The Lovely Bones

We are analysing film posters with a view to creating our own for the pre-production element of the coursework.

In this lesson we used resources from the film education web-site which has a lot of great resources for media and film students which can help to extend your knowledge.

We compared the book cover with the film poster and de-coded visual symbols and clues. The discussion ranged from differing audiences for the two different mediums and how this was reflecting in the layout, design and even the font to discussion of the symbolism of the birds flying out of the tree or the house on the lucky charm.

The minimalism of the book cover and the suggestion of drowning through the pastel blue colours showed that the audience for the book was more literate and sophisticated and perhaps did not want to know too much detail, hence the enigmatic cover. We tried to work out what the lucky charm might mean in the context of the story.

THe film poster has a lot more information and we felt that it targeted a wider audience particularly when we looked at the appeal of the actirs and the director Peter Jackson. We felt that the image was a powerful one and hinted at threat and running away, perhaps with the cloud and the birds hinting at some aspect of heaven or an afterlife.

We then watched the trailer and saw that the subtleties of the print productions were not matched by the film. The trailer left little to the imagination !

Banksy and The Simpson's

Banksy has created a new opening sequence for The Simpsons which has aired on US television. See what you think. He gets away with critiquing the way the show is allegedly manufactured which shows a willingness of a big media company (Fox)to accept being pilloried from within. The Simpsons is the biggest, best and most universal comedy in the world so can only benefit from this ability to make fun of its own shortcomings. Not even someone as cool and anti-establishment as Banksy can bring it down. In trying to criticise and make a statement has Banksy joined the art establishment as a celebrity icon ?

Feckless Britain's poster boy

Keith MacDonald has become a tabloid favourite. He has managed to father 15 children with 14 women and claims disability benefit for a bad back.

The Sun also uses the term 'feckless' which its sister paper the Times uses in its headline. They go on to call him a 'jobless scrounger' and a 'love rat'. He gets £67.75 a week in incapapcity benefit which they clami he spends on alcohol.

Eleanor Mills in the Sunday Times believes the 'underclass needs to change' and estimates that Keith's irresponsible lifestyle is costing £2million pounds. Each child receives £20 a week cghild benefit while most of the mothers gets £65.45 a week as they do not work. Housing benefit, free school meals and council tax benefit all add up.

What do you think of the media representations of this story ?

How will this story be received by different audiences ?

What does this story reveal about our society and our media ?

Why has this story caught the public imagination ?

10 : 10

A controversial video for a pressure group hoping to raise awareness about climate change has achieved exactly what it set out to do. The press have had a field day with the clip which has more exploding children in it. This seems to be the shock tactic of the moment. (see MIA post)

They have apologised and removed the video from their web-site but the damage has been done and their goal has been achieved. Viral marketing works on the basis that people will pass things on through social networking and people will search this video out. They have succeeding in putting their cause on the agenda as the event approaches.

The question is how will audiences recieve this media text ? Will they be outraged or will they feel that the message is so important that it justifies the content ?

Compare coverage of the video in the Telegraph and the Guardian. What does this tell you about the audiences for those papers ? How do you think schoolchildren will react as opposed to parents ?

Read the comments on the Guardian blog to see if the stunt has worked and to see how it has been received by a range of people.

AS textual analysis feedback

Focus on specific camera shots and camera angles

e.g. Frodo is shot from a point of view of the ghost and from a high angle. When Frodo looks up at the ghost the point of view is from a low angle. This is a classic cinematic trick showing vulnerability and power relationships. It is also used in Terminator 2 when Sarah Connor sees the Schwarzenegger for the first time since the first film when he was chasing her. She is crawling along the ground trying to escape as Schwarzenegger looms over her.

Go from the specific to the general . Make your point using textual evidence and explain fully.

Ian made a good point about the ring whispering to Frodo ‘quietly and seductively’ as if they have a secret between them. ‘Giving the ring a voice in some way personifies it making it a bit like it has a living consciousness.’ Very perceptive using skills of textual analysis used in GCSE English when you also interrogated a text.

The skill in textual analysis is making perceptive points and the linking them with textual evidence whether a film , television or print text. In the exam you could be given any media text to de-construct so expect the unexpected. You need to develop a confident, fluent style of writing.

The most successful responses are those that show effective note taking. You view the extract four times so you can organise your response into a series of points. Make notes using what the exam board call a toolkit for analysis concentrating on different aspects such as lighting, genre, narrative, sound, mise-en-scene, camera angles and shots and special effects. Also discuss representation and audience as they are key concepts in media studies.
Focus on specific points and write as much as you can in time allowed.

AS start of term

We have been analysing extracts from film texts and gaining an understanding of terminology. We have also been thinking about a trailer for a horror film.

We looked at the importance of sound in blockbuster films and analysed extracts from Bond films. We looked at the Bond Franchise as a business model and discussed the changing representations of Bond focusing on Daniel Craig's mean and moody version. We compared this to the Bourne franchise and what this explained about changing audiences.
We watched a documentary about sound in Casino Royale. The sound editor explained that sound is 50% of the film in a blockbuster like Bond with lots of explosions, chases and gadgets. We saw how individual sounds were heightened in foley post-production. For example, when someone hits the wall, we hear the crunch as sounds are enhanced in post-production. The software in Final Cut Studio allows us to put on sound effects and we will use this in our productions. An example was the 'Schwing' sound of the sword as it clatters to the ground. There are lots of details and we saw how the music was composed for a full orchestra. The music was exciting, increasing tension with the Bond signature tune a theme throughout. Depending on the country Bond was in the music would be matched to reflect the place. As in Final Cut Pro lots of tracks were laid on top of each other. There are 15 minutes of music in the Miami sequence of action.


We went on to analyse extracts from Mission Impossible, Star Wars and Spiderman. A brief written response was asked for in response to Lord of The Rings as an initial assessment.

MIA

This video by MIA has been banned on You Tube but is still available on miauk.com What do you think and what is the artist trying to say through the video ?

Read this article about the artist MIA written by Miranda Sawyer in the Guardian.

We discussed why this video might be banned. The graphic violence including shooting of a young boy and blowing another up with the body literally exploding. CGI effects show the dismemberment of limbs and the slow motion effects show the blood exploding from a bullet wound. Josh felt that he had seen much worse in war films, however and perhaps the lack of dialogue and lack of engagement with characters meant that the power to move an audience was less palpable. At one point a man is seen smoking crack which may be controversial and also leads the viewer to think this may be a simple drugs bust. There is some nudity also but it may be the political message that was too hot for You-Tube. The military clad in black and gas masks have American flags on their uniforms suggesting that the USA persecutes minorities. Those with ginger hair may represent any group that is persecuted for their 'difference'.

Josh felt that it could be a metaphor for the Nazi's who exterminated Gypsies and Jewish people. It could also be read as a comment on Gaza or other places where the majority has a vested interest in removing a minority group. An interesting piece of mise-en-scene is the mural on the wall which depicts 'terrorists / freedom fighters 'and the statement 'our time will come.' This opens up the debate about political violence. It was not long ago that Americans were financing the IRA in Northern Ireland. The artist's own family is of Sri Lanka descent and we could read the struggle of oppressed minorities like the Tamils into the film. News reports suggest that the recent government victory over 'rebel' groups was achieved through massacres of soldiers and civilians on the very beaches that are now being advertised as tourist destinations. Most conflicts have this tension between countries or ethnic groups at root so the video can be seen as raising a mirror to the World.

We discussed the effect of the video on an audience and whether it was too graphic. The artist raises their profile through viral advertising and banning the video only raises awareness and makes audiences want to see what they are missing. Particularly a young media savvy audience of music fans for whom the artist could be a symbol of rebellion. Should this use of shocking subject matter be in a music video which is essentially an advert for a product or does using this medium which can be accessed by a wide audience provide an effective platform for political messages and voices that want to be heard in the anodyne world of popular music.

Lady Ga Ga Again

The prolific releases keep her in the media spotlight as Ga Ga shows she is the heir to MAdonna as the master manipulator and image changer. In this video for Alejandro the allusions to Madonna's Vogue era are obvious providing another elemnet of intertextuality and self referencing the naked materialism and blatant stealing of well worn marketing techniques. Like Madonna she shocks her audience with sexuallised routines and imagery. The whole fetishitic and militaristic / fascist connotations offer the analyst lots of material. Is it about a love affair in fascist Spain under Franco ? Are there allusions to Eva Paeron and Argentina, another MAdonna link through Evita ? Or is Ga Ga just kicking around for eye catching ideas that will be visually memorable and familiar to anyone with a knowledge of popular culture. Like the Tarantinoesque Telephone this one has many intertextual references which make her work read like anseries of in jokes for a media savvy audience much like an episode of the Simpsons. Again the Guardian love to provide their opinion which is great for our study.

The success of launching a music video as an event and making it an internet phenomenon is again seen in the fact that the web-site hosting the new video crashed after a countdown to its launch online. Cynical but effective marketing for a cynical but insatiable consumerist audience.

One reading is that Ga Ga is unable to attract her male gay friends and the video is about unrecquited love. Like Madonna, Ga GA is clearly wanting to be regarded as a gay icon, attracting a lucrative key audience.

A great web-site to aid your own analysis of the videos is the vigilant citizen which attempts to de-construct the messages and values in the song and video.

World Cup adverts

Advertising texts are a great source of material for the media student and these adverts for the World Cup are wonderful texts to study from a variety of angles.

The Nike advert 'Write the Future' was launched during the Champions League final and ITV managed to cut off the Nike branding at the end for viewers in some parts of the UK. The slot cost an estimated £350,000- £500,000. Is advertising on television value for money or is the future of advertising online ? What does this say about the future for ITV and commercial television ?

The World Cup is a real saviour for broadcasters who rely on advertising and this is discussed in another article which says that bookings for advertising are up 25% due to the World Cup.

Make your own mind up about whether this epic works and then research how other audiences have received the advert. In the Guardian the advert gets a pasting.

As an example of interactive media and viral advertising the buzz around the Nike adverts really works as evidenced by the 5 million You Tube viewings in the first four days.

Adidas are hitting back by showing their new advert during England's opening match on Saturday. Again it has been available on the internet so that it becomes viral. This means that people send it on to friends and use social networking tools like twitter and facebook and it becomes an internet phenomenon. Advertisers are incredibly clever in the way they manipulate their audiences, in this case worldwide, in order to make us buy more. Interactive media is becoming the best way to reach key audiences for these products. Iconic figures from the entertainment industry such as Snoop Dogg, Noel Gallagher and Daft Punk provide a global reach and reflect the blurring of sports and entertainment industries brought closer through celebrity and tabloid culture.


Possible questions to reflect upon ;

How do the adverts represent national identities and ethnicity ?
What intertextual references can you identify ?
Why is football a marketeers dream ?
How do the adverts appeal to a global audience ?
Can you define and profile a target audience ?
How are other sponsors and advertisers using the World Cup as a platform to sell their
products ?

Fish Tank

Fish Tank

What a performance ! I still have tears in my eyes. The dance at the end with mom and little sis is as real as British Realism gets. Forget Bullet Boy and its ilk with their clichés and efforts at trying too hard to be street and cool. Anyone over the age of 16 can’t seem to do it, and the wannabe cool crew are so tied up in their own mystique that they disappear in their own narcissistic reflections. This is the real deal. You live this film with Mia and her angst and pain is tangible and believable. Some wrong notes at the start made me wonder if the director could pull off such a difficult task but Andrea Arnold delivers as utterly un-butterly believable an authentic a revelation of modern British urban life as we can get. It does not take long to get immersed in Mia’s myopic world. I was thinking, ‘ could a man have made a film as sensitive and could a man have been able to coax a performance of such stunning empathy. Almost as if it was not acting. Uncomfortable watching throughout as you could touch it , feel it. I felt the claustrophobia of the urban space as seen through Mia’s eyes and was seduced by the charm of Micheal Fassbender as Mia and her Mother are.

But it’s all about the girl. If ever you want to understand the modern malaise facing British youth and the challenges they face here it is laid bare but with the hope, faith and optimism that is the essence of youth so often missed in the dreary humdrum representation of young peoples lives. Utterly cynical and falling into all kinds of cheap stereotypes of the ‘Little Britain’ variety Mia transcends the pigeonhole with her lust for life and dreams which she refuses to have shattered. It is the high expectations of life which make young people so cynical, defensive and insecure manifesting itself in rage and lashing out. It’s not a lack of hope it’s the desire to live and burn brightly. This is not a film about urban blight and deprivation and ruined lives, it transcends that with hope and aspiration. Mia still believes in love and although she learns some hard lessons it is not her that is shattered, she comes of age with her dreams intact just a little wiser. The indictment is of those who should know better but refuse to grow up. This is broken Britain. Short term kicks feed a need to risk all you have for the unknown. Unfortunately for some Arnold has got modern British men down to a tee, maybe the most honest portrayal of the predatory nature of men. Years ago this may have been a norm and almost to be boasted about, nowadays its called grooming and paedophilia but the honesty of the performances make it hard watching for all, a salutary lesson to any middle age men who have a weird knowledge of their appeal to the vulnerable to watch their step, they can’t run amok without consequences.

Its all in the dance, it expresses so much. Non verbal communication, the sounds of breath and the movement of limbs. A subtle slowing of movement suggests more Lynne Ramsay than Ken Loach. Perhaps there is a different eye and a different perspective dependent on the gender of the director. A sensitivity to performance particularly of female characters. Fassbender is a great actor and Hunger is another great British film but how do you get someone with no acting experience to perform like this. Maybe that is the answer. Keep it real. Some unforgettable moments live with the audience, on finding out Conor’s real status actions speaking so much louder than words. This is where the visual medium comes into its own. They say film cannot do metaphor but the message is in the medium. Even the sex is perfunctory and all too realistic. It feels like a cliché but the strength of the action is that you really feel, uncomfortably, that you are there. How do you get people to act that, they must intrinsically know and that is the humanity of the film. You feel what Mia feels and it does not relent. Forget 3D; Andrea Arnold lets us live the life of 15 year old Mia. The sudden cut at the end feels like a blackout as this film is as close to whatever 4D may feel like as it gets.

The Wire

Episode 12 (plot heavy resolving a lot of narrative strands)

Keema ‘good police’ has been severely wounded

McNulty blames himself. Admits it is about himself but self pitying and gets drunk. Male reaction. Not strength but weakness, self pity.

Explodes the myth of the convention of the crime drama. Good cop vs villain
‘ A moment de-constructing the mythic pursuit of the bad guy. (David Simon)
Moral crusade personal him and me. Stringer and McNulty but explodes the whole narrative. McNulty has caused the problem with his vanity and ego. Asking what is the point ?

Bodie. His narrative arc is beginning. See his journey from the pit …
Learning the game and the chain of command. Moves above Wallis and gives him advice. If he’s coming back he starts at the bottom as he can’t run at the sight of blood.
Can’t turn down a promotion.
‘In any job if you turn down a promotion you have got one foot out the door’


Detail of the operation like a well run and organised business. American dream.

13 hours of television longer than the Godfather. Intricacies of character and narrative. Prolonged investigation follow the whole proves and feel involved so a lot closer.

Maurice Levy Jewish lawyer stereotypical.

Every ethic group in America is reviled and held in contempt by the other..not the melting pot of myth but the corrupt and seething mass of American life rubbing up against each other trying to make a living
Doesn’t pull punches calls him ‘that Jew lawyer’ Difficult line shows that writers unwilling to compromise
Thin line between legality and corruption but ethically wrong

Lieutenant Daniels has paid into the account held himself taut and supported the chain of command but now playing game on own terms.
Acts with his eyes
Can see how power corrupts. Chain of command.
Stands up to his superiors. Burrell brings up his past. Blackmail. Shows how it works. This was pre-figured in episode 3 but had to see clues that Daniel has a history.
Like a novel. Nothing incidental. ‘Ask your audience to commit on a different level’
Good writing Daniels speech understands the system and stands up to it
‘you’d rather live in shit then let the world see you work a shovel’

Senator is the most corrupt. Daniels upsets him so abuses his power to demote him. Daniels knows he is committing career suicide.

Can see if you follow the money then can see where the illegality goes. Drug dealers fair game bt the lawyers , bankers, politicians are the real mennace to society and get away with the white collar crime which drives and allows the lower level criminality. Officials giving money back. Obviously tainted money.

Minimalism of the acting.

Moral currency of the life of Wallis. He is a key character that we warm to. Lost in the pit looking after children. Father figure in his teens. Acting that evokes empathy. Criminal but human and can see how he is corrupted as he has no options. Has to play the game and hard to get out. Becomes his family. D’Angelo is his parallel but he is in too deep. D tries to help him, advises him no loose talk, no second thoughts no snitching, stand by your people. History of America and the variety of groups that inhabiting it. West-side is his home. Foreboding for him. Audience has a sense of dread.
Police have let him down. He is the real victim here.
Mother alcoholic has abandoned him
‘I’ll slap the bright out his eyes’
Affects Daniels shows the human cost. ‘Poor kid ‘ McNulty and Bunk more worried about the case. Shows loss of humanity and the affect police work has nullifying emotion.

Family in America and the family of the wider community. American values of individualism and looking after your own. Barksdale family clan. Tied to the history of different ethnic groups colonising America.

Food is central to the cop drama. The scene is an homage to that. Doughnuts and coffee.
Witness who changed her story in the first episode. Ambitious as need the audience to remember who she was and to recognise that Barksdale is clearing up. 10 seconds but again a clue that a hard working audience can pick up on.

Novelistic. Chapters with numerous clues and plot developments creating a rich and dense text. Can’t dip in like in a book or start in the middle. Follow the development over time.
“a novel for television’

80’s projects ‘unpoliceable’ and untenable so have been pulled down recently.

Mid level management js tricky like Daniels and the police the gang has the same issues
Stuck between a rock and a hard place

Lester Freamon becomes central. First episodes he was in the background. Strong writing and ambitious. Slow character development. Mentors Presbolowski. He becomes useful.

Hardest scene to write.. never filmed anything more disturbing’

The big king pin does not look like a stereotypical gansta rap video. Shows it’s a myth, too bright for that. Attracts attention if bling. Avon Barksdale is low key we don’t even see him until middle episodes.

Episodic tv means that stars dictate the action they need main time. Here they allow good actors to even out all the action so no one character that dominates. No stars so the plot can develop ad each character can grow.

We think D’Angelo will be the main narrative drive then McNulty then…The characters grow and the actors inhabot the roles and maintain their roles. D’Angelo explodes in this episode at Stringer Bell and we can feel the raw emotion which was unscripted and can feel the pent up emotion of someone feeling the emotion. Cathartic for him.

Playing with convention on arrest of the kingpins
‘Look as these Delta Force…’ reality is not the big bust but the compromise

The stairs scene parallels the Wallis scene down to the nod

No dialogue when the case links the money with the politicians. “if you get it you get it’
In a conventional drama they will explain.

Left thinking is it all worth it. Is Wallis or Keema worth the pay off. Not personal all a game. Reality is much more mundane than fiction of conventional narratives.

Ashes to Ashes

Ashes to Ashes (BBC)

How does this police procedural follow the generic conventions and the narrative structure of the crime drama?
Puzzle /enigma murder
Clues. Things under his nails
Unidentified blunt instrument ‘hammer?’ Note in pocket. Envelope
Pre title sequence
RWF – revolutionary workers front suspect
‘circumstances do keep pushing us together’ mother – unsubtle
Code to crack
Pace quickens
Suspense – we know they are listening bug in flask
Incidental music to heighten emotion / tension
Depends on stereotypes and caricatures. Only one hour.
Archetypes – Luigi, Ray Carling
Actually poses the questions will I get back if I solve this ?
Murder solved
Extract – Confession ,
Easily rounded up denouemnet quick
Willing suspension of disbelief

Sub-plot
Alex daughter and death ? in the future
Flashforwards / mother/ daughter / coma
Relationships
Changing roles and attitudes
Strong female characters
How has technology changed the way audiences can watch and interact with the programme ?
Godfather ,
Romance

Binary oppositions (Claude Levi Strauss)
Old police methods / new
Good cop /bad cop
Sensitive / brusque
Communism / fascism
CND / Nuclear
Working class / politicised institutions
Governmet secrecy / democracy
Feminism / Sexism
Crime in 81/ Crime in 2009


Discuss the representations of gender in a chosen episode
Snakeskin boots
The Quattro
Feminists Greenham Common
Gene Hunt sexism
Leather driving gloves
Sexist jokes
Threats and bullying
Extract : women in the police station

Discuss the representation of 1980’s Britain
Home office take the body
Smoking in the office
Luigi – ethnicity
Classic poster of tennis player
Thatcher
Weapons
Long boozy lunches
Gene Hunts longue carabine
Fashion. White leather, new romantics
Extract : Daughters bedroom Jackie, Adam and the Ants,roller skates, tape recorder, Shakin Stevens, Duran Duran, Enola Gay, OMD, Clash, teardrop explodes
As a BBC production refer to the following issues in your analysis ;
Distribution
Exhibition
Production
Marketing and promotion
Regulation issues
BBC remit and code of conduct
Controversies
Global implications
Historical background

Define the audience for the programme
Target audience profile
Positioning an audience
Scheduling
Uses and gratification theory
Debates about spectatorship and audience use of the text
Entertainment
Suspense
Clues
Masculine environment sexist homophobic
Different audiences define them


Humour – what are we laughing at ?
Changing times
Attitudes
Putting Carling into the role of homosexual
Laughing at overt masculinity
More feminised 2009
Use the Media Magazine spring edition to research humour

Can you work out the back story without knowing the previous episodes

Make your own episode based in 1991

Skins

Industry
Create a timeline of developments in Channel 4’s history
From the first broadcast – Film Four – E4 – More 4 – Brookside – Big Brother – web-site – 4OD
Research the remit and charter for Channel 4
How is it funded
Representation
Is it stereotypical /clichéd (listen to Adam and Joe talking about Skins on you tube)
Skateboards
Music
Effie- moody,sultry troubled, acts with eyes not much range
Drugs mushrooms glamorous, hallucinatory scene in the woods, influential methadraone
Becomes a saw like theme youngster in the woods
Boys
Teachers
Bristol
The countryside
In what way is it simplistic, stereotypical and clichéd ?
All older characters are caricatures or figures of fun authority
Costumes/fashion
Consider critical reviews
BAFTA Audience Award (won over X factor and others)
Consider the influence of the internet and social networking sites on the success of the programme
How have digital technologies impacted upon the success of the series ?
Interactive media – how do young audiences consume texts compared to an older audience
Half the audience are over 35 – can you explain why ?
Apply uses and gratification theory
Profile the target audience
Preferred,negotiated, aberrant, opposite readings
BARB figures 1.3 million
American version has been commissioned (MTV set in Baltimore)
Characters
Accents from all over country Nottingham Cornwall
Harry Enfield
Narrative
Males are driving the narrative
Women look strong and deep but do they drive the narrative
Stereotypes
• Caricatures
• Hair and beauty
Cartoonish
Fun
Comedic
Language, nudity
Famous stars
Change the cast
Analyse the marketing and promotion for the show
Watch Charlie Brooker talking about ‘Yoof TV’
Listen to Adam and Joe reviewing Skins
What needs does Skins gratify for a young audience ?
‘fairytale’ ‘guilty pleasure’ ‘well written’
Regulatory issues. What may be controversial.
OFCOM
Compare to Grange Hill or Byker Grove
How have audiences and television for young people moved on

Romantic Comedy

Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell)

Why does it work so well ? Love, Comedy, Writing, Acting
Love – marriage ‘if you love the person with all your heart’
Audience
Consider the different audiences for the film
Research the cost to make - £6 million
Box Office UK
Box Office US
Worldwide $250 million dollars
DVD sales
Industry
What is the formula for a successful romantic comedy
Research Working Title films
Representation
Representation of England – heritage , history, churches, institutions, countryside, stately homes, 7th richest man in Britain, 137 rooms, castles, tudor pubs, public school, reserved, unable to communicate or show emotion, large churches, choirboys, traditional weddings, Indian tea plantations, funeral on council estate in rain, Gareth from different section of society, Auden, Morris Minor, Mini, inoffensive swearing and sex
Homosexuality – gay men at the funeral, quite an iconic moment, most memorable speech, used in schools, great performance, no music, just close ups, very moving, real love in the film
Hegemony - The English are presented as normal and the Scots and Americans as outsiders and trying too hard. Promoting a comfortable and aspirational lifestyle of the upper and upper middle class.
Representation of Scotland – lakes, mountains, Hamish, Lairds, Kilts, Kirk, Fire, bagpipes, estates, highland jigs, ‘its brigadoon’, landowner as politician
Nice feeling, may get things wrong and say things out of turn but at the end no-one really cares or remembers so don’t take life too seriously, life is meant for fun and not to take too seriously, English trait, sign of a highly civilised society that we can laugh at our foibles.
Writing – Richard Curtis, clever set pieces, revises the script until perfect comic timing, best man funeral speeches, weddings comedic moments, obvious but well written and performed, memorable scenes, how many is a good run
Hugh Grant – upper class English twit, eccentric, loveable, nervous tics, sweet natured,
Andie MacDowell – Marquee name, US appeal, love interest,
Narrative
Define the 3 Acts
Follows classical Hollywood Narrative
Apply the narrative theories of the following
Todorov
Propp
Levi Strauss
Barthes
Research critical reviews

MS2 coursework

This unit will be internally assessed and externally moderated

Pre-production: 20 marks
Production: 40 marks
Report (1200-1600 words): 40 marks

Each of the three linked pieces of work will be assessed separately and then
combined to achieve a total for the unit.

Introduction:

This unit is designed to enable candidates to demonstrate knowledge, understanding
and skills in media production processes through research, planning, production and
evaluation.

Content

Candidates will be required to produce three pieces of linked work. These will
comprise:

Pre-Production reflecting research and demonstrating planning techniques

I suggest a storyboard for your trailer or opening sequence or a film poster

A production which has developed out of the pre-production

I suggest a trailer or opening sequence for a new Hammer Horror Film set in Cornwall

A report of 1200 - 1600 words.

It is anticipated that one brief will be set outlining pre-production and production
tasks. Although there must be a link between pre-production and production, there is
some flexibility in the nature of the tasks which can be set for pre-production and
production.

Examples of linked pre-production and production tasks include:

A storyboard of the trailer for a new BBC1 television crime drama (pre-
production) and the trailer for that drama (production)
A script or shooting script for the opening sequence of a teen horror film (pre-
production) and a marketing campaign for a new teen horror film, to include at
least the dvd cover and one poster (production)
Draft designs for two magazine front covers (pre-production) and a double page
spread for one of those magazines (production)
Prototype design for a new website (pre-production) and the completed website
consisting of a home page and at least two associated web pages (production).

The production tasks must enable candidates to demonstrate competent technical
skills. It is essential they have access to appropriate technical equipment and that
they have been taught how to use it prior to undertaking their productions.

ou will be taught howto use Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack, Photoshop and other software that you may find useful

(a) Pre-production

Pre-production tasks must be undertaken individually but may be set on a
whole class basis. Pre-production work will focus on the research and
planning skills needed to create media productions. Pre-productions may,
for example, involve research into comparable products, key aspects of the
appropriate industry relevant to the pre-production as well as research into
the target audience.

(b) Production

The production must develop out of the pre-production planning.


Audio-visual productions can be produced individually or by a group
(maximum of four). For group tasks the candidates will need to select one of
their pre-productions to develop into a production. There must be appropriate
opportunities for a significant and definable contribution to be made by each
candidate. Audio-visual productions should be up to 3 minutes in length,
depending on the nature of the production and the number of candidates.

Interactive media (other than audio-visual productions) and print-based
productions must be produced individually and must contain at least two
pages of original material. The majority of the images within the production
should be originated by the candidate.

(c) Report

The pre-production and production must be accompanied by a report of 1200
– 1600 words. This report must be completed individually and will include:

a discussion of the most significant research findings which informed the
pre-production
a brief justification of the target audience for the production
an evaluation of the production which highlights its strengths and
weaknesses through, for example, a comparison with existing media
products.

The report may be submitted in one of the following formats:

an illustrated report
an essay
a suitably edited blog.

Assessment:

This unit will be internally assessed and externally moderated with the following mark allocations:

Pre-production (20)
Production (40)
Report of 1200-1600 words (40)

Each of the three pieces of work will be assessed separately and then combined to
achieve a total mark.

The deadline for completed work is February 22nd 2010