What is a Director?

• A film director is a person who directs the actors and crew in the making of a film. They control a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors.

Film directors are responsible for overseeing creative aspects of a film under the film producer. They often develop the vision for a film and carry the vision out, deciding how the film should look. They are responsible for turning the script into a sequence of shots. They also direct what tone it should have and what an audience should gain from the cinematic experience. Film directors are responsible for deciding camera angles, lens effects, lighting, and set design, and will often take part in hiring key crew members. They coordinate the actors' moves and also may be involved in the writing,financing, and editing of a film.

The director works closely with the cast and crew to shape the film. Some like to conduct rigorous rehearsals in preproduction while others do so before each scene. In either case this process is essential as it tells the director as well as other key members of the crew (Director of Photography, stunt choreographer, hair stylist, etc.), how the actors are going to play the scene, which enables them to make any necessary adjustments. Directors often use storyboards to illustrate sequences and concepts, and a director's viewfinder to set up camera angles.

The director also plays a key role in post-production. He or she works with the editor to ensure that the emotions of the scene and the close ups, mid shots and wide or long shots appropriately reflect which character is driving the narrative. The director also advises on the (colour) grading of the final images, adding warmth or frigidity to the composition of the shots to reflect the emotional subtext of the character or environment. He or she also participates in the sound mix and musical composition of the film. ^[2]

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_director)

Through examining information on the role of a film director, I can see that we are doing small parts of what a real film director would have to complete when creating a production. This information helps as it sets out what we should be thinking about, and factors we should be considering when filming and directing. 

A few of my favourite directors are set out in the link tab to the right of my page.

A directors mind is vital to the piece they are creating, a director is what makes or breaks a film. When viewing films directed by the same person, you can always find traits that are fluent in all productions, this is why an audience will go and see a film by a certain director, as they know they'll like what they'll see and will expect a consistency in quality. 

Film Classifications

As most of our inspiration for our opening title sequence comes from films that are certificates 15 and over, myself and Joseph were aware that our OTS would most probably have to be a 15 or over.
As we show no explicit violence, swearing, or nudity, only imply certain factors, we have decided that a 15 would be an appropriate certificate.
Use of alcohol, drugs, death and murder is implied and so this would not be suitable for a certificate of 12.
The scenes which contain such things will be shown more clearly when our animatic/story board is uploaded.

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/
These certificates and such are explained on the bbfc website, which is useful.

Our 3 Main Characters.

For the character of Kevin Paine, AKA Butch, we shall be using my step father Kevin.
He has quite a domineering look about him, and so I thought he would be appropriate to use
for a business man type character. He has also featured in some of my previous media products
as a violent character, so we know he can also play the 'kicked to the curb' angry loner. 

My sister Charlotte shall be playing the character of Vee, she is quite a modern looking female
with fairly futuristic/quirky appeals such as her hairstyles. This is useful for what we want, as we
need a woman who can look quite punky yet seductive at the same time. She is also the appropriate
age group for Veronica, as Vee is a young mother, and my sister is 25. 

We will be using Flynn as our Champ character, as  he has quite a 'punk' like style,
which is what Champ turns into after his mothers death. He is also the correct age, as
Champ is getting over his teenage years, growing up and seeking revenge for his mothers
unjust death. 

Location; Wells Sailing Club Bar

AS Media Studies, Joe Cracknell: The wells sailing club bar.

Here are a few images of the location of the main part of our opening title sequence.

What are Semiotics?

Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of cultural sign processes (semiosis), analogy, metaphor, signification and communication, signs and symbols.  Semiotics is usually divided into three branches, which include:

• Semantics: Relation between signs and the things to which they refer; their denotata, or meaning
• Syntactics: Relations among signs in formal structures
• Pragmatics: Relation between signs and the effects they have on the people who use them

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics)

The characters in mine and Joseph's opening title sequence will all find a symbol which has a mutual meaning between them, thus incorporating the idea of semiotics. This will be a tarot card, as I have explained. Through the sequence, the audience will see the card, and know its association with our antagonist. When the characters mutually find the cards in the end of the sequence, both the audience and characters will understand the meaning. 

More traditional symbolism will also be used such as colours and their associations, e.g. red and it's link with danger. 

What is an OTS?

The main-title sequence or the opening credits of a movie can be considered the most important piece in a film. Other than trailers and marketing elements, they are the first images the audience sees when the lights go down. These quick clips (all about two to three minutes) outline the filmmaker's intentions and set up the expectations of those watching. Saul Bass, a graphic artist in the film industry said, "making a main-title was like making a poster, you're condensing the event into this one concept, this one metaphor·a back-story that needs to be told or a character that needs to be introduced."

http://myweb.cwpost.liu.edu/paievoli/finals/505Sp_03/Prj2/MataP2.htm

Examples of Opening Title Sequences;

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/03/26/se7en/   - Seven

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/01/14/casino-royale/ - Casino Royale

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/03/17/300/ - 300

Task 5

In some ways, different types of media do seem to acquire higher statuses in terms of intelligence than others. This is a common interpretation by the public. When thinking of this in terms of television, film, radio etc, I believe that radio and newspaper are favoured as the most intelligible sources of media text. This seems to be because of the more mature nature they often portray, leading us to believe that you can appear smarter through the usage of these products. In terms of music, there is a clear division in what the public believes entices you to be intelligent. 
Classical or Operatic music is often associated with the higher classes or the more clever of the public. Whereas Rap or Pop is often shunned and labelled as unintelligent. Music taste is often associated with class and social status, which of course, is utter rubbish. Stereotypically, people view upper class as classical music lovers, and middle and lower class, lovers of rap, pop and rock. This is like saying that all higher class love caviare, and all lower class love junk food. 
I, as part of a working/lower middle class family, listen to all forms of music, from classical, jazz to rock and pop. Therefore I believe that different forms of music cannot define your intelligence level.
Although, this is not to say that music does not affect behaviour, I certainly think it does. I believe that teenagers in particular are more heavily influenced by music than they realise. Through the repeated subjection to specific types of music, the messages and atmosphere of the tracks are subconsciously transferred into the mind. For example, if listening to a song about death, abuse, violence and such, it will affect the mood of the consumer. Certain music is also linked to events, such as some classical will relate to events such as funerals. These factors all alter how we respond to media, and how it effects us. 
When examining products such as television genres, it can be seen that the public believe programmes that entail problem solving e.g detective/crime thrillers are more intelligent than that of soap operas. This theory, I believe, can be slightly more backed up than the musical taste theory. As certain programmes do actually require a certain amount of brain power for full understanding e.g CSI, and some, not as much e.g Eastenders. This is not to say that specific groups watch certain programmes, it's just an observation on intelligence levels for programmes. 
In some ways, the audience for our production may be viewed as one of the less intelligent audiences as they would be the type of consumers that would be used to crudeness and explicit violence. This can be seen in films such as Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction. We target the Tarentino generation.




Here are links to the other tasks completed within the group:
http://asmediastudiesjoecracknell.blogspot.com/2011/01/audience-as-product.html
http://asmediastudiesjoecracknell.blogspot.com/2011/01/task-7.html
http://asmediastudiesjoecracknell.blogspot.com/2010/12/media-medium-status.html

Task 4 - The Cultivation Theory

I find the cultivation theory to be quite true to life, when you are subjected to something for a prolonged amount of time repeatedly, you become adjusted to it. This can be seen in television and film, even sometimes in music. As a culture we have become used to seeing and hearing of violence in everyday life, this allows us to believe it is normal. This is the same for the use of language we hear nowadays, when being subjected to swearing, we look upon it as an average thing. This differs from say, Victorian times as this language would not be used, to hear something that we are used to now, looking back it would be extremely vulgar. This does not necessarily mean that when viewing these things they will entice you to do them. When viewing violence, I, aswell as many other people do not believe it is right to commit these acts after being subjected to them.

            When the series Skins first came out, I was shocked at the amount of adult content in it, as it had not been shown so explicitly in a teenage programme. The use of sex, drugs and violence dismayed many as it was innovative in a programme aimed at such a young audience. Now when viewing these things, I, as a consumer find it completely normal. This type of content is shown more regularly in programmes aimed at a teenagers to adults such as Misfits, Sugar Rush or This is England ’86. Being subjected to this so much on television and film has definitely had an impact on the ‘shock factor’ products must live up to.

Our own production will not entail much violence or crudeness, and so the cultivation theory does not really effect us. The only perhaps 'obscenities' that will be seen is when one of our characters discovers their fatally inflicted mother, although this is not very graphic. As modern audiences have been subjected to much worse than this on a daily basis, it will not seem out of the ordinary.

Task 3 - The hypodermic syringe effect

Task 3 (The hypodermic syringe theory)

1. I do believe that perhaps in some ways the hypodermic syringe theory could work, but in my experience it has been in more of a positive way than the article suggests. Blaming crime and violence on TV/film is, I believe, a terrible excuse for why people commit crimes in everyday life. As a consumer, when I watch products that entail robbery, crime, or violence, it does not entice me to go out and murder someone, it does quite the opposite. I believe showing such things brings more awareness of circumstances that can occur in reality, and would make you more likely to look out for situations that could bring you into harm.
If watching a programme such as Desperate Housewives, you see Bree doing the washing up or cooking, a man may feel like this is the woman’s place, proving the theory right. A different man may view this completely differently, and think, maybe they’ll do the washing or cooking for their girlfriend to ease the labour. When considering the effects of the theory, I do believe that I have been influenced by some products, such as the Posters of David Cameron on the internet that degrade his slogans and him as a person. This has automatically influenced me to feel that the man and the party are as the posters portray them. Which after much research I can see is true, and so I believe the theory can be used to warn people of rising threats.

How the media can influence an audience;

This image shows David Cameron combined with the previous prime minister Gordon Brown, the message portrays that nothing will change with the swap in roles, that perhaps all of the leaders bring the same outcome in their time in chair. This entices an audience to view the government with less respect, which is emphasised by the 'fooled you again'.

This image is an advertisement from a celebrity magazine enticing and convincing girls that they need to lose weight, the image very clearly shows a young woman that has no need to lose weight, yet portrays her as someone who needs to take the drastic measure of buying diet pills. This is a way of indoctrinating people to believe that skinny is the perfect image, and it allows us to believe we need to lose weight to be accepted. 

Ads such as this use the hypodermic syringe theory for good, as it attempts to warn people of the effects of dangerous habits. Advertisement of this sort is a successful way of turning around the view that the hypodermic syringe theory it is only used for negative indoctrination. It is an effective way of portraying a powerful message without using fearful tactics.

Our production will perhaps entice audiences to view films that are similar in style to it, as the conventions we will be using are borrowed from specific directors and film types.

Task 2 (audience theory activity & understanding booklet)

Do you think the audiences for most media texts do come "from all walks of life" or do different kinds of people watch very different kinds of programme. Are there any examples of media texts that you can think of that do seem to have audiences of all kinds of people?

1. Depending on age groups, I believe most media products target a fairly niche audience rather than a large group. It is easier to create a product with an accurate target group in mind rather than something produced for universal purposes. For example, television programmes such as Skins or Misfits are very universally unacceptable as the themes of the programmes are not suitable for all ages. These programmes are targeted at a very niche market due to their content, but are very popular amongst this market as they were created with everything that the audience is interested in. This contrasts with Disney products, as this company in ways caters for all ages. With films such as Toy Story, Disney makes sure to allow fairly adult content in a child friendly manner, such as puns or jokes that younger audiences would not perhaps understand, but adults would enjoy. This is quite difficult to accomplish with films aimed at children. When you, as an audience, think of certain television programmes or films, you can automatically classify their audience through stereotypical traits the products entail. Usually, as a consumer, I wouldn’t find many media products that I watch that I could say would be targeted at a universal audience, so therefore I believe most audiences for media texts very are much individualised. This can be seen with our own media production we are currently creating, the audience will be very specific as we do not stick to conventions or realism.

How much of your media experience is when you are on your own and how much when you are with others?

2. Usually, when experiencing different types of media, as a consumer I am on my own. Although this varies depending on which products I tend to use. When listening to music on say, an ipod, a consumer would tend to be alone due to the headphones that are obligatory when buying the product. This product would also be used alone due to the personal nature it possesses to the holder, as it would have personalised music and pictures etc. This can also be observed when looking over media products such as magazines or your choice of newspaper, as the product is created to suit an individuals taste rather than a mass audience. The opposite can be said for say cinema or television, as when experiencing these things you are rarely alone. With cinema, it is a niche audience that watches the product, but it is normally experienced in mass. This sometimes amplifies the media experience as you can see others reactions and strike up a conversation with those who are seeing the same material as yourself. The same can be seen with television, a consumer would usually find themselves watching this with friends or perhaps family, as it is a universal device, it is more used amongst mass audiences.

Are there any ways in which you share your experiences of the media with other people who weren't around when you experienced the text?

3. Ways in which you could share your experiences of media with others who weren't around when you experienced the text can be accomplished in several ways. Often when people want to share their opinions or thoughts on a media product they can blog their views on the internet and allow others who have experienced the same thing to comment or view it. Another common thing which media products do is to create their own space in which people can comment on their product and discuss with others on how they felt about it. This can be seen on sites such as ebay, amazon or even cinema websites in which viewers can recommend (or not) a film through comments. Another form of sharing experiences could be through social networking, such as facebook or twitter, in which people are free to comment and discuss at their will.

Audience theory activity & understanding booklet - Task 1

Task 1 on Prezi

End of the OTS

The end of our OTS see's our three protagonists having a sudden revelation, they will somehow find our signifier for Miller (the tarot card) and all act accordingly. I would like to have a split screen comic book type effect for this, such as the image above, but obviously only showing Vee, Butch and Champ. I'm not quite sure on how or if we can actually do this, it'll need some investigating. I would like to use this effect as we are trying to include a sort of comic book feel to the production, such as in The Spirit or Sin City.

Joe has played around more with this idea, being the editing genius that he is: http://asmediastudiesjoecracknell.blogspot.com/2011/01/split-screening-again.html