Wednesday 4 March 2009
self evaluation- how to maintain my target grade
Wednesday 28 January 2009
To explore how media texts appeal to different audiences
Historical background-
• If you were living a hundred and fifty years ago photography, film, television,
radio and computers as we know them would all have seemed like fantasies.
• The cliché about pre-media times is that people made their own entertainment
• The kinds of things that people did in their leisure time were either likely to be fairly independent things such as reading, or they would involve mixing with many other people such as going to a play or musical.
• Media has separated people e.g. video games cause youngsters to become alienated
• It can be argued that on the other hand media brings people closer together e.g. one night a soap opera comes on and people get together and have a conversation about it.
• The media are often experienced by people alone. (Some critics have talked about media audiences as atomised – cut off from other people like separate atoms)
• Wherever they are in the world, the audience for a media text are all receiving exactly the same thing.
The audience as ‘mass’
According to many theorists, particularly in the early history of the subject, when
we listen to our CDs or sit in the cinema, we become part of a mass audience in many ways
like a crowd at a football match or a rock concert but at the same time very different because
separated from all the other members of this mass by space and sometimes time.
Obvious ways to classify audiences are by age, gender, race and location (where they live).
Income bracket/status
One way to classify audiences is by their class, which is normally judged on the kind of job
the main wage-earner of the householder has
• A: Upper middle class
Top management, bankers, lawyers, doctors and other professionals
• B:Middle class
Middle management, teachers, many 'creatives' eg graphic designers
etc
• C1: Lower middle class
Office supervisors, junior managers, nurses, specialist clerical staff etc
• C2: Skilled working class
Skilled workers, tradespersons (white collar)
• D :Working class
Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers (blue collar)
• E: People at lowest level of income
Unemployed, students, pensioners, casual workers
Young and Rubicam’s Four Consumers
As the concept of class became less fashionable, advertisers started thinking about audiences in different ways. One of the best-known was devised by the advertising agency Young and
Rubicam.
Mainstreamers
Make up 40% of the population. They like security, and
belonging to a group.
Aspirers
Want status and the esteem of others. Like status symbols,
designer labels etc. Live off credit and cash.
Succeeders People who have already got status and control.
Reformers Define themselves by their self-esteem and self-fulfilment.
LifeMatrix
One of the latest approaches to audience targeting has grown out of the field of Market
Research. The LifeMatrix tool, launched by MRI and RoperASW, defines ten audience
Categories, centred around both values, attitudes and beliefs, and more fundamental,
Demographic audience categories.
1. Tribe wired Digital, free-spirited, creative young singles
2. Fun/Atics Aspirational, fun-seeking, active young people
3. Dynamic Duos Hard-driving, high-involvement couples
4. Priority Parents Family values, activities, media strongly dominate
5. Home Soldiers Home-centric, family-oriented, materially ambitious
6. Renaissance Women Active, caring, affluent, influential mums
7. Rugged Traditionalists Traditional male values, love of outdoors
8. Struggling Singles High aspirations, low economic status
9. Settled elders Devout, older, sedentary lifestyles
10. Free Birds Vital, active, altruistic seniors
• Different types of media texts measure their audiences in different ways.
Film Figures are based on box office receipts, rather than the number of
people who have actually seen the movie. Subtract the production costs
of a movie from the box office receipts to find out how much money it
made, and therefore how successful it has been in the profit-driven
movie business. Be aware that a film which does not cost much to make
(eg The Blair Witch Project) and takes even a modest amount at the box office can be considered a greater success than a big action movie which cost more, has a bigger set of box office receipts (ie lots more people went to see it) but has a smaller profit margin. Also be aware that film companies are very coy about publishing production costs of a movie, and that they rarely include the cost of a film's marketing budget, which is probably at least a third again of the production costs, and is frequently more. in some cases, the marketing budget may exceed the cost of originally making the film – Four Weddings & a Funeral's American marketing spend is an example of this.
Print Magazines and newspapers measure their circulation (ie numbers of copies sold). They are open about these figures - they have to be as these are the numbers quoted to advertisers when negotiating the price of a page.
Radio/TV Measuring the number of viewers and listeners for a TV/Radio programme or whole station's output is a complex business. Generally, an audience research agency (eg BARB) will select a sample of the population and monitor their viewing and listening habits over the space of 7 days. The data gained is then extrapolated to cover the whole population, based on the percentage sample. It is by no means an accurate science. The numbers obtained are known as the viewing figures or ratings.
Influencing the audience
If audience is a mass, it raises all kinds of questions about the power of the media to influence people – not just individuals, but whole sectors of society. There have been a number of theories over the years about how exactly the media work on the mass audience.
The hypodermic model
Perhaps the most simple to understand is the hypodermic syringe this has been very popular down the years with many people who fear the effects of the media. It grew out of what is referred to as The Frankfurt School, a group of German Marxists in the 1930s who witnessed first hand how Hitler used propaganda to influence a nation. The Communists in the Soviet
Union had a similar impact.
According to the theory the media is like a syringe which injects ideas, attitudes and beliefs into the audience who as a powerless mass have little choice but to be influenced – in other words, you watch something violent, you may go and do something violent, you see a woman washing up on TV and you will want to do the same yourself if you are a woman and if you are a man you will expect women to do the washing up for you.
The theory: Violence in the Media encourages viewers to imitate what they see
The cultivation/culmination theory
• The theory (1): Violence in the Media de-sensitises the audience to violence in general.
• The theory (2): Violence in the media erodes inbuilt inhibitions against acting in certain ways.
Two more theories: identification and sensitisation
• Identification: Violence in the media releases tension and desires through identification with fictional characters and events (catharsis)
• Sensitisation: Violence in the media can sensitise people to the effects of violence
Sunday 18 January 2009
self evaluation
1. ive given myself this score because i try my hardest in media class and put in all my effort.
effort-
1) i try my hardest in all my subjects including media, and try to complete my work on time.
punctuality-
2) there have been some days where i havent been in school so my attendance aint all that but iv always been on time when i have been in school.
submission and quality of homework-
2) to be honest i havent completed some pieces of homework on time due to the exams or cos i aint been at school, but i have done some good pieces of homework this term.
ability to work independently-
3) i get distracted quite a lot but i try hard to work by myself when i have to
quality of writing-
1) in my essays that iv written ive tried to include all the media key terms that ive learnt.
organization of media folder-
1) my folder has all the work up to date and is split for each teacher as well as the media blog work so when it comes to revision i will find it easy to look at work from both classes.
oral contribution in class-
3) for some reason i aint been talking that much in class this term
contributions to media production-
1) weve all worked hard as a group and even though our idea wasnt accepted by Mr Bush weve still stuck together and have come up with another plan.
WWW: organization of media folder
EBI: Contribute More In Lessons.
Wednesday 14 January 2009
nbs
Tuesday 23 December 2008
How film trailers attract an audience- Dawn of the dead trailer
The genre of the film is established mainly through the make up used in the beginning of the trailer, which is used on the little girl signifying that she is a zombie. Through out the later stages in the trailer, the make up also gives away the genre as the zombies are shown through the use of blood mutated bodies. Other things like screaming, violence and quick editing which helps bring out the genre are used to create a more dramatic effect, showing the audience what to expect in the film.
The target audience is given away through things like the sound, which includes screaming, shouting and sounds which zombies make along with people getting attacked from zombies. The information which we see includes people getting attacked, herds of zombies trying to attack the survivors, along with people getting chased. Altogether these things show us that the film includes scenes of horror and violence, and the fantasy idea that zombies take over the world and people have to try and survive until a cure is found, so the target audience would be teenager aged from 15 and above to adults who also enjoy watching these type of films.
Film Language Essay- Saving Private Ryan(first 2 minutes of the extract)
The scene starts with a tracking shot of two soldiers running away from enemy fire and taking cover behind sand bags. We can easily tell the two men are soldiers from the military equipment they are using as props, which was from the Second World War. The tracking shot is used to put us straight into the battle, and puts us in a position where we are behind them and see everything that’s going on clearly. Also, from this position we are able to see the enemy which they are attacking and the battlefield tactics which they are using. This again puts us straight into the heat of battle, and we feel as if we are there fighting with them. There is a lot of diegetic sound used in the first 30 seconds of the extract, which includes battlefield sounds like rifles being fired, commands being issued and the explosions of grenades and other explosives. This diegetic sound creates a greater atmosphere of the battle, and livens it up making it exciting for the viewer to watch, and also put them into the battle themselves.when one of the soldiers leaps across the cover to retrieve a detonator, a close up and a tracking shot is used to focus on the detonator, signifying its importance and showing that the soldiers need it to fight of the Nazis. At this point the close up also shows the characters expressions and make up. We can see that he is panicking while he is trying to set up the detonator and there is a lot of stress from the enemy. His face and hands are covered in a lot of dirt showing that he has been fighting in a rough area and has probably been fighting for a long time.
Straight after, a medium shot showing a solider with a rocket launcher is shown along with another solider giving him orders, with the shelter in front of them and the background. This shot helps us to see whats going on, and along with the diegetic sound of the commands being ordered, a little suspense is created before the soldier launches the rocket as we wait for it to explode. This medium shot helps us to see what the soldier is doing, and then after a reverse shot is used to show what the solider was aiming at, which again puts us into the middle of the battle. The camera movement which is used up to this point is hand held, and it helps make us feel as if we are the camera man, putting us into the shoes of one of the soldiers which is there and fighting along the other soldiers.
After the soldier shoots the rocket launcher a long shot is used to give a overall view of the battle. The diegetic sound of the dialogue helps us to understand the reason for their actions in the battle so far; that they are defending the other side of the bridge, and are about to blow up the bridge so the Nazis can’t reach the other side. Alot of special effects like explosions and ricochets from bullets are used to create a greater atmosphere of the battle. So far there hasn’t been any contrapuntal or parallel sound used as no music has been played. I think the director chose to do this to put us in the heat of battle, and see everything clearly without being distracted by the music, so we feel everything from what we hear and see in the battle. Also I think the director wanted to create a dramatic effect from the battle itself, and not the accompanying music.
Just when one of the soldiers is about to take cover special effects are used to show the bullets hitting the little vehicle. From the long shot used we can tell that one of the soldiers is about to get hit. Straight after a medium tracking shot is placed in front of the soldier and we see him getting hit by a number of bullets. Special effects are used on the soldier to show the bullets flying through him, and to show the impact of the bullets on his body as smoke comes out. The camera then tilts upwards and moves away from the solider showing where the enemy fire was coming from. A close up of the soldier who was hit is then shown so we can see his facial expressions and we can see that he is hurt as hes gasping from air, and his mouth is wide open showing that he can feel the pain. The fact that he lost his balance and had to be carried by his team also shows us that these wounds are serious, and he may die. There is not a lot of dialogue used in this extract, and I think the director chose to leave out the dialogue but only include it for parts which were needed to emphasize that this was a war, and during wars soldiers only have time for commands to issue. Also the dialogue was in the form of a lot of shouting, which shows us theres a lot of other noise like explosions and gun fire which means they have to shout loudly in order to be heard.
The editing used in this extract is mainly built up of jump cuts, as there are a lot of things going on in the battle, and I believe the director chose to use jump cuts so the audience’s attention is focused on a lot of things in a short period of time, so they get a greater sense of the war and they can see more things in a shorter period of time. Also the jump cuts help give a greater understanding of the story as the audience are shown more clips of different things, but all of the clips shown are related to one another as they are all part of a battle. Most of the editing is continuity editing, as the shots are placed after one another to give away the narrative of the film, as different clips of the soldiers fighting of the Nazis is shown to create the narrative of the war.
At the point where the commander of the enemy side tells the person in the tank to shoot at Tom hanks, there is a great explosion and the building collapses on him. The shot starts of as a medium shot, and slowly zooms into him and focuses on his face ending up with a big close up. We are then shown a number of shots, point of view shots and then reverse shots. So we are shown his expressions before he focuses on something, then we see his point of view at what he is looking at, and then we see his expressions and reactions of what he has just seen. This helps us identify with the character as we are put into his shoes, and we start to feel what he is feeling. The rest of the background sound is blurred out, and the noise of his eardrums popping is used to relate back to the explosion and the effect of it on him. All of this helps create a dramatic effect, as we can tell he is a little lost from the explosion, and while all of the gun fire and fighting is going on around him he is just crouching in one place over looking the situation. During his point of view shots, the camera image is a little blurred to show the effect of the explosion on his eyes, and the camera movement is very rapid which again puts us in his shoes.
There isn't a lot of lighting used in this extract as its set during day time, and we can see everything clearly as the natural lighting is good enough. Also I think the director chose to leave out key lighting and back lighting to emphasize the action seen on screen, and to remind the audience these are clips during war, so the soldiers wouldn’t need key lighting while they are fighting as the director would want it to look as natural as it could.
Sunday 14 December 2008
dawn of the dead trailer analysis
Dawn of the dead is a 2004 horror remake of the original George A Romeros 1978 classic ‘Dawn of the dead’. It tells the story of a group of survivors trying to fight of a ward of zombies while taking refuge in an abandened shopping mall. It was released in America and the UK in March 2004. The trailer lasts for a total of 2 minutes 32 seconds, and it gives a wide view of what the story is about in this short period.
Firstly, the beginning of the trailer focuses on the daily life of a woman. We can see what she normally does after a hard days work, but we do not receive any other information about her other than that she has a partner who she is sharing a house with, and that she lives in a suburban area in the USA.from this we get a sense of normality, as people can relate to what she does and we get a sense of feeling that everything is alright. Along with the various clips of her daily life shown, words in the following order ‘Evening, Night, and Dawn’ are shown on the screen. Clips are shown in an order where once the word is shown, a clip of that time of day is shown, once again focusing on the women and her partner along with the city they live in. straight away this gives us the impression that something bad is going to happen, as the director wouldn’t just make these words appear in this sequence for no reason, so it kind of creates an enigma.
However, straight after the word ‘Dawn’ appears the use of diegetic sound of a clock ticking away creates a lot of tension and suspense. Time is being used to build up to something big, and we are forced to hear the seconds which build up to this event. Also when the word dawn is shown, the music deepens a little which makes that word stand out, and the way the director connected the words and music makes us feel as if something is going to happen. There is then a long shot of the door, which is shown a little open leading into the ladys room, and there are long shots from both behind the door, and infront of the door where the couple are sleeping. This type of shot creates a lot of tension as we can guess that something is behind that door,and the shots used to show the couples happiness in their photos contrast the life before what is about to happen, and their life after what happens.
While the long shots are being shown, a sound bridge of the clock ticking away is present, to build up the tension and suspense. It could also represent time, and how quickly the virus had spread overnight turning infected humans into zombies, but up to this point in the trailer the audience are unaware of this. The use of a big close up on the door and the creaking of it tells us that something bad is going to happen, as all the events previous to this helped build up the tension so the audience are fully engaged in the trailer. The use of low key lighting around the door and key lighting on the door makes it stand out, showing that the door should have been kept shut or something. Once the door is open, a little girl standing there is shown. She is wearing a normal night suite to show her that theres nothing suspicious about her, but low key lighting is used on her body and face, and her image is kind of blurred out so the audience can’t see. This type of shot appears to be a point of view shot, and her image is blurred to put us into the mans shoes, as he has just woken up because of her opening the door so his eyes would be all blurry.
However, as the man wakes up we are able to see the use of make up creating her into a zombie. The phrase ‘Honey are you ok’ is spoken in a soft tone showing that the man is not fully aware of how she looks as hes just woken up. Right then a large pause is used, where the clips fade and everything turns black. This helps build up a lot of tension, as we want to see why all the events previous to this were shown and what the purpose of the make up was for, as we don’t really see that shes a zombie but she does look ill. When the editing is used, the sound bridge of the clock ticking stops and straight away a loud scream is heard coming from the man and a big close up of himself in agony is shown.
Straight after, the use of high pitched strings are used to build up the tension even more along with the horror shown in the clips. The low key lighting which is used on the little girl in combination with the long shot of her getting up shows us the evil inside her and the zooming in of the lady helps show us her reaction of what she has just witnessed.the sound bridge of the high pitched strings help related to the horror which the women is facing, and this type of music is used in a lot of horror movies to create the same effect.
When the lady leaves her house in an attempt to run away, the camera once again fades away when she goes out in search for someone else and says ‘Help’. A long shot of her at the front of the camera and the background shows us what she is seeing, which is the chaos around her. The funny thing is when she went out for help, she realised that every one else was also in need of help and she wasn’t the only one. The long shot also lets us see what else is going on around her area, and we can see that the threat of zombies has spread everywhere. The heavy breathing coming from the lady and the chaos around her shows us that this threat is really big, and from that point it seems impossible that shes going to survive and we can see her reaction of panik. After that the following words are used ‘When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth’. The second line ‘the dead will walk the earth’ fades in and comes out, which makes the audience take in the information stated, and this line helps give the overall plot of the film where zombies try to take over.
The next clips show a medium shot of the lady driving her car, and the camera is behind the car following it through the chaos on the streets.with the help of the non diegitic sound of the newsreporter, we are able to understand what is goin on as much as the lady understands what is goin on, so both the audience and the character receive the same amount of information about the situation.a long shot of a mall’s name is shown after the reporter states find a safe place, showing us that this is the place she is going to go to in order to stay safe.during this point another sound bridge is used when the reporter states their station is goin off the air, and different close ups of other characters are used to show their identity, and also their reactions. On the close up of the women, high key lighting is used, and key lighting is placed on her hair to show the setting of where they are, and where the lights in the mall are placed so it looks normal. Fast edits are used to quickly show their uncontrolled emotions of the situation.also, the long shot used helps us to see the range of characters present, and we expect their will be some sort of fight against the zombies as the whole narrative unveals, with survivors trapped in a mall, with a security guard present so we expect they would have guns and other equipment to defend themsleves. Once this clip finishes, it fades out and pauses for a second, and unexpectidly a zombie rushed to a door which is barracaded, and a young black man reacts terrified while holding his gun. Straight after another fade is used, along with even higher pitched strings showing the shadows of quick running zombies.the long shot after shows the mass number of zombies waiting for the survivors, and the words used by the police officer ‘Maybe their coming for us’ which is said in a calm herioc voice shows us that he is the type of character that will look out for the rest of the people.
A series of other shots are then used to help give the narrative of the story away and a combination of the lighting, sound, make up, props and costumes help bring out the genre of the movie, while making the trailer entertaining for the audience to watch.for example a shot where the young black man helps his girlfriend give birth while shes a zombie relates back to the genre as clips like these are only shown in horror movies.the use of low key lighting and a close up of the ladys pregnant stomach makes the audience feel like pucking up, as a natural procces of life which suppose to be beautiful is broken up with this filth.
Towards the end of the trailer, fast edits of clips are shown from different parts of the movie in combination with a sound bridge of high pitched strings and voices rising as they sing. Then the camera shakes rapidly as clips are shown 3 times relating back to the chaos in the movie as everything is all over theplace.straight after the 3rd time, the clips freeze and start burning up. The screen then goes white and titls down onto a glass frame of zombies behind it which signifies their large numbers and the fact they they are unstoppable. The title then appears as a special effect, and the colours used are red and orange, to signify the colour of the sun at dawn, which related back to the title, and the blood which gets contaminated from the spread of the virus, and all the blood and gore present in the movie.
Altogether, the use of sound, props, lighting, costumes and make up along with the camera angles and shots help relate back to the genre of the movie, and really engage its viewers into staying focused throughout the trailer. The whole setting helps us to relate to the movie, and brings out the terrifying horror as these events are shown in places that we live in, so we get even more scared as we feel that the zombies can get everywhere which leaves us very vulnerble.
