Wednesday 15 October 2014

Ideologies

Ideologies

This quote from Kat Dennings goes against normal ideologies because most people would love to be famous, and they don't care what they are famous for as long as they are. This tells us that due to the portrayal of celebrities and celeb life, people want to be famous, to be like their idols but people that are famous know the work you have to put in.

This magazine with Dave Grohl on the front portrays ideologies such as, people in bands and associated with the rock genre are scary, and menacing. It also plays against certain ideologies though, such as, he has long hair, usually meant for girls. Also, the whole band are in his mouth and very small, portraying that he is the main guy in the band, and the others are inferior. 

The poster above, featuring Kate Moss, has a woman standing there in dark colours like grey and black, and quotes "Nothing tastes as good as skinny." This promotes anorexia, and tells girls if they want to be skinny and look like this they should not eat, starve themselves, and it also portrays that it won't hurt them but they will feel good about it, and it will make them look and feel better if they are skinner.

Friday 3 October 2014

The American Film Industry



The American Film Industry.

Origins of American Film Industry.

The origins and development of the American film industry are from the period 1895-1930.
During this time the emerging industry developed into an important popular medium organised into clearly defined exhibition, production, and distribution elements.

The Studio Era.

The period from 1930 to 1949 in American film industry is known as the studio era.

There were the 'BIG FIVE' /majors.
All of the big five studios are vertically integrated. This is 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 owed to production studios, the distribution companies, and most of the cinemas in the US.


Production studios
Distribution
Cinemas

The end of the Studio Era.

In 1949, the major studios were forced t sell off he cinema chins that they owned by the US government, after a court ruling that their practices were monopolistic.
The American film industry declined further in the 1950s due to the rise of television.
It wasn't until the late 1980s that Hollywood studios fully recovered.

The Contemporary American Film Industry.

The American film industry is now dominated by dix major film companies.
The contemporary 'BIG SIX' account for nearly 90% of the North American Film Market.
Al of these companies are SUBSIDIARIES of major MEDIA CONGLOMERATES. 

SUBSIDIARIES are companies underneath other companies.
MEDIA CONGLOMERATES are the main companies over the subsidiaries.


The 'BIG SIX' - major studio subsidiaries.
  • Warner Bros.. pictures owned by Time Warner
  • 20th Century Fox owned by News Corporation
  • Paramount Pictures owned by Viacom
  • Columbia Pictures/Sony owned by Sony
  • Walk Disney/Touchstone Pictures owned by Disney
  • Universal Studios owned by General Electric/Vivendi



Horizontal Integration



FUND---FUND




These two companies 
fund the movie.


America--------------------  Europe


^^This company                             ^^This company will
will pay to put it out                         pay to put it out in
in America.                                        Europe.



Cinema/DVD

This is responsible for putting it 
in cinemas and releasing it on 
DVD.















Wednesday 1 October 2014

Ideologies and Values.

Ideologies and Values.
 
Dominant reading - The reading media producers hope the audience will take from the media.
Negotiated reading - Audienes acknoledge the preferred reading, but modify it to suit their own values/opinions.
Oppositional reading - Audience members from outside the target audience reject the preferred reading completely and make their own opinions.  
 
 
 
Active audience thory has been critisied harshly in part beause it seems to suggest mporal relaivism. If every meaning is up for neotiaion, there are no absolute truths.
 
An instituion is any organisation operating in the media.
 
Ideology is tied to audience.
 
Ideological dicourse: The views taken on hese subjects from the basis of our social rules and practice:
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Gender
  • Sexuality
  • Racism
  • Feminism
  • Nationalism/National Identity
  • Youth/Age
  • Left Wing/Right Wing Politics
  • Environmentalism
  • Public/Personal Reality
  • Crime and Punishment.
 


Mis-en-scene.

Mis-en-scene is basically eveything in a scene.
It involves:
  • Sets/settings
  • Lighting/Colour
  • Costume/Make-up
  • Props
  • Performance
  • Positioning of Characters.

Below, is the link to my photoshopped edit of a scene.
This scene involves:
  • Setting: A stage, with a crowd.
  • Lighting/Colour: It is really dark, but the fire is an orangey red so it stands out.
  • Cosumes/Make-up: They are all skeletons.
  • Props:here is drums, a microphone and an electric guitar.
  • Characters:they are all on the stage performing at a concert.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qvni145hubrg0vr/Untitled-1.psd?dl=0

Tuesday 30 September 2014

Our edited video.

 
 
This is our editing video^
The editing techniques we are showing are:
 
 
Eyeline match: A type of edit which cuts from one character to what that character has been looking at.
 

AND
 
 
Cross cutting: The editing technique of alternating, interweaving, or interspersing one narrative action (scene, sequence or event) with another - usually in different locations or places, thus combining the two: this usually suggests parallel action. Often used to dramatically build suspense in chase scenes or to compare two different scenes.
 

Camera movements: Editing.

What is Editing?
 
Editing is a post-production process technique in which the footage shot during production is cut up and reassembled in such a way as to tell the story.
 
 
  • Pace of editing
  • Orders the narrative
  • Selection of film
  • Essential part of post- production
  • Style of editing
  • Transitions.
 
 
The editor decides:
 
  • The order of the scenes
  • The pace of the scenes
  • Which scenes to include or discard.
 
 
The speed of editing (shot duration) :
  • Fast paced editing
  • Slow paced editing
  • Change of editing pace.
 
 
 
The style of editing (connection of shots):
  • Transitions.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Editing Techniques
 
Continuity editing: The most common type of editing, which aims to create a sense of reality and time moving forward. Also nick named invisible editing referring to how the technique does not draw attention to the editing process.
 
Jump cut: An abrupt, disorientating transitional device in the middle of a continuous shot in which the action is noticeably advanced in time and/or cut between two similar shots, usually done to create discontinuity for artistic effect.
 
Match-on-action: A shot that emphasises continuity of space and time by matching the action of the preceding shot with the continuation of the action. (For example a shot of a door opening after a shot of a close up of a character's hand turning a door handle.
 
Cutaways: A brief shot that momentarily interrupts continuous action by briefly inserting another related action, object or person (sometimes part of the principle scene or main action) followed by a cutback to the original shot.
 
Parallel Editing: A type of editing in which events in two locations are cut together, in order to imply a connection between the two sets of events.


Microfeatures: Camera movement.

Cinematography: Camera Movement.

  • Pan - Moving the camera lens to one side or another.

  • Tilting - Moving the camera lens up or down whilst keeping its horizontal axis constant.

  • Pedestal - Moving the camera up and down without changing its horizontal or vertical axis. Pedestal up means move the camera up and pedestal down means move the camera down. You are not tilting the lens, rather moving the entire camera up/down.

  •  Tracking - The camera is mounted upon a cart which travels along tracks.

  • Crab - side-to-side movement at a constant distance from the action.

  • Hand-held - The camera operators hold he camera making it either shaky or steady.

  • Point-of-view shot - The camera is showing a shot from the persons perspective.

  • Steadicam - This mechanically isolates the camera from the operator's movement. It allows for a smooth shot, even on a bumpy surface.

  • Zoom - Changing the focal length of the image to make it appear closer or further away.

Friday 19 September 2014

Cinematography.

Today we learnt about the different tyoes of camera shots and when they are used.




Establishing shot: This is when the figure is seen in the distance of a landscape. Often used in the beginning of a movie or tv show to establish the main character.

My example: an establishing shot from Doctor who.
 
 
Point of view shot: A characters point of view. This is usually used when the director wants to put the audience into a certain characters shoes and so sees the scene how that charcter would.
My example: Supernatural point of view shot
 
 
Over the shoulder shot: One character over anothers shoulder. Often used in dialogue or interviews.
My example: Supernatural over the shoulder shot.
 
Low angle shot: The camera is below the actor, pointing upwards, making the character look threatening or majestic.
My example: Supernatural low angle shot.
 
 
High angle shot: the camera looks downon the actor/character, making them look either weak or insignificant.
 
My example: Prisonbreak high angle shot.
 
 
Birds eye shot: This is when the camera looks directly down on a character/scene. Often used to give you the full picture, or to introduce a new setting.
 
My example: Resident Evil, Afterlife birds eye shot.
 
 
Long Shot: Shows you a figure from foot to head, either used to establish space, or to show us the area around said figure.
My example: Doctor Who longshot.
 
Medium/mid shot: Shows figures from around the waist area to the head. It is usually used when directors want you to recognise the character and also sometimes so you cansee their hand actions.
My example: Supernatural Mid-shot.
 
 
Extreme close up: This is from the persons eyebrows, to the underneath of their lips, usually used to emphasise their facial expressions.
My example: Jared Padalecki extreme close up.
 
 
Medium close up: This is a figures chest to their head, this is often used to show characters emotions.
My example: Sueprnatural medium close up.

 
 
Close up: This is just a persons face and shoulders, this is also used to emphasise a persons facial expressions, but also so you can still see some of their surrounings,
My example: Supernatural close up.
 
Two Shot: This is when two people are in the shot, this is often used to show you the relationship between the two characters.
My example: Prisonbreak two shot.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Wednesday 17 September 2014

Narrative.

In Lesson today, we learnt about Tzetzan Todorov and the way he sees a narrative theory.
e.g. Beginning>Middle>End.

We also learnt about the structure of a narrative.
Equilibrium; how the characters appear at the start of the story.
Disruption; The problem 'an agent of change'
Disequilibrium; Something happens to disrupt the solving of the problem.
Attempt to repair the disruption; there may be a twist or a climatic point here.
New equilibrium; A new equilibrium is established, kind of similar to the first equilibrium.


We also learnt the different types of narratives.

Circular; Where the story starts at the end and tells the whole story.
Episodic; When the characters have flashbacks of the story in 'episodes'
Linear; Just a traditional narrative.

We also learnt about Vladmir Propp and the eight spheres of action/character roles.
1.Hero; who seeks something,
2. Princess; acts as a reward for the hero.
3.Dispatcher; sends the hero on their quest.
4.Helper; aids the hero
5.Anti-hero' disrupts the heros quest.
6. Villain; opposes the hero.
7.Donor; provides a magical object to help the hero in his quest.
8. Rewarder; provides the hero with a reward.

Cropping A picture homework.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8zlo3wnbzvltmdk/This%20picture%20is%20showing%20how%20the%20people%20in%20Mexico.docx?n=336466717


This is my croping a picture homework.

Narrative Story. - Black Riding Hood.

Spheres of Action

Antagonist/False Hero - Huntsman
Villain - Big Bad Wolf.
The Princess - Black Riding Hood.
The Mcguffin(the thing everyone goes after) - Grandma.

Story

Beginning - Black Riding Hood goes to visit Grandma.
Middle - The Wolf eats Grandma and the Black Riding Hood when she arrives.
End - Huntsman arrives and then eats everyone because he's a cannibal.

Narrative

The narrative we used is circular narrative. The story is the voice over for the whole story

New Equilibrium - At the beginning, we see Grandma, the Big bad wolf and Black Riding Hood on spit roasts, and you see the Huntsman eating someones arm.
Equilibrium - There's a falshback to when Black Riding Hood goes to visit her Grandma.
Disruption - Wolf overhears her talking about going to her Grandma's house, and instead , gets there first.
Diseqilibrium - Wolf eats the Grandma and then pretends to be her. Black Riding Hood then comes in and gets eaten.
Attempt to repair disruption - The Huntsman comes in and kills the wolf, then cuts him open to get Grandma and Black Riding Hood out. However, he kills them both anyway.
New Equilibrium - Huntsman takes the bodies back to his house and spitroasts them in his garden and eats them.


Done with Amina.


Tuesday 16 September 2014

Lesson Two: Audiences. What I Learnt.

Today, we learned about 5 Audience Theorys.
These are:
Hyperdermic Needle Theory;
Culmination Theory;
Two-Step Flow Model;
Uses and Gratifications;
Reception Analysis.

The Hyperdermic Needle Theory is the theory that the messages from the media are injected directly into the audiences brain and that the audience will only see it in the way in which the media portrays it. The flaw in this theory is that it is seen as bad, as it can cause panic within the audiences.

The Culmination Theory is the theory that if you see an action; such as violence, happening all the time in the media without any consequences, you yourself are going to eventually be desensitised towards the idea of violence, and in fact, accept it if you see it happening. The major flaw with this theory is that it has yet to be proven/disproven because it is getting increasingly more difficult to prove/disprove it.

The Two-Step Flow Model is the theory that the mass media goes through an opinion leader before it actually reaches the mass audience, and those opinion leaders tell certain groups of audiences how to feel about what the media has published audiences believe them unquestioningly. The one major flaw in this theory is that we no longer need opinion leaders to tell us how to feel as we are all independant and we can find ways of getting to media on our own terms.

The Uses and Gratifications theory is the theory that The active audience consumes media for these reasons:
Diversion,
Personal relationships,
Personal identity,
Surveillance,
and Entertainment.

The Recpetion Analysis Theory is the theory that producers encode messages through the media and the audiences themselves decode the messages to how they understand it. the flaw within tis thoeory is that many audiences may decode the message the wrong way and not understand it as well as intended.

Lesson Two:Audience

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d56j3pjyp2fzjri/The%20Culmination%20Theory%20%281%29.pptx?dl=0








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