Blog Reflection

Have you learned new online programmes for showing off work?

I have used Prezi as an alternative to PowerPoint to complete some of the tasks given to me.At first i found it difficult but every day we used it i learn a little more about the software and also I found that it looked nicer and the transitions were interesting too.

What mark out of 20 is it so far?

I think my blog would get 15/20 so far because i have nearly reached the target amount of posts however i need to go over all of them and add much more detail.

Where could you be more thorough or a little less complacent?

I think I have been thorough on my posts because I made sure I completed each point before I went to the next one.

Is it fun to look at?

I try to keep my blog looking modern and also with lots of images and bright vibrant colours.

Three targets to improve my blog:

Add more detail to evaluation posts

Use every part of D.I.S.T.I.N.C.T in my Genre task

Use more media technical terms in my posts

Mise en Scene

Mise en Scene

Today’s lesson consisted of the study of Mise en Scene. This French terminology roughly translates to 'Whats in the Scene'. As the translation suggests we spent the hour discussing the ways in which various decisions can impact the scene in question. We were told how their are 5 basic categories which can be manipulated in order to give effect to the viewer. These included:

Settings and props

Costumes, hair and makeup

Facial expression and body language

Lighting and colour

Positioning of character

When all of these features are collated a scene is effectively created, although when not collaborated correctly, the results can be disastrous. If these factors aren’t to match, it is evident that the viewer will lose interest and subsequently zone out. We discovered this after passing around a piece of paper in groups and each scribing one of the elements of Mise En Scene. We recieved a scene which consequently didn’t make sense. Following on we analysed a scene from Skyfall, James Bonds most recent outing. We discussed the effectiveness of Iconology, the act of using famous landmarks or objects which are primarily related to a given area.

Semiotics

Denotations

 The literal or primary meaning of a given thing, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the thing suggests

The denotations of this poster are that a large out of control party is occurring and the man at the center is not involved.

Connotations

An idea or feeling which a thing invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning.

The Connotations of this movie:

The connotations of this movie give a more extreme view to the person viewing it. We understand from the way the character dressed that he is of high importance. Also,  the way in which the camera has captured his stance that he is a proud man and possibly the owner of the chaos occurring. This is also supported by the colors he is dressed in. Gold’s and black connotate importance and wealth. We can also see from the dwarf behind that the chaos is not limited to formally dressed that he is dressed in. Gold and blacks connotate importance and wealth. We can also see from the dwarf behind that the chaos is not limited to the formally dressed business men but is in fact an open party. Not limited to dwarfs, the audience can see a dressed gown woman meaning the business men mix business and pleasure in the work place. Even the text and the way it is displayed connotes importance. For example the use of the capitalized 'WOLF' screams power to the viewer.

The Denotations of this movie:

The Denotations of this movie give the idea that it is hectic and he is in the middle of it looking smug and also he is wearing smart clothes which shows that he is rich, also the word "wolf" gives us the idea that he is the biggest of "Wall Street".In the poster we also see a women that is half naked which implies sex which also shows that he can have whatever he wants.

Narrative

In todays lesson we were taught about some famous names in the historic film industry. Not your modern day icons, the lesson centered around Vladimir Propp, Todorov, Levi-Strauss and Roland Barthes.

We were made familiar with their studies, primarily Bathes' statements about movie. These include Symbolic references: for example a holy cross being used to connotative a belief in God or other religious  subjects. We studied action; what the character does in the film in order for the audience to become familiar with them. Finally we studied Enigma. This is the study of how the media manipulates the mind in order to make the viewer ask questions.

• Roland Barthes

• Todorov

• Levi-Strauss

Other studys included:

Propp's idea on basic characters which always feature in media. These are the 'Hero', the 'Hero Helper', the 'Villain' and finally the 'Princess or Damsel'.

Todorovs study of how stories always start at equilibrium. As they continue they develop problems which must be overcome to return to equilibrium.

Levi-Strauss' "Binary Opposition" - The study of oppositions featuring heavily in movies, for example 'Good v Evil' or 'Black v White'

Film Language

Film Language is an important part of knowing what you are going for when filming and is made of 4 different sectors: CAMERA, SOUND, MISE EN SCENE and EDITING.

CAMERA:

Frame

- Extreme Close up, Close up, Mid-Shot, Medium Long-Shot, Long-Shot, Extreme Long-Shot

Angle

- Birdseye, Low, Level, High, Worms-eye

Movement

- Pan Left or Right

- Tilt Up or Down

- Tracking

- Static Shot

- Crane Shot

- Zoom in and Out

SOUND:

Music

Dialogue/ Speech

Voiceover

On-Screen (can see where/who sounds coming from)

Off-Screen (cannot see where/who sound is coming from)

Diegetic (Everything thats included when filming)

Non-Diegetic (Everything thats added when the editing process occurs)

Parallel (When music is implemented to match scene)

Contrapuntal (When contrasting music is used against the film e.g. nursery rhymes in a horror)

MISE EN SCENE:

Costume

Lighting

- Low Key

-High Key

Actors

Make-Up

Props

Setting

EDITING:

Pace (How swiftly paced the change of camera angles are)

Special Effects

Order of Narrative (Whether it takes place in the normal time format or if its in flashbacks)

Graphic Matches

Transitions (how the movie cuts and the movement from one scene to another)

Institution

Big Talk Productions is a British Film and television production company founded by Nira Park in 1995.They specialize in the genre Comedy, Below are some films they have produced.

Year	Title
2004	Shaun of the Dead
2007	Hot Fuzz
2010	Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
2011	Paul
2011	Attack the Block
2012	Sightseers
2013	The World's End
2013	In Fear
2014	Cuban Fury

Big Talk Productions will be the main distributor of our film because they have their feet firmly grounded in the marketing aspect of film because of this we will choose them to give us the best possible distribution using their connections with other brands and cinemas to give our film the best showing in a number of different cinemas.

Our film The Fallout would be a wide base release meaning that many platforms will be used in order to give a wide number of people an opportunity to watch our film in any way they want whether that be in the cinema or on their home TV through third party platforms such as Netflix or Amazon Prime by opening up our film to these different platforms we can branch out and reach a large number of people to make the most amount of profit possible.

Our film will be shown in the smaller cinemas like the picture house and not the big cinema giants like Odeon and Cineworld because our film isn't big enough for them to invest because they are all about making money from secondary sales like refreshments and if they don't have enough people watching our film they will not make enough money to make it worthwhile.

The picture house cinema however are more likely to take our film and show it to the target audience not to make a profit but to give people pleasure from watching a small film in an equally small cinema as they believe the film and the atmosphere is more important than the bums on seats philosophy the larger companies hold.

Film Certificate

We had to decide what film certificate to give it. When in the planning stages for our film, we decided that giving it an age rating of 15 would be most appropriate as from the outset we chose that our film will involve some traces of death and violence, however the age cannot be to high because 15-21 yr old is the average age for cinema goers .