Media A2

Lesson 28-01-10:

In todays lesson we focussed on our production work. We finalised our storyboard and annotated our lyrics in order to work from it when we start to film. Our planning processes are going according to plan, and our detailing of location and lyrics will mean we will be able to start filming as soon as we want to. We briefly looked at costumes and props we will need in todays lesson, although this will be finalised in the coming week.

As our final song for our music video is Candyman by Christina Aguilera, basing it around a military/sailor theme, we thought the HMS Belfast in London would be a perfect location to film. Along with the Belfast, we have thought about the Duxford Air Museum, and using there grounds to complete some filming work. We have sent E-Mails to both locations asking permission and whether this would be possible and now waiting for a response. If we are successful, we will be planning to go in the middle of February but cannot set a fixed date as it goes down to weather conditions at the time!

A2 Production Planning

Schedule of events leading to our Final Production:

January:

21st- Storyboarding/Detailed planning of lyrics.
25th- Choreographing for video (Beckie & Emma)
27th- Continuing choreographing.
28th- Costume/Props list.

February:

1st- Choreographing.
3rd- Drama studio to teach actors.
4th- Teaching actors.
8th- Teaching actors.
10th- Filming.
11th- Filming in Drama studio location.
15th- Filming.
17th- Filming.
18th- Filming.

March- EDITING.
Final deadline- 25th March 2010.

A2 Media

Lesson on 25-01-10:

In this lesson we looked at trailers that involved different youth representations from different decades. All trailers highlighted the way youth are related to crime, smoking and drug taking. We looked at trailers from 1936, through til modern day with one in 2006 so we could make clear connections.
Reefer Madness created a moral panic about drugs in the 1930's and shows how drugs can take over a persons complete life. The youth within the trailer didn't look as young as what we would see youth as being today, and this was one of the starting points for the stereotyping of youth in relation to drugs and sex. This promiscuous behaviour has been presented through these videos and youths seem to become highly labelled with this notion.
This is the trailer for Reefer Madness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1jB7RBGVGk

We also looked at Quadrophenia which was made in the 1970's, Look Back In Anger, Bullet Boy and Kidulthood. All trailers show the negative points and pressures of being a teenager in each decade. All presentated us with bad labelling of youth, including drugs, sexual promiscuity and violent acts. All show reoccuring themes with some elements of truth, although they have been exaggerated influencing moral panics about youth culture within our society in Britain.

27-01-10

Homework- Precis on Collective Identity.



'Media and collective identity' was a piece we as a class studied in detail. We learnt a lot from this text about how the media represent groups of people in different ways to create a sense of identity, and the effects it has on our societty.

Collective identity in media terms highlights how our media saturated society has a huge impact to the way we see and hear and think about different ideas. The 'collective' suggests how large number of people beilieve in the same norms and appearing in the same ways with the same morals. 'Identity' covers how we appear to others and how we identity ourselves. Collective identity in relation to media studies implies that groups of people reading from different media texts, gain a sense of self and understand how they would want themselves to appear. From this, people change and adapt to new ways of thinking belonging to a group presented in the media that share the same norms and values.


Two theorists who were noted in the booklet was Buckingham and Gauntlett. They both have strong views on the way media affects collective identity and the way it rubs off on society.

Buckingham's Quote:

'' A focus on identity requires us to pay close attention to the diverse ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life, and their consequences both for individuals and for social groups.''

Buckingham considers the way in which people are affected by different media texts like television, magazines and films and how us as the audience pay close attention to different representations of people.

Gauntlett's Quote:

''Identity is complicated. Everyone thinks they've got one. Magazines and talk show hosts urge us to explore our 'identity'. Religious and national identites are at the heart of major international conflicts. Artists play with the idea of 'identity' in modern society. Blockbuster movie superheroes have emotional conflicts about their 'true' identity. And the average teenager can creat three online 'identities' before breakfast... Thinking about self-identity and idividuality can cause some anxiety - at least in cultures where individuals are encouraged to value their personal uniqueness. Each of us would like to think - to some extent - that we have special, personal qualities, which make us distinctive and valuable to other people in our lives ( or potential future friends). But does this mean anything? Is individuality just an illusion? Maybe we are all incredibly similar, but are programmed to value miniscule bits of differentiation.

Gauntlett on the other hand, talks about how different organisations and media texts make people feel they need to be a part of an identity group. However, Gauntlett also highlights the way that ''miniscule bits of differentiation'' help the way we are as individuals understanding that not two of us are the same.

TV Drama progammes often can represent groups of people in which people would may want to follow. Us as an audience make assumptions from TV Drama's and even British Film, with the way they may give accurate representations of people. Many people believe what they see on TV and in films about many characters and stereotypically judge. The phrase 'Burden of Representation' indicates the way British film makers have a need to fulfil expectations of representations. Film makers reiterate how the history of social realist British film portrays certain representations which still show aspects of truth. Therefore, they have to be included in New films to carry on the notion of representations which lead to finding an identity about yourself as an individual.

Homework Task due 21-01-2010

Introduction to question:
Explain how stereotyping in British TV Drama and British Film contributes to a sense of collective identity.

The notion of collective identity suggests how we as a population of society are a part of a collective group. Living in a media saturated world, many people are influenced by what we see and hear and gain a sense of belonging to a particular group, by conforming to the norms of that specific style. Many media texts including British film and TV drama, contribute to the way in which we see ourselves, as it often mirrors many norms of our society we live in. People feel a connection with many characters in certain films and TV drama series, if they have ever been in similar positions or experienced the same problems.
Stereotyping plays a huge impact on the way we perceive others around us as well as ourselves, and British television representing these connotations to us as an audience influences the way we act and adapt to modern society and how we live.

A2 Media

14th January 2010:

In this double lesson we were able to start our research and planning to start our production. We used the laptops to gain more knowledge about the type of production we are doing. My group, consisting of three of us, have chosen to produce a music video. The genre of music we are most interested in is Pop, and have narrowed down our choices. Within our research we went onto www.youtube.com and watched many old 90's pop videos and tried deciding on a final song. Bands like S Club 7, Spice Girls, Steps, and solo artist Britney Spears all encorporate these qualities of being a pop icon, and we feel we would work well on a project reflecting this genre of music. We also produced a time schedule of which we were to work by so we have deadlines for each part of the project. Our deadline being the 25th March 2010, gives us three months to work on our final production and I feel having this plan will help us complete it within the deadlines. We have decided to film within the month of february and edit throughout march. This will be challenging, but according to our time schedule, if we were to work precisely we will produce a film of a high standard. I am excited about working on a project of great importance, although hoping it will fulfil our expectations as to what we would like it to be.

A2 Media

5-01-10



As from the beginning of this term, we are focussing a part of our week on our ultimate coursework task of film production. We have had many experiences with the camera and using the editing software on the apple macs and camera's themselves to help us gain an insight into what is expected. The editing software becomes easier to use after a certain amount of experience, and having an 'MOT' type test on the software, makes it apparent whether we have a good amount of knowledge and understanding for it. Passing this test, I feel comfortable in using the mac's to edit and cut a film to a standard of high quality. Whenever this software is used, I feel I learn more and more about it everytime.

The tasks we have undertaken recently to help give an idea about the expectations of film, have been of great significance. This is in the way that they have helped us develop our ideas and knowledge about film and how to use the software appropriately in different locations.

The first task was that of the competition involving the alcohelp group, and producing a film targeted at young people about the effects and consequences of alcohol. This has already been mentioned in my previous blog, and I felt I learnt a lot from this task. The planning, filming and editing were of equal importance and my group worked efficiently when producing it to our best standard.

The second film we produced as a sueding of a well known film. Being in a group of four, we had to watch trailers of recent films, and use this as a guide to producing a copy of the trailer. Our group decided on 'Run Fat Boy Run' as our trailer, and found this experience very helpful. Again, it taught us a lot about the amount of planning that had to be done in order to produce a successful film. Although we were only given a short amount of time to work on this production, we still had a chance to work on the macs to produce editing of a higher standard. This short film may have been more humorous than the others, however still encorporated a significant amount of work to produce.

Lastly, we had the opportunity to work on a music video and this I felt was the most challenging film of the ones we have completed recently. Being given a song, my group received Abba- Money, Money, Money and created a music video using different connotations of money. We thought showered our ideas and started to create the film and used the drama studio to create a show style scene and we thought carefully about the misc en scene. Again, we planned in detail and thought thoroughly about how the different words within the lyrics were filmed. We edited with such care, that the lip syncing worked well and the outcome was better than what my group had expected.

These little projects have all been leading up to our final production, so we have a full understanding of how to use all software in order to produce the best of our abililty. We have an insight into the amount of work that has to be done to help achieve this, and I am determined to use all time to put in the most effort possible.