Continuity Sequence

Ideologies

This is an image of Ariana Grande on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine. This image appears to have the ideologies of how a woman should look. To be able to be a 'good-looking' woman you have to look a certain way and that is this way. You have to wear revealing clothing and have most of your skin showing. you also have to be skinny, toned and have tanned sin and long hair. You should probably also wear a lot of make-up and hair extensions. This is what is seen as he ideal woman. 

This is a gif from the show 'Two Broke Girls" The quote is said by Kat Dennings and basically says that media is what causes people to have an image of an ideal womb. The media sets ideologies for society that people idolize and aspire to be. This is wrong to do but it happens daily and the media promotes it. The media effects society. On the cover of magazines there are always skinny women who are what people look p to which gives society the ideology that if you want to fit in to society the you have to look like that. 

this image says that 'This is not a pipe" and that is true. This is not a pipe but a picture of a pipe. This can but into ideologies terms. Things aren't always what they seem. People aspire to be reach and some people just want fame and fortune but money doesn't make you happy. You may seem happy but it doesn't mean you are. Things aren't always what they seem but the media doesn't promote this. Th media promotes what they want people to look like or act like and people feel like the ave to do that to fit into society but that's really not the case. 

Global Audiences: A new digital landscape

convergence - different types of media integrating into one.

Web Generations

Web 1.0 (dot com) (commerce)
Only contains text/graphics, images and other multimedia files, hyperlinks and used to navigate between them. Lack of context, interaction scalability and no user data available

Web 2.0 (people)
Focuses on power of community and was information sharing with social media. User-generated content in a virtual community, search for information through key-words and make user data available. Sites, mashups, web applications, hosted services and wikis.

Web 3.0 (Sematic web)
Web 3.0 will make simple tasks easier and faster. Instead of typing in multiples searches you may type in a few key words in your browser, and the web will respond, search the internet for possible answers and then organise the results for you. It will also act like a personal assistant. It will remember your likes and dislikes and will bring up results relating to them. The more your browser learns about you the less specific you'll need to be with your search.

'The question that needs to be answered is: do new media forms produce both distinctively different 'content' and 'audiences' when compared to their processers.
- Marshall (2004)

Representation

Any representation is a mixture of:

• The thing itself
• The opinions of the people doing the representation
• The reaction of the individual to the representation
• The context of the society in which the representation is taking place

Many representations are based on stereotypes.

The American Film Industry

The American Film Industry developed between 1895 and 1930. During this time the emerging industry developed into and important popular medium, organised into clearly defined exhibition, and distribution elements.

1930-1949 - American Film Studio Era

By 1930 the American film industry was dominated by five companies. These were know as the 'BIG FIVE':

• MGM
• 20th Century Fox
• Warner Brothers
• A Paramount Picture
• RKO

All five of these were vertically integrated.

Where a company is organised so that it oversees a product from the planning/development stage, through production, to marketing, and distribution, through to the consumer.

During the studio Era the Big Five owned the production studios, the distribution companies and most of the cinemas in the US but this is now seen as illegal.

Production Studio
Distribution
Cinemas

In 1949 studios were forced to sell off the cinema chains that they owned by the US government, after a court ruling that their practices were monopolistic. The American film industry decilined further in the 1950's due to the rise of television

Big Six

• Warner Brothers Production
• 20th Century Fox
• Paramount Pictures
• Columbia Pictures/sony
• Walt Disney/Touchstone
• Universal Studios

Wow Factor

• colour films
• widescreen
• stereo sound
• epic genres
• spectacle
• 3D
• Gimmicks

Ideologies and Values

Ideology means a set of values, beliefs and ideas that guide our lives. An example of an ideology is that everyone should look the same to fit in and become ideal.

Hegemony is a dominant ideology. These effect our everyday lives and are what people know as the 'norm'. Katie Price could be seen as a hegemony. She is stereotypically know as the perfect women who many people look up to but this is beginning to change. Society now seems to be going from Katie Price as the ideal woman

 

to someone like Jennifer Lawrence as the ideal woman.

 

These women are the ones who people look up to and see as what they should look like. This can either be good or bad.

 

Cultural Effects model

• the media is heavily influenced by the dominant and most powerful groups in society.
• mass media gradually influences the audience over a period of time.
• forms stereotypes
• power of the dominant class to influence
• media audiences are not passive absorbers of media messages
• don't always have the same effect on media audiences
• influence in shaping peoples views on the world.

For example: The nuclear family is know as a stereotype. This is an hegemony. A Nuclear family (2 parents and a child/children) is what many people want to have in their lives and aim to achieve. This is because this is an ideology of the perfect family and if you have this specific type of family your life will be amazing and if not then your life could be better. This is definitely not the case but this is the message that the media portrays and this is what people want to achieve so they can 'fit in'.

 

Hegemonic values

• Education
• Able bodied
• 25 - 65
• White?
• City/Urban
• Attractive
• Heterosexuality?

The ideologies of society is that it is falling apart.

 

TV Sitcoms show how ideologies can change over time.

 

 

Mise-en-scene: Photoshop

This image looks like a peaceful environment that appears to have no dangers in it. in the image you can see a young girl is sitting on the beach, next to a bucket and spade, wearing appropriate clothing. you can see a dog running into the sea to enjoy the refreshing water. I used photoshop to create this image. 

Sound: edited fight scene

Types of sound:

• Digetic sound (diegesis): refers to sound that both the audience and the characters can hear (sound effects, music played in the scene).
• Non-diegetic sound: refers to sound that only the audience can hear (soundtrack music, played for effort, build tension in the audience, not in the scene).
• Sound bridge: will add continuity as sound from one scene carries onto the next.
• Voiceover: When a voice is heard whilst we see an image of space and time in which that character is not actually speaking.
• Parallel sound: will compliment whate we see.
• Dialogue: The use of speech by a character.
• Contrapuntal: A counterpart to what we see. What we see and hear does not match.
• Leitmotif: In music, a repeated phrase or theme used to suggest an idea or character in a story.
• Synchronous: Sound that matches the visual image such as dialogue matching up with the actors lip movements or the band of a gun as it is fired on camera.
• Asynchronous: Sound that does not derive from a source visibloe on the screen at the time it is heard. Such sound does not correspond to an actor's lip movements or other objects movement.

Sound is a powerful film technique for many reasons.
Sound engages a distinct sense whist can lead to a 'synchronization of senses' - making a single rhythm or expressive quality unify both image and sound.



Diegetic
Dialogue
Background noise
Sound made by objects in the scene
Music as seen played by instruments in the story.




Non-Diegetic
Voice over
Music (Soundtrack)
Sound effects for dramatic emphasis



The soundtrack can clarify image events, contradict the, or render them ambiguous. In all cases, the sound track can enter into an active relation with the image track. Sound gives a new value to silence. For example, quiet passage of film, unbearable tension, forcing the viewer to focus and wait for sound to emerge.



Sound in cinema is categorised into 3 type:

• Dialogue
• Music
• Sound effects

Realism: The sound already in the scene.
Hyper-realism: Heightened sound from the scene.
Unrealism: Unrealistic sounds added into the scene.


Four Main Tracks
Dialogue sound: recorded dialogue added in.
Wild track: adding in natural sounds.
Foley track: creating sound to add in.
Sound track: added music.

For the task in class we had to create out own fight scenes and add foley sounds into it. We done this by filing the scene and sounds separate. To do this we also had to create our own sounds to add in when we were editing it all together. We then added non-diegetic sound over the top (a soundtrack that matched the atmosphere of the scene).

http://youtu.be/B6m708P_PqA

Editing

Today in class we went through the micro-features: Movement/editing. We learnt about the types of camera movements, such as:

• Pan
• Tilt up/Tilt down
• Pedestal
• Track (forward/back)
• Crab (left/right)
• Hand-held
• Point-of-view shot
• Stedicam
• Zoom

We also went through what editing is:

• Essential part of post-production.
• Selection of film.
• How shots come together.
• Pace of editing.
• Enhancing or improving an image.
• Orders the narrative
• Transitions.
• Style of editing.

Editing is a post-production technique in which the fotage shot during production is cut up and reassembled in such a way as to tell the story.

The editor decides:

• The order of the secenes.
• The pace of the scenes.
• Which scenes to include or discard.

Edititng includes:

• The speed (shot duration).
• The style (connection(s) of shots).
• Transitions.

In class we were given the camera shots of:

• Eye-line Match
• Cross Cutting

We had to create a video in groups for each of there camera techniques and edit them together. This is the video:

http://youtu.be/c5f7JhSlqbU

Cinematography

In class we were looking at the types of shots and what they are meant to  do and why they are used. We then went off in groups to complete the task of taking an image for each of the types of shots.



 Establishing Shot

 Figures seem small in the landscape. This shot is often used at the beginning of a film or sequence to allow the audience to know the time period and location that the scene is taking place. It is also used to make a figure appear small or maybe even isolated.

This is an establishing shot from one of the 007 films. 

Over the shoulder Shot

A character over another's shoulder, often used in interviews or dialogues.

This is an over-the-shoulder shot from the film: Scott Pilgrim vs the world.

Low angle Shot

This shot is taken from below while looking up. This is used to make the character or object appear grand or threatening.

This is a low angle shot from the film 'Seven'.

Birds eye Shot

Looks vertically down at the character or object. This shot may sometimes be used to make the character or object seem inferior.

This is a birds eye shot of a certain landscape. 

High angle Shot

The camera looks down on the character causing them to look vunerable or insignificant.

This is a high angle shot from one of the 007 films. 

Long Shot

This is a shot in which the figure/character is seen from head to toe. Generally used to establish space or when we need to see the surrounding action.

This is a long shot from one of the Harry potter films.

Mid Shot

Shows the figure from approximately the waist to head. Individuals are easily recognised and you may even be able to see what they're doing with their hands.  

This is a mid shot from the film Titanic.

Extreme close-up

This shot is usually of the head only, used when expressions are important. May be even closer; used to convey extreme emotion.

This is an extreme close up shot from the first Kill Bill film. 

Close-up

This shot involves only the head and shoulders being in view. This enables you to easily be able to see facial expressions so you can see what a character is thinking/feeling. Also used to show the audience key actions and props.

This is a close-up shot of The Joker.

Medium close-up

Taken from head to chest.

This is a medium close-up from the movie 'The Shawshank Redemption'.

Two-shot

Any shot, generally a medium shot, to show two people.

This is a two shot from the film 'Avatar'.

Point of view Shot

A shot of a characters point of view. This shot allows the film-maker to place the audience in the position of the character to evoke emotions and empathy.

This is point of view shot from the film 'Orphan' from when John first meets Esther. 

Narrative Theory and character roles.

Narratology is a branch of structuralism that studies the nature of 'story' rather than individual tales in isolation. Structualists concern themselves with how meaning is established and maintained. Todorov spoke out about how the standard narrative/story has 3 main parts to it:

Beginning > Middle > End.

 

 

Todorov then went even further into this theory and decided that each of the main parts has a certain action that takes place in them:

 

 

Situation 1 > Problem > Resolution (Situation 2).

 

 

These parts can be broken down even further:

 

 

Equilibrium > Disruption > Disequilibrium > Attempt to repair the equilibrium > New equilibrium. 

 

Vladmir Propp was a Russian theorist who studied fairy tales and folklore. He identified plot elements (31 generis functions in total). Propp developed this into an 8 spheres of action narrative theory. The most easily understood application of this can be applied to many films including Mario Brother and the Star Wars films.

 

8 spheres of action (or character roles).

• Hero - who seeks something.
• Princess - acts as a reward for the hero and reason for villains scheming.
• Dispatcher - sends the hero on their quest.
• Helper - aids the hero.
• Anti-hero - disrupts the hero's quest. Villain - opposes the hero and blocks his/her quest.
• Donor - provides a magical object.
• Rewarder - provides the hero with a reward.

There are many types of story narrative structures - the most usual being:

• Linear - straightforward/traditional narrative.
• Circular - a narrative that starts at the end then relives the past events on how the end occurred.
• Episodic - a present event that in turn relates to a series of events that happened before (these past events are sometimes shown using flashback).

 



Reception theory powerpoint

In class we had to create a presentation in groups on a particular audience theory we were given. The theories were:

Hypodermic needle theory.

Two-step flow.

Uses and Gratifications theory.

Reception theory.

Culmination theory.

My group was given the reception theory to look into and create and present our PowerPoint on. We found out some information above which we presented to the class. We also had to talk about encoding/decoding. We then filled in a sheet as we listened to each groups presentation. We had to write about what the theory is and what is wrong with it. The sheet is below:

Narrative Homework

·         Hero: Veronica Harington- Author

·         Anti-Hero: Rico Coope – Nurse

·         Villain: Jackson Nobel- General Surgeon

·         The Donor: Granddad Bill- Deceased

·         Dispatcher/Helper: Vivienne Harington – General Surgeon

Story: Episodic.

Told in Veronica’s POV.

Equilibrium: 26 year old Veronica is on a plane to New York to attend a meeting, she coincidentally finds herself sat next to Cameron Quinn, an old friend from High School. She pulls out an old pocket watch belonging to her grandfather- stares at it fondly. Cameron comments on the watch, Veronica begin to tell him a story told in flashbacks.

Flashback begins.                                        

Equilibrium:  Begins with five year old Veronica with her granddad in his arm chair- tubes connected to his nose with an oxygen tank sitting next to him- telling her about his pocket watch then about a ‘cure’ he invented that could save him.

Flash forward to the year before present day: Veronica’s grandmother gives her grandfather’s pocket watch- she finds a date engraved on the back of the watch- 2805- but convinces her the date is a code. This marks the beginning of her journey to find a ‘cure’.

Disruption: Jackson Nobel introduced as the general surgeon who disapproves of this ‘cure’ because it doesn’t exist but Veronica believes it does. Rico Coope is a resident at the hospital who is trying to help Jackson.

Disequilibrium: Enlists her sister, Vivienne, to help her find the ‘cure’. Veronica tries to prove Jackson and Rico wrong by ‘finding’ it- goes all around her home town searching for answers belonging to ‘cure’.

Attempt to repair the disruption: Vivienne, sick of playing along to Veronica’s mission on finding the ‘cure’ her grandfather told her about when she was five, takes her to the hospital where Jackson, Rico and Vivienne all detain her in isolation.

New equilibrium: Three months later of seeking psychiatric help, Veronica is released and has accepted her grandfather’s death that died when she was 7 years old.

Veronica begins to use writing as a therapeutic emotional release, suggested by her sister. Once finished with the book she becomes determined to get the book published. After months of sending manuscripts she gets the attention of a publisher in New York.

Back to present day on the plane:  Plane begins to descend as she Veronica finishes her story. She then looks down at the pocket watch she’s holding and she places it around her neck. She stares at the manuscript on her lap titled: Untitled 2805.

My Summer Task.

 

“New Media technologies have completely changed the ways in which audiences interact with media texts”

Many different sources of media affect multiple lives daily. Over the years sources of media have improved, changed and developed. During the 19^th century media texts such as newspapers and books were extremely popular and part of the few media texts around during that period of time whereas nowadays in the 21st century, adverts in games and television are more up-to-date and popular. Television adverts nowadays are just as important to us as a nation as the newspaper was in the 19^th century. Just because our society is more technologic doesn’t mean that we have disposed of basic but important media texts – we still use the newspaper but most people have it online instead of an actual paper copy.

Years ago people had less of a chance to give their own opinion regarding things in the media, but that has changed greatly. There seems to be more freedom of speech in the 21^st century - meaning you can give your opinion on anything said in a media text. When giving your opinion on media texts, people may not always agree with you but you still have the right to give your honest opinion on it. Something that has developed greatly is the way film reviews are done. Yes, there are still the original reviews in newspapers and magazines but now there are also videos. Many amateur film reviewers like to watch a movie and create a video, giving their own ideologies and thoughts on the finished product they had viewed. There are also more bloggers who have a huge freedom of speech, allowing them to say whatever they want about a film, person or product as long as they have knowledge and reasons behind their opinion.

The ‘Hypodermic Needle Theory’ (also commonly known as the ‘Magic Bullet Theory’) is a theory in which the audience is hypothetically injected with a needle (shot with a bullet) of mass media. It is implied that mass media has a direct, immediate and powerful effect on its audiences. The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a large group of people by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with a certain message which is hoped to create a desired response. The mass media of the 1940’s and 1950’s was perceived as a powerful and great influence on behavioural changes. Propaganda, which was greatly used during the years of the Second World War (1939-1945), was used by a series of different countries on a massive scale to have a certain image or idea comprehended by their audiences. Propaganda continued to spread across the world, not only being used during the war, but also after, for many different reasons. It is used in a form of media in which the creator influences the attitude of a population or community towards a certain idea or some cause or position. Over the years propaganda has improved throughout the media. It is now featured in a multitude of ways throughout most types of media (newspaper ads, television commercials, radio, billboards ect).  

The Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT) is an approach to understanding why and how people use certain media to satisfy certain needs. The theory assumes that the audience has power over their media intake – it also assumes that the audience should be able to actively interpret media into their own lives. Most theories, such as the Hypodermic Needle Theory, all question ‘What does media do to people?’ while UGT questions ‘What do people do with the media?’ People seem to believe that the media only affects the people but that isn’t 100% true as people can affect the media too – they can even affect the way it is interpreted. For example, in Britain and many other countries throughout the world, buying a newspaper is an almost, if not, daily occurrence. Newspapers tend to focus on celebrity gossip, sport, or the daily lives of people. The purpose of a newspaper is to inform people of the news around them, whether it is good or bad, a credit crunch or a death; newspapers are there to inform the public of it all. People really affect the newspaper and the information received from it. If people do not agree with the information they have received from a newspaper most the time, but not all the time, readers can write in to the media text and give their view on the written text – this can sometimes be positive but other times not so much.     

Furthermore, another massively important and greatly used mass media source is the internet. There is a lot of controversy on what you can say and view on the internet. You can see almost anything you’d wish to online and many people do not agree with this way of media. As the Hypodermic Needle Theory questions ‘what does the media do to people? ’the internet is a great way for it to work it’s magic. Many people believe that you have no control over what you view online, but that’s a lie. The media doesn’t affect the people but rather it’s about what the people do with the media they have viewed. If you do not wish to view something on the internet then you do not have to. People are the main reason media and information gets spread around so quickly. On an internet website such as YouTube, videos can become viral. This is when people all the world watch this certain video. This can happen when people talk about the video and the information spreads around like wild fire. Like the Hypodermic Needle Theory says – it is like the audience, in this case a few people, is injected with a needle, the videos that they have just watched, and it has a direct effect on them, in this case the viewer/audience talks about the videos either via the internet in a blog or video or to another person.

Overall, new media technologies have changed the way that audiences react with media texts. The internet is the main and most used new media text that has changed the way people view the media and the world.  Being able to access almost anything you want to on this source of media helps to change most people’s views on the media – especially on celebrities who are always in there spotlight, and can now have photos taken of them and uploaded for the world to see within seconds. Posting something on the internet means it will stay there forever, even after it is deleted. It is a permanent source of media that will permanently store information. Many people do not agree with the way new media technologies have changed media texts but without these new technologies available to us our society would not be the way it is today.

Today I learnt about what an active audience is and the different audience theories.

Active audience
Different audiences can understand a media messages but can have different responses to it. Some people believe and accept the message, others reject it using knowledge from their own experience or can use processes of logic or other rationales to criticise what is being said.

Audience Theories

• Hypodermic Needle Theory - This theory states that a media message is literally injected into the audiences brain to make them believe in a certain idea or image that the publisher wants the audience to perceive. Problem - This theory isn't 100% true, not everyone is the same and not everyone interprets things the same way.
• Culmination Theory - This theory basically states that if a person watches something for a long length of time then they will believe/be convinced that this is an appropriate thing to do and that it is acceptable. For example, if a person was to play a violent video game for a long length of time then they will go on to participate in the same actions represented in the game and will believe it is acceptable is a normal thing to do in society.  Problem - Children desensitized to violence become more tolerant towards it.
• Two-Step Flow Model - This theory states that the media will represent a certain item/idea, someone will gain an opinion on it and pass their opinion on which will cause another member of the public to witness this item of media and will believe the opinion that they have heard or create their own opinion on this media text they have viewed. Problem - An opinion leader is not needed as information from the media will make it's way to most people anyway.
• Uses and Gratifications Theory - This theory states that audiences consume media texts for different reasons. These reasons may include: personal relations, personal identity, enjoyment, surveillance or personal experiences. Problem - This theory is difficult to measure.
• Reception Analysis (Reception Theory. This theory was focused on mainly by Stuart Hall in the 1970's. This theory provides a mean of understanding media texts and how the media encode it and the audience decodes it. We may decode media texts based on personal identity or even personal experiences. An active audience is needed for this. Problem - Audiences may not decode the message media has given/portrayed and will believe whatever the media encodes.

In the first lesson for media I found out what is to come in the media AS subject and what is expected to be done for both the coursework side of the course and the exam area.

 

 

 

In lesson I also learned about psychographics. I learned that most students are either 'explorers' or expirers' and the older generation are mainly 'mainstreamers'.

I also discovered about Demographics. I was taught that people are put into blocks on what their class is and their jobs. These blocks are used to help find out the target audience for a product would be and that, for example, an upper-class adult would most likely be in Block A. B or C1 and are mostly targeted as they have money while people in group C2, D and E are less like to be the target audience as they earn less money or no money, such as a student or someone who is unemployed.