What is the Impact of New Technologies on the Film Industry

Targets For Essay

1. The Essay Is On The British Film Industry, Use British Examples. I already used British examples, but reference back to them more often wouldn't hurt.
2. Examples Must Be Used For Working Title, Warp And Hollywood Should Be Used As Examples. I, again, did this, but using examples more often would be just dandy!
3. Always Refer Back to The Question. I will look back at the question more often, however, i think that i did it already, i just need to do it more clearly.
4. I Must Discuss Audiences And Institutions. I must look into the institutions in more detail and also look at audience's opinion.
5. Use The Term Audience Not People. I will apply this into my essay.
6. Use Correct Terminology. I feel as though i used terminology, although i know very little, knowing more and applying it to my essay would score more points.
7. Use Detailed Points And Explain Not Describe e.g. Use PEE. I will follow a structure of PEE so that i cover more points and hopefully score a higher mark.

Audience Questions

Task 1
1. Do you think the audiences for most media texts do come 'from all walks of life' or do different kinds of people watch very different kinds of programme? Are there any examples of media texts that you can think
of that do seem to have audiences of all kinds of people?

  Most media texts come from all walks of life because they are trying to achieve the largest, most varied audience possible. Once this is achieved, they can manipulate the audience and dictate their message. Examples of these universal media texts are the news, soap operas, and such shows as the Simpsons.

2. How much of your media experience occurs when you are on your own and how much when you are
with others? 

I feel when you are alone, you tend to be more 'passive' and absorb more of the content - whereas when with others, there are more distractions. Therefore, more experience is gained when alone, and when with others the experience is less detailed - as attention is somewhat focused on the others. 
4. Are there any ways in which you share your experiences of the media with other people who weren't
around when you experienced the text? List as many ways as you share experiences (e.g. msn etc)

Msn
Facebook
Twitter
Blogs
Reviews
Myspace
Conversation
Telephone



Task 2

Can you think of any examples where the media have been seen to influence public
behaviour or have been blamed for an individual's behaviour?


 The E4 series 'Skins', which displays graphic drug use along with sex, alcohol and smoking scenes of underage teens. This was said to have sparked a negative influence on teenage viewers behaviour. Similarly, rapper 'Eminem' uses a lot of obscenities, mysogeny and homophobia - as well as political challenging lyrics - which have been blamed for aggressive behaviour in listeners.



Is this influence always negative?

 No, there are positive moral messages depicted to audiences, such as romantic films and awards programmes. Also, a good example is 'Russell Howard's Good News'; at the end of each show, there is a piece of inspirational, 'nice' news.

Representation Of Age

In todays lesson, we were asked to look at how age is represented by the media and make a list of classic stereotypes that the media uses for both old people and young people (teenagers). Here is a brief list that i came up with for teenagers:

• Sleepy
• Drug addicts
• Cheeky to parents
• Bored
• Intimidating
• Violent
• Disrespectful
• Uninterested in their education

And here is a brief list for old people:

• Slow
• Always moaning
• Nosey
• Incontinent
• Unhappy
• Deaf
• Anti-youth
• False teeth

Here is a presentation that i made on the representation of Kevin from "Kevin And Perry":

Representation Of Age

View more presentations from joechamberlain.

Media AS Essay On Applying Theories To "Let The Right One In"

Theories

Bobby Boucher Analysis

Theory - Tzetan Todorov (1939 - present)

3 Part Narrative Structure


Torodov believed that al stories begin with an equilibrium, this is then disrupted, and then restored.
A classic beginning, middle and end.

1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption Of Equilibrium
3. Restoration of Equilibrium or New Equilibrium

Theory - Vladmir Propp (1895 - 1970)

Character Roles


Propp believed that films had character roles and these characters had a specific duty to do. He believed you could fit characters into the following roles with almost every film (I have provided some examples, my chosen film is James Bond - Goldfinger):

1. The Hero - The character who seeks something (James Bond) (In films and TV 'Hero' can be male or female - someone who moves the story forward e.g. Bridget Jones or Homer Simpson)
2. The Villain - The character who opposes the hero (Gold Finger)
3. The Donor - Who provides and object with some magic property (Q)
4. The Helper - Aids the hero (Felix Leiter)
5. The Princess - reward for the hero - often object of the villains schemes (Pussy Galore)
6. Her Father - who rewards the hero
7. The Dispatcher - who sends the hero on his way (M)
8. The False Hero - who seems heroic initially but turns out to be evil or a red herring*

You won't be able to account every role type in every text, but this shows how the theory works.


* = Red Herring - A character or object that is introduced as seemingly important and is then left behind, forgotten or never mentioned again. The Red Herring is a character that turns out to be of no importance to the film.

Theory - Claude Levi-Strauss (1908 - 2009)

Binary Opposites

Levi-Strauss believed that the world had binary opposites. Binary Opposites are: a pair of opposites, thought by the Structuralists to powerfully form and organize human thought and culture. For example:

Good Vs Evil
Black Vs White
Tall Vs Small
Old Vs Young

etc.

Disabilities

In class, we walked in and listened to a song called "Spasticus Autisticus" which was played by Ian Dury & The Blockheads. We then discussed viewpoints on disabled people and what we thought. A lot of people, when asked, said that they felt sorry for people for disabilities and they believed that disabled people were brave. However, as the lesson went on, people felt more entitled to discuss their deep feelings about disabled people that may cause offence in some circumstances.
As a class, we all came to a conclusion that our opinions of disabled people depend on their disability. For example, people in our class felt more comfortable around physically disabled people rather than mentally disabled as mentally disabled people can be intimidating and we are less inclined to treat them like humans. The main patterns of opinions in the class were: there is a slight awkwardness as we do not want to patronise the,; some people embrace their disability e.g. paralympians and wounded soldiers. However some play on it, this may be because they are bitter or maybe because of envy; some people find it easier to pick on disabled people than to empathise with them.
My opinions on disabled people are: If a person comes past me in a wheelchair, i do not know where to look, as i am not used to it. However, i do not want to be rude, but sometimes i do a patronising smile.
If the person is mentally disabled, i feels as though i have to speak loudly - which is quite bad as there are a lot of mentally disabled people that are extremely capable of achieving what able-bodied people are.


We then went on to looking at famous disabled people, here are the people we could think of and their disablility:
Steven Hawking (Wheelchair, Motor Neuron)
Heather Mills (1 Leg)
Gordan Brown (1 Real Eye)
Stevie Wonder (Blind)
Verne Troyer (Dwarfism)
Muhammad Ali (Parkinson's Disease)
Michael J. Fox (Parkinson's Disease)
Gary Coleman (Dwarfism)
Albert Einstein (Autistic)
Leonaro DaVinci (Autistic)
Terry Pratchett (Alzheimer's Disease)
Ian Dury (Polio)
Ray Charles (Blind)
Mozart (Deaf)


There are also many more. We then went on to disabled people in films and discussed their roles with the films. Here are some films with disabled characters and how they were used in their films:
Forrest Gump (Hero of the film)*
My Left Foot (Hero of the film)*
I Am Sam (Overcomes disablility)*
Born On The 4th Of July (Hero of the film)*
Waterboy (Hero of the film/comical character)
The Ringer (Comical character)
Unbreakable (Villain of the film)
Million Dollar Baby (Tragic ending for the character)*
Avatar (Hero)*


* = Award winning film.


A lot of these films won awards, this may be because of the reality of these characters. Making some character disabled is quite inspiring to the audience and is quite realistic to us, which is why we like these sorts of films.

New Technologies

New Technologies - Cameras on Prezi

MEDIA as Flowchart on Production Process

Shameless - Series 1, Episode 1

In the opening scene, we see that some of the characters in Shameless have an anti-social nature, which is a steretype commonly asociated with northerners due to their higher crime rates. Stereotypes are used from the very beginning to give the audience a chance to recognise what sort of characters they are going to be watching and their backgrounds. Many shots are showed of stereotypical northerners, such as: the main character, Frank, introduces the audience to his family; a shot of his daughter Debbie is shown and intertextuality is used, she poses whilst holding a knife and rolling pin, this is created by Vinnie Jones from the 1998 film 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'. This makes the montage more appealing to a wider audience as they are covering more people's interests. During the opening scene, it becomes more than obvious that the priorities of the family is partying - rather than working. This is another classic stereotype of northerners, to be 'uneducated'.

Sexuality is explored in this episode, as Ian, is found guilty of being gay, by his brother, Lip because he finds Ian's stash of gay pornography. Later on, Lip shows Ian his findings and Ian looks shocked as he does this, the camera backs away to reveal Ian and Lip's shared room. The mise-en-scene shows a poster Kylie Minogue which helps make the scene less sinister and more comical. When Ian is confronted Lip, he cries, which is playing up to the stereotype of gay men being very "easily affected" and femininity. Ian has an unstereotypical appearance of a gay person but not even this stops Lip to alienate Ian because of his sexuality; this hepls to show how being gay in a stereotypical northern location is not accepted. Lip completely contradicts Ian's character as he is a typical teenage boy with all the stereotypes you can ever imagine. However, there is one thing which is not very stereotypical of Lip, he is very good at physics, whih he uses to gain himself a sexual encounter with Karen. Later, Lip boasts about his sexual encounter, which is another great stereotype of teenage boys.

We then meet Steve and Fiona. They fit into another stereotype of northerners, by being drunk, disorderly and aggressive. Steve fights with another man, and then "decks" the doorman. When they get home, Steve boasts to the other characters about what has just happened, they all know who the bouncer was, which shows that they have all been in trouble with him before, again meeting another great stereotype of notherners. Steve and Fiona begin to get close and quite sexual with one another, romantic music is playing faintly in the background, giving off a quite magical atmosphere. The scene then cuts directly to them having a very graphic sexual encounter in a very non-dignified way. During the sexual encounter, Fiona shouts 'ni, ni, ni' which is another great use of intertextuality, as this featured in a Monty Python episode.

The Gaze

Here is a Calvin Klein underwear advert from a 2009 campaign, starring Eva Mendes as the model. The facial expression she uses I would say falls into the category of Romantic/Sexual. Her face shows almost passion, as her eyes are closed as if she in some sort of pleasure, perhaps an orgasmic element. This then relates the image immediately to sex, and agrees with Laura Mulvey's theory that the woman is often the 'image', whilst the man is the 'bearer of the look'. I would say that this advert appeals to both men and women, men from an obviously aesthetically pleasing side, whilst women from an envious or inspirational side - as they want to look like this. There are fetishistic aspects to this image, for example the use of high heels and lingerie. A combination that would never be used for anything other than from a voyeuristic approach. Her stance adds to the sexually suggestive theme, as the parting of her legs indicates sexualisation. She also has a fairly confident posture, suggesting she is putting herself on show, and is comfortable with her appearance. Her hair has an almost post-coital effect, as it is wet from either sweat or water, and is messy. This is then continued, as her body is oiled also, giving the impression of working out in some way or showering. The model has fantastic legs, which are exaggerated well by the use of high heels, adding to the attractiveness. She wears suspenders on the right hand image, which again are often a fetishistic element, so the image appeals more to the male gaze.

Here is another image from a Calvin Klein advert, this time with the use of Freddie Ljungberg. To begin with, he has short, well groomed hair - highlighting his masculinity. The lack of activity in his hair region means the gazer focuses more on other aspects of the image, such as the body. His face is well chiseled, with a structured jaw line, again adding to his masculine image. The lips however, are slightly pouted, giving a hint of femininity or perhaps seduction. The look he has emphasises this as he has a seductive expression, which is viewed as intra-diegetic gaze, making the whole image more engaging by breaking the 4th wall. The facial expression has a sense of invitation, and is intense yet subtle. The stubble he has again is another aspect of stereotypical masculinity. The choice of a red background has connotations of passion, danger, sex, heat and love. All of which are portrayed through the image, as everything about it is sexually suggestive, and the oiled up look indicates sweat from the heat. The bar displayed at the top of the image relates to the gym, and explains his sweaty appearance - however, is likely to be just a prop that allows for the model to display his bicep. The tattoo is of some sort of wild animal, and is in a fairly intimate location - making it sexually suggestive. The oiled/sweaty abs add to the sexualisation, as this is a fetishistic aspect aimed at women primarily, however with possible potential for homo-eroticness. The body in general is well maintained, and probably the model's 'temple', indicating metro-sexuality. It also has a post-coital effect - with the sweat and tensing. The necklace he wears is a feminine aspect almost, along with a fashionistic addition. Finally, the pubic area is shaven. This relates to indications of metro-sexuality, along with a sense of homo-eroticness as well. The advert appeals to gay and straight men, along with women. As women are the main spectator, whilst men are viewing as the product advertised is aimed at them.

Film Technologies

The latest of technologies in films are cameras, CGI (Computer Generated Images) and editing software. We were asked to look into these four things and see how Working Title, Warp Films and Hollywood would use them, if they use them and why some may be able to use them more than others.

Warp Films use small amounts of the latest technolgy as they are only a very small business compaed to other institutions and so get small amounts of funding. For example, 'Rubber Johnny' was created by Warp Films and only lasted 6 minutes as an experimental film to see what uses they could put CGI to. The camera shots are filmed with infared night vision using a digital camera - showing that they have the use of modern cameras. Also, it is  edited using fast transitions, colour correction and sound effects - displaying the use of editing software and possibly up to date software, due to the complexity. From my research, i cannot find that there are any plans in Warp Films to use 3D films, as with their small budgets, they can only usually ever make socially realistic dramas.

Working Title do not have extensive use of new technologies, however they do use more than Warp Films. Working Title have made no 3D films, or revealed plans for the future involving 3D. They also do not use a lot of CGI, but again, there is more than Warp Fims. This may be due to the majority of their films being drama and comedy and so do not need many added extras otherwise their films will be less realistic. However, editing software is used with a passion. In Hot Fuzz and Shaun of The Dead, the shots are fast paced and there is a lot of transitional editing. Working Title may use software such as 'Avid'.

Hollywood have by far the biggest budget, therefore by far the largest amount of new technologies and discoveries in film-making. For example, 'Avatar', the most expensive movie ever made was filmed specifically in 3D over a period of 10 years. Unlike other 3D films, it was actually recorded using a 3D lense. Also, Avatar was edited using a whole range of software such as:

Autodesk Maya (most shots)

Pixar Renderman for Maya

Autodesk SoftImage XSI

Luxology Modo (model design, e.g. the Scorpion)

Lightwave (low-res realtime environments)

Houdini (Hell’s Gate scenes, interiors)

ZBrush (creature design)

Auodesk 3ds max (space shots, control room screens and HUD renderings)

Autodesk MotionBuilder (for real-time 3d visualisations)

Eyeon Fusion (image compositing)

The Foundry Nuke Compositor (previz image compositing)

Autodesk Smoke (color correction)

Autodesk Combustion (compositing)

Massive (vegetation simulation)

Mudbox (floating mountains)

Avid(video editing)

Adobe After Effects (compositing, real-ime visualizations)

PF Track (motion tracking, background replacement)

Adobe Illustrator (HUD and screens layout)

Adobe Photoshop (concept art, textures)

Adobe Premiere (proofing, rough compositing with AE)

many tools developed in-house

ETC. These films receive huge funding which is why it is able to be made up almost entirely of CGI.

MEDIA as This is England Analysis