Monday 5 December 2011



The scene starts with a long take, this shows the people and and the setting, they are
clearly 'country folk' they are wearing, practical working clothes. It also shows the back-
ground of a quite mountainous region. which again shows the audience of the regional identity of the people without stereotypes connotations.




This next scene comes straight from an ellipsis of the last one it jumps from a scene of the elderly men packing a van, to a young girl jogging through a door. There is also a reverse shot in this were we see the movement of the camera between the faces of the three chracters on screen.



There is invisible editing used here to create a smooth transition once she has caught the keys and then when she walks over to the vehicle shortly behind the other male character.



There is then an action match then used she turns the engine on and we see her drive round the corner, a few seconds later we hear a crash. The crash noise is non-diegetic. There is also a cutaway used to take us to the crash from the previous scene.



There are lots of short takes in this section they are also mixed with reverse shots as we see lots of different characters. The camera flicks between faces as they take turns to speak.



There is another cutaway shot used when they have finnished arguing it goes straight to a new scene. there is visible editing used in it, we firstly see fields with a perfect rainbow, then are given jumpy folk music in the background of the men working.



Here we see a montage editing, it allows the audience a glimpse at all the different jobs being done. But it doesnt take long to show it.

Friday 2 December 2011

Monarch of the Glen

Friday 25 November 2011

Working Title Case Study

Wild Child Presentation

Monday 7 November 2011

Working Title Website

Working title has a very unique website. It is extremely detailed and hugely interactive. Although working title are a british company 67% of the company are owned by universal studios, this is why the website is such a good standard, because of the best financial backing and the best quality equipment and staff. There has been dedicated time and money well spent on making the website as useful as possible.
The website is extremely unique, it's homepage consists of a 5 page spread advertising the latest films and news, there is also a banner across the top of the page which leads to the other parts of the websites. The website is also an exclusive website for working title fans, it provides adverts and posters that were never published in the marketing campaign and unseen by the public. There is also features for past films and projects so that you can still look in to detail about films that are not on the market anymore.
Not only does the website have incredible amounts of information on its films,past and present, but along with trailors and posters, there as an interactive part of the site with various activities. There are games and downloads and there are articles about the actors and films which give a different perspective of the films. Another aspect of the films is the galleries of photos which show the off screen actions of the cast, at premiers or on set.
Working titles website is of great quality it is easily accessible, it gives the audience different aspects of the film and lets us really interact with it. The detail of the website also makes it very useful and a great source of reliable information.the website proves to ensure the audience gets what it wants and succeeds in its prime objective of advertising films to a world word audience. 

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Working Title - Hot Fuzz

11) How many pieces of merchandise can you find for the film Hot Fuzz?
For the hot fuzz film, there was a variety of merchandise produced including; T-Shirts, Hats, Mugs and Posters.
12) How many different versions of the Hot Fuzz DVD are there (you can include imports)?
Over 1 million DVD’s were sold in the 1st four weeks of the release. There was a U.S DVD, and a HD DVD, The HD DVD was also released with special edition features. There was also a 3 disk collector’s edition released and a Blu-ray copy.
13) What special features are contained on the two disc special edition DVD?
The special features included in the 2 disk special were; Commentaries, Outtakes, Story Boards and Deleted Dog.
14) Why do you think they place different ‘special features’ on DVD’s and who are these designed               to appeal to?
The special features were designed for the fans, so it would give them a greater knowledge on how the film was made, why it was made and problems that were faced along the way.
15) How many Oscar winners appear in the film?
Simon Pegg received and Empire Award for best actor. Edgar Wright won an Empire award for best director.
16) What was the film’s opening UK box office takings?
The film generated £7.1million in the first weekend of its release.

17)
What is its current world wide gross?
The film made just over $80million dollars.
18) What convention did Nick Frost and Simon Pegg attend in order to promote this film?
They both attended the San-Diego comic convention in 2006 to promote the film. They showed small clips of the film and took part in a question and answer.
19) Why do you think they chose to attend this particular convention?
The main reason was to promote the film, the comic con is a big convention and the people that attend know a lot about films, it would give the Hot Fuzz team an idea of whether the film would be a success or not.
20)  

Doug Bihlmaier

Doug Bihlmaier is a living example of the cliche 'don't judge a book by its cover'. In a small class, it was easy to pick out what was thought to be a homeless man, lacking money, personal hygiene and respect. What to most people at first looks like a rough hair cut, tacky trousers and undesirable shoes is actually a fashion genious. Bihlmaier works for ralph lauren vintage, he is paid ludacris amounts of money to ravel the world finding patterns and items that he can work with to create 'vintage' items for ralph lauren in their vintage range. He has a teepee where he relaxes, it is a small area that is worth a fortune but again people can not appreciate the value of what he owns as it is impossible to tell whether some of his belongings are worthless or priceless.
He has been voted one of the top ten most stylish men in the world, and is responsible for a majority of the designs we see in high street shops today, although the high street shops have taken his original design ideas, that he makes millions out of, and have condensed them to make affordable products that everyone can afford. Bihlmaier has revolutionised the fashion world but still at first glance people stereotype. Stereotypes are forever getting out of control, teenagers with hoods up are always carrying a weapon or in this case a man dressed quite rough is homeless. We were given a suprise when we were told he was not a vagabond but a man whose shoes are worth more than our whole wardrobe. The shoes that it is easy to get the wrong idea about someone without knowing background information about them, this can be used in television aswell though to percieve a character to be something instantly, just by showing us a few things about the character and not actually getting to know them.



Monday 31 October 2011

Memento-Narrative theory and Character roles

The narrative of Memento does not follow any traditional Hollywood narrative pattern. The film follows the story of Leanord, a man who has lost his short term memory and is confused as to how his wife dies but believes that the man to blame is a man by the name John G. The film is different to traditional narratives as it follows no chronological order.
The narrative pattern consists of the same story line split into 2 halfs and played alongside each other until they eventually meet, the way we are shown this to happen is through the use of colour, the images in black and white are of the story line in the present and the film in colour shows the film going in reverse, showing flashbacks of his past. this is to give us the perspective of his life, and not being able to figure out what happened.
Aswell as there being no real trraditional narrative the character roles are also very unusual and it is very hard to distinguish throughout whether or not anyone is the villain and if anyone is the hero, the only character role we can be sure on is that there are definately false heros throughout. Leanord is the main character has lost his long term memory. Teddy is shown frequently throughout the film and appears to be one of heroes, he is constantly helpful to leanord and although he can seem quite a suspicious character at times he never is actually hurtful towards him. We then get introduced to natalie, she goes from role to role, at first she seems like the donor she constantly gives lennie clues and information to write down, she then continues to be nice to him and turns into the hero but gradually takes advantage of him and becomes the false hero. Leanord is told about a man called sammy jenkis he is told that sammy jenkis was a con man and that lennie confuses parts of his life with the life of sammy jenkis. Sammy had no wife and lenaords wife survived the attack that led to him losing his memory and thinking his wife had died. It is actually lennies wife that was diabetic and it was her that was killed by an insulin overdose from leanord. We could say that Sammy Jenkis is the doner in the stroy because he gives leanord a reason for trying to find the 'John G' character, although he may be getting confused this is the only motive he had.

Friday 28 October 2011

20 Questions on working title


1.     Who were the co-founders of Working Title?
Working Title Films was co-founded by producers Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe.
2.     When was the company founded?
The company was founded in 1983.
3.     Where is Working Title based?
The Working Title in based in London, and is a British Film Production Company.
4.     Who are the co-chairpersons of WT now?
The co-chairpersons of 'Working Title' are, Tim Beven and Eric Fellner.
5.     What awards have Working Title won?
Working Title have won6 accademy awards, 26 BAFTA'S, 4 Oscars and many more.
6.     How many full time staff does WT employ?
There are only 42 full time staff working for Working Title.
7.     What is Working Title’s philosophy?
Their philosophy has been to make films for an audience and played in a multiplex.
8.     List 5 box-office hits that Working Title have made.
Johnny English Reborn.
Hot Fuzz.
Green Zone.
Paul.
Shaun of the Dead.
9.     List flops that Working Title has made.
'Wimbledon' and 'Thunderbirds'.
10.  What is Richard Curtis’ relationship with Working Title?
They have him and Rowan Atkinson as their favourites for their comedies.
11.  List 2 famous directors thar Working Title have worked.
Edgar Howard Wright. (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the dead, Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy)
Oliver Parker. (Johnny English, St. Trinians, St. Trinians ll).
12.  What is Hugh Grant's relationship with Working Title?
Hugh Grant has worked with WT many times, He appears mainly in 'RomComs' that WT are involved with.


13.  Find out about the Coen Brothers (films, genres, status) and what they have to do with Working Title?
The Coen Brothers are two brothers, Joel and Ethan, They have directed and produced True Grit, O Bother where art though?, The Ladykillers. They have achieved academy award winning status for their mainly classic American style genre.
14.  Who owns 67% of Working Title Films? When did this happen? Why did this happen?
Many of Working Title films are now distributed by Universal Studios. Universal also owns this 67%
15.  List two of Working Title big blockbuster films and find out their budgets.
Atonement had a budget of £30 million and made about £130 million at the box office.
Johnny English had a budget of £40 million, and made about £160 million at the box office.


16.  What genre of film is Working Title famous for?
WT produce films from all genres but are most well known for comedy and romantic comedy.


17. What other genres do working title like to make?
WT make films from all different genres ranging from rating 'U' - 18


18. Find out as much as you can about WT2? (when established, films made, budgets, awards)
WT2 is a smaller branch of WT dedicated to making smaller films and helping independent ideas. It was established in 1999 and has made films such as Billy Elliot which only had a budget of only £3million but made just over £72million.


19. What information can you find out about Working Title through their web page?
They have recently released the Johnny English sequel, and SENNA.


20. Find out one other interesting fact about Working Title that you would like to share with the class.
After 1992 they made several films for production company Polygram, Polygram soon became a huge competitor against the U.S.A giants Hollywood.

Monday 24 October 2011

How does Calvin Klein represent women in its advertising?

How does Calvin Klein represent women in its advertising?
Calvin Klein is an underwear company, which makes it difficult to advertise without the adverts being controversial, to advertise under garments it requires for the models male or female, to be standing nude apart from the items they are advertising. But especially in the women’s adverts it can be difficult to distinguish between was is a clever and unique advert and what is a crude and sexual objectification.
Eva Mendez is a very attractive women, this is why she has been used to advertise the underwear. Like many adverts it has many connotations and with it being such a suggestive advert it will make you think in a more sexual way causing you to be drawn more to the image. I do not think Calvin Klein are representing women as sexually empowering but as ways to draw attention to something through a professional means. I think Calvin Klein have tried to make the advert as tasteful as possible but could not escape the theory ‘sex sells’. I f you start by looking at her face, she has quite an invitational and sexual face, yet her face has nothing to do with the advertising of the underwear. The next thing you can see from the advert is quite different to what we have seen from her so far, unlike what could be stereo typed for a women posing nude that could be quite frail and shy, she stands in a very powerful position. The positioning of her body and the camera angle make her looks in control of what is happening and this may appeal to the target audience. She is wearing heels, this may be looked upon as quite strange because she is wearing nothing other than underwear yet she wears heels, this is to elongate her legs and is only to make her look better.
She is made to look her best for a number of reasons, the advert is designed to appeal to both men and women, women will view it and think that because the model is wearing that particular underwear and looks good in it that it will instantly look good on them if they wear it and they will look similar to the model. Men may view the advert and think that if they bought that underwear for their partners then they would wear it and seem to look as good as Eva Mendez.
I think that Eva Mendez is made to look overtly sexual in the advert but purely for the purpose of the advert, Calvin Klein have not used her for the sake of using a half-naked woman but used as a psychological enhancement for people to buy the product. Every aspect of how she has been carefully positioned and dressed is clever even there position of her stance with her arms on her wait cause all limbs to be directing the viewer’s eyes to the underwear, Therefore I do not think that women are objectified as sexually empowered or objectified but they are simply used to create an advert in the best way possible using their best features and the same thing could happen to a male.

Thursday 13 October 2011

Categorising Facial Expressions.

Media Facial Expressions.

Saturday 1 October 2011

How are macs and p.c’s represented in the advertisement.

    
In the advert Levi Straus’s Binary opposites are used a lot, P.C is shown as a boring, middle ages looking man as opposed to mac which is shown as a young and fresh looking man, these two men are metaphors of the computers they are advertising. Connotations of the p.c having glasses combed over hair and looking a bit older than the mac makes p.c seem week and lack the newer and better looking qualities of the mac.
The symbolic code is showing the mac is better as it’s the positive of the two binary opposites. When we are shown the woman and the man in drag, it is a semantic code because although the man in drag is dressed identical to the woman he is nowhere near as similar underneath meaning that the computers may look similar on the outside but the mac is internally better. There is an enigma code after we have seen what macs ‘home movie’ looks like we are unsure when or what we will see when we see p.cs ‘home movie’. The cultural code makes the popular opinion obvious that wearing glasses and what looks like a tacky suit shows he is quite geeky and people would not be interested in this stereotype.  

Friday 9 September 2011

12 Steps of producing a film.

1.The Pitch: An idea will be pitched by the producers to investors and financiers.
2.Investment: The producers will approach production companies and private or public investors for the film to be given a budget and start production.
3.Script Development: A synopsis is developed to decide which key scenes will be put into the film.
4.Packaging:The producer and director will make the script into a commercial proposition.
5.Financing: The producer must travel around the world to find the right financier. There are also special types of banks that specialize in film finance.
6.Pre-Production: The casting director will try and find the correct actors, the production designer will design how the film will look and who will make the sets.
7.The Shoot: This is the key moment in the film production, the funding will be released and the cast, crew and special effects are organized.
8.Post Production: The editor will assemble scenes from the processed footage he has been given.
9.Sales:Specialist sale agents will be employed to help sell the film, the film can also be marketed at film festivals to get attention and sales.
10.Marketing: The sales agent is used again but this time to market the film by putting it on posters, magazines and making adverts to be broadcast on television.
11.Exibition: A high profile premier with all of the stars of the film is used to launch the movie into the world.
12.Other Windows: The film will come out on DVD and may be broadcast on television company’s may also buy the rights to make the film into a computer game.

Glossary

Production – the concept of the film is developed from idea, to script, to filming to editing.


Marketing – publicity for the film in all countries of release to create interest/hype in the lead up to theatrical release.


Distribution – supplying the product/film to cinemas in hardware/software


Exhibition – the showing of the film to audiences


High Production Value - this is a high cost of money for the movie to be produced

Blockbuster - a 'big hit' movie that makes a lot of money

Above The Line Costs - above the line in advertising tends to refer to the type of media that you are using in a campaign, say for example you are choosing to advertise on TV this would be considered above the line advertising

Below the line - are things such as direct mailing and viral email campaigns

Media Conglomerate - describes companies that own large numbers of companies in various mass media such as television, radio, publishing, movies, and the Internet

Subsidiary - wholly or partially owned company that is part of a large corporation

Class surevey conclusions

With all of the results of our survey i can come to the conclusion that a majority of films that where watched by my clas are films that have been produced in america, The statistics were around 5 american films watched to every 1 british films. There are many reasons for this are that films made in america are given the best facilities as the 6 main film production companys are based in america (hollywood), because of this the films will also get a bigger budget therefore they can produce a much better film. With a bigger budget the company can also spend more money on advertising, there are different ways of marketing films, films can be advertised on the television, posters, the radio and as trailors before other films in the cinema. I think that the best way to advertise a film those is on television adverts as it will be shown on national and sometime international television channels this will show the largest audience possible the new film that is being produced.
We also looked at the different ways people like to watch films, and there were various ways, the majority of people enjoyed watching films at the cinema. Watching a film in the cinema does have its pro's it is the best quality piture that you can watch and it is also usually quiet but sometimes it can be noisy if there are people messing around or eating loudly. People also like to download films onto there computer this can be dangerous though as it is sometimes illegal and could get you in trouble, it could also be in terible quality and you could miss parts of the film but it is quick to access and cheaper than buying a dvd.  

Tuesday 6 September 2011

- why have you chosen to study media?
I have chosen to study media as it plays a big part in my life and the life of everyone around us. I enjoy reading magazines and watching films so media also show me how what i watch and read is produced.


- what other subjects are you studying?
I am studying Philosophy, English language, and politics.


- who is your favourite band(s)/artist(s) I love the Wombats and i also music from past decades mainly the beetles. the beatles made a huge impact on the music world and really changed it and they will never be forgotten.
 - what are your favourite tv programmes
I love reality television programmes and celebrity big brother is one of my favourite prgrammes i also love talk shows and alan carr chatty man is my favourite talk show, i like these programmes because they give us an insight into what they are like as a person and not and actor. 
 
-what is your favourite film/who is your favourite director?
My favourite film is Kick ass this is because it takes my 2 favourite genres of films, comedy and action, into one and makes a generally good film. 
- what magazines do you read?
I enjoy reading celebrity gossip magazines such as heat and ok magazine, i like reading these because i like keeping upto date with celebrities and there lives.

- what websites do you read?
I do not use many websites, i only really use social networking sites i have a twitter and facebook account.