exam practice question

How far has audience theory affected the outcome of your A2 production work.

-what is audience theory?

-did i do this?

-if yes/no why/why not?

-more of a focus on audience research- links to use a gratification model as i am taking into consideration what the audience wants.

-what theory does my work most follow if any (see above)

-would the outcome of the a2 production work be better if i had considered theories more

The term "audience theory" relates to the different ways there are to think about the audience. In my A2 production work I did not really take into consideration any theories though there are many, such as the hypodermic model, which suggests that the audiences are "injected" with a message and have no control. This contrasts with the Uses and gratifications model which suggests that a person has choice and independence as to what media they use, and that the people in charge of making the media have to take this into consideration. This model is the one that is most relevant to my production work, even though I did not consider is during any of my work audience.

In my work i focused more on audience research which involves trying to find evidence about the relationships between media and audiences. I did this by carrying out a Vox Pop, in which I asked people in a public place what they thought about music videos, as well as a blog post which I posted over social network sites and other blogs in order to gain a wide variety of feedback in the form of a post comment. In doing this i became part of the uses and gratifications model as I was paying attention to what an audience appeared to want and made my product with that in mind so that they would want to chose to watch it, for example many people said that most music videos use sexual images but that they don't always like it because, as one person wrote "it makes me feel like a perv", so when making my music video i took into account sexual desire by using a pretty woman as my protagonist but this was as far as any sexual content went.

By looking at other theories I have gained a wider knowledge of the audience as a whole however, i do not think that the lack of attention i gave it during the actual production of my piece as hindering as all theories are just that, theories, and there is no definitive theory that can be used.

"practice question"

Analyse the concept of narrative in relation to one of your coursework productions.

There are many different concepts of narrative in the media world. Most of the theories put forward are formed when looking at films, for this reason it is not always possible to relevantly use them when looking at music videos. Some music videos follow a very obvious narrative, whilst others have none at all. My music video falls somewhere in the middle, as while there is a clear "storyline" of the girl finding the boy there are also many un-narrative characteristics such as the lack of character development, the lip -syncing and the interlude of short clips towards the end of the music video, which have no significance to the story.

Todorov suggested that narrative follows a chain of events that lead to an equilibrium disequilibrium and equilibrium, forming the conventional narrative form of a beginning middle and end. However in my own personal production, this is not true. My music video has no equilibrium at the beginning, as it starts straight away with the girl following the boys trail, there is no real set up or perfect start. It could be said that it begins on a disequilibrium and ends on an equilibrium, as she looks for him and then in the end finds him, and it is a clear "happy ending" when you see the pair embrace in the final 10 seconds of the song, but overall this concept of narrative is not relevant to my piece.

Another theory suggested clear character roles, such as "the hero", "the villain", "the princess" and the "the anti-hero". This theory is completely irrelevant to my music video as there isn't enough character development to be able to assign such roles. However, it is relevent to the concept of narrative, so if my music video doesnt follow this trend then it could be said that it has no narrative.

Unfinished (Y)

Steph Becker

DO THESE QUESTION

A2 G325 Section A: Qu 1a prompt questions

Remember, for this question (1a) you discuss both FOUNDATION AND ADVANCED production portfolios. For question 1b you focus on one production only.

The following prompt questions should help you to organise your thinking (and hopefully revision notes) for Section A, question 1a.

Digital Technology

• How has digital technology helped you to capture your ideas for media production?

• What benefits do digital technologies offer over analogue? Are there any disadvantages?

• How did digital technology influence your work in post-production – for example in the creation of video effects, or the manipulation of images.

• How have your skills with digital technology developed, and how has this influenced your productions?

• What role might digital technology play in the distribution of work such as yours?



Creativity

• What features of your work would you say are original to you?

• Which media texts and producers have influenced your creative decisions?

• How successfully does your work engage its audience and provoke its interest?

• Consider some of the creative choices you had to make during the course of your production – how to use cameras, lighting, dialogue, colour etc. How did you make these decisions, and how did these contribute to the final production?



Research and planning

• How did your research into genre contribute to your production work?

• How did your research into audience contribute to your production work?

• How did your research into institutions responsible for the production and regulation of the media influence your production work?

• What pre-production planning techniques did you employ (scripting, storyboarding, shot-lists etc.)? How effective was your planning – how did it help you in the production phase?

• What did you learn from planning your first production that helped you to improve your planning for the second?

• How did you use audience feedback to influence your production work while it was in progress?



Post-production

• How much of your text was ‘created’ only in post-production?

• What technologies did you use to modify your raw material. How did this change the meaning of your work?

• How much did you manipulate sync sound or create new sound for your text? What effect did that have on your text?

• How much of your footage ended up ‘on the cutting room floor’ (unused) and why?



Using conventions from real media texts

• In what ways have your productions used or developed conventions adopted from real media products?

• In what ways have your productions challenged or played with conventions adopted from real media products?

• In other words, is your work generic, or postmodern – or both?

• Some media producers adopt a style of working that is quite distinctive – explore how work you have produced may have been influenced by your own favourite producers/directors/designers/publishers.


Try and offer specific textual examples from your production work to illustrate your points......make the examiner see what they can't see - use technical language: Mise-en-scene, camera angles, editing, sound....

In japan magazines (manga) are not aimed just at kids like in more western countries. Adults are the main audience and in fact many manga comics aren't suitable for children as the feature violent and pornagraphic material.

3.6billion dollor industry mainly produced in black and white as its cheaper

If the cheap phonebook size copies get succesful then they are reprinted as paperback books asnd then occasionally become anime.

Manga : wimsical pictures

post war country, ultranationalist (bmp type thing), rebuilding politcally, literally, economically and socially after war = explosion of creativity
Osamu Tezuka was big then
boys and men became the main audience : topics = time travel space explosions

in 1969 female artist arrived and wrote shojo which = romantic emotionally intense narrative

Shonen = young boys up to 18, gross humour and action

bishojo girls = porn star style pretty girls

sento girls = heavily armed female warriors


relaxed sensorship = elicit sex scene
Gekiga = dark violent realistic manga that shows the grim realities of life

In the 80's and 90's comics like pokemon and dragon ball z made their debut.
Sales tripled in

however sales have now droped by half from 1995 for many reasons:
Online availability, sold out as it appeals to masses rather than being an art form, fanfic, not in the market in western culture as its seen as nerdy

Even though the popularity has dropped it is still a massive industry

if manga fails then things that grow from that will to and japan will loose a vital culture factor

Essay Question

How far were generic conventions a consideration in the planning and construction of either your As or A2 media production work?

For my A2 media project I chose to create a music video. To define a music video into a certain genre is difficult because surely a music video is a genre in its self. When researching my product I found that there wasn't so much genres within a music video, but that the type of music that was being used effected the conventions of the video. Pop and rap music had very sexual videos with half naked women and big cars. Rock and metal music was focused more on the bands actual performance. When planning my own music video, I looked at the genre of music that my song was and then focused on other things within that genre of music rather than film.

Some might say that genre is dead, however I think that this is a very general term. Nowadays in the film industry it is clear what sort of genre a film is as they are all churned out for a greedy audience rather than having time taken to create a real piece of text. Every now and then there is a gem that defies a a genre and makes a memorable film. I think it is more that conventions of a genre have changed rather than genre itself, by changing the conventions of a genre the genre itself evolves, not dies. Genre itself is a hard term to define as in our modern society it seems to be ever changing and different genres have been merged together to create a sort of hybrid genre, for example documentary style fiction films and lengthy music videos that could questionably be called short films such as Lady GaGa's video for Telephone.

Within my own music video when I gathered audience feedback it was said that "I though it would be better as a short film" due to its narrative nature. This could be seen as an example of the above mentioned merging however I think that I was just following the conventions found in the genre of music I used. It was sort of folky pop and I researched bands like noah and the whale and their video which was a music video for their entire album and followed a narrative through out.

Overall I would say that conventions and genre were considered however, when creating a music video the creator isn't really limited to a genre as much as in other media formats like video and literature therefor generic conventions are not a major point of consideration when creating a music video.

Steph Becker

Land of the Rising Sun

When I first found out that we were going to learn about Japan I was really excited as I have a nerdy obsession with the country. I have wanted to live in Japan for ages and it’s really interesting actually learning about it. I already had a minimal amount of knowledge about Japan, just little facts I've learnt about the country through magazines like Shojo Beat (which is now out of print). The fact the films would be in a different language didn’t bother me at all as I prefer it when a film is in its natural language rather that being dubbed. Because I already had an interest in the topic I was open to learning about it and really looking forward to it. Since studying it I have learnt a lot more facts and been exposed to different types of cinema within Japan. For example I’m not a big horror watcher however within the classroom environment I found it really interesting to watch the different sort of themes and characters there are in J-horror. I also enjoyed learning actual analyses of films by Studio Ghibli rather than just my own interpretation and about all the symbolism and the history behind studio Ghibli

Evalutation Points

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I looked into a lot of current music videos before my production went into action so that I knew what sort of things an audience would expect. I used audience research to

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I have learned that it is useful to gauge how people see your work because even if you know why something is the way it is, some people see it other way and if it misunderstood by the majority sometimes you need to tweak it to make it more acceptable to an audience

How are you going to present your evaluation?

Have a video with writing text that looks and sounds like its being scribbled. maybe with a voice over. Do an interview, maybe mock the movie interviews you have, like make a giant poster to sit in the background and have someone interview me. Directors commentary over the music video.

Targets

Targets:

1.Work on the minor details of the coursework to make sure that it is the best it can be and finish the main and ancillary tasks.

2.Do my own research into the Japanese side of the course so that I have lots of background knowledge

Timed Essay

"Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations, the latter (like the river banks) forcing the spontaneity into the various forms which are essential to the work of art or poem"

To what extent was the creative process limited by the conventions of the media form you elected to work in for your AS/A2 practical production work

To me, what this quote is saying is that although a person might have the most amazing ideas and creations, they sometimes can't be carried out due to things out of our control, things like budgets and skill level which mean that the spontaneous ideas we come up with can't actually be carried out. It is also saying that creativity cannot always be shown in its pure original way, it has to be moulded in order to be a work of art. Even something seemingly wild like a river is controlled by its banks, just like a poem is controlled by its structure and a painting is controlled by the paint used.

In my own project I found I was limited often. For the AS practical production work I chose to follow the tasks for the print production piece. The preliminary task involved creating a full front cover and contents page mock up for a schools magazine. The main task was to create a full front cover, contents page and double page spread. The limitations of these tasks were that the subject of the magazine was decided, the equipment we had, and the software I could use. However, within these boundaries I was able to be as creative as I liked. If I had been to creative and pushed the boundaries of say the genre of magazine, then it would not have been good, as it would not been recognised and accepted as a music magazine. Had I learnt to use different software for the foundation task, this also would be less limiting.

For the A2 advanced project I chose to create a music video, with the ancillary tasks of making a 4 page plus digipack and magazine advertisement. This project had far less limitations as far as the task was concerned. A music video does not have a certain set of criteria that it has to follow, it can vary from solely watching the musician perform, to watching a short film that has no apparent link to the music. Having said this, there are still limitations. These, for me, were mainly limitations due to skill and equipment. The idea that can be expressed through the music video is limited to whether or not it can be carried out. For example for the song "paper aeroplane" by Angus and Julia Stone I thought of doing a music video that involved watching a paper aeroplane flying through an city an past the characters in the song. However i did not have the skills or software to carry this out.

Rashomon

The film Rashomon is Japanese film in which different versions of the same story is told through a statement to a court. There are 4 views given: the man who found the body (who tells his story twice), the Bandit, The Wife and the Husband (through a (person who can talk to dead people)).
This story shows the japanese culture in many ways:
The setting: The first group of men are in a old temple? and there are lots of shots of religious and cultural statues.
The costume: When the murder scene is being described, the costume of the wife and husband are typically tradition japanese clothes, with the woman in a kimono hiding her face and a man in a kimono with a long sword and bow and arrow. The hair and make-up is also typically japanese, and the womans eyebrows were painted in a way that was common at the time it was set.
Gender: the main woman is hysterical and sums up the general "old-time" opinion that woman were emotional, the men fall into certain stereotypes, the priest, the bandit and the ninja type guy.

Question 1a

The ability to easily access digital technology has allowed people who previously only viewed the media, to now make it themselves. Websites like YouTube have allowed amature film producers to showcase their work. I found, through the medium of a blog, that I to was able to showcase my creativity. With built in cameras on most computer devices it is easy to film yourself and say what you think. I have developed my own creativity over the past two years whilst carrying out the two portfolio units. In the foundation portfolio I used a scrapbook to show my progression through the work and at the time this worked well for me but as my skills began to grow it started to hold me back. I used a simpler software to create my final peice on the foundation portfolio. As I progressed up to the Advanced portfolio, my skills advanced too, I used a blog to show my progression through the project rather than a scrapbook. Doing so has allowed me to show my research and both pre- and post-production work in a much clearer manner, I was able to upload videos I had made on iMovie and Windows Movie Maker, and I became much more familiar with the Macs, which allowed me to really grow creatively as I did not feel restricted by my inability to use software.

Comments

You've actually talked about the work you did, which I didn't get to, I got all caught up in talking about different technologies and the power of the internet. Ugh nerrrd. I love the way you've written about the foundation portfolio too, I couldn't even remember what I've done in that. Nice job (Y)

You talk about the production work but do not give exact examples of your piece itself. Youtube thing is spot on and you highlight well the different stages of the creative process. Skills.

Good answer. You answer the question, unlike

Its nice to hear that you learnt more about the technology. Thats cool. (Y)

You've basically provided the model answer you fucking swot. Best piece of media and best response. Bastard.

GOOD ;) you have basically everything here! - HT

The ability to easily access digital technology has allowed people who previously only viewed the media, to now make it themselves. Websites like YouTube have allowed amature film producers to showcase their work. I found, through the medium of a blog, that I to was able to showcase my creativity. With built in cameras on most computer devices it is easy to film yourself and say what you think. I have developed my own creativity over the past two years whilst carrying out the two portfolio units. In the foundation portfolio I used a scrapbook to show my progression through the work and at the time this worked well for me but as my skills began to grow it started to hold me back. For example i used Microsoft Word to complete the final piece, a magazine front cover, for the foundation portfolio as I did not feel comfortable with Photoshop. As I progressed up to the Advanced portfolio, my skills advanced too, I used a blog to show my progression through the project rather than a scrapbook. Doing so has allowed me to show my research and both pre- and post-production work in a much clearer manner, I was able to upload videos I had made on iMovie and Windows Movie Maker, and I became much more familiar with the Macs, which allowed me to really grow creatively as I did not feel restricted by my inability to use software unlike in the foundation portfolio.

Purpose

The blog is a place where I can put my work for the second part of my A2 media course.