This is the new blog that I'm starting for my A-level Media Studies course work. I will be posting photos, polls, videos and link for to you to view and to contribute towards my course. Enjoy!
In class we watched a video made by some Australian production team. The video gave us some useful tips/advice on how to control our filming and production schedule.
It started off by telling us the different roles that are involved when producing a film:
- Executiveproducer: This person will create the filming schedule/timeline, control the budget and decide who fills what rolls.
- Writer: This person will take all the idea that were discussed and write a script for the production
- Director: This person is in charge of all the movement
-Production manager: This person keeps track of the production and makes sure everything is on track to stay in budget/in the deadline
- Storyboard Artist: This person draws and plans the shots in a cartoon strip style
- Camera operator: This person controls the camera and uses the storyboard as the outline and guide of what to film (this can sometime be the same person as the lighting director)
- Lighting Director: This person is in charge of the lighting on set when they start the filming process
- Sound Technician: This person will add sound to the production at the editing stage and may try and record different sounds on set to add at a later stage
- Talent: The talent will be the actors; these will either be auditioned or asked to partake by the executive producer
- Editor: This person will make sure the continuity etc is correct and produce the finished product.
They then gave us an outline of the three stages of creating a production.
Pre-Production
Scripting
Scene breakdown
Storyboard
Shot list
Casting
Location
Equipment
Catering
Hire of venue
Letting others (around the area) know you're filming
Shot list and shooting schedule:
Where
Time needed
Different camera angles
When
How long
Plan Ahead, Be Prepared!!
Production - The doing stage
Shooting the project
Time management (crucial)
Quality control (image, sound, performance)
Potential conflict between producers (limitations and directors creativity)
In class we started the research stage of our opening sequence task. Mr. Buckmaster showed us three different opening sequences and asked us to analyse them. Before showing us the opening sequences he spilt us into 5 groups and gave each group a heading to base our analysis on. The 5 headings were: Genre, Atmosphere, Narrative, Setting and Character.
The first opening sequence we watched was 'Cape Fear' which is an American psychological thriller directed by Martin Scorsese. My group was asked to analyse the character.
I thought the middle-aged (looking) man who appeared in red waves was the main character. I think this because there was a reasonably long focus on him. Also, because the man appears under red waves and then comes out of the water it give the impression that he may have a position of power in the film and that he may be unstoppable as he is able to free himself from under the water. I also got the impression that he may be a murderer in the film bacause of feeling of power and because I felt the red blood may have relected blood, or hell.
The woman at the end, who seemed to be a lecturer or teacher, had an American accent. I thought she seemed quite innocent and vulnerable from her manner and fairy tale like speech. This makes me think that she could be a victim in the film. This is reinforced by her talking about the river being called 'Cape Fear' but her not believing the river should be named 'Fear', luring her into a false sense of secutiry, this could foreshadow something bad happening to her at/in/near the river.
The Second opening sequence we watched was 'Hell Boy II: The Golden Army' which is a supernatural superhero film directed by Guillermo del Toro. This time my group was asked to analyse the genre.
I started off by thinking the film may be a detective, crime solving genre. I thought this because they showed many papers, diagrams and drawings including the Vitruvian Man. This gave the impression that someone was trying work something out or solve a mystery in an outdated way.
I also thought it had an element of fantasy because the boy at the beginning was red and had horns, like a devil. This gave it a slightly unrealistic feel and gave the impression that it was going to be a make believe film.
The Soundtrack made me think of war. The rhythmic clunking of metal sounded like it was either a parade of soldiers marching or a battle in action (the clunking being swords and weapons). This made me think that it was going to be an action adventure style film with lots of fighting and drama.
Finally, I think the red and orange fire used in the opening sequence makes it seem like hell, this links in with the title of the films and the first character we see (a devil). I therefore think it has some aspects of death and suffering.
The third and final opening sequence we watched was 'Forrest Gump' which is a romantic comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. This time our group was asked to focus on narrative.
The main focus of the opening sequence is a white feather floating through the sky in different directions. The first thing I thought was "what's the significance of the feather?". I thought that it may signify the loss of something as a bird will have lost the feather that is floating. I then though it may signify a journey. The feather floats for quite a long time and floats in many different directions before settling on the floor. This may be a metaphor for the journey Forrest goes on during the film.
The second thing that I thought was "Who is the man and why is he keeping the feather?". Having seen the film I know the man sat on the bench is Forrest Gump however, if it was the first time I had seen the opening sequence I would not have known. The audience may wonder what he is doing and why he is a significant character. I think Forrest putting the feather in his book tells the audience a lot about him straight away. He puts it in a childrens book which is in a brief case that has a lot of 'strange' items this tells me he is slightly childlike and sentimental.
The final question we asked ourselves was 'why were his shoes dirty?' we felt that this may have been a significant part of the film as it was the focus for quite a while. Again, having watched the film i think the dirty shoes signify all the running he has done and that the running is what has got him where he is and helped him to survive/keep safe.
On the 13th November my media studies class went on a school trip to the British Film Institution (BFI) for a workshop on making film openings. It was a massive help for our AS media coursework as creating an opening sequence and titles will be our task. The day consisted of talks from Pete Fraser and Q&A sessions with Simon Frame and Joe Cornish. Pete Fraser started the day talking about the investigation and research part of our coursework. He told us about 5 key features we should consider when planning: - Genre - Narrative (enigma) - Character - Atmosphere - Setting He then gave us some tips/steps to use when we start looking into making the film opening. 1. Start general, don't limit yourself to one genre or style of film 2. Then home in on one specific genre and look at other relevant film openings too. 3. Make sure the research you do is focused on your chosen genre and relevant We watched a few opening sequences to films ('Catch me if you can', 'Dawn of the Dead', and 'Napoleon Dynamite'). Pete Fraser asked us to watch the openings and makes quick notes on the 5 key features. We then discussed it with the people around us and a few students shared their ideas with the rest of us. Here are my notes on 'Dawn of the Dead': Genre: Zombie Horror Narrative: Character: only an introductory, no central character introduced yet. More about what it is and who it affects. Shows people who are clearly from a different cultural backgrounds to show what's happening is on a global scale. Atmosphere: quick cut editing so that we can't see exactly what is going on, it doesn't tell the whole story in the opening. Shows news report in the opening, nothing good ever gets on the news, shows something bad has happened. The song used in the opening was 'Rapture' by Johnny Cash, the song juxt opposes the opening as it sounds like a happy song but the clearly isn't going to be a joyful one. The lyrics are about the religious end of the world, this foreshadows the film. Setting: There was different global settings in the opening, this shows it is a film about the whole world however, it showed the white house many times suggesting it is mainly focussed in America. Although the Q&A sessions were VERY interesting they weren't completely relevant to us because they were more about the filming as a whole and they were on a much larger scale (bigger budget, more actors, more equipment e.t.c.) The last session was again run by Pete Fraser. This session was purely about our opening sequences and was very valuable to us. We watched previous work submitted by candidates and Pete gave us a quick analysis on them and told us what level they were and why. He also gave us some helpful tips about our titles: - The directors name should always go last - We shouldn't use the word 'starring' - Don't include our candidate number next to our names - Try not to show all our title at the same time, spread them through out the opening He also told us about the 6 most common openings and 6 common problem often sound with openings. 1. Saw (a victim tied up in a shed) 2. Scream (a hooded stalker) 3. Se7en 4. Lock, Stock (gangsters) 5. Waking up 6. Flashbacks or Flash forwards - Making the opening too much like a trailer or short film - Not including enough titles - poor sound or lighting - poorly directed actors - Making the storyline too complicated or confusing - Doing one of the most common openings badly Finally, Pete gave us details about our opening sequences and the marking, He told us about 9 main steps we need to think about when filming our opening sequences. Task: To film the opening, with titles, of a new, fiction film. The sequence should be up to two minutes long. 20 marks will be awarded for research and planning, 60 marks for the construction and 20 marks for the evaluation. Step 1: Take Stock Build up your skills
Build up your research
Build up your planning
Allow time to shoot and edit
Keep evidence through out the task
Step 2: Set up a blog
Post anything you do on your blog
Step 3: Build up skills
Learn from your preliminary task
Use a range of camera angles and skills
Step 4: Investigate
What do film openings look like
Look at a range of genres
Look at other students work
Step 5: Brainstorm Ideas
Pitches
Mood board treatments
Feedback
Be realistic
Step 6: Planning
The more planning, the less problems
Experiment
Examples of props, costumes, shots e.t.c.
Storyboard (use post it notes)
Logistics
Step 7: The shoot
People, places, props, costume
Rehearsing, directing
Equipment and jobs on the day
Keeping a record of the proccess
Step 8: Editting
Everyone have a go
Screen grabs
Audio and titles
Foley (the art of putting sound in sync with movement)
For homework Mr Buckmaster asked us to watch three short Youtube videos. The first two were about planning how to film and storyboarding, these linked in with the work we are currently doing as we plan to film our preliminary tasks. The third video was a short film called 'Tell' by Ryan Connolly. He then asked us to write a short comment on his blog bellow the video about a few of our thoughts.
Some aspects (such as casting and the budget) were slightly irrelevant because they were on a much larger scale than we will be doing for our course work but I think they were still very interesting worth watching. Other parts of the videos, like the script break down and the shot list/storyboard were more valuable to me when thinking about filming my own preliminary task and opening sequence.
Bellow is the video we had to watch:
The video was made on a £1000 budget and most of the film crew were members of Ryan Connolly’s family or his friends and were trained by him. With this in mind I think it was a VERY good short film!
The film contains a wide range of different camera angle and shots which help to contribute to the effectiveness of the film. It shows a range of different views of the same thing so the audience can get all angles of the scene. This helps to make the film seem more real and it isn't ruined by silly mistakes, i.e. the shots of the same things from different angle show the actor in the same position or objects in the same place to keep the realism. Also, the shots were filmed in a very clever way; they built up tension slowly before revealing the drama so that it didn't give away the story too early and made it more dramatic and exciting.
I think the other significant part of the film that helped to draw in the audience was the sound. The sound helped to build up the tension and created a lot of suspense. On the parts where he wanted the audience to believe something bad was going to happen Connolly added loud 'booming' music to the camera shots. This helped the film to sound dramatic and emphasised the scary parts even more as it went silent as the scary shots came into view. He also ensured that not all the loud bits ended in scary or jumpy shots to lure the audience into a false sense of security. He did a couple of scary bits with normal background sounds or no music to catch the audience off guard and have a bigger impact.
Finally, he left the film on a bit of a cliff hanger, we don't know what happened to the murderer or if he was a murderer after all as we don't see any confirmation that either victim is dead and we see the victim in the bath tub raise her hand toward the end. Although, some people don't like cliff hangers I think in this case it was good because it meant I was free to conclude the film how I liked. (And I didn't fancy seeing a half dead woman getting out a bath tub).
To see more opinions on 'Tell' visit Mr Buckamster's blog and read the comments bellow the video 'Tell'.
In class we got into groups of four and looked at the storyboards people have drawn for homework. After we had looked at the storyboards we had to choose one of them re create. We decided to re create Ben's because storyboard because we felt it had a good range of shots and didn't contain any features that weren't accessible. Bellow is the story board we used.
This was our third attempt with a camera so there are still some faults with our filming. This is our attempt:
Analysis
I don't think our version of the clip gives the full effect of the original. Although we have followed the storyboard closely it is out of context and some of the props we used were an improvisation. Having said this the task was to test our skills using a storyboard and camera skills so even though ours was hard to understand I think it was a good effort.
Storyboarding is a key part of making and shooting a film. The Storyboarder will draw a 'cartoon style' version of the shots in rectangular they want to capture for each scene. It helps them to visualise what they want the scenes to look like when they come to the filming. It is likely that the filming won’t be exactly as the shots are drawn on the storyboard, for example they may have been drawn too far to one side or too tight to the frame, however, it will be the ‘building blocks’ of the filming and the shots, in most cases, will be very similar to the shots that have been mapped out. Without the Storyboard the film makers will be filming the scene from scratch and may not get such an effective film as they won't have spent time thinking about what they want it to look like and the effect they are trying to get.
I have chosen to storyboard the opening scene of James Bond ‘Casino Royale’. I have drawn each frame from the first 40 seconds. Below is a copy of my storyboard.
We had a second attempt using a camera. In this attempt we took on board the constructive criticism we received from Mr. Buckmaster:
Check the head space and position of character before you start filming
Do a count down from 5 after we have pressed record before we start filming the shot
Keep the camera still unless we are doing movement In movement keep the camera a the right angle and make sure the movement is smooth
Think about the lighting of your shot before recording and ensure you can see the characters face when supposed to.
Set the camera up in the exact position before filming the shot
Above is a video of my groups second attempt.
In our first shot we panned a High Angle Medium Shot. In this shot you can see that we counted down after we pressed record as there are a few seconds with no movement, this was to ensure that when it comes to editing we have not missed the beginning of the shot. The head space in this shot was good; there wasn't too much space above the character in comparison to how much of the character we could see. Also the lighting meant we could see the character perfectly and our panning was much smoother than our first attempt.
Our Second shot was a Birds-eye View. In this shot I think we needed to reduce the head space slightly because it wasn't in proportion with the feet space. Also the lighting was slightly bright on the characters face which meant that you couldn't see her face very well. Also, we did move the camera slightly when it was supposed to be a still shot.
Our Final shot was a Reverse Shot. In this shot we positioned the character well in the first half of the reverse shot. She had good lighting on her and we used the rule of thirds to position her. In the second half of our reverse shot we had a good proportion of the back of the characters head compared with how much of the 'mystery' character we could see. Also the lighting of the character she was looking at was effective because it made him look mysterious and dangerous which was the desired effect. Finally there was a lot of time at the end and beginning of the shot to allow for editing. I think our reverse shot was the best shot we did and was a massive improvement on our previous reverse shot.
Although there were still negative points about our second shots and there wasn't such a variety of shots, they were of a much higher quality than our first attempt.
In class we got into groups and had our first attempt with a camera. We took it in turns film different camera angles and shots.
Above is my groups first attempt.
First of all we panned an establishingshot. When filming our clip we used a tripod, this meant our pan was reasonably smooth however, our shot was still slightly wobbly and there was a couple of jolts. Also, there was slightly too much grass in the shot and not enough of the trees.
Our second shot was a long shot. I think our head space in this shot should have been slightly smaller; however, being a long shot, there is going to be a lot of space around the character.
Thirdly we did a two character medium shot. Again, the head space in this shot was slightly too big however I think we got a good proportion of the characters in this shot.
Our next shot was a Medium Shot. This shot was slightly a Dutch Angle Shot however, this was unintentional. Therefore, our group should have checked the trip was level before filming this shot. I think the head space in this shot was slightly better than the previous shots and we didn't place the character in the centre of the shot.
Then, we did a Medium Close-up. This shot, like our others, had too much head space. The character was in a good position in the shot.
After, we did a Close-up Shot. The head space in this shot was better than all our other shots; it was reasonably good proportion, however, our character was quite central in this shot.
Our next shot was a Big Close-up. This shot was also slightly wonky and central. Our group should have checked the position on the tripod before filming this shot.
We did a Reverse angle Shot next. In this shot the character in the shot should have had something to look at one the reverse to make it more effective and the back of the head should have been closer and to the side more in the shot. Also head space was a bit big the first part of this shot.
Then, we did a Low Angle shot. The angle of this shot was good, however, the light behind the character made it slightly harder to see the characters face.
Finally, we did a High Angle Shot. This shot had too much head space but the angle was good.
After doing the task we played it to the class and Mr. Buckmaster gave us constructive criticism.
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Camera Angles in an Action Clip
After watching the torture scene of James Bond, Casino Royale without the sound on, my group listed the significant camera angles and shots and analysed what they showed up to 1:34.
The first significant camera angle in the scene was a medium close-up shot (MCU) of James Bond whilst he is being beaten. The shot portrays Bind feeling and shows the audience that he is feeling scared and in pain.
The second shot is a reverse angle shot (RA). This exaggerates the danger James Bond is in and informs the reader of why he is scared. His fear is then reinforced by a second CU shot of his face.
The third key shot is a Low angle shot (LA) of Le Chriffre. This represents the power he has over James Bond and helps to create his higher status.
There is a close-up shot of the rope Le Chriffre is using to torture James. This exaggerates its importance in the scene and shows that it has significance.
There is a rule of third during the scene. James Bond is to the left of the shot and Le Chriffre, holding the rope, is to the right. This shows that the focus of the scene is not the setting but the characters as they are in the characters eye-line. Le Chriffre is more zoomed in that James Bond, his hand and the rope he is holding in the main focus of his body, this suggests that the audience are influenced to focus on James and the rope.
The 6th significant camera shot is a MCU shot. This represents Bond’s pain in the scene and helps the audience to interpret his feelings.
Finally there is an eye level shot (EL). This gives the impression that the status of the two characters is shifting. It shows that, by not giving in, James Bond is starting to gain power over Le Chriffre.
Last Lesson Mr. Buckmaster showed us the title sequence for ‘The Orphanage’. First he got us to just watch the scene, he then replayed it again and asked us to make notes on different categories: Characters, relationships, location and genre. (See most of the opening scene below)
Characters
- The first character you see (Laura) is the focus of the scene for about 5 seconds. It is a young female wearing old clothes shouting out some words in Spanish and then looking behind her. The young girl looked innocent however; I felt that her being on her made her look like she was lost and maybe a bit unsafe to approach. After a few seconds a hand comes into view and grabs the shoulder of the little girl, this also makes the situation seem slightly unsafe.
- We then see some young children and the camera spans out and it becomes apparent that they are playing a game. They look like a group of happy friends, innocently playing together on the lawn.
- The final character in the scene (the caretaker) was an adult female. She is inside the dark house (which has a strong contrast to the light, summer day outside) creating a darkened and mysterious atmosphere. She answers the phone and her tone of voice makes her sound regretful and upset. She also sounds as though she is hiding her emotions which make her seem like she can’t let her emotions get in the way of whatever was said on her phone call. The woman steps outside and watches the children, she is given a state of authority and this point because she is stood on a step looking down on the children making her have a higher status, she is also the main feature in the shot with the children playing in the distance, making them look smaller.
Relationships
- In the scene we get the impression that the caretaker has a duty of care over the children. We get this from the way she answers the phone, as though she is in charge and the way she stands over the children, creating a higher and more important status compared to them.
- The children were playing as thought they were good friends. They looked close and gave the impression that they had known each other for a long time.
Location
- The characters speak in a Spanish accent, from this we can assume that the film is based in Spain. They are in a large garden that is surrounded by trees, this gives the impression that it is in a rural location. From the sunny day I assumed that it is set in spring/summer time. It was a summer day, however a screen shot of the clouds showed they were grey and slightly ‘gloomy’, this may be foreshadowing that something bad is going to happen later on. The trees surrounding the garden may have also been foreshadowing that something bad is going to happen as they were creating shadows in the distance. I could tell the film is set in a slightly historical time because of the old fashioned costumes the children we wearing, and some of the props, such as an old telephone. I knew that the film was a horror because the soundtrack at the beginning was dark and mysterious. There were also shadows and that sound of creaking doors when credits came up which also gave a mysterious feel and sense of ‘unease’.
- Finally the credits were presented on dark red, old fashioned wallpaper that was being ripped; it gave the impressions of the generic, old, ‘spooky’ house found in a stereo-typical horror film.
In today's lesson with Mr. Buckmakster we learnt about different camera shots.
- Extreme close-up (ECU) just the character's eyes and nose
- Big close-up (BCU) from the character's eyes to their mouth
- Close-up (CU) Just the character's head
- Medium close-up (MCU) the character's shoulders and head
- Medium shot (MS) (Two character shot) two character's upper body and head
- Medium Long Shot (MLS) Two character's whole body and the scene
- Long shot (LS) what's happening in the scene, not just the characters
- Establishing shot (ES) As far back as possible to show the scene and establish where you are
- High angle shot (HA) shoot from above - creates vulnerability
- Low angle shot (LA) shoot from below - creates power
- Birds eye view shot (BEV) From above
- Dutch angle (DA) when the shot is on a slight tilt - makes the audience unsure
- Eye level shot (EL) Camera is at exact eye level with character - creates intensity
- Reverse angle shot (RA) you see the character and then it flips to what the character can see/ is looking at
- Pan shot - moving from left to right (or right to left) around the character
- Crab shot - moving from left to right (or right to left) across the character
- Track shot - moving the camera in
- Zoom - moving the lens in
- Ped shot - moving the camera up and down
- Tilt shot - moving the camera up and down and tilting it as it's moved
For homework I have watched 3 different scenes from different scenes and analysed the camera angles/shots.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 First I analysed about a minute from the last scene of Harry Potter (Where they are trying to defeat Lord Voldermort)
The first significant camera angle was a medium close-up shot (MCU) of both Harry and Voldermort separately. This exaggerated their feelings and helped to portray their desperation.
It then goes into a long shot (LS), this shows what is happening in the scene and helps to represent the story line. It also helps to overstress the fight between voldermort and Harry as it is the main event on the screen and the colour attracts the eye.
A medium close-up shot (MCU)of voldermort helps to show his anger when fighting Daniel
The 4th significant camera angle was a low angle shot (LA)of Nagini, Voldermort's snake, this gives him a state of power, and shows that he belongs to Voldermort, thus having a higher status than others.
A medium close up shot (MCU) of Ron and Hermione running from Nagini also helps the audience to deduce their feeling and helps to convey their fear.
The 5th significant camera shot is an extreme close up (ECU) of voldermort, this helps to signify his anger and anxiety.
There is a reverse angle shot (RA) of Hermione and Ron, this shows what they are running from and are scared of.
A medium close-up shot (MCU) of Voldermort portrays his pain and sudden loss in power when his last horcrux was destroyed.
Finally, there is a medium close up shot (MCU) of Voldermort's wand as it flies out his hand to stress that it is a very important prop and part of the scene .
Grease, final scene Next, I analysed the musical grease. I also did the last scene of this, where Sandy and Danny are at the school's summer fate (up until 1:20)
At the beginning of the scene Doody, Sonny and Putzie are walking in the crowd, they then look up and see something and smile. The Camera Pans from left to right and we see Danny walking towards in them.
It then goes into a medium shot (MS) where they are talking to each other, this suggests portrays the friendly atmosphere and shows they are all friends
The camera then does a reverse angle shot (RS) to see what the boys are looking at and to see why they look surprised/shocked. When the camera focuses on what they are looking at (Sandy in her cat suit) is uses a ped shot, this helps to build suspense and emphasises that what they are looking at in strange/will be a shock.
There is then a medium close-up shot (MCU) of Danny when he sees Sandy, this helps to show and exaggerate his expression and feelings (shock).
The film uses the rule of third method to emphasise that Sandy (when she is smoking) is the main focus of that part if the scene. Because she is to the left of the screen, and not the centre, the audience's eye is drawn towards her and she becomes the focus of their viewing.
Finally, after Danny starts singing he falls to the floor, the camera then uses a high angle shot (HA) for a split second, this portrays the idea that Sandy has gained power over Danny because of the way she is dressed and acting. This idea is reinforced when Sandy stands over Danny and kicks him out of the way.
The scene starts with the sound of electronics, this is so that what they are doing seems more true to life. It then has some dialogue which helps to set the scene and inform the audience of what they are doing.
Soundtrack
At about 1:05 there is a high pitch 'screechy' noise that plays in the background for a few seconds, getting louder, this gives a sense of danger and mystery and helps to add tension to the scene. When the character starts to count down there is a note after every number, as he is counting down the note is getting louder and more dramatic, this also adds to the tension and emphasises the sense of danger. The sound of the light flickering also gets louder and faster which help build up suspense.
When the counting finishes there is an exaggerated sound of violins and then, as the woman opens her eyes, the music cuts out and there is a second of silence. This makes the woman seem vulnerable and helps build tension.
When the woman hears the children crying in the room the music gets louder and very intense, this adds to the effect of screaming and crying and gives the scene a powerful and extravagant effect.
Sound effects
- Sound of camera zooming in and out
- Foot steps
- Creaking floor boards
- Crisp sound of the pencil on paper
- 'Buzzing' and 'screeching' of the radio
- Light flicker
All these sound effects help to make the scene feel and sound as real as possible and many of them also help to add to the effect of tension and they are rich, strong sounds that build up tension and mystery.
Dialogue
The woman who was being put in the regression had a quiet and innocent voice, this helped to portray and emphasise her vulnerability.
You could hear the children crying and screaming. This had a better effect than if the woman was describing what she could hear because it made it seem more real and also created suspense.
Semiotics means the study of signs. It helps us to understand how humans 'read' or make meaning of the images, pictures and visual signs that they see.
A sign refers to a meaning other than itself; it works as a pointer, giving directions to think in a certain way. (Cultures may alter how signs are perceived)
Key Names of those who developed the discipline semiotics
On the 11th of September we learnt about the history of Media. There are 4 different theories as to why people watch television, these theories have been adapted and change over time to produce a new, more recent theory.
Theory 1 - The Hypodermic needle Model.
Dating from the 1920's, this theory was the first attempt to explain how mass audience might react to mass media. It suggests that audience passively receive whatever they are told without having to process it or question what they are being told. This theory was produced when media was still relatively new, things like cinema and radio were less than two decades old. The idea that the government could use advertising and propaganda to sway people to their way of thinking was still new.
The model suggests that the information from a text passes through the audiences consciousness unmediated. It also proposes that the audiences opinions and behaviour were easily changed by media-makers and that we are easily brain washed by media texts. It assumes that the audience are passive and heterogeneous. This theory is still brought up during moral panics by parents, politicians and pressure groups as it is still believed that media can brain wash certain groups on society. And there is still a fear that people will watch sexual or violent behaviour and try to repeat it.
e.g. comics in the 1950's and rap music in the 2000's
Theory 2 - Two-step flow
The hypodermic theory was soon proved wrong when researchers realised that the audience wasn't as passive as they first thought.
In the 1930's Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson and Hazel Gaudet decided to interview people who voted in the presidential election to see why they voted for certain people. This will have helped them to see what methods of media and advertising worked best and why. They found that people only filtered what they liked .
They concluded that everyone is different and so we choose what we want to watch. This took power away from the media.
(This was also known as the 'Limited affects Paradign')
Theory 3 - Uses and Gratifications
In the 1970's Bulmer and Katz came up with the theory that people have a choice to watch what they want and came up with four main reasons why they would watch TV
Diversion - to escape from everyday problems and routines
Personal Relationships - for emotional support
Surveillance - finding out information (news and weather)
Personal Identity - Relating to what you find yourself with in the programme
In the future this list will multiply due to the media expanding (video games and technology)
Reception Theory
In the 1980's to 1990's Stuart Hall researched how the audience receive media.
They found that media was produced for certain genders, class and ethnicity. This was called preferred reading. The theory is that media texts were encoded by the producers and decoded by the audience.
They realised that media should be produced to give people what they want and to get a bigger audience.
With Miss Griffiths we are learning exam based stuff and doing work on TV dramas to prepare us for our exam. In our first lesson we learnt the basics of media and what it is: the different channels you use to communicate information in the everyday life. We also looked at different types of medium and the uses of the internet.
Finally we discussed our current favourite types of media and why we liked them:
TV programme - Rules of Engagement - it's funny
Film - Aquamarine - it's a feel good film
Magazine - Heat - you get all the celebrity gossip
Radio - Heart - it has all the old classics
Advert - Boots - it's funny
Pop Song - Fun, What do I stand for - it's a upbeat and catchy song
Newspaper - Daily Mirror - it has good stories and it's not political
Internet - Twitter/Facebook - it can keep you social and see what people are up to
This is my new blog for my As Media Studies course. On here I will be posting various things such as: video’s, website links, pictures, polls and general posts to help me with my Media Studies course work. On our first lesson Mr Buckmaster showed us how to set up our blog and gave us an outline of tasks we will be completing along the course. He also gave us Media related websites to look at including: his own blog www.marlboroughmediastudies.blogspot.co.uk and Pete Fraser’s blog, who does various Media Studies related topics and has previously been a media studies teacher, www.petesmediablog.blogspot.co.uk. Both of these blog sites will help me because they are specifically related to my course and will have useful post with information that can contribute to my personal blog. We were also given the OCR website: www.OCR.org.uk. This is a good website because it will help me revise because I can look up the specification and make sure I am doing all I can to get good marks. He also gave us two useful websites that will help with our blogging. These we’re www.guardian.co.uk. This has a media studies section and I will therefore benefit from reading the latest media news and www.artofthetitle.com.This is a website that has a number of opening sequences from different films, this will help me when I come to filming my own opening scene and will also help me blog. I have not studied Media before but chose to do it as an A-level because I thought it would be interesting and fun. I was also attracted towards Media Studies after taking part in a friend’s video documentary 2 years ago, the skills and tasks involved in making her video seemed enjoyable, thus making the subject appeal to me.
