I’m pretty sure…

If you’re reading this you’re a student stealing some of my old work…
stop it. 😉

Theories

David Gauntlett

Media, Gender and Identity.

David Gauntlett’s theory comments on the effect of gender representation in today’s media compared to the past, he looks at the adaption of films and tv. For example he compares James Bond to Ugly Betty. The changes in male identities and male magazines and how they may act as role models. His overall theory covers different aspects of the way people are shown to audiences through media in the past compared to the present, the identities we are shown, sexuality, gender trouble, media trouble and their lack of time of respect for time old traditions.
In my personal opinion i think this is a key theory that highlights the media’s influence of today’s society and the changes in traditions and lifestyles of male and female audiences. The theory has a good outlook and not so much a skeptical view but a understanding look on how society has changed so the media will go with it and push it forward. I think something that is key is he’s comments on the medias respect for traditions, like religion and so on… A downside to this is it may seem as though he is supporting the loss of traditions and values that have kept this country what it is, when in my opinion he is just embracing the change and detailing how things might look to audiences when analyzed. Another strength is that it’s an approach to modern times.

“Furthermore, people are changing, building new identities founded not on the certainties of the past, but organized around the new order of modern living, where the meanings of gender, sexuality and identity are increasingly open.”

–David Gauntlett; ‘Media, Gender And Identity- An Introduction.’

“Virtual worlds can be valuable places where children rehearse what they will do in real life”
BBC News- ‘Web Worlds ‘Useful’ For Children.’

This article is about the influence of virtual worlds and how they will effect and prove to be useful to children. Themed worlds such as the one mentioned in the article will help the children become more social and give them situations to tackle that would prove to be more difficult in real life. Eliminating the consequences can be a good idea, but i do feel it might act in the reverse manor, some situations you need the consequence to learn from mistakes or if you’ve done something wrong.

“Virtual worlds can be a powerful, engaging and interactive alternative to more passive media,” –David Gauntlett

In relation to media in the online age this article and theory is key and a very important view to the modern relation to media in the online age and its approach to learning and engaging younger audiences.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7415442.stm

KEY SECTION-

“Prof Gauntlett said the research revealed that children assumed one of eight roles when exploring a virtual world and using the tools they put at their disposal. At times children were explorers and at others they were social climbers keen to connect with other players. Some were power users looking for more information about how the workings of the virtual space.”

David Buckingham

David Buckingham is one of the leading researchers into current relation ships between youth and media, he has published many books and articles detail the effects of gaming and modern media on youth and how it is forming their future. There isn’t any specific theory to highlight but i found an extract from a book which details the effect of Instant messaging and the way the youth now function.

“The Internet Playground”–
This is a chapter in a book released by him and some colleagues, it focuses on the way instant messages has affect the development of the social class and online games have given a new world for the youth, male and female.

Sonia Livingstone

Sonia Livingstone, is again another leading researcher with the relationships between children and the internet. She has published books and lead research projects focusing on the digital age and the youth in relation to the online communities and their behaviour online.

“Is the internet really transforming children and young people’s lives? Is the so-called `digital generation’ genuinely benefiting from exciting new opportunities? And, worryingly, facing new risks?”

She focuses on current theories of identity to draw conclusions on the dangers and benefits the online world offers the youth.

Stuart Hall

Reception Theory; ENCODE/DECODE

Messages are encoded in certain media with the intention that the audience will decode that message, Stuart Halls’ theory details the ways in which an audience will decode that message. A persons view will differ due to age, gender, class, etc…

• Prefered Reading this occurs when the audience receptions of the media they are viewing, coincide with what the makers intended message was. The audience agree and with what the producer intended to say, the message has been read and agreed with. This is the reading that is most likely to be made for the target audience, this was you gain the best reception.
• Negotiated Reading – This describes the response when the audience will agree with some of the ideologies placed in the media text, but not all.
• Oppositional Reading – This is the reading where the viewer will completely reject the messages and ideologies made by the producer. Instead of ‘prefered’ they do the opposite and believe the complete opposite of the intended message.

Two Step Flow Theory

First introduced by Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet. The theory its self highlights the flow of mass media consumption and how the media will change due to personal interpretations. The theory asserts that mass media moves in two distinct stages. Opinion leaders, individuals who pay close attention to the mass media receive the information. The opinion leaders, such as news papers and news corporations such as sky and BBC pass on the information with their own interpretation, in addition to the mass media content.
The term ‘Personal influence’ was formed around this time to describe this process, opinion leaders are influential in the way the masses receive the media. The 2 step flow is the outline of how the information goes from pure to interpreted. Attitudes and behaviours have been changed due to this personal influence and 2 step flow.

For example, with recent elections the opinion leaders such as ‘The Sun’ decided to change and back the conservatives. They took the information and interpreted it to influence the behaviours and attitudes of its readers. This resulted in the conservatives winning the election, obviously not a direct result. But im sure it would have had some influence on the result. The opinion leaders receive information and pass it down, but the information is never as it was, it has additional interpretation… Creating the 2 steps in the flow.

Long Tail Theory.

The long tail theory was developed by Chirs Anderson, it details the shift in sales in relation to the products available to the audience. The theory now states that there are more products available but the same amount of sales, the key is that sales are being spread through more products with less concentration on the mainstream. Consumers are now looking elsewhere for the product they require, instead of going to the place they would have always shopped. This in graph view shows a longer tail, the tail being the products, there is more available which is spreading sales away from the mainstream.

As this graph shows, where the sales are highest represents the mainstream, this section is now smaller. And you can see from the products the tail has extended, showing there is more available, spreading the sales.

Video Nasties.

60’s-

This decade, to most people is usually associated with hedonism and free living. To some the 60’s was made to look like a peace loving decade but in actual fact the 60’s ended violently. The Attamont Festival ‘Woodstock’ was one of these acts of violence, an act that carried the 60’s out with violence and controversy. The Woodstock festival was a massive outdoor festival in America which ended the sixties with the death of Meridith Hunter, killed by the hells angels are after he pulled a gun out near the stage. Students in the west had clashed with the government and democracy was to slow, all of this ended up amounting to violence and eventually terrorism.
In terms of the film industry, the 60’s had really taken off with the feature length, cinema had started becoming popular and enjoyable. Films had started to break boundaries and venture into the taboos. Things like sex and violence had started to become seen and aired in films, the cultural movement of the 60’s was reflected massively in the Hollywood hits, the films were dramatic and very hectic. Many people have described the sixties as the start of the ‘MTV style editing’, fast paced, quick, and very hectic. A good example of this is the film ‘A Hard Days Night’ a film which is really just a feature length music video, this film is a perfect reflection on the cultural developments and also the films of the era. . Some say this was the start of a new era, a New Hollywood, which in actual fact plays a key part in the development of the video nasties. Although there has been no direct link, in my opinion i think that the sixties was just the start, the kick that gave the 70’s the edge and want for something a little more than what they had. The sixties ended with violence and a lot of anger towards the higher power’s, this eventually became a rebellion and flowed into the later decades.

70’s-

A decade that had been lead into with lots of anger and rebellion being something that many people felt was the only way to get the message out. In the mid 70’s around 76′, the rebellion known by most as ‘Punk’ was introduced to England. Bands such as the ‘Sex Pistols’ and ‘The Clash’ began a new style and new scene for kids and people to grow into. Punk was all about rebelling and avoiding the control of the higher powers, It all started in America, which in my mind is a strong connection to the clash between the students and the government. It wasn’t the start of punk, but in my opinion i think it might have given some people an excuse to be a part of a cultural rebellion. Punk started solely through music and the revolution in the music tastes, kids getting bored of the endless solo’s and pointless riffs. Bands starting taking the music back the basic, ‘No Bull Shit.’ style edge of rock n roll, it became an image, fashion, style and personality.
All of this coincided with the release and invention of the VHS, allowing people anywhere to view films in the privacy of their own homes. In most areas of this decade, everything became about expressing your self in a very true and real nature. Music became more Raw and less produced with lyrics that cut into society and issues that many wouldn’t even think to discuss, opinions and getting your point across became something that people wanted to do. Now with the release of VHS audiences didn’t have to stick to whatever Hollywood said to watch, the concentration was placed on the ‘Home Video’… Soon to become Video Nasties. As the 70’s drew to an ended audiences were realising that censorship would only cover films for cinema, Low budget production companies and people just making the home video soon came to realise that these films could feature anything and it wouldn’t be censored. The BBFC had no power over ‘Straight to video releases’ therefore they couldn’t control what was being distributed.
The Video Nasties themselves became something that didn’t push the taboos they found what they were and treated it as a list as of what to feature in a film, nudity, rape, violence, killing, cannibalism and more. Later explained by some of the small town distributor’s they told the media that there was a demand for it and nothing stopping it, so they supplied it. This whole cultural movement wasn’t just reflected in film because of VHS, VHS fueled it and then other mediums followed suit. Magazines began to push boundaries and challenge what was moral, pushing the common states of taste and sex, everything became about expression and avoiding ‘The Norm.’
The Video Nasties circled around ‘Horror’ as a genre and featured many other aspects that challenged the moral thinking of society.

80’s-

After the extreme natures and the cultural rebellion in the 70’s the 80’s had a lot to live up to. Music and fashion became something new and the decades popularity became something other than punk. As for the film industry it continued to thrive in the video nasties without law to control the straight to video releases. In 1983 the first step in the governments approach to the video nasties was releasing the DPP list, this was a list that contained 72 video nasties, it was made public to make people aware of these films and their content. Although, this approach just fueled the fans. It acted as a to do list, films they needed to get or see. The ‘Obscene Publications act’ 1559, was the only thing in place to cover the films, but then this didn’t have any say over VHS. The Act was amended in 1977 to cover erotic films. The DPP list acted as are target list for the government, 39 of the films were prosecuted under this act. Some had even been passed by the BBFC for cinema release, as you can see there was a very mixed reception and understanding of what to do with the films.

The Obscene Publications Act defined obscenity as that which may “tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it“.
– -Source;Wikipedia.

As you can see from this statement the definition is very vague and can be left to many interpretations, so to prosecute under this act would have been very hard. The video nasties got to a stage where it became a well known issue, an issue that the Pope even released a statement on. The statement focused on the demonic nature of the films and the influence it will have on us.

1984- Probably being one of the most key years in the era of the video nasties a new act was brought in to help add more control over the home release and straight to video films. The British Board of Film Censors became known as the British Board of Film Classification, the new BBFC became responsible for all releases in cinema and on VHS. Anything after September 1st 1985 had to be submitted to the BBFC for classification, anything before was resubmitted. The act in forced to the degree of criminal offense, it became illegal to supply a certificated film to an underage person, and to supply unclassified/certificated films. One film that cause a fair amount of discomfort and contraversy during this period was ‘The Exorcist’. A year after the Popes speech detailing the demonic influences in today’s society the film The Exorcist was released. The film then became known and was released by Warner Home Video in 1981, it was then soon after denied Certification by the BBFC and removed from the shelves in ’86.

The Copycat Theory–

“It is often mistaken that Stanley Kubrick’s film adaption of A Clockwork Orange was banned by the BBFC. It was actually Kubrick himself who decided to withdraw the film from exhibition in the UK after reports of copycat behavior. The film was only released in the UK shortly after the death of Kubrick in 1999.”

–Source; Wikipedia.

In the 90’s, when the second wave of video nasties struck a slightly less intense and more controlled, but still classed as video nasties came to light. A development came with this, Obviously now the BBFC had control over films release and the distribution of a film but some films would still be classed as okay even though they might have something ‘edgy’ content. People where able to now see these films, a demand was still around for the video nasties and industries being industries they jumped on the opportunity to create these films to get through and still supply the demand. Some films such as ‘Chucky’ and ‘Natural Born Killers’ have fell into the copycat theory. The copycat theory is basically underlining the media’s influence on an audience, saying that people are watching these films and feeling compelled to go out and perform acts of violence or sexual assault in relation to the film they have viewed. Attempted and successful persecutions have been made based on this theory. The director of ‘Natural Born Killers’ was successfully sued after a couple went on a killing spree after taking hallucinogenic drugs and watching the film. There are lots of opinion and views on this theory, it’s been debated for years and there’s more than enough to discuss. But it has recently come down to personally moral values to be able to understand a film for what it is and know that what they are doing it for the purpose of entertainment or to place a message across. To blame a film for someones acts is a very skeptical approach and just passes responsibility.
The copycat theory has been applied almost every medium going, music, games, film and so on. To blame a film for someones actions just doesn’t add up in my opinion, if anything the society and culture they live in is more to blame. If they feel as though they can watch a film and consider any actions viewed to be something right or doable, then that personality has moral issues. A film is entertainment, not instructions.

Digital Media Issues.

Issues within new media such as face book. The WE media generation and development of web 2.0 has lead to leading communities in the online age, such as facebook and youtube. Obviously with these communities issues are raised with bullying and ‘predator’ behavior.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/digital-media

Digital media advancements have created a media consumption up rise. The new technologies and improvement in digital media such as Sky+, PS3 and faster broadband and have allowed from an increase in the average media consumption.

Spending on magazines and news papers has dropped 20% whilst digital media has almost halved. People are expecting free consumption and therefor spending less, but yet they are getting free media so consumption is rising.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/19/media-consumption-survey

Media Evaluation.

The brief I choose was detailed as shown, The Animation in it’s was created by me and someone who has since left the course. The poster and review page was created by me only;
A short film in it’s entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live action of animated or a combination of both, together with two of the following three options:

A poster for the film

A radio trailer for the film

A film magazine review page featuring the film.

In terms of the construction of the three following I felt more confident making a double page spread and a film poster as I have studied the main ground forms and conventions for the construction of these mediums. As my course work last year consisted of creating a double page spread and a front cover for a music magazine, i felt that what i had gained from the researching and creating these would help me in the creation of the poster and review. The Poster would consist of the same elements as an advertising film poster seen on billboards; the review would contain the same forms as a review in a film magazine. It would either act as a promotion of write off of the product, containing pictures and analytical content on the product. The decision on which brief to choose was probably one of the easiest, I knew from the start that I wanted the challenge of creating an animation, learning the process and developing my skills to be able to capably create a stop motion animation. The idea of creating a short film was something I was already drawn to before seeing the brief, stop motion animation had always been in my plan for things to learn and do. As a photography students as well, understanding visuals and the importance of a single frame seemed to be to be a good skill to transfer and apply to stop motion. I began to draft ideas and think of different way I could combine my skills to create the best short film. One of the first ideas I came up with was portraits of different people all experiencing different emotions and changing facial expression, I would then turn this into a stop motion to show the contrast in people and emotion. After reflecting on the idea and getting further into planning I realized that a story would be very hard to develop from this idea. Having researched a lot into Pixar and their works for a case study, I remembered that they key to animation is making inmate objects seems alive, with emotions and thought processes. The idea of making a dinner table come to life and everything on the table experience the romance for them selves, not the couple about to eat the meal came to my mind and everything started to fit. I begin to set out characters and story boards, a process which I normally find hard to do. I never seem to be able to fill storyboards with enough detail to look constructive. This time I felt like I had enough ideas and really managed to create come constructive and effective storyboards. After I had the idea sorted and drafted I realised I needed to gain more knowledge on the look and feel of stop motion, I spent some time observing animations to see how they flowed and they way the camera captured the story. Looking at the different examples I realised there was a simplicity in the camera movement whilst shooting, most of the movement seemed to happen on cuts this was obviously to keep the camera smoother and easier in the flow. I discovered that stop motion animation can work in two different ways; you can have animation that works in ‘2’s’. This is basically the term that describes animation that works in 12 frames a second and ‘1’s’, which is animation that works in 24 frames a second. 2’s is the animation style that is used by amateurs, 1’s is the style that film such as ‘A Night Mare before Christmas’ would use. With this in mind I looked to shoot our film in 2’s, it requires less time and is a little easier. It might not flow as much as shooting in 1’s but I felt as thought I should take precautions and play it safe, it was a decision that was influenced by further research into tutorials and etc… I realised from the research that it’s a challenge to shoot in 1’s. One of the major decisions I had to make in the construction of the animation was what we should actually film, after starting and getting a good start we realised that it was a lengthy and hard process and we had to think about cutting some shots. This decision was hard, but I looked through my storyboards and stuck to the main shots with the others left for add in. This decision worked out perfectly as i soon lost time to shoot. The one main thing I have learnt from this process is that planning is key, even more important than live action. Getting storyboards and you’re shots right is vital as it takes a lot longer to recapture a certain shot. For my film poster, my research took me to different examples of Holly Wood blockbuster films. Although my short film is intended for a different audience I realised from my research that advertising for the audience I wished to attract was non existent. I used these examples as a building block to develop and use the conventions they set out. Choosing a front for a poster is the key detail in my opinion, the primary image will always attract attention but a font needs to be readable and carry a good representation of the film. My font decision was lead by it’s likeness to Pixar and Disney styles, I knew this would carry a good reputation and relate to well understood and loved institutions. The review page leads me into some very difficult situations, I knew that last year I was unhappy with the layout or my double page spread, for my music magazine. So this year I focused on adding more detail and creating more structure to the page. I looked in heavy detail scanning a magazine called ‘FILMSTAR’, I was looking mainly at the pages structure and how the layout covered the page. The main thing I gained from this is that last time I didn’t keep any control to the text; it looked as though it was floating free. This time I developed and followed closer to the conventions, keeping text bordered and contained.

The media package as a whole, I feel serves as capable and successful advertising for my media product. The main focus for my work was to keep to conventions and make everything looks as professional as it possibly could. The reason I did this was to open my eyes to the actual media and get a strong and creative feel for how it is actually made. Challenging the conventions is a process I felt was always needed, like last year with my work I focused solely on creating something different and new and ended up missing the point of my brief. Yes I had created what was asked but I hadn’t gained any useful knowledge on that particular medium and how to work in those way, only how to work against them. I realised this year that focusing more on the medium and working to its standards and expertise will teach me what I need to know, to feel confident enough to go out and create the same product but for an institution will money benefits. I thought practically to the way I wished to approach my work, working with the forms and conventions to gain a better feel for the film industry and the conventions of its advertising. Taking an analytical stance on my film I can happily say I am truly pleased with the outcome, overall I feel it serves well in all aspects of the critical key concepts when analysing a media text. The genre was based on the feel of a 1930’s Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers sequence, the essence of these characters and the romantic elegant feel is in my opinion captured very well in my short film. A decision I had to make was if black and white would suit the film style, as the look we aimed for was from a 1930’s concept, when at this time everything was in black and white. The decision was made to shoot in a lower saturation colour with intent to see if black and white had any profound effect in the post-production. As the production came to an end and all that was left were some finishing touches, I made a decision to stick with the film as it was, in the low saturated colour. I felt that some of the romantic connotations with the pink and red and the depth created by the colour would have been lost, it seemed as though the film lost the atmosphere it had with colour. With stop motion animation I realised that it was going to be very hard to excel in terms of story telling, I knew that the film would be about visuals and character emotion and impression. I made a clear cut decision form the very begging that a key element to success would be that I stick to Todorov’s narrative theory, a theory shared by most stories a reflected consistently in fairy tales and fables. The construction of the story reflects this theory;

Equilibrium: Happy couple dancing.

Disruption: Male gets caught up in dance with other character. Female gets upset.

Solution/ Realisation: Male Realises and goes to see her.

Return to equilibrium: Male and Female dance off happy.

The narrative theory has given me structure and a simple story line easy to create and capture in stop motion animation. This allowing for me to concentrate on the elements that will create the emotional impression and audience response such as visuals and sound that will create the true story to the film. Analysing the animation I have realised that the key decision that needed to get right was the music. The song chosen, L.O.V.E- Nat King Cole is what truly creates the emotional response and brings together all the elements to get the audience response of joy and happiness I aimed to create. The decision process took me too many different artist such as Frank Sinatra and more, but Nat King Cole definitely had the sense of passion and also ‘Dance’ that I was looking for.
The movie poster in it’s self is something I am very pleased with, the outcome was what I wished to achieve. As I mentioned, this time I wished to follow the forms and conventions to gain a better understanding in how to make realistic products so what I learn and create will give me a good stepping stone if I ever have to create a real film poster. This medium particularly, was the area I wanted to pay most attention to as the forms tend to be legal requirement. The poster contains all the elements of a high blockbuster poster and gives of the impression and effect the poster should have, noticing the image as primary and title as secondary. I have learnt a lot form this construction and will be able to apply all of it to my future works. I have developed a considerable understanding for the forms and conventions and taken careful consideration to minute details, apposed to challenging the conventions. This approach is more practical and has taught me a lot more, still allowing my self to be creative with the visuals and text size and shape.
Taking the same approach and careful consideration to the magazine review page, I really wanted to gain a better understanding for layout and structure. I went out and actually bought a film magazine to carefully look at all the forms and the structure of the pages. As I already knew from last year the review page will tend to be 70% images, so this is where I would usually start. What I learnt from last year is that my page had no structure or control; it all looked messy and unorganised. So I developed my knowledge further and took a different approach, I began to layout all the sections of the page with simple designs of 3 lines in parallel with equal spacing. This allowed me to keep a constructed area for text and images, I have learnt a lot more this time round about how a magazine is planned and laid out. One thing I really developed this time was my skills in the pre-production, planning and sizing up the page. The text colours and image work well, I am very confident in my skills with the visual side of things, such as images and colour choice. It tends to be my skills with layout and planning where I lack, but this year I feel I have definitely developed this downfall.

To compare my film to an existing media product is a hard comparison, the line of media and target audience I focused on aren’t exactly money making or profitable films. My research took me to short films made by the generation of online social groups that exist due to the revolution in the internet and web 2.0. The idea and concept for my film was that it would be of a similar nature to a youtube viral. This is why I found it difficult to express the film in a film poster, as my particular film wouldn’t be a wide release, it was a decision that I considered and decided that I should just approach the poster as though it was a block buster. Creating a accurate and appealing poster to complete the media package.. The research I carried out at the beginning lead me to many different examples of stop motion animation, I took this research further; looking into the institutions that publish and create these works. In terms of the film it’s self I focused on an institution called ‘Tandem Films’. This web site and company structure gave me a great insight and developed my understanding of how animation can be used, things like advertisements and short web viral for certain sites. When filming I made the decision to proceed as though I was filming for this company. Animation has always been a big passion of mine; I have studies Disney Pixar (Mainly the Pixar side of things) in a lot of detail. One thing I have learnt from my studies is the reputation is even more important than representation. I used this knowledge and applied it to my film poster, the film poster was probably where I paid most attention to audience and institution, seen as the posters job is to attract and convince audiences to see the film. I took into careful consideration ways to influence audience and gain their attention; reputation was something that struck as an idea that would build a good appearance for the poster. I spent time researching Pixar posters with an aim in mind that the reputation of Pixar and their know ability to make please films would influence and persuade audiences. The decision was left mostly with the font, I focused on different styles and different conventions that would help gain this representation and I saw that font was a key element. The font choice was based solely on the thought that the reputation of Pixar and Disney would be a great selling point for the film. One main conventions and form that almost every film carries maybe one that I Disobeyed, most films in the modern age tend to carry a money orientated purpose, this then creates mode of address and attractions placed deliberately in a film to ‘attract’ audiences. Well known actors and actresses, ‘representation’ to attract the audience. This was one, very key convention that I decided to avoid and keep away from, I left my film as a story and what it is. I didn’t consider audiences as I was making it, I didn’t think about what they want to see and how I could interest them. I made a short animation, a story that was in it’s self hopefully the attraction to audiences. This process and way of thinking taught me that making what you wish, the way you want to, adds a sense of realism and added creativity to your work. It may seem a contradiction to what I stated about institutions, but the aim with the institution was to still create a story they loved for what it was, with no purpose other than being entertaining and to show a story. Obviously I couldn’t take the same approach to the film poster, as its main purpose is to attract audience and sell a film. The way my audience would receive the film was something I wasn’t completely focused on, I knew that there would be no representation of social groups or of people at all. So I wasn’t really considering any emotion effect, or social issues the film might raise, I was fairly confident that it didn’t have any at all. The overall reception in my opinion is hard to describe, a common reaction tends to be the ‘Aaawww’ response, I’m not sure the exact word for this reaction but it seems to be the most common. An overall happy and impressed feeling seems to be put across. A decision that I discussed earlier, about the atmosphere of the film being likened to a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers dance sequence was something I also had to consider when thinking about representation. I knew from my research the audience age range would be around 17-24, it wasn’t as though I was aiming my film to them. As I’ve mentioned the youtube community is a mass community with different interests and hobbies, a social site that contains many different groups. My aim was to make a film that could be viewed by any age and any gender and gage a pleasant and good reaction from them. After some post research feed back I feel as though I have succeeded in this task, as a video intended for youtube I knew from the start that word of mouth was going to be the main advertising the film would be subject to. Youtube is a site that operates its success on the social community’s ability to create interest through word of mouth. The feed back I have received comes from all ages and all genders, saying how it appealed to them and they enjoyed the simple story and the general nature of the film. A success that was fuelled from research into a certain auteur, ‘John Lasseter’ a man who claimed the success to animation comes from the life you give it.
“Character animation isn’t the fact that an object looks like a character or has a face and hands. Character animation is when an object moves like it’s alive, when it moves like its thinking and all of its movements are generated by its own thought process…. It’s thinking that gives the illusion of live.”

Condimental Love (Final Animation)

Condimental Love Macro Analysis.

The lighting used in this short film in my opinion is not very well thought out, the lighting overall is inconsistent and not very impressive. By the look of it, where the lighting changed throughout the film it looks as though the film has been shot using natural lighting. Natural lighting can be good in some situations but by the looks of the film and knowing that animation can never be done in one shoot. You can see the change in lighting and the change in contrast. The effect may be deliberate to make it look real and less staged, as though it’s just an observing way of looking in. I don’t think it was intentional because some parts of the of the film has perfect lighting and contrast. Due to this lack of consistency from the lighting no atmosphere is created. The parts where you can see that the lighting has successfully set up and used to its proper potential there is a really nice atmosphere created, It’s calming and very mellow, it fits in really well with the narrative and the context of the story.

The use of lighting is basic and not really accentuated to show characters or personalities, shadows are avoided so none of the characters are made to seem bad or mysterious. The films sound is very minimal there are no sound effects and only music, i think this was a good choice considering the context and the romantic intentions of the film. I personally think that if there was sound effects and noises added to certain parts it would make the film seem more amateurish and comical. The song choice is probably one of my favorite parts to the film, it fits perfectly with the motion and the animation and really makes the film what it is. The sound truly reflects what is happening in the animation, it fits perfectly. The lack of sound effects helps create a juxtaposition between reality and the surreal. Adding sound effects would have made it seem real, and i don’t think real was what there directors were looking to achieve, it’s as though they wanted to show us a fantasy, a thought process that has actually happened. The atmosphere that is lost from lighting is definitely made up with the music. The music is obviously diegetic because we see the subjects dancing and moving to the music, there isn’t any non-diegetic sound in the film. I think this is a good choice not to have these over layed sound effects as it would probably take some of the elegance away from it.

The mise en scene of the animation is in my opinion really good, the whole look of the film suits the context and the atmosphere it aims to create. The location and the setting keep the colour and tones balanced between the foreground and the background. Each shot is composed very well in my opinion the use of colour and confetti on the table helps to define the break in floor and background. The colours are well used and not to overpowering, they keep the atmosphere and help control the narrative the image that is portrayed. Everything that is in the animation flows fairly well and fits in with the music, this helps keep a good rhythm and keep the audience intrigued and relaxed. Obviously being an animation there isn’t many props and no actors but the characters are represented in a very romantic sense. The music and the mise en scene create an appealing and happy atmosphere that represents the two main characters in a good way, showing them as pleasant a happy.

One area where i really think the film excels is in the camera composition, the minimum depth of field really takes a new light to the animation. It creates a brilliant focus point, creating a zone around the main characters all the time, keeping the audience focused on what’s in hand. The depth of field has also allowed for some very visual and creative focus pulls, this adds a new dimension and changes the animation from its average jump cut. The camera work flows and all cuts are on movement, keeping a consistent flow the animation and making it all stay together with no stop starting. The camera angles and framing really brings the audience into the characters, the close-ups creative a very intimate feeling, adding to the atmosphere created by the song. There is a very visual depth to the shots, allowing some colour to feature in shots. Near the end one particular shot uses the depth to show the characters mood and emotion, he looks lonely and hidden. Making the impression that his upset or knows he has done wrong.The majority of the camera angles are medium and kept to a level ground, avoiding any connotations of power or weakness.

Again much like lighting i don’t think the editing has much influence on the outcome of the whole film. I do think that the flow is held well and the editing is consistent, it keeps in tempo with the music and flows really nicely through certain section where the two main characters dance. The cuts between shots are accurate and continuity is followed by cutting on movement, there isn’t much of a range in transition of effects but i think this is to the benefit of the film.Where the film may seem a little bland in editing is made up in the mise en scene and camera work, the lack of effects is good, it’s allowed to stay simple and clean. Letting the actually animation and story do the talking, not silly effects taking your attention away from the story it’s self. It Appears to me that editing has been used as a process to piece together the story to make it flow and move smoothly, not as a tool for creative input or enhancing the visuals or story.

Film Poster

The process of making this film poster was fairly simple, i knew that the picture was the key element in the poster from my research. Primary viewing for the poster would be around 1-2 seconds, rarely any more. I learnt this from my research, i discovered that in most film poster advertising the message of the film needs to be sold solely through the image. The image is of mass importance, from the examples i have seen they use iconic images and symbols to sell the film and gain the recognized audience, the audience that are familiar with the film either through a prequel or other means. Films like ‘WANTED’ have to use other means to attract the audience mainly they use reputation. The have Angelina Jolie in the main image this sells the film through reputation of this actress, where are ‘DARK KNIGHT’ can use symbols and iconic costumes and images to attract an already existing audience.
I think i have done okay with my film poster considering my audience and it’s release, my film is not to be a cinema released film as i mentioned earlier in my posts and from my research i plan to release this with a youtube type viral video in mind. Now, obviously a youtube viral wouldn’t have a film poster but for the sake of course work i tried to work it in as though it was to be a film for wide release. I followed the same principles as and layouts as the main film posters i looked at.
The design was something i took a while thinking about, as you can see the final draft uses pink as a main colour, i wasn’t to sure about this at first. It didn’t seem to be something that suited the front cover and seemed to be very bright and intimidating. I changed the font and made some colour adjustments, the original main title was completely pink with black behind it. This made it very dark and slightly over powering. I search for a font again and came across what you know see on the poster now. I am a lot more pleased with this font on the page, for some reason i always seem to place a lot of attention into the font. I think a lot can be taken from a font in terms of reputation and representation. This font, colour and design i think really suits the film and the mise en scene on the poster.
With the layout and conventions i stuck to main stream blockbuster films for reference, i know my film isn’t in this industry of cinema but it’s hard to approach and research the area’s such as Pixar shorts. Pixar tend to make short films as tests and for fun, so they don’t really market them.

After some feed bad, the overall connotations from people i have spoke to think that the poster is good and appealing. They gathered from a quick glimpse of it that it was probably a love story and most likely something different. This isn’t a massive message that portrayed but obviously it’s harder for a stop motion to create representation, over a film with an already acknowledged reputation and recognized symbols.
I think i have achieved making a film poster that woul sell my film, although i do think that the film is rather hard to sell as a main stream blockbuster film, seen as it’s a youtube viral.

I have learnt a lot from making this, from my research i realized that there are a lot more conventions to a film poster than i thought. I wasn’t aware the the names and the blurb at the bottom was actually a legal requirement on a film poster. I’ve always been under the impression that film posters are a visual medium, having to sell a film in a matter of split seconds. So have a clear font, simple layout and an easily interpretable image is key when getting the audience to see the poster and actually take it in.

Final Double Page Spread Review.

ANIME KING MAGAZINE FILM REVIEW.

– CONDIMENTAL LOVE.

PROCESS:

To start i searched through the images we had captured to see if i could find an in depth image suitable for the background, after a fair amount of looking i realized that most of our shots were taken with a dark background. This proved to be impractical as it made the whole page harder to work on and a lot darker. So i eventually decided to shot a few picture without our makeshift background, working with natural lighting and a low aperture to get a nice depth of field and exposure. I am pleased with the image and the colours really bring out some of the basic and slightly dull text on the page.
The next issue and problem i encountered was the layout,  i wasn’t to sure how film magazines laid out pages for reviews. I did some research and looking at a magazine called FILM STAR, after taking into account all the small details they had i started to plan out the page with lines to create boxes which text and images would fall into. I also realized that the film title was one of the most outstanding parts of the page, in terms of primary and secondary viewing, the title in my opinion was considered to be primary over any images, (although in most cases they tend to appear together).
After searching for a font i settled for the one you see as i believed that it had a very friendly yet bold appearance, it could be be seen and noticed without appearing to overpowering. I also was given a very childlike ‘playful’ impression from the font. I felt this reflected my film best.
I began to search for single images to use as fillers and visual attractions for my review, the main thing i gathered from my research is that images are a main part to a review. Many readers of a magazine tend to flick, there for making it more important to appeal to their visual nature. I think the pictures i chose are engaging and show a good range of angles and views of the film with out giving to much away.
To keep a structure and format to my page and layout i kept to the theme of using the lines to divide everything up. This was something i saw and only noticed in the magazine i researched near the end, only at the of the production process i realized that everything looked a little unorganized and astray. All the text and images didn’t have any sort of control, i researched a little more looking at the magazine and saw that there was a framed style. I then proceeded to add the dark lines that divide the text and add more depth to the page.

By this time all i had to do was write up the review and finish a few more touches. The crown was something i wasn’t sure on doing but I’m glad i did use it and keep it, i think the title is important and in the same way the font sets of an audience reaction and response the crown an visual effect do the same thing. i distorted and skewed the shape to make it fit easier and look better.

FONT CHOICE.

Font choice for the the last section, my opinion sways more towards either of the college style fonts as they have more of a teen/ young adult relation. The fonts are iconic to American universities and the US college/Universities have connotations of partying and enjoyment. I feel it creates a good image for my magazine, also the representation will fall in favor when targeting that age and audience.