Explain how your skills in the creative use of digital technology developed over time. Refer to a range of examples from your media productions in your answer.
I think my skills have developed in creativity and use of digital technology in the from AS to A2 as I have learnt to use more of a range of software and digital equipment which helped me use more creativity in my work. We have had to produce a film opening in the first year and a trailer with a magazine front cover and also a film poster in the second year, both of these use a range of digital technology and helped develop my creativity. I am going to structure this essay so that I break it down into pre-production, production and then post-production.
For first year, I was using a lot of the technologies for the first time and found myself developing my skills through the use of various examples of experimentation. In pre-production, I used technologies such as Google in order to research different genre types and to influence the direction in which I would take my product. As I began to take influences from various different directors and films, I took my inspiration to iMovie which allowed me to experiment with different editing styles, and tweak my visual style and remove any bad parts within my work. This software was easy to access for someone who had never used an editing software before and it helped me dramatically when I moved on to the production stage with more complex editing softwares such as Premiere Pro. As I planned aspects within my film opening, I tested certain experimental aspects within my film such as the use of whip pan and pass by transitions within iMovie, allowing me to break down the process of film directors such as Edgar Wright. This allowed me to remove anything which did not look good while also allowing me to think how to better film for the editing process by leaving in longer shots to cut shorter and to transition. For second year, I used a similar process. I instead used my editor of choice, Premiere pro, in order to confirm different visual styles that I would take on to use within my film trailer. For example, I began researching the different uses of aspect ratios within films using Google and what effect they can give and what genres they typically lend themselves to. I found that using thicker black bars at the top and bottom of the screen would cause the film to appear more serious in tone and more cinematic, while a comedy may use minimal black bars in order to give a lighter tone to the film's appearance. I looked at a film which had a visual style and tone which I felt would reflect well into the genre in which I was trying to develop. I used a frame from Skyfall and placed the image directly into Premiere Pro. As Premiere Pro would only crop using percentages, I used the frame from sky fall in order to reflect the exact aspect ratio of the film by placing two images side by side. As a result I found that the percentage to crop would be 30% from the top and bottom. I was now aware of how I should be composing my images in-camera in order to make sure that I did not remove too much visual information within the editing process.
Digital technology was crucial within the use of my production phases. In order to film my footage, I utilised a Canon 70D. For my first year, I was not very experienced with this technology and was not aware of how to adjust all aspects of the camera in order to achieve the best images. As a result, a lot of the images were not as good of a quality as they could have been due to the lack of light getting into the lens in some locations. I also used only one lens, which did not affect my production greatly but I lacked the knowledge to plan shots with the use of an appropriate lens. In second year, my knowledge became increasingly more vast as I was able to experiment with my camera more. I realised that I could control the amount of light that gets into the camera in order to compensate for bright or dark situations by adjusting ISO, f-stop and shutter speed. I also was able to understand the use of different lens'. Where in first year, I only used a zoom lens, in second year I was able to understand and use a zoom lens, wide angle lens and a prime lens. I was able to use new additions such as the wide angle lens in order to widen interiors and present distorted close ups. I was able to avoid bad quality within my film by using my expanded knowledge however in some cases I was limited by the low-light capabilities within the DSLR.
In post productions, some of my most essential experimentation in order to create a good quality product. I relied on Premiere Pro within my first and second year. I used Premiere Pro in first year to experiment with cross dissolves in order to hide shot transitions. I experimented with colour grading in a way which I had previously not within my first year prior to my film opening. I used Google in order to research different methods for colour grading and attempted to apply some of them to my work. I used the three way colour corrector, RGB curves and brightness and contrast in order to create a cinematic style. I took inspiration from Edgar Wright again and looked to apply genre-specific colours to my film, much like he had done to Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World's End. I used the colour grade as a result to highlight green tones within the film as it offered connotations to the Sci-fi genre. In second year, I became heavily more experimental within the editing process as I felt that I now had enough knowledge within the software of Premiere Pro in order to use different assets and tools within the software in order to take my film trailer into different creative directions. I developed my idea of colour connotations and applied them through the use of red in order to imply violence within the tone. I also experimented with the use of film grain in order to remove the clean digital appearance of some shots and replace them with film grain that is popular within the crime genre in order to give the film a more gritty appearance. I was also able to improve the stability of many shots which may have been unusable through the use of warp stabiliser which is a tool which was completely new to me.
To conclude, I was able to dramatically develop my skills with the use of digital technology in a way that critiqued aspects of my first year work while developing aspects which did work. I was able to take full creative advantage of the different technologies as my knowledge of them became more expansive.
Monday, 6 June 2016
Monday, 23 May 2016
1B Exam Revision
"A process needed for problem solving…not a special gift enjoyed by a few but a common ability possessed by most people"-Jones 1993
Post production research and planning
Links to my first year in terms of deciding in post production to film more and add to the film in order to achieve a longer film of a better quality. Links to second year as I restructured much of the trailer for pacing. Also had to change dramatic plot/trailer elements due to location constraints such as the car park.
"The making of the new and the re arranging of the old"-Bentley 1997
Media conventions, post production, digital technology
Links to my film within ancillary task as I was able to take a classic poster appearance from artists such as Saul Bass who's work featured within the advertisement of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.
"Creativity results from the interaction of a system composed of three elements: a culture that contains symbolic rules, a person who brings novelty into the symbolic domain, and a field of experts who recognise and validate the innovation."-Csikszentmihalyi 1996
"There is no absolute judgement [on creativity] All judgements are comparisons of one thing with another."-Donald Larning
Media conventions
Who was your product aimed at?
Predominantly male, working class, age 20-40. Themes of drugs, location, genre all help secure this demographic. Also could talk about how I attempted to expand my audience by appealing to women through a questionnaire.
Media Language:
I used action code within numerous examples such as the gun being shot and the follow up of blood. Enigma code is seeded throughout the trailer as the use of the final act of the film first which takes place in an interrogation room with bruised features. This causes the audience to wonder how he managed to get himself into this condition. Semantic code of the use of red within the trailer/title used to highlight connotations to villainy and violence, idea of violence before it happens is granted from tools they carry.
Within first year-Enigma code featured strongly throughout the opening in order to give the audience a sense of mystery surrounding the images that are flashing within the person's mind.
Monday, 16 May 2016
Discuss how one or more groups of people are represented through the media
Main point Grebner: The more time people spent ‘living’ in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social reality portrayed on television’
Youth:
Gender:
Youth:
- Quadrophenia (gang culture, violent, drug using, variation of schizophrenia shows how mentally unstable youth were)
- Ill Manors, Attack the block, Bullet Boy (broken Britain, criminal, drug user, even most redeemable characters are criminals, estate, lower class)
- Ill Manors a year after London Riots, shows how media is shaped by fears of older theory
- Giroux: Youth becomes an empty category which reflect the anxieties and interests of adult society.
- Gramsci: Much of the media controlled by the dominant group in society and the view points associated with the group inevitably become embedded in the product themselves
Gender:
- Fairy Liquid advert 1966 (depicts a woman within a kitchen environment, wearing apron and assuming her gender stereotype)
- Laura Mulvey Male Gaze Theory (Massagic Shoes in 1974 shows naked woman looking at a shoe saying 'keep her where she belongs') media created with male consumers in mind
- Patriarchy: The idea of a society of men run by men for men. Male Power.
- Modern Day
- Introduce the Female Gaze 1988 showing that media is taking women audience into consideration
- Diet Coke advert 2013 supports this notion
- This idea was introduced in 1984 Hanson Put forth the idea that women are also able to view male characters as erotic objects of desire.
NEED TO DISCUSS HOW THESE REPRESENTATIONS MAY CHANGE WITHIN THE FUTURE
Theory
Buckingham – representation of people
‘A focus on identity requires us to pay closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and the consequences for social groups.’
Giddens – Structuration – How society is changing and how the media represents society have changed because of this. -
Gauntlet - Because 'inherited recipes for living and role stereotypes fails to function', we have to make our own new patterns of being, and it seems clear that the media plays an important role here’
‘ Identity is complicated – everyone thinks they’ve got one’
Gerbner – Cultivation Theory – The primary proposition of cultivation theory states that the more time people spent ‘living’ in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social reality portrayed on television’
Acland – Representation of Youths – to maintain social order – hegemony. ‘ The idea that young people need constant surveillance and monitoring’
Giroux – ‘Youth becomes an empty category which reflect the anxieties and interests of adult society.’
Studler – Female Gaze 1988 – In Masochism as in the infantile state of dependence, pleasure does not involve mastery of the female or submission of her body and he gaze. This pleasure also applies to the infant the masochist and the film spectator.
Hanson – 1984- Put forth the idea that women are also able to view male characters as erotic objects of desire.
Laura Mulvey – Male Gaze – ‘For women the result of media being presented from the perspective on men and through the male gaze, women find themselves at times taking of the male gaze. Women then gaze at other women in the same way as a man would, and thus end up objectifying other women.’
Hebdige – 1979- ‘Subculture brings together likeminded individuals who feel neglected by societal standards and allow them to develop a sense of identity.’
Branston and Stafford – Sterotypes – Soap rely on archetypal characters and stereotypes- ensure ready accessibility because stories have universal appeal about families and communities. Stereotypes depend on shared cultural knowledge – some part of the stereotype must ring true.
Dyer – 1979 – ‘Stereotypes are always about power. Those with power stereotype those with less power’
Collective Identity – ‘Individual sense of belonging to a group or collective who share a set of traditions and values’
Gramsci- ‘Much of the media controlled by the dominant group in society and the view points associated with the group inevitably become embedded in the product themselves, even if the promotion of these views isn’t conscious – dominant views come to be seen as the norm.’
Patriarchy – the idea of a society of men run by men for men. Male Power.
22% of people in the media are women, which means the media is mainly influenced by men.
‘A focus on identity requires us to pay closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and the consequences for social groups.’
Giddens – Structuration – How society is changing and how the media represents society have changed because of this. -
Gauntlet - Because 'inherited recipes for living and role stereotypes fails to function', we have to make our own new patterns of being, and it seems clear that the media plays an important role here’
‘ Identity is complicated – everyone thinks they’ve got one’
Gerbner – Cultivation Theory – The primary proposition of cultivation theory states that the more time people spent ‘living’ in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social reality portrayed on television’
Acland – Representation of Youths – to maintain social order – hegemony. ‘ The idea that young people need constant surveillance and monitoring’
Giroux – ‘Youth becomes an empty category which reflect the anxieties and interests of adult society.’
Studler – Female Gaze 1988 – In Masochism as in the infantile state of dependence, pleasure does not involve mastery of the female or submission of her body and he gaze. This pleasure also applies to the infant the masochist and the film spectator.
Hanson – 1984- Put forth the idea that women are also able to view male characters as erotic objects of desire.
Laura Mulvey – Male Gaze – ‘For women the result of media being presented from the perspective on men and through the male gaze, women find themselves at times taking of the male gaze. Women then gaze at other women in the same way as a man would, and thus end up objectifying other women.’
Hebdige – 1979- ‘Subculture brings together likeminded individuals who feel neglected by societal standards and allow them to develop a sense of identity.’
Branston and Stafford – Sterotypes – Soap rely on archetypal characters and stereotypes- ensure ready accessibility because stories have universal appeal about families and communities. Stereotypes depend on shared cultural knowledge – some part of the stereotype must ring true.
Dyer – 1979 – ‘Stereotypes are always about power. Those with power stereotype those with less power’
Collective Identity – ‘Individual sense of belonging to a group or collective who share a set of traditions and values’
Gramsci- ‘Much of the media controlled by the dominant group in society and the view points associated with the group inevitably become embedded in the product themselves, even if the promotion of these views isn’t conscious – dominant views come to be seen as the norm.’
Patriarchy – the idea of a society of men run by men for men. Male Power.
22% of people in the media are women, which means the media is mainly influenced by men.
Wednesday, 16 March 2016
Attack the Block-Questions
-Identify at least 3 key theories that can be used in the representations of Youth and ethnicity within the film.
• “ A focus on Identity requires us to pay closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and their consequences for social groups” David Buckingham
• “ A focus on Identity requires us to pay closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and their consequences for social groups” David Buckingham
• Identity is now consciously constructed, and the media provides some of the tools to help us construct our identities. The media contains a huge number of messages about identity and acceptable lifestyles.
• Youth becomes an empty category in representation – reflects adult concerns. Giroux
-Do you agree with Buckingham's statement in relation to this film?
- Yes, since the film is taking all stereotypes and reflecting them within each character. The film does not accurately depict the reality of the situation as not everyone associated with this lifestyle takes part within crimes.
Do you agree with Gauntelett's statement in relation to this film?
- It can be argued that the media has shaped the identity for this Youth Culture by putting emphasis on the bad stereotypes. This has caused the representation of youth culture to be tainted by negative views.
Exam Prep
Section A
Identify digital technologies that you have used to construct media text (Year 1+Year 2)
What new techniques have you learnt (year 2)
Year 1:
Identify digital technologies that you have used to construct media text (Year 1+Year 2)
What new techniques have you learnt (year 2)
Year 1:
- Photoshop
- Premiere Pro
- imovie
Year 2:
- Better at Photoshop
- Camera knowledge improved. Understand ISO, Lens types, Aperture
- Colour Grade, Film Grain, new assists such as aspect ratio and warp stabiliser, experimented with black and white film uses.
Technology hindering production:
- DSLR is not great in low light situations, had to compensate.
Wednesday, 9 March 2016
Explain what is meant by 'collective identity' and the role of media in its construction
Collective identity is a concept that refers to a set of individuals' sense of belonging to a social group or collection. Over the years the media has had a massive role to play in the tarnishing of certain individuals through their representation within media. This can have massive implications for those who are being represented and can often result in bad attitudes, stereotypes and a pollution of ideas about reality.
Films such as Ill Manors (2012) reflect a gritty interpretation of a broken Britain. Within the film we are introduced to a number of characters who are all criminals in one form or another. The audience can see drug taking, sexual activity, harassment and violence stem from the same social group. Since it is a common stereotype to associate underclass people living within London to be taking part in these activities, they are often subjected to a constant criticism and hate from the public. Other films such as Fish Tank (2009) and Attack the Block emphasise ideas about this collective identity, reflecting them as poorly spoken, uneducated criminals. This representation culminates to cause anyone involved with these social classes to be subjected to the same stereotypes despite them not being true. This coincides with Grebner's cultivation theory which states that "the more time people spend 'living' in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social reality portrayed on television'. An earlier example of a collective identity being affected by media representation can be seen within films such as Quadrophenia (1979) in which they portray gang culture of the Rockers and the Mods. All of the youths within the film are seen taking drugs, committing crimes and having mental disorders. This film represented anyone associated with this culture as dangerous individuals. This had bad implications as it singled them out from the rest of society because of their representation. Gidden's structuration theory can be used in this instance as it claims that social structure is established through traditions and established ways of doing things which requires the individual to follow these structures. In examples such as Ill Manors, the social structure is shaped by the representation of youth within the film, causing stereotypes to become apart of the social structure by causing the audience to assume this is the "established way of doing things" resulting in a poor representation of youth overall.
Another collective identity that has fallen victim to poor representation within the media is women. Within the 1950s, companies such as Fairy Liquid would only show a sexist representation of women as they were often depicted as stay at home mothers who's husband would be out working. The adverts would always feature a woman within a kitchen environment or with a child in order to further enhance these stereotypes. Other adverts would use women and their body image in order to sell products to a male audience. This coincides with Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory which actually reflects the sexism of the time as advertisement would only focus on the male audience instead of the female audience. The stereotypical representation of women during this time made it impossible for them to rise above anything other than an accessory of a man. As media has progressed, some issues within the female representation has eased down. Women are still shown within sexist environments but as advertisements such as the Persil campaign depicting two men arguing over the washing up shows, the issue has reduced considerably. The issue with body image has developed into something more now as assets such as Photoshop are now being used in order to airbrush women in order to create a model that is deemed perfect by the media. There have been many examples of this within brands such as Calvin Klein and Cosmopolitan and have changed appearances drastically. As a result, the media is held responsible for the further objectification of women as they are being digitally manipulated in order to appeal to the male audience and what they deem 'attractive'. The construction of this collective identity can also have drastic effects on those who are being represented as they feel they are not apart of a group causing them to adopt bad eating habits and risk their lives in order to achieve a media body type. This links to Baudrillard's theory of hyperreality which causes audience to not properly distinguish between the world that the media sets up and its consequences, and the one in which we live in.
Islam is also a culture which suffers greatly with its representation within the media post 9/11. Islam is a word which wrongly conjures connotations to terrorism. Existing ideas about Islam was enhanced by the bombing of the world trade centre. This stemmed an idea that our enemy was hidden among us and as a result caused the world to often segregate people within this religion. This mass hysteria has been a wide source of influence for the media as they attempt to direct their messages towards those who fear this, targeting Islam as the enemy. Examples of this ruthless targeting by the media include newspapers such as the Sun who released an outlandish statement, claiming '1 in 5 Brit Muslims' sympathy for Jihadis'. This statement was after the recent Paris shootings in 2015 and was an attempt to target a large percentage of the public who were experiencing hysteria, similar to how they were feeling during 9/11. This targeted representaion would allow for more people who feel affected to purchase a copy of the newspaper. The term Jihad immediately draws connotations to terrorism, mainly because the media such as the Sun and The Daily Telegraph have used this term at every opportunity. The literal meaning of Jihad is struggle and effort, which is often misunderstood as solely a holy war however, there are three kinds of struggle, the first being an internal struggle to live out the Muslim as well as possible. The second struggle is to build a good Muslim society, the third is a holy war to defend Islam with force if necessary. This third idea is a concept that causes mass confusion as the media constantly label all Jihads under this idea. It can have drastic effects for those who are peaceful as they are singled out as if they have committed the crime.
To conclude, collective identity is massively dictated and victimised by the media, causing those concerned with the group to be singled out from the public. It becomes clear that the media creates all of these negative stereotypes about different social groups purely for the benefit of whatever media that is being sold. The public promote the media's depictions of these collective identities as they love to watch gritty British films depicting street life, they buy magazines with models that are being objectified, and they give in to hysteria by purchasing newspapers and promote hateful ideology.
Films such as Ill Manors (2012) reflect a gritty interpretation of a broken Britain. Within the film we are introduced to a number of characters who are all criminals in one form or another. The audience can see drug taking, sexual activity, harassment and violence stem from the same social group. Since it is a common stereotype to associate underclass people living within London to be taking part in these activities, they are often subjected to a constant criticism and hate from the public. Other films such as Fish Tank (2009) and Attack the Block emphasise ideas about this collective identity, reflecting them as poorly spoken, uneducated criminals. This representation culminates to cause anyone involved with these social classes to be subjected to the same stereotypes despite them not being true. This coincides with Grebner's cultivation theory which states that "the more time people spend 'living' in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social reality portrayed on television'. An earlier example of a collective identity being affected by media representation can be seen within films such as Quadrophenia (1979) in which they portray gang culture of the Rockers and the Mods. All of the youths within the film are seen taking drugs, committing crimes and having mental disorders. This film represented anyone associated with this culture as dangerous individuals. This had bad implications as it singled them out from the rest of society because of their representation. Gidden's structuration theory can be used in this instance as it claims that social structure is established through traditions and established ways of doing things which requires the individual to follow these structures. In examples such as Ill Manors, the social structure is shaped by the representation of youth within the film, causing stereotypes to become apart of the social structure by causing the audience to assume this is the "established way of doing things" resulting in a poor representation of youth overall.
Another collective identity that has fallen victim to poor representation within the media is women. Within the 1950s, companies such as Fairy Liquid would only show a sexist representation of women as they were often depicted as stay at home mothers who's husband would be out working. The adverts would always feature a woman within a kitchen environment or with a child in order to further enhance these stereotypes. Other adverts would use women and their body image in order to sell products to a male audience. This coincides with Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory which actually reflects the sexism of the time as advertisement would only focus on the male audience instead of the female audience. The stereotypical representation of women during this time made it impossible for them to rise above anything other than an accessory of a man. As media has progressed, some issues within the female representation has eased down. Women are still shown within sexist environments but as advertisements such as the Persil campaign depicting two men arguing over the washing up shows, the issue has reduced considerably. The issue with body image has developed into something more now as assets such as Photoshop are now being used in order to airbrush women in order to create a model that is deemed perfect by the media. There have been many examples of this within brands such as Calvin Klein and Cosmopolitan and have changed appearances drastically. As a result, the media is held responsible for the further objectification of women as they are being digitally manipulated in order to appeal to the male audience and what they deem 'attractive'. The construction of this collective identity can also have drastic effects on those who are being represented as they feel they are not apart of a group causing them to adopt bad eating habits and risk their lives in order to achieve a media body type. This links to Baudrillard's theory of hyperreality which causes audience to not properly distinguish between the world that the media sets up and its consequences, and the one in which we live in.
Islam is also a culture which suffers greatly with its representation within the media post 9/11. Islam is a word which wrongly conjures connotations to terrorism. Existing ideas about Islam was enhanced by the bombing of the world trade centre. This stemmed an idea that our enemy was hidden among us and as a result caused the world to often segregate people within this religion. This mass hysteria has been a wide source of influence for the media as they attempt to direct their messages towards those who fear this, targeting Islam as the enemy. Examples of this ruthless targeting by the media include newspapers such as the Sun who released an outlandish statement, claiming '1 in 5 Brit Muslims' sympathy for Jihadis'. This statement was after the recent Paris shootings in 2015 and was an attempt to target a large percentage of the public who were experiencing hysteria, similar to how they were feeling during 9/11. This targeted representaion would allow for more people who feel affected to purchase a copy of the newspaper. The term Jihad immediately draws connotations to terrorism, mainly because the media such as the Sun and The Daily Telegraph have used this term at every opportunity. The literal meaning of Jihad is struggle and effort, which is often misunderstood as solely a holy war however, there are three kinds of struggle, the first being an internal struggle to live out the Muslim as well as possible. The second struggle is to build a good Muslim society, the third is a holy war to defend Islam with force if necessary. This third idea is a concept that causes mass confusion as the media constantly label all Jihads under this idea. It can have drastic effects for those who are peaceful as they are singled out as if they have committed the crime.
To conclude, collective identity is massively dictated and victimised by the media, causing those concerned with the group to be singled out from the public. It becomes clear that the media creates all of these negative stereotypes about different social groups purely for the benefit of whatever media that is being sold. The public promote the media's depictions of these collective identities as they love to watch gritty British films depicting street life, they buy magazines with models that are being objectified, and they give in to hysteria by purchasing newspapers and promote hateful ideology.
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