For my AS production I had to create a 2 minute opening sequence for a film. The genre we chose to do was Thriller. Before beginning the production we had to research some existing products to give us an insight of the typical codes and conventions of the genre which would allow us to create a product that audiences would recognise and meet their expectations. A particular existing product we analysed was 'Se7en' created in 1995 by David Fincher. As a group we all looked at the opening segment and analysed it individually. We then presented our ideas to eachother, and we noticed that all of us had some different ways of interpreting the sequence. This links in with the Active audience theory which says that people receive and interpret messages in different ways. This is something that benefitted us as we all came up with certain ideas based on the individual analysis we did and we ended up using some of everyone's ideas.
Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet in 1994 came up with a two step flow theory where people discuss media texts in their social networks where there will usually be an opinion leader who sets the main opinions for what the rest of the group think. This relates to our AS production as during the first rough cut of our thriller opening, one person mentioned that there was too much walking from the main character and not enough action, and many other peers in the class agreed and built on that opinion. This gave us useful feedback and resulted in an extra day of filming where more shots were taken both of the title sequence and the conversation.
Once the filming has been completed, we moved on to the editing phase where many decision were made relating to editing techniques, effects, and the ways in which the media will respond to these conventions. David Morley's study of the Nationwide audience shows that audiences can receive media in different ways. They can either read it in a dominant way (or hegemonic way) which is the way the text should be read, in a negotiated way, which partly accepts the codes displayed but interprets some things in different ways to suit their own interests, or in an oppositional way which completely rejects the preferred reading. This relates to our production because the 'static tv' effect shown in the opening sequence was intended to be a representation of a CCTV camera, and while some of the audience accepted it, some of the audience thought it was a CCTV camera with interruptions from another source (the main antagonist), and some of the audience did not recognise it to be a CCTV camera at all and instead thought it was simply a transition between shots.
To conclude, our AS production was finished with many codes and conventions that can be interpreted in different ways by audiences, some of those codes and conventions may be accepted for what they were intended to be while other ones may be rejected and seen in a completely different light.
Friday, 27 April 2012
Describe how your analysis of the conventions of real media texs informed your own creative practise. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills have been developed over time.
For my AS production I had to create a 2 minute opening sequence for a Thriller movie. To be able to do this I had to do a lot of research on existing real media texts. Examples of existing real media texts include 'Se7en' directed by David Fincher in 1995, SAW and SAW II (2004, Directed by James Wan and 2005, Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman) as well as some elements from Psycho, Directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1960.
My primary role in the group was to lead the editing part of the production. This meant during my research on existing products I focused on analysing the effects, transitions, camera shots, angles, movement and more to help me better understand the conventions of the Thriller genre and what makes an effective opening sequence. One of the most obvious conventions of a Thriller genre are the sountracks used. For example, the soundtrack of Se7en fits well with it's opening sequence because the person is performing unnatural tasks that a normal person would not do such as highlighting names, sewing up pieces of paper, sharpening blades etc. This inspired me to make a similar opening sequence as the storyline of our production was similar to that of Se7en. This required me to improve my editing skills significantly as some of the effects used were complex. To be able to do this I had to look up many tutorials of Sony Vegas (the editing software we used) and look at how certain effects are created.
Another convention which I realised was that the identity of the murderer is almost never revealed in the opening of the thriller. This changed our plans as in our initial shooting script the murderer and main antagonist was the inspectors partner and we planned to introduce him immediately. However, we decided it would be better to change this and instead only reveal his voice, which leaves some enigma in the audience as they wonder what the murderer's appearance is like. To achieve this, I did an effect where the lights turn off when the murderer walks into the hallway and all we are able to see is his shirt collar (as it is white).
The conclude, my analysis of the codes and conventions of real media texts have been very useful in informing my own creative practise. It has helped me to change some of the initial features in the video which in hindsight would not have been very effective, such as revealing the identity of the murderer and it also helped me to greatly improve the title sequence with new features. Analysing real media texts have improved my editing skills and also my analysis skills as I had to watch many different opening scenes multiple times to extract as much information as possible.
My primary role in the group was to lead the editing part of the production. This meant during my research on existing products I focused on analysing the effects, transitions, camera shots, angles, movement and more to help me better understand the conventions of the Thriller genre and what makes an effective opening sequence. One of the most obvious conventions of a Thriller genre are the sountracks used. For example, the soundtrack of Se7en fits well with it's opening sequence because the person is performing unnatural tasks that a normal person would not do such as highlighting names, sewing up pieces of paper, sharpening blades etc. This inspired me to make a similar opening sequence as the storyline of our production was similar to that of Se7en. This required me to improve my editing skills significantly as some of the effects used were complex. To be able to do this I had to look up many tutorials of Sony Vegas (the editing software we used) and look at how certain effects are created.
Another convention which I realised was that the identity of the murderer is almost never revealed in the opening of the thriller. This changed our plans as in our initial shooting script the murderer and main antagonist was the inspectors partner and we planned to introduce him immediately. However, we decided it would be better to change this and instead only reveal his voice, which leaves some enigma in the audience as they wonder what the murderer's appearance is like. To achieve this, I did an effect where the lights turn off when the murderer walks into the hallway and all we are able to see is his shirt collar (as it is white).
The conclude, my analysis of the codes and conventions of real media texts have been very useful in informing my own creative practise. It has helped me to change some of the initial features in the video which in hindsight would not have been very effective, such as revealing the identity of the murderer and it also helped me to greatly improve the title sequence with new features. Analysing real media texts have improved my editing skills and also my analysis skills as I had to watch many different opening scenes multiple times to extract as much information as possible.
Saturday, 21 April 2012
Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making.
In Year 12 for my AS Production I was given the task to create a 2 minute opening to a film. Our group chose the Thriller genre. In year 13 for my A2 production I was given the task to create a music video for a song of our choice, along with a website for the band and a digipack. Our group chose the Punk Rock genre for this production. Before beginning any work on productions it was important that we did some research on pre-existing products of the same genre to be able to gain an insight of the typical codes and conventions of the genre. This would allow us to create a product of which the genre would be easily recognisable by the audience and would meet their expecations.
For my Thriller opening, I used a number of websites to obtain information on similar products. Some examples of websites our group utilised are google, imdb, YouTube, wikipedia and more. YouTube was perhaps the most beneficial to our production as we were able to view the actual film openings and trailers which gave us a lot of inspiration. One particular film which inspired us was 'Se7en' which had a very striking film opening, and many of the effects used in the opening ended up as part of our opening as well. From this research I found that in the Thriller film mystery and enigma plays a large factor especially in the beginning of films to draw the audinece in and make them want to watch the rest of the film. This is a feature which I included in the opening as well as the identity of the killer is not clear due to a blacked out screen.
For my A2 production of creating the music video, website and digipack, the same process was carried out as I initially did not know a lot about the Rock/Punk Rock genre. Through researching various music videos including 'Fat Lip' by SUM 41 and 'In too Deep' also by SUM 41, I gathered that the Punk/Rock genre consists of very fast paced shots with swift camera movement and various shot types constantly changing. This helped me figure out how the editing would work and inspired me to take many shots for each segment of the music video during the recording phase. I also researched the band's official website which showed the type of information that needs to be presented and also the designs they use to make their website as professional as possible. I feel like I have greatly increased my skills throughout this A2 production with regards to editing and the camera shots used. Creating a music video is very different to creating a Thriller opening sequence and while both of them are compelx in their own ways, I feel the music video took more effort to create. This is partially due to the large amount of shots used compared to the Thriller opening, as well as the increased variety in shot types which sometimes required many takes to get a result I was satisfied with. I also feel like this production has required me to become more familiar with the software I was using. Both productions were editing using Sony Vegas Pro 10, and to be able to create the music video I had to look at turoails for effects such as the 3 shot transition in the beginning of the video, and the colour tint at the end of the video. Furthermore, this production required many new forms of software which I have not previously seen such as bubbl, xtranormal, pixton, and more.
Overall I feel like many of my skills have greatly improved this year as opposed to last year. Primarily, my organisational skills had to be improved on as this production seemed much more time consuming than last year's, with many different recording days and a schedule for editing, I also feel like my skills with software in general have increasing. In particular, my skills with Adobe Photoshop before this year have been medicore and I relied on inferior software to do image editing. However, this year I felt it would be useful if I become more familiar and ended up doing a lot of practice work which resulted in what I feel are some professioal looking T-Shirt designs on the website.
For my Thriller opening, I used a number of websites to obtain information on similar products. Some examples of websites our group utilised are google, imdb, YouTube, wikipedia and more. YouTube was perhaps the most beneficial to our production as we were able to view the actual film openings and trailers which gave us a lot of inspiration. One particular film which inspired us was 'Se7en' which had a very striking film opening, and many of the effects used in the opening ended up as part of our opening as well. From this research I found that in the Thriller film mystery and enigma plays a large factor especially in the beginning of films to draw the audinece in and make them want to watch the rest of the film. This is a feature which I included in the opening as well as the identity of the killer is not clear due to a blacked out screen.
For my A2 production of creating the music video, website and digipack, the same process was carried out as I initially did not know a lot about the Rock/Punk Rock genre. Through researching various music videos including 'Fat Lip' by SUM 41 and 'In too Deep' also by SUM 41, I gathered that the Punk/Rock genre consists of very fast paced shots with swift camera movement and various shot types constantly changing. This helped me figure out how the editing would work and inspired me to take many shots for each segment of the music video during the recording phase. I also researched the band's official website which showed the type of information that needs to be presented and also the designs they use to make their website as professional as possible. I feel like I have greatly increased my skills throughout this A2 production with regards to editing and the camera shots used. Creating a music video is very different to creating a Thriller opening sequence and while both of them are compelx in their own ways, I feel the music video took more effort to create. This is partially due to the large amount of shots used compared to the Thriller opening, as well as the increased variety in shot types which sometimes required many takes to get a result I was satisfied with. I also feel like this production has required me to become more familiar with the software I was using. Both productions were editing using Sony Vegas Pro 10, and to be able to create the music video I had to look at turoails for effects such as the 3 shot transition in the beginning of the video, and the colour tint at the end of the video. Furthermore, this production required many new forms of software which I have not previously seen such as bubbl, xtranormal, pixton, and more.
Overall I feel like many of my skills have greatly improved this year as opposed to last year. Primarily, my organisational skills had to be improved on as this production seemed much more time consuming than last year's, with many different recording days and a schedule for editing, I also feel like my skills with software in general have increasing. In particular, my skills with Adobe Photoshop before this year have been medicore and I relied on inferior software to do image editing. However, this year I felt it would be useful if I become more familiar and ended up doing a lot of practice work which resulted in what I feel are some professioal looking T-Shirt designs on the website.
Looking at two types of Media, describe the ways in which a particular group of people are collectively represented or provided for, using specific examples to support your response.
As time has progressed, the media has increasingly portrayed youth in a negative light and as a danger to society. The mass media uses their power of influence to control our opinions with exaggerated portrayals which makes the general public create a stereotypical view of all youths regardless of the fact that there are only a small number of outliers that truly match these represnetations. Messages can be delivered through text, but also through the use of films. Kidulthood, directed by Noel Clarke in 2006 is a perfect example of the media delivering messages to the public. Youths as a collective identity are represented in the film as being sexually promiscuous, violent, rude and disrespectful. This combined with the fact that Noel Clarke himself said he was trying to give a realistic impression of youths in London and that he grew up in these surroundings can easily convince the audiences that this is how all youths behave. This representation of youth started long before Kidulthood however. In 1955, Rebel without a cause portrayed the same sort of messages that youth are rebellious. Although much less extreme, it still showed actions which back then would have been frowned upon such as undoing top buttons, driving reckless, getting arrested and more.
The London riots is another good example of the media representing youths in a negative light. The media made it seem as if all of the rioters and looters were youths when in fact many were adults. They used clothing to associate certain people with the stereotype that they are dangerous. Many people during the riots wore hoodies and balaclavas to hide their identities which is now associated with violence. This is now a way youths can find their collective identities by simply wearing certain types of clothing as they will be seen by the general public to be part of a gang when the case might simply be they are cold. Web 2.0 has been very effective at helping youths create their collective identities. During the London 2011 Riots, looters used social media such as facebook and twitter to post pictures of the items they looted. They also used these webistes to communicate and co-ordinate new attacks. Henri Jenkins said 'teens are constantly updating and customizing their profiles, adding photos and posting on each other's walls, these activities can also be means for teens to construct and experiment with their identity'. Youths use forms of social media to express their opinions because it is much more difficult for adults to restrict their activities as often they do not even understand how such things work.
Web 2.0 also helped the London Riots spread quicker. In 1981, the Brixton riots was a similar case except it was much smaller scale because the information could only be spread by word of mouth whereas with the London Riots it escalated to a point where the government wanted to shut down twitter and blackberry messenger (unsuccessfully).
With regards to the future, it is unlikely that any time soon youths will be relinquished of their stereotypical view. In fact, it is likely to get worse as youths are now seeming to embrace their stereotypical representations and are genuinely riding around on bmx bikes wearing hoodies with pitbulls, which creates a moral panic within the general public. To conclude, youths use web 2.0 to form their collective identities and until the media stops with the stereotypes, youths will continue to rebel against society.
The London riots is another good example of the media representing youths in a negative light. The media made it seem as if all of the rioters and looters were youths when in fact many were adults. They used clothing to associate certain people with the stereotype that they are dangerous. Many people during the riots wore hoodies and balaclavas to hide their identities which is now associated with violence. This is now a way youths can find their collective identities by simply wearing certain types of clothing as they will be seen by the general public to be part of a gang when the case might simply be they are cold. Web 2.0 has been very effective at helping youths create their collective identities. During the London 2011 Riots, looters used social media such as facebook and twitter to post pictures of the items they looted. They also used these webistes to communicate and co-ordinate new attacks. Henri Jenkins said 'teens are constantly updating and customizing their profiles, adding photos and posting on each other's walls, these activities can also be means for teens to construct and experiment with their identity'. Youths use forms of social media to express their opinions because it is much more difficult for adults to restrict their activities as often they do not even understand how such things work.
Web 2.0 also helped the London Riots spread quicker. In 1981, the Brixton riots was a similar case except it was much smaller scale because the information could only be spread by word of mouth whereas with the London Riots it escalated to a point where the government wanted to shut down twitter and blackberry messenger (unsuccessfully).
With regards to the future, it is unlikely that any time soon youths will be relinquished of their stereotypical view. In fact, it is likely to get worse as youths are now seeming to embrace their stereotypical representations and are genuinely riding around on bmx bikes wearing hoodies with pitbulls, which creates a moral panic within the general public. To conclude, youths use web 2.0 to form their collective identities and until the media stops with the stereotypes, youths will continue to rebel against society.
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