Self Evaluation

• Attainment- 3

My attainment in media is ranging from excellent to good.

• Effort- 3

My effort towards media studies has been 98%, because I have contributed a lot in class.

• Punctuality- 4

I have 99.9% punctuality except for my absences due to having an illness.

• Submission and quality of homework- 3

My work has been submitted 75% of the time the other 255 has not been posted because of technical difficulties.

• Ability to work independently- 3

I would rather work in partnership with others to expand my understanding of some parts of the course.

• Quality of writing- 2

I believe that I need to improve on my writing techniques.

• Organisation of blog- 2

My blog is very organised, and easy to navigate with my contrasting colours to help those with viewing difficulties to have no difficulties on using my blog.

• Oral contributions in class- 1

Throughout my time in media I have contributed more than others due to my knowledge of the subject.

Iron Man Sequence Analysis

The sequence I am going to analyse is from the film Iron Man which is in the action genre. There are many types of film language used in this clip, the Mise en scene in this sequence consists of the costume and make-up being very little as the main protagonist is shown wearing a vest, giving him a rugged look as he has be working in a cave where there is little light so there is no need for extreme use of make-up. The villains costume consist of a camouflage military pattern, combination of jacket and trousers, this shows his authority to boss around his workers.

The source of lighting is mainly from dim lighting (table lights and wall lights) as it is shown in a small work room in a cave; this use of light enhances the atmosphere created in the scene. The filler light used does not show the full body figure but part of the facial features to emphasize the expression of his determination to complete his job.

In this scene the actors used are from well known parts of the film industry and are instantly recognizable (Robert Downey Jr.). The hero of the film is shown as being use to his surroundings and confident in what he is doing, you can tell this by his facial expressions as well as his body movement. This could also be said for the villain, his dominance is shown by his posture, movement; as he walks into the room and from the command he gives.

There aren’t many props in this sequence yet some are made obvious; the protagonists work tools (hammer and machinery), other props in the sequence are Iron Man’s iconic costume (helmet and body suit) also the goons guns and TV/monitor on which he keeps an eye on the protagonist.

The sequence is shown in an underground cave, which is based in Afghanistan as shown previously in the start of the film. The setting of a cave can be found by the dim wall lights, the opening to the cave (mud/rocks) and a fire instead of central heating radiators which you would find in a building of any kind.

The sound used in this sequence is parallel as it dramatic and more upbeat sound to compliment the scenes of action and violence. The diagetic sound within the scene is the hammer which is used to the beat to engage the audience with the scene’s action. The movement from (clothing, footsteps); which tells the audience that the scene is more hectic. The non-diagetic sound which is added during editing is used to convey action; the music added builds up to convey action, developing the narrative. There is a sound bridge used in this sequence at (1:20-1:38) which creates a dramatic atmosphere.

In this sequence there are many cinematography techniques used from the very start; during the first 6 seconds of the clip, the shot is a medium shot which zooms in towards the protagonist working on the 'Iron Man' suit, as it zooms in it uses the tilt method to suture the audience by showing part of the soon to be Iron Man suit. The clip mainly consist of close ups/medium shots of all characters in the sequence; close-ups of hands working on the Iron Man suit, characters faces to reveal their expressions, this is shown a 14 seconds from the start where the camera framing consists of the protagonists face looking pleased as a result of him completing his construction of the Iron Man helmet. There is also another close up of the hero's face portraying him with a angered look connoting that something is going to kick off, action and violence will occur.

Other techniques of camera work are an over the shoulder shot from the villains point of view (POV) and there is a sense of continuity editing from 1:23 secs where it shows two accomplices of the villain run out of the cave, at 1:32 secs them both running towards the room through the cave in which the hero is creating the first Iron Man suit and lastly at 1:38 one of the accomplices looking through the door of the room in which the hero is.

Lastly the editing used in this sequence are many straight cuts, which are fast paced to convey action through the film. A jump cut is used in conjunction with a sound bridge and a close-up to build tension (0:29-0:35). A type of shot-reverse shot is used to suture the audience and convey action within the scene.

Extention Task (Sound)

 A) Until the late 1920's, motion pictures were silent. After World War I there was a great boom in electrical research and a new attitude toward technology.

1926 Warner Brothers, in conjunction with Western Electric, introduced a new sound-on-disc system were sound effects and music were recorded and would later be synchronized with the film projector.  In order to exhibit this new technology, Warner Brothers released "Don Juan", the first motion picture to have a pre-recorded score and synchronized sound effects. 

This technology was held in the grip of RCA and Western Electric, which, in 1926, cross-licensed each other’s amplification patents. Using state-of-the-art vacuum tube amplifiers, movie sound, whether recorded on disc or film, could boom into the auditorium.

The company (Warner Bros.) formed the Vitaphone partnership with Western Electric in April 1926 producing and distributing sound films and licensing recorders to the other Hollywood studios.

Some of the films of early 1929 were substandard movies to meet the unexpectedly strong demand for talkies. Many of the clichés of the early sound cinema (including those in SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN ) apply to films made during this period: long static takes, badly written dialogue, voices not quite in control and poor-quality recording.

By mid-1930 the film industry was in a severe recession from which it did not emerge for about four years. American producers, ERPI, and RCA took advantage of the recession in Europe to get an early lead in licensing Continental studios and wiring theatres.

Bi) Parallel Sound

ii) Contrepuntal Sound

Twentieth Century Fox

In 2009, twentieth century fox produced a multi award winning movie called Avatar. Avatar was filmed and shown in 3D worldwide. On December the 16^th, Avatar was internationally released and broke the box office records. After the film was released there were many video games, songs, books and merchandise were available to purchase, promoting the film.

Leona Lewis’s ‘I see you’ was the theme song for the movie. The music video consisted of scenes from the movie ‘Avatar’ and was released the same day as the soundtrack. Lewis recorded the song after being invited to watch the making of Avatar; afterwards, she declared about the film and recording the song that,

“I hope aliens are like the Na'vi. I really like them. They care about the things I'm passionate about - nature, the planet, the environment. This song required a powerful performance so I had to find an emotional connection”.

A book was also released 30^th November 2009, called the ‘The Art of Avatar: James Cameron’s Epic Adventure’. The book includes sketches and artwork of the film.  Another book was released in February 2010 about the actual story of Avatar with more scenes in it.

Lastly, video games were made on all gaming platforms, called ‘James Cameron’s Avatar’ were released on the 1^st of December. Action figures were also added to the list of promotions, other action figures were given in McDonald’s as part of their happy meal deal.

Mise-en-scene

This still image is from a Harry Potter poster. The Mise-en-scene of this image consists of three actors all wearing winter clothing (costume), a mixture of dark colours which depicts the film; as this film is dark and gloomy. The setting helps with the poster making it feel dark and gloomy because of the woodland setting with the lighting being very low and the main source of light is appearing through the trees as if something dramatic is going to take place, creating an intense feeling.

Film Poster analysis

This poster of the film Due Date consists of earthy colours such as the blue sky, brown and green for the dirt and mountains shown behind the subject. The kind of story line portrayed by both the actors and setting give off a kind of adventure type film with an equilibrium, disequilibrium and a new equilibrium. The poster shows signs of iconography with the two easily recognisable actors in the centre of the poster from various films such as Iron Man 1&2 plus Fat Jesus AKA Zach Galifianakis from the Hangover.

The tagline also suggests comedy as if one of the characters goes out of their comfort zone in the film. The  props used in the image also suggest comedy or something out of the ordinary is going to happen from the dog wearing a medical collar (cone), to the setting which is the Grand Canyon, which the audience maybe thinking how did they end up there?.

The poster would suggest that the genre of this film is a comedy and is aimed at 14-40 year olds as it contains incredible actors who will be recognised from  their other film work, as said previously. The film will be aimed at this audience as most young adults are looking for something to cheer them up and just have a laugh with friends.

Media Ownership

Media texts are profit motivated.  What issues does this raise?

Media texts are profit motivated as they use advertisements to draw in consumers via the visuals and sounds used in the ads. Advertisements can be come misleading and could be caught up by the ASA which could cause a lot of controversy, thus leading to advertisers making more profit and giving them an edge in making the decisions of what the world consumes.

In addition if the advertisement can sell the product to the audience then the institution showing the ad will get credit by selling the product.

Too much power and control in our society?

“Possession of controlling influence”

“Power to direct or determine”

Power and control are words that you would only associate with people/ figures of a high stature e.g. The Queen (Royalty) and God. Yet these such words are being associated with media institutions as they are growing in the sense that many people rely on them as most of them advertise products that appeal to the consumers thus selling the product.

TV stations such as ITV and Channel 4 have a lot of power when it comes to power within media companies having control. Both these broadcasters rely on advertising and sponsors of products such as X Factor is sponsored by “Talk Talk” and Channel 4 advertise things for adult teens such as Clearasil cream or VO5 products, as they appeal to the audience viewing the shows on the broadcasting channels.

Media Magazine Conference

1. Chewing gum for the brain: Why do people talk such rubbish about Media Studies?
Why Media Studies is  worth studying?

Where did your inspiration come from?

An article in the Daily Mail about Homer Simpson. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1092730/Doh-Im-modern-icon-Hes-fat-yellow-moron-whos-just-won-Turner-Prize-So-DOES-world-love-Homer-Simpson.html). The independent, Tories to tackle MS Menace article by Michael Gove, talks about how schools are “dumbing down” students by showing videos of The Simpsons in lessons.

Media Studies is shit (BLOG)

Mathew Arnold, Frank and Queenie Leavis (Literature against Pop Culture (Media Studies) all suggested to study Media, not analyse Media but find out what was wrong with it.

Media studies is one of the more competitive subjects, Soft option? There is no way of comparing results. Studies have shown that more than 2/3 of students will have jobs after leaving media in University, as it provides skills in team building, speaking and most things employers want to hear when employing.

2. Online media, Cleggmania, and the Cowell Factor.
How do online media and convergence impact on the ways audiences and producers use and create media?
 

This lecture was about “Democracy Only” who Tony Ben had started a whole new debate about.

There is a YouTube video named “Media and everyday life” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWNXg7Vt-ig)

Media Studies has become “more modern & more interactive” the question is, does it make it more democratic? This came on to how convergence media is becoming more interactive from video games being developed.

“Books will die in around 10-15 years; the industry won’t be able to survive”

The lecture came to an end with a list of books for all media studiers to read, from: Dan Gilmore (We the media), Michael Vesh (Whole new democracy, online), Henry Jenkins (Convergence Culture) and many more.

3.Perfecting your production work.
How to get the most out of your practical projects. (http://petesmediablog.blogspot.com/)

Pete Fraser

Research:

-          Really Look at examples

-          Keep evidence of all research

-          Research every angle

-          Conventions, audiences & institutions

Planning:

-          Plan for all eventualities- what could possibly go wrong?

-          Record all your planning, visuals

-          Show the process of production journey

Blogging:

-          A blog allow you to link to examples, ideas

Evidence:

-          Storyboards, animations & flat panels

Ideas:

-          Have a workable concept with realistic plans

-          Try a “25 word pitch”, explain clearly

Get feedback:

-          From teachers, peers – take on board their views to help with perfecting production

-          Keep a record of all results

Dominant/Alternative Representations

Heineken Walk in Fridge Ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIutgtzwhAc&feature=fvst

Heineken produced this advertisement to promote their Heineken beverage; two groups appear in this ad, one of females (girlie girls) which form a dominant ideology of the female gender, screaming as they see a closet full of expensive clothing. The other group, males also a dominant ideology as they would be portrayed as beer chugers, also screaming yet as a giant fridge is opened to be containing a large amount of Heineken cans.

This particular representation of men was selected as it would not have been an effective advertisement if it were women being depicted as beer lovers, as a clear result of the male dominant ideology. The women lives reflect the lives of those who don’t live a glamorous life and would dream of having a big closet to keep all their flashy clothes and men would want a huge fridge full of all their favourite beer which is a typical stereotype, yet this is only a fantasy world that is being shown, on the other hand some do possess the wealth and can afford these such luxuries. The nationality of the actors in the ad is German, which is where Heineken is produced.

L'Oréal Paris Elvive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV-48hASWfo

L'Oréal Paris UK had produced this advet to sell their hair product. The subject who appears in this ad is Cheryl Cole an english hearthrob, and as the media call her, an english jewel. Cheryl Cole (the subject) is shown to have tried and tested the product on herself and is giving feed back to the audience of which are mainly females who would see her as a role model, yet towards the end of the ad  L'Oréal Paris added a line that is shown for just a short period which states “styled with some natural hair extensions”, which tells the audience who notices it which most don’t that to get hair as beautiful as hers then you may be looking at a false product which is against the ASA policy of not sending out false information.

 The representation of a long lasting ,strong  and full of life hair product is shown by figures of 73% of women agree, (out of 356) that it works and the facts that a well established women (Cheryl Cole) who is a dominant ideology in this ad, is also backing it up would also give a good name to L'Oréal Paris and would definatley sell in any store across the UK. The nationality of Cheryl Cole  plus her experience with other media also creates a huge selling point. and most of the focus is on Cheryl who is selling the product.

ASA Banned Adverts

ASA Banned Adverts

The first banned advert was a KFC ad where only one white male sat in the middle of a carnival in Africa surrounded by black people, he decided to shut them up "stuck in an awkward situation?" by holding up a bucket of KFC's chicken "too easy" he said. This was banned as a result of the public thinking it was racist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ8GbKjUkgs

The second banned ad was an Apple iphone 3 ad where the narrator stated that "helps you get the news really fast, find your way really fast and download pretty much anything really fast". This was banned as it sent misleading information to consumers about the iphone’s speed from getting the news, downloading apps or using your gps.

The third and final ad that was banned was from Nike, it showed a female undressing to go into the shower and as in a horror film she opened the mirrored cabinet and then closed to see a scary figure behind her (Michael Myers, from Halloween) with a chainsaw, she escaped by running through the woods and loosing the chainsaw maniac, as she ran it showed her wearing Nike trainers and showed the male slowing down as he was out of breath. It then quoted "why sport...you'll live longer" to then go on to show the male limp away "(Nike logo) + Just Do It". This was banned as it would have definitely given the younger audience a fright and was sure to get the producers of the Halloween film involved as well as Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Contains scary scenes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_UOVFqjay0 Contains Spoilers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OknElEusVhM