Sunday, 9 December 2012
Sunday, 2 December 2012
Media preliminary exercise evaluation
I believe that overall the video could have been potentially better if we did have longer time to perfect the editing, but due to technical difficulties, we were unable to use any non-diegtic sounds such as music or voiceovers which would have created a better feeling and sense of identification between characters and the audience, we were also unable to go back and re-record any small mistakes and errors but of course this was just a practice and therefore isn't such a serious issue and has prepared us slightly better for the actual recording and editing process.
Now to evaluate and analyse the work....
The short video consist of two main characters/protagonists who are seen throughout the video. The video starts of with a long shot of a male character entering a room, he is clothed in a dark shirt, a white under layer top and light blue jeans, the dark shirt could connote that the character is quite a dark character, his pace of walking was quite quick so the face wasn't very visible for long and is hard to make out clearly the looks of the character, this could possibly be to divert the audiences attention from the characters looks and facial expression and not allow the audience to identify with him. The white under layer shirt (below the dark shirt) could connote purity and goodness but the fact that it's covered by the darker shirt and is slightly visibly could connote that the character isn't truly a bad character, he may be seen/ represented as a bad character by telling someone bad news, so in some sense the shirt could foreshadow a dark event which may soon occur, it could also show that the character is wearing a facade (mask), that he is pure and good on the inside but represented or portrayed as a negative character. Reinforcing the statement of the character possibly being a good character is the blue jeans which could connote calmness and serenity and also loyalty which is the complete opposite from the characters negative representations due to the clothing he wears. The character also looks sophisticated due to the prop he is wearing (glasses), which could connote he is a professional or hardworking business man but he is also wearing a small diamond earring which could again connote this facade of a darker character/bad boy. We also see the character wearing a ring on the ring finger which suggest the character is married. Linking the ring to the clothing, the character could be cheating on his wife and that is why the character is wearing dark clothing, this gives away hints of the narrative, that is what the clothes suggest, it could also be the reason to why he hurries into the room and doesn't allow the audience to identify with him, it could connote that the fact we don't see his face at first that it's a sign of guilt. We could at this moment, say that the character within himself has the theory of binary opposites by Levi-Strauss, just from the characters movements and clothing we can assume that he has two types of personalities or is represented in two ways, the character is both good and bad, innocent and evil.
We then see a match on action occur, a smooth transition from one shot to another which links both shots together as one. The edit used to piece together the two shots is a straight cut. A straight cut connotes straight to the point drama and fast paced action, it could also foreshadow a bad event in which things will be told or done quite quickly and straight to the point. The character still continues to hurry along past the camera with no direct eye contact which creates a sense of realism and allows the audience to escape into the world of the film, the audience can be sutured into the film and not be disengaged or shocked by a surprise direct eye contact between the character and camera or audience. As the character walks in, we are able to get a better look at his face, this allows the audience to see how he looks and also identify with him or his facial expressions, at this current moment the characters facial expression looks quite serious and slightly worried and the worry can again foreshadow a bad event which the character may be fearing but due to the posture of the character and his walk as he walks into the room connotes he is serious or angry about something and his pace of walking suggests he would want it to be over with quickly. As the character walks past the camera there is a whip pan used to firstly follow the character to his desk and secondly to allow the audience to recognise the setting of an office like environment. The characters fast/hurried walking creates an enigma, which links to Barthes enigma codes, the audience would want to know "what is the character in a rush for?"
The camera then cuts to a close-up of the male character, this shows another match of action. We can see from the characters facial expression that he doesn't seem happy, he looks more upset and worried which links to the statements earlier. The male character then slowly looks down which is an area of which the audience cannot see yet, this connotes an enigma, the audience would be wondering "why is the character looking down?, what is the character looking at?" and at that point the camera slowly tilts down to reveal him playing with his wedding ring which connotes guilt and connotes that the character is possibly thinking, most likely of his wife. The playing of the wedding ring is then followed by tapping of the desk, this connotes that the character is impatiently waiting for someone or something, this resolves the enigma of "what is the character in a rush for? and why is the character looking down?" but creates a new enigma of "who or what is the character waiting for?" we could assume that the fact he was playing with his wedding ring and also the negative representations his clothing gives, that the character is waiting for this person who he is having an affair with.
Another cut is used to introduce the next shot, this shot starts of with a female character standing uneasy in a similar setting as the male. Audiences can assume that she is in same setting as the male character and is about to meet the male character which therefore means the audience have a few seconds of dramatic irony, they know that the female character is outside the room and is about to enter. The audience do not see the characters face and similar to the male character, this means the audience cannot identify with the characters, this could also connote that the female character feels guilty. The female characters clothing is quite dark, with only her shoes and parts of her jacket containing white, the white colour could suggest the female character is innocent and pure, but similar to the male character, she has a dark side and due to having much more darker colours than the male character could connote that the female has a much darker or a more evil side to her than the male character. The male character wore light blue jeans which tends to connote calmness and loyalty and having these slight hints of the narrative being possibly about an affair, we can assume that the male character knows where his loyalty lies and linking to the straight cuts and fast movements with guilty conscious and worried facial expressions that the the male character is going to put an end to this unfaithful relationship (causing a disequilibrium which links to Todorovs theory) he has with the female character but the female character, having a much darker blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness, this could connote that the female character feels that the relationship with this male character is serious, she is an honest girl who is very knowledgeable and the fact that the dark blue could connote power could mean that the female character is the powerful one out of the two characters and this break up may cause her to act out and get revenge on the male character, with this assumption the audience can assume that the female character would be the main protagonist if the film follows her path of being dumped. Even though she may have dark intentions, relating to Propps character roles, the female character may be a protagonist but would be a villain if she is seeking out for revenge, she drives the narrative forward with bad intentions, but then again, because it follows her path it's a biased view and she could end up being portrayed positively and is therefore the protagonist and hero while the male character is the villain, the character roles are an enigma, this is purposely done so that the audience can debate who is what character role and also so that the audience can at times feel sympathy for both characters but isn't sure who exactly is the hero and who is the villain, this attracts an audience and allows them to be surprised at what may happen next.
Match on action is then again used, we see the female character being more cautious when entering the room which suggests that she does feel guilty and doesn't want anyone to see, she walks much more calmer and slower than the male character but the camera movement and position is in the same place as the males which could possibly connote that the characters are both similar in some way due to the fact the camera is in the same position and pans around just like it did for the male character. When the female character was walking we could finally identify with her because we can see her facial expression and what she looks like and as she walks towards the camera we can see on her face that at first she looks worried or nervous but not as worried as the male character, she then walks past the camera but just before she walks past the camera, and could possibly see the male character, her facial expression changes slightly from being worried to slight contentment, her cheeks were slightly pushed up and the corner of her lips were raised, this connotes that she was worried at going to see the male character but when she got there and saw him there all her worries just went out of her mind. This statement of her being worried and then feeling content is reinforced by a slight sigh of relief the female character gives as she sits down.
A sharp cut is then used to show behind the male characters head, this is the start of the 180 degree rule. The female characters facial expression went from content in the last shot to sad in this shot, she is given the bad news which was previously foreshadowed. The fact that there is a close-up used (it's on the edge of being a mid-shot) allows the audience to relate to the character through her facial expressions, we can see her sad facial expression and therefore feel sympathy for her, also the camera angle is a slightly high angled shot, this is to make the female character look weaker which again makes the audience feel sympathy for the character.
Another cut is used and still sticking to the 180 degree rule, we see the male characters facial expression this time, he has a much more serious and more angry look, this emphasises the amount of sympathy we would feel for the female character. A cut is then used to show the male character get up and leave with the use of a pan shot from the corner of the room, the audience also see the female character place a hand on her head and look down in disappointment and sadness, the camera cuts once more to show the male character leave the room, he slams the door behind him and at the point of the slam the scene ends with a harsh cut and loud bang connoting the anger and sharp end to the relationship.
The production didn't have any sound edits which we would have wanted to include, but the fact that there wasn't any, allowed the audience to feel the realism of the situation, they aren't distracted by non-diegtic sounds of music or voiceovers, it allows the audience to be sutured into the film.
WWW: well thought out plan of how colours and emotions can represent characters and how the tiniest of detail can give away small clues to the narrative and what is going to happen, we had used match on action and the 180 degree rule, which wasn't broken, good use of camera angles and movements and also great teamwork to produce a decent media production in such short time even with technical difficulties.
EBI: added in some music or non-diegtic sound to add to the atmosphere and emotions of the characters, had slightly more dialogue, improved editing skills and corrected our errors/mistakes.
Match on action is then again used, we see the female character being more cautious when entering the room which suggests that she does feel guilty and doesn't want anyone to see, she walks much more calmer and slower than the male character but the camera movement and position is in the same place as the males which could possibly connote that the characters are both similar in some way due to the fact the camera is in the same position and pans around just like it did for the male character. When the female character was walking we could finally identify with her because we can see her facial expression and what she looks like and as she walks towards the camera we can see on her face that at first she looks worried or nervous but not as worried as the male character, she then walks past the camera but just before she walks past the camera, and could possibly see the male character, her facial expression changes slightly from being worried to slight contentment, her cheeks were slightly pushed up and the corner of her lips were raised, this connotes that she was worried at going to see the male character but when she got there and saw him there all her worries just went out of her mind. This statement of her being worried and then feeling content is reinforced by a slight sigh of relief the female character gives as she sits down.
A sharp cut is then used to show behind the male characters head, this is the start of the 180 degree rule. The female characters facial expression went from content in the last shot to sad in this shot, she is given the bad news which was previously foreshadowed. The fact that there is a close-up used (it's on the edge of being a mid-shot) allows the audience to relate to the character through her facial expressions, we can see her sad facial expression and therefore feel sympathy for her, also the camera angle is a slightly high angled shot, this is to make the female character look weaker which again makes the audience feel sympathy for the character.
Another cut is used and still sticking to the 180 degree rule, we see the male characters facial expression this time, he has a much more serious and more angry look, this emphasises the amount of sympathy we would feel for the female character. A cut is then used to show the male character get up and leave with the use of a pan shot from the corner of the room, the audience also see the female character place a hand on her head and look down in disappointment and sadness, the camera cuts once more to show the male character leave the room, he slams the door behind him and at the point of the slam the scene ends with a harsh cut and loud bang connoting the anger and sharp end to the relationship.
The production didn't have any sound edits which we would have wanted to include, but the fact that there wasn't any, allowed the audience to feel the realism of the situation, they aren't distracted by non-diegtic sounds of music or voiceovers, it allows the audience to be sutured into the film.
WWW: well thought out plan of how colours and emotions can represent characters and how the tiniest of detail can give away small clues to the narrative and what is going to happen, we had used match on action and the 180 degree rule, which wasn't broken, good use of camera angles and movements and also great teamwork to produce a decent media production in such short time even with technical difficulties.
EBI: added in some music or non-diegtic sound to add to the atmosphere and emotions of the characters, had slightly more dialogue, improved editing skills and corrected our errors/mistakes.
Mock exam LR
EBI/LR: A more sustained answer needed for Q2 -> improve timing. Write two more paragraphs, considering Proppian character roles and how American values/ideologies are represented.
Relating to Propp character roles, there is no one hero, as a whole America(ns) are represented as the hard working everyday people by their facial expressions, they aren't showing negative facial expressions or 'evil' villain like facial expressions so we, the audience, are more likely to consider the Americans as the good guys/heroes (which is stereotypical in films where it's Americans vs 'The other'/foreigners). 'The others'/foreigners had more unsettled looks and more aware of their surroundings and had more negative facial expressions such as anger or disappointment which allows us to consider them as a threat or a villain in Propp character roles, they had a sort of enigma to them (Barthes enigma codes), they seem as if they were about to create a disequilibrium relating to Todorov's theory. These character roles and binary opposites of good vs evil (Levi theory) along side the other theories help prove Medhurst theory of stereotypes, where he suggests that they are used as a shorthand to help communicate quickly with the audience and allow representation of the characters be expressed greater in a short time, allowing us the audience to identity the characters and differentiate the hero from the villain.
The dominant and stereotypical representation of Americans being patriarchal and having American values and ideologies such as being organised, working in teams (teamwork), being educated, calm under pressure and confident are all represented and reinforced by the quickness and effective teamwork shown between the communications of the characters from air traffic control to the main office building and from the employees to the managers. They also celebrate success e.g. when the manager/boss speaks to an employee and says "Good job". Everyone is represented as just everyday people, their clothes aren't glamourous, they are represented as just another human being which allows audiences to relate to them. Educated characters are shown through the constant use of jargon from the characters, it represents them as professional and educated. Low-key lighting in the air traffic control room allows the audience to feel a sense of seriousness, it represents the place and people as serious, the environment is a serious workplace and no place for fun, the characters are all doing their own thing and represented as hard workers with their serious facial expressions and tone in voice.
Relating to Propp character roles, there is no one hero, as a whole America(ns) are represented as the hard working everyday people by their facial expressions, they aren't showing negative facial expressions or 'evil' villain like facial expressions so we, the audience, are more likely to consider the Americans as the good guys/heroes (which is stereotypical in films where it's Americans vs 'The other'/foreigners). 'The others'/foreigners had more unsettled looks and more aware of their surroundings and had more negative facial expressions such as anger or disappointment which allows us to consider them as a threat or a villain in Propp character roles, they had a sort of enigma to them (Barthes enigma codes), they seem as if they were about to create a disequilibrium relating to Todorov's theory. These character roles and binary opposites of good vs evil (Levi theory) along side the other theories help prove Medhurst theory of stereotypes, where he suggests that they are used as a shorthand to help communicate quickly with the audience and allow representation of the characters be expressed greater in a short time, allowing us the audience to identity the characters and differentiate the hero from the villain.
The dominant and stereotypical representation of Americans being patriarchal and having American values and ideologies such as being organised, working in teams (teamwork), being educated, calm under pressure and confident are all represented and reinforced by the quickness and effective teamwork shown between the communications of the characters from air traffic control to the main office building and from the employees to the managers. They also celebrate success e.g. when the manager/boss speaks to an employee and says "Good job". Everyone is represented as just everyday people, their clothes aren't glamourous, they are represented as just another human being which allows audiences to relate to them. Educated characters are shown through the constant use of jargon from the characters, it represents them as professional and educated. Low-key lighting in the air traffic control room allows the audience to feel a sense of seriousness, it represents the place and people as serious, the environment is a serious workplace and no place for fun, the characters are all doing their own thing and represented as hard workers with their serious facial expressions and tone in voice.
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Sunday, 11 November 2012
Practise of one extract with the two exam style questions
How does the advert use media language to engage the audience?
The advert starts off with an enigma, you hear the voice of a woman inviting somebody in to take a seat, this voice connotes mother-like qualities, it sounds calm, loving and caring which could connote the advert to be about caring or looking after somebody or something (health advert maybe?) another enigma is who is this person the woman is inviting in? At the start we do not see the characters face which does in some way disengage the audience as they aren't able to straight away identify with the character but it could engage them due to it being an enigma, it does push away one gender or socio group due to the character being represented as that, it's trying to attract as many different types of audiences as possible, long enough to keep the audiences attention from being diverted.
The camera starts off from a low-angle and is picked up as if it were interviewing the character who is being invited in. The advert is of course a Barnardos advert and this particular advert is about a life story of one of the children that was being helped by Barnardos, so the camera movement could connote the characters life story, Barnardos helped pick it up and rise. The lighting was low-key, the majority of the light on the characters face was coming from the window next to him, this allowed the darkness/slight shadows to appear on the characters face this could connote the bad side of the character or the bad life he had as a child.
When being asked questions the character says he has nightmares and has a child and doesn't want his child to go through what he has been through, again this creates the enigma of what did this character go through? what nightmares has he had? this again would attract an audience, they would want to know the answers to these questions. Another thing that engages the audience is the amazing edits, the edits make it look as if there is one smooth camera movement through the life story and the character getting younger but of course as each time the character gets younger the edits cut but are disguised to look like one smooth camera movement, this type of editing is very unique and rarely ever been used in such a way and of course seeing something which seems different would attract an audience, it confuses them but makes them want to see more, the smooth edits could connote the way Barnardo deal with the children they help, they help them slowly and smoothly move and progress into a better person and live a better life.
The emotions and facial expressions created by the characters are portrayed very well, you can see and feel the emotions of the characters this allows the audience to identify with the characters, some audience members may be going through similar tough times and they can see how they aren't alone, this engages the audience as the characters could be representing feelings that the audience have. The non-digetic music which plays over as a sound bridge allows the audience to feel sympathy, the music is sad and is parallel to the video which speaks of a sad life story which progresses into a happy ending.
Also due to the fact that it shows a life story it connotes that Barnardos doesn't just help young children, they will help people along the whole way of their life so this is appealing to a wide audience and the fact that it does show the different actors playing that one character at different stages of his life could allow different ages/audiences identify with at least one of the life stages/characters, which would engage the audience.
How is the barnardos represented in the video?
The female voice with mother-like qualities could connote Barnardos as a caring and loving charity, they are seen as a mother which connotes love and affection and someone who is always there for you. The editing used is straight cuts which are disguised to look like one smooth movement from each actor, it could connote that Barnardos help children no matter what problems they have and they are able to smooth out their lives and improve them slowly.
Also at the start the camera starts off from a low-angle and is picked up which connotes that Barnardos helps children who are feeling low and down and are struggling in life and they will help lift them up and help them with everything they can, so the camera movement could connote the characters life story, Barnardos helped pick it up and rise.
The lighting was low-key, the majority of the light on the characters face was coming from the window next to him, this allowed the darkness/slight shadows to appear on the characters face this could connote the bad side of the character or the bad life he had as a child, but as the character gets younger it shows the lighting getting darker (more shadows are shown, becoming more and more low-key lighting) this could connote that Barnardos had helped this character get rid of his darkness or bad past, they helped the character improve as a person, but as seen at the start the character still has low-key lighting on his face which connotes that Barnardos were not able to fully restore the character to a perfect life, the character as he gets younger has more low-key lighting on his face meaning that Barnardos has changed the character as he has grown. The lighting connotes that Barnardos can help improve the character but there will always be some darkness in their life, but it will be less than before.
Also due to the fact that it shows a life story it connotes that Barnardos doesn't just help young children, they will help people along the whole way of their life so this is appealing to a wide audience and the fact that it does show the different actors playing that one character at different stages of his life could allow different ages/audiences identify with at least one of the life stages/characters. Overall, Barnardos is portrayed quite positively as a loving, mother-like charity.
Monday, 5 November 2012
Photos I could use for magazine front cover
These photos appeal to my target audience because my target audience is teenage male gamers and the majority of them enjoy blood, violence etc and one of the rising genres in gaming is zombie games, "Dead Island" (a zombie game) had become game of the year (GOTY) due to being in a high demand by thousands of gamers, my images have the zombie like features, include blood and violence and therefore would attract my main target audience
Fish Tank Q's
All the Institutions involved in the production of Fish Tank. List them with a summary of what their contribution to the film was.
BBC Films, UK Council, Kasander Film company and IFC Films.
(ICF films promote a lot of low budget British films)
Two other Independent British Film production companies – their “brand”, as well as current and previous productions. Coffee films - Recently just finished the film "The death and resurrection show" and are currently working on a 2013 production called "Lucid"
Blast films - (from the website) "Our work covers a wide range – from popular documentary series like The Tube (BBC 2) and Coppers (Channel4), through to ground breaking films like Hunger, Soundproof and The Death of Klinghoffer. Uniting what we do is powerful story-telling that’s honest, impactful and emotionally compelling."
Out of the three Production Companies you have researched, which do you see as most successful and why?
Blast films in my opinion is the most successful because they have produced popular documentaries which have already been shown on highly recognised channels such as BBC2 and Channel4.
How much Fish Tank cost to produce (it’s budget)
The budget it cost to produce Fish Tank was 3 million.
Film budgets – find 5 films made for £5 million pounds or less – what types of films are feasible on this budget?
Kidulthood, Adulthood, Anuvahood, The inbetweeners and Ted. Many of these films are films which have a few known actors but they aren't very highly recognised, the first four in the list are British based, the first three are modern day gangster films with drama. The inbetweeners and Ted are both comedy related films.
How was Fish Tank funded?
funded by BBC films and the UK films
Research one other way that British films are funded. Are there any similarities or differences?
British films can be funded by the National lottery which supports film makers within the UK
What is the target audience for Fish Tank?
The target audience would most likely be females who are aged 15-25 in the poorer areas of Britain, living in council flats and finding it difficult to escape the life they live as the film is focused on the life of the protagonist who is a 15 year old female who is struggling with life, it shows teen dramas that are occurring within society.
The three genres which 16-25 year old would prefer to watch are mainly comedy, romance or horror films, this is due to the entertainment they receive from such films. Romance because this age range is the common age range in which both genders tend to flirt and start relationships and are therefore more likely to watch films about love with the one they love. Comedy creates entertainment and escapism for some, it allows them to enjoy the fun of the film and just forget about everything around them such as school work or jobs/job searching. Horror films also create entertainment for this age group, both genders wish to be scarred in able to enjoy the film, they want to feel the fear and adrenaline. (they are "adrenaline junkies" at this age)
Who is the main distributor of Fish Tank?
There are many distributors but the main distributors of Fish Tank are Articifical eye (for the UK) and IFC films (for the US)
What is the role of a film distributor? Are there any differences between
distribution in the US and UK?
The main role of a film distributor is to release films within the theatre or for homes. They are able to control the marketing and circulation of the films within the theatres. Low budget films wouldn't have many big distributors and are more likely to be UK films, whereas US films would be able to have international distributors due to them being of a high budget and most likely containing professional actors and having high quality films.
How was Fish Tank promoted (when it was released in 2009)?
The movie Fish tank was promoted at 62nd Cannes film festival in France on may 14th 2009.
Compare this with a big budget blockbuster. What are the main similarities and differences?
Fish tank is a low budget film meaning that is doesn't have the high-quality of equipment compared to a big budget blockbuster such as Inception. This is because, of course, the budget of the film is low, they need more funding to produce a high-quality film.
A big budget film would have more well known actors, a lot more high-quality action and would have the best people they could find to help produce the film (who are also very well known and expensive to work with).
Similarities would be that both budget films would be able to produce something targeted to a large audience and could possibly have similar audiences.
How does the trailer for Fish Tank hook audiences into the narrative and pose questions that the film will answer? Identify 3 ways/techniques.
Identity, the audience can feel a sense of identity with the main character, the protagonist, they see her clothing, where she lives and the way her life is and they could possibly relate to that and are therefore are hooked onto the film and wanting to see how the protagonist deals with her way of life.
The drama, the audience see a lot of drama and tension in the trailer between the protagonist and several others, this may pull them in to watching the film if drama interests them, it also creates an enigma, the audience will be wondering why this female character acts the way she is.
Enigma, throughout the trailer there is a slight enigma, the audience don't get the full picture of what is going on and are therefore pulled into the film, the audience get a glimpse of the film but aren't really told about the whole story, very few clues are given to the audience about the whole story and that could make them want to find out more.
Think about the certificate of Fish Tank (15 certificate). Research film certification and outline what is deemed acceptable for this certificate. What is the difference between a 15 certificate and an 18 certificate?
15 rated certificate allow moderate violence, gore and sexual activity but not too frequent and must be relevant. Drug taking is not banned but should not be promoted.
An 18 rated certificate allows gore, violence, sexual activity and drug taking as long as the film does not promote these things.
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