Questionnaire

A few days ago me and Jessie started focusing on our final questionnaire with the help of the rest of our group, we decided to use google forms to construct it as it is the most efficient way to collect the results automatically.
Within this questionnaire we focused on our target age group [18-25 year olds] and covered questions such as how they would prefer to see a published film, what they would like to see within a film noir and other various questions that linked to the viewing of a movie so we could decide how to show our audience our OTS.

Jessie has published the link on her blog, this can be seen [here]

Our actual questionnaire can be seen here which will be seen by anyone we share it with over facebook. It is easy and simple to do which no other distractions on the page such as advertisements etc. so the audience can focus on simply the questions.

Audience - Effects Models

A brief post on the basic definitions of the types of audience that are out there, I have recently done a detailed post into researching the Hypodermic Needle Model and once we have found the results of the questionnaire and are focused on what age group, class and gender(s) we are aiming our OTS on I will do pieces of research into the models that are OTS is aimed at.

The Hypodermic Needle Model;
The intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver.

Two-Step Flow;
The people with most access to media, and highest media literacy explain and diffuse the content to others. This is a modern version of the hypodermic needle model that basically states the same thing but is more intriguing to the point that the audience wants to tell people to see what they have seen.

Uses and Gratifications;
People are not helpless victims of mass media but use the media to get specific gratifications - there views on the media and interpretations are limited.

Reception Theory;
The meaning of a ''text'' is not inherent within the text itself, but the audience must elicit meaning based on their individual cultural background and life experiences.

Obstinate Audience Theory;
This theory assumes that there is a transactional communication between the audience and the media. The audience actively selects what messages to pay attention to. The audience can even participate in the communication by influencing the message - working out the media in front of them and placing it in a way that provides a message personal to the relationship between them and the media.

Our Gut Instict Audience

Based on our plot and the visuals we have produced we have also discussed that our gut instinct for an audience is 18-25 due to the age of our actors and actresses, the ideas that crime will be featured during the full length of our film (we feel that this is an age group who would cope with this better) and also the stylistic conventions of our film being film noir even though we are breaking some conventions (we need an audience that is open to idea of Film Noir even though we are going towards a Neo-Noir direction). Based on the characters we have chosen, a vulnerable female who is trapped in a stereotype (someone a woman can relate with instead of growing hatred for) and a lower class man who wont threaten the male audience - our initial aim is to traget males as well as females. Of course we want to understand what this age groups want so that we know that what we are doing is right. As a group we decided that further research was definitely needed.

You can see on Ellen's blog that there is detailed research into the classifications of films using one of the 'Important Links' features on my blog - http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ which goes into detail the features of each certificate so that we know what should and what should not be in our film/OTS.

http://asmediastudiesmelissabartram.blogspot.com/2010/12/basic-audience-research.html

You can see on Melissas blog (link posted above) that we have also produced a basic questionnaire to see what format is better suited for this age group so that we can ask them what they want from a film and if our ideas are suited to their wants an interests. We will hand this questionnaire out to about 100 people in the city centre but we have made sure that we ask their age group so we get the answers specificially from 18-25 year olds.

Our Plot Animatic

These are the post it notes in the form of an animatic - it is a visual way of seeing our plot so that we know what shots we have to focus on. This will come in handy when filming our OTS and act as a good guide.

After we deligated the different shots and went home and individually to draw them it is clear that we are misunderstood on the costume and characteristics of our anti-hero - we have come together as a group and discussed this issue and now we are all clear that our anti-hero is very similar to that of in 'The Killers' -

He will have a rugged look about him and portray a man with a lowerclass background - a man that men in the audience can't be threatened by therefore allowing them to enjoy the film.



Uses of the Media?

This short and simple task helped me realise what sort of audience I am and how I use the media. After filling in the table I then had to ask myself why I used the different programmes...

News - Information, I watched the news to find out more about what was going on, to ''satisfy my curiosity''. It is satisfying and gives me a sense of exclusivity, watching and learning makes me think of the people that may not have taken up the same chance that I have. Watching certain documentaries on very interesting and controversial issues are an exciting thing for me to the inform other people about the next day, telling them what I learnt.

Neighbours - I don't watch this simply because I don't get a satisfaction with the following things, I don't learn anything I feel is necessary or receive any interesting information, it doesn't relate to my personal identity, being in Australia and basing itself around the older characters there is nothing I can relate to or identify with. However the reason why some people may watch it is under the reasoning of 'Integration and Social Interaction', people watch it to observe the lives of other people and the circumstances that they are in. It lets them escape from their day to day life but I feel that doesn't appeal to me at this present time and the age that I am in, I wouldn't escape through a soap such as Neighbours but through a show that is focused mainly on growing up such as Skins which deals with most of the issues teenagers face.

Quiz - I only ever really watch Quiz for my own personal identity, I find myself having similar sense of humour  to the comedians within the quiz show. Finding something funny that many who are in the audience live on the show are laughing at or that the comedians find funny is really pleasing as you feel you have a direct connection with the show and the people in it. It's a form of Entertainment, filling the time with something that creates laughter is an enjoyable thing.

Soap - Integration and Social Integration, I use this media in order to find out more about different peoples lives and the problems they face. Identifying with characters within soaps is really pleasing, having the ability to predict what they will do hooks you. It also helps you to get on with other people as soaps are often a topic of conversation and everyone loves being in the know. There is also an Entertainment aspect to watching soaps, very often there are quite over the top and dramatic story lines and on top of that, characters who are simply there to bring humour to the soap.

Hypodermic Syringe Effect

It is said that as a mass audience we can be very easily led or influenced simply from what we have watched. For example, if we see a woman washing up on television we would assume that that is the norm, a woman may then go and wash up with a man expecting her to. There has been evidence of violent people, such as Thomas Hamilton, watching a lot of violent films which has then led to the case that this is the reasoning behind his actions. The theory does take away peoples individuality basing itself solely on what we watch and how we act after we have watched it.
Personally, I do believe the theory to a certain extent. A programme such as Skins being watched by so many teenagers, I think, forces the characteristics of being misunderstood upon them and however much we may dislike unhappiness, when it is portrayed along with the 'cool' lifestyle within the programme I think we happily welcome it if it means that we become similar to characters like Effy, Cassie and Cook.



How the media can influence an audience?

From the video, made by a YouTube user, you can see the amount of doom and gloom present throughout. With the vast amounts of close ups on Effy we form a relationship with her, knowing how she is feeling constantly. Because we put ourselves into the characters lives during the time we watch the program it is easy for us to be influenced by them. In this case the answer to everything is to go out and party, I am sure this has influenced 1000s of teenagers that experience issues who watch this and think it's an easy solution. Seeing someone else in a similar position your in or has characteristics or aspects of a lifestyle you desire makes it possible to push us in different directions when it comes to our actions and views.

However, I do also think that certain individuals can overcome this theory and not be effected by it. There are definitely two types of people in all audiences, those who have very strong independent views and a strong individualism and those who follow the crowd - ''sheep'' as such. The ones who have strong independent views and strong individualism would simply take what they wanted from what they view dependent on this - feminists would defend their views and show disgust at the constant programmes that feature women in domestic roles where as more 'easily led' women who have been brought up not expressing themselves as much would accept it and move on unless told otherwise.

Plan - Location

Given our location concepts/ideas we have decided to take a video camera and walk around our chosen location, experimenting with shots and really just capturing the aesthetics and surroundings, this will be perfect for research. It gives us something to look at and catch any ideas or inspiration we might have missed with our research so far using our human eye and google earth/maps.

Feedback

I created this post mainly to have a place to put the video of my group presenting our concept boards. Because we have already experienced the feedback and the chance to ask other groups about their ideas I am going to write about that and upload the video when I can...

I think overall, our presentation as a group had it's ups and downs - we are still establishing working as a team as it is something that a lot of us are not used to when it comes to our individual grades. This, in turn, had a negative effect on our progress in class meaning that we delegated separate parts of the concept board to one another to go off and create a prezi presentation based around our ideas that we had discussed and base it around styles and skills within media. I think our lack of organisation is mainly to blame for any stuttering or mix ups within our presentation. My part personally, I think could have been a bit better, I touched on a lot of what I wanted and I think I got most of the information I wanted across but the style of my presentation and the way I spoke using my prezi as a prompt is definitely something I can look at improving on my next presentation. We are taking this as a huge learning curb to later, whenever, we present anything within research or in class that we can do it more professionally.

However, we did manage to get very good feedback from the class and I personally learnt a lot from asking questions to other presentations that we saw. One of the class rose the issue of modern shop displays and passers by that would spoil the atmosphere we create within our OTS which is something we have slightly touched on as a group; we have thought about the time of day that we film and the actual location we choose during development of our ideas as this will support us in keeping the atmosphere if there are no modern shop displays or passers by in view. We also made it clear to the class where we are breaking and where we are sticking to the conventions, which is something that we will have to make sure is clear when we ask our target audience if they like our ideas or dislike them.

From asking other groups questions It also became very clear some ideas that would really help us in the creation of our OTS. I asked a group who, as well as us, are breaking some conventions of traditional film noir and using some conventions of neo-noir if they were going to be quite blatant with their breaking of the conventions and base their OTS on the unconventional features. After listening that they were going to fully support every breaking of a convention through research or evaluation and contrasting our subtle ideas to their obvious ones, it became clear that seeing other peoples work really helps. Contrasting their in your face neo-noir conventions to our subtle breaking of traditional ones, helps us consider the different types of OTS' there are based around the same idea and in turn, help us have a clear view of our ideas compared to others and visually see where ours would fit in the market compared to others.

Storyboard...

After today's lesson, we were asked to do a storyboard but format it in a particularly different way - we had to draw pictures on sticky notes and then scan/film the drawings as if it was our final piece in still images on film. This I will later upload when we have finished it but it's the finishing part that this post is about!

We have a basis of a storyboard in our minds and a concept we have all agreed on as a team and really like the sound of...

but it felt like we weren't exactly clear on what we had to draw, angle wise when it came to today so I thought I'd just do a quick bullet point list of the shots and angles we have discussed but not come to a final agreement on, basically a sum up of all our ideas - and when me and the rest of the group come together, it gives us something to work off of to finish this task:

• Shot of femme fatale - crying, distressed, hands on face, from a highish angle at an almost side profile angle - as if from the corner of a room but as high of an angle - TITLE OVER TOP.
• Femme fatale looks up - past camera, eyes still.
• Close up of woman's face.
• Flashback to her in bar/café with two friends - table in view, drink and the shoulders of her two friends either side. Facial expression - none, looking into nothing - 'sense of being trapped' - camera zooms out; see one of her friends putting on her make up - one talking to our femme fatale. Shot stays for a few seconds.
• Shot of friends exiting café, kissing goodbye
• Close up shot of our femme fatale saying good bye to her last friend - kissing her on cheek - she catches a glimpse of something.
• Eye line match - our anti hero, standing up against wall, smoking - possibly a tilt, from foot to head.
• Possible close up of different features on our anti-hero - clothing, oil stains on vests.
• Close up of mouth smoking and blowing smoke. 
• Close up of eyes
• Shot of friend leaving our femme fatale - in view; her chest upwards, on one side of frame, her friend walking off in distance on other.
• Long shot of her standing on cobbled street - she catches herself, establishing her femme fatale character once more.
• Moving object shot - femme fatale walking into the shot past our anti-hero still up against wall.
• Shot from anti-heroes eyes, watching our femme fatale walk past.
• Shot of femme fatale from in front, seeing her intentionally ignore anti-hero and rummage in her bag, walking quickly.
• Shot of lighter falling.
• Close up as lighter hits floor - slow motion.
• Long shot, as if from the café entrance, looking onto where femme fatale has just walked - anti hero in view, picking up what femme fatale has dropped and in distance, femme fatale walking away still rummaging in bag.
• Shot of femme fatale rummaging in bag, gets out cigarette holder and looks for lighter.
• Shot of anti-hero; bent on floor. 
• Shot from other side of anti-hero standing up [camera moves up as he does] and lights cigarette with lighter - taking another toke on his cigarette - puts lighter in pocket - beginning to walk quickly away from camera and towards femme fatale.
• Shot from front of him walking towards us with femme fatale in view - ''this yours miss?'' - see femme fatale half turn.
• Shot from side profile [long shot] - seeing his hand outstretched handing her lighter - she takes the lighter, lights her cigarette looks down at his feet.
• Tilt shot, showing femme fatale giving him the 'once over' - ends with shot of anti heroes face where he says: ''where you off to?''
• close up of femme fatales face - ''is it any of your business?''
• Shot of anti heros face - ''no but you can't blame a fella for being interested can you,'' - his eyes look over her.
• Close up of femme fatales face - ''What's your name?''
• Close up of anti heroes face - ''Your interested [grin], ######''
• Close up of femme fatales face - ''Oh, no, just being polite.''
• Close up of anti heroes face, - ''What's your name? See your not the only one with manners''
• Close up of femme fatales face - ''No? Well I've got things to do, I might see you around.''
• Long shot of femme fatale walking away from anti-hero.
• Close up of anti hero - takes a toke on his cigarette and looks away to the side of him - an intended way of making him look as though he's not interested but seeing if anyone's seen what's just happened.
• Close up of femme fatales face walking away - a toke on her cigarette and a smile.

These are all initial ideas I have come up with, the next time we meet - these will probably change a great deal - hopefully this will have a huge help though!

NOTE: These ideas went down a treat and we are sticking to the write up of this I did at home! We did discuss the speech and alter it slightly after conferring it with the teacher we edited it to seem less cheesy.

So what is Copyright?

Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted by the law of a jurisdiction to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work...

For example, for our task to make an OTS, we have chosen to have music to accompany it. In relation to copyright, someone who has paid to have copyright on the music they have created means that if that music is used for anything, for example an advert, film etc. then they would be paid for the use of the music.


A few questions about UK copyright laws;

1. Examples of things that can be copyrighted?


- literacy, dramatical, music, artwork, sound recordings, broadcasts, films and typographical arrangements such as fonts of company logos.
2. What rights are covered within copyright laws?

- rights to control how their creations are used.
e.g. the use within broadcast and public performance, copying, adapting, issuing, renting or lending copies to the public.

3. How do you get things copyrights?

- Copyright is an automatic right whenever an individual or company creates a work. Work should be regarded as original, and show labour, skill and judgement.

- However an idea for a book would not be protected but the the content of a book that has actually been written would be.
- Basically someone else is still entitled to write their own book based on the same idea - for example a wizard in a wizarding school provided they do not directly copy or adapt yours to do so.

So there has to be an expressive piece of work for copyright laws to take place, simply just an idea does not suffice.

In our case I only want to find out how long copyright lasts for music...

- For literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works 

70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the last remaining author of the work dies.

- If the author is unknown, copyright will last for 70 years from end of the calendar year in which the work was created.
- If it is made available to the public during that time, (by publication, authorised performance, broadcast, exhibition, etc.), then the duration will be 70 years from the end of the year that the work was first made available.

So what next... my search continues for copyright free music, if that even exists!?

Sound - Help!?

   After doing my own research into sound as part of our concept board I began getting extremely worried about how we're going to get music to suit our OTS without breaking copyright laws and ending up in prison.. None of my group are exactly music geniuses, we're actually unsure of copyright laws and with all the ideas we want to create within our OTS, there is simply no time for us to create a piece from scratch with our lack of knowledge and lack of contacts.
   So it's clear - this is one area I need to research! I'll start with my good friend google. Posts that follow this include one about copyright.. and hopefully websites where I can download copyright free music to add to our OTS... wish me luck.

Comparing Blogs (Evaluating Both)

I have planned to look at and evaluate blogs of A2 students whilst comparing them to mine.. this will help me in improving how I work with my blog as I will know what stimulates me or bores me from someone else's features.

1st Blog; http://.a2medialukebamber.blogspot.com/ - Luke Bamber's

   The first thing I noticed about this blog was the simplicity - I could extremely relate to this for the reason that when I first started blogging I felt it was just necessary to write what was needed without any further development of the post. Whilst I think that Luke has managed to put all the information required in his blog, there are no stimulus' that is something I immediate realise must be improved within mine. A post is much more interesting if it is not just your 'obvious, bold title, black text and justified columns'. A picture, video, presentation or even just a splash of colour can make the tracking of my progress much more attainable by a wide range of viewers. I have contrasted that in the recent week I have managed to make my posts a bit more exciting.
   The regularity of his posts makes me feel a bit more at ease even though I am still not used to blogging as much as required. Analysing his posts has made me realise that there is a need to update even for the smallest of reasons. His small and simple posts are ones that are easy to read, easy to understand but are just as easy to track his progress.

2nd Blog; http://a2mediastudiesdaisyconway.blogspot.com/ - Daisy Conway's

   This blog is very different from Luke's, it has much more personality, ''so I will need a camera and Firewire, please''. This sort of familiar language creates a strong relationship with the viewer, as if it is being spoken to them and therefore making it a much more interesting and easy read. Another thing I like and that is very different is the amount of pictures she has in each blog.. this adds a stimulus so that reading becomes less of a chore and much more interesting having something visual to observe.
   One thing I have definitely contrasted between this blog and mine is the lack of personality within mine, although this has no effect on the content of my work, it would be more hooking to read and probably much more enjoyable for me to post if I added my own personality to my writing - after all that is a key thing for bloggers to do in trying to hook their readers.. see what I mean..? tooo formal.

My Groups Presentations..

Ellen Lowe

Copy of concept board, my part on Prezi

Jessica White

Copy of Concept Board - camera shots and typography on Prezi

Melissa Bartram

Copy of Concept Board - editing on Prezi

Plan - Presentation

In todays lesson - we will be presenting our concept boards as a group but singularly through our separate prezis. We will be up at the front of the class as a group to offer support! Working as a group.. The presentation will be recorded and I will upload it  as soon as I have compressed the file and uploaded it to Vimeo which I have recently opened an account for.. The video is a great and different way to track our progress as a group. This plan will result in opportunities for us to receive feedback from the rest of our class to help us see what we're doing right but more importantly where we're going wrong..



As you can see from our feedback that it has helped us figure out any key problems we may face in the filming and production of our OTS such as cramming in too many shots in our limited time frame but also and spoiling of historical conventions such as modern shop displays or modern looking people.

The Killers OTS - Notes

We recently watched the OTS from 'The Killers' (1946) in our Media Lesson which I have decided to re-watch it, evaluating the stylistic features and to get a taste of traditional film noir conventions. I felt this was necessary because I have just researched into 'Neo-Noir', therefore having that in my mind so close to the exposure of a contrasting take on film noir will aid me in combining the two sets of conventions to create an OTS that sticks to my brief.

Conventional Techniques:
Harsh light & shadows
Credits at beginning
Diegetic Main Title - dramatic & intriguing
Alot of silence to create suspense.
Cheap lighting and studios.

Shots:
Wide shot of location during credits - sets scene, gives the audience a chance to really get a feel of the place.
Panning/Tracking of the two bad guys that are the first characters we see, allows more establishment of the location and the setting of the next scene - the diner.
Match on action as the two men go towards the diner doors and we then see a simple cut to the inside of the diner and the men walk through the door.
Other people in the diner are then established by jump cutting from a view of the two bad guys at more of a distance so you can see the other guy eating his dinner at the counter - this also makes the audience feel as though they are looking through the eyes of someone who is actually there for them moments.


Use of Icons:
Hats to show the status of the bad guys, not taking them off inside emphasized their need to show off this power.
Guns to represent danger approaching, as soon as a gun is shown the audience is put on edge as for them moments, everyones life is at risk.

Overuse of things, mellow dramatic:
Referring to the waiter as a ''Bright boy'' and also the guy down the counter.
The monotonous tone of the bad guys, creating a 'twisted psycho' feel.

Neo-Noir

Because my group have decided to break conventions by having neo-noir'istic' qualities within our OTS I thought it necessary to research into this individual film genre..

Basic Definition: A genre of film that combines elements of traditional film noir with modern themes and visuals.

It wasn't up until after the 1970s that ''Neo-Noir'' as a term, was used by critics to review films - examples of the breakthrough films that were cornered into this small and unique pigeon hole include:

'Hard Eight' & 'After Dark My Sweet' were two films that stayed true to the genre and basic plot of film noir but took a more westernised take on themes and setting.

There are also much more recent takes on 'neo-noir' such as the pre-title sequence of James Bond: Casino Royale (2006)...


Casino Royale (Pre-Title Sequence)
Uploaded by NakedBrotha2007. - Classic TV and last night's shows, online.

With quotes such as 'and we barely got to know eachother' & 'i know where you keep your gun', just before an attempt at a gun shot, it really stays true to the melo-dramatic convention of film noir, supported by simple shots and the twisted order of events, numerous flashbacks and the black and white theme. However, it breaks conventions with the clear quality of modern cameras, styling of the actors and locations such as the bathroom being more modern.


Sin City trailer
Uploaded by Baal_Zak. - Watch feature films and entire TV shows.

Another example of a modern take is Sin City (2005) which sticks to conventions of Film Noir very visually such as the contrast in blacks and whites, light and shadow but then breaks them by adding the odd spots of colour to show significance to certain effects and qualities of the characters. This brings me onto my next convention - mostly all characters are immoral with traits that would not be welcomed in traditional films, the film is promoted very sexually with a storyline that also sticks to the conventions by being very dark and depressing. The director of this film, Frank Miller, uses these traits but puts them together in way that breaks conventions by using very modern methods of filming and themes such as the splashes of colour and editing shots to look as though they are part of a comic book.

My Sound & Characters Concept Board

Sound & Characters Concept Board on Prezi

I am very pleased with how my concept board has turned out considering I was worried about how difficult it might be to get Sound concepts right. The research I have undergone has definitely broadened my knowledge of how to create the perfect film noir title sequence based around our brief. Using secondary sources such as magazines, the internet and video sites has given me a variety of ways to present what I have learnt, therefore helping me create primary sources throughout my concept board. It has also gave me ideas for posts to put on my blog that will in turn, again, make me more knowledgeable - these include posts about Neo-Noir, evaluation of an OTS I have seen but also a post based solely on the storyline me and my group have now discussed in more detail, talking more deeply about each character..followed by a storyboard.

This is evidence of me using secondary sources to create my concept board...

Ideas for Concept Board

Title
Genre - Film Noir
Plot - Order/Structure of the narrative
Narrative - Story
Cast - Character, Representation (style,props,costume), Accents, Mannerisms
Conventions - Established or expected rules of genre
Mise-en-scene
Camera - Shot, pace, angle, transitions
Signifier/Icon
Set
Connotation - Suggestion/meaning/implied
Denotation - Emphasised/explicit/factual/stated
Sound - Diegetic/non-diegetic, effect, synchronous/asynchronous, foleying, contrapunctal,
Ambiance/Atmosphere
Mood
Style
Target Audience - Demographics (factual data, preferred audience)

Essentially these different ideas will have to be deligated to individuals within the group. The area for concepts I have chosen is sound, I chose this one because it is very challenging as the rules on sound are very restricting due to copyright laws etc. Within my concept board I want to get examples of main title soundtracks from classic Film Noirs such as ''Touch of Evil'' but also other music that is featured and the effect that it has on the viewer. My research into the influence of music at the time of Film Noirs will aid me and my group in creating a soundtrack or mixing an already created one to suit the atmosphere and story line of our opening title sequence.
Within my concept board I will also be doing some minimal research into characters - this is because most of the influence of how are characters are portrayed is through mis-en-scene, however I will be showing the basis of the two main characters we want in our film noir.. femme fatale & anti-hero. I will post my prezi soon with a self evaluation of it and come to think of it I will also be doing a self evaluation of my blog so far some point soon!

My Group

The group I have decided to work with to create the opening title sequence based on film noir is Ellen Lowe, Jessica White & Melissa Bartram. Their blog links are in a gadget on my blog for easy access but also for me to easily keep up with everyone's progress. I initially chose this group based on the strong bond as friends we have achieved over the years - this could essentially create an enjoyable and efficient work environment but at the same time during evaluation of my choice of grouping I have come to the conclusion that I should set a target to keeping talking at a minimum and keep a specific eye on getting work done by deadlines we have set ourselves - for example setting ourselves homework to finish our concept boards based on the different areas we have chosen by the 14th of November.
I think there are many strengths within our group - the main one being each of us having a passion for media but there are also individual strengths within the group. Jessica has a particular strength in styling and fashion whereas Melissa has a keen eye for editing, Ellen also has a strength in fashion whilst also in mis-en-scene as a whole and has a deep thought process in the effects that can be created through simple positioning of characters. I, myself, believe I have a strength more on the creative side such as mis-en-scene, including costumes and also a keen eye for shot/camera ideas, I think my thoughts on location will add potential to the group as I have expressed many ideas such as city locations and camera angles to add to these already.

As a whole I think we have alot of potential - I will keep you posted with a further evaluation of the group soon!

Representations of Film Noir

Representations in Film Noir on Prezi

Conventions of Film Noir

• Filmed in gloomy greys, blacks and whites.
• The primary moods of film noir were very bleak and often featured moral corruption.
• Story lines were usual twisted, not in chronological order, seen as 'maze-like', e.g flashbacks 
• The films often used low key lighting schemes.
• Credits featured at beginning of the film with class 'The End' as it finished.
• Icons were used to represent characters and emotions within the film, the most famous being the gun.
• Characters famously included the 'Femmes Fatale'; mysterious, gorgeous and manipulative woman

      Film Noir seems difficult to define - whilst researching into it I found that one source said that it was not a 'clear-cut genre'. The era of films that portrayed dark and dreary cynicism through the characters, plots etc. are said to have been influenced from a German expressionism art movement, which displayed themes that address the darker side of the human mind. As well as this there is said to be another influence from Italy called 'neo-realism' which gained popularity during the second world war. During this time films often documented stories of the working class and the difficult moral condition of the times.

      Film noir often featured a difficult moral or economic condition such as those featured in an Italian neo-realist film and also featured the German expressionist ideal of a heightened mood of pessimism and helplessness. It was the French however who pointed out this emerging pattern in American cinema after they had received all of the films made by America during the war. They called the movement ''film noir'' and introduced it back to the Americans. 

Film Noir Stills - Examples

Visually researching into the genre of film noir has really helped me get a feel of how it looks as a genre. Styling is very clear within the pictures, the women are very pristine and glamorous, portraying strong women as you can see from the woman confidently leaning against the lamp post and the lady blowing smoke in the males face whilst men vary from looking quite rugged to very smart depending on the situation they are. Evidence of the storylines in film noir is also present, the picture of the lady looking frantic near the train tracks portray dramatics whilst the photos featuring males and females look as though they are based around romance and mystery. Although this has helped me get an idea of how the genre looks I will still go onto doing research into the history of Film Noir to fully understand what it is about and why it is about.

Assessment Criterias

Blog

Final Piece

These are the assessment criterias for the final piece and research through this blog that I will now be able to refer to to ensure that whichever group I am in I am achieving the academic briefs.

''I Am Legend'' opening - Conventional/Unconventional?

      After watching the opening title sequence to I am legend I asked then weather it was conventional or unconventional? After analysing it and watching it over, I have come to the conclusion that it has aspects that fit into both categories...
      It is conventional because it exposes the viewer to the story by first giving them background information such as the news reel in the beginning, offering an enigma when the audience is then shown the diegesis, the post apocalyptic city, which also conventionally establishes the settings with the different shots of the abandoned city - the miseenscene including yellow cabs and tall sky scrapers, showing that it is a city but keeping the enigma of 'why is it abandoned?'. However the opening is also unconventional as the film first starts with a voice over whilst the studio information is advertised, showing the importance in engaging the audience into the film and not promotion. This in my opinion challenges the conventions and becomes a 'post-modern' convention as it is now commonly done in movies within modern cinema.
      Although there are other attributes to support the argument that the opening title sequence can also be considered unconventional such as the fact that there is nothing within it that reminds the viewer that it is only a movie, there are no director titles or, again, the sound over the studio information to interrupt the true to life experience that is strengthened by the standard 16:9 television screen size of the news reel. There is also no non-diagetic soundtrack to influence the viewers emotions, it is purely silent other than naturalistic sound that is thought of as diagetic to the viewer because the experience is made to be so real.
      However as well as these unconventional aspects there are more conventional ones including the main character acting as a huge hook to the viewers - established very little, begging the questions 'why is he still alive? Driving in the abandoned city with a gun..?’ He is also the first thing, like in many movies, to remind the viewer that the movie is only fiction because of his high status within acting.

      Both the conventional and unconventional aspects have their required effect on the viewer and work together well to create an exciting viewing experience that engrosses people watching within the first few minutes.

First time with Prezi

Digital Media Technologies on Prezi

This is basically my first time messing about with prezi to try and make a presentation based on how digital media technology is used. I didn't find it too difficult after watching the introduction video on how to use it and referring to forums for any other help I needed.

Me & Media

      I have always seen myself having a job that I really enjoy, that goes from one extreme to the other. I need to have a job with aspects that change from day to day and that depends majorly on the things that I do and the way that I think to be completed. I want to become known for my job and to be appreciated because of what I do. 
      I have chosen to do media because I have the ambition to become a editor of a magazine in the future or another dream of mine is to be a tv/radio presenter/writer all in one. Before that I want to do a TV Print and Broadcast Media Fashion based course at London College of Fashion. Doing media at A level will help me to achieve this and will gain me with the experience in working with all the different aspects of media such as blogs, vlogs, podcasts and the creation of my own media.
      I haven't got any experience with media specifically as a subject but I do with photography through GCSE and now at A level as well as independent experience such as having my own blogs and experimenting with the different kinds of social networking that are available such as facebook, twitter and dailybooth etc.


As much as people say that the industry I want to get into is very competitve and difficult to break into, somebody has to and hopefully it will be me...

Kieron