How is Ethnicity represented?

How is Ethnicity represented? Comment on Mise-en-scene, Camera, Editing and Sound.

What is Ethnicity?

Ethnicity - is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, consisting of a common language, a common culture/religion and a tradition of common ancestry. Often, ethnicity also connotes shared cultural, linguistic, behavioural or religious traits.

Members of an ethnic group are conscious of belonging to an ethnic group; ethnic identity is further marked by the recognition from others of a group's distinctiveness. Membership of an ethnic group is likely to imply certain very specific health risks and needs.

Ethnicity is a major factor affecting the health of individuals and communities. While the 'ethnicity' (or 'ethnic group') describe many national differences in the way that ethnic groups are described, it is also said that 'ethnicity' is a socially constructed identity, and doesn’t genetically determine behaviour and the qualities of the individual.


Examples and Stereotypes of Ethnicity:
  - British - self-deprecating, posh/snobby, roast dinners, cups of tea, bad teeth
  - Mexicans - poncho, nachos, tequilla slammers
  - Irish - guiness, leprechauns,  gypsies, accent
  - Catholics - close-minded, religious, no sex before marriage
  - Indians - curry, wear hijab, arranged marriages, henna, bindi spots
  - Americans - 'fake', plastic surgery, ignorant, overweight, dramatic
  - Muslims - terrorists, wear head coverings, pray a lot, Allah
  - Black people - 'gangsters', violent/aggressive, hooligans/criminals, guns/knives, drug dealers, athletic

Casualty

Watch a Hospital Drama and apply one of the narrative theories to it. Also look at how the characters are represented through mise-en-scene, camera angles and sound. 400 words approx.

Hospital Drama

Key conventions of hospital drama:
Typical characters:
   - Doctors
   - Nurses
   - Surgeons
   - Patients

Settings:
    - In/around hospital
    - Hospital wards
    - Ambulance

Plots:
   - Making people better
   - Saving peoples lives
   - Hospital romance

Kidulthood Analysis

Watch a 5 minute clip of 'Kidulthood' directed by Menhaj Huda. Analyse at least 6 camera angles or editing techniques in your clip and comment on their effectiveness.

Audience

In its earliest form audience theory believed that an audience was a mass. Blumer set out 4 stages:
1) Its membership may come from all walks of life, and from distinguishable social strata; it may include people of different class position, of different vocation, of different cultural attainment, and of different wealth.
2) The mass is an anonymous group, or more exactly is composed of anonymous individuals (Blumer means anonymous is the sense that unlike the citizens of earlier communities, the people who are members of the mass audience for the media do not know each other).
3) There exists little interaction or change of experience between members of the mass. They are usually physically separated from one another and, being anonymous do not have the opportunity to mill as do members of the crowd.
4) The mass is very loosely organized and is not able to act with the unity of a crowd.


Audience Types 
- Mainstream - unlikely ever to view anything other than major 'Hollywood' style blockbusters
- Mainstream plus - generally mainstream, but apt to see less mainstream films on a few occasions
- Aficionados - tend to view a mix of films, including major foreign language titles, and can be encouraged to become even more adventurous in their viewing choices
- Film Buffs1 - eschew mainstream films in favour of more extreme, esoteric, challenging and difficult subject matter (specialised) films

Migrain

M edia Language
I nstitutions - (produced by? influence on text)
G enre - (codes/conventions)
R epresentation - (who, what, where, why? accurate/biased/fair)
A udience - (aimed at? mode of address, audience theory)
I deologies/Value

N arrative - (structure/character roles/themes)

Magazine Keywords: Front Cover

Masthead - the title of the magazine. Usually places at the top of the front cover (for display purposes).
Puff - words/phrases on the cover (used to boost status)
Central Image - principle image on the front cover
Plug - information about a magazines contents
Left Side Third - important or appealing information placed here as magazine may be displayed horizontally
Cover Lines - information about the main articles
Direct Mode of Address - words that 'talk' to the reader personally
Tag Line - information about a magazines contents

Media Language - Mode of Address

On the cover/double-page spread:
- Teaser - taste of whats inside/enigma
- Modifier - adjectives
- Ellipsis - missing letters/words
- Minor sentences - simple sentences
- Declaratives - statements
- Imperatives
- Interrogatives - questions
- Exclamations
- Alliteration
- Puns - playing on words
- Contractions - shortening/abbreviating words
- Idomatic phrases

Understanding Filmmaking: Production Process

 

What is Class/Status?

Class - is a categorization about economics and lifestyle. Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Examples of class are upper class, working class and lower class.

Status - is about how you are viewed by society. 

Stereotypes of Class/Status:
Upper class:
  - 'Posh'
  - Snobby
  - Wealthy/rich
  - Big house/mansion
  - Expensive clothing (e.g. designer clothing/brand names)
  - Rude/disrespectful attitude
  - Arrogant/ignorant
  - Selfish
  - Often away on business
  - Always go on holiday
  - Speak formal english

Working Class:
  - Less formal clothing, scruffy (e.g. builder)
  - Terraced housing
  - Lack of parking
  - Busy
  - Few children

Lower Class:
  - Council flats
  - Criminals (e.g. theft/burglary)
  - Do drugs/drug dealers
  - Alcoholics
  - Many children
  - 'Scroungers' (e.g. benefits)
  - 'Chavvy' clothing
  - No/few qualifications
  - Jobless (cant get one/cant be bothered)
  - Lazy

What is Sexuality?

Sexuality - Sexuality describes the whole way a person goes about expressing themselves as a sexual being.  It describes how important sexual expression is in a person's life; how they choose to express that sexuality and any preference they may have towards the type of sexual partner they choose.  Human sexuality rarely falls into neat categories or lends itself to simple labelling. 

In recent times however, the word sexuality has come to also have a more limited meaning. Sexuality is now often defined by whether the gender of the sexual partners we choose is the same as our own or different.

Examples of sexuality:
  - Homosexual (eg. gay/camp, lesbian)
  - Bisexual
  - Transexual
  - Hetrosexual
  - Straight
  - Gender (e.g. men, women)

Representation of sexuality:
  - Clothes
  - Gestures
  - Behaviour
  - Relationships
  - Accent/speech
  - Narrow minded/limited
  - Friends

Avatar Analysis

The stars:
- Sam Worthington
- Zoe Saldana
- Stephen Lang
- Michelle Rodriguez
- Joel David Moore
- Giovanni Ribisi
- Sigourney Weaver

The director: James Cameron

The producers:
- James Cameron
- Jon Landau

Genre:
- Fantasy
- Science-fiction

Distributed by: 20th Century Fox

Production budget: $237million (re-release $9million)

Gross revenue: $2,778,527,559

Running time: 162 minutes

Marketing:
- Promotions
- Books
- Video games
- Action figures
- Postage stamps

Kickass Analysis

Mark Miller produced Kickass after producing "Wanted" but decided to take a more "hands on" approach this time as he was simply asked questions and answered them about how he wanted "wanted" to be made. He chose the cast, the script was then drafted, he also chose the costumes as well as the sets and where the film took place, for how long and how many hours a day. It took 14 weeks, doing 14 hour days to film.

Kick Ass is a superhero/action-comedy film based on the comics of Marvel Comic's chief writer Mark Millar.

The film had a few problems in the production of making the film. They found the script was a particular problem. Millar, used to autonomy, was shocked at the accommodations he had to make. He also faced with the problem of not being able to afford even a 'C grade' Marvel character. The film took the unusual step of writing the comic book at the same time the film was produced. They said this didn’t help when it came to financing the film.

They also had problems with controversy surrounding the film. One of the main problems in the film was swearing. Even after having the distributors’ (Sony) ask to attempt to "tone down" the language. they ignored them and carried on regardless. Another problem with the film was the difference of opinions on the ending of the movie, in the comic the "hero" never got the girl and was out rightly rejected, whereas the film has the happy ending of them getting it together.

In January 2010, an uncensored preview clip of the film was attacked by family advocacy groups for its display of violence and use of the line "Okay you cunts, let's see what you can do now," delivered by Chloë Moretz, who was only 11 at the time of filming. Australian Family Association spokesman John Morrissey claimed that "the language was offensive and the values were inappropriate – without the saving grace of the bloodless victory of traditional superheroes".

Several critics like Roger Ebert and the Daily Mail's Christopher Tookey accused the film of glorifying violence, particularly violence by young children, while Tookey also claimed Hit Girl was "made to look as seductive as possible".

The film received an R rating from the MPAA for strong brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and some drug use. It received a 15 rating from the BBFC. This would have affected the performance by receiving a lower audience as it is not suitable for any children under the age of 15. However, this didn’t affect its performance in France as it received a PG rating in France, in which Director Matthew Vaughn was surprised as he felt the 15 certificate was about right.

How they saved money

The technology used

The film received an R rating from the MPAA for strong brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and some drug use. It received a 15 rating from the BBFC. This would have affected the performance by receiving a lower audience as it is not suitable for any children under the age of 15. However, this didn’t affect its performance in France as it received a PG rating, in which Director Matthew Vaughn was surprised as he felt the 15 certificate was about right.

Promotion

The film's soundtrack album was released in the United Kingdom on 29 March 2010, and in the United States on 30 March 2010. The title song is by pop singer-songwriter Mika, co-written by Jodi Marr and produced by RedOne.

1.    “Stand up” – The prodigy

2.    “Kick Ass (Radio Edit)” – Mika vs. RedOne

3.    “Can’t Go Back” – Primal Scream

4.    “There’s a Pot a Brewin” – The Little Ones

5.    “Omen” – The Prodigy

6.    “Make Me Wanna Die” – The Pretty Reckless

7.    “Banana Splits (Kick-Ass Film Version)” – The Dickies

8.    “Starry Eyed” – Ellie Goulding

9.    “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us” – Sparks

10.  “We’re All In Love” – The New York Dolls

11.  “Bongo Song” – Zongamin

12.  “Per Qualche Dollaro in Piu (For a Few Dollars More)” – Ennion Morricone

13.  “Bad Reputation” – The Hit Girls

14.  “An American Trilogy” – Elvis Presley

How is Age represented?

Young (children)
   - Lots to learn
   - Uncontrollable
   - Lack common sense
   - Cry a lot
   - Want attention
   - Naive/vulnerable
   - Reliable
   - Energetic/hyper
   - Cheeky
   - Gullible - believe anything (e.g. fantasies: 'happy ever after', 'father christmas', 'tooth fairy')
   - Demanding
   - Low attention span (get bored easily)
   - Naughty (brats)
   - Loud
   - Denim dungarees
   - Motif T-shirts (characters)
   - Wear bright colours
   - Influenced easily
   - Stock characters (don't have main characters)

Young (teenagers)
   - Mischief
   - Chav
   - Goth
   - Geeks
   - Criminals
   - Immature
   - Boys very untidy
   - Girls fragile/very girly
   - Manly girls (tomboys)
   - Wasters/druggies
   - Smoking/drinking
   - Mardy (hormonal/emotional)
   - Rebellious
   - Lazy (sleep a lot)
   - Having sex/always thinking about it
   - Relationships
   - Young pregnancy
   - Nerds/geeks studying
   - Unaware/not in control
   - Getting into fights
   - Arguing with parents

Adults (middle-aged)
   - Well off/wealthy
   - Job
   - More disposable income
   - Hobbie
   - Parents
   - Always busy (hectic life schedule)
   - On the phone/sorting out things
   - Travelling

Adults (elderly)
   - Knowledgable/experienced
   - Fragile/weak
   - Vulnerable
   - Victimized in crime
   - Hatred for youth
   - Quiet
   - Mardy/grumpy/short tempered (towards youth)
   - Happy/merry
   - Slow walkers (walking stick)
   - 'Story tellers' (reflect on past)
   - Always cough/ill
   - Bad eye sight (wear glasses)
   - Bad hearing (hearing aid)
   - Bold/no hair
   - Grey/white hair
   - Old-fashioned (wear beige hats/coats, dull colours)
   - Knitting/sewing
   - Tea and biscuits
   - Brandy/sherry/gin
   - Smoke pipes

Termonology

Denotation - what you see
Connotation - what is implied
180 degree rule - action occurs in front of 'line'
Two shot - two people in the shot
Panning - pan across or out shows movement
Over the shoulder shot - conversation
Established shot - 1st shot of film
Tracking/dollying shot - follow actor
Ambient sound - sound which makes the atmosphere
Low angle shot - looking up (implies power)
Eye line match - on same level for continuity
Tilting shot - 'tilt' camera
Steadicam - hand held camera, around the waist (documentaries)
Dissolve - shot fades into another
Canted shot - off centre
Zoom - get closer to the action
Compressed time - not actual time - shortened (editing effects)
Flashback - understanding of past or recent events
Montage - complication/group of images
Jump cut - cutting to a very different shot
Mise-en-scene - everything that's in a shot
POV (Point of view shot) - through the eyes of the character
Low key lighting - creates atmosphere
High key lighting - bright
Back lighting - lights from behind (glow/mystical)
Diegetic sound - part of the action
Non-diegetic sound - background sound (we can hear but characters cant) Asynchronous sound - sound that is added afterwards (dont match with action)
Synchronous sound - sound matches action/at the same time
Sound bridge - sound between two shots/soundtrack player before the end of scene, link of sound across action

Above the Line/Below the Line Advertising

'Above the line' - is a type of advertising through media such as television, cinema, radio, prink, web banners and web search engines to promote brands. This type of communication is conventional in nature and considered impersonal to customers.

'Below the line' - is efficient and cost effective for targeting a limited and specific group.This can take the form of tie in's with other products and companies.

Four Quadrant Picture

-  A four quadrant picture is a marketing term used to describe a film targeted to all audience quadrants
-  PG films and PG13 are ideal
-  No over 18 certificate
-  The four quadrant pictures are:

On the downside, many wonder how much effort is placed on credible, engaging story lines as opposed to marketing opportunities in these behemoth cinematic endeavors.

How is physical disability represented?

Tourettes syndrome is a physical disibility. People that have tourettes have difficulty in controlling their behaviour and tend to say or do whatever is on their mind without thinking beforehand.

The people on this video clip are on a documentary about people who suffer from tourettes. They are represented by being portrayed as overall very happy and joyful characters. This is shown by the fact that they are usually laughing and making jokes. It is also suggested because they are not seen to be upset or ‘down’ because of the disability but seem to be smiling throughout the clip. This therefore shows that the disability doesn’t have much of effect on them as they are not really bothered about it as they seem to be happy. This shows that the disability doesn’t affect their feelings. 

They could also be seen to be represented as quite rude characters because they don’t have any thought or consideration as to what they are saying, or the effect it will have on other people. Therefore, the word choices or language that they use could be found quite insulting to some. Also, the fact that they have the tendency to laugh about their comments after they have said it could also cause it to be represented as insulting because it could suggest that they are doing it purposely. This also represents them as to not really caring, although they can’t help it as it is due to the condition that they suffer from. 

Overall, the clip represents a sign of sympathy towards the characters as they can’t physically do anything about their illness, even though they might not want or need for sympathy because they don’t seem to be too bothered by their condition. The disability could also represent the sufferers to be inconsiderate due to the fact that they say whatever is on their mind without realising, and therefore don’t have any time to think about how it will affect other people’s feelings.

How is mental disability represented?

Disability is represented by showing the character to be weak and defenceless. This is shown in the shot where the character gets pushed into the lockers by another student. This could suggest that people with Asperger’s syndrome are intimidated and bullied because of their mental disability.

The character is also represented to act quite ‘slow’ as after this shot he attempts to defend himself by fighting back, where he only succeeds in kicking the air. This again suggests that people with the disability are represented to be weak or defenceless. The disability is again represented to show the character as ‘slow’ because of his way of communication and lack of social skills. This is shown by the way that he speaks; he has a deep voice and talks reasonably slowly, as though he has to think about what he is saying. This could suggest that people with the disability suffer from interacting or engaging with other people.

His facial expressions represent that he lacks communication and listening skills because he tends to look down towards the floor. He also tends to usually have a frown upon his face as though he perhaps doesn’t want to be talking or communicating with anyone. This again suggests he might not be very sociable which represents people with the disability to lack social skills. This could also suggest that they also lack common sense. Therefore, it could imply that people with the disability are childish or immature, although they cannot help it.

He is also represented to look like the stereotypical ‘nerd’. This is shown by the way that he dresses and the big round specs that he wears. He also doesn’t look like he does any style etc. to his hair, or make much of an effort with his appearance. This could therefore suggest that is the reason as to why he gets bullied. Therefore, we get the impression that people who suffer from Asperger’s syndrome have a geeky character. However, we know that due to their mental disability that they aren’t represented to be very clever.

What is Disibility?

Disability is a medical condition that restricts capability for someone to perform particular activities. It makes it difficult for people to engage in the normal activities of every-day life.

It is also known as the lack of a given ability in humans that are either physical, cognitive/metal, sensory, emotional or developmental.

Traditionally, in many cultures around the world, people with physical, sensory or mentally impairments were thought of as under the spell of witchcraft, possessed by demons or as penitent sinners that were being punished by God for 'wrong doing' by themselves or their parents.

Types of disabilities:
-    Emotional problems
-    Mental health problems
-    Behavioural problems
-    Learning difficulties e.g. dyslexia
-    Speech and language impairments
-    'Disfigurement'
-    Chronic illness/health issues e.g. HIV

What is Representation?

Representation is about how people, places and events are depicted by the media, whether it be in a newspaper, film, website, magazine ot on the radio.

The concept of representation is concerned with messages and values in the media texts. It involves exploring how the media reflects ir represents attitudes and behaviours and beliefs and how these are linked to the society we live in.

Representation should be seen as the way media represent items to the audience.

The main areas of representation are:
-  Gender
-  Age
-  Ethnicity
-  Sexuality
-  Class and status
-  Physical ability/disability
-  Regional identity

Identify the audience for Moon by using examples from the film

The main audience for the film are sci-fi lovers. I think the film consists of one of the four quadrant pictures. The quadrant picture I think that fits in best with the film is men over the age of 24.

The stereotypical view I get of a sci-fi film would be 'boring' as I assume that I would not find space particularly interesting. Therefore I assumed that I would not have any interest in watching 'Moon' whatsoever. This would also be a similar view as to people that fit in the other 3 quadrants (males under 25, females under 25, females over 25) as they would be put off watching the film because of what is associated with the genre.

Personally, from watching the film I enjoyed watching it. Overall, I found it rather interesting. This was because it is very different and nothing like I usually watch. Therefore, although the main quadrant for the film would consist of men over the age of 25 that like sci-fi, other quadrants could also find a particular interest in the film if they actually watched it. This shows that we have a stereotypical view of sci-fi films being 'boring', which is not necessarily the case.

However, I wouldn’t be that bothered if I were to watch the film again or buy it on DVD for example and therefore although other quadrants like myself might like the film, they may have the same opinion and not want to watch it again. Therefore, this is why the film doesn’t attract any other quadrants because it would cost a lot more extra money to market the film for advertisement to gain these quadrants. This would result in a waste of time and finance as they wouldn’t gain the quadrants if they were only interested in watching the film once.

Moon Analysis

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

In the sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft, and in both wizard and muggle worlds Lord Voldemort and his henchmen are increasingly active. With vacancies to fill at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore persuades Horace Slughorn, back from retirement to become the potions teacher, while Professor Snape receives long awaited news. Harry Potter, together with Dumbledore, must face treacherous tasks to defeat his evil nemesis.

Transformers II

Sam Witwicky leaves the Autobots behind for a normal life. But when his mind is filled with cryptic symbols, the Decepticons target him and he is dragged back into the Transformers' war.

The 5 Theorists

  

For this lesson Meg, Paige and I worked together to research information on Roland Barthes so that we could do a presentation on him on Prezi (see below). We found out facts about him and also his theory. 

We included this research that we found about Roland Barthes into the presentation to present to the rest of the class.

Roland Barthes
His theory basically states that once you look further or deeply into a text, you find out lots of different meanings. This links to Hot Fuzz because when you look at a shot you can pick out lots of meanings or interpretations of your ideas just by looking into whats in the shot and its surroundings.

PROPP, BARTHES, LEVI-STRAUSS and TODOROV

Merlin Analysis

What representations of gender are constructed by the extract through the use of: Mise en scene / Editing / Use of camera / Sound?




The Mise-en-scene in the clip show males to be represented with higher importance. This is shown because the main character himself, Merlin, is infact a male character. Also, a majority of the other most higher or well-known characters are also males themselves, opposed to females. This could represent that at this time that it is set, males were seem as more dominant and powerful, and therefore that is why they are shown to be in a lot of the clip. Also, they are represented as being more powerful than women. For example, this is shown when they go out to fight and are in army gear. This again shows them to have the more dominant role in the clip which again suggests they are stronger and more powerful than women. They also appear to carry some sort of weapon such as swords, whereas women in the clip are only shown to look pretty. This could suggest that they are classed with higher importance due to they are the ones who seem to protect the women. This suggests that women are of not much importance and don't have much of a reason as to why they are there, but they are just there to look good. Also, in the first shot Merlin the main character is seen to be reading from a book. This could suggest that males are somewhat knowledgeable.

However, women are shown throughout the clip, but not as much as men. One example is when a witch vanishes into mid-air. This could suggest some sort of power. However, she is represented to look like an old 'hag' by the clothing and lack of tidiness. She is also represented to look somewhat unattractive. Also, because she looks like the stereotypical 'witch' this implies to the audience that she is an evil or bad character.

Also, men are also shown to be of higher importance when a woman is seen to be walking towards a male character (that is possibly the King) is seated in a throne. The fact that he is also seated in the centre of the shot also shows that he is of higher importance as he is the centre of attention. He is also seated on a step which shows higher importance because he is being looked up to, and also, looking down on people. He is also shown to be wearing a crown which suggests he is a royal member, and therefore of very high importance. Later on, he is shown to be very dominant which suggests he has power.

Editing also makes the male gender to come across to have more importance as Merlin's eyes are edited to look very magical. This is shown by the effect of a shine or glimpse in his eye which suggests that he is powerful, in some way or another. This is also shown when some sort of magical whirlwind circles around Merlin. This again shows a very important and magical role, compared to women which are shown to have neither of these in their roles.

The use of camera angles show men again to be of higher importance as they are seen to be powerful and dominant. This is shown by the use of a high-angle shot of the King when he is talking. He is also seen to be stood on a balcony talking down to people. This shows power and dominance because he is talking down to people, and we are looking up towards him which again suggests importance.

Sound in this clip is quite upbeat in order to fit in with the fantasy theme or setting. There are no song-words or lyrics, it is just a catchy tune. The effect this has makes the whole clip seem somewhat magical and keeps the audience interested by gaining their attention. The characters voices are shown to be very posh, the stereotypical 'British' voice. This could therefore suggest that it is set in a quite old-fashioned period of time. It could also suggest importance of the characters because we already know that some are of royalty and therefore need to talk Standard English to keep their reputation. However, only men are shown to be speaking in the clip which again suggests that they have higher importance in the scene.

Hot Fuzz' Producers

Universal Studios
Universal Studios is one of the six major movie studios. It is one of the oldest American movie studios that is still in production as it was founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle. The studios is a subsidiary of NBC Universal as in 2004 the majority of the company was sold by Vivendi universal to General Electric, the owner of the NBC.
It owns a film library of cinema and a collection of TV shows. It also has rights to several filmmakers' works from other studios.
Its production studios are at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California and has other offices in New York City.




Studiocanal

Studiocanal is a French-based production and distribution company that owns the third-largest film library in the world. The company is part of the Canal+ Group, owned by Vivendi SA. It was founded in 1988 by Pierre Lescure.

Some of Studiocanal's most notable productions that it helped finance from its early years include Terminator 2: Judgment Day, JFK, Basic Instinct, Cliffhanger, Under Siege, Free Willy, and the original Stargate movie.

Big Talk Productions

Big Talk Productions Ltd. is an English film and television production company. It was founded in 1995 by Nira Park. The company is located in London and has produced films such as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. It is also known for its British sitcoms such as Spaced and Free Agents. Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Dylan Moran and Bill Bailey are several actors that have risen to fame under Big Talk's production banner.

Working Title
Working Title Films is a British film production company that is based in London. It produces feature films and several television productions. The company was founded in 1983 by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. The co-owners of the company are Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan. Some popular examples that Working Title films has produced are: About a boy, Ali G Indahouse, Billy Elliott, The Borrowers, Bridget Jones, Nanny Mcphee and Notting Hill as well as Hot Fuzz.

Magazine post-production

 

This is the production for the front cover of my magazine preliminary work.

Magazine production

To begin with, before I started making the magazine covers I had to take photo's that I wanted for the pages. I made sure that I took at least 5-6 photo's of each shot so this ensured that I definately had a good picture as not every picture would of been perfect. To create the magazine covers, I used photoshop.

Magazine pre-production

For the pre-production of the magazine I had to create a draft copy on paper of the main front cover and the contents page. I used some inspiration from the pictures below, which I got from Mr Smiths blog.

For the front cover I had to choose what I was going to call my magazine which had to related to school, Lutterworth College. I chose to give it the name 'Couture' because I wanted to do something that related to the textiles department in the school so that my magazine could be related to fashion, which I am very interested in.

I then had to design what I wanted on the front cover and the layout of which I wanted everything. I chose to put the main photo in the centre of the cover (as this gains the most attention and stands out more) with the writing/headings around it. I ensured that I kept the masterhead at the top of the page because this is essential for a magazine as it shouldnt be anywhere else on the front cover. I also had to annotate it saying what fonts, sizes, colour etc that I would want for the writing. I made sure that I didnt use more than 3 fonts and colours.

For the contents page I also had to design the layout of where I wanted everything that I will be putting onto the magazine. I chose to do a big picture at the top of the page with the heading 'Contents' underneath it. As we had to have at least 4-5 photo's on the page, I had to ensure that I had enough room on the layout to put the pictures. I also came up with the idea that I wanted to use a film clip down the right-hand side of the page to put the photograph's in as this will look a lot more interesting. I then wrote up the contents including the page numbers in the magazine. Again, I made sure that I didn't use more than 3 fonts or colours. I also had to annotate my ideas down on the page.

Filming post-production

In the lesson, we uploaded the film footage that we did in the previous lesson onto the Mac computer so that we could edit it. We then went onto iMovie and imported the footage onto it so that we could put all the scenes together. We cut out certain parts that we didnt need and then put some scenes in the right places so that the end result was continuous. We found it easy to do the editing but we found that it was quite confusing to cut the scenes and then change them so they were in the correct order. We then uploaded the end video onto a youtube account so that we were able to post it onto our blogs.

Filming production

For our filming, we had to film a scene of a character walking down a corridor, opening a door and then sitting down and having a conversation with another character. We worked in groups of 4 using a storyboard from another group. I worked with Paige, Meg and Sam. Meg was character 1 and i was character 2. Sam did the filming using the different camera angles whilst we all helped organize how we did the acting and shots using the storyboard. Overall, it was rather simple to do the filming as we didn't find any difficulties. However, we did have troubles using the other groups storyboard as it was quite confusing to read and we got mixed up with how to do the scenes as it wasn't annotated clearly enough.

Filming pre-production

For the pre-production of the filming, we had to create a storyboard of the scene we were going to do. The scene was to film somebody walking down the corridor, opening a door, closing the door, sitting down and having a conversation. We worked in groups of four.

In our groups of 4, we split each section into 4 parts. They were: walking down the corridor, opening/closing the door, sitting down and having a conversation to another character. To create my part of the storyboard (walking down the corridor), i split my section into 4 sections:
1) long shot of the room, zoom in on character
2) mid-shot (zoomed in on person) character starts walking
3) sounds of footsteps, character comes in on scene with other character (low angle shot)
4) close-up shot of character sitting down face - serious face
Then we put all the parts together from our group to create the whole scene.

I found using the different camera angles together easy. However, I found putting the 4 sections together difficult as I had to ensure continuity so that the scene would flow and work.

American Beauty

In this lesson, we watched the film 'American Beauty'. We payed particular attention to the opening sequence and looked at the techniques with the use of camera angles, sound and mise en scene.

The techniques of camera angles in American Beauty are a point of view shot, mid-shot, a close-up shot and a high-angle shot. The point of view shot shows the audience Ricky Fitts point of view of Jane so we can see that he is looking at Jane. This makes the audience feel part of the action as we see it from his perspective. It also gives an amateur effect as he is using a video recorder. The mid-shot is of Jane. This implies that the two characters know each other very well. A close-up is used to show Lester’s facial expressions, this way it gives the audience knowledge of his emotions and how he feels. The use of the high-angle shot overlooks the village which provides us information of the setting and the area.

For the sound in American Beauty, the audience can hear the conversation of the teenagers (diegetic). The use of this gives us an insight into the relationship by what they are saying to each other and the way they talk to one another. It also gives us ideas about the father of the girl as they mention him in the conversation. A repetitive soundtrack is also played in the background noise (diagetic), which could add to the tension of the film. It could also make it more upbeat and therefore draw the audience’s attention by making it more exiting and dramatic. You can also hear the sound of the video camera working in the background which shows there is an amateur film taking place. The sound of an alarm clock also happens in the scene which is abrupt and adds to the scene.

For the mise-en-scene in American Beauty, I could suggest the girl in the bedroom lying down. This could give the audience the impression that it is an intimate moment between her and the boy. We also get a very dark, depressing idea of the scene because of the dull lighting and clothing. The clothing and pale skin makes the girl look very gothic looking which adds to the depressing mood we get. The title of the film is shown in red writing on a plain black background. The connotation of the red gives the audience the impression of passion or danger which could give a negative view on what’s going to happen later on in the film. We also see that it is set in an American neighbourhood with widely spread houses. This could show it is a suburban area which infers that it is a reasonably wealthy neighbourhood.

Hot Fuzz analysis: What is uniquely 'British' about Hot Fuzz?

'Britishness'
-  Posh ('snobby') e.g. Queen
-  Council estates (run down)
-  Countryside
-  Private schools
-  Self-deprecating (take the mick out of ourselves)
-  British music e.g. pop era, punk era
-  Bad teeth
-  Irony
-  London (capital city)


There are many things that are uniquely 'British' throughout the opening scene of Hot Fuzz. For example, the sound of the British police siren is used in the film for the police cars. Vauxhall Astra's are used which are the stereotypical British police car. British police uniforms are also worn by the characters in the film. We know this is 'British' because they were the police badge with the queens crown on it.

Quotes from the film also reflect the 'Britishness' throughout the opening scene. For example when he says 'born and schooled in London', 'attended Cambridge university' and 'Metropolitan police force'. All of these are uniquely British because they are places in Britain. The film also represents the 'British' politeness and manners when he says 'I beg your pardon'. This is uniquely 'British' because it shows the stereotypical view of British people being posh as it represents our good manners that people would associate with British people.

English places where the scenes are shot for the film are also uniquely 'British' as it is shot in London in places such as Soho and Chinatown. This is associated with 'Britishness' as London is the capital city which is the most known place in England. However, shots are also filmed in Sandford which reflects the countryside of 'Britishness' as this is also associated with Britain.

'Britishness' is uniquely presented in the fact that some parts of Hot Fuzz are seen to be rather self-depricating. This is shown on the front cover as it has copied the cover from the film 'Bad Boys' but took the mickey out of it. It is also shown when he is shot cycling opposed to driving a car. This adds to the humour in the film.

Youth in the film also show the film to be uniquely 'British' as they are represented as ugly/geeky kids that British kids are thought to be like. They also have bad teeth which is also seen to be 'British' as other countries associate British people to have bad teeth. There is also a Harry Potter lookalike (with a cone on his head) which is also uniquely 'British' as Harry Potter is a very popular book and film series that is British.

Spike Jonze Presentation

In this lesson, we worked as part of a group in order to research the director that we were given. In my group, I worked with Max, Harry, Toni and Daisy. We had to do a presentation on Spike Jonze. We all had separate roles to do for the research. I decided to find out video clips that Spike Jonze has made. The favourites we chose to use were a clip of his well-known movie/TV series: Jackass, his TV commercials for: Ikea and Gap, and then one of his music videos called 'Sabotage' by Beastie Boys. Max researched about Spike Jonze' biography and style, Harry found out the audience and Toni and Daisy helped set up the presentation. We then wrote up our own script so that we could talk about our particular part on the presentation.
In the next lesson, we had to do the presentation in our groups and listen to the rest of the classes presentations about other directors. We wrote down some notes about the directors: background information, style and the audience.
The part I found most difficult was the research as this was quite hard when I had to think about what clips would be best to use, and what were best to describe and give examples of Spike Jonze' work.

spike jonze on Prezi

5 C's

Camera Angles - e.g. Close-up, Extreme close-up, Panoramic, Mid-shot, Long-shot, High-angle shot, Low-angle shot, Point of view shot, Over-shoulder shot
Continuity - generally refers to a visual error
Cutting (editing) - used to either add pace to a scene to make it exiting or to slow it down for dramatic emphasis
Close-ups - used to show the audience something/someone important
Composition - the way somethings put together

Hi :)

I chose media because I am interested in films and fashion. It also fits in with the rest of my subjects. I have added a link list that shows my fashion interests with shop websites like Topshop and River Island as these are my favourite shops that I like to buy my clothes from.