Evaluation of Preliminary Task

In order to create our project we created all materials needed for planning this preliminary task. These included factors such as creating a detailed storyboard (including camera movement, dialogue and length of shots), Creating a shot-list which allowed us to before hand know what shots we had to complete and which shots we still had to film and a script which allowed us to rule out the dialogue and movement of each character. All of these were effective in clarifying our intentions for this production.

In our production the strengths outweighed the weaknesses. Some of the strengths that our production included are great match-on-action shots. These showed the movement of a character, such as when our character was walking and opening the door, from more than 1 angle. This effect shows continuity in the clip which emphasizes dramatic or emotional logic between shots. Also we used a range of shot types. These include close ups on key objects such as the balcony door and the cigarette box. We also used mid-shots which showed us the main characters facial expressions as well as their body language. This helps the audience distinguish how the character is feeling and what they might do about it. In this trailer, the main character spends most the time looking down to the ground. This implies to the audience that there is a misconception in this story which they want to find out about.

The non-diegetic sound was a strength for us as it was parallel to the storyline. It wasn't very fast paced and aligned perfectly with the narrative. The diegetic sound was a weakness for us as we didn't include dialogue.

The weaknesses in our production included no dialogue being used. This resulted in our production not meeting the brief which was a shame. Our intention was for there to be  no diegetic sounds but only non-diegetic sounds such as music. This was in attempt to create tension and suspense in the audience. I believe that our production looked much more better without dialogue as our trailer was meant to be of the thriller genre. Keeping this in mind, I believe in the future we should stick to meeting the brief and make a plan that will tick all the boxes for the brief.

The narrative of our project was an male character who was clearly disturbed by something walks from his bathroom to his garden. In the garden that he stands in, he lights a cigarette and stares gracefully into the distance. Soon after his phone rings but we as the audience cannot hear this. He pulls out his phone and answers straight away. As the audience we straight away acknowledge that someone has called him. He says one line of dialogue to the caller then gets disconnected. This leaves the audience highly curious of what and who he has spoken to. As he puts his phone back into his pocket he put his head down into his hands. The effect of this is to suggest to the audience that he is in misery or pain. The cigarette further reinforces this as cigarettes usually connote stress and pain.

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What was the video about?

The video was about a group of individuals who went through hundreds of newspapers and cut out pictures of all the males and females. They then put them up on the wall separating females and males. The images of the females were very sexualised and contained a lot of nudity. For the males there were a lot of sportsmen and business men. Through out the magazines there was not 1 image of a sports woman.

Note down the on-screen text that lists each of the conclusions they made.

In the video they made many conclusions at the end. These conclusions include  'there is a range of emotions on the main sides ... the women are mainly standing and pouting' and ' this is a newspaper reowned for sport, and there is not a single image of a woman doing sport'. 

Give your view - do you agree with the conclusions? Is this representation harmful? Why?

I do believe that the representation of females is highly harmful. This is because females are being presented in a way in which they are being disrespected by The Sun. The fact that there is no female sportswoman suggests to the audience that females are only there for looking pretty and pleasing men. As a result young individuals who may read the newspaper will only see women who are half-naked or pregnant which creates the idea to them that being half-naked in a newspaper is perfectly normal. Also young females are less likely to be motivated to become a sportswoman as there are no images of sportswoman in the newspaper. 

I believe it is important for the younger generation to see something that they can look up to. Whether it is a sportswoman or a dancer. If all a young girl sees is images of naked females then it is likely that her ambitions will be low and the same to the girls in the newspaper.

Uses And Gratifications

Diversion is the process of escape from everyday problems and routine. This could be reached using methods such as watching reality shows to liven up your mood as well as watching game shows and getting involved.

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Personal Relationships - using the media for emotional and other interaction. This could include building relationships in your mind with characters in programmes. This is most likely in soaps and series such as EastEnders and Coronation Street.

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Personal Identity - finding yourself reflected in texts. This could include seeing something in a magazine that you believe is exactly what you like. For example a dress or outfit that you believe you would've picked. This suggests that this magazine has the same identity as you. This is most seen in Magazines and Reality shows such as Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

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Surveillance - Information which could be useful for living such as weather reports, financial news and holiday bargains. These could be programmes such as BBC News, BBC Weather and Sky News.

Audience Theory Questions

Playing video games for just 20 minutes a day can encourage aggressive behaviour.

• How does Article 1 relate to the hypodermic needle theory?

- The hypodermic needle theory suggests that whatever the audience hears on the news or sees on TV influences them in their lives. This article suggests that individuals in their youth are more likely to get influenced by violent video games than anything else. 

• Find another online article/academic study that challenges the belief that violent video games are harmful. Provide the link and summarise its key points.

Article Against 

- This article suggests that there is no link between violent behaviour and playing violent video games. It suggests that yeah once in a while maybe the victim of an incident may of played Grand Theft Auto but that is like saying the victim wore socks when the incident happened. It doesn't mean anything.

• What's your view on this debate?

- There is no evidence suggesting that videogames are the main route to violent behaviour. There may be a case once in a while where the victim played Grand Theft Auto but what kind of excuse is that. To blame the video game for infuriating him into harming another individual. I myself have played video games such as Grand Theft Auto and Call Of Duty for most of my life and not once have I ever thought about killing someone or harming someone because of that game. I feel as if it has had no impact on me and surely should have no impact on no one else.


2. Jamal Edwards: Amateur film-maker turned 

• How can you link this feature to the two-step flow model?

- Jamal edwards is an opinion leader in the two-step flow model as he is broadcasting his view to many many people are agreeing or disagreeing. A lot of people may look up to him as an idol and may be influenced by his likes and dislikes. As a result they may begin to be influenced into having the same opinion as him and agreeing with everything that he says. 

• Identify FIVE other YouTubers who are influencing audiences. 

KSIOlajidebt: https://www.youtube.com/user/KSIOlajidebt

Wroetoshaw: https://www.youtube.com/user/wroetoshaw

PewDiePie: https://www.youtube.com/user/PewDiePie

Zoella: https://www.youtube.com/user/zoella280390

Ali-A: https://www.youtube.com/user/Matroix

Opening Scene Analysis

Skins

At the beginning the opener contains all the characters and their hobbies. It shows them smoking weed, drinking alcohol with one another and having fun. It suggests to us the personality of the characters and how old they are all ranged around. The setting of this opener is located in town. The antagonist makes his way down town on his skateboard going past many shops in a crowded place. As he makes his way down he passes many situations that he just ignores also causing a lot of nuisance. These show that he the typical stereotype of a teenager, careless and clumsy.  This portrays to the audience straight away that if they enjoy the entertainment of teenagers mucking about this is the right programme for them. Then the student makes his way to the bottom of town to greet his friends. His friends are drinking alcohol and from the dialogue they say it's 8 am and have college in 30 mins. This suggests that they aren't taking anything serious and makes the audience want to watch on to see what they are going to do once they get into college.

Sounds
The sound includes diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. There is music playing in the background which is fast paced and further reinforces that the character is moving fast on his skateboard. The non-diegetic sounds are the sounds of car horns and dialogue.

Misfits

This opener is located outside their community service area spot. This shows each character and their facial expressions by a mid-shot. The first character is shown as being very happy while smoking a cigarette. Since he is at the front he may be the leader of the group and may also be the least responsible. The next character looks entertained by what he is doing. The third characters facial expressions suggest he is bored as well as the fourth character who also looks worried. All of these characters have been placed on community service for doing something illegal.

Dependency Theory

Rokeach and Defluer took Uses and Gratifications one step further in 1976 in suggesting that people have become dependant on the media. They found that people rely on media for information determining. This means the media can create many different feelings such as anxiety, fear and happiness. The media basically controls our feelings at times.




1: What do you primarily use the media for?: Entertainment or Information?(or something else?)
- I use the media for entertainment purposes as well as informative purposes. I use media platforms such as BBC News and Sky News to keep up to date with current affairs. I use E-Media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook to communicate with family and friends. As well as this I watch soaps such as Eastenders for entertainment.

2: To what extent do you think that we are reliant on media?
- I think now days most people find themselves reliant on media. There are many reasons why people choose to use media to a extent where they may rely on it. These include the Uses and Gratifications which are:

- Diversion 
- Personal Relationship
- Personal Identity
- Surveillance

3: Has our dependence changed over the last 10 years?
- In my opinion, I believe it has changed. We are much more reliant on Media as it brings a lot of comfort to many people. So people are much more likely to rely on Media to comfort them as a pose to something else. Nowadays a lot of people tend to spend more and more time on media. This has resulted in them being addicted to media such as social media, soaps etc. As a result they tend to lose count of how long they spend on media and when reminded or cautioned about it are likely to denie.