Homework

Pre-production research

Looking at that data which I gained from my movie poster survey, I discovered some different pieces of information which have influenced me take make certain decision about the movie poster I am going to create. The first part of my survey tells me that my main target audience for movie posters is males aged 16 to 35 and because of this information I have decided to give my movie a male lead so that my audience can relate with the main character better. My survey also tells me that action is the most popular movie genre, so I thought it would be best for my movie poster. After choosing to use the action genre I did some more research on specifically action movie posters. After looking at some the poster I noticed similar features through all the posters. For example most of the action movie posters would show the male lead of the movie standing in a very heroic position while holding some sort of weapon, usually some sort of gun or sword. The actor would also have a very serious look on their face as if they were just about to get into a fight or conflict of some sort. This research of other action movie posters has given me a few ideas on how I will position the character on my poster and the props I will include.

One of the questions on my survey was “What features do you expect from a poster?”. The responses I got where quite interesting and useful. Nearly all the responses included that poster should contain the general idea of the plot or setting the movie takes place in but there was also a key emphasis that is very important that the poster shouldn't give too much away to spoil key parts or plot points of the movie. With this in mind I have thought of maybe putting an image in the background of a city at night to show the setting my movie will take place in and the tone it will have but with giving to much of the plot away. Another common feature I found in the response was that the poster should contain the names of some of the actors in the movie so that the target audience know what talent is in the movie. I also feel that the actor names are important when it comes to movie poster because I think a lot of people judge whether or not to see a movie based on which actors are in it. Usually if the actor has had a history of being a part of good movies then they a more likely to watch another movie with his or her name on it. So by placing the names of the actors on the poster, the movie gains more creditability and buzz. Also a key feature that a lot of the response mentioned was that the poster contain interesting colours to catch their attention.

Overall I have found my survey and my texture analysis research to me very helpful and has given me a good idea in my head of what I want my poster to look like and how I will achieve that. 

Construction and Mediation Task

In this clip,  we are shown the contestant's back story at the start. during this back story you

can tell that the producers have chosen to show this audition because the contestants are not

what you expect a pop star to look like and have more of a comical value too them. The clip starts out with a light hearted upbeat style of music and then followed with an interview with the two contestants. The interview has been edited in post, this is so the order of what they say can be changed and different parts can be cut out to focus on certain statements which are more comical. This also makes the contestants seem less intelligent. The contestants in this clip have been shot close up while they where talking and singing so that they fill the frame which makes them seem larger. The judges have shot with  close up on their face so we can see the reaction of the judges while they are listening to the contestants talk and sing. There are also a few wide angle shots of the crowd as well, I think this was done to emphasize the crowd's reaction and the booing. Near the end of the clip when the two contestants start to fight with each other, upbeat rock music about fighting starts to play to also emphasize the situation. Finally, as the contestants walk off  into the backstage the camera starts to shake which adds a high action effect to the scene.

This clip starts of straight away with a shot of the contestant with his young students while slow music is playing, The next shot we see the contest close up while he talks about his passion for music but this quickly ends and cuts to a behind the scenes with the judges. Fast past music starts to play and non of the judges are looking into the camera directly or talking that much. They all seem to be annoyed or upset. As the contestant and judges walk up the stage tense music starts to play as the contestant says how nervous he is. This creates a build up and tense effect because the music gets louder each time the camera changes. As the contestant starts to sing the we see a lot of wide angle shots of the audience, this is to show the audience's reaction to his singing and also shows them waving their arms in time with the contestant showing their enjoyment. We then see close up shots of the judges through out the song, this is also to show their reactions as they look at each other and smile to the contestant. A lot of shots of the contestant are framed so we can see his full body as he jumps around and dances while he sings. As the audition comes to a end, emotional music starts to play as the judges tell the contestant how good he was and the best they have ever seen. During this we also have a close up on the contestants face to show his emotion and joy. At the end the clip fades out with a finale shot of the crowd as they are cheering while upbeat happy music starts playing, this signifies how good the contestant was and how much the crowd loved his audition.

Sign and Signifiers Task

The type of representation we where aiming for was the handicap category. We achieved this by creating a movie poster which included the handicap sign but instead of using normal sign we made it out of vegetables. We did this because we believe that media often relates the word vegetable with people who are handicapped or disabled. The media uses this word to imply that people who are handicapped are unintelligent, dull, and unable to do anything. The fact that media uses this comparison  has created a stereotype for handicapped people which we feel this poster captures. 

Representation task

Class - Newspaper

This image from a newspaper represents the lower class during the London riots 2011. It highlights the lower class in a negative light because it shows lower class people stealing and breaking laws. These images instantly make you think that these people are bad and have no respect for other people and their belongings. The people who  publish this newspaper are only focused on creating a negative view and don't try to understand the reason behind the looter's actions.

Gender- Tv

In this clip from celebrity juice Keith Lemon starts to make sexist comments towards Emily Head. The way that Keith Lemon highlights her looks can be viewed as both positive and negative. Some people would find it offensive because they disagree that a women should be treated with sexual comments on TV. Most people would think that it is a positive view because they understand the humorous intent behind the jokes. Keith Lemon makes the makes the comments on purpose because he knows that most people find it funny and entertaining which increases his views.

Age - Film

In the disney movie Up the character Carl Fredricksen is represented as a stereo typical grumpy old man. This can be seen as a negative view and a misrepresentation of elderly people. A lot of elderly people would find this offensive. Disney have probably made the character have a grumpy attitude because mostly all other forms of media do this, so the target audience of kids would be able to instantly relate with this stereotype.

Race - Tv 

is a clip from a Tv game show called "Without Prejudice". One of the contest on the show is shown a image of a man who he has never seen or spoke to before. The contestant says his reasoning behind disliking the random man is because he is black. This negative comment is highly offensive to a lot of people because it is just obvious racism with no reason for it. The producer behind the show should have not let this clip be on the show because it is so offensive but instead the producers purposely let the clip air because they know it will start controversy and gain a lot of interest and media coverage making him them more money.

Sexuality - Tv

This Tv advert for Lynx deodorant represents sexuality in a negative way to advertise the product. The advert implies that if men use the product  then they will have a better chance of getting women to notice them.The producers behind  this have purposely done this to advertise the product to men but  some women could see this advert as a negative because the women in the advert are represented with certain body type which some women would not see as a true representation of  real life and find offensive.