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