Thursday, 3 May 2012
NEW magazine poster
Do my interviewees in my evaluation match those in my target audience?
My interviewees matched my socio economic groups of group D and E (except for Mr Swain & Mrs Fearnley). They all enjoy listening to music and watching videos and just so happened to like Muse, so they were a good choice in terms of socio economic group.
They are teens so they also fit my expectations of my target audience's age.
Although my interviewees were all female (except Mr Swain), this doesn't matter as obviously this type of music interests men/boys as the people that created the song are men. (my interviewees' gender was pretty biased too seeing as I go to an all girls school)
Once again, the ethnicity of my target audience isnt relevant and i've chosen my interviewees because they are my friends not because i am excluding any ethnic groups.
And also, my interviewees had a laid back, social lifestyle, nothing too sterotypical.
So my interviewees definately fit to my target audience using SAGEL.
(essay) How did your research and planning inform your choices of media codes and conventions in your coursework productions?
For my a2 coursework, the music video, the starting point of my research was to look at existing conventions. These conventions were quite easy to pick out due to them being shown in several music videos, for example: lip sync, footage of the band and a plot. It was tempting to use the convention of direct address by the performer by breaking the fourth wall, but I decided against this and wanted something more realistic and serious. looking at existing texts on the internet helped me make my choice of conventions.
The internet was, without doubt, my best source of research. The internet is under the category of secondary research - carried out by others. I chose it because it is easily accessible and provides me with all the information i need quickly. It provided me with information on conventions plus examples of existing texts with no lip sync, such as The Killers - Goodnight, Travel Well.
For my own personal research and planning, I used primary research techniques. I did a small questionnaire (which is primary and quantitative) but it was brief and not uploaded. I chose to do a questionnaire because i could form the questions around the general idea I had for my music video. I should have used Survey Monkey to then post my questionnaire on Facebook, for example. This would've been beneficial because it would have got more results and the sample wouldn't have been biased to my friend group. If i had done a proper questionnaire, it would've given people the chance to express their opinions but have them kept within a choice of conventions of a music video.
As a part of my evaluation, I used interviews, which is primary and qualitative research. This gave my participants the chances to express their feelings and opinions freely. They gave me constructive criticism to help me decide what I could've done better.
The internet was, without doubt, my best source of research. The internet is under the category of secondary research - carried out by others. I chose it because it is easily accessible and provides me with all the information i need quickly. It provided me with information on conventions plus examples of existing texts with no lip sync, such as The Killers - Goodnight, Travel Well.
For my own personal research and planning, I used primary research techniques. I did a small questionnaire (which is primary and quantitative) but it was brief and not uploaded. I chose to do a questionnaire because i could form the questions around the general idea I had for my music video. I should have used Survey Monkey to then post my questionnaire on Facebook, for example. This would've been beneficial because it would have got more results and the sample wouldn't have been biased to my friend group. If i had done a proper questionnaire, it would've given people the chance to express their opinions but have them kept within a choice of conventions of a music video.
As a part of my evaluation, I used interviews, which is primary and qualitative research. This gave my participants the chances to express their feelings and opinions freely. They gave me constructive criticism to help me decide what I could've done better.
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
(essay) How did your understanding of media codes and conventions influence your post production decisions across your AS and A2 coursework?
I'm going to be writing about my AS and A2 coursework, music magazine and music video, and how codes and conventions have influenced my post production decisions.
In media terms, there are four types of codes: technical, symbolic, audio and written. For both my coursework pieces, the two main types of codes I have used were symbolic and written.
In terms of digital technology, at post production stage, I mainly used GIMP (GNU image manipulation program), Picasa and Picnik for my AS post production processes. I had to think carefully about how I would make my magazine seem to be of the 'rock' genre without having to state the obvious. I decided to have the colours pink, yellow and white as my colour scheme because they are typical colours used in my style model magazine (Kerrang!), also yellow is a symbolic signifier of danger (when mixed with black) and excitement. I thought this fitted well as my style model magazine had used the colour yellow a lot when featuring 'The world's most dangerous band', I found that quite fitting.
For my DPS, my background image mainly consisted of fire. I chose this image because it represented the concept of danger once more, therefore continuing with the house style. For this article, I had to edit my photos to suit the genre of music the magazine belonged to. I experimented with the contrast and saturation to make the image darker and then added a slight orange tint. In my opinion, I think the process of experimenting with editing was very beneficial because it got me used to the program and helped me update my editing knowledge for future references.
As a part of my AS coursework, fonts were a huge part of the development process. Previously, I had not had much experience with finding and downloading fonts, I had stuck to the default fonts on Microsoft Word. The website Fontspace, opened up a whole new meaning of the word 'font;. There were hundreds of fonts that would have matched the genre of my magazine, so I rifled through them all to find ones that readers would recognise. For example, I have used a font that looks identical to the Slipknot font and I have used the official Misfits font. If my magazine was real, the choice to include existing fonts would have been extremely beneficial to improving the popularity of my magazine and the audience pleasure of my selected group.
For my OFC fonts, I used GIMP to put the title of the magazine behind the subjects' heads. It is conventional to have the texts behind the photo, so I decided to use this convention in my work. To figure out how to do this, it took the process of elimination to finally understand how. I'm glad I bothered finding time to do this as my magazine would have looked completely unprofessional otherwise.
For my A2 coursework, unfortunately I couldn't use my knowledge of print because of the medium of the text we had to create, luckily I have had previous experiences with creating a moving image project, but not as much as I'd like. A huge benefit of editing digitally is that it is no longer linear. The careful selection of footage makes the world of difference to the quality of the video. iMovie was a good program to create my video on, it wasn't too complicated and isn't a basic program either - so all in all I could create a good looking project.
On iMovie, I used transitions such as 'fade to white' and 'fade to black'. The fade to black transition is conventional of a music video as the song carries on as a sound bridge. Again, I also experimented with the contrast and saturation of the footage I had, and this was good to use when parts of my footage were slightly sunny and some had the sun behind the clouds, which affected the lighting. My most frequently used technique was cutting. At first it started off simple but got complexed as I introduced beat markers to my work. I wanted a series of still images to be at the end of the video but fitting them to the beat. This isn't very conventional for music videos although some do include still images but not all in one slot. At first, I tried to do this manually but it turned out as guess work when iMovie wouldn't let me do what I wanted. I searched the options and tabs at the top of iMovie and came across beat markers. I had to put marks on the music track where I wanted the images to start and stop, then they would fit into the designated time slot. I really liked beat markers, they kept the still images organised instead of messing the whole video up.
On reflection, I think it is very important to make the post production decisions in advance and to think them through thoroughly to get a good video at the end of it.
In media terms, there are four types of codes: technical, symbolic, audio and written. For both my coursework pieces, the two main types of codes I have used were symbolic and written.
In terms of digital technology, at post production stage, I mainly used GIMP (GNU image manipulation program), Picasa and Picnik for my AS post production processes. I had to think carefully about how I would make my magazine seem to be of the 'rock' genre without having to state the obvious. I decided to have the colours pink, yellow and white as my colour scheme because they are typical colours used in my style model magazine (Kerrang!), also yellow is a symbolic signifier of danger (when mixed with black) and excitement. I thought this fitted well as my style model magazine had used the colour yellow a lot when featuring 'The world's most dangerous band', I found that quite fitting.
For my DPS, my background image mainly consisted of fire. I chose this image because it represented the concept of danger once more, therefore continuing with the house style. For this article, I had to edit my photos to suit the genre of music the magazine belonged to. I experimented with the contrast and saturation to make the image darker and then added a slight orange tint. In my opinion, I think the process of experimenting with editing was very beneficial because it got me used to the program and helped me update my editing knowledge for future references.
As a part of my AS coursework, fonts were a huge part of the development process. Previously, I had not had much experience with finding and downloading fonts, I had stuck to the default fonts on Microsoft Word. The website Fontspace, opened up a whole new meaning of the word 'font;. There were hundreds of fonts that would have matched the genre of my magazine, so I rifled through them all to find ones that readers would recognise. For example, I have used a font that looks identical to the Slipknot font and I have used the official Misfits font. If my magazine was real, the choice to include existing fonts would have been extremely beneficial to improving the popularity of my magazine and the audience pleasure of my selected group.
For my OFC fonts, I used GIMP to put the title of the magazine behind the subjects' heads. It is conventional to have the texts behind the photo, so I decided to use this convention in my work. To figure out how to do this, it took the process of elimination to finally understand how. I'm glad I bothered finding time to do this as my magazine would have looked completely unprofessional otherwise.
For my A2 coursework, unfortunately I couldn't use my knowledge of print because of the medium of the text we had to create, luckily I have had previous experiences with creating a moving image project, but not as much as I'd like. A huge benefit of editing digitally is that it is no longer linear. The careful selection of footage makes the world of difference to the quality of the video. iMovie was a good program to create my video on, it wasn't too complicated and isn't a basic program either - so all in all I could create a good looking project.
On iMovie, I used transitions such as 'fade to white' and 'fade to black'. The fade to black transition is conventional of a music video as the song carries on as a sound bridge. Again, I also experimented with the contrast and saturation of the footage I had, and this was good to use when parts of my footage were slightly sunny and some had the sun behind the clouds, which affected the lighting. My most frequently used technique was cutting. At first it started off simple but got complexed as I introduced beat markers to my work. I wanted a series of still images to be at the end of the video but fitting them to the beat. This isn't very conventional for music videos although some do include still images but not all in one slot. At first, I tried to do this manually but it turned out as guess work when iMovie wouldn't let me do what I wanted. I searched the options and tabs at the top of iMovie and came across beat markers. I had to put marks on the music track where I wanted the images to start and stop, then they would fit into the designated time slot. I really liked beat markers, they kept the still images organised instead of messing the whole video up.
On reflection, I think it is very important to make the post production decisions in advance and to think them through thoroughly to get a good video at the end of it.
(essay) Pick two narrative theorists, produce an analystical commentry of how 2 theories can be applied to one of your coursework pieces. Refer to specific examples using media terminology.
In media terms, the narrative is the coherence and organisation given to a series of facts, or in my case, a series of events in my music video. I am going to cover the theories of Vladimir Propp and Roland Barthes and explain how they can be applied to my coursework.
Vladimir Propp based his theory on old folk stories; when compared to old folk stories and modern texts, it suprisingly still valid. Propp's theory states that there should be a hero, a villain, a donor, a princess, a helper, a dispatcher and a false hero in the text created. Not every text has each of these characters. In my music video, the characters I have aren't very stereotypical. The helper stereotypically comes in the form of a sidekick and the dispatcher stereotypically comes in the form of the princess' dad. There is a helper who is also a dispatcher and this is the sporting coach. He is helping Zak through his struggle to better himself on the race track. He is the dispatcher also because he has set these tasks for Zak, although this informations isn't clearly given. Eventually in my music video, the coach restores the equilibrium - which in terms of Propp's narrative theory - is the job of the helper.
Also in my music video, I have a hero and a villain. According to Propp's theory, it is okay for one character to be 2 types of people, but normally they are separate characters. In my video, Zak is both the hero and the villain. It seems he is having an internal battle with himself which is making him fail. The hero and villain are supposed to be 2 different parts of Zak's mind, therefore causing the conflict until he can resolve it... which he eventually does which leads to his success.
The other theory I can apply to my coursework is Roland Barthes' codes. These codes are: Cultural, Action, Semic, Enigma and Symbolic. Cultural (also known as referential) makes the text more sense to the target audience due to their cultural awareness. Action is where the events in the text is something the audience knows and doesn't need explaining. Semic is where the audience recognises something through connotations. Enigma (otherwise known as hermeneutic) is where there is a mystery within the text, clues are dropped but nothing is clear. Symbolic is something in a text that symbolises a more abstract concept.
In my music video, I have used 2 of the 5 codes: action and referential. For the action code, I normally used close ups to display emotion. But at the beginning of my video, I have used close ups to show Zak putting on a sweatband, tieing up his shoes, grabbing an energy drink and wearing typical sports clothes. It is quite clear that he is going for some excersize and no explanation is needed to get that point across to the audience. During the first half of my video, there are long shots showing the equilibrium, where he's going at a steady pace, but as his stamina decreases the shots I have used become closer and closer. They have gone from long shots to mid shots to close ups. There are mid shots of the coach displaying a nagging temper - this is usual behaviour of a coach and will be recognised by the audience. I have also used an over-the-shoulder shot of the coach and Zak to show the coach's disgruntlement at Zak's failure. As Zak starts to give up, there are close ups of his face showing no motivation and it's easy to see for the audience that he's lost the will to carry on.
The other code I have used is referential (or cultural). This code and concept wasn't intentional at the time of production but seemed quite fitting. I've used cultural because I have produced it around the time of the build up to the 2012 Olympics. If it was a real music video, it would add tot he country's hype of the olympics. So this concept is relevant both historically and culturally.
In terms of narrative range, I would say my coursework piece has an unrestricted narrative. This is because near enough all information given and it is quite self explanitory.
In conclusion, I would say it is quite easy to apply a narrative theory to your own work, whether it be Vladimir Propp's or Claude Levi-Strauss' because even unintentionally, these codes are secure in our brains due to our upbringing and our culture, we've seen it as we've grown up and now conveniently already have the knowledge to apply it to our coursework.
Vladimir Propp based his theory on old folk stories; when compared to old folk stories and modern texts, it suprisingly still valid. Propp's theory states that there should be a hero, a villain, a donor, a princess, a helper, a dispatcher and a false hero in the text created. Not every text has each of these characters. In my music video, the characters I have aren't very stereotypical. The helper stereotypically comes in the form of a sidekick and the dispatcher stereotypically comes in the form of the princess' dad. There is a helper who is also a dispatcher and this is the sporting coach. He is helping Zak through his struggle to better himself on the race track. He is the dispatcher also because he has set these tasks for Zak, although this informations isn't clearly given. Eventually in my music video, the coach restores the equilibrium - which in terms of Propp's narrative theory - is the job of the helper.
Also in my music video, I have a hero and a villain. According to Propp's theory, it is okay for one character to be 2 types of people, but normally they are separate characters. In my video, Zak is both the hero and the villain. It seems he is having an internal battle with himself which is making him fail. The hero and villain are supposed to be 2 different parts of Zak's mind, therefore causing the conflict until he can resolve it... which he eventually does which leads to his success.
The other theory I can apply to my coursework is Roland Barthes' codes. These codes are: Cultural, Action, Semic, Enigma and Symbolic. Cultural (also known as referential) makes the text more sense to the target audience due to their cultural awareness. Action is where the events in the text is something the audience knows and doesn't need explaining. Semic is where the audience recognises something through connotations. Enigma (otherwise known as hermeneutic) is where there is a mystery within the text, clues are dropped but nothing is clear. Symbolic is something in a text that symbolises a more abstract concept.
In my music video, I have used 2 of the 5 codes: action and referential. For the action code, I normally used close ups to display emotion. But at the beginning of my video, I have used close ups to show Zak putting on a sweatband, tieing up his shoes, grabbing an energy drink and wearing typical sports clothes. It is quite clear that he is going for some excersize and no explanation is needed to get that point across to the audience. During the first half of my video, there are long shots showing the equilibrium, where he's going at a steady pace, but as his stamina decreases the shots I have used become closer and closer. They have gone from long shots to mid shots to close ups. There are mid shots of the coach displaying a nagging temper - this is usual behaviour of a coach and will be recognised by the audience. I have also used an over-the-shoulder shot of the coach and Zak to show the coach's disgruntlement at Zak's failure. As Zak starts to give up, there are close ups of his face showing no motivation and it's easy to see for the audience that he's lost the will to carry on.
The other code I have used is referential (or cultural). This code and concept wasn't intentional at the time of production but seemed quite fitting. I've used cultural because I have produced it around the time of the build up to the 2012 Olympics. If it was a real music video, it would add tot he country's hype of the olympics. So this concept is relevant both historically and culturally.
In terms of narrative range, I would say my coursework piece has an unrestricted narrative. This is because near enough all information given and it is quite self explanitory.
In conclusion, I would say it is quite easy to apply a narrative theory to your own work, whether it be Vladimir Propp's or Claude Levi-Strauss' because even unintentionally, these codes are secure in our brains due to our upbringing and our culture, we've seen it as we've grown up and now conveniently already have the knowledge to apply it to our coursework.
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Narrative Theories
In media terms, narrative is the coherance/organisation given to a series of facts.
Narrative explores the conventions of:
- genre
- character
- form
- time
Narrative Structures:
- Linear structure - beginning, middle, end
- Open structure - audience left to wonder what happens next
- Closed structure - definate ending - clear conclusion for audience
- Circular structure - narrative begins at the end (often with the climax) - Audience are taken on a journey arriving back where they started.
Tzvetan Todorov's Theory:
Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:
- a state of equilibrium at the outset
- a disruption of the equilibrium by some action
- a recognition that there has been a disruption
- an attempt to repair the disruption
- a reinstatement of the equilibrium
Roland Barthes' Theory of narrative:
- Suggested that narrative works in 5 different codes which activate the reader to make sense of it
- Also used the terms denotation and connotation to make sense of it
5 Narrative Codes:
-Action - Something the audience knows and doesnt need explaining
- Enigma - Mystery within the text. Clues are dropped.
- Semic - Something the audience recognises through connotations
- Symbolic - Something that symbolises a more abstract concept
- Referential - Makes more sense due to cultural awareness
According to Barthes' theory, in my coursework I have:
Action:
- Close ups of his actions - putting on sweatband, tieing up shoes, grabbing drink, dressed in sportswear ( going for excersize, no explanation needed)
Cultural:
- It's made around the time of the build up to 2012 olympics so it's relevant historically and culturally - caught up in the hype.
Vladimir Propp's Theory of narrative:
Vladimir Propp suggested characters took on the role of narrative 'spheres of action' or functions. He studied folk tales and came up with 7 different character types:
- The hero - normally male, restores narrative equilibrium, on a quest, centre of villains attention.
- The villain - creates the narrative disruption
- The donor - gives the hero something which helps in resolution of the narrative
- The helper - helps the hero
- The princess - the victim, most threatened by the villain,
- The dispatcher - sends the hero on their task, typically the princess's father
- The false hero - appears to be good but is revealed to be bad
Characters can be more than one type.
According to Propp's theory, in my coursework I have:
- The helper - The coach - restores the equilibrium
- The dispatcher - the coach - sends the hero on his task
- The hero - Zak (the athlete) - achieves his goals
- The villain - Zak (the athlete) - his brain making him close to giving up.
Narrative explores the conventions of:
- genre
- character
- form
- time
Narrative Structures:
- Linear structure - beginning, middle, end
- Open structure - audience left to wonder what happens next
- Closed structure - definate ending - clear conclusion for audience
- Circular structure - narrative begins at the end (often with the climax) - Audience are taken on a journey arriving back where they started.
Tzvetan Todorov's Theory:
Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:
- a state of equilibrium at the outset
- a disruption of the equilibrium by some action
- a recognition that there has been a disruption
- an attempt to repair the disruption
- a reinstatement of the equilibrium
Roland Barthes' Theory of narrative:
- Suggested that narrative works in 5 different codes which activate the reader to make sense of it
- Also used the terms denotation and connotation to make sense of it
5 Narrative Codes:
-Action - Something the audience knows and doesnt need explaining
- Enigma - Mystery within the text. Clues are dropped.
- Semic - Something the audience recognises through connotations
- Symbolic - Something that symbolises a more abstract concept
- Referential - Makes more sense due to cultural awareness
According to Barthes' theory, in my coursework I have:
Action:
- Close ups of his actions - putting on sweatband, tieing up shoes, grabbing drink, dressed in sportswear ( going for excersize, no explanation needed)
Cultural:
- It's made around the time of the build up to 2012 olympics so it's relevant historically and culturally - caught up in the hype.
Vladimir Propp's Theory of narrative:
Vladimir Propp suggested characters took on the role of narrative 'spheres of action' or functions. He studied folk tales and came up with 7 different character types:
- The hero - normally male, restores narrative equilibrium, on a quest, centre of villains attention.
- The villain - creates the narrative disruption
- The donor - gives the hero something which helps in resolution of the narrative
- The helper - helps the hero
- The princess - the victim, most threatened by the villain,
- The dispatcher - sends the hero on their task, typically the princess's father
- The false hero - appears to be good but is revealed to be bad
Characters can be more than one type.
According to Propp's theory, in my coursework I have:
- The helper - The coach - restores the equilibrium
- The dispatcher - the coach - sends the hero on his task
- The hero - Zak (the athlete) - achieves his goals
- The villain - Zak (the athlete) - his brain making him close to giving up.
Friday, 9 December 2011
Magazine Advert
I have stuck to forms and conventions on my magazine advert. I have incorporated the album cover into the advert, as most do, i've included the album name and artist...as it'd be weird if i didnt.
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