Theorists

Genre- Stephen Neale- Repetition and differences.
            Lacy's elements of repetoire- Setting, Narrative, Character, Style and iconography
            Propp- the role of different characters based on a folks fairy tale.

Narrative- Propps
                 Todorov
                 Roland Barthes- Codes- action code, enigma code

Representation- Cohen- moral panic (Folk devils)
                          Laura Mulvy- Male Gaze and the camera showing the female as an objectification to the audience.
                       

Media Language
con nations and denotation
Propp
Roland Barthe- says that an object is there as a stand in to infer a deeper meaning
Semiotics - signs and symbols (Signifer is the object and the meaning is what is signified)

Audience
Uses and gratifcations-
Metz- The audience don't have to go to the cinema and pay for a ticket therefore there has to be a system that desire them to do this.
Stuart Hall- active participants
Social media- Facebook and twitter
Certificate 15.

Essay plan- Media Language

What is Media Language?

Paragraph 1- Media language encompasses the technical micro-elements used to create meaning these are camera angles, sound, mise-en-scene and editing and uses these to create meaning specific to the macro-elements character, narrative and genre.Media language can also include conventions, visual signs and symbols as a way to communicate its meaning to its audience. The production I will be analyzing is my AS horror film opening which was about a haunted doll who possess a group of youths who thought she was just a rumor.

Paragraph 2- Media language is a broad term which will enable a broad approach to this media text. My horror film opening was constructed through careful planning of codes and conventions that were needed to be followed and challenged.The first approach we took was a character based approach using mise-en-scene to create a particular impression of the youths and the protagonist 'Scarlet' the doll. The youths were dressed in tracksuits, hoodies, smoking, drinking alcohol and using strong language.This gave the message of the stereotypical youths being represented as rebellious and out of control and this visual code was reinforced by the theorist Barthes who argued that the organisation encodes particular messages and ideologies. In this case the ideology is that youths are anxieties to society. In my film opening through several medium shots it shows the denotation of youths holding empty bottles of wine.I can infer from this the con nation of them being drunk and careless. This concept is reinforced by the theorist Fiske 'denotation is what's filmed and con nation is how its filmed'.

Paragraph 3- The theorist Roland Barthes also said that the language of signs used objects to stand in to infer a deeper meaning. The haunted doll swinging on the signifier the swing signified the exposure of childhood and how the innocence had been taken out of it. The diegetic sound of the doll singing 'Ring a ring a roses' is a nursery rhyme which indicates that the doll is a childhood toy and the tone of the sound being very slow and mellow allows the audience to read the song and understand the deeper meaning of it linking to the plague having con nations of death.The make up that we applied to Scarlet the doll was very over exaggerated and was almost seen as a mask. In particular cultures masks are used to allow people to explore personalities of  others for example masquerade ball. However in this case the sense of a mask was a way to hide the message of the doll being evil to allow the enigma code of is the doll a villain in this film opening? asked by the audience. The theorist propp adopted the idea of the roles of different characters and this is shown through the youths being the hero's and the doll being the villain. This shows the binary opposites between good and bad which is a message that I was trying to get across.

Paragraph 4- The micro element of editing was shown by linking each shot with the dip to black tool. Also changing the saturation, levels and curves of the flash forward to remove the color and get the eary night time feel to the opening. The reason these were edited in post production was to show the dark and frightening atmosphere to set the scene and allow the audience to recognize that the genre is horror. By also organizing the shots to apply quick paced flashes of the flash forward emphasizes the enigma code that the audience will have a lot of unanswered questions of what is about to happen next.

Paragraph 5- Conclusion- Overall the preferred reading of the horror film opening is that it is a representation of the exposure of childhood and how youths are exposed to evil inferring the world. By using the micro elements of mise-en-scene, sound and editing especially shows the impression of youths being stereotyped and the doll conforming to the convention of evil. Along side this the visual signs and symbols as well as semiontics to illustrate the clear story line. A narrative of a group of youths experiencing a surreal world of evil.
    

Essay plan - representations

What is representation-

Paragraph 1-Representation is the description or portrayal of someone or something in a particular way. In my horror film opening Scarlet the representations I have used reflect the micro elements of body language, shot type and costume. My horror film opening is about a doll named Scarlet who slowly possess a group of teenagers who thinks shes just a rumor.

Paragraph 2- In my horror film opening the characters of youths are represented in several different ways. Firstly the representation of youths being associated in relationships and thinking they are one of the most important things as a youth is shown. This representation is reinforced by the theorist Laura Mulvey she claims that they camera position the audience as the male as a way to admire the female body this is known as objectification. In my film opening the female youths are dressed in the costumes of skirts and crop tops that enhance their figure and make them look no more than a convention. The camera angles that are used on the females are one in particular a tilt shot from the bottom upwards. This represents the female to be a sexual figure to the male youth audience. As well as a high angle shot of a youth couple in my film opening showing the female youth to be looking upwards to the male youth. The use of a high angle shot exaggerates the higher status of the male and his dominance to the female.

Paragraph 3- Another representation shown in my horror film opening 'Scarlet' is the representation of youths being out of control and rebellious this is shown through the body language of strong language as well as two male youths pushing each other around causing violence. This representation of youths being 'folk devils' stated by Cohen causing a moral panic is reinforced by the theorist Baudrillard. This is because he says that media represent reality, this simulation leads to position of hyper reality where representations are being based on the producers own representations. Therefore this means that the producers are showing the representation of youths being careless and misbehaved in so many platforms of media as this is their own stereotypes of them and their own anxieties.

Paragraph 4- Further more also in my media text a horror film opening the idea of characters being represented linking to the idea of a fairy tale was reinforced by propps theory of sphere of action.... Villan their connations.... hero their connations..... binary opposites good v evil- Levi Strauss.

Paragraph 5- Cultural hegemony (Gramsic) this theory is reinforced as this theory states how domiant our culterally diverse society is and the characters that I cast reinforces this as Riley(Asian) fleur(sylvkian) white british(female).

Paragraph 6- conclusion

Essay plan- Audience

Introduction-  What does the word audience mean?

The word audience means the assembled spectators or listeners. The audience that my product a horror film opening was aimed at was the certificate 15. My horror film opening is called 'Scarlett' and is about a group of teenagers who get possessed by a doll who they thought was just a rumor. The reason my target audience is a certifcate of 15 is because from further study into the target audience age into horror films the research that I had discovered was strong violence, frequent strong language, brief scenes of sexual violence and drug taking is allowed. I felt that this certificate would fit my horror film opening as all these aspects were briefly used and inferred however the use of weapons and graphical killing scenes were not shown therefore my horror film opening can attract a younger audience. In addition the idea of having youths as the main characters was to allow my target audience of youths to connect more to the characters therefore finding it more interesting to watch.

The youth characters were shown smoking, drinking, using strong language and associated in relationships. This shows that the youths are represented in a negative way and this reinforces the uses and gratification theory. The theory is that audiences actively seek out texts for specific reasons and in this case its to meet the individual needs of personal identity. The representation of youths being rebellious could be reason why other youths are this way as they have a sense of belonging and sense of self.The audience that are influenced by this are active participants which is reinforced by the theorist Stuart Hall. He says that an audience can interpret a text in three different ways: preferred reading, negotiated meaning and op positional reading. This example would make the audience come under the preferred reading as they are influenced by the youth stereotype and this is the intended meaning by the producer.

During my research and planning the key elements were taken into acount to gain audience feedback and these were: the title of my horror film opening, color schemes, characters and plot line. To begin with me and my production group chose to do a vote with youths who were 15+ this allowed the title decision and characters to be made by our target audience. Therefore the two decisions that were made were......these came from the audience making the film more to their interest.The importance of gaining audience feedback from a vote as well as putting this on the social media Facebook was reinforced by the theorist Metz. This is because Metz brings to our attention that no one is forced to go to the cinema and pay for a ticket therefore a system has to be set up so that the spectator has desire to do this. I also published the drafts of the horror film opening 'Scarlet' onto the social media sight Facebook this was to receive feedback on improvements and one was the pace of the shots. I therefore used the razor tool to separate shots and removed a few to make the pace more intense to satisfy my audience.

 Furthermore the elements of the plot line was reinforced by the narrative theorist todorov and from further research into the plot lines of horror films this theory was a convention always used. Todorovs 5 stage theory of equillbrium, disruption, recongising the distruption, an attempt to fix this and a new equilibrium........ This plot line was chosen as the target audience of my film opening will know what to expect before they watch this film opening therefore not wasting their money. Lastly the color schemes being chosen to attract the audience as the color red and black was mainly used. This is because red has the connation of blood therefore the audience by seeing the color scheme of the film will instantly know the genre is horror.

Conclusion.

Essay plan- narrative

Introduction- What is narrative?

The narrative is the way a story is told and the story is the bare essentials that can not be reduced any further. A lot of narrative theory that we use in the media has come from narrative analyse in literacy. This will cover aspects such as genre, character, form and time.
The coursework that I will be analyzing the narrative in is the horror film opening 'Scarlett' and this film opening was about an evil doll who gradually possess a group of youths who think she is just a rumor.

Paragraph 1- Because my film opening was the beginning of the story the type of narrative that my horror film opening comes under is the 'open' narrative and this is where the audience is left to wonder what happens next. This is supported by the enigma code reinforced by Roland Barthes and this code intises the audience in more as they have questions that are unanswered. For example in my film opening a question could be are the youths possessed? where have they gone?. The enigma code in my film opening is best shown in the flash back.

Paragraph 2- Time is very important in narratives and this can be easily shown with the use of a flash forward.. The idea of flash forwards in the narrative is a way to manipulate time to not make it real. In my horror film opening 'Scarlet' I used the idea of a flash back by filming it with the night vision button and editing it too a slight saturation of yellow to give it that surreal look to it. The flash forward was one of the key stages of Todorovs five stage narrative which I followed. This was shown because The equilibrium was shown at the start of the film opening showing medium shots of the youths hanging around in the park drinking representing the stereotypical rebellious ideology. This then lead to the disruption which was a the flash forward into time showing the protagonist 'Scarlet' harassing the youth playing the part of 'Riley'. The disruption was recognized by Riley screaming and shouting help including fast close up shots to create an intense and anxious atmosphere. In addition the attempt to repair the damage was when the film opening came back to real time and the youths were very clear at trying to convince themselves that the rumors they had heard weren't true allowing the new equilibrium to be the youths going back to socializing in the park.

Paragraph 3- Claude Levi-Strauss theory of binary opposites was reinforced in the planning of my characters in my horror film opening.This is because I chose the binary opposites of good v evil. The idea of good v evil is also a main connatation of horror

Paragraph 4- reinforcing this even more is the codes and conventions of Roland Barthes theory being enigma code, action code and semic code being the three codes that are used a lot in my film opening.

Paragraph 5- conclusion.

Essay Plan- Collective Identity

Introduction- Define what collective identity is or mediation depending on the question. Also talk about the social group (Youth) and how the media impact this representation.

What is collective identity? 
Collective Identity refers to the sense of belonging in a group, The identity of the group becomes a part of someones individual identity for example from participating in social activities.

What is mediation?
Mediation is the process in which every indivudal shot goes through to meet the final cut  for example film. The three stages that shots go through to be mediated are selection, organisation and focus. Expand from these three stages using a brief example (London riots).

Paragraph 1- Begin with the examples from (Historical) and (Contemporary) explaining the way they are represented use examples from the films. Link these representations with the theorist Giroux - he argues that youth is an 'Empty category' this is because its the middle class adults who create the representation not youths therefore the creation made is from their perspective not the youths perspective. This is evidence through the examples written above for both historical and contemporary. The idea of the creation of an empty category reflects the anxieties and concerns of adults of youths.

Paragraph 2- Dominant ideology- the representations of youths being in a gang is a dominant ideology in all the sources I have looked at. This statement was said by the theorist Tajfel and Turner and this is known  as the social identity theory. They suggested that social identity was established through categorisation from representing their social group through music and fashion. This is shown in: This is England, Ill manors, Qdadraphenia, London riots and Young apprentice. This is to create a sense of belonging linking back to definition of (collective identity).
This is England- Ben Sherman shirts and Doc Martins, Qdadraphenia- Rockers- leather jackets and motor bikes, Mods- Parker coats and the scooters, Ill manors and London riots- Hoodies and tracksuits, Young apprentice- Formal uniform.
Expand on this and say that this theory can lead to conflict- for example the Mods and the rockers. 

Paragraph 3- The theorist Cohen (1972) studied the media response the mods and rockers. This example was used to show the moral panic that this representation of youths created. Explain all the representations in all the sources were sensationalised so much to make adults panic. 

Paragraph 4- The stereotype of youths wearing 'Hoodies' and this causes society to be intimated making this a representation for youths. Explain how the London riots shows this negative representation and how the news report has been mediated. For example the shot from the police officers point of view was selected to put more impact on the representation of youths being out of control and makes them look disrespectful to higher status adults. Also the focus on the appearance of the youths in the interview where the producers directed them to cover their faces with hoodies and scarfs as the didn't want to be recognised. This enhanced the intimidating representation that the media have already portrayed.

Paragraph 5- Expanding on the point of youths being represented as the overpowering figures. This is reinforced by the theorist Gramsci. Gramsci developed the concept of cultural hegemony. The dominant group (middle aged men) are the ones who include their view point and embed it in the media. 
This is shown in the News report London riots as the camera angles were shown to see the police officers trying to protect themselves from the crime showing this as 'Normal' and the youths from the perspective of attacking violently showing this as unacceptable to society. 
Gramsic see's cultural hegemony as a struggle of debating whats not acceptable.

Paragraph 6- However in the contemporary documentary 'Young apprentice' it challenges the representation of youths being 'thugs' as they represent youths to be: intelligent, ambitious and polite. When they say 'yes Lord Sugar' and 'Good morning Lord Sugar' showing politeness features. Also the televised shots having titles for each youth exaggerating the experience they have to exgerrate their intelligence. However because the majority of the representations are negative this representation of youths gets dismissed.

Paragraph 7- Self representation - On the other hand, Chandler the music video exposing youth to succide and drugs. Representatating youths to be associated with this. Other youths were creating a parody representing it by sharing it on web 2.0 allowing this to be uploaded to youtube feeling part of something reinforcing the Jenkins theory of paticipartical. As well as the theorist Giddens who said that mediated experiences make them reflect their own self narrative in relation to others. This is shown as a lot of youths had re created the dance in this video to gain a sense of belonging in their experience. Self representation was used in the selfie where the youth female took a selfie smiling in front of the German Concentration camp. She represented herself smiling without taking into account that this photograph could be seen as disrespectful. However this selfie could be represented as youths being interested in the history and by the youth visiting shows her interest in it.

Conclusion - As a youth myself the experiences I have been through to an extent reflect the way media portray us and the identity I have formed is through having a sense of belonging in a friendship group. From all the analyse I have done I have learnt how important representation is and how sensationalised it is which affects the audience as they will react differently to youths because of the negative represents 
they have been given especially. 

Question 1b

What is Genre-
The word genre means 'kind' or 'class' and is a way of grouping texts together.

Theorists:

Steve Neale (1980) He declares that genre are instances of repetition and differences. He also said that difference is essential in the economy of genre.

Lacy's repertoire of elements.
Lacy considers that these are a repertoire of elements that work together to suggest genre.
Setting
Character
Iconography- the main signs you see and hear for example screaming
Style
Narrative

Gledhill (1985)
Differences between genre means the different audiences could be identified and catered to this made it easier to standerdise and stabilise production.

Narrative
The word narrative is the way the different elements in a story are organised to make a meanful story.

Todorov-  He argues that narratives always have a structure of equilibrium, dis equillbrium and a new equilibrium.

Roland Barthes- He states the idea of the enigma code, action code and also open and closed text.

Claude Levi- Strauss- argues that human culture understanding is based on a system of binary opposites  for example good/white black/white.

Representation
 The word representation means the description or portrayal of someone or something in a particular way.

Laura Mulvey

Question 1a

The horror films I looked at:
Woman in black
Chucky
Cabin in the woods.




Introduction-
In my AS media practise I constructed a horror film opening with a production group. The horror film opening was titled 'Scarlett' and was about a doll who possess a group of teenagers who think she is a just a rumour. My A2 media practise was a construction I did indivdually creating two adverts, a sponsorship and an online pop up on the advertisement of sportswear. In this essay I am going to show the progression I have made from AS to A2 and how media texts were an important aspect to this.

To begin with I looked at previous pre lim tasks from media students that had already created by media students on You tube. As well as looking at the Doc Martin episode to see how the simple shot type conventions were embedded in the scenes. The conventions that I found for the pre lim task was action match, shot reverse shot and 180 degree rule. These conventions were achieved as I followed them in my own pre lim task by creatively filming these shot types for example a person walking through a door and a conversation being filmed using the conventions. This allowed me to adopt the idea of these conventions to create a flow.

For my horror film opening I looked at previous horror film openings that already existed in the media industry. To establish these conventions I made a powerpoint presentation showing my main influences. The first horror film opening I looked at was Cabin in the woods and I found that the main convention that was shown was the location. This convention was the stereotypical location of a woods  and I followed as my main influences for the choice of location was cabin in the woods as the location that I had filmed was a park surrounded by a woods. Therefore I followed this convention as I filmed at a park surrounded by a woods. However this convention was followed to an extent but also challenged as I used a park which was very different a

Collective Identity

What does it mean?
It means the individual sense of belonging to a group, the idea that is through participating in social activities, in this case film and television- individuals can gain a sense of belonging and in essence an identity that transcends that individual.

Media representations
Stereotypes are always about the power, those with power stereotype these with less power (Dyer 1979) - youths the identity has been made by a group that have more power- the media.

Mediation 
The media don't not just offer use a transparent window on the world but a mediated version of the world, They don't just present reality they re-present it (David Buckingham)

Gramsci's theory of hegemony 
much of the media is controlled by a dominant group in society and the viewpoints assoicated with this group inevitably become embedded in the product.
Hegemony is a representational strategy of power.

Anthony Giddens (1991)- self experiences
Claims that mediated experiences make us reflect upon and re think our own self narrative in relation to others. That we are free to create ourselves however we want to do but also at the same time its constrained by the issues given to us by the media as they can define the way we think.

'The self is not something we are born with, and its not fixed.
Instead the self is reflexively made- thoughtfully constructed by the individual the life style we chose.

Gauntlett (2002)
The idea of role models by thinking of their own identity, attitudes, behaviour and lifestyle and relate this to a media figure. Role models aren't someone they cpu but someone they navigate several choices from.
'I don't believe that experts can have the final word about representations'. This means that a representation isn't worth anything until it gets into the mind of an audience.

Ideology- a value that are embedded in the media
Dominant ideology- these are the ideologies that are accepted by the majority of the norm in society for example the dominant ideology in youth is that they should all be under control because they are out of control for example the London riots.

Pluralism 
Says that the media is diverse with a wide range of available choice.

Essay plan- Collective identity.

Analyse in different ways in which one group of people are mediated.

Introduction- What is mediation? mediation is the process in which three stages have to be done to mediate the media product before it is shown to an audience. They are to select, organise and focus which makes the media product no longer real.

The theorist I will include in the introduction are- The idea of mediation is evident from the theorist (David Buckingham) who said 'The media don't not just offer use a transparent window on the world but a mediated version of the world, They don't just present reality they re-present it'.

Then say that the group I will be focusing on is youth and the way they are portrayed through the influence of media.

Paragraph 1- Begin with the theorist Gramsci- much of the media is controlled by a dominant group in society and the viewpoints associated with this group inevitably become embedded in the product. This theory is all about hegemony and that it is a strategy of power. Use examples of historical- This is England, quadraphenia  and contemporary films- Ill manors and Sket. Explain the representations of these and how they are all seen as very deviant through violence and disrespect their elders. This portrays a dominant ideology through all these films that youths need to be controlled. These representations have been shown through shot types that have been mediated.

Paragraph 2-  Link the idea of the dominant ideology of the youths needing to be controlled by the theorist Giroux who says that youths are an empty category which is represented through middle aged men therefore they create the identity of them and sensationalise it so much that the audience will believe it. Use examples above representing negative representations.

Paragraph 3- However the media can represent youths to be positive use examples from the young apprentice. Also say that even though the youth are represented to be very ambitious, intelligent and strong minded the program has still be mediated to show the adults to be a higher status. In contrast with this a negative representation of the youths in the Sky news report the London riots. Explain how this news report has been mediated for example the shot types are selected as they are from the police officers view therefore emphasising the youths behaviour.

Paragraph 4- Collective identity means an individual having a sense of belonging this links with the theorists Tajfel and Turner saying that youths are represented through social identity and this is measured through categories. Use examples of the skin head in This is England, Hoodies in the London riots and Ill-manors, mod and rockers in quadraphenia. Also how these categories can have consequences of the competition for example the mods and rockers not getting along.

Paragraph 5- Cohen- moral panic and state that it originated in the rock n roll era with the mods and rockers having a negative affect on each other and society.

Paragraph 6- Self representation-

1a) Media texts

My AS media production group produced a film opening entitled 'Scarlett'. This opening focused on the idea of a protagonist doll possessing a group of teenagers who thinks she's a myth. This opening is located in a park surrounded by a woods to expose vulnerability of children. Where as in my A2 coursework media production focused on two adverts advertising sportswear with the company I created 'Adics sport' along with a sponsorship and online pop up. In this project I wanted to be more creative with my construction linking this to influences I had gained. In both years 'media texts' was a key process in learning new skills and developing.

The importance of media texts from both my coursework projects was that the media texts that already exist follow a set of conventions that conform to particular genres. These conventions are very important as it builds a relationship with the audience and allows them to consume a film with ease as they know what to expect. For example a convention for the genre horror is gory scenes therefore when a person is paying to watch a horror they know this will be included.

To complete this successfully in my own work I had to identify the convention for my first year AS horror film openings. These were the narrative, props, locations, sound and characters. Firstly from completing the research task of creating a presentation from the software Microsoft powerpoint establishing the conventions of genre I came to a conclusion in my planning what ones I will use. However prior to this I had created a main influences presentation on the software Microsoft powerpoint where I researched a variety of film openings on Youtube. This allowed me to get a better understanding of what the most popular conventions are used and how affective each one is.

Firstly the convention of the narrative theorist Todorov was used in the films 'Cabin in the woods', 'Woman in black' and 'Sinister'. I incorporated this theory into my film opening conforming to this convention. This is because the narrative is very straight forward and has been proven to be very affective as its used in even more examples than I looked at. I used this convention in the following way as I began with the teenagers hanging around in a park having a conversation about the horror stories they have heard. The atmosphere was very chilled and this was shown with the straight cuts and longer lengthen shots to create an equilibrium through the ease in the mood. Furthermore I then chose to construct and edit a flash back this was shot at night time using the technical button 'night vision' this gave the dis-equilibrium a haunting and frightening atmosphere. I also directed the character 'Riley' to act as if she is trapped and isolated from her friends by screaming for help and crying for panic. Behind her was 'Scarlett' the doll singing in her ear 'Ring a roses' the nursery rhyme and giggling. The shots were very fast paced and jumped from each character through close up shots and camera movements of zooming. The last stage forming a new equilibrium was bringing the opening back to normal time where the teenagers were again hanging around in the park and laughing off that they don't believe the rumours that they have all said previously. I feel that by using the theorist todorov made my planning for shots much easier as it gave me a standard layout of how the film opening was going to be shot and edited.

Another convention that I conformed to was the location that I shot the horror film opening. From previously researching into main influences the locations that I found were in 'Cabin in the woods' the woods was the main location, in 'Chucky' a haunted mansion with woodlands surrounding it was the main location and in 'Woman in black' a victorian mansion was the main location. Therefore to make a successful film opening I decided to shoot with woods surrounding in the location as this showed my influences that I had researched I followed as it created a creepy affect. However to challenge this convention I chose to mainly film in a park. The reason I decided to challenge this is because it exposed vulnerbaility of the nature of a children's park and created it to be a very scary and frightening place to go play at. I showed this location through the shot types of a pan shot as this established the location before the action had began to happen. This was a main convention that was shown in all my influences I looked at and the basic establishing shot was one the of the first shots that I learnt in AS therefore the framing for this shot was very familiar to me.

In addition another convention that I was influenced by from media texts that already exist was the characters. The media texts that I looked at was in 'Sinister' the victim of the opening was a child and his mother who was a female and in 'Woman in black' the victim were children. Therefore the teenagers that I used in my horror film opening conformed to this as they were seen a victimised in the horror film. This was highlighted mostly in the flash back with the teenager 'Riley' and all of her friends missing. This identifies the enigma code of where are they? have they been killed? or are they isolated from Riley?. This shows a code that I have used in my horror film opening that was influenced from media texts that I have looked at. Furthermore in the horror film opening 'Woman in black' the 'bad character' was a female and I found this very affective. Therefore by making 'Scarlett' the doll a female shows my influence from this media text and how the conventions of my characters were followed.

In year 13 for my A2 coursework I had constructed and edited two adverts advertising sportswear, a sponsorship and online pop up. To do this I had to identify a number of key conventions that the genre of sports adverts contained. These were semiotics, narrative, location, shot types. Firstly the extent in which I conformed the narrative of sportswear adverts was a lot. This is because from researching on youtube media texts the narrative that was used in the Nike, Adidas and Asics all have an irregular structures that don't conform to a particular theorist as the shots were very random and appeared in a fast and explosive pace to grab the attention of their target audiences. Therefore in both my adverts I followed this irregular structure and focused on the framing of the shots to advertise the sportswear in the best possible way. This was done by a variety of close ups, medium shots, repetition of shots, zooming and slow motion. These shots were all placed in the order in which it flowed best and showed a more striking view on the sportswear.

I also decided to conform to the locations of sportswear adverts and this is because the media texts that influenced my extent of conforming to this

1a) Post production

1a) Research and planning

1a) Creativity

Introduction- Creativity is the ' making of the new and the rearranging of the old' (Bentley) this means that creativity in media products challenge the conventions however replicate conventions that already exist to further the knowledge of them. The products that I created was in AS as a production group I created a horror film opening and in A2 I created an online pop up, sponsorship and two adverts advertising sportswear. I feel that my response to being creative began through being influenced by social and cultural backgrounds as well as media products that already exists. This aloud me to expand from the boundaries of the social norm as well as conforming to the norm in my media products.

Paragraph , 2,3,4,5- pick up a skill area that was used in AS and explain how I illustrated this skill. Then develop this and state how I improved this skill or developed it in A2. For example did I use a more advanced software in the second year or more advanced skills and link this back to my creative product being constructed.

My AS brief was to create a film opening of the genre of my choice. The first creative decision that I made was choosing the genre horror. I chose this because I feel that this genre would encourage my creativity skills more as the conventions attached to this genre were already in my knowledge from the use of screaming, blood, haunting woods, the narrative of todorov and the vulnerability of women and children especially.

Firstly I feel that the narrative was a creative decision that was expanded through the use of the digital video camera and the digital software premiere pro. This is because I chose to follow Todorov's theory of equilibrium's this is because this narrative was shown in every horror filming opening that I watched for example Cabin in the woods. Therefore the narrative was seen to be very effective in the genre horror and by a lot of horror film openings showing this allowed my knowledge of the how to present and structure this much simpler. The technology used to film this was the digital video camera and I feel that this technology did enhance my creativity because it allowed me to use a variety of different camera shots and angles to establish the narrative better. For example at the beginning of the opening where there is an established equilibrium shown I used establishing shots, master shots and medium long shots to show the settled and calm vibe between the teenagers showing clearly them socialising and drinking in a park. Furthermore to show the transition between the equilibrium and the disruption of the equilibrium the camera shots were shown at a faster pace and the shots were close up, medium shots and medium close ups that showed a variety of angles to express a panic in the situation and no escape for the main protagonist trapped. In addition the stylistic techniques that I used to show more creativity was applied from the digital software premiere pro this was because I used the techniques of the razor tool, dip and fade to black. The razor tool enhanced my creativity as it allowed an individual shot to have parts removed to speed up the action as well as dip to black transitions to be made to create an haunting feel to the shots. Furthermore premiere pro also allowed me to organise my shots in the order that I specifically wanted it. This then allowed me to demonstrate the flash back that I had shot and to adjust the levels of the shots to show the contrast between the flash back and real life.  I feel that these skills used with the digital camera and premiere pro software related to the vision of identity because it allowed the identity of the character 'Riley' to be seen as the vulnerable female who is scared and weak through out the film opening which shows me conforming to the original stereotype which is shown in horror film openings that already exist in the media.

Another skill area that I feel enhanced my creativity shown was the sound. This is because the sound was produced through the technology of the digital mike which allowed the sound being said to not have any distractions in the background and to make the voice sound very clear and projective as possible. The sound that I chose to incorporate in my film opening is the sound of screaming, the nursery rhyme 'Ring a roses', 'ready or not hear I come' and general conversation between the teenagers about the horror rumour they had heard. The sound was upload through the digital software iTunes and then dragged onto the software premiere pro where my film opening was being constructed. I feel that the technology premiere pro enhanced my creativity as it allowed the nursery rhyme of 'ring a rose' to be voiced over while action was being presented on screen to create a haunting feel and to also show the vulnerability of a childrens song being exposed to evil. During this creative construction I feel that an obstacle was highlighted this is because the sounds were recorded separate to the filming therefore I found it a struggle to fit the sound to the voice movements in the horror film opening. Therefore I had to adjust the speed and pace of the sound to attempt to make them work.

1a) Digital Technology

Digital technologies that I have used for both my film opening and adverts:

• Adobe photoshop
• microsoft word/ powerpoint
• You tube
• Slide share
• Digital video camera
• studio camera
• web 2.0 (internet)
• premiere pro
• prezi
• blogger

What were the technical pro's and cons of the hardware/software?

Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop was a very important software that I needed for both AS and A2. The pro's of photoshop was that it allowed me to edit professionaly a film opening name for my as and a company logo for my a2. The resources that I used were to begin with the editing resource 'T' this was to apply text which was then styled with a font type, variety of colours and sizing. This aloud me to manipulate my company logo to be specifically aimed at a female audience as well as the film opening name 'Scarlett' to conform to the genre of horror and fit in well with this theme. 

I also used photoshop for my online pop up in my a2 coursework. The benefit of using photoshop was that I could create a pop up that was very similar to the inspiration of real pop ups that already exist in the media. To begin with I created a new canvas and used the custom shapes tool using a square to directly show where the text and image will be shown. I then experimented with different fonts, colours and sizes to aim for a bold and eye catching outcome to attract my target audience of females. The photograph that I took on the hardware of a digital studio camera was carefully cut out using the lasso tool and dragged into the popup allowing the background to be removed. I used the curves and levels to brighten the photograph and allow the vibrant colours in the sportswear to be enhanced. I feel that due to my advantage of already using this technology in photography the tools I used I was already familiar with therefore the aim of making my online pop up very striking was easier than expected. In this pop up I also incorporated my company logo that I had already made previously to this task this was re sized to fit in the space I had required for it using the custom shapes and made very large so that the audience instantly become aware of my company to build its popularity. 

Microsoft word/ powerpoint 

The digital softwares Microsoft word and powerpoint were used both in my as and a2 coursework. These softwares were used to present my research, planning and evaluations in a professional lay out. Both these softwares allowed me to insert images to my work to show evidence of what I have written and to illustrate my points. For example in as I created a powerpoint of the main influences of our horror film opening and by inserting images of sections of the films that were most influential for example title's, camera angles, locations allowed myself to reflect on visual inspiration if me and my production group needed ideas to develop. I also could insert youtube horror film openings from the digital site You tube and apply them using the digital software slide share which was a very simple and fast process. Furthermore in A2 I used both these digital softwares more frequently as it was a successful way to present my work in the first year. I used both word and powerpoint in the majority of my work and one in particular I used both these softwares for my two of my evaluations this is because of there was enough space to allow me to write all I needed and to show my creativity in both my including a running background theme through out as well as different fonts and images to make my answers appear more interesting to look at and read.

Youtube

This was one of the main digital sites that I used and to access this was through the web 2.0. I used You tube for both my as and a2 projects. I accessed film openings, sponsorships and sports adverts that already existed in the media industry to research what conventions were used and how I could use them in my own work to conform or challenge them. In my as coursework I looked at 3 main horror film openings Chucky, Sinister and Cabin in the woods which gave me an insight into the structure of the narrative to allow myself to gain a starting point for the storyline of my horror film opening. The skill of researching on You tube was developed in my a2 and this digital site I relied on a lot more when researching ideas this is because in every circumstance I always referred back to You tube. For example          when creating my story board I had referred back to youtube to recap on the popular camera shots that were used in sports adverts to make sure my story board was correctly showing this. 

You tube was also where I had uploaded both my horror film opening, sponsorship and two adverts to this then allowed me to upload it to my blog. This indicates how important this digital software was as it  was included in the process of uploading my main tasks.

Digital video camera

This digital hardware was the most important aspect of both my projects as this was the resource that allowed me to get the resultant footage that I needed to then edit my tasks. In as was the first time that I had created my own film opening therefore the use of the digital video camera was very important. Before I could film my horror film opening a lot of practise was needed to make sure each individual shot was as sleek and accurately composed as possible. Therefore by establishing the camera shots I needed to use from looking at horror film openings that already exist on the digital software You tube I had then gone out several times and practised these shots. Where as in A2 the filming was already in my knowledge of how to use the camera and how to compose the shots therefore even though I had still used the digital camera to practise the shots the idea behind this was more to see if it works well in the fast paced adverts that I was constructing.

Premiere pro

This digital software was used in both my as and a2 coursework and was introduced to me in as therefore in my as coursework the skills that I had learnt was developed in a2 when I discovered I could do a lot more. For example in as to edit my horror film opening I used the razor tool to separate the clips  of the teenagers walking towards the park to speed up the pace of their walk. I also used the transitions of dip to black and fade to black to create a dark and haunting feel to the shots. Where as in a2 I used these techniques as well as using speed and pace to create a range of speed in the actions shots, as well as creating a layer to adjust the curves and levels of all the shots and creating one individual shot two and three times to see the same shot repeated to show more creativity in my work using premiere pro. 

  What were the technical pros and cons of the hardware/software?

In what ways was technology used to create the production?

In what ways did the technology constrain or enable the production?

Discuss how one or more groups are represented in the media

In the media everything has to be mediated to meet the time requirements that they have been given. This means that anything that has passed through mediation has been carefully selected, organised and then has a focus to them. By mediation taking place shows that anything that is shown in the media is not normal or natural it has been coined to gain a large audience's attention. The first stage of mediation is the selection this is where the gate keeper selects the parts that he or she feels will shock, entertain, scare or interest the audience the most. For example a news report that I recently watched about the London riots had been carefully selected where the camera was from the police officers perspective representing the youths as very violent and intimidating this then creates a moral panic that all youths are overpowering in dominance. Furthermore the organisation stage is where the individual shots are organised to get your attention better and by the third stage of focus simply putting the media source in front of you by gaining screen time will allow you to actively participate.

The idea of hegemony is shown where one class has more authority than another therefore by the middle class producing the media shows how they are in control of what representations are shown. This means that the youth are the weaker class as they have no control how the media portray them. This representation is known as intentional as the middle class are forming their own opinion on youths through films, documentaries and news reports. Examples of this are firstly the historical film 'This is England' produced in 2006. The representation of youths is shown through out this is because the producer has represented them as prioritising their appearance this is shown through the group 'Skin heads' where the boys all have their hair shaven and they wear ben Sherman shirts with thick laced boots. The idea of the youths all dressed the same way gives them a sense of belonging. This is one of the reasons why Shaun the younger youth wanted to dress exactly like them so badly this is because this gave him a uniform and sense of belonging.

Comparison between 'This is England' and 'Young Apprentice series 3'

The representations of youths in 'This is England' and 'The young apprentice' was very different this is because:

• In This is England the race of the youth in woody's gang was very isolated and the adults especially had a very negative opinion on him and his background where as in the youth apprentice the ethnicity of the boy and girl was admired and they were treated as equal as the others in the program.
• In the young apprentice the youth was represented as very high class and the location in London that the program was filmed, the cars they travelled in, the well dressed outfits and the board room gave an overall view for youths that money is the goal in life. Where as in This is England the location up north was typical working class streets the location wasn't wealthy looking, corner shops were shown. A similarity between the youth represented in This is England and The London riots on sky news is 'gangs' are seen as stealing and being represented as intimidating when being violent. This could be because a representation of youth not seeing a future for themselves makes them feel that anything they do they have nothing to lose. This is a recurring theme in all the sources I have looked at for example Ill manors with the drug dealing as well.
• In This is England the leader at the time 'Margaret Fatcher' had classed the soldiers as 'Our boys'. One of the main characters Combo had tried to form a gang being influenced by this of the youths and called them his 'troops' this shows that youths are reliant on having a sense of belonging and needing each other. Where as in the Young apprentice the groups that are formed are very aware that they are doing everything for themselves and are very strong minded especially in the board room selling themselves. This shows a representation of youths in two different ways. This also exaggerates the idea of an in group and out group where Combo's 'troops' are the 'in group' and the ethnicity are the 'out group'. This is also shown in the young apprentice where the 'ungroup' are the successful group and the individual that is fired is classed as the 'out group' this is a common theme that the sense of belonging is very important to youths. 
• The representation of youths prioritising their appearance and their fashion of what they wear. This shows youths as very self conscious and the idea of all having the same style allows them to fit in. Examples of this is quadraphenia 'mods and rockers' This is England 'Skin heads' The young apprentice 'Smartly dressed'.
• In the Sky News report of the rioting the male youths who did not want to be seen on camera when expressing their voice the camera men made them cover themselves up. This made their appearance look more intimidating where as the rioting report that was shown as very unprofessional with the use of the shaky hand camera and mistakes that had not been taken out did not show the youth. This shows a representation of the youths voice being heard not there looks being judged before they speak.
• The idea of a recurring theme of the representation of youths wanting a voice shows the idea of self representation as the opinions they express says a lot about them. For example in the London riots when the youths said 

Cohen's theory (1987) about the moral panic and how moral panic causes a worried and anxious society reflects the London riots this is because through the selection of mediation the dominant middle class have chosen to organise specific clips of the youth from the police force's point of view. This had been done my camera angles behind the police and by over reporting this issue streaming it every where to create a panic and threat of youths to society. The representation that they have made show youths as very violent and out of control as they are vandalising a police car. These representation link with the argument that Cohen has made relating to the 'Folk devils' stereotyping the youths to be danger  towards the general public.

In addition in the histroical film 'Qdadraphenia' youths are also represented in a negative way 

Analyse media representations question

Analyse media representations in one of your coursework productions.

In my horror film opening the term 'Mediation' was used as the three key points that expand from mediation are: selection, organisation and focusing. The idea of selection is where in the media industry for example a photo shoot the selected photographs published in a magazine were chosen for a reason and the others weren't chosen fro a reason. In my horror film opening the specific clips that were chosen were chosen because they highlighted the representations and stereotypes more and allowed the audience to see these clearer. For example a medium close up shot of the teenage male and female looking into each others eyes in love was chosen. This is because teenagers are represented to be obsessed with the opposite gender and making this a priority over other more important things. Therefore the representation of this was shown in the clip to show the stereotype being conformed to. Another example would be a close up of the female character 'Riley' screaming in fear. This shot was chosen through mediation because the shot best enhanced and exaggerated the representation of women being very vulnerable and weak as one of the conventions of the genre horror is the women to play the character of the victim to show them being overpowered. Furthermore several shots weren't used because they were either blurry or they didn't best show the representation that I wanted to put across to the audience.

Secondly the whole of the horror film opening was organised in a way that would create a very unsettled atmosphere and would make the audience want to carry on watching. This was shown through the mise-en-scene and the narrative. Firstly the mise-en-scene of the lighting being very natural and calming to begin with and to end with however during the flash back in the middle was very dark and sinister shows how the clips were organised following the narrative theorist 'Todorov'. This was to represent his equilibrium theory through out. The disruption of the equilibrium is highlighted through the change of lighting and this enhances the audiences attention in many ways as it changes the atmosphere completely. In addition this was also chosen to be done as it allowed the audience to focus on the 'Villain' in this film opening as the zooming in and close up shots of her were shown in the flash back making her the main focus of the clip. This also highlighted the representation of the theme of evil that is one of horror's main conventions.

In my film opening I used the reflective view of representation this is because in previous research and planning I had focused mine on previous horror film openings that already exist. By doing this I had found the representations used in horror and how they are used. Therefore reflecting this in my own planning and construction to show to my audience the most accurate horror film opening that is following codes and conventions of horror very well. For example the media represent teenagers as very low class, smoking, drinking, wearing hoodies and very rebellious. This is because of the media is made by adults and they have this representation on teenagers therefore showing it in a lot of films made. This shows how they have made an opinion on them to be very out of control and as an individual (part of the audience) watching this it is then your decision whether to believe this or not. Therefore a conclusion is made on your position for example I am a teenager therefore I would not agree with this representation.

Narrative question

Apply theorists of narrative into your coursework.

For my coursework that I constructed in my first year me and my group created a film opening. We as a production group decided to choose the genre horror. This is because the genre horror has a lot of sub genres which made our film opening easier to create as the ideas are endless. We also chose this genre as we had a clear narrative that we could use to fit in with the horror film openings that already exist. The narrative behind our horror film opening was a flash back to a nightmare.
Furthermore to make sure that I engage my target audience and make the film opening very interesting we decided to follow the narrative theorist 'Todorov'.We done this by showing the three stages which are: equilibrium, a disruption and a new equilibrium however if we would of made the rest of the film this narrative would have been shown much clearer and easier. To begin with we showed the equilibrium through a number of long shots and medium shots of the teenagers 'hanging out' in the park drinking and smoking which is conforming to the teenage stereotype this was a very chilled atmosphere which allowed the disruption to be exaggerated and made clearer to the audience. This was because the disruption was shown in the flash back. This was filmed in the late evening therefore having to use the night vision option on the digital video camera this made the effect of the clips very sinister and highlighted the fact that the disruption was being shown. The disruption included the audio of screaming and the nursery rhyme sang by Scarlet the doll. The aim of the disruption was to take away the innocence of the park and create an atmosphere that is showing the doll haunting the vulnerable teenager. Lastly the new equilibrium was a flash forward back to the teenagers hanging out in the park comforting each other that the park was not haunted. These clips were very unsettled showing the situation not yet fixed.

To make sure that the narrative was correctly followed we as a production group followed specific conventions they were: fade to blacks, a innocent location surrounded by woods, vulnerable children/females, dark lighting, fast cuts and an unsettled atmosphere.

Furthermore expanding on the point above about using the characters of 'teenagers' to conform to their stereotype allowed the narrative to be shown even clearer. However we also challenged stereotypes as we made a female woman the main character this is not following the conventions of the characters in horror films. This is because women are normally the victims as they are seen to be vulnerable and weak. By challenging the stereotype allowed our narrative to stand out and show a twist in the story line.We also developed the narrative by using a flash back. This made the narrative very tense and exciting as it gave short flash backs on the evil in the doll 'Scarlett' and showing reaction shots of the teenagers which make the audience want to carry on watching which was our aim.

Lastly even though the narrative theorist's 'Todorov' was our main influence in our film opening we also applied the theorist 'Propp' to the film opening. This is because the theorist Propp created the idea of having character types when he was analyzing a fairy tale. Therefore in our film opening we followed the structure of a Hero and  Villain shown in the flash back between Scarlet the doll and the teenager Riley.

Digital technology question (1a)

Describe the ways in which your project work was aided by your use of digital technology and how your ability to use digital technology developed over time.

What they mean is to cover both your AS year and A2 year. Include research and planning as well as construction in  our answer, and do not forget to state what products you are talking about.

Digital technology has become a very important part of film making and the way it has advanced has allowed the three stages of research, planning and construction to be easier and more accessible. 
By studying media studies with my own practical productions I have developed my skills using different digital technologies which has given me more creative decisions.

The first digital technology that I have developed my skills through is the        video camera. This has been the first technology that allowed my skills to advance. This is because the camera held hours of footage that I had shot to give me several times to make sure each individual shot i was filming was as accurate and framed correctly to get the best film opening/ advertisements which I done in as and a2. The size of the camera was also very compacted and by using a stable tripod allowed me to get sleek tilt shots for example in my advert for sportswear. This shows the audience the whole outfit to give them a feel of the outfit in motion. 
In the planning stage of my film opening in AS by going to similar locations and practicing the different shots using the digital camera allowed myself to get more familiar with using the zoom button to get an even speed and to keep on working on the pan and tilt movements to get them as precise as possible. After this still in the planning stage I edited these clips on premiere pro. This allowed me to get a feel of the site and to watch on web 2.0 on the well known site 'YouTube' to gain editing skills and short cuts that could increase my creativity for my film opening. Premiere pro was the main technology that I edited both my horror film opening and sportswear adverts on. From a lot of research from the web 2.0 I had gained the knowledge also of different technologies fro example 'Live type' which as a class we watched several you tube clips to know exactly how to create titles that would best fit for our genre which was horror for me. 
As my production group all decided on a horror film opening as part of the construction we had filmed parts of the film opening in the dark. This meant that we had to research how to make sure the lighting on the digital camera was allowing the actors/actresses and the location to be visible. Without the research of the night vision button it wouldn't of gave us more control on the effects we wanted in our film opening.
From using the digital camera to researching on the web 2.0 and YouTube to gain more skills for the editing process allowed the technology sites premiere pro and live type to be much easier to use. These all aided my skills to be much better for my A2 work.
Editing in my opinion was the most enjoyable out of all the stages of filming this was because it allowed me to use technology that advanced my creative thinking. This is because by doing a level media allowed my teacher to introduce me to premiere pro. By using the technology premiere pro in both a level years I feel massively developed as it made me more of a flexible editor. One part of the editing that I found very challenging was the sound. The sound was produced from the digital technology the microphone. To make sure the sound was equal to the actors/actresses lip movements was very hard. However by focusing on each individual one and increasing/decreasing the pace and volume on premiere pro made this process easier. Furthermore by also applying an echo to the sound made the sound much more creepier to fit the genre of horror.
When critiquing my own work I would have to say that sound was a downfall in our film opening this is because of using the digital microphone for the first time without as much research into as the actual digital camera. However from my teachers help and online tutorials on the web 2.0 made this down fall not as unsuccessful as I thought it would be. From this experience in my first year when filming my sponsorship in the second year which needed sound I made sure that the sound was produced in a studio to avoid any distracted noises. Also from the first year I had already known the best way to dub the sound which made my sponsorship sound a lot easier to edit.