PLANNING: Shot List

This is my shot list for all of the shot type and locations that I need to film during half term, as this is what is missing from my trailer at the moment.

EDITING: Starting the Editing Process

These are the 'rushes' - unedited footage - which I filmed in my first location. The next stage is to pick which 'rushes' I will edit and use in my trailer.

These are the 'rushes' that I have selected to use in my trailer. It is still in its unedited form and is not in any order.

This is a screenshot of my Imovie screen so far. It shows that I have started to pick the shots that I like out of all of my footage. These 'rushes' can be seen in the above clip.

RESEARCH: Focus Group

PRODUCTION: Storyboard

PLANNING: What We Did In Class Today

Today in class we revised what things we should add to our blog in order to keep it up to date. I also made a To Do List of things to research and blog posts to upload. We then went on to discuss film trailers and images for our print based media.

As a class we then looked at the Examiner's report for June 2012 in order to find out what could be improved upon this year. It also enabled us to discover what had been constructed well.

Below is what the Examiner's report said about Film Trailers:

"The best film trailers clearly demonstrated excellent understanding of the genre and the ways the texts work to intrigue audiences and entice them to watch the whole film. These made use of a variety of shot types which made for effectively paced trailers in the edit; centres seem to have finally realised that a trailer should be maximum two minutes and should try to act as a tease for the film’s story. More candidates made use of intertitles and did this well but there was a marked lack of voice overs for trailers (although this might be down to issues of equipment). However, far too many trailers submitted followed the narrative sequence of the film they were promoting, including giving away major plot points or twists, and used few camera shots with little variety of shot types and mise-en-scene, which demonstrated weak understanding of the genre. In these cases, more focused analytical research would have been more beneficial prior to the planning stage." 

Below is what the Examiner's report said about the construction of the main tasks:

"Lighting was an issue for many centres; sound recording on video a problem for others. Such issues either need to be addressed or other briefs chosen in order to maximise candidate marks. Expensive equipment isn’t necessary in that research properly applied to planning combined with technical confidence generally results in pleasing outcomes. However, the move to DSLRs is bringing with it a new aesthetic, with candidates less likely to move the camera (the more unforgiving depth of field perhaps being the reason?) but experimenting much more with focus, resulting in pieces which made greater use of the foreground and background as well as the left/right top/bottom of the frame. A number of centres are still carrying out their production work in the school/ college surroundings, when it is not appropriate for the mise en scène. The availability of locations should also be considered in choosing production tasks." 

RESEARCH: Concept - Media Language

From this lesson I have learnt about Semi-otics, which is the study of signs. I also learnt about how denotations is what you see in the picture or frame but the word conotation relates to what is actually happening. In film media langauge defined by how the camera, editing, sound and mise-en-scene all create meaning. However, for printed media the language is defined by fonts, layout, the combination of text and images and the actual words used all create meaning.

Useful Theorists
Roland Barthes
Bordwelland Thompson



This is a clip that was shown in class about how media langauage can be applied to our own films. For instance the choice of editing can can make our footage smoother and connote  meaning.

RESEARCH: Concept - Audience

Audience is an important concept throughout different types of media, as every media product needs an audience. When planning and constructing my trailer the target audience should be kept in mind. Also the use of a focus group will help to make sure that my trailer stays on track and will be accepted by the audience.

The Effects Theory
The Effects Theory, otherwise know as the hypodermic needle theory, looks at how media texts influence those who consume them; particularly how negative messages can affect audience groups. This theory was developed in the 1920's and sees the audience as passive, as they play no role in interacting with the media texts.
However, recent theorists see The Effects Theory as outdated and have also identified problems with it. Some see it as underestimating the audience, which has led to the development of complexed theories about active audience participation.

The Uses and Gratification Model
This model identifies how media consumers use the media to gratify their needs. This theory places more focus on the consumer or audience rather than the actual message of the media text. It assumes that the audience is not passive but instead takes an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives.
Theorists Blumler and Katz state that there are five main reasons why audiences consume media texts:

1. To be informed or educated.
2. To identify with characters or situations.
3. To be entertained.
4. To enable themselves to be socially interacted with others.
5. To escape from their daily troubles.

The Influence Model

This theory recognises that people respond to other influences who may mediate the message of the media. This theory is researched by Stuart Hall who found that audiences share certain frameworks or interpretation and that they work at decoding media texts within these frameworks.

Stuart Hall proposed three types of audience readings:

1. Dominant - the reader recognises what the text's preferred meaning is and broadly agrees with it.
2. Oppositional - where the dominant meaning is recognised but rejected for cultural or ideological reasons.
3. Negotiated - where the reader accepts, rejects or refines elements of the text in the light of previously held views.

RESEARCH: Concept - Genre

Genre definition - When films are categorized according to there setting, theme topic or mood etc. However, recently sub-genres and hybrids have been created due to a film fitting into more than one category.

Genres were developed as a way of film markers categorising films so that they could traget specific audiences. This means that now audiences expect to see certain conventions within films. The use of genre can also help audiences decide if they are going to like a certain type of film without seeing it, as they know what conventions and things they expect to see. This also helps to aim the film at a specific group of people rather than a mass audience, as that particular target audience is more likely to enjoy it.

This video shows clips from differnt films within a certain genre and how some of the clips can appear twice due to the fact that they are hybrids.

RESEARCH: Concept - Narrative

Propp's Theory
This theory was established by a Russian critic and literacy theorist called Vladimir Propp. He analysed over 100 Russian fairtales in the 1920s and proposed that it is possible to classify the characters and their actions into eight clearly defined roles and functions. Films such as Star Wars fit Propp's model precisely however, more recent films do not.

The eight character roles:

1. The Hero 
2. The Villain
3. The Donor
4. The Dispatcher
5. The False Hero
6. The Helper
7. The Princess
8. Her Father

Todorov's Theory 

This theory suggest that most narratives start with a state of equilibrium in which life is normal and the protagonist is happy. The state of normality is then disrupted by an outside force, which then has to be fought against in order to return to a state of equilibrium. 

Equilibrium - Disequilibium - New Equilibium

Roland Barthes Theory
Barthes is a French semiologist who suggested that narrative works with five different codes, which activate the reader to make sense of it. He also uses the terms denotation and connotation to analyse images.

Codes:

• Action - a narrative device by which a resolution is produced through action.
• Enigma - a narrative device that teases the audience by presenting a puzzle or riddle to be solved.
• Symbolic - connotation
• Semic - denotation
• Cultural - a narrative device which the audience can recognise as being part of a culture.

Levi-Strauss
This theorist examines how stories unconsciously reflect the values, beliefs and myths of a culture. They are usually expressed in the form of binary oppositions.

RESEARCH: Concept - Representation

Representation is the constructed and mediated presentation of people, things and ideas. The media often represents different types of people to the audience in a way which results in the audience feeling like they know what this group of people are like. The audience often takes these representationa for granted, as represenation is the process by which the media presents the 'real world'. 

You can represent:

• Individuals
• Groups
• Places
• Nations
• Ideas
• Regions/Locations

Important questions to ask:

• Who or What is being represented?
• How is the representation created?
• Who has created the representation?
• Why is the represenation created in that way?
• What is the effect of the representation?

Mediation
Meaning is created in the construction of that representation and the combination of all the chioces coming together. Mediation always ends up with the audience being pushed towards concentrating on one aspect of the text and ignoring others.

• Representations as reflections - sometimes represenations are assumed by an audience to simply replicate the real world.
• Represenations as Deliberate Constructions - sometimes representations are seem to be a deliberate attempt to create associations and ideas for the audience.
• The Constructionist Approach - meanings are created by the realtionship between the producers, the text and the audience.

PLANNING: Template Trailer

Using the software Imovie I made a trailer with a template that they had already made. This allowed me to find out about the pace of a trailer along with what type of shots I needed more of. I have also decided to included words in my trailer in order to help the viewer pick up the narrative. Due to the fact that I used a sports trailer it was really fast paced as it included mainly action shots. Therefore when I make my trailer I am going to include longer clips in order to make it less jumpy.



After making a sports trailer using the Imovie template I decided to make a documentary style trailer also using the  same software. This made the pace a lot slower, which is how I want mine to be. It also includes quotes and words relating to this film. As I have planned on doing this in mine it allowed me to see what it would look like and the affect it has. I should also think about incorporating awards which my trailer has won. I like the simplicity of this style of trailer and feel that I should base mine on one similar to this. Also the words help to form a narrative therefore I should think about making a narrative for my trailer.

After making the trailer I have decided that I need to film more close up and medium shots. I should also film some more action shots as well as long shots, as this will give me a variety of shot types and make my trailer more interesting. Both these trailers have made me realise that I need to film in another location.