Question 1A

A good understanding of conventions of real media texts played a pivotal role in both my foundation portfolio by creating an opening sequence for a horror film and in my advanced portfolio by creating a horror movie teaser trailer.

Studying real media texts gave me conventional ideas on what to include in my own production. Costume were a key point in AS but it did not go to how we planned.  When it came to costumes and props we used a teacher dressed in casual clothes. The girl had nothing special about her and they were both plainly clothed. Being re introduced to them we see the girl has changed her hair and the teacher has changed his clothes to show he has actually changed his attire for a reason. This confuses the audience in why he actually did this. This was done to show a space in time on the opening sequence.

In A2 I done more research on costume, how the character fits with the costume, body posture and body language. We used stereo typical teenage boys to relate to the target audience. The typical cap, shirt, jeans and trainers were what we chose to keep our characters wearing.

In AS I made a opening sequence to a film, the way our film opened, the audience would know straight away what would happen. The effects make it visible that the man Is the killer/kidnapper. We tried not to make it complicated as it is only a opening sequence. When the soundtrack is introduced we notice that you become more interested in the film. This worked on the audience we showed our film to. it started off with the girl leaving college and the teacher slowly following. Progressing in A2 made me realise some of the creativity could have been expanded. 

In A2 i made a teaser trailer.Teaser trailers are made using various fast shots to build the tension in the audience. This is done to stay within the generic codes and conventions of teaser trailers. We had to create a 30-90 second teaser trailer, using the generic conventions of fast paced shots, soundtrack, dark settings but not too dark.

Overall my skills developed as I done more research into real media texts which enabled me to be creative in my ideas................

Strauss Binary Opposition

Binary opposition helps you understand how ideas and meanings are being shaped, created or reinforced in a text. They realised that words merely act as symbols for society's ideas and that the meaning of words, therefore, was a relationship rather than a fixed thing: a relationship between opposing ideas. For example, our understanding of the word 'coward' surely depends on the difference between that word and its opposing idea, that of a 'hero' Other oppositions that should help you understand the idea are the youth/age binary, the masculinity/femininity, the good/evil binary, and so on.

 

Barthes and Levi-Strauss noticed another important feature of these 'binary opposites': that one side of the binary pair is always seen by a particular society or culture as more valued over the other. Recognising such binaries can open up the ideas the writer is trying to express. Look out for these oppositions as they can allow a deep understanding of what is happening in the text as well as alerting you to the 'big picture' - what it is all about.

Narrative

Narrative

Conventions of Narrative
>Genre
>Character
>Form
>Time
Narrative and Genre
Narrative structure is one way of defining genre
Example
A man meets woman
There is a spark of attraction
Something prevents them from being together
Something happens between them

Narrative and Characters
Vladimir Propp identified 8 character types who keep recurring in narratives( he used folk tales to analyse these) he said people understand narratives in terms of these characters.
Example: Lord Of The Rings
>The Villain- Salron
>The Hero- Frodo Baggins
>The Donor- White Witch
>The Helper- Gangi
>The Princess- The Ring
>Her Father Who Rewards TheHero
>The Dispatcher- Gandalf^^
>The False Hero- Gollom

Narrative and Form
Form refers to the type in a wider context than genre
First Person ( I , Me )
Third Person ( You, They )
Open Narrative ( Soap Operas )
Closed Narrative ( Hollywood Film)
Linear / Non Linear
Mode Of Address- how the text speaks to it audience
Narrative And Time
There are various ways of manipulation narrative (Diegetic) time:
Flashbacks
Dream Sequences
Repetition
Different Characters POV
Flash Forwards
Ellipsis

Narrative and Ideology
Ideology is a set of ideas or beliefs, often of fundamental aspects of society
Most films adhere to rather than challenge dominant ideology
Theorists
Toderov- Structure
Propp- Characters
Strauss- Binary Opposites
Syd Field- Three Act Structure
Barthes- Narrative Codes
Freytag- Structure

Exam Intro

In the G325 exam I will be answering three questions in total.  Question 1a will ask us on how the skills we have acquired since the start of the AS course till the end of the A2 year and refer to both coursework pieces. The question will be on one or two of the following things:

v  Digital Technology ( iMacs, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, etc)

v  Creativity ( this is generally to see how easy you came up with your idea)

v  Research and Planning ( what opening sequences I analysed etc)

v  Post Production ( Editing, Photoshop , Final Cut Pro, Etc)

v  Using conventions of real media texts ( what conventions did I use etc)

Question 1b will be the theoretical evaluation of one of my coursework productions. I will be asked to analyse either my AS opening sequence or my A2 teaser trailer. This is also done through one of the following concepts:

v  Genre

v  Narrative

v  Representation

v  Audience

v  Media Language.

In Question 2 it is based on the topic of Media in the Online Age. This includes the following:

v  How has online media developed

v  What has been the impact of the internet on media production

v  How is consumer behaviour and audience response transformed by online media, in relation to the past

v  To what extent has convergence transformed the media

I am studying film and music and will use them both in the exam.