Friday, April 23, 2021

03 Creating Media Music Video

Stressed out - Twenty-one Pilots 



Brief 3: a two minute sequence from an original music video to accompany a hip hop music track aimed at an audience of 14-18 year-olds. 

Statement of intent: 

I aim to create a  hip-hop music video for the song 'Stressed out' by Twenty-one pilots.  The music video will be suitable for a teenage audience of 14-18 year olds. The music video will follow a narrative based of a teenage boy who has become so stressed out by school work and facing the real world. The teenage boy will steal a Spiderman comic as an attempt to regain all the memories of his youth which he misses. I will set it in a range of locations. This includes shots in various rooms within my house and outside my house. 

My characters will fit to the stereotypical images of a male teenager and child. This means I will wear the stereotypical costumes to appeal to the age groups of the viewers. For a teenager this will be a branded jeans, jumper and trainers. Another way i will appeal to the viewers is through presenting the archetypal child memories, such as playing lego and board games, which many people would have experienced whilst growing up. I will attempt to engage the audience through my use of editing to the beat as well highlighting my ability to lip sync.

My film language will create meaning in various ways: the establishing shot will reflect the meaning of the music video; the medium close up of the different outfits and activities within the music video will make the video narrative clear and understandable.  In addition to this, I use symbolic visual codes to convey my singer's yearning for his uncomplicated childhood life: a photo of my sixth birthday party cake transitions into a match cut of the teenage singer baking a cake in order to connect with his past. I was inspired by Proust's famous memory of childhood madeleines taking him back to his past, this will help create a strong narrative.


Magazine cover:




Lyrics:

I wish I found some better sounds

No one's ever heard

I wish I had a better voice
That sang some better words
I wish I found some chords
In an order that is new
I wish I didn't have to rhyme
Every time I sang
I was told when I get older
All my fears would shrink
But now I'm insecure
And I care what people think
My name's Blurryface and I care what you think
My name's Blurryface and I care what you think
Wish we could turn back time
To the good old days
When our momma sang us to sleep
But now we're stressed out
Wish we could turn back time
To the good old days
When our momma sang us to sleep
But now we're stressed out
We're stressed out

Sometimes a certain smell will
Take me back to when I was young
How come I'm never able to identify
Where it's coming from?
I'd make a candle out of it
If I ever found it
Try to sell it, never sell out of it
I'd probably only sell one
It'd be to my brother, cause we have the same nose
Same clothes, home grown
The stone's throw from a creek we used to roam
But it would remind us of when
Nothing really mattered
Out of student loans and tree house homes
We all would take the latter
My name's Blurryface and I care what you think
My name's Blurryface and I care what you think
Wish we could turn back time
To the good old days
When our momma sang us to sleep
But now we're stressed out
Wish we could turn back time
To the good old days
When our momma sang us to sleep
But now we're stressed out


Friday, March 12, 2021

01 CUFFS EXTENDED ANALYSIS

The opening scene of CUFFS uses diegetic sounds to contribute to the authenticity of the police crime drama. Within the opening scene we can hear the intercom and sirens, these are both used to create a  sense of realism and reality, as well as help the audience understand the genre of the series. Moving aside from this we can hear the sounds of seagulls and faint waves crashing up against the shore. This gives us an idea of the scenery whilst also following the traditional belief of Brighton being a seaside town. Furthermore, there is the common use of non-diegetic sounds which helps creates a deeper meaning of the experience of the fast paced working life of a policeman.

The Superintendent`s speech helps to create a sound bridge over the opening as well as the scene that follows, in which we meet he typical social groups of Brighton. This is portrayed through the cross-cuts of Ryan facing a bunch of thugs who are treating him with minimal respect. Irony as well as humour is also created as for what the Superintendent to be saying the opposite to what we see Ryan is facing on the frontline.

Cuffs is a programme which faithfully reflects the social, cultural and historical context of the 2010s. The opening scene and establishing shot also shows the audience Brighton's diverse community. Furthermore, reflecting representations of different ethnic backgrounds, different genders and different sexualities. In the course of this episode the superintendents mission statement for the police is challenged and tested because the force is not always shown to receive the respect and support of the public which he hopes for; for example, the rudeness of the stagdoo to Ryan, the way that Benson threatens Ryan with a screwdriver whilst verbally assaulting him and the shoplifter who tries to humiliate Jake whilst he is struggling to do his duty. 

Similarly, the inexperience and naivety of Jake is also made clear when we see Ryan being firm and aggressive towards Jake. This comes as a shock to Jake, we know this through the use of dialogue. The dialogue allows us to understand Jake acts friendly and open towards Ryan trying to create a bond with his new colleague, telling him his name, age and sexuality. This is countered by Ryan as he piles pressure on him trying to keep a tough, experienced police officer as he describes Jake as  "bedwetter" in addition to this he describes Jakes father as  a "politician" rather than an officer.

For Blumer and Katz, audiences actively engage with media for their own gratifications. Audiences can get pleasure from empathising and identifying with characters and narratives represented in programmes like Cuffs. In the closing scenes of chapter 3, we once again get to meet the harsh life and the troubles which comes with being a police officer. This showed when Amit enters the corner shop and followed in by a group of racists. Who we soon find out stab Amit. Throughout this scene we can see the use of sound creating meaning. For example during his entry, we can hear diegetic pop music playing on the shop speakers. The friendly and inviting music helps us create a understanding that Amit's mood is upbeat, energetic and bouncy just like the music, also that he is a friendly, harmless teenager. However, this tranquil  environment soon dies as the group of racists, including Benson enter the shop. With there enter diegetic pop music gets drowned out by immoral and dramatic non-diegetic music reflecting the mood of the racists. We can notice that with the distance between the group  and Amit gets smaller the music gets louder highlighting the strong level of threat increasing. The rise in volume helps create an unfriendly atmosphere as the viewer knows something bad is about to happen as well as help build up suspension until the climax of where we see a curry packet spilling surrounding Amid. 

Cuffs also helps meets audiences needs for escapism and diversion. Audiences watch programmes like Cuffs to escape from their everyday lives. Cuffs presents a very realistic version of life, offering lots of tension and drama. One example is the confrontation between Ryan and Nathan. There a mixture of sounds within this scene to help to understand the pressure and the level of control throughout the scene. 

One way in with which Cuffs helps fulfil audiences pleasures is through presenting the social issues they have to face as a part of their job. An example of scene in which we get to see the struggle of which comes with policing is in chapter 5. The scene consists of Jake is trying to arrest a woman who stole items from a shop. Throughout the scene as the viewer we are made to have intense feelings of sympathy towards the police force  as we understand the struggles and abuse they face on a daily basis. On top of this, in this is situation, with the female shoplifter, Jake is falsely accused of trying to sexually assault her as she desperately tries to escape her punishment. Consequently, as we know Jake is an inexperienced police officer we are made to feel sympathy for him because of the women taking advantage of his lack of experience and naivety. Although this scene has been created to express signs of comedy, we can have the feeling of culpability that society allows the woman to feel like they can accuse Jake of such a thing. Moreover, we express sympathy for Jake, and the police as for the new understanding that there job isn`t as easy as it seems with first look as for their feelings being disregarded and taunted because of the uniform they wear.

As the audience, during the conference regarding the stabbing of the Asian male by the Benson, we learn lots about Jo`s professional policing life as well as her personal life. At the start of this scene the camera frames a two shot of both the Jo  and Superintendent Vickers, within this shot we are influenced to look at Jo`s facial expressions, which are expressing stress and upsets. Later during this scene we see Jo looking at superintendent's hands and ring suggesting that she is lost and thinking of the past relationship. As well as this we are made to feel sympathetic towards her as for us understanding there are lots of things running through her mind. This is met with a cross-cut to the witness watching the live broadcast, this would have been done deliberately as they are both feeling the same emotions of guilt and upsets. Overall this causes lots of meaning behind the scene as we learn that Jo is both soft inside regarding her personal life but tough and determined when doing her job. We soon find out that the police have a report and address for Keegan Benson, the racist thug who stabbed the innocent Asian teenager. This scene helps support us to learn more about Jo as for her being single-minded towards catching Benson. When they arrive at the address we are instantly under the impression of danger, violence and roughness as for the loud, diegetic, unfriendly music as well as the untidy house. However, even knowing they are outnumbered and support is still 20 minutes away they still enter the unknown environment. Therefore, this once again shows Jo`s determination and reliance towards her job and fighting crime.

Thursday, February 11, 2021

TV in the 2010s.

 


1. Explain technological convergence. [2]

It is the process of merging different aspects of technology to be at access on other platforms/ devices. An example is that TV can be watched on television, game consoles, tablets, mobile phones.

2. Explain 'channel surfing'. [2]

Switching between different channels to catch the most liked programmes. Eg watching a cooking program on one channel. However, when the football or another programme on a different channel to the original cooking programme you would switch to that channel as you would prefer to watch that.

3. Give 3 examples of how channels create brand loyalty [6]

Use popular actors which are the viewers favourite, Plan a catching narrative to engage the viewers, High production value.

4. What is 'long form television drama' ? [2]

The long showing of high drama TV programmes

5. What is a 'flagship' programme? [2]

A very popular and anticipated programme 

6. In exchange for the licence fee, what does the regulator require of the BBC as a Public Service Broadcasting channel? [6]

It requires to offer; creative, high quality, distinctive programmes; reflect the UK in its culture and values to the world; to reflect and represent the diverse communities of the UK`s nationalities and religions; to support learning; to provide impartial news and information

Monday, February 8, 2021

01 TELEVISION

 We look at current news articles about the BBC and return to the OCR fact sheet on the television industry.  

According to The Times newspaper this week,  watching TV live and in real time accounts for most TV viewing.

  1. What do you understand by the terms 'live' content and 'on demand' content?
Live TV is when is it broadcasting on live TV, at a certain time period, with certain programme. This means that you cannot watch it again or at the time of your choice. However, Demand is when you can watch it when you like and the TV has been pre-recorded. This means you can watch it whenever you want and you will be able to watch a bigger range of programmes. 


2.What is the demand for 'live' content like?
It is still  a very popular option, and it was recorded that in 2019 it factored for 73 percent of all broadcasting viewers . There is little change in 2020 with it still accounting for 3/4 of all broadcasted TV viewing. Looking deeper into this as a proportion of all live TV viewing, shared viewing remained the most popular. Shared viewing took up close to 50% of viewings. Thinkbox thinkers have put this down to the Lockdown. This is because households individuals with children in have said that they are more commonly watching TV as a way to past time because of the limited things they can do whilst in Lockdown.

3.According to ratings research, there are 8 programmes cited as the top live shows for family viewing. How many have you watched?

I have watched a couple of them. For example, Paddington 2 is a mainstream family viewing with very high production values and a mix of comedy, big star talent and clever technology. All together it offers pleasures for all age groups and brings families together for shared viewings . However, the bigger platforms such as Netflix have gained popularity as for them having a bigger budget meaning that they can afford to publish a movie a week. Therefore this outclasses the terrestrial television as for them not having an as wide range of programmes like the bigger platforms do. 

4.Apply Blumler and Katz's audience framework to what you learn from this article.

Entertainment - TV shows allow audiences to connect with the visuals. In some cases TV programmes could play with the audiences emotions. An example if there is a part of suspense the audience could feel nervous, meaning that they feel engaged and entertained. An example of a popular show which provides entertainment is David Attenborough's program, as said in the article 
Surveillance -  Through watching TV it allows people to learn and gather new information. Examples could be on new programmes or alternatively it could be on adventure programmes like Ben Fogle On Thin Ice
Relationships - It could allow you to build relationships with others who watch the same programme, this could be family or friends. An example could be if a group of friends all watch a tv show and they talk/ build a stronger bond around it.







Monday, February 1, 2021

RAPID REVISION

 1. How has technology changed the way people use newspapers? 

Technology has changed newspapers as it has replaced the old hard physical copy with the new online format. This is because with the new technology we can access our news with the use of technology such as mobile phones, computers and ipads etc. This new way has become preferred and more popular as for the features it makes available for the public. 

These new features include;

- Being able to provide a broader set of information (cover more stories rather than just the main headlines) as for the different sections which people can view.

- Be able to give more regular updates on sets of information through the day on the most viewed stories.  

 - Being able to provide digital images such as videos from all around the world at ease,          which could provide a more interesting and detailed read.


Another way that newspapers have changed as for the introduction of the online format is that they are more interactive with the reader. One way that they are more interactive is that it give the option for subscribers to make comments on articles. This would help please and pleasure the readers as they can express their opinions with other users and to the general population. This links into the social media pages of the newspapers. With the improvement in technology now most newspapers have social media pages, these give the highlights of the current news as well as exclusive sneak peeks for the upcoming newspapers. This would make the followers of the newspaper feel like they are a true part of the newspaper life. The social media platform also provides the option to share, like and see who else you has liked a post from the newspaper, this could make the reader feel like a part of a community and they even share interests with celebrities or their own inspirational characters.


Monday, January 18, 2021

02 NEWSPAPERS



 
If you access The Observer print edition online, you can access added features. What are they?

When reading the online version of the Observer there`re features available which the readers of the physical copy cannot access. One of these features is online readers would be able to make comments on articles and stories that physical readers can't do, where they can state their own opinion on the story meaning they are interacting with article much more. Another feature which is available for online readers   is that through looking at an online copy means that they will have a much larger amount of articles to look at. This includes older copies and stories, this is not possible to physical Observer readers can't do unless  the shop near them stocks the older copies. The final feature is that in the online versions of the newspaper, we can see tabs across the pages, these tabs could offer a deeper insight into the chosen story, this would allow the readers to gain a greater understanding of story which they read, this could make their reading more personalised to them as they have an interest in the subject matter of that part of the article. e.g sports team they support or political party which they support comparing this ti a basic physical version where you cannot do this.



This is The Observer's Twitter page. What do you notice?

The first thing I notice is that share, retweet, like and comment this would make the readers of The Observer feel like they can have a say on their opinion on the article and great bonds with other readers with a similar opinion
Another thing i noticed is the text "Tomorrows Front Page" this would give a little tease to the daily readers. It could also make the passionate readers of The Observer's twitter think they get early access making you feel more up-to-date than the general population.