Friday 12th June: In today’s lesson our group decided to make a music video based on the musical hairspray. We chose the song ‘You can’t stop the beat’. We planned out what sort of props we would need and what people would be doing what. We also planned a second idea from a different genre of music. We decided on the idea of The Police- Every breath you take. We decided to plan a second idea just in case anything went wrong with the first idea.I am also researching music videos and am going to pick two videos to analyse to gain ideas about what I could include in my own piece of work.
Tuesday 16th June: In today’s lesson, I started to plan out my portfolio of work, it must include some planning and research. To aid in my groups work, we are all analysing music videos. I began to look at the idea of comparing two different videos from either two different decades of from two different music genres. To help with the planning process I have been looking on youtube to generate ideas.
Tuesday 30th June: In today’s lesson I planned out the CD cover for the bands song. We generated names for our band on a online word generator.
Tuesday 7th July: In today’s lesson I finished comparing two CD covers by Lady Gaga and Kelly Clarkson. I analysed the CD covers for common features and conventions of an album cover.
Tuesday 8th September: In today’s lesson we split our group in half, and decided to create two music videos. My group has decided on remaking the video for the band Lemon Demon and their song Word Disassociation. We found the lyrics for the song and are going to act out the lyrics and use pictures to portray the lyrics. We decided to reinvent the band name, so we decided on calling them Evil Banana, a take on the original band name.
Tuesday 22nd September: In today’s lesson we decided on the track list for our CD. The main song on our album is Word Disassociation originally sung by Lemon Demon. As this song is about random words, we decided to use a random word generator online to get the rest of the names of our songs.We also distributed questionnaires and collected a few back. We felt that the questionnaires should not be handed around the common room as everybody would be of a certain age and musical taste. We will use these questionnaires to form part of our preliminary research.
Tuesday 6th October: In today’s lesson I analysed the music questionnaires which we distributed. We handed out fourteen questionnaires and we had ten female responses and four male. From the questionnaires we found out that the most popular choice of music was R&B.Also in today’s lesson I began to analyse two music videos which will form part of my preliminary research.
Friday 9th October: In today’s lesson I analysed my first music video as part of my preliminary research. The video that I analysed was Jay Sean- Down. I analysed the video for; camera techniques, editing, sound, mise- en- scene and special effects. I also researched where the video was filmed, and details about the production of the video.
Tuesday 13th October: In today’s lesson I analysed my second music video. The video I decided to analyse was Jordin Sparks- Battlefield. I analysed the video for; camera techniques, editing, sound, mise- en- scene and special effects. I also researched Jordin Sparks career.
Tuesday 3rd November: In today’s lesson we watched a film called ‘ A matter of Life and Death’ and I then researched it after on IMDB. We watched it and studied it for the use of how gender was portrayed. We did this as practise for our exam on Media and Collective Identity.
Tuesday 10th November: In today’s lesson I watched a film called Trainspotting. It was about drug addicts in Scotland. Again I watched this film and considered key ideas such as how gender stereotypes and social groups were portrayed. After doing this I researched the film on IMDB and made some notes on British Cinema.
Tuesday 17th November: In today’s lesson I began to plan out my music poster, as the second part of my project. I am also going to start planning out my storyboards for when I decide to film. As well as this I re-familiarised myself with the narrative theories, so I can apply these when watching more films from the chosen genre.
Friday 20th November: In today’s lesson I watched a film called the Last King of Scotland, based on the what happened in Uganda under Idi Amin’s rule.
Tuesday 24th November: In today’s lesson I did a write up of the film I watched last week. To do this review I used the IMDB and Wikipedia. I researched the plot of the film, and collected some trivia and some quotes. I also found a movie trailer poster for the film. I am going to use my findings to answer an exam question on Media and Collective Identity, and how this film portrays social groups.
Tuesday 8th December: In today’s lesson I re-wrote my essay on Media and the Collective Identity. I added in some changes which were suggested by Mr butcher. I also intend to finish my storyboards so that I can start some filming just before or after christmas.
Tuesday 12th January: In today’s lesson, I checked that my folder was up to date, for the resubmission of my coursework from AS. I also continued with my storyboards for the A2 part of my course.
Friday 15th January: In today’s lesson me and Tilly decided to rename our song choice, from Word disassociation to a song called Fireflies by owl city. We will keep the original band name called Lemon Demon, as we wanted to keep this aspect of our project. We decided to change the name of the song as after researching A level music videos on youtube we found that they looked better than what we anticipated ours would look like. We have now decided to produce an original video which is completely different to the original bands original video.
Tuesday 19th January: In today’s lesson me and Tilly produced some planning for our new video. We have also began to write a synopsis, and will then make some new storyboards for our film.
Friday 22nd January: In today’s lesson me and Tilly story-boarded our song Fireflies.
Tuesday 26th January: In today’s lesson me and Tilly finished storyboarding for our filming of our song Fireflies. We are planning to have mot of our filming done on Sarurday, and plan to start editing next week.
February: Throughout February our group filmed our media project Fireflies. Also during February we added our filmed work onto the editing software but did not start editing until we finished all of our filming.
March: Throughout March our groups focus was on editing our project. We edited in the software Imovie. The editing process took longer than we expected. At the end of March we began to self evaluate our work, and look at where we can improve next time.
April: Throughout April we have been producing our self evaluation which forms part of our media portfolio. This evaluation contains details about our editing process and our preliminary research which we conducted.
May: This month we are in the midst of finishing our media portfolio by completing essays and refining ancillary texts. This will form our media portfolio for year 13.
Final Production Report
Introduction:
As part of my year 12 media project I had to produce a piece of film work, which was two minutes in length, and showed the opening credits and titles from the thriller genre.
Preliminary Research:
Before we started filming we found it necessary to complete some research. To carry out the research, we watched a number of films, from the chosen genre, thriller. The films, I watched were; ‘Fargo’, which was directed by the Coen brothers, which was made in 1996. The second film I watched was ‘No Country for Old Men’, which was also directed by the Coen brothers and was made in 2007. Also I watched ‘The Maltese falcon’, which was made in 1941 and was directed by John Huston. The final film ‘Memento’ was made by Christopher Nolan and was made in 2000.
Memento was a good example of a film with an unusual timeline. This film was different as the progression of the timeline went backwards. The effect of this was it posed many questions throughout to the audience, typical of a thriller film. It also made sure the audience were watching all the way through, because if you diverted your attention from the film, you would not understand what was going on. Memento used black and white in the film, to show flashbacks of the main characters life. Memento was also a film that uses inversion.
The Maltese falcon, was another good example of a thriller, and it was also an example of film noir. Film noir is the use of high key lighting and it is effective throughout this film. This would affect the audience as the use of the lighting would emphasis the heroes and villains to the audience making the film more easy to understand and follow.
No Country for Old Men was an effective thriller as the killer in the film is a silent character and it added tension to the film.
I felt it was a good idea to watch a variety of films, from the same genre, as they would all contribute to a thriller in a different way.
As well as watching the four movies, I also watched some trailers. Although I was not making a trailer, the length of my film was similar to a trailer, and this would give me a basic idea of how much content to include. Some of the trailers I watched included; ‘The alphabet killer’, and ‘Friday the 13th’.
After doing this research I then wrote a synopsis for the film, this allowed me to consider how to get the most action into the first two minutes of the film. After this I story boarded the scenes we would be filming.
All about my Media Project:
My media project uses the conventions of a real media product as it incorporates opening titles and captions. It also uses conventions of a thriller as it poses questions throughout. My media project also develops the conventions of a real media project as it builds up tension and suspense. My film does not really challenge the codes and conventions of a thriller but it uses the accepted format of a thriller.
My project represents particular social groups such as teenagers, as part of teenage life seems to be gang culture, and our film, has gangs in it. Although this is not necessarily a good thing, it allows teenagers to relate to it.
Our film represents particular social groups, teenagers as the main character dresses young. He is also a suspicious character and we have shown this through him wearing a baseball cap.
The media institution that would distribute our film, would be the television industry. Our group felt that the television industry would be appropriate, as it would be shown across the country, and it would be accessible to lots of audiences. Then the film would be released onto DVD and would make money from the DVD sales.
As the film would be shown on television we felt that a suitable channel would be channel four, as it is known for showing alternative shows. A prime audience for channel four, is teenagers, to young adults, or people who are interested in the genre of the film. We would show this film after nine o’clock because of the watershed. It would be shown after the watershed because of the violent content in the film. We attracted our audience through the use of tension and suspense. The film, is also action packed and would appeal to our audience, as it is exciting. Another way we attracted our audience was through, the style of film. Most teenagers like to watch violent films, and our film has a high violent content.
Post Production work:
From the process that I have gone through with this film, I have faced many problems. Some of the problems that I have faced, including keeping the continuity of the film. This was a problem, because in one scene the lead male character had different coloured trousers on than in the previous scene. Also some of the scenes are meant to follow on, but are filmed on different days because of time limitations, so the weather has changed in what is mean to be the same scene. If I was to film this piece again, then I would take this into consideration, and make sure it did not happen again. This would ensure that the film would be an improvement. I have learnt many new aspects of the film industry throughout this project. Another aspect of post production is feedback, to aid in the feedback my group made a questionnaire to ask people what they thought of the film. We included questions which included: ‘If you could offer any improvements, what would they be?’. By asking our target audience questions, it allowed my group to understand what we would do if we were to complete the task again. It also allowed us to understand what the audiences views and opinions were. The chart below shows the audience responses to the question ‘What improvements could be made?’.
|
Improvement to Film |
Number of people |
|
Continuity |
12 |
|
Acting |
6 |
|
Plot |
2 |
The above graph shows the responses given in the table, in a form of a graph. When we requested audience feedback some people gave us quotes. Some of these quotes include:
“The film could be improved by making some of the acting more suitable for a thriller genre.”
“I think this film could be better if the character was wearing the same clothes in what is meant to be the same part of the film”.
What I have learnt:
From the preliminary task I have learnt a lot. The preliminary task involved filming a person walking into a room, sitting down and having a conversation. The purpose of the preliminary task was to show that I could use the camera and understand the 180 degree rule and the importance of not ‘crossing the line’. From the preliminary task I have learnt many new types of camera shots. I also learnt how to make the film look more professional. Other aspects that I have learnt include, adding sound to the film, to add background music, and how to mute certain parts of the clip. I have also learnt how to add titles to the film.
In my film I have used black and white, this emphasises the flashbacks the man has throughout the film. It also disrupts the timeline of the film, making the audience ask questions throughout.
Another aspect of film editing I have included in my work, is reverse shot. Our opening scene shows a dice rolling across the table, and we have this shot going forward, and then we have reversed the action for dramatic effective.
In certain areas of the film, we have sped up parts to add to the pace of the film. This was done through the editing process where we dissolved parts of the film, and sped up the rapidity of these cuts.
In my own film, I have used mid medium close up shots, long shots, and hand held camera shots. The effect of using these camera shots in the film is clear. The purpose of the handheld shot, makes the audience feel as if they are seeing things from the killers perspective. I also used over the shoulder shots, which again allowed the audience to gain the perspective of the killer. My media project also incorporates slow motion, as we slowed down the speed of the dice when it was rolled across the table. The use of these shots allow me to show the advances I have made from the preliminary task to the main filming.
Throughout my project I used the editing software, to achieve a professional looking film. The editing process was challenging as I had never used the software before. After learning how to import my filming from the camera onto the computer, I could then learn how to trim clips, add, split and join clips, as-well as other editing techniques. After learning how to apply these techniques, I could then take clips from certain parts of the film, and move them to other parts of the film, to make the films scenes look like they have more continuity.
After editing the film, my group then added the titles. Adding the titles allowed us to choose which order we wanted them to appear in the film. We could also choose which colours we wanted the text to appear in and it also added to the creative process. We chose our text to be red, as there are many killings though out the film, and the red would symbolise the blood, of the murdered people. Our film used a selection of fade outs, near the end of the film, which dissolves the energy of the film.
After doing this the group then added the music, above the film. The music played over our film, is called ‘Presumed Innocence’. It is a piece composed by John Williams. The music fits with the film well, and the tempo of the music increases with the pace of our film. As an important part of the films action gets faster to build up tension, the music’s pace picks up. Previously we had the theme tune from the film ‘Halloween’ but it did not fit with the film as well, and even after trimming the music it still did not fit with the overall effect of the film we were trying to achieve. I felt that after experimenting with different songs to go over the film, the group could choose which one fit the best with the effect we were trying to achieve, without just opting for the first choice. Our film also uses non diagetic sound, as we have used mood music. Non diagetic sound is sound which does not originate from the picture.
From the beginning of the filming of the preliminary task, to the finished product, I have learnt many new aspects of the media environment.
From the pre filming research I completed, I have found out that a two minute film is harder to achieve than I first thought. It is hard to fill two minutes and still keep the pace fast enough so that the audience does not get bored, and are still entertained.
I watched many trailers and films, but after watching all of them, I only included one of the techniques that these films used. The technique that my group used was using black and white film, to show the flashbacks in the killers life. We got this idea from the film ‘Memento’. Originally we were not going to include any techniques from the films we watched, but we felt this one idea in particular would go with the look of a film we were trying to achieve. This helped the audience understand which parts of the film were in the present and which parts of the film were in the past, and resembled flashbacks. Aspects of the task I enjoyed were going out filming, in a group, as everyone could contribute to ideas. It also helped that members of the group were all better at different aspects of the creative process. Other things that I enjoyed, were writing the full synopsis of the story, as it allowed me to develop the characters beyond the opening two minutes of the film. With writing the full synopsis and developing the characters, it will allow the audience to change their perception of the main characters, this will be because the audiences impression of the characters would be instantaneous within the first two minutes of the film.
Narrative Theories Used:
In our film, we have used Todorov’s theory. Our disruptive force in our film, is when the man kills his victims. However unseen in our film, Todorov’s theory is used in our synopsis. Our first disrupted force is the initial killer. This means the character has reached a disequilibrium. The man reaches a restorative force, once he has sought revenge for the death of his girlfriend. He then reaches a new equilibrium. Again, the man reaches a disruptive force, when he kills himself, as he feels he has nothing to live for.
We have also used Levi – Strauss’ Binary Opposition. This means we have contrasted certain parts of the film, for dramatic effect. We have used this when the man starts to stalk the girl victim, he starts stalking her by walking after her. We have contrasted this with the man running after the girl, to build up the tension before he kills her. Binary opposition has also been used through the black and white shots in our film. The effect of the Binary Opposition, is to emphasis the difference in the opposites. For example; a contrast between light and dark, will emphasis how dark something is.
Throughout the film, Vladimir Propp’s theory has been used. Propp’s theory is that there are seven main characters in a narrative. In our film, the man who kills the people, is the villain, as he is he murderer. Consequently he is also the hero, as he is seeking revenge for the death of his girlfriend. Propp believed that there were 31 generic narratemes to a story. The narratemes included in our film, involve a variety. They are where a villain gains information about a victim. Also where the villain kills somebody, although in our film, the villain kills six times.
Further Notes:
If I was to complete this task again, then I would improve the continuity of the film, as I have already stated. I would also consider taking longer to film, to make sure that two minutes would not be as hard to fill, but I would still keep the film, action packed and entertaining. I would still keep the size of the group that I worked in the same, as I felt that everybody contributed to the film, to make it a successful project.
Media and Collective Identity
Q7) How far does the representation of a particular social group change over time?
Refer to at least two media in your answers (50 marks)
In this essay I will be studying how different social groups are portrayed in the two following films; A matter of Life and Death which was made in 1946, and Trainspotting which was made in 1996.
The first media I will be referring to is A matter of life and Death. The main social groups in this film were males and females. In this film the men were portrayed as macho and dominant characters, as most of them were soldiers. Also in this film jobs which held a position of power such as the doctor, were played by males. This could be due to the fact that at this time, it was not socially acceptable for women to work. Women had helped out during the war effort, and as the war was over it was expected that they would return to their positions in the home. This would lead the way for the males to be in control.
In this film the characters were not portrayed as equals as the main woman character was portrayed as weak and needy, whereas in contrast the males were strong and powerful. However the main male character who was ill, still needed the comfort of a women, which could expose a softer side to his character, and the strong persona he portrayed was just a “front”.
In an unusual contrast in this film, the person in charge of heaven is a women, which was odd as you would expect it to me a man.
The second media which I am referring to is the film produced by Danny Boyle, called Trainspotting. In the film, the main social groups are men, women and some criminals.
In this film, all the characters are or end up being drug users. The men are portrayed stereotypically as drug users, with shaven heads, and tracksuits. This differs to the first media as the men are not dominating characters and do not hold positions of power.
One of the main characters is portrayed as a ring leader with everyone complying to what he says as they are scared of him. As the film was made in 1996, this could be typical of gang culture today.
The women in this film, are also drug users and are portrayed as weak and feeble for giving into the drugs. They are not portrayed as women who stay at home and look after the house, like in the first film. This could have been done by the director to reflect the changing social circumstances of people, and the change in social life over time.
The social groups are portrayed as nearly equals, as they are all drug users, expect the character of Begby has a higher status in the group than some of the other characters.
One of the women who is a drug user in the film, is portrayed in a worse light than her male counterparts as she neglects her child and it ends up dying.
There is another female character in the film, who ends up going out with the main male character. She is not a drug user and is seen as the stable influence in the mans life. This is something which has not changed from the first film, where the radar worker nurses and supports the male.
Throughout both of the media, male and female characters have been portrayed differently. The main similarities between the two films are that at least one of the female characters is seen as a mother figure to one of the males. There is also some form of dominating male character, which shows stereotypes still exist even though the time periods between the two films is quite a long time.
The differences between the two media’s are that what is seen as an acceptable lifestyle the portrayal has changed. Another difference is that in the first film, there was a clear divide in equality between the male and female characters, whereas in the second film there is less of an equality issue and more of a status issue.
Overall, I think that social groups have been stereotyped in these films, even though they were made in two different time periods.
Full Synopsis:
The scene opens with a man sat at a round table, he is drinking something alcoholic and has 6 photos of just men’s faces laid out on a table in a fan shape. The man has been drinking heavily but is not too drunk too know what he is doing. The men’s faces are going to be the man’s next victims. Each “victims” face has a number on the back of it. The man pulls out something from his pocket, viewers are then made aware that it is a dice. The man rolls the dice, and a number is decided. He picks up the corresponding photo to number and writes “Next Victim” on the photo and places it into his jacket pocket along with his dice. The man gets up from his table and picks up some house keys off of a shelf. You see the man walking out of the door, and hear the slam off the door.
The next shot of the man is of him following the next victim along an alleyway or lane. The victim has an ipod in and is wearing a hoodie so he can’t hear background noise. The killer walks faster and pounces on the man, he pulls out a gun and holds it to the back of the mans head, he kills him, and walks off (not runs as not to cause suspicion). There is no shot of the dead body,as you hear the gun shot and it is obvious that the victim is dead.
The next scene starts with the man at home putting his gun back on to a table, or putting it into the top drawer of a bedside cabinet. He turns on the television, but the sound is too loud against the silent room, so he turns it off. He turns on the radio, and hears about a local murder, smiles and turns it off. The killer then goes back to his circular table, puts all the pictures out in the same fan shape. He puts a lighter to the photo of the victim he has just killed. He then takes out his dice and rolls it again, to decided the next victim.
This scene begins with the man eating breakfast and the victims picture next to him. He pushes away his plate/bowl and picks up the victims photo. The man is walking through town and catches sight of his victim, he starts to run after his victim, and puts one hand around his neck and the other over his mouth, and pulls him around a corner. He then strangles him, and leaves him to die. The next shot is of a slumped body on the floor.
Scene 5 opens with the man having a flashback. This is the first indication of why the man is killing all of these people. The flashback shows the man being tied to a chair next to a girl. The girl is the mans girlfriend. The 6 people appear and it is all of the “victims”. they have killed the man’s girlfriend by strangling her. This is why the man wants revenge. The next shot of the man is him closing his front door and sliding down it, crying. He is curled up by the door.
The man is to kill his final victim and he now has an idea on how to kill him. He has already killed by shooting and by strangling. He is to kill this last victim by, stabbing them in a deserted area.
The man kills all of his other victims through the above methods, and has still not been caught by the police. After every killing, he hears about it on either the news or radio, and when it is confirmed that the victim is dead, he sets fire to their picture he had. Each killing happens with in a day of each other, as all the victims hang around with each other. The man follows the final victim and stabs him, in a deserted multi storey car park late at night.
As the man has killed all of his victims he decides to kill himself so he will be with his girlfriend. He takes his gun out from his top drawer of his bedside table he holds the gun to his head and shoots. This scene finish’s with a blood stain all over a white door.
This scene starts with a telephone ringing and a policeman picking it up in a station. The policeman is talking to an old women who is reporting her neighbour as missing as she has not seen him for a while. The policeman writes down the ladies details and arranges for an officer to visit the women.
This scene begins with a policeman knocking on the old ladies door, she answers and explains that she has not seen her neighbour in a while and has tried knocking the door but there is no answer. The police smash down the door of the ladies neighbour,and it is the killers house. They search the house and find the dead mans body. They take swabs and forensic evidence because it looks suspicious. They then realise that the man who killed himself has killed all of the victims because of swabs taken from the dead peoples bodies.
The police interview the old lady in her home, and she tells the police that she has not seen the man much since the death of his girlfriend, the police already know the details of this as they investigated the killing. They work out that he must have been taking revenge for his girlfriends killing. The neighbour tells the policeman and women that the “killer” used to be lively and outgoing before his girlfriends death, and since her death he had been more like a recluse.
The police realise that they must rule the mans death as suicide. The next shot is of a old lady stood next to a graveside, laying flowers and crying. There are no other people at the graveside apart from the old lady. It shows how little the man was loved because he has no family at his funeral. That is why he was so deeply affected by his girlfriends death as he felt part of a family.
This is the ending credits with all the actors names. Music is playing and it is a sort of sad music, it starts off slow and then gets faster as it progresses.
Music:
The music at the start of the film is slow. This is where the man is sat around his table contemplating which victim he should kill. There is tense music when the man is hunting down his first victim, it is like upbeat and has a good tempo. It represents a chase. There is music when the man has a flashback this is sentimental music as the man is reminiscing about his former life. There will also be music when his elderly neighbour is at his graveside. This will be sad music.
Characters:
The killer has short dark hair, and wears a pair of dark blue jeans and a t-shirt or hoodie. He has a rugged look, as he has not shaved. His jacket must have an inside pocket because that is where he keeps his gun and his dice.
His dead girlfriend has blonde hair and wears designer clothes. She is tall and pretty.
The victims all wear the same type of clothes as they belong to a gang. They all wear dark blue jeans, a hoodie and leather jackets.
The police men/women obviously wear police uniforms and look smart.
The old lady who is the killers neighbour is wearing a skirt and a white blouse, and she has grey curly hair.
There are no other main characters expect extras, and background people E.G People in the town, when the man is capturing his second victim.
Locations:
Locations would have to include town, when the killer captures his second victim. Another location would have to include a house. This would be the main location of where the man lives. It would have to have a table which is circular for the opening credits. Another house would have to be available for the neighbour, as she lives right next door to the killer. Another location would have to include an alleyway or lane because this is the murder scene of the first killing.
Film Questionnaire:
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Occupation:
What typical Film genre do you watch?
What film genre do you not like and why?
If a film is shown on T.V would you not watch it if it was on a certain channel?
Why?
From watching the film what is your initial response?
What elements of the film, have you enjoyed?
Which part of the film did you enjoy the most? Please Circle…
Acting
Music
Editing
Camera Techniques
What did you think of the actors, in the film?
Overall, did you enjoy the film? Why?
If you could offer any improvements what would they be and why?
Thank-you for taking the time to fill out this questionnaire.
