Media institutions use stereotypes because the audience will understand them. They are a visual short cut.
Archetypes= ultimate stereotype
Countertype= challenges tradition
The way in which people, events and ideas are presented to the audience is the representation. The media takes something that is already there and re-presents it.
These representations are created by the producers (anyone who makes a media text) or media texts.
A media 'gatekeeper' is any person involved in a media production with the power to make a decision about something the audience are allowed to read, hear or see.
A mogul is the kind of person who owns the newspaper, for example, Rupert Murdoch.
The producer answers to the gatekeeper, who answers to the moguls.
Media consumers are the audience. When analysing, think about: who is being represented, what they are doing, why they are present and where they are.
The Male Gaze
Hollywood cinema puts the audience in a masculine subject position, with a women on the screen seen as an object of desire.
Richard Dyer
How we are seen determines how we are treated, and how we treat others is based on how we see them.
For this task, I worked with Olivia and Mollie. We shared out the work between us but came up with the storyline and script together. I made the storyboard, whilst Olivia made the finished script and plot and Mollie came up with the horror film conventions. To make sure our film was how we wanted it to be, it was important to plan what we were doing first. We made a storyboard of our plot and created a mind map of our ideas. Once we had planned exactly how we would make our video and what shots to include, we used Prezi to make a finished presentation of our film. I had never used Prezi before so it took a while to get used to using it. At first, it was quite hard to navigate around the presentation and put everything in the correct place but it soon became easier to use and I think the website is a great was of displaying work.
We used a camera to film the clips and edited the film on Adobe Premiere. I had used Adobe Premiere before when making the Dancing Bears/ James Bond video and the Juno film which meant that I understood how to use the programme and could focus on editing the film how I wanted it. The camera was easy to use and upload, so we were able to focus on the shots rather than working the camera. There were many things we had to consider when making this film, like how much time we had, who would play each part, where it would be set and how it was going to be edited.
Overall, I am pleased with my finished sequence. I think it included many of the shots and portrayed the horror genre well. The editing and lighting was good and it made the film more scary. I thought the music and dialogue suited the film and we worked well as a group. However, to improve in the future, I would include a few more effects when editing on Premiere and would abide by the 180 degree rule when the two characters are talking. I would also make the film longer as our sequence was quite short. This task was very useful in finding out how to make a film. I could improve on my editing skills and get used to recording the different shots on the camera.
Other comments
To improve our film, we gave everyone feedback and were given our own feedback. The first question that was answered was "is the genre evident?" and we were given a score of 9 out of 10. The feedback we were given was that we used good music and the lighting suited the genre well. I edited the whole film in black and white so that it was scarier and the music helped to potray the genre of horror.
Secondly, we were given the feedback question "did we include all the shots, dialogue, match on action and tracking?". For this, we were given an 8 out of 10 because we included most of the shots we needed to and the dialogue was appropriate and interesting. However we did not abide by the 180 degree rule when the two characters were talking.
For the feedback question "how did the camera, editing, sound and mise en scene work together?", we were given a 7 out of 10 and everyone said that the sound and lighting was used well. They said that it made the film scary and jumpy and showed that it was a horror well. However they also said that the dialogue was a bit hard to hear over the background noise, so we would have to make sure that there is less background noise in the future or the dialogue is a lot louder.
People said that our story was good but it was a bit too short and could have been longer. For our script and story we were given an 8 out of 10. For our Prezi and presentation we were given a 9 out of 10.
This opening sequence starts with the opening titles and then goes straight to a tracking shot, and then a close up, of Buzz Lightyear. The camera also uses long shots in this scene to show the background and setting for the scene. Most of the shots use a straight cut as a transition, but there are some shots where the camera pans up or down to follow the movement of the character. The opening scene is fast paced which goes well with the upbeat music, making the music parallel to what is happening in the scene. Also, the sound is non-diegetic so sound effects have been added in over the scene to make the story interesting for the age group. This opening scene uses low-key lighting to show the contrast between the setting and characters. The costumes used represent the toy characters well and because it is a cartoon, no real actors are shown so the speaking is a voice-over. This scene has been edited well because it is set in space but then goes back to the bedroom to show the scene opened in a video game.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
This opening scene uses more level close up and mid shots of characters but also includes some tracking shots. The music begins a little way into the scene and sound quite eary, like something dramatic could happen soon. It includes diegetic sounds, without extra sound effects being heard. The editing uses the 180 degree rule for when the actors are talking and straight cut transitions are used. The dialogue in this opening scene is serious which gives you an idea of the genre being a thriller, along with the dark lighting used. The girl in the film has an extreme costume which shows she is different. The other character is Daniel Craig which shows that the genre may be an action or thriller.
Star Wars- Return of the Jedi
This opening scene uses extreme long shots to show the setting in space and there are also close ups of people talking. The transitions are usually straight cuts although the camera pans up and down sometimes to show follow the movement of objects and characters. The sound effects are non-diegetic and the dramatic music is parallel with the vast setting but is quite dramatic for the slow pace of this scene. The music used is a well-known Star Wars theme tune. The mise en scene suggests that the film will not always be as slow paced as this scene but that the scene is just introducing the setting and characters. Dark lighting is used and many people are in soldier-like costumes, whilst others are in space-like costumes, including Darth Vader, which suggests the sci-fi/ action genre of the film.
Every film production institution has a logo to symbolize their company. The logos used are usually bold and quite grand. Many use majestic animals or features. Here are some examples:
My Logo:
I chose to base my logo on a waterfall because I thought it was quite a majestic feature. I chose what my logo would be and then edited it on Adobe Photoshop. I enhanced the colour and brightness of the photo to make it more intriguing and used a simple, memorable company name.
To practice using Adobe Premiere, we were asked to create a Dancing Bears and James Bond video.
Dancing Bears- I had not used Premiere before making this video, so found it quite hard to understand at first. I had to put clips together, along with music, and edit them so that the video flowed well. We chose the music and landscapes we wanted to use and then chose the dancing bear clips. Many of the clips had pauses in them where a black screen showed. I had to edit these out, using the eraser tool, which I found challenging to use at first. Although once I did this a few times, it was easier to understand and I was confident with using the tool. I enjoyed using Premiere and learnt a lot of skills which I can now apply to videos I make in the future.
James Bond- This video is quite short because I spent most of my time making the Dancing Bears video. I understood how to use Premiere by the time I made the James Bond video, but could have made it longer to practice using the tools even more. Although, in making this video, I still practiced fading the music in and out around the narrative in the clips and practiced using effects.
