Narrative

What is meant by narrative in film/television?

What have key theorists suggested is important when considering narrative?

Bordwell and Thompson define narrative as a chain of events I a cause-effect relationship occurring in time.

Elements of narrative:

Diegesis- 

• The internal world created by the story that the characters themselves experience and encounter 

Story and Plot- 

• Story- all events referenced both explicitly and inferred (including backstory as well as those projected beyond the action)
• Plot- the events directly incorporated into the action of the text and order in which they are presented 

Narrative range- 

• Unrestricted narration- A narrative which has no limits to the information that is presented i.e a news bulletin.
• Restricted narration- Only offers minimal information regarding the narrative i.e thrillers

Narrative Depth- 

• Subjective character identification- the viewer is given unique access to what a range of characters see and do. 
• Objective character identification- the viewer is given unique access to a character's point of view such as seeing things from the character's mind, dreams, fantasies or memories.

Theories:

Propp- Character is a function of narrative he called them 'spheres of action' or function. He broke all characters down into seven types:

• The hero- not always the protagonist. 
• The villain
• The donor- gives the hero something
• The helper
• The princess (the victim)
• The dispatcher- can be seen as a father figure 
• The false hero

Representation

Representation

Representation- (re)presentation because it is basically how things are presented to people for example the news on the telly and the way characters are seen within films or television. It depends on who is presenting the information as different news stations will present different information in different ways to make the audience see things how they want them to.

For us as ,media students, we concentrate on who has produced a text, what the text is saying and how it is saying it. 

David Chandler (2006)- "Representation refers to the construction in any medium (especially the mass media) of aspects of reality such as people, places, objects, events and cultural identities". 

Walter Lippman- Character typing- using shortcuts in the construction of characters to make meaning. such as:

• Archetypes- A familiar character that has emerged from hundreds of years of story telling (Hero, Villain, Trickster)
• Stereotypes- A very shallow representation of a type of person or social group, based on behaviours or appearance. 
• A genre type- a character that is common in a genre (e.g tired old detective in thrillers) 

Objectification (of women):

Women are seen in films as something for the male character to either save or have sex with, without building up their characters to just keep the as a blank character almost like an object.

Male gaze 3 perspectives:

• Producer
• Audience 
• Male characters

Tim O'Sullivan et al (1998)- refers to a set of ideas which produces a partial and selective view of reality. Notion of ideology entails widely held ideas 

Richard Dyer (1983) asked questions:

• What sense of the world is it making?
• What does it imply? Is it typical of the world or deviant?
• Who is it speaking to? For whom? to whom? 
• What does it represent to us and why? How do we respond to the representation?

Still to come

Still to come in LO3:
Connotation, Denotation and Print conventions
Media Theories: Representation, narrative, genres

LO4:
Audiences- Defining and Classifying
LO5:
Analysing research data- Research types and Purposes
LO6:
Legal and Regulatory systems in the media industries

UNIT 2- Pre-Production and planning

link to my 'The Conversation'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgeW5yA6HIs

Camera Work Notes

A long shot- shows scale and allows an audience to see the whole character and their surroundings. 

Medium shot- shows the characters interacting 

Close up- allows the audience to see emotion and detail. 

Two shot- Very common for conversation 

Over the shoulder- To show connection and the emotion

Low angle shot- looking up sometimes makes audience feel vulnerable

High angle- Looking down sometimes makes audience powerful

POV- looking directly through the eyes of a character 

An establishing shot is usually the first shot of a new scene, designed to show the audience where the action is taking place. it is usually a very wide shot or extreme wide shot.

A master shot is a film recording of an entire dramatised scene, from start to finish, from an angle that keeps all the players in view. It is often a long shot and can sometimes perform a double function as an establishing shot.
Movement
Pan- camera stays in one position and rotates around a point right to left or left to right
Tilt- Camera stays in one position and rotates around a point up or down
Tracking- Camera moves smoothly along a track in a lateral movement (straight lines)
Dolly- Similar to a tracking shot, but the camera is on a wheeled mount that can move in all directions
Crane- Camera is on a jib arm with a counterweight that can be raised or lowered
Steadicam- Camera is strapped to the operator with a stabalisation rig allowing for smooth movements across all surfaces
Handheld- Camera is held in hand and will film bumpy footage
Composition
The organisation of elements within the frame
Symmetry/asymmetry for emphasis
Depth of field- using focus to make the viewer concentrate on elements
The rule of thirds- an imaginary 3x3 grid that can be used to make shots more dynamic 

Editing in practice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-vP7WgMkpA&t=58s     -this is the clip that I used from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom


At 22 seconds in there was an invisible cut as the characters run past a tree the screen goes completely green for a split second in this split second it cuts to a different character running. The effect that this cut has is to make it look smooth and almost not visible as it happens too quickly for people to really notice. The audience will realise that it has cut to a different character running however they will not notice the cut. Invisible cuts make the action look smooth and uninterupted as it did in this clip.

At 1 minute and 41 seconds in there is a shot reverse shot between the young boy with the glasses and a dinosaur that is very near to the boy. The effect that this particular cut has is to show the confrontation between the character and the danger that the dinosaur symbolises. The cuts are quite spaced out allowing the audience to see the fear in the boys face as the dinosaur is next to him.

At the same point in the clip as the shot reverse shot there is an eye line match that the boy makes with the dinosaur. The point of the eyeliner match is to make it look normal and not weird the audience will watch the clip and not think that anything looks weird or out of place or wrong because the character is making eye contact with the dinosaur which looks normal.

Editing

Codes and Conventions: Editing

For the exam, you need to talk about types of editing and the EFFECT that it has on the moving image text in question. You'll need to know about any or all of the following things:

The following are all examples of CONTINUITY EDITING, where editing is supposed to make sense of time and place for the viewer:

• Cuts- these are the instant switches between shots, always use the word cut.
• Transitions- switches between shots that take time, like dissolves, fades and wipes.
• The frequency and rhythm of cuts- how often cuts happen whether they happen at the same time as actions or sounds
• Specific editing techniques- Shot reverse shot, cross cutting, action matches etc

Examples of NON CONTINUITY EDITING techniques include flashbacks/forward, montages etc. 

• Jump cut- a cut that suddenly shifts position or time unnaturally, in order to communicate that something is wrong.
• Cutaway- cutting to a brief shot in a sequence for a variety of technical or narrative reasons- it will be of a shot NOT covered by the master shot.
• Insert- Similar to a cutaway but it will cut to a shot that IS covered by the master shot.

Transitions:

• Dissolve- one shot blending into another with no fade in between.
• Fade in- Fading into a shot from a colour commonly black.
• Fade out- Fading out of a shot from a colour commonly black.
• Smash cut- Cutting from something very calm into something very abrupt or the other way round.

Soap opera

Half hour soap opera

• The hub of activity where they all meat up and socialise where most of the beef would occur and the occasional fight. For example The Queen Vic in Eastenders and ‘The Root Rovers inn’ in Corronation street.
• There are always over the top storylines such as fan favourite characters getting illnesses that could potentially kill them or people getting into terrible accidents that would have the potential to kill the character. Such as Sinead in Corronation Street getting Cervical cancer or Bobby Beale killing Lucy Beale in Eastenders 
• Overly dramatic cliffhangers at the end of episodes to keep audiences gripped for future watching and they tend to have music at the end of it to make it more dramatic like in Eastenders they have the iconic drums that play as the episode finishes.
• Characters are supposed to be relatable to the working class person thats why caudices view it because they can relate to the characters. 
• A long title sequence with a recognisable song playing in the background, for example in Eastenders when it zooms gradually out of the river thames.
• People getting into fights over things such as daughters or wives.
• The occasional over the top storyline that seems to have everyone that watches the program talking about it and even the odd person who doesn't even watch the program but has heard about it somehow or another. For example who shot Phil Mitchel in the classic Eastenders episode that aired in 2001 that got everyone trying to figure out who it could of been who shot Phil Mitchel. 
• A long time character that seems to of been in the program since it began For example Dot Cotton in Eastenders who looked like she should of died about 30 years ago from old age. 
• Dramatic camera shots zooms in or over the shoulder shots to keep mystery and tension are common to make a storyline have more tension or suspense. 

Unit 1 LO6

Understand how meaning is created in media products

Codes- The familiar and predictable forms and techniques used by producers when creating media texts. These are used to communicate certain ideas or to convey a desired impression. Indicators or signs contained within a product that when identified by the audience create meaning. 

-There are two types of code: the technical and symbolic. 

Conventions- The commonly accepted ways of doing things. There are general conventions in all products, such as the use of opening credits in audio-visual products. However, conventions can also be genre specific such as a kiss at the end of a romantic comedy film.

Genre- Specific Genres have specific audience for example the audience of a horror film would expect to get scared. A product within a genre can be identified by its distinguishing features: its codes and conventions.

Martial Arts film- An overly dramatic training montage, References to Asian culture, Slow motion vital victory moment, routing for the underdog, A dramatic zoom out of what the hero has to fight against, A white robe, A wise man that they look to for advice, Upper class villain who is smug and expects to win, A competition of some degree. 

Verisimilitude- How real the world of the story or narrative of a fictional media product appears to the audience (for example, is the world presented to the audience believable?) 

my media consumption

The media that I consume in an average day

In the morning I wake up and ate my breakfast whilst watching Maniac on Netflix I access the product using my Xbox one and watch the program through my telly, I don't have to leave the house to watch it or to get it. Netflix runs through my Xbox and works using the WiFi. After my Breakfast I play Fortnite which is a free game that I play (also with my xbox) I downloaded Fortnite off of the Xbox store for free and it begun the download straight away, I did not have to leave my house for this to get to me. Next I would typically do any school work whilst listening to music from my Phone on Spotify, Spotify is a WiFi based music app that I use, which as of June 2018 had 83 million monthly paying subscribers. I downloaded spotify off of the app store and signed up for premium which is around £10 a month. After I finish any school work i tend to just relax and maybe read a book, recently I have been reading 'A brief history of Time' By Stephan Hawking which I purchased from amazon for £8 and it was delivered to my house a few days after I purchased it, I didnt have to leave the house for this to be sent to me. During various points of the day I would check my social media the main social media that I use is Snapchat, I use this on my phone to look at other peoples stories but to also communicate with my friends. 

What I have observed from this

The main thing that I have noticed is that there is not really a need for me to leave the house to consume any of these products I could purchase games over the Xbox store and a book on Amazon that was delivered to my door I could download apps on the app store like Spotify and Snapchat as long as a person has WiFi they don't particularly need to leave the house. Even for things like Grocery shopping that can be done online and delivered right to your doorstep this could led to things like obesity as people aren't going outside as much. 

Technological convergence.

Technological convergence is the process in which different technologies are combined in one device, increasing the amount of functions it can perform for the user.

Web 2.0 essay on advertisement

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 has made advertising easier for bigger and smaller companies as they have new platforms to advertise their products on. It is also much easier to target the specific audience that they want to through the use of cookies. Cookies allow websites to see keywords that customers are searching and tailor the adverts to best fit the intended audience. A prime example of this happening is when a customer would be searching for lets say a lawn mower online they would potentially be seeing more adverts for lawnmowers or even products related to lawnmowers such as oil to keep the lawnmower working. Websites have to have a disclaimer to ask customers whether or not they allow cookies as it is essentially using a customers data and some people might object to this happening. 

Social media allows products to advertise in new ways to get the biggest reach for the product that they, can for example when the film Venom was being advertised there was a new lens on Snapchat that was promoting the film and also there were short 10 second advertisements in between stories that would show Venom this allowed a more niche audience to be able to see averts for the film as the main users on snapchat are teenagers. The snapchat lens is a good example of below the line advertisement as this would only be seen by a certain amount of users on snapchat people may take a picture with the filter and send it to their friends and then this would also help to advertise the film as people will be advertising the film without really being aware that they are doing so. 

Before Web 2.0 the main form of advertisement would of been pop up ads these pop up ads would have been above the line advertisement as they would have just been sent to everyone without any real targeting methods. However this would of mostly been a pretty unsuccessful method of advertisement as most internet users would of just been used to shutting pop up ads down by clicking the little red X in the corner and they would not really care what the product was as it wasn't something they were interested in. Now on the other hand with the use of cookies adverts are tailored to users so that it is something that they are interested in and a product that they may of recently searched for. 

On Instagram there is a small group of people who are seen as being very influential these could be celebrities or just internet personalities such as Youtubers on Instagram they are called 'influencers' companies can pay influencers to promote a new product that they are selling and because the influencers would have a large audience this would be effective as more people would get to see the product. 

I think that Web 2.0 has made advertisement much easier, more effective and cheaper. it has made the formula to get a product out there much better as it is moving times. The modern generation spend most of their time on social media and video sites such as youtube and they don't really watch telly. Companies are having to adapt to the fact that this is happening and thats what this allows it allows companies to reach people who are predominantly using social media. Most companies don't have to waste money by making a large advert to go onto the telly and across cinemas and instead they can make a short 10 second advert and put it on snapchat and be more effective. The most well known advert on television is the John Lewis Christmas advert that normally is about 2 mins long and would cost around £7 million to make however it would be much cheaper for it to only be 10 seconds on snapchat. 

Digital Methods of Advertising.

1. A Media Product is the actual material assigned to broadcasting or to print depending on what type of media it is.
2. Media Producers manage operations within media projects.
3. Media consumers are the people who use the media product for example people who listen to radio or watch TV

1. Web 2.0 is websites that have a main emphasis on user generated content for example social media websites like Facebook and Instagram. The term 'Web 2.0' was originally invented by Darcy DiNucci in 1999 however the term was popularized several years later by Tim O'Reilly and Dale Dougherty in 2004. Web 2.0 is good as it helps to make it easier for the customer to advertise things or to share there life without having to make their own website specifically for it also it can be profitable for the owners of Web 2.0 sites as they can charge companies to advertise as it will be viewed by many people. 
2. I think that Web 2.0 has made advertisement easier for big companies as they know where the largest audiences will be and they can also tailor who will see the adverts that they are making. However most users on Web 2.0 sites such as Facebook tend to just completely ignore adverts and forget about them therefore it could be seen as wasted money that they have put into advertisement. 
3. Web 2.0 can lead to advertisement that is 'below the line' although Web 2.0 sites tend to have large audiences adverts are more tailored towards customers using keywords, through things such as 'cookies' businesses can see what people search for and they can decide what adverts are best suited to be people. 
4. Another form of web based below the line marketing is when celebrities advertise products on Snapchat stories for example Anthony Joshua holding up a bottle of Lynx Gold in the shower with the caption 'A good fresh start to the day' 

6 Questions

Questions 

1. The value chain is the effectiveness of both horizontal and vertical integration when used in a conglomerate 
2. Horizontal integration is how well a media product is advertised by a conglomerate they need the following aspects to be done within the conglomerate to be cost effective they are: Online/ social media, Print media, Marketing and merchandising
3. Having cross media ownership allows synergy because the conglomerate would not have to pay another company to help them to advertise or make a product.
4. Disney uses synergy as they can produce, advertise, distribute and sell the product without having to pay any other companies to help as they have their own lorries own factories they own marketing businesses and they can advertise on television channels that a they own
5. Production, Advertising, Merchandising and Distribution 
6. Game designer- Video game

Warner Bros- Character Artist Job

Character Artist Job

The Warner Bros Media Conglomerate is looking for a new Character artist. 

The wage will be around $50,000 to roughly $100,000 a year but could vary depending on efficiency and skill in doing the task at hand.
You will need the following the following:
- A degree/ major degree in fine arts
-A skilled illustrator of 2D design
-You must also be a good communicator and able listen and contribute well towards a team.
-You will need to be a good programmer
Other qualities that may be useful to posses is:
-A level headed person who is not easily frustrated.
-A determined person who will always work to try to do the task at hand.
-Someone who has played a lot of video games and understands the typical design.

The importance of a Character Artist

The character artist is a very important person for the overall making of a video game as they are creating the characters that will be within the game. You will be a very valued member of the Warner Bros team. You will be responsible for helping us achieve a good reach in horizontal integration to do this you will have to create visual ways to target our audience in the 4 main sectors these are:

-Online/Social Media 

-Print media and print advertisement

-TV/ Radio channels

-Merchandising

The way we would like you to target these 4 areas is to do the following:

-Create a Snapchat and Instagram short 10 second advert for the game that will look good and target our main audience for the game

-Create a 2D image of the design of the front cover of the game and publish this in the newspaper and game magazines the case for the game needs to look well presented but also try to show off the game well.

-Make a TV advert that is roughly 20 seconds long it should be well animated and show of the game as a great game that kids will see and will want to get. It should be action packed but also have top notch graphics for the older gamers who look for graphics in a game.

-Create visual representations of merchandise that we can create for example clothing with the game name or the main character of the game on, you could also make toys for younger children to play with that look like the real ones that are within the game.

Warner Bros- Conglomerate Overview

The Warner Bros Conglomerate

The company was formed in 1990. The conglomerate was named Time Warner, as Time Inc merged with Warner Communications. The current company mainly consists of the assets from the former Warner Communications old company. 

In 1927 Warner Bros created the worlds first feature length film called The Jazz Singer- It was an American Musical film the film had a $442,000 budget and it mad $3.9 million at box office this kicked off The Warner Bros film business. In 1923 Time magazine released the first weekly news magazine in the United States. 

A few of the Time Warner subsidiaries are as follows:

• HBO
• Turner Broadcasting System
• Warner Bros

Kerrang!

What is Kerrang?

Kerrang! is a magazine that is devoted to rock music it was first published on June 6th 1981. It was first created as a one of supplement in the sounds Newspaper.

Kerrang! is owned by Bauer Media Group which is a European-Based media company headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. 

Kerrang! did sponsor Donnington rock festival from 1980 to 1996 it took place every one of those years except 1989 and 1993. Kerrang! currently sponsors download festival from the 8th-10th of June every year. 

Kerrang! could use synergy to promote their festivals using synergy as they could work together with like another radio station to maximise listeners and attendees at the festival.
The Subsidiaries that are within the Kerrang! company are the magazine, the radio station, the festivals, a website and the awards.

Media job roles

What are the main categories of Job in media production companies?

Three key categories:

• Pre-Production: The planning and drafting stages of a media product for example Scheduling, funding, casting, designing etc
• Production: The actual making of a product eg. Filming, Photography, writing, inking graphics etc
• Post production: The editing and finalising of a media product for example adding special effects, digital manipulation, audio and video editing.

The one that has the most time spent on it is Post production this is because it is the hardest one to do and filming only takes roughly 3 weeks to do however doing the computer things takes about 2 years. 

Jobs within the game industry

What are the operating structures of media companies?

Horizontal and Vertical Integration

The way in which a media conglomerate is structured that can maximizes profits. 

Vertical integration is when a conglomerate has ways to do all 4 of the following ways perfectly to maximize profits as they don't have to pay anyone to do it for them:

• Production- The making/manufacturing of the product 
• Marketing- The advertisement of the product
• Distribution- The way in which the product is then shipped out and sold 
• Consumption- The way the product can be used. 

For a conglomerate to maximize profits for this is having their own factories for production, to have people who can make an advert without having to pay someone else to do it for them, having lorries and boats for the distribution so they can get the product to the customer themselves and to have their own devices for the product to be used for example if it was a game then a console that was supported by the game.

 Horizontal integration is a process of a company increasing production of goods or services at the same part of the supply chain. A company may do this via internal expansion, acquisition or merger. The process can lead to monopoly if a company captures the vast majority of the market for that product or service. 

A Monopoly happens when a single company/conglomerate owns the whole of something with no competition in a single area leading to the company being able to set prices that cant be argued as there is no competition. 

The different things that a company has to be in control of for horizontal integration to take place is:

• Online/social media
• Print media and advertisement
• TV and radio
• Merchandising

When a conglomerate uses all available subsidiaries to promote and distribute a product this is called Synergy, this is enabled by Cross-Media ownership.

Understand the ownership modelsof Media institutions

The six main media sectors are as follows: Advertisement, TV and Radio, Film, Video games, Web and online technologies and print.
The Video games sector makes the most out of any of the other sectors this is because Video games are a very popular sector especially because of the rise of mobile gaming.

A brief overview of the sectors:

1. Film- The film industry is one of the largest sectors of media it contributed £4.3billion to the UK's economy in 2006. The film company consists of independent film companies and big film companies that own other companies. For example one independent film company is Blumhouse productions one film company that is not independent is marvel as this company is owned by Disney.
2. TV and Radio- All companies that work to produce programmes that are broadcast on Tv and radio. For example Channel 4 and ITV 
3. Video Games- Companies who make video games. For example EA and Treyarch
4. Print and Publishing- Companies who distribute books, newspapers and magazines for example Penguin and Harper Collins
5. Web and Online technologies- Companies who produce internet and app based products for example Facebook and Google 
6. Music- Record labels that are parts of larger media organisations for example Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group

Example table of sectors

Guilty pleasure

Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande is a singer, she is stereotyped to be mostly aimed at teenage girls however I think that her music is really good. I prefer her songs like: The light is coming, breathin and no tears left to cry. She originally was in a Disney show Victorious where she played Cat Valentine the program first aired in March 2010 and finished in February 2013. Ariana Grande is 25 years old in Florida. 

Ariana Grande's first album was released 3rd September 2013 and her most recent album was released in August 2018 entitled Sweetener. The more recent album is supposed to be seen as her recovery following the Manchester attacks that occurred in 2017, after the attacks occurred she raised money for the families of the victims by hosting a festival called One love she raised about £10 million from the festival which had stars such as Coldplay and Liam Gallagher. 

Her newest album has been viewed as a very good album and critics have been saying that the album is very good one review said 'A fascinating and sneakily complex pop album that adds new creative wrinkles to Grande’s already estimable repertoire'  This review seems to be the more popular view of her album however some reviews seem to think the opposite with one person even saying that 'Without a doubt the worst work of Ariana, with nothing new to offer, would have been better to continue with her musical silence' this shows some divide between what people make of the new album.

In my opinion this album is some of the best work that she has done so far and the songs seem to be full of emotion and she sings every word with power and emotion behind it. I think that all the beats in the background are catchy and up beat and some songs start of slower and speed up which I enjoy, I think that the songs are really catchy.

Deadpool 2

Questions

1. Cinema: -Marvel

                    -20th Century Fox

2- The budget for Deadpool 2 was $110 million

   -The earnings in 20 days was $562.9 million

3: Camera work: - As Deadpool arrived on the scene as 'fire fist' was causing havoc there was a medium close up of Deadpool in his mask making him look like he was the super hero. The medium close up on Deadpool emphasised his mask that he was wearing. 

Sound- As the X-men ship landed on the scene there was loud dramatic music to emphasis the power that the X-men force have.

Editing- There was a shot counter shot as Deadpool was talking to Firefist the significance of the shot counter shot is to get a perspective of what both of the characters are seeing and hearing at this point. The shot counter shot allows the audience to see both of the characters points of view so that we can emphasis for both characters.

Mise-en-sene -In the background behind 'FireFist' as the scene begins there is a police car that is on fire this shows the extremity of the incident and also shows how the power ad how it is not under control.