Fruitella Advert video

This is my YouTube video for the Fruitella remake my group, James  filmed in media. In order to analyse it fully, we had to answer the following questions:

1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you? - My group consisted of Grace, James, Alex and we were helped by Lawrence in the acting role. James and I were the delegated editors while Grace and Lawrence helped with acting. Alex helped with the filming but that was mainly manned by James.
2. How did you plan the sequence? What processes did you use? - We planned the sequence using storyboarding and analysing the main advert frame by frame to try get every shot as good as we could, however this was only brief when we should of spent more time on it 
3. What theorists do you think you could apply to your task?
4. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing? - We delegated 1 and a half days to filming every scene in any free periods we had and 1 final day to do all the editing of the scenes together. 
5. How successful was your sequence? Please identify what worked well and with hindsight what would you improve/do differently? - I think we should of delegated more time to finishing off filming as some scenes were a bit off and they were not up to my personal standards however we stuck to our schedule but i think we were worse off from it.
6. What did others say about your production? - We had some positive feedback from people watching the advert but I personally didn't like it as i feel we could of done better.
7. What have you learnt from completing this task? - That planning is essential to a good production/film and without it, the product will not be as good as expected in the beginning.
8. Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing your future productions? - Ill make sure to plan a lot more as wen didn't spend a lot of time on it and make sure we have longer time frames to film and stay productive as you cant rush a good production

George Gerbner: Theorist

George Gerbner

George Gerbner came up with the theory that the longer you are exposed to ideas within the media the more likely you will believe or like that certain type of media. This is also known as the drip drip theory, like a constant dripping of water, it will eventually be imbedded into you.

Vocabulary

Any vocabulary that is important - 

• DISTINCT
• Connotations
• Denotations
• Semiotics
• Mise-En-Scene
• Language
• Industry
• Audience
• Representation

Albert Bandura: Theorist

 

Albert Bandura is a famous theorist who came up with many theories such as The hypodermic syringe model and the Bobo Doll experiment.
The hypodermic syringe model: This is a model of communications suggesting that a message is directly received by the receiver. The model originated in the 1930s behaviourism and was largely considered no longer useful for a long time.

















The Bobo doll experiment was an experiment conducted by Bandura in 1961. This experiment consisted of seeing how children reacted to adult figures attacking and acting in an aggressive fashion towards an inflatable doll, know as Bobo. As expected , after watching adults act aggressively towards the doll, the children imitated the adults and copied their actions. This proved Bandura's theory that children were very impressionable and would copy and imitate adult actions even if the action was wrong or bad

Stuart Hall: Theorist

Stuart Hall came up with the theory that communication is a process involving encoding by producers and encoding by audiences. The idea that there are three hypothetical positions from which messages and meanings may be decoded: the preferred reading, the negotiated reading and the oppositional reading.









The preferred is the producers intended message .


The negotiated is when the audience understand the message but adapt to suit their own values.


The oppositional is where the audience disagrees with the preferred reading.

Media Framework : Audience

In todays lesson, we learnt how to advertise to your audience. First we learnt the definition of an audience. An audience can be defined as anyone who consumes a piece of media. Next we learnt about the phrase Demographic Profiling.

Demographic profiling - The way of categorising the population by age/money/occupation. We can split this into 6 sub parts:

• A- Higher management, Bankers, Lawyers, Doctors etc. 
• B- Middle management, Teaches, Creative and Media people ( Graphic designers)
• C1- Office supervisors, Junior managers, Nurses, Specialist clerical staff, White collar jobs
• C2- Skilled manual workers, Plumbers, Builders, Blue collar jobs 
• D- Semi skilled and unskilled manual workers
• E- Unemployed, Students, Pensioners, Casual workers

Each of these subsections of demographic profiling have many medias fall under them. Here is an example for each:
A - The Financial Times

B - Mac Book advert

C1 - BBC Radio 2

C2 - EastEnders, The Sun

D - Big Brother, I'm A Celebrity

E - Daytime TV (Jeremy Kyle)

Psychographic Profiling is a different way categorising the population.

Psychographic Profiling is the way of categorising the population by personality. We can also split this demographic into 6 sub parts:

• Aspirers - Seek status. Materialistic, acquisitive, orientated to image and appearance, persona and fashion. Typically younger people. 
• Succeeders - Seek control. Strong goals, confidence, work ethic and organisation. Typically higher management and professionals.
• Resigned - Seeks survival. Rigid and authorisation values. Interested in past and tradition. Typically older people
• Explorers - Seeks discovery. Energy, individualism and experience. Values difference and adventure. Typically a younger demographic (students)
• Strugglers - Seeks escape. Alienated and disorganised. Few resources beyond 
• Reformers - Seeks enlightenment. Freedom of restrictions and personal growth. Social awareness and independent judgement. Anti-materialistic but aware of good taste.

Mise-En-Scene

 From this Introduction PowerPoint, I learn the 5 main elements of Mise en Scene.

The 5 main Elements of Mise en Scene are

• Settings and Props
• Costume, Hair and Make Up
• Facial Expressions and Body language
• Lighting and Colour
• Positioning of characters and/or objects within the frame

Each of these 5 points helps the audience understand what they should feel in each shot of the film/episode.


On slide 4, we were asked to find out what settings and props are used for these genres of films:

1. A science fiction film (FINISH)

Settings and Props:
 

On Slide 6, we were tasked to analyse the following frames from films by how each scene makes you feel with the facial expressions used:
Image 1:













By using the third element of mise en scene ,  I can learn that the characters are puzzled and confused by what is off screen. The facial expression shows that the characters may also be scared by what is off screen as well.

Image 2:

Using the third point of mise on scene, I can learn that the characters are concentrating very hard to what is being said from the other side of the phone. Their facial expressions may also show they may be confused by what is being said.

Image 3:















With the third point of mise en scene, we can learn that the commander is quite a physically and mentally imposing person by his gestures of his hands on his hips and his scowling face. We can tell that the soldiers next to him seem oppressed by him as we can see their heads drooping at his figure.


On slide 10, we were tasked with analysing the positioning of the characters within the following shots/images:
Image 1:
















In this shot, from the positioning of the characters on screen, I can see that the characters may be annoyed at each other from the space between them. This may also provide comic relief for the audience as what look to be the two main characters are angry at each other.

Image 2:














The positioning of the axe within the piece , in the centre of frame, shows that the axe is clearly the focus of this scene . It is in the foreground and it the dead centre of the shot in focus, showing that the director wanted it to be seen and that it is important for the shot.

Image 3:













The positioning of the two characters in this shot show that they are the main characters and that they are equal to each other as they both share the same amount of the shot. This may be to promote equality and diversity within film making.

Image 4:

The use of Riddick in the centre of frame shows that he is the main character of the film from the film poster. He also appears above the character name RIDDICK , hinting that the character is the centre of the film.


On slide 20 , we are asked to label the types of lighting used in these shots:

A. Back / Key lighting
B. Key lighting
C. Filter lighting
D. Back lighting
E. Back lighting
F. Filter lighting

Dancing Animals Premiere Practice

This footage was the first premiere pro footage I ever edited or worked on. This footage was to test us how to edit and what you can do on premiere pro with video and audio.

Different Types of Media Collage

This small collage was a small piece of homework where the task was to make a collage that represented the forms of media you enjoy. This collage best represents all forms of media I like and enjoy such as Music, Films, TV, Video Games, Books etc.

Ghost Ship Intro Scene Analysis

In lesson 4, We started to learn about analysis of films and scenes from movies. We fully analysed the first scene of the horror movie 'Ghost Ship' and how the director created the opening scene to grab the audience's attention and keep them gripped to the film:

1. The title screen is very deceiving , making the film appear as a light hearted romance rather than a scary horror film.
2. This opening scene features a lot of intertextuality , where one film references another (blatant titanic references with the ship)
3. This opening scene features a lot of pathetic fallacy with the dark and dreary clouds.
4. The camera doesn't stray from the lighting for 4 shots in a row, foreshadowing the deaths at the end of the intro.
5. The woman wearing red connotes danger and violence, stands out and is elevated above everyone on the stage, foreshadowing that she is one of the killers in the film. There is also a mural of a siren behind her, the greek mythological creature which lured men to their deaths, foreshadowing again that she is a killer.
6. The eyeline match between the woman in red and the man in green foreshadows that they know each other and are working together.
7. The man in green is at the centre of the shot, showing he may be a main character or antagonist with his demeaning nature and physically threatening appearance backing this up.
8. The camera follows the man in green for very long, keeping him in focus and in the centre of the frame to show the audience that he plays a key role in the narrative .
9. The slicing of the camera by different actors and props foreshadow the way everyone dies in the ending of the intro to the film.
10. Flowers appear in the shot where we see the little girl for the first time. This shows the innocence and youth of the little girl. As well as this , she is playing with a toy , the ultimate symbol of innocence so when we see her get injured or died, we will feel a lot more passionate towards the death.
11. The camera shot doesnt stray away from the top deck of the ship, foreshadowing the deaths on top of the deck.
12. The gold , warm lighting quickly turns to blue , cold lighting to foreshadow the deaths happening soon and to show the life draining from their bodies.
13. The Wide camera angles rapidly change to close up shots of passenger's faces , to focus on their facial expressions as they go from joy and happiness to realisation and horrific pain
14. Shots are very quick and rapid, amping up the tension and atmosphere till the climax of the intro.
15. The music and singing of the woman in red is muffled to build up tension and to focus on the harsh and unpleasant sounds of the killer starting the killing.
16. The camera focuses on the wire, foreshadowing how everyone will die before the deaths, and the next time we see the wire in focus is after all the deaths.
17. The red blood on the wire gives us another hint that the woman in red is part of this killing as the only other red we see within the opening scene is her red dress.
18. The camera dips below the water once again like it started, making the scene full circle.

Steve Neale: Theorist

Steve Neale's Genre Theory:
Steve Neale came up with the genre theory. The genre theory starts that genre is dominated by repetition, but are also marked by difference , variation and change.
The idea that genres change , develop and vary as they borrow ideas from one another and overlap.
The idea that genres exist within specific economic institutional and industrial contexts.

To summarise : Genre is recognisable but does not change over time or borrow from other genres. Genre is important to institutions because it helps to market texts.

Theory

Semiotics , Denotations and Connotations

Semiotics is a key phrase used in conjunction with media A -level. Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use of interpretation. This is how we read images and pictures to decode them and make sense of what they mean to us as a consumer. Semiotics are made out of two main techniques, Denotations and Connotations.

Denotations are what we see from the image e.g. A rose is red
Connotations are what we feel/understand from the image e.g. The colour red connotes love and thats why we use roses as a symbol for love.

Analysis of the Guardians of the Galaxy using Denotations and Connotations:

We can see from this poster that very bright and luminous colours are being used to make the movie poster stand out and make it unique, making people want to see the film hoping it will be something new to the genre of superhero films. In addition to this, the bright colours connote the 1970s and 1980s , with extravagant and bright fashion, which the film is heavily based around, making people want to see it if they loved the 70s and 80s, they feel they will like this film as well. We can also see the lead character wearing a red coat to make him look appealing. However this jacket also connotes feelings of power and leadership from him, confirming to the audience that he is the main lead character.  

Analysis of the Anagram Distinct

The DISTINCT anagram is the main way we analyse genre in media. The anagram DISTINCT consists of :

Describe the detail
Industry or Institution (who/what company made the piece)
Setting
Themes
Iconography (props)
Narrative (storyline)
Characters
Textual Analysis of Mise en Scene

Mise en Scene is everything you are able to see in the scene. For this we use another small anagram of CLAMPS:

Costume
Lighting
Actors
Make up
Props (Iconography)
Setting     

Genre Photos

In one of our first lessons, we were put in groups and given different genres of film to base photos about. These are those photos:

Mia = Period Drama














The inclusion of Mia wearing the dress shows us that she is in a period drama as the dress looks like it is from the 1930s or from the Titanic etc.

Molly R = Musical














We can also see that Molly R is in a Musical for another prop , the mic. 

Molly S = Adventure














We can see that Molly S is part of an Adventure film as the camera is tilted to the side, giving the effect that the camera is tilting in motion with the characters movement on screen, Molly climbing the cage.

Embedding YouTube Videos

This was part of a task within the 1st lesson where I had to learn how to embed a YouTube video into my blogs by using the HTML function of Blogger, and not just copying the URL into my blog. Using the HTML function allowed the YouTube thumbnail to be interacted with and used as the link itself.

The Big Six - Summer Task 4

Summer Task 4 – Media Institutions:

The Big Six are Six Corporations that control 90% of all media properties in America. The Big six are of media are National Amusements, MTV and Paramount etc.
                         Disney, Pixar and Lucasarts etc.
                         Time Warner, HBO and WarnerBrothers etc.
                         Comcast, NBC and DreamWorks etc.
                         News Corp, 20^th Century Fox and itv etc.
                         Sony, Tri-Star and Triumph etc.
In the last few years, the big six have been very active and produce a lot of high budget medias. This includes National Amusements work on  Transformers – The Last Knight
Budget: $217 – 260 million
Box Office Revenue: $604.1 million
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, Stanley Tucci, Anthony Hopkins.
Release Date: 22^nd June 2017
Marketing Campaign: All the marketing is focused around the robots themselves, not the humans in the film, to interest younger audiences as they look like toys a young child would play with, and a young child is more likely to be interested with a 20ft robot rather than a normal person on a poster. All the posters also include an ominous phrase such as “Every Legend Hides a Secret” to make the consumer want to find out the meaning of the line and how it relates to the film.

How Media Shapes Our Views - Summer Task 3

Media influences the way we view ourselves and our body image in society. We can see this from magazine covers and unrealistic interpretations of the human body.

From the covers with men depicted on the front, it shows an unrealistic portrayal of the male body, showing it at peak physical condition. This shows a positive representation of men as people who are attracted to the men are more likely to buy it however this will probably make any male viewers who are not in this condition worse about themselves as they see themselves as unfit and unhealthy if they're not like this.

For the covers with women depicted on the front, it is much on the same, people are attracted to the appealing people and body image on the front however any women who dont look like this feel worse about themselves , even if they're not unhealthy or unfit in the slightest but are compared to the ridiculously slim and glamorized images of women on magazine covers.

The Use of Music within the Comic Con Wonder Woman Trailer - Summer Task 2

In the opening shot of the trailer, continuing till 25 seconds into the trailer, there is a quite choir of high pitched voices to set a mysterious tone to the opening of the trailer as well as the characters on screen and what is about to unfold in the scene. At 25 seconds into the trailer, a woman can be heard above the choir, foreshadowing that this film will be focused around women, backed up by the next 3 shots which all have women in the centre of frame. At 32 seconds into the trailer, the director adds a very quiet beat into the background choir, to symbolise that Wonder Woman, who is in the centre of the shot, will stand out and be at the forefront of this film. At 37 seconds in, a tuba is added to the background music, maybe to symbolise the train making that noise that can be seen in the shot or to build up tension to the reveal of the antagonist of the film at 44 seconds in. As Diana reaches for her sword at 47 seconds into the trailer, we also hear a build-up of loud and sharp drum beats, to signify that the sword is powerful and dangerous. Drums are also used in time with the credits appearing to make them seem important by the director. The choir and music is stopped all together after the credits at 54 seconds, the director muffling the music to reveal what looks like another antagonist in the film as they stop all the serenity and calmness of the choir. Muffling the music here is also used to focus on the dialogue between Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor. Drums are added back to the trailer when the camera focuses on Steve Trevor, the drums meant to symbolise Steve’s confusion they begin to slow down as he becomes more confused about what Diana is saying. In the shot directly after this, there is a very sharp and whining electronic sound used to show the urgency and panic Diana may have as she gallops through a forest. Drum beats are added back into the music at 1:15 after every cut and strike in the battle to fit into the fight between the Amazonians and the soldiers, to show the weight behind every strike and the power under the horse’s hoofs. These drum beats continue through the next shots to keep building up tension while being coupled with the quick cuts of the trailer to, which also build tension towards the climax of Diana going over the trenches into no man’s land. Just before the climax of the music at 1:54, we see a plane flying in at 1:50 and the addition of quicker beats to go symbolise the plane’s gun firing towards and how powerful it is. This is also seen in the next shot where those same quick beats are used for a mounted gun in the trenches, showing how loud they are. All music then suddenly comes to a stop after the climax of the trailer to then focus on the main characters interacting with each other, showing the audience that this is an important scene and so the music does not distract us from it. The music then immediately ramps up again to a very quick compilation of Wonder Woman fighting, the music serving as a soundtrack to her fight scenes to show how good of a fighter she is. The music then turns a whining sound of an electric violin as the Wonder Woman logo appear, the same song that is used in all marketing for wonder woman when the logo appears to connect the trailers together and to make them instantly recognisable. The music is once again muffled for the last time within the trailer at 2:31 to focus on the interactions of Diana and the introduction of Etta Candy, the comic relief of the film. Within their exchange, the music is suddenly stopped, to reflect how Etta has suddenly instantly pleased with Diana and for a joke to stand out from the music. The drum beats then start again to close the trailer to leave the audience with a catchy beat in their heads, making them want to watch the trailer once and again and show it around to other people.

Analysing the Dunkirk Movie Poster - Summer Task 1