Sunday, 15 December 2013

Deconstructing Media Products

To deconstructing media products I will look at the ‘types and contents of media products’, by comparing a fictional product with a non- fictional product. Also the ‘different stylistic features and genres of media products’, by comparing two media products from different sectors. Then finally the ‘different messages of media products and their effects on audiences’, making reference to two separate media products and there positive and negative effects on the audience.
Here is a map of all the different media coverage. At the centre of the map is the digital media coverage, which divided into different parts of media coverage, which this map shows you how they split into different parts. 
In this section of my blog I am going to talk about the types of contents of media products.
The fictional film The Hunger Games and the second part of the sequel catching fire is a typical action, SCI-FI film.
The Hunger Games is a sequel of 3, which is in 4 different parts and the story is about a television show where two teenagers that are picked at random from each of the 12 different districts of Panem to fight for their life. This takes place in an arena and there is only one person who can survive the games each year.
However in the 74th Hunger games two people win, which then comes onto the second film of the sequel were all the 12 recent winners from the districts have to fight each other for the 75th Hunger Games. The purpose of this film is to entertain the target audience of people aged 12+ and who enjoy watching action/adventure films. This film has succeed in entertaining its audience by giving the film a great story line that gets the audience excited to see the next film of the sequel also in The Hunger Games Catching Fire it finished on a cliff-hanger to get the audience wanting more, meaning that they will want to go and see the next movie.
By analysing the poster for Catching Fire it appears to be purposely designed to attract a wider audience, because the poster design looks like a western fantasy movie rather than a action/adventure movie.
The Structure of The Hunger Games is linear there is a beginning and middle and an ending however this film is in 4 parts but the story is in 3 parts.
This film matches the theory of Todorov which is:
  • The first stage is an equilibrium and yes in The Hunger Games it starts off normal where Kasness is just hunting for food and there is also no conflict which tells me it is a normal stars.
  • The Second stage of his theory is called the disequilibrium which is were the conflict begins in relation to the first Hunger Games the conflict begins when its the reaping event and katness sister prim is chosen to be one of the tributes but katness decides to volunteer as tribute to save her sister's life.
  • The third stage is where the action begins and Katness's goal is to win the games for her sister prim which starts when she tries and runs out to the sides of the arena.
  • The final stage is when a new equilibrium starts when Katness and peter win the games and return to their families.
    In the second part of the story they use Flash backs to a pervious film which are used effectively when Katness and Peter visit the different districts Katness has a flash back of Rue dying in the games when she visits her district. They also used dreams of her in the games or something relating to the games when Katness gets a nightmare. These devices affect the way the audience sees the film and for the people who haven’t seen the first part of the story they are very useful for them to know what has happened in the story in a brief detail. There are a few main characters:
  • The hero and the heros lover is Katness and peter who are both in the games from the same distric
  • The villian of the film who is the creater of the Hunger games President Coriolanus Snow and his team of helpers
  • Haymitch Abernathy is the Katness helper in the games he helps her and peter to focus on the games
    There is a basic message from this film which is that the state controls the Districts where people live. However individuals can make a difference, which can be true in real life for example Nelson Mandela who fought against the apartheid. Now i am moving onto the non fiction tv realality show Jeremy Kyle show
    The non- fictional TV show Jeremy Kyle is a typical reality show about bad relationships with parts of the show for people who are wanting a dna test to see if they are the father of the child. For example in a previous show there was a woman made allegations that her sister has stolen money from her mam and that she has also slept with her boyfriend. In the end Jeremy found out thar not only did she did steal from her mam and she slept with her sister's boyfriend the sister who rang the show also slepted with the accused;s boyfriend

    Jeremy Kyle address the shows participant’s in a very direct way, especially to the people who are in the wrong. For example people who tell a lie and when he confronts them they keep saying the lie detector is wrong. However he gets very direct towards the participants who lie. He can get personal with the participant’s for example he talks to the person who phone the show up as if they were friends. Also Jeremy talks informally throughout the show in friendly terms and slang quotes
    The purpose of this TV show is to highlight social and personal issues of peoples relationships and there is an entrainment in the way its structured which is various couples who he talks to and also argues with. He also gets the audience involved in the arguments and they show the disapproval which adds tension and anxiety to the participant’s.
    He Tell the audience the story by saying a brief description about it and he shows people on tv a couple of shots about what’s coming up next. This device helps the audience understand what the story is going to be about before it starts. They use live footage of the backstage room which is shown in the stage area wall showing expressions to the comments made by the person who phone the show
    The Main Character is Jeremy Kyle who is the host of the show, there is also a person who helps Jeremy and the families that come on the show. Also there is the audience in the stage area and the families that are having family issues wait backstage till Jeremy calls them on stage.
    The message of the show is that relationships can be worked out with a bit of help and understanding.
  • If we compare the main differences of the fictional film with the non-fictional TV show there are variances, which are the purpose of content. The purpose of The Hunger Games is to entertain the target audience of people aged 12+ and who enjoy watching action/adventure films and The Jeremy Kyle Show is to Entertainment the audience on social issues. The structure is different because the content of The Hunger Games is a purely fictional film because these games don’t exist in the real world, but some of the real life wars could be related to this film and the content of the Jeremy Kyle show is purely non-fictional because its real life relationships at a breaking point. The messages and Values are different because the message in The Hunger Games is tell is the audience individuals can make a difference compared to the Jeremy Kyle show his message is that relationships can be worked out with a bit of help and understanding.
    In this section i will be talking about The different stylistic features and genres of media products. i will be comparing the stylistic features of the film Harry Potter and the deathly hallows with its video games.

    The style of the film is modern which is a middle ground setting with a mixture of realist and fantasy settings. In many fantasy movies such as Harry Potter and the deathly hallows where the locations and props are realistic. However some of the scenes and objects are computerized. This is a typical feature for the modern style
    The posters for part 1 and 2 of the deathly hallows has the same type of background colour which is a grey blue which is similar to the colours using in the film. The poster for part 1 makes the audience think why and who are they running from. The poster for part 2 makes the audience think that harry potters time is up! Also the poster seeks danger in the film                  The camera work is varied throughout both of the films for example in the wedding scene from Deathly Hallows part 1 there were more mid shots in this scene. They were loads of mid shots because there was loads of conversation with the different characters. However there were also some over head shots and there was also a Dutch Tilt and a few wide shots and some of them were floor level looking up at the blue magic in the middle of the dance floor. Also with the effects of the wedding party making them all look vulnerable.
    The mise en scene of both films is similar. For example In the sequels of harry potter the are a few places that continues in every one is Hogwarts magic school, the forest and the surrounding country side. In the wedding scene the setting was a party in some marque in the surrounding country side. The clothing, makeup and hair styles all look like they are from a mixture of the 40s, 50s and 60s styles. For example some characters were wearing clothes you would expect to see in a wedding. However some of the characters were wearing eccentric clothes looks like what the Victorian people would wear. Also there are flame torches around the castle which makes the audience think this was in the Victorian times.

    The lighting in both of the parts of this film in the sequel is low keyed and natural. There is flame touches in the hall which looks as if gives the scene light. This makes the film look more realistic, which makes the audience think its real. Some of the scenes are lit up by the special FX. For example in the scene above a spell is made and flashes of light come off the wand.
    The Editing of these 2 parts of this film there are a combination of Slow editing, straight cuts, fast cut editing which build up action, tension and drama to entertain the audience. For example in the battle of Hogwarts where the trolls are coming across the bridge there are fast cut adding when there is action of explosions and fight scenes and in one part of this scene there was a slow motion scene that looks to the audience point of view that it has been frozen in time for a few seconds to build up the tension. The Harry Potter video game has the same storyline as the film. However the difference is this is an interactive experience of the film's storyline. This allows the gamer to experiece 3 different characters roles in this storyline. The video game rated the same as the film however this may attract younger audience due to the gameplay.















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    The poster for the first part of the game has kept the blue/gray colour theme associated with the film. However the second part of the film   has changed its theme to a brown shades this may appeal to an older audience because it looks like there is a war going on.












    Now I am going to talk about the different messages of media products and their effects on audiences One of the latest adverts is for a brand of E-Cigerettes is VIP. The brand VIP E-cigarette is quite new to the market over the last 5 months. They have been advertising it mostly through ITV but they also advertise in some national stores such as Boots and Superdrug and also in the health care centres and in their own shop.
    On a denotation level the first image shows the products items on its poster, which is completely different to the image of its TV advert which is a woman in an evening dress against a studio or green screen background. On a connotation level the poster suggests that this is for smokers also looks like a reusable pocket size E-cigarette for smokers who want to quit. However the TV advert suggests that the woman looks like an escort advertising sex because of her body language and face expressions.                  The negative impact is the TV advert showing the product in a extremely sexualized way. The message that it’s sending out is that sex can replace cigarette smoking to the audience. There have been many complaints to ITV about this advert be played in between I'm a Celebrity get me out of here. In the Daily Mail there was an article about this advert with the headline “Parents' outrage at e-cigarette advert during I'm a Celebrity... that appears to be a woman talking about oral sex There is a positive side to this product, which is promoted through its own stores and other clinical/health shops and centres. The posters design is plain and appropriate showing exactly what they are selling, which may persuade the audience to use VIP to quit smoking tobacco.

    Now I am going to talk music videos that have an impact on the audience for example

    This music video is - My Love by Route 94
    This music video starts off as a normal view of a man walking into a club. However when he steps into the club the whole video turns into a heat sensitivity effect. This video may appeal to people under influence of drugs.
     
    The lyrics to the song and the content of the video and the name of the song tell us that there is only sex in love these days. This also sends messages to young males that sex is easy to find in nightclubs and females are regularly easy to get with. 
     
    Females are show in a highly sexual way because the females were dancing in a sexual way and they were also feeling there casual partners.
     
    The only positive for this video is that young people shouldn't feel lonely they can always go to a club and find love or to socialize with others even though it may be a bit shallow

    Now I am going to talk about the audience profiles for all the media products discussed in the blog

    The Hunger Games
    The hungers games attracts a primary audience with a age group of - 16 - 25 because in America a book was released and the top age group was 16 - 25 so the film will be the same audience. There will also be a strong secondary audience with a age group of under 15s because these age groups have been grown up with fantasy films such as twilight and Disney films.
     
    The hunger games attracts all 3 genders because:
    • strong attractive female character which will be appealing to males or  people who are transgender also there is a lot of action/adventure which will attract males or transgender to watch.
    • Females will identify themselves with the female character also there is romance in the film which also appeals to females
    • This film also has characters that dress in a fashion that is designed for transgender or similar interests  
    The social grades for the hunger games are:
    • Grade C2 (skilled working class) - skilled manual workers
    • Grade D (Working class) - Semi skilled and unskilled manual working (part time workers)
    • Grade E (Those at the lowest level of subsistence) - these include pensioners, widows, unemployed, students. (no other earner casual or lowest paid workers)

    This depends on the primary audience because lots of people aged 16 - 25 are still in full time education or they have a part time job or are still looking for work.

    The Jeremy Kyle show
    The Jeremy Kyle Show attracts a primary audience with a age rating of 15 - 80 because different people of this age group start to watch this show so they can be entertained by the issues that just go out of hand but according to the ITV sector the target audience for this show is the following
  • females
  • young people
  • Housewives with children 
  • The social grade of the Jeremy Kyle show are
    • Grade D (Working class) - Semi skilled and unskilled manual working (part time workers) - Some people in this category will watch this show because they are off work and they have nothing else to do.  
    • Grade E (Those at the lowest level of subsistence) - these include pensioners, widows, unemployed, students. (no other earner casual or lowest paid workers) This is because its a day time TV. Therefore the Jeremy Kyle show is going to be what they will watch instead of working.


    Harry Potter sequel
    Harry potter attracts a primary audience with a age group of - 16 - 25 because in America a book was released and the top age group was 16 - 25 so the film will be the same audience. There will also be a strong secondary audience with a age group of under 15s because these age groups have been grown up with the Harry Potter franchises
     
    Harry Potter attracts all 3 genders because:
    • strong attractive male character which will be appealing to females or people who are transgender also there is a lot of action/adventure which will attract males or transgender to watch.
    • Males will identify themselves with the male character
    • Also there is romance in the film which will also appeals to females

    The social grades for Harry Potter are:
    • Grade C2 (skilled working class) - skilled manual workers
    • Grade D (Working class) - Semi skilled and unskilled manual working (part time workers)
    • Grade E (Those at the lowest level of subsistence) - these include pensioners, widows, unemployed, students. (no other earner casual or lowest paid workers)

    This depends on the primary audience because lots of people aged 16 - 25 are still in full time education or they have a part time job or are still looking for work.
     
     
     
    VIP E-cigarettes advert
    VIP E-Cigarette advert appeals to a primary audience of an age group 25 - 44 because the smokers of this age want a healthier life style. People under this age have generally just started and some of them think its cool to smoke. 

    VIP adverts are mainly targeted at males because:
    • according to market research males smoke more than females meaning this advert has been designed to target specifically males.
    • The advert is over sexualized which this also appeals to males. However this advert may appeal to females because they may identify themselves with the woman in the advert.

    The social grades for VIP adverts are all grades depending on if you are a smoker.
    My Love - Route 94
    My love appeals to a primary audience of an age group 16 - 24  because this age gap is when people become more sexual active than other age groups with a strong second audience of an age group 25 - 44 because they spend time in the clubs to socialize. 

     My Love (music video) mainly targeted at males because:
    • This video show the perspective of a male in a that finds a girl he likes and has causal sex.
    • Most males can identify with the main character.
    • Most males like to have casual sex with no strings attached.

    The social grades for The music video My Love are all grades depending on if you are a male that likes partying and casual sex with no strings attached.







     Below is a table of each different social grades and what they mean



    Social grade

    Social status

    Chief Income Earners’ occupation

    A

    Upper middle class

    Higher managerial, administrative or professional

    B

    Middle Class

    Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional

    C1

    Lower Middle Class

    Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, admin or professional.

    C2

    Skilled Working class

    Skilled manual workers

    D

    Working class

    Semi – skilled and unskilled manual workers

    E

    Those at the lowest level of subsistence

    State pensioners or widows (no other earner) casual or lowest grade workers.  








    Monday, 18 November 2013

    comedy

    This blog is about 2 TV programs which are comedy’s and the comparison of them both and also i will include the codes and conventions of the comedy genre

    the 2 TV programs i have chosen for this blog are

    the Catharine Tate Show

    Mrs Browns Boys

    In comedy TV shows and films they tend to use things like gags and jokes which links in with these 2 TV shows for example in The Catharine Tate show the gag lines are “am I bothered “ or “what a f**king Liberty” and in Mrs Browns boys there quiet a lot of gags and jokes which makes the audience laugh a lot more.

    also in comedy the biggest code is Laughter (diegetic and non-diegetic sounds) below are some examples of the diegetic or a non-diegetic

    Laughter of the audience (diegetic and non-diegetic) – because In Mrs Browns Boys its filmed in a arena type of place with an audience so the characters can hear the laughing of the audience so that’s diegetic and in other types of comedy like Catharine Tate show there is Laughing in the background but the Characters can’t hear so this is a non-diegetic sound.

    comedy means laughter and having fun which in my TV choices there is a lot to Laugh about like in Mrs Mrs Browns boys it is mainly about sex jokes and things that just sound wrong and in the Catharine Tate show it has all different kinds of jokes cause Catharine plays different people such as Lauren who is a teenager and a she also plays a Nan who judges people without thinking

    Now I am going to talk about my first tv programme which is

    The Catharine Tate show

    This Program is all about the Actor Catharine Tate who acts out different people starting with a teenage girl and makes her way to and old Nan. As she acts these different ages in life she shows the stereotypical teenager and parents and posh people but with all the bad traits which makes people laugh a lot

    In this comedy she uses a lot of costumes and makeup (typical code for this type of comedy) such as

    the nan she need make up so that she looks like an old age pensioner (oap)

    the teenager) Lauren) she wears school clothes to make her look like a typical teenager

    (The posh family) She has to wear something that makes her look like a member of a royal family

    Cathrine dresses like a tennis player when she offers to help a friend practice

    Sunday, 20 October 2013

    Horror

    what is a horror film A horror is an instant of fear and shock feeling jumpy so a horror film is a film that is made for people to jump and feel scared. Horror films are not aimed at kids they are aimed at people aged 15 - 30 because even the elderly will get to frightened of these kind of films.

    troops used in horror In horror there is lots themes that make people scared, there are different themes because some people might not be scared of one theme but scared of another

    below are some of these troops:

  • Exorcism - an Exorcism is a religion ceremony (manly a christian ceremony) that seeks evil spirits from a person or sometimes from a place, in horror films that use this theme it is ususally a person than a place but can be both.

  • Music Videos

    music video 1 - Burn by Ellie Goulding

    genre of this song is synthpop

    This song is very catchy which makes people listen to this song.this song is about a group of friends having fun without any interutions of there fun so this is what they are tring to sell to the audience.

    Ellie is a popular singer expecialy in the uk and the usa and her music has been used in lots of films and tv shows such as eastender, hunger games catching fire and twilight saga braking dawn part 2. Ellie has also sang at a royal wedding (Willam and kates)

    The use of sound in film and adverts

    Name of film or advert- three the pony

    location - shetland islands

    Mise on scene of the advert - the advert is set on attractive island that is isolated from the main island. this advert has lots of british references such as the lighthouse, a tracktor a farmer and the beach of the shetland island

    I have decided to use the advert for 3 the one with the shetland pony that dances to the soundtrack everywhere by fleedwood mac

    the soundtrack was used because it means everywhere so with the mobile comnpany 3 it means you can connect everywhere

    Diegetic sound - sounds that are visible on screen/ sounds that characters can here.

    examples from the advert- live sounds wind, birds,seals, hooves, the house dragging, tractor, bell of lighthouse and the waves crashing

    non-diegetic sounds - sounds that are the characters such as soundtracks

    examples from the advert - the soundtrack everywhere by fleedwood, voiceover and sound fx foley - the sounds that are recored after the filming

    eg : all of the sounds in this advert were recorded after the filing of the scenes. the sounds would of been recored either in a recording studio or a location where these sounds can be recorded this is because if there sounds were not recoreded after the filming the advert would sound really bad because of the wind and the camera crew talking there would also be alot of seaside nosices.

    Catfish

    This film is about a Young photographer Yaniv "Nev" Schulman who lives with his brother Ariel in New York City. Abby Pierce, an eight-year-old child prodigy artist in rural Ishpeming, Michigan, sends Nev a painting of one of her photos. They become Facebook friends, which broadens to include Abby's family: including her mother, Angela (Wesselman); Angela's husband Vince (Stephen Fogarty); and Abby's attractive older half-sister Megan, who lives in Gladstone, Michigan.

    This is support to be a factual documentary film but some of the film appears to be staged (acted out or faked) EG: the barn scene where the camera is still and we think this because if it was real the camera would be shaking because the people in that scene would of been scared.

    This film was made to show people the internet is not a safe place on things like facebook (social media)

    This film is a documentary, however there is drama, so could be termed as a documentary drama this is a documentary because it was made up of factual material.

    The style of catfish is VERITE’, because it is ‘Hand held’, low budget, deliberately made to look non-professional to give a documentary feel to the film.

    Catfish makes people think about the internet and how strong it can destroy lives in ways people can't think of happening till it happens to them. there is also a TV show which is much different to the film because it tells you who's life it is at the start conpaired to the film the tv show is more like a documentary than the film is.

    In the film lots of people have different opinions on what she has done and what should nev done because of her actions such as some people would say she is a sick person and she should be put in a mental hostal and some would feel very sad because of her real life and that because of the problems in her real life the internet life takes her away from the probelms and its her way of coping with stress.

    Going back to the style of the flim the film makers picked these style to make the film realistic, to give the effect or illusion that the film is based on a true events. The film starts off with choppy