LO3: Production techniques (narrative, representation and narrative

-mise en scene: 
-location- iconography
-lighting- high key and low key
-costume
-gestures
-props

Camerawork:
Shot types- medium shot, medium close up, long shot, wide shot, extreme close up, crowd shot, over the shoulder, two shot, areial shot
Angles- high, low, cantered/dutch , level.
Camera movements- pan (left to right/ right to left) , tracking (forward and back),tracking dolly (side to side), tilt (up or down), zoom (in and out) arch, crane.
Compostion- rule thirds, deep depth of field, shallow depth of field, foreground, background.

Editing:
continuity:
Shot-reverse-shot
Action match
Cross cutting
Insert shot
Eye-line match
Non-continunity:
transitions (fade, dissolve, cut, wipe)
montage, split speed, timelapse, flash back/forward

Sound:
digetic- sound which comes from the story:
foley sound
sfx
diaglogue (accent/tone)
non-digetic- sound which is not in the story
narrative
incidental sound.


fast pace flashing of low key to high key lighting when maddie is getting taken         lighting creates thriller subgenre (Barry Keith Grant),
location can relate to the audience and creates visceral pleasure (rick altman)
Narrative can have different stages of equilibrium (Todorov)
men act women appear (John Berger)
offers comfortable reassurance (Patrick Phillips)


LO4: Target audience


LO6: media effects and regulation

Ofcom regulation

Celebrity Big Brother 2016:
This was complained about becuase the the sexual content and references from Marnie Simpson. also in the same episode Christopher Biggins spoke about bisexual which offended viewers. The audience would shown after watershed but could be seen online by younger viewers.

Exam tips

20 mark question (30 minutes)= 20/80.

60% = Pass (12 marks)
70% = Merit (14 marks)
80% = distinction (16 marks)
90% = distinction* (18 marks)

16-20= level 4
11-15= level 3
6-10= level 2


Both the media effects and regulatory question use the same theory
on going debate.
target audience

Mark Kermode- regulatory is not needed.

LO6 Theory revision

2 schools of thought: Passive and Active.

Passive:
- hypodermic syringe theory (Theodore Adorno): negative impact on the audience, audiences believe what they see/hear in media texts
-Vance Packard: people are being conditioned to want products and services with the rise of consumerism.
Anderson- audience gets desensitised by exposure to violence.
Moral panic- the mass media creates a moral panic about groups/products that has a negative impact on society.
Mulvey- women are objectified.


Active:
- encoding/ decoding- people understand texts due to their personal background/believes/ identity: preferred reading (accept the meaning)
oppositional reading (understands but doesn't agree)
aberrant (completely doesn't understand)
- uses and gratifications (McQuail): surveillance, escapism, personal relationships, personal identity.
-
 

LO3: Production techniques

In my film different elements of mise-en-scene helps to create meaning. Lighting in the poltergeist is  mainly low key lighting,this is a popular convention in horror films because it is used to connote danger and the mystery of the unknown which can scare/entertain the audience.'The Poltergeist' follows horror genre conventions it means that the audience know what to expect when they go to see a horror film, think links to Patrick Phillips theory (1996) who said genre offers the audience 'comfort reassurance', This lighting is important in the famous scene where the girl (Maddie) has her hands on the TV when connecting to the other world, low key lighting is used but with flashes of very bright high key light to connote danger as the girl is connecting to the other world

Camera Work
shot types- close up, medium close up, extreme close up, long shot, establishing shot, wide shot, aerial shot, two shot, crowd shot, over the shoulder, medium long shot, extreme long shot.
angles- high angle, low angle, cantered angle.
movement- tracking (back,forward,side), pan (left, right), zoom (in, out), tilt, crane, arch
composition- deep depth of field, shallow depth of field, rule of thirds.

In my film camera work is used to create meaning. Rule of thirds is used so the audience can focus on a certain point in the shot in my film rule of thirds is used is used to show the Maddie and the demon side by side, this was to show both of the antagonist and the protagonist to connote binary opposites, this links to Levi-Strauss theory as Maddie is fighting against the demons to get away.  Camera shots are used throughout my film to connote what is going on in the narrative, a regularly used shot type is close up, this is used to connote emotion in the characters. An example from my film is when the boy is attacked by the clown. The close up is used to show his emotion of fear to the audience, this can lead the audience to gain visceral and emotional pleasures from this film, this links to Rick Altman's theory of all genres off pleasures.

Editing
continuity editing- (SACIE) shot- reverse-shot, action match, cross-cutting, insert-shot, eye-line match.
non-continuity- montage, flash back, flash forward
transition- wipe,dissolve,fade,cut

Continuity and non-continuity editing techniques are used to create meaning in a film. My film uses an action match in one of the fight scenes between possessed Maddie and her dad, this was used to create pace and movement in the film, this gives the film a subgenre thriller, which links to Barry Keith Grants theory that all genres have subgenres. Also this action match connotes violence and movement which can have negative impacts on the audience as they my think that violence towards the young girl is normal, this links to hypodermic syringe theory which states that an audience believe what they see/hear in media texts.

Sound
diegetic-dialogue(tone, accent, dialect, mode of address), music in the narrative, sound fx.
non-diegetic- incidental music, sound motifs, narrative, theme products.

 Sound is used to create meaning in a film, non-diegetic sound such as sound fx is used to add sa

LO4:storyboards

1. what is the purpose of a storyboard: provides a plan of each shot, used by camera people (it has camera movements and shot types) and editors(not always filmed in chronological order, need to know how the narrative comes together) to know how each scene is planned out. videos based products.

2. script would be made first because the script tells use what to include in the narrative.

Products which use storyboards:
-Film
-Adverts
-TV programmes
- Music video
- Animation

LO2 Advertising

Film:
- trailer- this shows a short teaser of the film which makes the audience want to go and watch it
- poster/billboard- this is a way to get a name of the film to lots of people.
- premier- to create popularity about the film
-social media- to target a certain type of audience
-interviews- talk about the film

Revison mindmap

Regulatory's

BBFC- gives age ratings to films, to 'protect' the public from violent or inappropriate content.



An age rating of 15 form the BBFC means that there may be strong language, there be strong threat or horror and may be strong violence, the poltergeist has this age rating of 15 as it does include all of these.
My film has a lot of violence and horror because of the genre of the film (horror), violence and scary content is expected from a horror film and that is what the audience see it for. The poltergeist is not at a lower rating such as 12/12A because it is too violence and scary for an audience of this age, also the film inflicts pain/violence on a young girl throughout which could effect a younger audience than 15. Also to make the poltergeist a 15, it does include language which may affect a younger audience and may not be suitable for the younger audience to hear. At the start of the film there is brief sexual references

LO4: Data Anaysis

3 main data analysis:
BARB (Broadcast Audience Research Board)
RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research)
NRS (National Readership Survey)




Channel 4 analysis


Channel 4 is a primarily commercial broadcaster, this means it receives funding from advertisements but they do also receive public service funding (for the news and Olympics to be broadcasted). The main demographic for Channel 4 is quite small compared to other TV Broadcasters because it is aimed for mainly ABC1 families which is shown by programmes such as 'googlebox’,'supervet','married at first sight' these are all family friendly programmes. The top programme for Channel 4 is googlebox, this programme is aimed at a mass audience (16-50 year olds, both male and female), this allows a wide range of advertisements to want to promote their products in the breaks, googlebox (like a lot of programmes on channel 4) is aimed at an ABC1 audience, this is shown by the content of the programme as it features families of this demographic.

LO6 starter

1. two main areas when media effects are discussed
 -active and passive audiences.

2.Give examples of theory that can be applied to each area
- hypodermic syringe (passive audience)
-Hall (active audience)

3. give example of media text that caused a 'moral panic. (Passive audience theory)
-GTA: criticised for violence and depiction of women. Influences street life, prostitutes/strippers, drug use and glorifying murder of prostitutes.
- Natural born killers- blamed for copycat crimes, blamed for murders by Nathan Martinez after he watched it. 

LO4 understanding the target audience of media products

Starter

demographic- a group of people categorised into age,gender,background.

conglomerate- a large company which own subsidiaries

horizontal integration- a conglomerate which uses its subsidiaries to advertise their product

audience- people who use on consume a media product

independent- small company which is not owned by a conglomerate, often specifies in certain media.

niche- small audience.

mass- large audience , consumers of a mainstream media product.

LO6: Dark knight- audience theory

starter task

• The main point of view of this article is that the BBFC have wrongfully given a 12A certificate for the Dark Knight, this is because it contains strong violence, disturbing content and psychopathic themes.  
• I do agree with the article because it can affect and influence young minds but the BBFC justified their decision based on superhero content

Audience impacts – media effects

A)    Active and passive

Passive audience: they do not challenge content and take everything in.

Two schools of thought :(Theodore Adorno 1930s) hypodermic syringe- media has a negative impact. Mass audience believe everything they see/hear. In the 1940s-50s the mass audience were perceived as an extreme influence towards audiences adapted behaviour.linked to advertising. throughout the 1930s a example of that audiences do believe everything they see/hear  In the media was in the war from the Nazi who influenced people.

-          Issues about violence?

-          Issues about sexual content?

-          Issues about representation?

Vance Packard 1957 (passive audience theory) - the relationship between advertising and media effects in his book ‘hidden persuaders’. He believed the media were conditioning people to want products and services with the rise of consumerism

‘moral panic’ is when the mass media create a fuss about violence and media. (Stanley Cohen 1972). Moral panic demonises a group ‘folk devil’.

Criticised media product for violence/negative impacts creating moral panics:

-          GTA: criticised for violence and depiction of women. Influences street life, prostitutes/strippers, drug use and glorifying murder of prostitutes.

-          Clockwork orange: contains amoral violence.

-          Pokémon Go- interactive game working on GPS, blamed for people getting into dangerous situation, disruptive behaviour, harassment.

-          Twitter- blamed for hate, racism, trolling.  

-          Natural born killers- blamed for copycat crimes, blamed for murders by Nathan Martinez after he watched it.

violence in the media: Anderson (2007) fast-paced violent games can lead to changed in the brain function when processing violent actions and images therefore we become desensitised to the violence.
 Ferguson (2012)  there is no long term link over 3 years.

Representation

Hall (1980)- All representation is mediated

Perkins (1979)- not all stereotypes are negative.

Mulvey (1975)- women are objectified

Earp and Katz (1999) -equation of masculinity with pathological control and violence.

Butler (1993)- representation of gay people, they are stereotypical.

Alvarado (1987)- ethnicity, seen as exotic/dangerous/humorous/pitied.

Turton (2014)- hooligans, trouble causers. black/Asian boys.

Lloyd (1995)- girls as 'double deviant'- trouble causers but shouldn't be because they are women.

Poltergeist

According Theodore Adorno (hypodermic syringe) which states people believe that see/hear which can influence the audience,  my film could include violence against children and promote this violence. Although this film is rated 15 it still includes violence between the little girl (when possessed) and the parents which can influence the passive audience.

b) Active theory
other school of thought: We are able to film adapt to content in media (Gauntlett 1995)

we have uses and gratifications (McQuail 1972) theory: people use media for their own purpose.  This provides a more positive outlook on media

Hall (1980) encoding/decoding material (audiences understand text by their personal background/beliefs/ identity:

    -Preferred reading- by audience depending on their background but accepts the dominant viewpoint/story.

    -Negotiated readings: partially agrees with the meaning

    -Oppositional reading: meaning understood but don't agree and think opposite

    -Aberrant: gets the completely wrong meaning entirely

Poltergeist
My film could be seen to have some positive effects such as a theme of a family bonds and sticking together because it shows that if you d

LO4 audience theory

John Hartley (1987) All media products have 'invisible fictions' before they are made.
Ien Ang (1991) All media producers have 'imaginary entities' in mind before their product.

From my film The Poltergeist I can see the age range would be 13+ teenagers, this is because stereotypically teenagers are interested in this genre of horror, this film targets this audience by using younger actors which the audience can relate to because it is an ideal self. The gender is split equally in  The Poltergeist because there is not a real prominent male or female role in the film. The social grade of the audience watching this film would be mainly ABC1 (60%) because the family featured are of this social grade.

Uses and Gratification theory
Denis McQuail (1972) 
There are four reasons why people consume media products/pleasures they gain from them;
     -Surveillance: getting information about the world and history
     -Escapism: escaping from the real world, letting the film take you to a different place.
     -Building personal identity: finding likes and dislikes, ideal selves and partners, skills
     -Building personal relationships: provides a talking point/topic to talk about. 
   

The poltergeist provides surveillance about the paranormal world and poltergeists because it explains information about other worlds which not main people know about or come into contact with, the poltergeist also offers escapism as it takes the audience to the paranormal world even if the audience don't want to be in that position themselves.

LO4 Understand the target audience of media

1. What is audience research and how can it be conducted?

Audience research is research done by media companies to target an audience based on the preferences, interests and knowledge of the audience. Organisations which collate the listenership , readership and viewing figures.

NRS (national readership survey)
an organisation which collect audience research for print and advertising. They collect data through grouping audience to age,gender,income and ethnicity.

BARB (broadcast audience research board)

Responsible for delivering the united kingdoms television audience measurement systems. They cover five questions when conducting and collecting audience research data:

who's watching?

what are they watching?
when are they watching?

which screen are they watching it on?

how did the content get to the screen?

RAJAR (Radio joint audience research

  measure the radio audience in the UK.

Radio is simulcast (simultaneous broadcasting the same programme on radio and television, or on two or more channels)


social grade
A category which is used by media research organisations based on social grade.

A- High earners, professional jobs.
B- upper managerial, teachers.
C1- skilled worker, office work.
C2- skilled manual, labourers.
D- semi-skilled workers
E- unemployed.

KTA5 feedback

OCR Cambridge Technical Level 3 Media    Unit: 1   

Student Name:  Fran Murray Class: 12y           Minimum Target Grade for task:    MERIT          Personal Target  Grade for task: DISTINCTION

Key tracking assessment 5: Genre analysis

LO3: Understand how meaning is created in media products

Task interim Key Tracking Assessments	Work to complete	P	M	D	Feedback and Upgrades Required
Task 5 Draft	·         Complete a write up of genre theory.	Y	Y	Y*	P Well done Fran, you have used the genre theory and supported with some good examples from the film in terms of characters and story. You have successfully analysed the genre theory by backing it up with production techniques (mise-en-scene, camerawork, editing sound) and how they are used to create this theory, which is the point of the exam.
					I
					N
Literacy/ Numeracy/Oracy Assessment on your Unit blog.	·         P  Good overall.
	·         I
	·         N

GRADE FOR KTA 5: Distinction*

LO3 Theories of representation

Poltergeist is about a normal suburban family who move into a new house after money troubles, later the youngest daughter comes into contact with a spirit and begin contacting them, she gets taken away by these spirits which is later seen as the poltergeist, the family hire professionals to get her back.

KEY THEORY 1: Richard Dyer (1983)
Audiences should question the representations they see in media texts. what does the representations imply? is it typical of the world or deviant?

In the poltergeist the spirits in the film are very stereotypical of spirits and ghosts as they want to come into the human world and take over Maddie to get into the human world. Although this can be seen in the our everyday world as not them many people believe/ come into contact with spirits so its quite deviant. An atypical spirit would no want contact the human world and don't want to be noticed.

KEY THEORY 3: Laura Mulvey (1975)
women mare objectified in media texts and passive objects, male gaze. Audiences are positioned to view women from a heterosexual male.

In the Poltergeist the little girl (Maddie) is seen as quite weak as she is taken away (which conforms to this theory as she is seen as a damsel in distress character)  and so isn't in control of the situation but she is not seen as a sexual object. Although my film does also challenge this representation theory as the main male role (the father) is seen as quite weak at parts as he struggles when his daughter is taken and is shown as quite powerless.

KEY THEORY 4: Stuart Hall (1995)
Western/white cultures continue to misrepresent ethnic minorities as in the media due to underlying racist tendencies.

KEY THEORY 5: John Berger (1972)
according to usage and conventions which are at last being questioned but have by no means been overcome - men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at

LO3: Mock questions

How is meaning created through the use of production techniques in a media product you have studied. (12 marks)

• Production techniques: microelements-Camera work,sound,mise-n-scene,editing.

Camera work- Close up, extreme close up, medium close up, medium long shot, long shot,pan,tracking right, tracking left, low/high angles, tilt.

sound- diegetic sound, non-diegetic sound, dialogue, Foley sound.

mise-en-scene- location,props,gestures,costume,lighting,star theory

editing- SACIE.

Analyse the concepts of genre and narrative in a media product you have studied. (12 marks)

My film 'poltergeist' is a horror film.We can see this from the classic setting, partially isolated suburban family house also this film contains a lot of popular horror film conventions using low key lighting and ere music throughout. Barry Keith Grand produced a theory which stated that all genres have sub-genres, this theory does apply to my film as the poltergeist has a main genre of horror but a sub-genre of thriller; this is shown through the use of jump scares and fast pace movements which are conventions mainly from thriller films, in the poltergeist cross cutting is used to create a continuous fast pace movement in fight scenes (between the poltergeist and the family). Another theory by David Bordwell states that any theme may appear in any genre, i again agree with this as the poltergeist offers themes such as spiritual,witch-craft,disfunction which can be found in sci-fi and fantasy genres. Patrick Phillips' theory states that all genres offer familiarity so the audience know what to expect when seeing a certain genre of film, this is true for my film. The poltergeist includes common conventions of a horror film such as low key lighting, ere music/atmosphere and present spiritual character which haunts a normal family.  These conventions are used to comfort an audience as they know what the film is going to entail before going in, they would go into a horror film expecting to be scared.
The poltergeist follows the structure of Todorov's narrative theory which states their is a stable equilibrium, a disruption causing disequilibrium, action is taken against the disruption and new equilibrium is restored. The poltergeist follows this structure by (1) the normal and relatable family moves into a new house then (2) the poltergeist is discovered and Maddie is taken away by the spirits,(3) Professional people are hired to take control and track down the spirits/their powers, finally (4) Maddie is found and is brought back to the family. The narrative theory from Vladmir Propp states that their are featured stock characters; antagonist,protagonist,supporter,person who is help/saved (often seen as a prize for the hero), this does not exactly apply to my film. The poltergeist only includes antagonist (poltergeist/spirits), protagonist (family) and the saved (Maddie), i think this does not fit with my genre/narrative of film because it more applies to action/superhero films which include heroes,villans,sidekicks.

• State the product and sector.
• Take each theory, name of theorist and state theory
• is the theory right/wrong or challenge theory
• give examples from the film (production techniques)

LO3: Narrative theory revision

Narrative theory

• Todorov- every film follows the structure of equilibrium, disruption, call to action, new equilibrium.
• Roland Bartes- Narrative codes; Action,engima.
• Claude Levi-Strauss- Binary opposites eg.good vs evil
• Tom O'Sullivan- all media texts tell some type of story
• Vladimir Propp- stock characters; Villain/hero
• Pam Cook- a problem that is solved