MIGRAIN

Media Language-connotative meaning, signs, iconography, music, lighting, camera angles, mise en scene, editing etc..
Institutions– who produced it? what influence this has on the text?
 

Genre(if relevant)- talk about codes and conventions associated with it etc…

Representation– who? what? where when? why? is it accurate/ biased/fair?

Audience– who its aimed at? made for? mode of address? Audience theory can be brought in here i.e. the uses and gratification theory

Ideologies and values– ideas and beliefs that underpin the text, values of society

Narrative– texts structure e.g. could use Todorov Theory which is the equilibrium, disruption etc… also discuss character roles and themes that arise.  Propp- hero, villian, helper, donor, false hero, princess, dispatcher.

Essay Plan

Discuss the issues raised by an institution’s need to target specific audiences within a media industry which you have studied.
Point 1.

Disney had an issue with competition in attracting thier audience, pixar another company mastering in animation were drawing in Disney’s audience, pixar were discribed as ‘Edgey’. Disney only really had an audience of around 3-9 year olds male and female, they couldn’t seem to gain any higher. Where as Pixar could get an audience of all ages, therefore creating a much wider audience gap. Disney as an institution saw how much of a problem Pixar were.

1979 it started out as lucasfilm, then in 1986 the company was bought by Steve Jobs. Disney and pixars relation ship was that pixar handled creation and production whilst disney took care of marketing and distributing. All profits were split 50/50 and yet Disney owned rights to sequels. Disney were lacking and only a small rival in terms of production and creation, to date there last succesful animation was Tarzan in 1999, Pixar were dominating the animation field and Disney saw this, they realised that to make money they need to stay a part of Pixar.

2004 companies came to blows, Pixar placed dimands, Disney refused. 2007 the institution settled and Disney bought Pixar for $7.4 Billion Dollars. Disney’s issue was competition, they resolved this by buying out the competition to gain the audience the needed to target.

Other Points…

Money-

To attract your targeted audience, a main issue is having the money to do so. Pixar had this problem with marketing and distribution, they had the creativity and all they need to produce but no money to create or distribute.

Steve jobs invests $5m and Pixar begins. The company dreams of making a feature length but can only afford to make advertisements and short stories, they need a major institution to help. 1991 Disney invest $26m and and expect 3 full legnth  feature films. This helped Pixar put their dream into motion but at a cost, with this investment Disney now owned the rights to the films and any sequels. Profit was 50/50.

Pixars issue was money, they didn’t have the funds to target their audience, they needed a major institution to do so, ironically it was the company whose audience they mainly targeted who invested, therefor the investment worked well for Disney.

Pixar now had a new issue, to target their audience they would have to sacrifice 50% of what they should be earning. This issue was major and caused problems in 2004, when Pixar laid out new conditions saying that pixar will control 100% of film profits and rights over the films, Disney saw these as unacceptable, negotiations were underway.

TV Drama- Exam (P.E.A)

POINT. EVIDENCE . ANALYSIS

Representation of a certain aspect in the clip will be asked, either age race gender class but representation of this aspect is to be spoken about.

Use of Key terminology is key in showing an understanding of what you are talking about and a good way to answer the question. Remember, say what is being represented, i.e. age, then say how using key terms relating back to editing, mise en scene, sound and cinematography. So, you say that age is being represented by the use of contrasting costumes. Explain the costume then say why this represents age and also how you read this representation.

Practice Example

Through mise en scene, you can see from first view the age being shown in the costumes the 2 characters are wearing You can also see an age barrier created by the use of costume. The male is wearing a formal suit and tie with a brief case, the other male is wearing slack jeans and a riped top. through the costume we can see the iconic look of an older male compared to a youth. The male wearing jeans represents youth and the informality, the riped top is a symbol for violence and disjointedness the rips may be seen as a tear in these two characters, the tee shirt also creates a tension between the 2 juxtaposed characters. Its a symbol of youth and rebellion where as the suited male is iconic of an older wiser person, the vast contrast in costume can create a gap between characters and a sense of superiority  between formal and informal.  The suited male  will also represent a trend and  will stand for an iconic image of some one in command, the suit could be seen as common and much like  a lot of other people, where as the other male wants to stand out and be apart for everything else by wearing something different. The binary opposite between formal and informal is what creates the representation of age and a divide within the different ages.

American War Film (Exam questions)

 Discuss some of the similarities and differences between the two films you have studied for this topic with particular reference to narrative and film genres.

Narrative:

The journey the characters go through, ‘Todorov’s theory or a story plan. Relates to ‘Full Metal Jacket’ And ‘Empire of the Sun’

Genre features?

Common things found in that Genre:

The characters, ‘Propp’ Hero, Villain, Helper. what the character represent in the films. Differences between story and narrative. Empire shows more of a physiological effect. FMJ is both, contains emotion highlighting the sociological side and physical. the journey the characters go through is similar. Both key on showing how war is, they are true. Both have iconic symbols and conventions that are common in a war film.  Genre features, being patriotism… FMJ slates the naivety of Americans and their patriotism. Empire shows that America are in it for their own personal gain, represented by Casey (John Malcovitch).  This is also highlighted in catch 22 with the character that sells medication nad equipment to make money, my personal opinion is that this character is showing how money is the source or most things.

For the other Question, Messages and Values.

Lions for lambs has strong values and messages, a film about the political side of war, and how people word their way around it to conceal their mistakes and try to show its right. Catch -22 can relate in a way. The messages are the main point of the film, the whole Catch 22 being that they only way to leave war is to leave on a section 8 but as soon as you ask to leave on a section 8, you are no longer classed as a section 8 and have to fly.

PLAN!

think about what the question asks?

‘How far do the 2 films you have studied for this topic present messages and values?’

Answered will be based around 2 films and the messages and values they have

what they present?

so not just what they are, what they say. Denotation/Connotation.

How they present them and how much… so the characters, the narrative, the mise en scene. Lions for lambs, the mise en scene shows suits Tye smart dress, college grounds, class rooms, offices. It uses props locations and costume to show that a war is fought just as much on home soil and formally than it is with violence.

Film Assignment

I think American war films have grown as a genre because of the patriotism that is held throughout America. America has been involved in many conflicts over the years and mainy people like to see interibitations of these conflicts, some accurate and some very biast. America alone is a rather large audience, it appeal to them i think because of the patriotism. But it also has the UK audience because these films are sometimes well made, the UK audience is then attracted to the ‘Blockbuster’ aspect. The conventions and forms are common in American war films, they tend to be very biast and the enemy doesn’t normally have names or a personality as such. We are never allowed as as audience to feel sympathy for the enemey, we never see the family or loved ones of the enemy that might be effected. This Genre tends to follow the common film theories and stuctures, the films have the characters that we associate with. You will have the hero, normally an every day person. The Villian, in war films it tends to be a group of people. then you get the less primary roles such as the helper, the donor, the fake hero (commonly an ‘Arrogant’ male, who will eventualy need saving). These conventions follow in most war films, the film structure is also quite common. It always returns back to the equilibruim but the mental state has normaly changed. Empire of the son is a perfect example of this structure, the main character is returned back to his parents to live with his family, but we can see from the facail expression that the child is not mentally the same person and is not who he was. This whole image is symbolized by the suitcase floating away, everything he owned a knew was gone all thats left now is him. Representation i think is reflected in the characters, as i mentioned the ‘Villian’ is not normaly one person. Unlike british action film like the ‘007’ films, the villian is one person and we are shown this person. American war films have a group of people as the enemy, they are established and really never much more. We are told and shown they are bad, but we never get a back story. A man will be shown in a Scarf covering his face and a gun through representation and what we know through films we will know that he is bad, and probably a terrorist, this is the representation that American war film and the actiong films create. The hero will be probably be a male and a character that is very ‘Idilic’ males will want to be him and females will want him. We will normaly see the backgorund and family story of this character, Jarhead is a good example, we know he has a girl friend and that he cares for her we as an audience are allows to see his emotions and share them with him. The one main thing that is always representated next to victory or ‘applause’ is the american flag, in Jarhead the troops return home to a screaming crowd and applause. This genre always shows America to be victoriuos and the characters to be patriotic. A film that goes again this convention is ‘Empire of the son’ the american prisioners are shown as poeple who are only in it for them selves. They are shown as arrogant and selfish, i personaly think this part is very unpatriotic and doesn’t show america in a good way. Although they do help the boy the character Basie (John Malkovic) is very reluctant towards doing so, and insaults the boy. The audience as i mentioned is always going to be a big part of these film, Americans always want to see they’re country winning and doing good. The UK audience will want to see these films because of the blockbuster factor, they will most likely be holly wood prduced and funded so they will be visualy entertaining even if the story lacks. In terms of other audiences i shall research to see where these films sell, because in my opinion i don’t think certain countrys that may have been envolded or part of these events would want to see the patriotic ways of america. I think the institutions will most likely be companies like Warner Brothers, American based companies. the productiong and distribution will concentrate on American audiences. In conclusion i think Amercian war film as a genre will always be a succesful Genre and will continue to grow. These films are aimed at americans made by amercians. Saving Private Ryan is another good example its an america film made by Americans so orcourse it focuses on their exprience. The american flag is something that features a few times in this film, creating the patriotism thats most common in this genre. These are the resons that this genre is succesful and will grow.

British Film in the ‘Swinging 60’s’

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swinging_London

Swinging London

 

• Swinging London was a term applied to the Dynamic cultural trends of the UK and mainly London.
•  It was youth-orientated and emphasized the new and modern. 
• It was a period of ‘optimism’ and ‘hedonism’, the thoughts that the pursuit of life is for pleasure and self indulgence.
•  A cultural revolution in music, fashion, film and a lot more.

Music, fashion and photography were all key and well focused on in this era. Icons were formed and everything became modern. British film thrived and focused on the this society throughout the 60’s, the didn’t seem to be any one outside the bubble. 

Films 

 

 

• Michelangelo Antonioni – ‘Blowup’ (1966)
• Darling (1965)
• Alfie (1966)
• James Bond ‘Casino Royal’
• A Hard Days Night.

 

These are the films i have choose to look into as i feel they relate to Closet to the way the characters were represented, in terms of age, gender and class.

Blowup (1966)

 

Director- Michelangelo Antonioni

Distributed by ‘Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’ (MGM)

British Italian film based around a London photographer whose habits and mannerisms are focused on the Swinging London photographer ‘David Bailey’. Fashion, art, photography and film were key in this era. This film concentrates on these certain aspects ands shows the life and representation of a character in this society.

• This clip has a very strong relation to ‘Alfie’. 
• Representation of women is beyond similar both show women as objects and don’t have names.
• In this clip there is no dialect from the females.
• His first line is  a order, represents him as in command and powerful. He physically moves one of the models and raises his voice, this makes the women look vulnerable and delicate.
• In relation to Alfie the characters behave and act in the same way, the format is also similar… as though we are following a day in the life, both films do this. Both characters in terms of class are middle class but want to be upper, Thomas (Blowup) is a very demanding and arrogant character, he thinks he is more important than he actually is. In the same way with alfie, he acts upper class to get the girls.

Darling (1965)

 

Darling is a film about a Female model who is described to sleep her way to success, this can relate again to Alfie and Blowup in terms of gender, commenting on how women were only good for sexual companions and how they had to use they’re looks to get some where. In Alfie this is shown from the male point of view, seeing how women will be with him, but they might think that they’ll get somewhere from it. Blowup, Thomas uses the Women for modeling, treating them like manikins and they settle for this cause they know it will help them, again using looks and body to get some where.

Class differences between Alfie and Darling

A Hard Days Night (1964)

Directed by Richard Lester

Representation of women relates to most of the films in the 60’s. This for example only has one female character with a name, the rest are shown as young and screaming fans. The characters, band members are all keen to get close to the girls and are very relaxed.

With all films there is a massive sense of ‘Hedonism’ all characters and films follow the journey which is fun living and enjoyable,  A hard Days Night being the best example, Alfie being a good one although it does seem to have a depressing out look towards the end.