this but the need for information related to music (Ill Manors LP) can also be linked in with the surveillance gratification since things like the release date for an album is something a music fan would want to know.
3. One of the conventions that the article has with print interviews is the use of quotes and images with captions.
4. Through only giving extracts of things said during the interview, the article keeps the reader interested by not letting them know where they can actually the obtain the full-length thing till the very end of it.
5. Synergy can be seen here through the fact that Drew discusses both the film and the album in the interview, but also through him donning a hoodie and holding a middle finger up on the front cover, showing this idea of defiance that we see presented in things like the music video.

Guardian

1. The average age of a reader of the Guardian is 44. With this, what attracts them will be quite different to what was the case with the previous two publications as it'll likely be more to do with the provision of general information about current affairs across the globe.
2. The personal identification gratification is the primary one that can be seen here as readers may be able to associate themselves to what Plan B says about elements of his upbringing.
3. Some of the conventions seen in this article are the use of images, quotes that actually help make up captions and a quick description as to what the article will entail.
4. Just like the article from Men's Health, this Guardian piece implements Todorov's equilibrium theory but this time beginning with disequilibrium when discussing the background of Plan B and reaching equilibrium when his plans for the future are being detailed.
5. It can be said that there's synergy between this article and the DVD extras as Drew discusses in both what it actually took to get production of the film going in terms of things like funding and other things.

Daily Mail

1. The target audience for the Daily Mail is primarily middle-lower close women. It can be seen that they are valued as the main audience since there is a whole section dedicated to females on the website - 'Femail.'
2. The main gratification that would be present in this article is personal identification, in that readers of the piece may also feel the same way about the film as the writer has detailed.
3.  A convention in this article is the use of images with captions acting in a similar way to subheadings - some of them adding to the main body of the review.
4. The main thing that'll hold the interest of most readers till the end of the article is finding out what exactly makes Ill Manors such a terrible movie, especially for an audience who are likely to be unfamiliar with a film of the sort and curious to know what they're like in terms of quality.
5. Synergy can be seen here through the fact that the picture of Riz Ahmed pointing a gun at the mirror is something that we do actually see during a scene in Ill Manors itself.

Ill Manors: Broadcast platform concluded

Ill Manors: Broadcast platform concluded

DVD Extras

1. From the DVD extras, it's clear that Plan B's intentions in making Ill Manors was to primarily make people aware of the bad things ongoing in London. Even if you are a Londoner yourself, you may still be unaware of the racketeering that can go on in the council estates/underworld. With this, it helps people look at life from a totally different perspective then they may have done before watching the film.
2. From the extra we learn that the production process of Ill Manors mainly begun from the creation of the short film 'Michelle.' This involved the character 'Michelle' who we actually see in Ill Manors and the concept from it was taken further by actually getting actors like childhood friend, Ed Skrein to play other characters who have had to live in the same dysfunctional background. What's also quite interesting is that in terms of actors, Drew got 'street kids' to act and this is seen through the portrayal of characters like Chris who actually was involved in the world that Plan B aims to detail in the film.
3. The possible target audience for the film can generally be said to be people who are unaware/don't 100% understand the lives that some teenagers in London may have to go through. As well as this, there's also the teenagers that live through this who will be quite interested in knowing how their life has documented in the film of course. Not only this, but there's also the fans of Plan B himself who will be interested to know how his musical aptitude to carry onto his film directing skills.
4. In my opinion the film doesn't necessarily achieve what Plan B intended to the fullest extent. While his aim was to allow people to understand the reasoning why adolescents in London do the things that they do, rather I just think reinforces the stereotypes that often follow them. This is seen by characters in it never really making an attempt/showing any intention to get out of the 'cage' that live in other than Aaron who is played by Riz Ahmed. Everyone else either seems to be selling drugs, their bodies or just killing someone and while this does appear to be quite an ignorant way of looking at it, it is what the film generally boils down to when watching it. With this, rather than get people to rethink their attitudes to London teens, they only further cement them if not make them much worst.

Broadcast/online

1. SBTV is a broadcasting company started up by Jamal Edwards that is centred around the music scene (particularly in London), specialising mainly in the creation of music videos of upcoming and established rappers. It got its success from the frequency of these uploads by Edwards himself, with the company getting increasingly relevant with each upload. With this, it can be said that the target audience for it is likely 18-25 year olds since rap does generally appeal to a more younger audience.
2. The main audience appeal of this video is a sense of personal relationship (Blumler and Katz - Uses and Gratifications) with the presenter. What this does is not just develop a link between the audience and the presenter, but also makes the whole tone of the video a lot more lighthearted and make the audience a lot more 'comfortable' in watching it, as oppose to establishing the more conventional somewhat serious atmosphere. This is demonstrated mainly throughout the opening with what Sean gets up to get to Plan B - quite an entertaining sequence.
3. In this video Plan B is presented as being quite an easygoing yet hardworking person. Approaching his deadline for the film to be edited by, it appears that he's doing his best to get the production to the level he envisaged it to be at and ensure that he doesn't become a 'laughing stock,' it being his very first film.

  Television

1. The Jonathan Ross Show has been broadcast on ITV1 since 2011, of course presented by its namesake. Prior to this though, Ross did have a show on the BBC called Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. He has been quite controversial in the past for things like offensive language, but more notably his direct involved in 'Sachsgate' with Russel Brand where the pair left offensive messages on Andrew Sachs' answering machine.
2. The target audience for the show is likely to be people from the C1 socio-economic group, all the way to E. This can be said due to the fact that although the show does appear to be quite upmarket in its nature, apparent with things like the presenter himself wearing a suit, the actual content of it and humour of Ross itself provides it with a lot more of an informal touch.
3. The audience appeal for The Jonathan Ross Show is the pure entertainment factor with those that watch it being able to receive an element of diversion (Blumler and Katz) from their everyday lives while laughing at some of the things that happen on the show. At the same time though, an appeal could be the establishment of a personal relationship with Ross always being the presenter of the show, so it's likely that the audience will grow to love him and highly anticipate whatever he's going to do on the show each Saturday.
4. Plan B is represented here as although relatively uneducated, quite an articulate person. Explaining how hip-hop is often a genre victim to generalisation of music solely about fast cars and women, he makes it clear that a considerable proportion of it is actually conscious - delving into elements of life itself.

Radio

1. Listening figures for BBC Radio 1 between January 5th - April 5th 2015 were 9.7 million. This was a decrease from 2014 where there were 10.53 million listeners and the reductions in these numbers can be thought to have been largely due to the increasing use of mobile devices and the access they provide to competitor platforms such as Spotify and Pandora.
2. The target audience of BBC Radio 1 is 15-29 year olds, and this can be largely seen with the quite current music that they play.
3. Plan B promotes the film in this radio interview by discussing how long it took him to develop it with him essentially having no life because of it. Not only this but he also discusses things such as the release date of the film and also the lead single for it too.
4. The representation of Plan B displayed is here is one similar to the one shown in the SBTV interview in that he is a hardworking individual ensuring that he gets both the film and album up to scratch before their eventual releases.

Ill Manors broadcast: music video analysis

Ill Manors broadcast: music video analysis

Media forms

How is it typical of a music video?

The Ill Manors music video can be said to be quite typical of a music video, in the sense that it uses a montage sequence throughout the video. Having scenes of Plan B on his own overlooking a block of council houses, others of quite notable controversial moments in Politics particularly regarding MPs interactions with the electorate and some of interactions between young people and the police, the video has scenes don't exactly have a sense of continuity all throughout its entirety. Not only this but these events can also be thought to link into Andy Medhurst's theory about stereotypes in that they're used almost as a way to tell the audience a lot in a short space of time (shorthand). With this the audience understands that the youths have feelings of animosity towards the police and it affects their interactions with them throughout their lives.

It is also typical in terms of what other videos in the music genre do from a location standpoint. Rap music videos are known particularly for having scenes set on the streets, and the Ill Manors music video doesn't stray away from this, with 00:35 being an example of this. With rap music usually having its origins in 'the street,' the video can also be related to Tessa Perkins theory in that stereotypes of rap music mainly emanating from the street are in a lot of cases true. This is in addition to the number of dance routines shown in the video, again seen at 00:35 make it also typical of quite a lot of (rap) music videos.


Media Representations

How does it represent the London riots/rioters?

The video represents the London rioters as being menaces to society and rebels. In the video, extracts are taken out from news broadcasts of the riots as they progressed with participants throwing things at the police and burning cars. With this they are presented as being mere criminals, only reinforcing the stereotype that young, particularly lower-class, people have as being uninspiring, mischievous people rather than challenging it. However at the same time, it could be said that this is only a 'closed-outlook' on the rioters and the complexity in the aspects that mean they're doing what they're doing, is reduced to a much more simpler picture as suggested by Richard Dyer. This being said, it's made a bit more unclear as to whether the rioters are just rioting for the sake of it or have a set of different reasons as to why they're doing it.

The video also represents the rioters as being of more of a lower-class background. With the connotations that clothing items like the hoodie have and the cigarette that one is seen smoking at 0:42 of danger and disregard, the rioters can be said to belong the 'Strugglers' section of society (Psychographics). Being heavy consumers of things like trainers, alcohol and junk food, the group is considered almost as being at the bottom rung of society. Not only this but as previously stated above, a sense of animosity is definitely present between the youths and the police linking into the binary opposition theory of Levi-Strauss. This is displayed particularly in 3:04 when a physical altercation between the police and the youth ensues, helping provide a sense of conflict understandable to the audience.

Media Audiences

What audience pleasures does the music video offer?

With audience pleasures, the video provides a sense of relatability to its intended audience. Although the audience are predominantly people who enjoy or are fans of Plan B's music who would tend to be members of the C bracket in terms of social grading, the video can definitely be identified to be targeted towards people from a much more lower class background and living in council estates (D/E group) evident in things such as the setting and the plethora of young people actually in it. This links in with the personal identification aspect of Blumler and Katz' Uses and Gratifications theory, with the people in the audience that do live in that environment, seeing parts of their own life possibly reflected in it such as the range of blocks in their community.

Another pleasure that the video provides possibly lies in the fact that the video has some things related to politics in it. With a number of references to politicians including the 'union' of David Cameron and Nick Clegg under the coalition government and also John Prescott throwing a punch at a protester who threw and egg at him, the video gives people interested in that kind of thing a sense of nostalgia as they look back on things that have taken place in the political world, giving a sense of diversion (Blumler and Katz) to them or just a general sense of entertainment.

Media Institutions

How does the music video help to promote the film?

The video helps promote Ill Manors by actually having actors from the film make appearances in the video. At different points in the video appearances are made from actors in the film such as Riz Ahmed and Ed Skrein who both star as main characters in it. Whether these are as simple cameo appearances with both actors already being quite notable figures in film, one appearing in Game Of Thrones and another in Four Lions, or reprising the roles of the characters they play is unknown (the latter more likely), however them making an appearance in the video alone provides a sense of synergy with the film as the audience get an idea of who they can expect to see when watching it.

Additionally the video helps promote the film by using things that were used in the promotion of the film in the video. The most notable aspect of this is with the fact that the actual audio track, was used in the trailer towards the end of it. This again adds to this idea of synergy, with a link being established with the film and the music video here, but not only in the sense that it's the same song, but also that the video gives them an idea of what to actually expect when watching the film whether this is the council estate environment or just the life of teenagers as a whole.


Ill Manors soundtrack research

• The record company involved with the release of Ill Manors, the soundtrack album, was Atlantic Records. As an American record label and a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, the project was backed by what can be said to be quite a major record label. However at the same time while taking this into consideration, it can be said the album should have sold a lot more than it did, will be detailed below, with the backing that it had from this institution, particularly with the popularity of its parent company – WMG being the largest American music conglomerate throughout the world 
• From a sales standpoint having released in July 2012, as of November in the same year album sales for Ill Manors had stacked up to 140,100. This could be said to be quite a number, particularly for a project which had the primary purpose of cross-promoting a film. Not only this, but the album also debuted with as a number 1 on the charts which alone, can be said to have been quite a feat particularly with it getting this position in the first week. 
• In terms of reviews, the album also did quite well scoring an 83 on Metacritic. This consisted of a 5-star review from The Telegraph and also 90 out of 100 on the Independent on Sunday, both quite particularly notable publications, saying ‘On a production level, this album is cutting-edge, on a lyrical level it is brutally brilliant. It will melt your ears and your heart’ and ‘This is one of the most exhilarating albums of the year’ respectively. 
• It can be said that users generally agreed/shared the same views as the reviews from it scoring an 8.4 on Metacritic in terms of user score with some people saying 'Perfect album. The production and lyrics are amazing. The album’s message is clear. The album was made to shock and it certainly did that' and another that: 'this album was worth the risk from Plan B. This album has a lot of relevant social commentary unlike his first album where he raps from the perspective of a misguided and violent young person.'

Ill Manors: TEDx lecture

Ill Manors: TEDx lecture

1. Plan B's values/ideologies mainly revolve around the general idea that young people are victims of demonisation by the media often, if not exclusively, without any regard of the upbringing they may have had to live through with abusive families and dysfunction in general as well as just overall neglect from society. This is evidenced through him saying at 15:39, referring to a quote from a former gang member that: 'society [...] cares more about shops and businesses than the lives of young people.'

2. The target audience of this TEDx lecture is likely to be 30 to 45 year olds. This appears to be the case particularly with the fact that Drew essentially has to tell the audience not to be swayed by portrayals of the youth in the media at 18:30 and also as a whole, provide a lot of contextual information as to why they may end up doing what they do. With this in terms of psychographics, the audience could be associated with the reformers group. Having taken the time to come to such a lecture and being inquisitive on what may inform the decisions of young people and the lives that they may live through, the audience can be viewed almost as 'people who want to be aware' or enlightened on things they may be unfamiliar about themselves. This is vastly different to what the audience of the film/music is though with them not only being pre-existing fans of Plan B in terms of music, but also young people just generally looking for things that help express their lives, perhaps putting them more in the place of strugglers.

3. Plan B says in the lecture that the media can be accused of ridiculing certain groups within society, in this case a section of young people without any consideration for their situation. With the derogatory term 'chav,' describing a 'young lower-class person who displays brash and loutish behaviour and wears real or imitation designer clothes,' being used 114 times in British newspapers in December 2004 alone, Drew feels as if papers almost alienate this group of people from society as a whole. This links into to the concept of moral panic with the fact that Ben Drew is essentially challenging what is usually thought of lower-class young people, which typically relates to violence and crime, and is attempting to display them as being as typical and as much of a part of society as the next person.

iLL Manors review

iLL Manors review

'There's no such thing as broken Britain/We're just bloody broke in Britain.' This line from the lead single of the film sharing the same name, 'ill Manors', goes to speaks volumes on modern British society but also in turn set the overall scene of the film as belonging in the genre of social realism. Located in, as Empire Online refers to it, the 'poverty-stricken estates of East London' the film appears to be gritty, unapologetic and blunt in its nature throughout its entirety and one of the way it does this in quite a more notable way is through its soundtrack.

Made by Plan B himself, the album chronicles the events of the film with tracks like 'Playing With Fire' describing the narrative of Jake with lines such as 'He's kid, off the estates/They call him little Jake/Today he tried to buy weed with his little mate/Up in the bits, but he's just a kid' and 'Deepest Shame.' What's actually interesting is the way these songs play during their corresponding scenes (e.g. 'Playing With Fire' in the Jake sequence) in the film as a way of accompanying the visuals of the film and further get the audience to the point where they understand aspects of the character or what they're going through, that they might not have had at all if the songs weren't there.

The plot of the film generally bases itself around 'the lives of four drug dealers, one user and two prostitutes.' Delving into the lives of these 7 characters and arguably more, the audience is taken on a ride with them as they do what they have to do to ensure their very lives. With this what's quite admirable is the use of a multi-strand narrative where we follow each of these characters individually with their stories at certain points in the whole narrative interlinking e.g. Aaron and the Katya, the 'runaway,' coming together because of the baby she abandons on the train. While this could've been overwhelming for viewers, I feel that it was done in such a way that they could understand all that was going on in the film without fail. It can be said though that especially during the second half of the film, a lot of the momentum that carried the first along was gone as each of the storylines went on. However what truly brings this plot together are the characters within it and the actors that play them.

Being a reasonably low budget film, the film has actors that are relatively unknown to the average viewer and also debut ones to add to that. But while this could be seen as being a potential pitfall for the film, rather it helps it deliver a greater level of overall authenticity. The best example of this is evident with the portrayal of Chris by Lee Allen, who has actually dealt with aspects explored by the film with him not only having a tough upbringing as a child but also actually going to prison for drug-related offences in 2004. With this, the role he asked to play by Drew was all-too-familiar for him and so making sure that the aura of the character was conveyed correctly was essentially not a problem at all and this is something that I felt throughout the entirety of the film. From a more general standpoint though, the acting was good enough to the point where it essentially reflected the environment of the characters with the predominant use of slang coupled with frequent curse words.

While the audience of the production is clear though, the same can't be said about the restrictions for it. The film appears to target 15 to 25-year olds with its usage of reasonably young people and language normally associated with the demographic - slang. At the same time though, while it can be said to target this group, whether that was intended by Plan B or not is questionable with the film having an age rating of 18. The film does have elements that go towards making a film 18-rated such as strong violence being shown, sexual scenes and strong language, however the fact that Plan B would still go ahead with the release of the film without a lower rating being a possibility is rather odd. Perhaps having no sexual scenes and only allusions to them could've done this as well as a toning down of the violence, but either way Drew didn't decide to change this. It could be said that this was due to him wanting to really achieve the 'real' aspect of the social realism genre but regardless, this rating could have acted as a barrier from letting certain people actually watch the film. Either way though, I would recommend this film to someone around my age as I think they'd be capable of processing the upfront nature of the film as somewhat of a necessary evil. 

Overall though, I can say that iLL Manors was quite a good film. Being upfront and gritty about ongoings in London in terms of things like crime and life in general and having actors that were actually 'true to what they were portraying,' it can be said that Drew achieved what he set out to do even though the film did 'run out of steam' at some points. However while the production was generally good, there are aspects of the film that can be questioned. The first one is whether the 18 rating limited the target audience Plan B wanted to aim the film at from watching it. The second though, and perhaps more importantly, is whether the film further cements the whole ideology that the youth of London live 'under a criminal cloak.' Throughout the film, there's essentially no real aspiration of any character to really get out of the mess that they inhabit and rather the cycle just continues to go on and on.  It's questionable in that case then, whether people from say more middle-class backgrounds will take to 'iLL Manors' as being more of a reasoning behind why some of the youth do the criminal acts they do to get by or just a convoluted excuse for it all and continue to view them in the same regard that they do - menaces to society.