For my foundation portfolio my task was to create a short thriller opening lasting between 3-4 minutes in a group of 3. The opening shows a teenage girl, the protagonist (Beth) who is in her room crying over her breakup as she is still in love with her ex-boyfriend. The break up causes her to become greatly obsessed with him and plans on getting revenge by crushing pills and ends by her walking out of the room.
Our aim was to create an enigmatic effect right from the start to keep the audience engaged at all times, as the beginning is the most important part of a film, to keep audiences attracted and involved where possible. Roland Barthes enigma code can relate here as his theory suggests that films include enigma which is solved usually at the end of the film, or continued in a sequel. As we didn’t need to produce an ending, this had no effect on our product.
During our research and planning we looked at films that were already on the market to recognise the codes and conventions required for a thriller opening. Films that we came across were ‘Obsessed’ and ‘Prom Night’. Having enigma was one of the conventions we interpreted from the films, in which we got our inspiration from. Other elements of a thriller that we obtained from watching the opening and trailers were using familiar objects and concepts so that the audience can assume the film process (David Bordwell). This included the music choice, (using an enigmatic and eerie non-diegetic soundtrack to create an intense atmosphere) and the emotionally distressed protagonist, who we made seem vulnerable; to enhance the sympathy we wanted the audience to feel towards her.
Levi Strauss’ Theory of binary oppositions suggests that films usually create conflict in which we considered such as the use of desaturation to represent the past, making the use of black and white clear for audiences about the tense shown. By showing clips of their relationship in the past can be argued that the genre for this opening is in fact a drama-thriller hybrid opposed to a thriller genre. We also used the use of lighting, starting in a dark environment outside of the bedroom, which then turns light when the camera moves into her room. The last opposition we used was love/hate, between the two characters. We used a blurry effect at this stage to help signify a distorted and unclear mind of mixed emotions.
We portrayed a stereotypical character of a girl who is upset and broken-hearted which conforms to the hegemonic ideology expected of the character. Propp and Todorov’s theories include the protagonist to be a male character whom is often the hero, but we subverted to this as there were no main male characters until we see her ex-boyfriend, making him the antagonist.
In conclusion my film opening mostly conformed to the stereotypical conventions required in a thriller opening and can be related to many narrative theorists. It enables audiences to relate to the product but I think due to our time constraint, it limited us from exploring contents of a thriller opening in which we could further subvert to.
Friday, 8 June 2012
Sunday, 27 May 2012
How is the group you have studied collectively represented and provided for in the media?
The representation of youth and youth culture in media is commonly exaggerated, misleading and stereotypical. It is for these reasons as to why there is constant conflict between how youth perceive themselves and how others perceive them. The media are a powerful source and have the ability to sway views, opinions and create a hegemonic ideology within society. Michel Foucaults theory relates to this as his theory suggests that our identity mediates as we grow older and create collective identities by integrating with other people. However he believes it is also limited because stereotypical assumptions are made by others, restricting our identity.
It is simple to say that youth are represented in a negative light (especially in the Media realm). Spectators, such as myself are often marginalised on the sidelines and bombarded with mixed messages. To understand how youth are represented goes beyond the representation presented to us in news headlines. If we consider newspapers such as tabloids, we can say that they are exaggerated and made to seem worse than the situation actually is, as that’s what sells, and profit is the aim for any business. During the London riots, The Daily Mirrors front page said “Yob Rule” and gave the youth a name whereby most newspapers and articles continue to use whenever they refer to the youth doing anything destructive. The term ‘Yob’ immediately brings a negative feel towards the youth making them look worse than they actually are via the use of such bias words and phrases. It is because of such powerful media that makes it almost impossible to change the perspective of youth as this is just a one sided view, disregarding the positive aspects of them as it creates the buzz in which they desire for, and therefore constructing their identity. Certainly, the perception and the representation are very different to half a century ago. Jacques Lacan says ‘we try to gain an understanding of ourselves by looking through a mirror’, - the Media act as our mirror and we ‘copy’ what we see. So if the media continue to project the youth as rebellious, careless and in a negative light then it comes to no surprise if we replicate what we see.
The stereotype of drugs, sex and violence is a 21st century view which is mirrored in current Media texts particularly films. For example if we consider Kidulthood, a y2k film by Noel Clarke, it contains a great amount of the stereotypes mentioned, exaggerated for entertainment purposes. The youth are presented to the viewers as rebellious, up to no good and dress in a similar way to which the stereotype follows (hoodies , caps and tracksuits) creating moral panic as those watching, (adults in particular) will be under the assumption that everyone who follows that clothing is just like the characters in the films. This view of the youth has been present for a long time. For example if we consider an older film, Rebel Without A Cause (RWAC, 1955), the protagonist, James Dean conforms to what was expected of a disobedient teenager for that time period. Within the first few minutes of the film opening we sense his rebelliousness as he is in a police station, drunk. Furthermore, he disobeys his parents, and gets into arguments and fights. Overtime, the level of anarchy has increased as in society, we are desensitised to what we see as it doesn’t shock us to hear about youth involved with drugs, sex and violence because we are so used to it, but would have had a different reaction during a previous era. The contrast between youth and youth culture which enables us to see how complex representations can be certainly in current media texts on the market. Many film characters mark a clear contrast between press representations and misrepresentations.
There is a common thread throughout Media texts, violent words such as ‘thugs’ and ‘yobs’ were used in articles online, with the use of web 2.0 to portray the youth this way. This relates to Strinati’s post modernism as our reality is constructed and led by the mass media. Articles about the London Riots were viral, one of which read “I predict a rioter” containing a description of a stereotypical teenager. The audience who read the article decode (Stuart Hall) the messages in the way they see fit. For example, youth will feel victimised, especially those who do not partake in such anarchy which may lead them to express their opinions online (web 2.0) via Facebook and Twitter, updating statuses and profiles (Jenkins), thus constructing their identity collectively.
The arrival of ‘the teenager’ came after the war and was forced into the public eye (though only shortly). Subcultures and tribes were derived from post war depression as youths wanted to catch attention. Such films as ‘The Wild One’ represent the emerging awareness adults had about the fear of youth and youth destruction. The characters in these films can be seen to be uncontrollable and out of control to society.
With the negativity surrounding youth, is there any hope for the future? The evolution of such films as Fish Tank and Shank only enhance and create further opposition. Shank is set in 2015 and gives us an assumption of what to expect, which isn’t bright or blissful. Unfortunately due to the mass media dominating our views, it will be almost impossible for them to reflect youth in the positive light in which we all wish to see in the near future.
It is simple to say that youth are represented in a negative light (especially in the Media realm). Spectators, such as myself are often marginalised on the sidelines and bombarded with mixed messages. To understand how youth are represented goes beyond the representation presented to us in news headlines. If we consider newspapers such as tabloids, we can say that they are exaggerated and made to seem worse than the situation actually is, as that’s what sells, and profit is the aim for any business. During the London riots, The Daily Mirrors front page said “Yob Rule” and gave the youth a name whereby most newspapers and articles continue to use whenever they refer to the youth doing anything destructive. The term ‘Yob’ immediately brings a negative feel towards the youth making them look worse than they actually are via the use of such bias words and phrases. It is because of such powerful media that makes it almost impossible to change the perspective of youth as this is just a one sided view, disregarding the positive aspects of them as it creates the buzz in which they desire for, and therefore constructing their identity. Certainly, the perception and the representation are very different to half a century ago. Jacques Lacan says ‘we try to gain an understanding of ourselves by looking through a mirror’, - the Media act as our mirror and we ‘copy’ what we see. So if the media continue to project the youth as rebellious, careless and in a negative light then it comes to no surprise if we replicate what we see.
The stereotype of drugs, sex and violence is a 21st century view which is mirrored in current Media texts particularly films. For example if we consider Kidulthood, a y2k film by Noel Clarke, it contains a great amount of the stereotypes mentioned, exaggerated for entertainment purposes. The youth are presented to the viewers as rebellious, up to no good and dress in a similar way to which the stereotype follows (hoodies , caps and tracksuits) creating moral panic as those watching, (adults in particular) will be under the assumption that everyone who follows that clothing is just like the characters in the films. This view of the youth has been present for a long time. For example if we consider an older film, Rebel Without A Cause (RWAC, 1955), the protagonist, James Dean conforms to what was expected of a disobedient teenager for that time period. Within the first few minutes of the film opening we sense his rebelliousness as he is in a police station, drunk. Furthermore, he disobeys his parents, and gets into arguments and fights. Overtime, the level of anarchy has increased as in society, we are desensitised to what we see as it doesn’t shock us to hear about youth involved with drugs, sex and violence because we are so used to it, but would have had a different reaction during a previous era. The contrast between youth and youth culture which enables us to see how complex representations can be certainly in current media texts on the market. Many film characters mark a clear contrast between press representations and misrepresentations.
There is a common thread throughout Media texts, violent words such as ‘thugs’ and ‘yobs’ were used in articles online, with the use of web 2.0 to portray the youth this way. This relates to Strinati’s post modernism as our reality is constructed and led by the mass media. Articles about the London Riots were viral, one of which read “I predict a rioter” containing a description of a stereotypical teenager. The audience who read the article decode (Stuart Hall) the messages in the way they see fit. For example, youth will feel victimised, especially those who do not partake in such anarchy which may lead them to express their opinions online (web 2.0) via Facebook and Twitter, updating statuses and profiles (Jenkins), thus constructing their identity collectively.
The arrival of ‘the teenager’ came after the war and was forced into the public eye (though only shortly). Subcultures and tribes were derived from post war depression as youths wanted to catch attention. Such films as ‘The Wild One’ represent the emerging awareness adults had about the fear of youth and youth destruction. The characters in these films can be seen to be uncontrollable and out of control to society.
With the negativity surrounding youth, is there any hope for the future? The evolution of such films as Fish Tank and Shank only enhance and create further opposition. Shank is set in 2015 and gives us an assumption of what to expect, which isn’t bright or blissful. Unfortunately due to the mass media dominating our views, it will be almost impossible for them to reflect youth in the positive light in which we all wish to see in the near future.
Saturday, 12 May 2012
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Explain how far understanding of the conventions of existing media influenced the way you created your own media products. Refer to a range of examples in you answer to show how this understanding developed over time.
For my year 12 production I had to create a thriller opening lasting for about 3-4 minutes in our chosen groups. In year 13, my task was to create a music video for a chosen song followed by ancillary texts which consisted of a website and digi-pak, once again in a group. To begin creating these products we had to research and investigate on existing products to give us an insight of what we wanted to achieve at the end of it.
My understanding of conventions of existing media was quite poor at the start of year 12. I was new to understanding what conforming to the conventions of certain products meant and was challenged as to why they would want to subvert too. The very first steps to getting my answer and begin my research was using the Internet. By using both Google and YouTube, they allowed me to research existing products already on the market. In year 12, I used YouTube more to find film trailers in order to get inspiration from. Some of the stereotypical conventions that were of a Thriller consisted of: non-diagetic music, a villain, and a male character as the protagonist. Films in which we found these trends for were Devil and Prom Night. Throughout the course of our planning and research stages, the ideas that we began to develop seemed to combine into a hybrid genre; a thriller-drama. This led us to concentrate on two main films; Obsessed and Prom Night. They both contained eerie music and created an enigmatic atmosphere. Other ideas which influenced our product were the use of slow paced edits from Prom Night as it created intensity between the audience and the protagonist from a point of view shot. By already have watched Obsessed, we took the idea of a female character to be infatuated with another character, thus being influenced by existing products.
In year 13, during the creation of our music video and ancillary texts, we not only had to find similar music videos but had to find websites and album covers of the artists too. Popular artists that came across were Snow Patrol, Coldplay, James Morrison and James Blunt.
My music video narrative is about a young man’s mind trapped between moving on or not from a girl whom he has strong feelings for. The music video does not give away if this girl is still alive or not or even if it was his girlfriend or wife. The artist visualises the girl during many encounters but is never really there, and therefore only in his mind. When looking at other Alternative styled music video, we found that they had slow edits, close-ups of people expressions and the video went back and forth evenly between the artist/band playing their instruments and the narrative. Some of these videos had the artist look directly into the camera creating a relationship with the audience, which we found important. We took these themes and ideas and used them in our music video to conform to an Alternative styled music video.
In addition, an interesting aspect we found from one of ColdPlay’s music videos was the fact that the footage was in reverse from start to finish. This effect was favoured by our group and wanted to intertwine that with our storyline in which we were able to do towards the end of the video. By taking notice of conventions like this, I believe, expressed my creativity by exploring further into Final Cut and using more transitions than the basics that were used in AS. Tutorials came into play for the more complex effects whereas in AS tutorials were used to figure out simple things for example how to render.
For the website, the same artists were researched as part of the existing products. The ways in which they influenced our media product was by the similarities between the various websites. For example, there was always a figure of the artist/band on the welcome page, a clear bold name of the artist and links to other social networking websites to keep an integrated fan base. The navigation on the website was quick and easy, influencing us to follow this aswell, keeping the website current and fresh.
The digi-pak was made up of the album cover, the back cover, an insert and a poster. To begin creating these elements that make up our digi pak we had to research existing products on the market. The album artwork of Alternative genres had a simple concept but still made to look effective. For example, simple pictures and natural poses to suggest emotion of the artist. We were influenced by this idea as we too wanted to show great emotion in our Album Cover. We did this by capturing our artist as his natural self, without asking to specify a pose. The colours used were mostly black, whites and neutral colours. For this reason we decided to make our Album Cover black and white all over, as part of sticking to the conventions of existing media and also as a part of our branding consistency, sticking to the black and white theme throughout our main product and ancillary texts.
In conclusion the understanding of the conventions of existing media influenced greatly upon the making of our product. Already having past experience from year 12, I was able to further understand the importance of certain codes and conventions of an Alternative genre and implement them to increase my products effectiveness.
My understanding of conventions of existing media was quite poor at the start of year 12. I was new to understanding what conforming to the conventions of certain products meant and was challenged as to why they would want to subvert too. The very first steps to getting my answer and begin my research was using the Internet. By using both Google and YouTube, they allowed me to research existing products already on the market. In year 12, I used YouTube more to find film trailers in order to get inspiration from. Some of the stereotypical conventions that were of a Thriller consisted of: non-diagetic music, a villain, and a male character as the protagonist. Films in which we found these trends for were Devil and Prom Night. Throughout the course of our planning and research stages, the ideas that we began to develop seemed to combine into a hybrid genre; a thriller-drama. This led us to concentrate on two main films; Obsessed and Prom Night. They both contained eerie music and created an enigmatic atmosphere. Other ideas which influenced our product were the use of slow paced edits from Prom Night as it created intensity between the audience and the protagonist from a point of view shot. By already have watched Obsessed, we took the idea of a female character to be infatuated with another character, thus being influenced by existing products.
In year 13, during the creation of our music video and ancillary texts, we not only had to find similar music videos but had to find websites and album covers of the artists too. Popular artists that came across were Snow Patrol, Coldplay, James Morrison and James Blunt.
My music video narrative is about a young man’s mind trapped between moving on or not from a girl whom he has strong feelings for. The music video does not give away if this girl is still alive or not or even if it was his girlfriend or wife. The artist visualises the girl during many encounters but is never really there, and therefore only in his mind. When looking at other Alternative styled music video, we found that they had slow edits, close-ups of people expressions and the video went back and forth evenly between the artist/band playing their instruments and the narrative. Some of these videos had the artist look directly into the camera creating a relationship with the audience, which we found important. We took these themes and ideas and used them in our music video to conform to an Alternative styled music video.
In addition, an interesting aspect we found from one of ColdPlay’s music videos was the fact that the footage was in reverse from start to finish. This effect was favoured by our group and wanted to intertwine that with our storyline in which we were able to do towards the end of the video. By taking notice of conventions like this, I believe, expressed my creativity by exploring further into Final Cut and using more transitions than the basics that were used in AS. Tutorials came into play for the more complex effects whereas in AS tutorials were used to figure out simple things for example how to render.
For the website, the same artists were researched as part of the existing products. The ways in which they influenced our media product was by the similarities between the various websites. For example, there was always a figure of the artist/band on the welcome page, a clear bold name of the artist and links to other social networking websites to keep an integrated fan base. The navigation on the website was quick and easy, influencing us to follow this aswell, keeping the website current and fresh.
The digi-pak was made up of the album cover, the back cover, an insert and a poster. To begin creating these elements that make up our digi pak we had to research existing products on the market. The album artwork of Alternative genres had a simple concept but still made to look effective. For example, simple pictures and natural poses to suggest emotion of the artist. We were influenced by this idea as we too wanted to show great emotion in our Album Cover. We did this by capturing our artist as his natural self, without asking to specify a pose. The colours used were mostly black, whites and neutral colours. For this reason we decided to make our Album Cover black and white all over, as part of sticking to the conventions of existing media and also as a part of our branding consistency, sticking to the black and white theme throughout our main product and ancillary texts.
In conclusion the understanding of the conventions of existing media influenced greatly upon the making of our product. Already having past experience from year 12, I was able to further understand the importance of certain codes and conventions of an Alternative genre and implement them to increase my products effectiveness.
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making.
In year 12, for my AS production, my task was to create a short thriller film opening. In year 13, my task was to create a music video for a chosen song followed by ancillary texts which consisted of a website and digi-pak. In order to begin thinking about the outcome of these products, thorough research and planning needed to be done in order to understand the market with similar products and to figure out who are target audience would be.
In my AS production we used web browsers and the internet such as Google and Youtube for our research and planning stages to search for similar products on the market and to watch trailers to get inspiration from. We looked at films that we had seen before which could potentially relate to our product, and then later we browsed films which we had never heard of or seen, to have an unbiased initial opinion of the film and trailer. We needed to get the synopsis of each film and see which best resembles our idea. Films such as ‘Obsessed’ and ‘Prom Night’ were the two in which we could strongly relate to in terms of having similar codes and conventions in a thriller with an added twist. This was to have the protagonist (a young, vulnerable teenage girl) to turn for the worst and get revenge, in which the audience are unsure about as it ends as a cliff-hanger.
Both Google and Youtube were once again popular in my A2 task as it was vital to use the internet to search for similar artists and products and browse through their websites and watch a wide range of music videos to further our knowledge and ideas. Furthermore, this year I was able to use YouTube to search for tutorials in understanding how to use Photoshop and Final Cut Express. The advances in technology are continuously improving and luckily, the internet is always filled with current and fresh information such as tutorials which I was able to use and develop skills for in order to complete my final product.
In my AS production, in order to make and edit our product, we were first introduced to Final Cut express. As a media student, this was my first time to have heard of the software and to have used it. In fact, it was my first time to use an Apple Mac let alone all the software’s that came with it. Clearly my lack of knowledge meant that the production and editing process would take its time to perfect and finally produce the outcome that we wanted. However, for my A2 product I was able to use these skills developed to contribute to creative decision making as I was more comfortable in experimenting with various effects other than the typical fade in and out tool. I was more confident in showing off these skills and furthermore, much faster at it this year because of the consistency required in editing the product and piecing it together for the final make. For example the wipe effect was used to make our product look fresh and innovative whilst sticking to the codes and conventions of an alternative genre. During our planning and research stages, we thought it would be unique to use a rewinding effect to symbolise our artist going back in time and facing reality by ‘moving on’ in life. We got this idea from a similar video by Coldplay. In their ‘Fix You’ video, the whole music video is rewound from start to finish which we thought was something to consider as many products do not have or use that effect. It was pretty easy to do on Final Cut, regardless of the fact that it was also a lengthy process (by having to individually select the clips that needed to be rewound) but ended up being a success and fitted in with our narrative.
To create our website we used “wix” which enabled us to create a free website to promote our artist. Once again inspiration was taken from similar artists’ websites such as James Morrison and Coldplay, and YouTube was used for further tutorials in how to navigate on Wix as this was new to all of us. It was a challenge to get used to but at the same time a great experience. I was able to use my creativity in making the website as I was used to exploring artists that I favoured personally, and was able to bring ideas in which I thought would work well in terms of the layout and information displayed.
For our album cover the digital technologies used were the professional camera for the photos and later Photoshop to edit and make the picture represent our artist and genre to the best of our ability. The gap from using a normal phone camera or a digital camera to the professional camera was pretty huge. There were a lot of things to be considered such as the focus or to illustrate depth of field. Camera positioning was very important and was a factor I never considered when taking photos in my everyday life. I believe I was able to bring my basic camera skills to capture the images that we did because I had an initial idea in mind in what I wanted to express throughout the photo shoot. During the Photoshop stage, I knew how to use the basics to help strengthen the photos. We made them black and white to conform to the consistent trend kept throughout the main product and website which also had symbolism of the artists’ emotion of sadness.
In conclusion my AS production task helped me to develop a foundation of skills in which I was able to carry onto my A2 product and strengthen them further. AS helped me to incorporate these skills to contribute in creative decision making for my final A2 product. Hopefully these skills were expressed well in my main product and ancillary texts.
In my AS production we used web browsers and the internet such as Google and Youtube for our research and planning stages to search for similar products on the market and to watch trailers to get inspiration from. We looked at films that we had seen before which could potentially relate to our product, and then later we browsed films which we had never heard of or seen, to have an unbiased initial opinion of the film and trailer. We needed to get the synopsis of each film and see which best resembles our idea. Films such as ‘Obsessed’ and ‘Prom Night’ were the two in which we could strongly relate to in terms of having similar codes and conventions in a thriller with an added twist. This was to have the protagonist (a young, vulnerable teenage girl) to turn for the worst and get revenge, in which the audience are unsure about as it ends as a cliff-hanger.
Both Google and Youtube were once again popular in my A2 task as it was vital to use the internet to search for similar artists and products and browse through their websites and watch a wide range of music videos to further our knowledge and ideas. Furthermore, this year I was able to use YouTube to search for tutorials in understanding how to use Photoshop and Final Cut Express. The advances in technology are continuously improving and luckily, the internet is always filled with current and fresh information such as tutorials which I was able to use and develop skills for in order to complete my final product.
In my AS production, in order to make and edit our product, we were first introduced to Final Cut express. As a media student, this was my first time to have heard of the software and to have used it. In fact, it was my first time to use an Apple Mac let alone all the software’s that came with it. Clearly my lack of knowledge meant that the production and editing process would take its time to perfect and finally produce the outcome that we wanted. However, for my A2 product I was able to use these skills developed to contribute to creative decision making as I was more comfortable in experimenting with various effects other than the typical fade in and out tool. I was more confident in showing off these skills and furthermore, much faster at it this year because of the consistency required in editing the product and piecing it together for the final make. For example the wipe effect was used to make our product look fresh and innovative whilst sticking to the codes and conventions of an alternative genre. During our planning and research stages, we thought it would be unique to use a rewinding effect to symbolise our artist going back in time and facing reality by ‘moving on’ in life. We got this idea from a similar video by Coldplay. In their ‘Fix You’ video, the whole music video is rewound from start to finish which we thought was something to consider as many products do not have or use that effect. It was pretty easy to do on Final Cut, regardless of the fact that it was also a lengthy process (by having to individually select the clips that needed to be rewound) but ended up being a success and fitted in with our narrative.
To create our website we used “wix” which enabled us to create a free website to promote our artist. Once again inspiration was taken from similar artists’ websites such as James Morrison and Coldplay, and YouTube was used for further tutorials in how to navigate on Wix as this was new to all of us. It was a challenge to get used to but at the same time a great experience. I was able to use my creativity in making the website as I was used to exploring artists that I favoured personally, and was able to bring ideas in which I thought would work well in terms of the layout and information displayed.
For our album cover the digital technologies used were the professional camera for the photos and later Photoshop to edit and make the picture represent our artist and genre to the best of our ability. The gap from using a normal phone camera or a digital camera to the professional camera was pretty huge. There were a lot of things to be considered such as the focus or to illustrate depth of field. Camera positioning was very important and was a factor I never considered when taking photos in my everyday life. I believe I was able to bring my basic camera skills to capture the images that we did because I had an initial idea in mind in what I wanted to express throughout the photo shoot. During the Photoshop stage, I knew how to use the basics to help strengthen the photos. We made them black and white to conform to the consistent trend kept throughout the main product and website which also had symbolism of the artists’ emotion of sadness.
In conclusion my AS production task helped me to develop a foundation of skills in which I was able to carry onto my A2 product and strengthen them further. AS helped me to incorporate these skills to contribute in creative decision making for my final A2 product. Hopefully these skills were expressed well in my main product and ancillary texts.
Friday, 30 March 2012
1A structure
Paragraph 1
Introduction to product
Brief synopsis
Paragraph 2
Introduction of what was done
Research methods, websites etc
Paragraph 3
Comparison to similar products
Paragraph4
Problems encountered and how it was resolved
Codes and Conventions
Paragraph 5
Research of similar products (trailers)
How the build up of ancillary texts contributed to the main product
Paragraph 6
Conclusion - what was learnt over the course of two years
Introduction to product
Brief synopsis
Paragraph 2
Introduction of what was done
Research methods, websites etc
Paragraph 3
Comparison to similar products
Paragraph4
Problems encountered and how it was resolved
Codes and Conventions
Paragraph 5
Research of similar products (trailers)
How the build up of ancillary texts contributed to the main product
Paragraph 6
Conclusion - what was learnt over the course of two years
Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Evaluate A2 production in terms of narrative theories
For my A2 Media Coursework, we had to produce a music video. We chose a song by Meaning in Masterpiece called “Never Again” which is of an alternative genre played mainly with an acoustic guitar. We sparked a few ideas for the storyline and narrative from when we first heard the song. The group decided that we wanted it to represent a sad and depressing atmosphere in which the audience feel sympathy for the protagonist (Jake). We also wanted scenes of Jake playing the guitar in synch with the song as a parallel narrative. It was made slightly easier for us as Jake already knows how to play the guitar and was able to mime and pick up on the song quite quickly.
The lyrics helped us to think of a basic idea to what we wanted to portray to our audience. It shows Jake confused in his life as a girl keep appearing and disappearing throughout the video. As an audience, we have no idea who she is and this creates an enigmatic effect amongst us. We intended to capture Jake’s ‘day out’ and how emotionally scarred he is with the thoughts of this girl who keeps appearing and disappearing, allowing us as audience to make our own assumptions. Levi Strauss can be related to our product as there is a 'constant creation of conflict/opposition', in this case, the difference in colour. The use of black and white presents his mood and the atmosphere, and the colour at the end to show his present life and him literally ‘moving on’.
In comparison to other music videos that were similar to ours (eg Coldplay and James Blunt) we noticed a few codes and conventions used in their videos in which we decided to implement in ours. They seemed to have slow edits, slow movement and a simple narrative/storyline. In one of Coldplay’s videos – “Yellow”, he is seen walking on a beach, stressing how simple music videos of this particular genre can be. However we subverted to this as we wanted to bring something different to our audience, by having a complicated storyline with fast cuts where needed and rewinding to make a difference to the typical music video. Slow edits are evident in our music video, as our chosen song is slow. This subverts to similar products on the market, as discussed before.
A narrative theorist that our product can relate to is Roland Barthes and the "enigma code". The enigma code is that the narrative will establish enigmas or mysteries as it goes along. We see the appearance and disappearance of the antagonist which creates questions that remain unanswered until the end of the music video. The use of black and white also brings to attention on what the current tense may be and whether things are set in the past or the present.
Both Propp and Todorovvs theories suggest that there is a protagonist who is the hero in the narrative. It can be said that in our music video, Jake plays this part. The antagonist can be said to be the girl in which he keeps seeing therefore conforms to both of their theories. However there is no villain or 'princess' present, in which this subverts from their theories too. It can be argued that he needs 'saving' from himself as he is confused and broken and needs to escape his mind.
In conclusion, it is clear to see that our music video consists of many narrative theories, both conforming and subverting from them. The codes and conventions are clear and apparent for our audience to refer and relate to. Our music video brings something new onto the market, with unexpected scenarios; creating difference and uniqueness which is what most products aim to achieve nowadays.
The lyrics helped us to think of a basic idea to what we wanted to portray to our audience. It shows Jake confused in his life as a girl keep appearing and disappearing throughout the video. As an audience, we have no idea who she is and this creates an enigmatic effect amongst us. We intended to capture Jake’s ‘day out’ and how emotionally scarred he is with the thoughts of this girl who keeps appearing and disappearing, allowing us as audience to make our own assumptions. Levi Strauss can be related to our product as there is a 'constant creation of conflict/opposition', in this case, the difference in colour. The use of black and white presents his mood and the atmosphere, and the colour at the end to show his present life and him literally ‘moving on’.
In comparison to other music videos that were similar to ours (eg Coldplay and James Blunt) we noticed a few codes and conventions used in their videos in which we decided to implement in ours. They seemed to have slow edits, slow movement and a simple narrative/storyline. In one of Coldplay’s videos – “Yellow”, he is seen walking on a beach, stressing how simple music videos of this particular genre can be. However we subverted to this as we wanted to bring something different to our audience, by having a complicated storyline with fast cuts where needed and rewinding to make a difference to the typical music video. Slow edits are evident in our music video, as our chosen song is slow. This subverts to similar products on the market, as discussed before.
A narrative theorist that our product can relate to is Roland Barthes and the "enigma code". The enigma code is that the narrative will establish enigmas or mysteries as it goes along. We see the appearance and disappearance of the antagonist which creates questions that remain unanswered until the end of the music video. The use of black and white also brings to attention on what the current tense may be and whether things are set in the past or the present.
Both Propp and Todorovvs theories suggest that there is a protagonist who is the hero in the narrative. It can be said that in our music video, Jake plays this part. The antagonist can be said to be the girl in which he keeps seeing therefore conforms to both of their theories. However there is no villain or 'princess' present, in which this subverts from their theories too. It can be argued that he needs 'saving' from himself as he is confused and broken and needs to escape his mind.
In conclusion, it is clear to see that our music video consists of many narrative theories, both conforming and subverting from them. The codes and conventions are clear and apparent for our audience to refer and relate to. Our music video brings something new onto the market, with unexpected scenarios; creating difference and uniqueness which is what most products aim to achieve nowadays.
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