Research: Finding Meaning In Media- Moving Image Analysis

Update: Reflection

After reading the example presented to us in class, I realized that I am at a good start but could be adding more to my analysis. I think I had a good use of basic elements of film analysis like miss-en-scene or camerawork but i could have added better connections between my point and how it tied the film opening together. I should have also analyzed the written codes more since they had significant meaning in this film. Overall I feel like I am at a good start but I could add more details and vocabulary words to further advance my argument. 

Today in class we practiced writing component 1 of the Cambridge AS media studies exam.

 In this clip we are shown an early morning some place in the deserted cold. We see it from a third person perspective, looking towards the characters and the landscape. We are shown a man who has killed someone and after a few months 2 people find the dead or rotting body. I will be exploring the significance of this clip through the use of Mise en scene, camerawork, sound and editing. 
     

     The mise en scene adds a lot of complexity and meaning towards the clip. the costumes in this clip seem to include at the beginning a man wearing a white suite, similar to a hazmat suite holding a gun. Later the two girls are wearing typical clothing for the cold including hats, gloves and scarves. The white suite makes us believe the man is part of an organization, researcher scientist since he also has a backpack with many instruments that could be used for research. The props, like the gun makes shows that the man is either using it for protection or to intentionally kill someone or something. The lighting is important because it shows us the time of day, as well as the environment feeling, since it looks like it is day but it is still a bit dark and gray it shows that the environment is dangerous. 
    

    The camerawork of this clip also adds significance towards the significance of this clip for the audience, It gives the audience perspective of where the clip takes place since mostly wide angle and establishing shots are used, The establishing and wide angle shots show how small the characters are in comparison to their white and empty environment. We also have POV shots when the man is pointing the gun towards the polar bear and the man behind the polar bear. These clips give an audience a perspective of the characters as well as what is happening from thirds person view. 
   

    The sound and editing are big factors when it comes to analyzing this clip. At the beginning of the clip the, we hear diegetic sounds coming from the clip, specifically we hear the waves clashing and the ice moving. nThe whole beginning of the clip is just diegetic sounds, which adds to the eery and dark feeling the clip gives. When the clip flashes forward 3 months, music starts to play, non diegetic sound.The music starts off slow and with a soft beat, but when the two girls find the body, the beat starts to speed up showing the urgency or the suspense that is happening. The editing of this clip also gives dynamic to the clip. There are many cut in and cut away shots from the character to the landscape and vise versa. There are also many shots from up high most likely filmed by drones used o show the whole are. This editing helps the character feel established and understand the surroundings. 

    In conclusion, the clips presented today uses many techniques such and mise en scene, camerawork, sound and editing to give the audience emending to the clip. The clip gives the audience background behind the dead body tat was found and as well as letting them know that this will later become important throughout the course of the film. 

 Research:Target audience and Representation Analysis 

Today in class we analyzed two different commercials aimed to a certain. audience and what type of codes the used to persuade the audience. 

the first commercial we analyzed was from Bailey liquor company.

Questions used to analyze: 

1. Who created this message? 

Bailey's liquor company 

2. Which techniques are used to attract my attention? 

Using female protagonist made me feel represented as a female. The costumes like the white and neutral color dresses caught my attention as well. 

3. How might different people interpret this message? 

Different people might interpret this message as women being powerful and not needing a man to defend them, as well as just because women look dainty and fragile does not mean they can't drink. Others may see it as a regular liquor company without any deeper meaning. 

4. Which lifestyles, values, and point of view are represented-- or missing? What socio-economic group would most likely tap into this message?

Women are the main group of people being represented. Usually seen as fragile and delicate, women are represented to also be able to fight and drink an alcoholic beverage usually seen as a mans drink. Women are most likely to tap to this message since they were mostly represented. 

5. What is the message being sent? 

the message being sent is for women to also drink Bailey's liquor because just because the are seen as delicate and fragile a woman can drink a "mans" drink and be as strong and powerful as a man. It also sends a message for women to stick and enjoy time together with the drink. 

6. Why is this message being sent? 

This message was being sent to amplify the demographic of people buying their alcohol and to produce more revenue. 

The second commercial we analyzed was a French technology company Telecom 

1. Who created this message? 

The telecom French company 

2. Which techniques are used to attract my attention? 

Using techniques of match cuts and jump cuts to show the little kid growing caught my attention because it was heart warming to see a relationship between a father rand son grow 

3. How might different people interpret this message? 

Different people might interpret this message as a way to convince people to buy technology and feed into the new lives of technological innovations while others might see it as a way in which technology connects family.

4. Which lifestyles, values, and point of view are represented-- or missing? What socio-economic group would most likely tap into this message?

This commercial aims to the view point of parents to have a deeper connection with kids as well as touching the sensitive parental side persuading them to buy technology. It also reaches young adults to stay connected with their parents. 

5. What is the message being sent? 

The message being sent is that technology allows to create deep connections with family and as technology evolves, the connections evolve with them. Keeping up to date with new technology results in connection with family.

6. Why is this message being sent? 

To convince an audience that updating your technology is necessary, bringing more profit towards company every time a new piece of technology comes out. 

 Research: Audience Theory

    In class we discussed the different aspects of audience theory and what it contains. 

Some of the aspects included in Audience Theory are: 

- The Hypodermic Model 

- Two step flow theory 

- Cultivation theory 

- Uses and Gratification Model 

- Reception Analysis 

- Interactive Audiences 

1. The Hypodermic theory is the way to supposedly convince or persuade an audience through media that is seen as "weak and passive" as told in Mr.Holly English media studies website. This theory explains that the audience has no power when it comes to media "injecting" ideas in to the mind. 

2. The two step two step flow theory suggests that the audience receives information from media, they process it and then filter the information with their own opinions and interpretation. 

3. The cultivation theory is when an audience is described as easily influenced by advertisement and affect the audiences thoughts and ideas. it also includes the ideas of desensitization meaning that audience loose the effect that violence has on them. 

• For example watching a clip of someone getting shot would not affect an audience in a deep emotional level 

4. The Use and gratification model suggests that an audience chooses a certain media type to consume based on their personal preferences or what fits to their needs. Audience has control on what media to consume. 

5. Reception analysis is a theory in which it is said that an audience can change the way they perceive and consume certain media depending on what happens in their daily life. 

• For example if you were having a bad day and you see an ad about a pet adoption center, you could be more sensitive and persuaded to adopt a pet. 

6. Interactive audience is a way to describe the people who use and manipulate on a daily bases. A prosumer is how a person who consumes and makes media is described. 

CLICK HERE FOR LINK AUDIENCE THEORY

I learned that the different aspects in audience theory can be different ways to describe how different type of people consume media and can be used to decide what type of audience you want to aim to and use how to aim towards that audience. 

 Research: Representation

Representation in media is how different cultures, genders, ethnicities, and religions are presented. 

In movies, like Crazy Rich Asians representation was shown through ethnicity and culture. This movie was the fist all asian cast in the past 25 years with a contemporary story. 

This film made people of the same ethnicity and culture finally feel a connection between what was shown on screen and their personal life. 

Other movies like Get Out which Was produced by Jordan Peele, represents people of color and the connection between "white liberals and black people" according to medium website. 

Get Out Medium website

Other forms of media like magazines have also started to expand in representation.Like on British Vogue, the first male, Timothée Chalamet was on the cover representing genders. In an interview Timothée explained how the use of typically "feminine" clothing was a way to expand and represent all the people who like to dress in their own way.

 

Clothing brands and stores have also started to expand their representations with models. The company Aerie, aims to make all people feel included and comfortable buying their clothes from the store. They have models representing all people like people with disability, plus size models, and all races and genders. 

Aerie Representation news article

I learned that representation in media is an important factor when considering what gets published to the public. Having representation for all people makes everyone feel included and creates a further and deeper connection between the audience and the media form being presented. 

 Planning:Preliminary Practice Project

Trails Of Blood

Today, we completed our first practice video of the year. It was a fun experience and we had many great laughs while filming. We had to make some changes from our original storyboard but everything turned out great. 

1) How did your group work as a team?  ( If you worked "Solo", were you overwhelmed with so many decisions? )

Working as a team was a great experience. I decided to be in a group with people I knew would be responsible for their part and would work together as a team to make the video as great as possible. All the roles were divided evenly with Fabiana writing the script and creating the logos, Valentina directing and casting, and they I filmed and edited the film opening. We all completed out parts with time efficiency. 

Day of filming

2) Explain how you organized and prepared for the project? Discuss symbolic, technical, and written codes as well as Genre conventions.  What went well, and what could have been improved? 

In this project my main role was filming and editing the video. 

For technical codes, I  used a lot of full body shots for running scenes, and close up to the eyes and the face. 

For written codes the title were red, representing the blood, and there was no dialogue. 

For symbolic codes we decided to use a trail surrounded by tree because it gave a creepy feeling, for the actor we decided to use Hugo because he had an innocent look that made the murderer more discreet. 

I think the way i filmed the video by presenting the killer first introduced the audience to the main idea of the story. 

3) What difficulties did you face when filming? How did you overcome them?

While filming, some of the difficulties I faced was audio issues. Since I filmed mainly around our school, there were some noises like people talking and birds, but I was able to get clips in which the audio worked, I also decided to add music and non diegetic sounds to cover some of the noises. I also did not have a lot of access to props, so we had to improvise and use ketchup.

Getting ketchup from the cafeteria to use as blood

4) What difficulties did you face when editing?  How did you overcome them?

• Since I was the one that was responsible for the editing, some of the challenges that I faced was adding the audio clips, but after some research I was able to add them.  
• I also had some trouble putting clips together so they would flow, but after some tweaking I was able to get it 
• Adding the texts like the production company and the name of the film was a bit difficult because I couldn't change the background color, but I ended up adding a transition to make it look nice

Editing the film opening

5) If you were to repeat the project again, what would you do differently?

If I were to repeat the project again I would be: 

1. More prepared,  having more props 

2. Record in a different environment outside from school 

3. Have a better audio system and use a better camera 

4. Edit the video with a different editing site 

6) What aspects of the production are you happy with? Even with a "happy" rating, what could be improved?

I am really happy how the film opening came out as a whole especially with the little time we had. I am happy that we got to see our ideas come to life and have someone who was willing to act in our opening. I think that for improvement, with a little more time and better props the film opening would be even better.