Wednesday 14 December 2011

Section A: Improvement on Essay

Mise-en-scene
The costumes that the characters wear help to represent their ethnicity and where they stand in terms of hierachy within the hotel. The immigrant staff are wearing uniforms where as the white staff are wearing smart suits. This gives the audience the impression that the white staff are more important and successful than the immigrants as its clear that by their uniforms they are cleaners.

Sound
Dialogue is used to suggest power and imprtance of a character. Throughout the sequence the audience have viewed Jackie to be of a high status within the hotel, maybe some sort of manager position. However this is tested when her and a large group of the immigrant staff are hiding in the cupboard from the immigration officers. One of the staff passes out and Jackie has no idea what to do so another worker steps in and  saves her. He said 'he wasnt always a cleaner', hinting that once he was a doctor but by moving to the UK has left him to resort a much lower job. This re-inforecs status and power as now the audience sees Adam (the immigrant worker) to be in a situaion in which he has more power than Jackie, this is empahasized again through the use of a high angle shot looking down on her from his point of view.

Editing
The use of cut-away shots are used  (form of parallel editing) which shows the audience the vulnerable position Ibraham is in. This technique helps the audience understand who Jackie is talking about and we can link the two shots together and identify that he is in a dangerous situtation. The headphones are a prop used in this seqeuence to show why Ibraham cannot hear the alarm, putting him in a weak and defenseless position.

Camera angles/movements/compositions
A Pull focus is used when the immigrant officers walk out of the elevator and are directly infront of Ibraham. This again creates realsim for the audience as they know that he is danger and we link the immigrant officers to the situation. Reinforcing the fact that he is an immigrant and doesnt have any power when up against the officers.

Monday 12 December 2011

Alexa's Web Traffic Stats

NME


Who is there core buyer?
  • 18-24 year old males who do not have children, mainly college educated and main browsing location is from work. (Alexas web traffic)
Has circulation dropped?
Traffic on website?

Yesterday0.03-35%
7 day0.045+1%
1 month0.0449
-12%
3 month0.0468+0.3%
Traffic rank for nme.com: (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/nme.com#)
Traffic Rank
     Change
Yesterday
 5,258
       +1,560
7 day
 3,574
       -211
1 month
 3,697
       +562
3 month
 3,483
       -132


Web traffic has risen by 107 per cent year-on-year according to the latest round of ABCe figures. The official measure of website traffic was published yesterday (August 5), revealing the big growth: 1.8 million more of you are now looking at NME.COM's news, listening posts, video interviews, blogs and more.  Average load time: (2.55 Seconds), 80% of sites are faster.


 Examples of convergence, synergy, prosuming opportunties?
  • Just three titles in the top 10 managed to increase readers this year – Kerrang!, Metal Hammer and BBC Music managed increases of 4.5%, 0.1% and 0.1%, respectively.


Metal Hammer


Who is there core buyer?
  • Very similar to NME.com. is visited more frequently by males who are in the age range 18-24, have no children, are college educated and browse this site from work.
Has circulation dropped?
Traffic on website?
  • Traffic rank for metalhammer.co.uk:


    Traffic Rank

    Change
    7 day
     72,159
    -23,957
    1 month
     82,079
    +12,572
    3 month
     71,604
    +3,544
Examples of convergence, synergy, prosuming opportunties?

Section B: Common Errors

Feedback on Section B Mock Exam:
  • Lack of terminology (up tp 10 marks)
  • Using exampls that are from OLD exemplar responses- this is very lazy amd these stats are now out-dated
  • Referencing examples
  • Focus on both- AUDIENCE and INSTITUTION
  • Hardware and CONTENT
  • Own opinion
  • By far the biggest error was the lack of specific case study examples; evidence to support claims/ arugements!!! These need specific examples about content, statistics, figures (audience circulation)
What is the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences within the media area in which you have studied?
Points that should have been covered:
  • positive and negative
  • advances in technology-can do more, smartphones, iphones, tablets, technology is more accessible/easily available (audiences can access it on the move 24/7), Web 2.0, synergies and convergence
  • Software: Apps-specific examples from each institution
  • Fanzines: exist now due to proliferation in hardware and software and their accessibilty- examples: Audience: more demanding; they can prosume through sites such as youtube so they expect more from institutions, impatient
  • how have institutions responded to these constant changing consumer/consumption habits?
  • Rise in competition due to proliferation of hardware (Twitter, fanzines etc) and how institutions have overcome this?
  • Production & distribution; advancements in printing process- has the internet meant a decrease in sale of institutions print products?
Use WIRED and ADOBE as an example
Refer to Alexa's web traffic

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Revision on TV DRAMA

Section A:
30 minutes to watch a clip (4 times) and make notes.
40-45 minutes to write your response.


Construct representations:
  • camera shots, angles, movements and compositions
  • sound
  • mise-en-scene
  • editing
Possible Approach to exam response:
  • strucuture your notes around the micro concepts (camera,editing, mise-en-scene,sound) to ensure you cover lots of detailed examples
  • pick 3/4 key points in the clip and structure detailed analysis around how the micro features are used in those sections of dramas
Note taking technique:




micro
technique
example
Meaning/impact
camera



mise-en-scene



editing



sound







Todorov Narrative theory
Disequilibrium- the period of instability and insecurity in a films narrative.
Equilibrium- a state of peace and calm, which often exists at the beginning of a films narrative.
Enigma- the question or mystery that is posed within a films narrative.
Iconography- the objects within a film that are used to evoke particular meanings.


Keywords:
Realism- do the different techniques used work to make the piece realistic?
Verisimiltude- the construction of a believable world
stereotypes- how we expect people and places to be
Protagonist- is the main character (central/primary personal figure), around whome the events of the narratives plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to identify most with. Alos know as the hero.
Antagonist- opponent, competitor, enemy, rival; is a character/ group of characters, that represents the opposition against which the protagonsit must contend. In other words, ' A person, or a group of people who oppose the main character, or the main characters. Also know as the villain.
'The iconography of the set design such as the space-ships helps to create verisimilitude within the diegesis, this also reflects the genre'

Connotations fit well with mise-en-scene!