Thursday 16 December 2010

My targets for 2011

Effort3
I believe my effort is average in class and for homework and I need to improve by taking more time on my class work and homework.

Submission and quality of homework -3
I think my quality of homework is  again is average and I need to spend much more time on it, I could spend more time in my free periods and do more at home to improve my grade, also if I read through sample essays it could give me a good indication on what the examiner expects.
Quality of writing- 3
I think my writing is average and if I want to improve my writing I need to start reading more at home, writing more textual analysis on trailers.
Ability to work independently-3
I can work independently but I feel that I don’t get as much work done and don’t understand it as much, by working in groups I can understand the work from 2 or 3 other members.
Organisation of blog-3
My blog is relatively organised but I need to start embedding the videos properly and start labelling my pieces of work so it is clear for each teacher to mark.
Oral contribution in class-3
I contribute in class but not as much as the others, by contributing in class it will make me understand the topic more.
Attainment-3
I think I need to improve my grade in my writing to reach my minimum target grade which is a c, but if I put in the work I think I can exceed that target grade.
Punctuality -2
I am always on time to class for both teachers; I hardly miss lessons unless for authorised absence, otherwise I think my punctuality is good.

My targets for 2011;
For me to improve my grade in media I need to do more analysis of film trailers and other texts, I must also analyse other production that past students have produced. Comment on the media techniques they use such as the language, representation, and genre. By doing this it will help me with my production that I will be making later on in the year.

Tuesday 14 December 2010

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                                      Longest yard

In this essay I will be analysing the film trailer “the longest yard”. I will be commenting on the media language that is used throughout the trailer and I will comment on how gender is represented. The film has a main target audience of men aged around 18-24.the film is aimed at socio economic class of around c2, d and e. The film will attract a younger target audience as the film is based around a prison. The opening scene uses a crane shot to show the prison from a bird’s eye view, the effect of a crane shot is that it allows the audience to see what the main setting is. Another camera angle that is used to show the main setting of the film is a pan; this is a slower camera movement which moves to the left and the right. As the film is an action/drama it uses a lot of close ups to tell the story. The camera man has decided to use many close up camera shot to show the expression on the main characters faces. By doing this the audience can then see what the characters are feeling.
The film will attract many people from a lower economic class, the films main message is trying to promote success, it shows that people who get into trouble a lot can make a success of their lives even if they have done bad in the past. The camera man looks up at the main character to show his status compared to the inmates inside the prison. It shows that the inmates and the audience should respect this character. The camera man also looks up at the gauds as they have a higher status compared to the inmates and the main character. The music that is played in the background is known as non digetic, this is sound that is been added in artificially to match the scene this is known as parallel sound. After a few scenes the music starts to become faster paced and louder this suggests that action is now going to take place, the slower music also creates tension between the audience as they know something is about to happen.  
The men are represented as dominant in this film as they have most of the power throughout, especially the guards, they have the power to use violence against the inmates and believe they can do anything they want to win. We can tell that the budget of the film was very expensive as it uses many famous actors in the film; they were given a high salary for the film compared to a art house film which is a low budget production. Well known actors attract wider target audiences, the film could also be aimed at women as they may want to watch men as sexual figures.
London to Brighton.

In this essay I will be discussing the main media language techniques associated with the trailer London to Brighton, I will also be discussing the main camera angles used in the trailer and also explain how gender is represented. The film is of a hybrid genre including thriller and drama, the music which is played at the start is known as non digetic sound, this is sound that has been artificially added into the scene to make it parallel or contrapuntal to a particular scene. The music at the start is a soft music piece which relates to the scene this is known as parallel sound as it matches with the scene. When the scene continues tension slowly starts to build, this is where the music gets faster paced with a higher beat as the audience we expect something to happen, this is where the action starts to occur.
The main setting of the film is around London in the urban area, this suggests that the film was a low budget film; we also get the impression that it is a low budget film as there are unknown actors and actresses which required less money to hire. The use of close ups are typical of a drama film; they are used to show the expression and feeling of the characters. By showing close ups of the characters we can see their emotions this makes the audience feel sorry for that particular character. The camera man also decides to focus on props such as the money in the film, when a close up of money is shown we can tell that it may be illegal and a illegal job will take place for the money, so as the audience we know that action is going to occur.
The women in this particular film are represented as powerless, they don’t have any of the power throughout the film, this is relating to society because women are generally seen as weak. Mostly men are represented as the dominant characters in society and women are the weaker characters, in society they are believed to give into anything and are often known as sex objects. The camera looks up the men showing their higher status, and looks down at the women to show that men are more dominant. In the trailer men are shown as very powerful and can get anything they want with violence. The trailer also uses a lot of editing before and after scenes where it blacks out and sometimes fades into the next scene, they have done this editing technique to make it look like a Hollywood movie and make it look slightly more professional as it is a low budget film.

Monday 13 December 2010

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                                                 Inception trailer

In this essay I will be analysing the film trailer inception, I will be commenting on the media language that is used throughout the trailer and be commenting on the audience and gender in the trailer. The main target audience for the film is men aged around 20-30, we know this as the men are the dominant characters in the trailer and contains a lot of action which appeals to the male audience. The producer uses many camera angles to represent the gender throughout the trailer. During the trailer the scene of the girl taking to the men is shown with a low angle shot looking down at the women, this shows that the men have a higher status compared to the woman and the men are more dominant.
The main genre of the film is action/drama; we know this as there is a lot of action scenes throughout the trailer. The type of music that is being played in the background is non digetic; this is sound that has been added in for a special effect or to connote the scene. The music that is being played has a loud drumming noise to begin with which is relatively slow paced .The effect of this is that it creates tension between the audience and the characters in the scene. As the scene progresses the music begins to get louder and more fast paced, when the audience hears the fast paced music they expect action to occur. This is known as parallel sound as this is connected to the scene. Another type of sound which is also used in many films is known as contrapuntal sound, this is sound that is completely opposite from the scene such as loud music to a romantic love scene. Another piece of non digetic sound is the voiceover throughout the middle scenes. This is the narrator telling the story of the film and the effect of this it gains the attention of the audience quickly. The last piece of sound that is used is known as the digetic sound, this is sound that is already in the text such as the characters speech any other sound such as the sea waves at the beginning of the scene.
From the inception film trailer we can tell slightly how the narrative of the film is constructed, in this case the main character at the start is in trouble where he is washed up at sea on a stranded island somewhere. This is known as the equilibrium, the disequilibrium is the middle part of the film this is where the tension starts to build up and where most of the action takes place. Next is the new equilibrium this is the ending of the trailer where most of the action has just taken place and now the problem is starting to be resolved. The main theme of the movie is black surrounded dark colours, these dark colours connote darkness in the film and it can also represent violence throughout. The director has chosen many different camera angles to show the action of the film, the most common camera angle used is the pan, this is where the camera man moves the camera left to right or from the right to the left slowly, the effect of this is that the audience feel as if they are in the scene and they are looking around to see what the particular scenery is like. The use of close ups and medium shots are a good way of engaging the audience; they do this by focusing on important parts of the film such as the main characters expressions. By making it a close up the audience can see the emotions on the characters faces and see what they are feeling. Another close up shown is of the bomb, this is another good way of engaging the audience as it is later important in the film and this is what the film revolves around.
The use of heavy editing such as the black out before each scene is played, builds up slight tension before the next scene is played. Towards the end of the trailer there is a scene which blacks out for a maximum of 2 seconds this builds up to the tension and audience expect it to be finished but then a new scene is played to finish off the trailer completely with the working title at the end. Another technique that is used is shining light on another main character, this shows his important as he is n the light and he plays an important role in the film. About half way through the trailer the action of the film pauses to show the credits of the film, in these credits it shows who the film was made by and what previous film he had directed, the previous film he had directed was the dark knight, this is a good way of attracting the male audience as the theme of the film will be similar to the dark knight. Also the audience will believe that inception will contain the similar sort of action and violence as batman the dark knight.
In the trailer there is a scene where the building is collapsing and is about to tip over and hit the street, the director has chosen to shoot this seen with a front on camera shot, the effect of this is if you are watching this particular trailer in the cinema it feels as if the building is going to collapse onto the audience, this is another good camera shot and editing technique used to engage the audience. Also by shooting the door scene when the character is walking through the sliding doors, it is shot from a side on angle; the effect of this is again engaging the audience as it feels as if we are walking into the same doors and makes us feel part of the film. Another camera shot that is used is the tilt, this is used in the scene where they are going over the bridge and overlooking the same beach where it was at the start. By using a tilt camera shot it feels as if the audience is trying to overlook the bridge themselves to see what is on the other side, another effect this has it gets the audience to see what is n the scene and where the new location is for the movie and gets them thinking why they want to revisit the first scene of the trailer.
The producer of this film has decided to use well known actors and actresses this shows that it is a high budget film and took a long time to produce, I large amount of editing was done to show the larger scenes such as the sliding doors, they could of replicated these in a room or could have been done on a green cloth where an image would later be projected on. Also by using crane shot which cost a large amount of money, they have created many scenes overlooking the place where it was shot e.g. the mountain scene where the crane was used to capture the full scenery this attracts the audience and makes them feel in the scene.

new moon trailer

In this essay I will be discussing the media techniques used in the new moon film trailer will commenting on the effects used and the types of camera shots. The trailer has a specific audience and I will comment on how gender is represented throughout the film trailer.
The new moon trailer has a main target audience of females; the trailer attracts the females as the female vampires are represented positively in the film , they are shown as powerful compared to reality as they are normally represented negatively due to the fact as they are treated as sex objects and weaker people compared to men. Another technique that is used to attract a female audience is to use male “sex objects” such as Jacob, throughout the film there are many scenes where it shows him topless this appeals to the younger female audience. After Jacob turns into the wolf there are many high angled shot focusing on him this shows his higher status compared to what he was before when he was just a normal person. Another scene shows hoe women can be fearless when Bella jumps into the sea, this shows they are not scared to try things out and in some way taking the role over from men.
The director of the movie has decided to use many different camera angles throughout the film, the most common camera angle he uses is a pan the effect of this is that you can view that whole scene and it feels as if the audience are in the scene looking around. Another camera shot that is used is the crane shot, this again shows the whole scene when Bella is about to drop from the cliff into the sea. We can tell that twilight is a low budget film as it uses many natural location and no famous actors or actresses, by using natural scenery it cuts down on the cost of the film as the producer doesn’t have to pay any organisations to use particular scenery. As most of the scenery of the film is dark and the main theme of the film is dark it suggests that it is a film of the underworld and in this case its vampires, the darkness represents violence and creates suspense.

Tuesday 7 December 2010

Back to the future
In this essay I will be explaining the media techniques used to attracts the target audience for this particular film will be also commenting on different effects, the camera work and types of editing used.
The film was made in during the 1980’s, its main target audiences are males aged around 16 – 25 this is due to the type of action film it is, this could also relate to the actor as he is also very young and is in high school. The opening scene is of the clock and with a digetic sound from the scene, the effect of this is that it gets the attention of the audience and in a way shocks them, also by showing the clock we know this may have something related to the film hence the title “back to the future”. The camera man is very effective as he uses a lot of close ups to tell the story in more detail for example it shows the expressions on the characters faces. Another technique of using a close up is that you can pick out the key features of the film such as the time machine car. In this case the close ups are extremely important for the characters facial reactions, in this particular film many things go wrong with the main character, and by using close ups of his face we can tell what’s wrong.
The camera man also uses a point of view shot quite often, this gets the audience to see what the main character is looking at, in this case the main character is looking at various articles of a newspaper from 1955, this again relates to the story later on in the film, the gets the audience asking questions and is a good way to engage them. The camera is almost looking down at the main character to show his status throughout the film, where as the scientist as a higher status so the camera is always looking up at him. This shows how older men in society are more dominant than younger men, Another major camera shot that is used is the pan, the effect of this is to show what is in the entire scene this is used when they show the car, when the scientist come out and makes an appearance.
The main setting of the film is on the same street set in different times, it is also set in the garage where the entire experiments takes place, the effect of this is that the audience knows what to expect. Most of the settings in the film are dark and gloomy, this could suggest how some of the experiments go wrong with the machine and they end up in different places this is where problems start to occur. The non digetic sound of the trailers is mainly consisted of the voiceover telling the story; much of the sound throughout the trailer is contrapuntal to the action. The music is soft rock, something someone would relax to, and where as in this case there is action scenes taking place with a lot of drama.

Tuesday 30 November 2010

Back to the future
The film was made in during the 1980’s,it uses a lot of camera work to tell the story in more detail for example: the camera man uses a large variety of close ups and mediums shot, he does this often throughout the film to show the expressions on the characters faces. Another technique of using a close up is that you can pick out the key features of the film such as the time machine car. In this case the close ups are extremely important for the characters facial reactions, in this particular film many things go wrong with the main character, and by using close ups of his face we can tell what’s wrong.



Forrest Gump
In this scene the camera man uses a lot of panning camera work, the effect of this is we can see across the scene and see what’s happening around. The scene also uses a point of view shot when the two characters are sitting and eating their lunch, the main effect of this is we can see the main facial expression of each character, in this case we can tell the main character is feeling upset because we can tell from his facial expression. I prefer the camera work from back to the future, this is because it is more action packed due to the close ups of the film, it feels as if we are in the film and we know what’s happening throughout, the close ups also bring out more facial expressions this way we can see what the characters is feeling.