Revision: LO3 production techniques

Micro (production techniques) makes Macro meaning.

Production techniques:
- Mise en scene
- Camera work
- Editing
- Sound


Macro

- Genre
- Narrative & story
- Representation and characters


Lighting is used within Life of Pi to create visceral pleasure (Rick Altman, 1999) in order to make the audience feel a vast range of emotions, in particular sadness and fear. This is created by using low key lighting which connotes danger and sadness which therefore provokes these different gut reactions, in contrast to this the high key lighting is used to reflect the narrative of the film being based mainly around religion - when this lighting is present it has connotations of religion (heaven) and new beginnings, which are themes common in the bulk of the story. Costumes help the characters in the film  establish themselves and make their backgrounds known to the audience, Piscine wears traditional Indian clothing which not only tells us the location of the film, but also shows us how racial minorities can be seen as to be pitied as said by Alvorado 1987 - this is made obvious when the character finds himself in multiple different scenarios which the audience are allowed to find humourous or dangerous (therefore easily pitied). In Life of Pi in various different sections of the film different camera angles are used to establish dominance between the binary opposites within the narrative. Piscine (man) is shot from a low angle to show his authority over Richard Parker (nature) whom is shot from a high angles. This is related to the theory of binary opposites and is reflected quite well in this series of shots.


Editing techniques such as eye-line-match are used within the film to create enigma codes as suggested by theorist Barthes (1977), we see Pi looking at objects which he requires yet struggles to retrieve due to Richard Parker being too close - this leads the audience into wondering what he needs the object for and how he is going to get to it. Similar to this Insert shots are used to the same enigma codes, we frequently see piscine writing in a note book which causes reaction from the audience as they wonder why exactly he is doing that when the narrative leads us to believe he thinks he wouldnt survive.

The majority of sound that is used within Life of Pi is Non digetic however the digetic sounds that are present is primarily dialogue, because the film is based in an indian location it is necessary for the actors present to havc Indian accents in order for it to work alongside the narrative. This digetic sound helps disprove the theory of Alvorado 1897 where foriegn people are to be pitied, however in this narrative it is infact the minority which is demonstrating dominance which helps piece together different opinions which the audience begin to gather throughout the duration of the screen play. In addtion to this, whenever we see computer generated imagery in the background there is Non digetic sound which relates not only to the genre of the film but also the location in which the film is shot- chimes are significant as they connote fantasy and fairytale which is a prominant theme throughout.

LO6: Media effects

The point of view that is conveyed by the article is that Ian Duncan Smith does not believe that the newest Batman film has been wrongly advertised as a 12A which allows those younger to view with a parent and guardian present.

'Dark themes'

I however partly disagree with the article as the BBFC take great time and consideration in choosing which certificate a film should be, in contrast to this Parents should be able to determine whether a screenplay is appropriate for their children based around a discription given by the BBFC.


A) Passive audience theory

Hypodermic syringe - implies that media has a negative impact. Mass audience believe everything that they see/hear (Adorno and Horkheimer)

In the 1940's/50's, the mass media were percieved as an extreme influence towards audiences adapted behaviour.

This model does not hold much positivity for the audience , however it is a good method for a media producer , politicians and also towards the use of marketing.

STANLEY COHEN, 1972

when the 'mass media' demonise groups , people or products that they believe become a threat to society, values and interests it is called 'Moral Panic'. The group/products are referred to as 'folk devils'. Modern day folk devils include Donald Trump, Immigrants and Religious extremists.

Violence in the media:

Anderson (2007) that high exposure to fast-paced violent games can lead to changed in brain function when processing violent images, including dampening of emotional reponses to violence. One of the high risk factors?

This is known as desensitisation

Ferguson (2012) showed no long term link over three years.

Halo 3 - http://geekti.me/wp/2013/10/10-crimes-that-were-blamed-on-video-games/

In 2007, Daniel Petric of Ohio brutally murdered his mother after being refused to play the game as it was 'banned' in their home. Petric regularly went over to a friends house to play the game and secretly bought it to play at home, this then supposedly lead him into stealing his fathers gun to murder his mother, his father blamed this violent behaviour on the video game after claiming it lead him to 'snap' after a bout of depression.

Facebook - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2154624/A-Facebook-crime-40-minutes-12-300-cases-linked-site.html

Facebook has been claimed to cause an abundance of crimes from theft to grooming and has been regularly reported in the media as a dangerous site for predetors. An example of this would be Teenager Ashleigh Hall being murdered by serial rapist Peter Chapman after grooming her using this social networking site. Other cases are seemingly less serious however include underage children being pestered for indecent images.

GTA 5 - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/2504016/Thailand-bans-Grand-Theft-Auto-after-copycat-murder.html

Thailand banned the game after a copy cat murder carried out on a taxi driver.'An 18-year-old high school student has been charged with robbery and possession of a weapon, and could face the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted. He was arrested on Sunday after police found the bloody body of a Bangkok taxi driver slumped in his cab.
Police said the teenager had become incensed when he could not afford to play the game, which encourages gamers to kill and steal cars in order to accrue points'.


Representation


who is being represented?
All representations are mediated (Hall, 1980)

Is there use of stereotypes/countertypes (Perkins,1979) . Not all stereotypes are negative.

Representation of women- are they objectified (Mulvey, 1975). Representation of men (Earp and Katz, 1999) - 'equation of masculinity with pathological control and violence'.

Representations of Gay people (Butler, 1993) - are they stereotypical.



B) representation

Alvarado (1987), Hall (1995) - ethnicity 'exotic, dangerous, humourous, pitied'.

Turton (2014) - (age) hooligans, trouble causers. Black and Asian boys.

Lloyd (1995) girls as 'double deviant' - they are trouble causers but they shouldnt be because they are 'women'.

In my chosen film there are possible aspects that  could be criticised for having a negative impact on the audience watching, for example throughout the film Piscine is deemed to be a humourous charcater, frightened and weak due to his situation - this is an issue due to him being a part of an ethnic minority. Alvarado (1987) and Hall (1995) posed theories that suggested that these people were seen as 'exotic, dangerous , humourous , pitied' which applies well to this screenplay. In numerous scenes we are made to laugh at the misfortune of Piscine, and particularly in the cargo ship scenes we see a slight hint of white supremacy regardless of the man conducting it being of French origin. This could be related to the hypodermic syringe theory as it implies that this kind of representation could potentially change the viewpoints of those viewing as they supposedly believe everything they see/hear in the media.

Active Audience Theory

Other school of thought- we are able to filter and adapt to content in the media (Gauntlett, 1995) - Backwards model.

We have uses and gratifications (McQuail, 1972) theory - people use media for their own purposes. - escapism, suveillance , building personal relationship and bulding personal relationships

Provides a more more positive outlook on the effects of media.

Hall (1980) encoding/ decoding

preferred reading - by audience depending on their background but accepts the dominant viewpoint/story

Negotiated reading - partially agrees with meaning

Oppositional reading - meaning understood but dont agree and think opposite

Aberrant - gets the completely wrong meaning entirely.

There are however positive effects that are given by my film surrounding ethnic minorities, as toward the ending of the film we learn that Piscine is not infact that humourous, pitied - he is a strong and brave male character.

Revision

LO3: Production Techniques

Mise-En-Scene

Costume - Binary opposition (male gaze? )

Props - Binary opposition

Lighting (high key/low key) and colour

Characters

Acting gestures - Binary opposition (representation , stock characters Propp 1928) (Mulvey 1975 male gaze, are women objectified)

Location and Iconography - when and where we are  (all genres have sub genres Barry Keith Grant)

examples from film:

Lighting is used within Life of Pi to create meaning in many different ways, alongside this Low key lighting is used for visceral pleasure to make the audience feel fear . In contrast to this high key lighting for the same reasons to make the audience feel happiness. In some ways this can be realated to binary opposition as the majority of the film is based around religious happenings - the high key lighting connotes this heavenly sense whereas the low key quite the opposite. Costumes help the characters in the film establish themselves and make their backgrounds known to the audience . In life of Pi, Piscine wears traditional Indian clothing which not only tells us the location of the film, but also shows how racial minorities can be seen as to be pitied as said by Alvorado 1987 - this is made obvious when the character finds himself in multiple different scenarios which the audience are allowed to find humourous or dangerous (therefore easy to be pitied).

Editing techniques such as eye-line-match are used within the film to create enigma codes as suggested by theorist Barthes (1977), we see Pi looking at objects which he requires yet struggles to retrieve due to Richard Parker being too close - this leads the audience into wondering what he needs the object for and how he is going to get to it. Similar to this Insert shots are used to the same enigma codes, we frequently see piscine writing in a note book which causes reaction from the audience as they wonder why exactly he is doing that when the narrative leads us to believe he thinks he wouldnt survive.

LO2 Advertising

Media product: Film
Ways it could be Advertised: Social media, Trailers, Public domain advertising.

Why these are successful: These methods are advertising are available to most people which would mean that a mass target audience would be able to readily access the content. Should people not have social media account then alternative places would be available to advertise the product.

LO4- BARB Analysis

Channel 4 is a commercial institution that is partly funded by public service broadcasting, therefore its channels are broadcasted to inform, educate and entertain hence why there are a variety of different programmes for multiple different audiences.In the week ending the 13th of november Gogglebox was the highest grossing tv programme with 3.18 million viewers - programmes such as Gogglebox are not featured on broadcasters such as BBC1 due to it being a public service broadcaster and it not being part of their ethos.

Channel 4 is primarily a youth channel with most entertainment programmes being shown past watershed, therfore the target audience would be based around the ages of 16-30 year olds primarily females due to the more feminine nature of the programmes featured such as First dates and The secret life of four year olds.

LO4: Audience research

Organisations that collate data:

RAJAR - Radio joint audience research (whos listening: gender, age , how long for)
NRS - National readership survey
BARB- Broadcaster audience research board (who is watching, when theyre watching, age, gender)

For this section of the exam we have to analyse data that is collected by the organisations.
Data con be from any of the organisations

Regulations from the BBFC

 Pick out 5 points of regulation from the BBFC for the film that you have studied.

Discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to be acceptable unless clearly disapproved of.

References to illegal drugs or drug misuse must be innocuous or carry a suitable anti-drug message.

No focus on anti social behaviour which is easily imitated by a child.

There may be nudity with no sexual context. Sex/Sexual activity may be implied, but should be discreet and infrequent. Mild sex references and innuendo only.

Frightening scenes or situations which characters are in danger should not be prolonged.