KTA 5

My media product, Star Wars 8: The Last Jedi has a primarily male audience between the age of 10 and 50. This is because of the overall Sci fi theme throughout the film which can be considered more male friendly. Production technques such as mise en scene, editing work, camera work and sound are used to create apropiate meaing for the stlyle of film.

A action match has been used been used in order to create meaning and help the audiences recognise Star Wars 8 as a Sci fi film. The younger audience members this is recognised as without this specific editing technique they would not feel as excited when this specific scene is happening. In this films case it is the scene when Kylo Ren and Rey begin to fight the red royal guards, as it cuts between Kylo's and Rey's individual battles still happening at the same time. Without this editing techniques details of this iconic battle would not be seen thus creating less excitement for the audience and especially the younger viewers. In this genre of this film is sci fi the use of this editing technique is needed as it is in keeping with the action that is known with this genre. David Bordwell claims 'Any theme may appear in any genre.' In this scene the theme is a thriller theme as there is large amounts of violence however there is a slight romantic theme also as Rey and Kylo work together to defeat the enemies for the first time, This giving the audience a idea that they may be a romance theme between them two.

Mise en scene also is used to create meaning in this media product, most of all is Locations. As throughout the film there is a lot of traveling in space to foreign planets that us humans have never heard before. An example being Finn and Rose go to Canto Bight in search for the Master Codebreaker. Canto Bight is a planet that we do not know and is made up for the purpose of the movie. This foreign planet is in keeping with the sci fi genre as it is made up and supernatural in space, This creates meaning as it helps the audience keep up with story with a change in setting in a classic sci fi way. This is typical for this genre of film. Patrick Phillips claims 'Genre offers audience comfortable and reassurance' This is shown in the film as the people who watch Star Wars a used to foreign planets being explored thus creating a sense of security with the film. This shown in my media product.

Sound both diegetic and non - diegetic are used to create meaning and verisimilitude for example the sound of Kylo Ren's lightsaber and Rey's lightsaber being switched on. This supernatural sound of this weapons are recognised features from other Star Wars films which is in the same genre as this media product this meaning it creates a important meaning as it is recognisable what happens next which is iconic in this genre of film. Throughout the film background music is the same theme and tone throughout the film thus connoting a important scene or a action scene for example the sound when Luke and Kylo fight is increased to create a important meaning for the audience to recognise. Patrick Phillips' theory denoting that this technique gives a pleasure to the audience which this product as it get the audience excited whilst the action unfolds.


Finally the camerawork can create meaning in my product. The establishing shot at the start of the film connotes a continuation from the cliff hanger at the end of the previous film. This shot denotes the location and the slight view of Rey walking up the path to Luke Skywalker. This shot is used to give a nostalgic feel to the last film and is important as it connotes that Luke is at the top of the mountain. This gives the audience a sense of security to the audience because they know where the film will start off and makes them know that the genre of this film is sci fi as it is a continuation of previous film. This links with Patrick Phillips' theory that claims 'Genre offers audience comfortable reassurance' with this establishing shot carrying from the last film this I believe links with this precise theory.

 

LO2 Recap

Traditional advertising methods

• posters
• tv
• newspaper
• radio
• film trailers

new media advertising 

• social media 
• hyperlinks 
• QR codes
• holograms
• youtube adverts
• interactive web adverts
• personalised adverts
• social media personalisation
• pop up ads
• celebrity endorsements
• smart TV adverts

Distribution - How a product gets to a audience(e.g Netflix)

Technological convergence is when technology comes together to provide a service

e.g cameras in phones

impact on distribution - personalisation of marketing, multimedia marketing 

it has had an impact on distribution because we can now stream and download content from video on demand services such as BBC Iplayer and Spotify and Apple Music. 

simulcasting is when a TV show or Radio show is broadcast online at the same time as it airs e.g sports or news

A black dox device is a smartphone

it is linked to the concept of technological convergence because smartphones have multimedia things in it

Above the line advertising  is when a product is advertised to a mass audience using methods that will be widely seen this is a mixture of traditional and new media includes social media campaigns and film trailers

Below the line advertising is when a product is advertised in a 1 to 1 way. It can be individual or small audience. e.g leaflets and flyers, personalised adverting 

LO1 Job Roles in Media

LO1 Recap

An example of a cross media conglomerate is Sony this is because they specialise in creating media products in more than one sector. The sectors they make media products include Sony Music and Sony Pictures.

An example of a independent company is Warp This is because they only specialise in producing films. To make their This is England product successful they had to enter a joint venture with Channel 4 to  distribute the product.  

A vertically integrated company is the conglomerate example 21st century fox this is because its subsidiaries such as Fox News that produce products, subsidiaries such as  sky news can distribute products such as fox entertainment is marketed on which is also owned by this company.

A horizontally integrated company is the conglomerate Disney this is because it has subsidiaries such as Marvel Studios that can market and distribute. An example of a product they produce is Iron Man and is marketed on Disney XD which is owned by the same company.

synergy is when a media product is marketed across a range of platforms to gain maximum exposure. The branding and house style is similar across all the products marketing. An example of this is the product Venom, this is marketed in magazines and in film trailers. it featured the same colours and logo.

Another example of this product is Star Wars 8 ,this is marketed in games and magazines. It featured the same celebs and logo. 

LO1: Mock questions

• Need to remember to use terminology in my answers e.g commercial company, 
• add examples to get the extra mark - warp films
• and say why those examples are e.g independent - it is independent as it is not owned by any company.

KTA 3 feedback sheet

KTA 4

6* - analyse the concept of 'representation' in a media product you have studied



In this essay I am going to be discussing the digital media product Venom. I will discuss how the concept of representation and examples to support my answers. Tim o'sulivan et al(1998) said that for the recognition to work, there has to be shared recognition of people and places, therefore they have ideologies. This means that for the film to be recognised then scenes of places that everyone knows to allow people to recognise the type of film and what is happening. I agree with this idea because Mise-en-scene shows the establishing shot which tells the audience the setting and shows where the action will take place in the whole of the film. In my products case which is Venom(2018) at the start of the film an establishing shot is taken of San Francisco's tall city buildings which tells the audience where Eddie Brock lives because after the establishing shot we see Eddie. Because of this shot we recognise the setting and we link it to stereotypes we hear about the location this makes us recognise the film more and feel more involved with film. Another example of this is the science labs in the film testing the people and the science labs are seen as ire and not a nice place. Sound shows the they are ire as the slight musical changes are introduced, for example when a patient tries to attack Eddie there is a loud rawr and the tone is changed from the happy city to a creepy science lab.

Laura Mulvey's theory(1975) involving re representation is that women are objectified and seen as not as powerful, she also states that women are seen in the view of homosexual males. An example of this being a male looking at a woman he likes and it zooms into her face in slow motion to show he love for her. In my product which is Venom one of the main heroes in the movie is a woman named Anne Weying who helps Eddie defeat Drake who is the leader of the main evil company. This example is why I disagree with this statement as women recently are getting their own movies and also becoming more important characters, not for just sex. An example could be the up and coming Marvel film 'Captain Marvel' a filmed based around the life of Marvel superhero Captain Marvel who is played by a woman and in the film shows how she is very powerful.

Another theory that links with Laura Mulvey's theory is John Berger's theory in 1976. His theory was that men act and women only appear in films. This rather sexist comment is not apparent in Venom as just like Mulvey's theory the women in Venom is a very strong character, this character being Anne Weying. Taking that into account I will have to disagree with Berger as women are actors as well so they act and multiple films like Venom and Star Wars 7 where the main protagonist is a female called Rey. However I can see where he got that theory from as films like James Bond where women actors are only seen as Bond's lovers and are only in the one scene. People could consider that as not acting. However in my opinion recently films like Captain Marvel show that women are true actors and work well alongside men.

LO3 re-presentation

How the media shows us things about society - but this is through careful mediation.
e.g: War

theory 1: Tim o'sulivan et al(1998)
for recognition to work, there has to be a shared recognition of people and places. therefore they have ideologies

• New York city is sunny 
• science places are seen as creepy

theory 2: Richard Dyer(1983)

audience should question the representations they see in the media.

• Atypical

theory 3: Laura Mulvey(1975)

Male gaze

Women are objectified by the media texts and passive objects

audiences are positioned to view women from the point of view of a heterosexual male.

• Anne weying is a powerful woman character. so it goes against it.

theory 4: Stuart Hall(1995), Alvarado(1987)

western white cultures continue to misrepresent ethnic minorities as the media due to underlying racist tendencies

non-white as evil and barbaric

• non white evil man

theory 5: Earp and Katz(1999)
men are violent

• Eddie is not violent and against violence.

theory 6: John Berger(1972)

men act and women appear

theory 7: Edward Said(1981)

first person to be known as a seminal theorist.

LO3 Narrative Theory

Story - a sequence of events - the plot

Narrative - the techniques used to tell the story how its structured.

Plot of Venom:

Eddie is a news reporter living in New York.

Eddie goes to obscorp to interviews Carlton Drake who is the leader of the company which keeps venom and experiments on people.

Eddie gets touched by venom and begins to be taken over by venom.

Eddie is made to do what venom wants.

Theory one: Tim O'Sulivan et al(1998)

All media texts tell us some kind of story

Through careful mediation, media texts offer a way of telling stories about ourselves(as a culture) - these are ideologies.

 ideologies - values and beliefs.

• advancements in technology and science

Theory two: Pam Cook(1985)

The standard Hollywood narrative structure should have:

Linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution

a high degree of narrative closure

a fictional world that contains verisimilitude especially governed by spatial and temporal coherence 

• The use of venoms DNA for science.

Theory three: Tzvetan Todorov(1977)

stage 1: point of equilibrium

stage 2: This stability is disrupted and creates disequilibrium

stage 3: action against disruption

stage 4: restoration of equilibrium

• Eddie living in San Francisco and is a journalist
• Eddie becomes venom and causes chaos
• Eddie and Weying take down Drake with venom
• venom is secretly bonded with Eddie and they taker down crime and he goes back to journalism.

Theory four: Claude Levi- Strauss(1958)

Binary opposites - good versus evil

• Eddie vs Drake 
• Eddie vs Venom 
• Venom vs Drake

Theory five: Vladimir Propp(1928)

all narratives feature stock characters and that audiences understand stories because of such features.

villain/antagonist

hero/protagonist

helper/sidekick

princess

• Carlton Drake
• Venom and Eddie 
• Anne Weying

Theory six: Roland Barthes(1977)

enigma codes work to keep up setting problems or puzzles for the audience.
action codes informs the audience in terms of what is happening in the next scene.

• Eddie being chased on his motorbike 
• Eddie switches his motorbike on

LO3 Genre

genre - a tool that is used to analyse media.
genre example
sci-fi
horror
fantasy
crime
comedy
thriller
social realism
children
drama

Venom is a sci fi film that includes supernatural things like venom.

Sub Genre- Alien genre

Barry Kieth Grant - "all genres have sub genres"
examples - venom costume 

• sounds - animalistic screams
• dark setting
• science laboratory

Patrick Phillips - "Genre offers audience comfortable reassurance"
provides familiarity

• violence - guns 
• CGI
• Darkness
• science labs  

Branston and Stafford - Genre makes it easier to market and sell products
marketing material

• iconic character
• font - uneven stringy font - grey and dark - serif font - danger
• low shot connotes power

Rick Altman - "Genre offers pleasure"

• gut response - shock, excitement - story line
• emotional - sad and happy

David Bordwell - "Any theme may appear in any genre"
Theme = ideas and concepts and 'myths'

• Thriller theme - bike chase scene
• Sci fi theme - Venom a fictional animal
• horror theme - scary venom taking over scene
• comedy theme - Eddie makes jokes