November Homework

For research for my pre-production I conducted a survey on Surveymonkey.com so that I could find out what age range my pre-production should be aimed at and also what genre of film my film poster should be. The majority of people who answered my questionnaire were aged 16-24 so that is the age range my pre-production film poster is aimed at because many teenagers and young adults go to cinema and watch films regularly and enjoy watching film trailers and buying film posters. Also most of the people that answered my questionnaire were female who said they prefered romantic comedies out of all the genres, it is also one of my favourite genre of films and I thought this would help me when creating my pre-production as I have watched a lot of romantic comedies. Also many people that answered my questionnaire said they like to buy film magazines so I decided that I shouldn’t deviate too much from what is expected of romantic comedy film posters, although having a more alternative style of film poster may make my film poster stand out if it were to be sold, a more simple style of poster is often preferred.   

The research I have conducted on film posters has given me inspiration for my pre-production and also has allowed me to make decisions on what genre of film to do, colours, text and ideas for my original photography. When planning my pre-production I did a textual analysis on three examples of romantic comedy film posters, Friends With benefits, Love Rosie and When Harry Met Sally. I decided to do a romantic comedy film poster as many 16-25 year old females enjoy romantic comedies and I thought this genre of film would be relatable as I am 16 and enjoy watching romantic comedies. I found that many romantic comedy film posters have very little on colour or words on them. They usually have a plain white background with the two main actors as the main feature on the poster, this was seen on the Friends With Benefits poster . It also has the film title on the front and the names of the two main actors, this keeps the focus on the actors and not anything else on the poster and it also makes any colour on the poster stand out from the background and makes the poster more interesting to look at. Occasionally on romantic comedy film posters, the writing is in red, a colour associated with love, desire and passion. The red brings the writing to the foreground and allows the audience to make a quick decision about what the film will entail. I saw this on the poster for Love Rosie.

Questionaire

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HYWHFBP

This is my questionnaire please fill it out, Thank You.

Elle

On the front cover of this Elle issue Jennifer Aniston is the main image, the image is in the centre of the page so that she is the main focus and stands out on a magazine stand. She is the main image because one of the main stories in the magazine is about her and her life. In this image she is being sexualized so that she is more appealing to the target audience, women will want buy the magazine to look like her and men may buy the magazine to look at her. However she doesn't have a lot of skin on show which would suggest that the magazine is still mature and sophisticated.

 This magazine would be aimed at class B or A women aged 25-40 because the cover lines are arranged in an orderly manner and doesn't obstruct the image. The cover lines on this magazine such as "Women In Hollywood" and "What To Wear To Work Every Day" would suggest that the magazine is for higher class women who have well paid careers. Also not many of the cover lines are about gossip that might be inside the magazine this shows that it is not really a magazine teenagers would buy because that is stereotypically what teenagers like to read in magazines.

 The masthead on this magazine is at the top of the cover and it is in a plain black colour so that it stands out from the rest of the magazine but it's not the main focus of the magazine so it doesn't distract from the image of Jennifer Aniston. 

Analysis Task

The music video Blame It On Me by George Ezra is set in a deserted, rough neighbourhood this may suggest that something bad is going to happen to the main character in the video (George Ezra) because the audience would automatically assume that a lot of crime and violence happens in that area. George is wearing quite casual trendy clothes in the video to represent his young age and it also makes him stand out from the setting and the other characters in the video as no one is wearing anything similar. There are actors towards the end of the video that are wearing police uniforms, this gives them authority and distinguishes their job. George carries a guitar for the first part of the video this shows the audience that he is a musician and singer.

At the start of the video the camera tilts so that the audience can see the locations, it then pans left so that George and the old man come into shot. This is so the audience are aware of who's music video it is. The camera then goes to a close up of the old man as he speaks this is so we can establish who is speaking and also see his emotions. Throughout most of the video the camera shots are mostly hand held shots of George this allows the audience to feel more connected to the video and to the artist. It also switches to mid shots of the other characters in the scene so that the audience knows and understands what is happening in the video.

For this video mostly natural lighting is used because it is set outside but some of the lighting could be artificial because the weather doesn't stay the same all the time so to make sure that the lighting is the same throughout the video some of the lighting would be edited in. Also non of the lighting is low key to suit the upbeat style of the song.

At the start of the video some diegetic sound is used to set the location of the video. There is also more diegetic sound used throughout the video when something happens such as when the car runs over the guitar . The non diegetic sound would be the song which would be added after the music video has been filmed.
The technical elements used in this music video makes it relatable to teenagers and young adults this makes it enjoyable to watch. Also the diegetic sound and the varying camera shots that are used allows the audience to understand what the video is about.

     

The X Factor

The X factor is one of the biggest televised comptitions in the UK, it travels around Britain to allow people from all over the country the chance to audition. This audition in particular was selected to be televised because the man auditioning is young and attractive which would make girls want to watch the programme, they use full body shots to show this. He also has an upsetting backstory which tugs on the heart strings so that the audience sympathetic for him. The editors have added music in the background to influence the audience and make us feel more empathy towards him. Close up shots are used to show his emotions and reactions. Finally this audition was selected to show because this particular young man was stopped part way through his song and asked to sing another one this draws the audience in because you want to know whether he will get through or not.

Gender Representation

One of the main types of media representation is gender which is mainly seen in films. The two genders, male and female, are often shown is very different ways depending on the genre of the film or the director. Gender is not biological but is a socially constructed set of behavior patterns and films often live up to these patterns or take them to the extreme. Both genders have 'set' labels which are not always correct in a modern society but many films revert back to traditional views.

For example, in the James Bond film, Skyfall, The male character played by Daniel Craig is see the hero of the film and is seen as the dominant character. While most of the female characters in the James Bond films are sexualised and seen as the damsel in distress. They are also seen as objects as they are often referred to as "Bond girls". However in recent James Bond films they are valued and given a more prominent and important role, this is a reflection of the more modern time period.

My favourite TV Show

Friends.

Friends is an American sitcom that was aired from 1994 to 2004 with a total of 236 episodes being aired every week. With a catchy and theme tune and six hilarious main characters it’s my favourite tv show of all time. There is 10 seasons of watching New York's favourite twenty-somethings fall in love, split up, get hired, get fired, get stranded, get pregnant and each episode never fails to make me giggle even though I have seen it at least 30 times before. I watch at least one episode every day as it is regularly shown on comedy central and I will continue to watch it for years to come.