Media Workshop

On the 16th of December we had a media workshop where we had Anna Thomas come in and talk to us about the media industry and the work that she does.

During this workshop she showed us a couple clips from the films she has worked on and these were;

• Quarantine
• 28 weeks later
• The best times of our lives
• The edge of love
• Nowhere boy.

At the workshop we also discussed in our groups what we think are the advantages and disadvantages of working in the media institute.

We also spoke about the importance of Continuity. Anna strictly emphasised to us the importance of continuity when filming, and how it can affect the way things are filmed and also the order. We also looked at film shots and angles.

at 0.15 seconds Anna showed us how she had to fill up the yellow plastic bags with clothes from charity shops.

Our Job Allocations

As an activity we were all told to choose a role that we would like to do in our group, when filming.

Narrative Research Assignment

Narrative theories- study the device and conventions governing the organisation of a story in a sequence.

Tvzetan Todorov- suggested that stories begin with an equalibrium or status quo where any potentiality opposing forces are in balance













Equilibrium disequilibrium and new equilibrium- These are the three main points to a successful movie. Equilibrium is- an existing state of harmony at the beginning of a movie

Disequilibrium is- when the equilibrium is disrupted by an unfortunate event or evil character that will then progress into a chain of negative events or conflict taking place.

New equilibrium is- when the evil character or event ends up being defeated, conflict being resolved and the mood returning back to harmony

Here are a few examples:

Peter Pan:

In the beginning Wendy and the children belong to a normal family, and the mood is set as a peaceful family. When Peter pan arrives and takes the children to never land; things are all exciting for them. (This is where the equalibrium ends) Later on in the film we are then introduced to Captain Hook- who wants Peter Pan dead, he holds Tinkerbell captive and Wendy and the children. (Disequilibrium begins) In the end Peter Pan is defeated by Peter Pan's clever plan. (new equilibrium comes in)
















Daddy Day Care:

At the beginning Eddie Murphy runs a well earned household with his family and has a well paid job (Equilibrium) The problem begins when it is trouble for his son to get into a good day care and he looses his job alongside this too. (This is where the disequilibrium begins) When he final begins to start up his own day care Ben (the son) previous headmaster gets Jealous and attempts to make his daycare a complete failure. However towards the end of the film Eddie Murphy's daycare outshines the other, making their daycare a success. (Bringing the new equilibrium)










Valdimir Propp- His theory was a study of Narratology he studied the fact that fairy tales can be compared by examining the most basic plot components; he argued that fairy tales were constructed of most plot elements, which he called functions, which consistently occurred in a uniform sequence.
From his analysis he found that analysis reveals that fairy tales do share several similarities as far as basic plot elements. However his analysis about the plot element does not fit in with this
What his thoery fails to take into account:

• Propp's analysis also fails to recognise the importance of such story components as tone, mood, characterization, and writing style.
• According to Propp, a cohesive story can be formed by connecting a series of any set of the thirty-one functions in order.
  
  Binary Opposition- is a theory that you can easily put to use when you analyse texts it is a theory set out to explain how we create meaning from things in the world
  
  Flashbacks- an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point.
  
  
  The flashback scene takes place during 0.30-0.53
  
  
  
  
  

Music Idea for Opening Sequence (individual work)

For the opening sequence; alongside having the role as director I also needed to start thinking about what music am I going to include in my opening sequence. Bearing in mind that we are already going to have a narrator, I needed to think about what and how I will go about doing this. So these were the suggestions that I came up with..

• using string instruments, as it contradicts with what is happening in the opening sequence
• Overlaying the music with the narration, giving it a subltle and soothing element
  
• at also at first i thought about about using base sounds to give a dark and mysterious effect.
  

The inspiration I got these ideas from the following:



at 0.52 seconds onwards

Continuity- What works well and what doesn't

In the lesson we looked at continuity.
The first question that we were asked to look at was: What is continuity?

Continuity in terms of props and costume, and the same rule applies with actors. It is the consistency of characters props and making sure that things are the same, at all times when filming.

Example: If I was to film a scene where the female character was walking, to show continuity I would have to shoot the female, from different angles as she is walking to show continuity bearing in mind what foot she takes to walk with first so that the action looks continuous.



The second question we were asked to take into consideration was:
What are the ways in which we can prevent continuity errors?

When thinking about this I thought to prevent continuity errors we can write down notes of certain things.

Example: in our opening sequence when the female is flicking through the diary we can have someone writing notes about which hand she uses to flick the diary open, and also when the female character walks up to the collage what foot she uses to walk with first.

Even thought it sounds simple; I believe it is the only way to prevent continuity errors.

As a class these were the Idea that people came up with:

• Write a list of props and costume
• Take a picture or a video of what is happening- as there might be intervals (days) between time of shooting.)
• Also noting down the time of day as this may effect continuity as to what is taking place and when. Example: If we film our first scene in the evening and then our next scene which is suppose to continue from this in the the late evening. This would confuse the audience as to what is taking place and when it is suppose to take place.

Addressing the evaluation questions

From the Evaluation questions the questions I am planning to focus on is;

• How the media product represents particular social groups
• Who would be the audience for the media product

As the genre of my film is Film Noir, mainly females are inerested watching this genre of film, so it would make sense to address this film to teenage girls aged 15. The opening sequence represents this particular social group by the intense and conniving element; and also it relates to love, relationships and feelings; which are things that many teenage girls face.

Our media product represents girls from a particular social group by the way the female character is dressing. She wears a high waist skirt, an appealing blouse and heels. This high fashioned dress sense can relate to the modern day fashion that teenage girls are into.