My video recorded evaluation

This is me explaining in further detail the task at hand and how I went about completing my project.

Evaluation presentation

http://www.slideshare.net/kmut6156/evaluation-presentation-34668515

Main Task (Final Documentary Film)

This is the final completed Documentary, I started in November and have completed it now meaning it has taken me roughly 5months to complete. I used Final cut pro which allowed me to enhance the quality of the clips.

Voice recording evaluation

This is my evaluation in the form of a voice recording, I used Final Cut Pro X in order to create this and it is a summary of my whole year of A2  in media including how I completed the project.

Evaluation Essay

Question 1
In what ways does your media product use ,develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?


In our media product no doubt the main aim was to make it as real as possible meaning so that it would resemble a product that has already been created in the real world. I had a target audience for my media products, which were a documentary, a double page spread magazine article and a radio advert based on a young Hip-hop artist’s journey, which would mean the age range, would be from ideally 16-25 and revolve around the social realism genre as we are portraying one’s life.


After having established these key factors in order for me to start my project I was obliged to do various research by watching documentaries of other already established artist’s such as the Eminem ‘Who Am I’ documentary, Chiwetel Ejofor Magazine Article and various radio adverts. This definitely aided me inn gathering a whole bunch of ideas, which would then make it easier for me to put ideas together for my product.


Within my research for my documentary in particular I found an effect that really stood out to me which was ‘the ken burns effect’. I found that this was an effect commonly used in older documentaries as I recognized it from when I used to watch older documentaries, the effect consists of an image being zoomed in while the narrator makes comments In relation to the image, for me this really gives the documentary a historic as we talk about the Musician’s past.


As well as including this historic effect also found that the more modern documentaries portrayed certain conventions such as introducing the title and the Musician a few minutes into the documentary as this gives a sense of agradual build up, keeping the viewer eager. With this combination of historic effects and modern effects this challenges the forms and conventions of a real media product.

In terms of my ancillary texts, which were my magazine article and my radio advert, these completed the whole package of my media product as they too resemble conventions of real life media products. A magazine article expressing my Hip-Hip musician’s past and his journey to stardom, the text alongside an image taken in a professional studio white background giving a 3D illusion of him being literally beside the text, this is a common layout in almost every magazine out there emphasizing the reality of the project.


Furthermore my radio advert would act as a source of promotion to my Documentary as it would advertise the date of release and explain to the viewers what the documentary was based on. The radio advert consisted of sound clips from the documentary and a song from the documentary, lasting around 45 seconds. This would mean there was a source of information in place for the audience to find out about the documentary, real media products would use this way of promotion as well as maybe a TV advert as this is likely to reach a larger

The feedback for my 3 products was positive, my teacher commented praised my effort in doing necessary research which allowed me to produce close to real products however my documentary could have been improved by ensuring every single shot was in focus and steady. Fellow students expressed that my 3 products were like stuff they would see in the media in everyday life and everyone agreed that it was one of the best in my group. Overall my feedback is good and I have learned that in future I will avoid rushing certain parts of my project in order to go from good to excellent.


Finally the media technologies played a massive role in allowing me to complete my project. First of all the Mac IOS which was pivotal, the fast moving computer with industry standard software such as Adobe Photoshop 6 which allowed me to complete my magazine article, Final Cut Pro X which I used to create my documentary and my radio article. The Digital SLR’s, the Tascam Sound Recorder were equipment’s I was able to manually use myself, giving me the freedom to produce something exactly how I intended. All these different media platforms sped up the process, which meant I was able to complete my project in roughly 5 months.



Question 2


How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?



Question 3


What have you learned from your audience feedback?




Question 4


How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Article Ancillary Task

Radio Advert

This is my Radio Advert which is advertising my documentary, I created this radio advert using Final cut pro.

Using Mac Ios

Before AS and A2  I had only been using ordinary laptops and computers but in AS I was introduced to the Mac which is an Apple powered computer of industry standard. This computer is industry standard as it is capable of storing all types of software's from all different platforms, it is very time efficient as one an log on within a matter of seconds and it runs rapidly.

This I found helped me a lot when managing my projects as I could need to have Final cut pro X, Adobe Photoshop and Google Chrome all running at the same time in order for me to complete my work, usually on an ordinary computer this is likely to cause the computer to freeze, crash or run very slowly but this doesn't occur with the mac which aids to completing tasks on time.

Learning to use Adobe Photoshop CS6

Previously I had only messed around with earlier versions of Adobe Photoshop which I found very complicating and difficult. Furthermore this view has not changed since then as I still find the structure and complicated but however I can say I am making progress with the whereabouts and functions of the important tools which has aided me in producing a double spread magazine article.

Recently I discovered that the structure on Adobe Photoshop can be altered to the user's preference which I think is grand as this may make me more comfortable with the software helping me improve my skills. This is something I intend to do the next time I use Adobe Photoshop.

Learning to use Final cut pro X

Learning how to use Final cut pro X has been fairly simple for me due to my past experience in AS with Final cut pro.

Final cut pro

Final cut pro X

The most obvious adjustment is the change clip layout, as we can see in Final cut pro there are two clips side by side, one of the entire video and one of the clip you wish to add to the timeline. However in Final cut pro X there is only a section for one clip and any clip that one wishes to use can be viewed and edited on the thumbnail itself, I found this made things a lot easier and more efficient.

Personally I found the tools in Final cut pro X were structured a lot more in an organized manner which makes finding a new tool a lot easier. There are more adjustments in which I have not yet explored but this post is based on me getting to grips with the basics of this new software.

Independent record label

An independent record label or also known as an indie label is a record label without  the funding of or outside major record labels.

• A major record traditionally means it owns a distribution channel. 
• An independent labels are usually run by major label artists as a way to promote new talent
• Major labels may also partner with independent labels in order to help them
• Independent labels started in the united states in the post war era
• Independent labels aims their releases at small but devoted audiences instead of mass sales for success
• Indie's give an artist the cue for experimentation and freedom

Target Audience

The target audience for my  documentary ranges from around 13 - 25 because personally I think this is the age range consisting of people who are either working towards being successful or who are currently starting their journey of success but the main theme is on 'Success' so it may apply to anyone of any age trying to achieve success one way or another.

The documentary is a source a source of inspiration so in terms of gender there isn't a specific gender the documentary is targeting even though it is linked with Rap/HipHop which is usually linked with the male gender that is not the overall theme and moral of the documentary. Finally this is documentary based on Music, which is something a vast majority of people can relate to as nearly everyone listens to the music of their taste.

Currently working on radio trailer

This is a screenshot of my radio trailer, I am using final cut pro x and this software holds many tools which will aid me to create my radio trailer. So far I have managed to create a radio trailer lasting around 45 seconds and I have included the majority of the code and conventions of a radio trailer such as the rapper's song, speech from the actual documentary, radio trailer style sound effects to introduce the trailer however I may need to shorten the time or add or remove some factors.

Shot explanations in documentary

I have included these shots in my documentary because after having done research on documentaries I found that there were many shots which represent the area or the culture related to the Artist of whom is being documented. For example if we look at the shot including the red bus and moving traffic this straightaway indicates that the artist is from London as the red bus is an indication and the busy traffic.

Colz FWITME video clip

   

These are screenshots from a music video I assisted in by taking part in giving ideas for some of the frames/shots, I was present at shoot and recorded parts of the video myself. However it was not edited by me, I am including this clip in my documentary as this is one of the conventions in documentary-making.

Representation related theorists

Richard Dyer - "The matter of images" - How we are seen determines how we are treated, how we treat others is based on how we see them, how we see them comes from representation.

Rayner - "Representation" - The process by which media presents the 'Real World'

White (1961) - "Gatekeepers/ing" - The people who are part of the decision making processin the construction of Media texts.

Roland Barthes - "Myth" - Ideologies work through symbolic codes, mythic in the sense of having the appearance of being 'natural' and 'common sense'

A2 key media terminology

Meida terminology from:

http://brianair.wordpress.com/film-theory/glossary-of-media-terminology/

I am currently using this site to revise these key words

Anchorage - how meaning is fixed, as in how a caption fixes the meaning of a picture

Audience – viewers, listeners and readers of a media text. A lot of media studies is concerned with how audience use texts and the effects a text may have on them. Also identified in demographic  socio-economic categories.

Binary Opposites – the way opposites are used to create interest in media texts, such as good/bad, coward/hero, youth/age, black/white. By Barthes and Levi-Strauss who also noticed another important feature of these ‘binary opposites’: that one side of the binary pair is always seen by a particular society or culture as more valued over the other.

Catharsis – the idea that violent and and sexual content in media texts serves the function of releasing ‘pent up’ tension aggression/desire in audiences.

Censorship – Control over the content of a media text – sometimes by the government, but usually by a regulatory body like the British Board of Film censors.

Code – a sign or convention through which the media communicates meaning to us because we have learned to read it. Technical codes – all to do with the way a text is technically constructed – camera angles, framing, typography, lighting etc. Visual codes – codes that are decoded on a mainly connotational level – things that draw on our experience and understanding of other media texts, this includes Iconography – which is concerned with the use of visual images and how they trigger the audiences expectations of a particular genre, such as a knife in slasher horror films.

Consumer – purchaser, listener, viewer or reader of media products.

Context – time, place or mindset in which we consume media products.

Conventions – the widely recognised way of doing things in particular genre.

Denotation – the everyday or common sense meaning of a sign. Connotation – the secondary meaning that a sign carries in addition to it’s everyday meaning.

Diegetic Sound – Sound whose source is visible on the screen Non Diegetic sound – Sound effects, music or narration which is added afterwards

Enigma – A question in a text that is not immediately answered and creates interest for the audience – a puzzle that the audience has to solve.

Feminism – the struggle by women to obtain equal rights in society

Gaze – the idea that the way we look at something, and the way somebody looks at you, is structured by the way we view the world. Feminist Laura Mulvey suggests that looking involves power, specifically the look of men at women, implying that men have power over women.

Genre – the type or category of a media text, according to its form, style and content.

Hegemony – Traditionally this describes the predominance of one social class over another, in media terms this is how the controllers of the media may on the one hand use the media to pursue their own political interest, but on the other hand the media is a place where people who are critical of the establishment can air their views.

Hypodermic Needle Theory – the idea that the media can ‘inject’ ideas and messages straight into the passive audience. This passive audience is immediately affected by these messages. Used in advertising and propoganda, led to moral panics about effect of violent video and computer games.

Ideology – A set of ideas or beliefs which are held to be acceptable by the creators of the media text, maybe in line with those of the dominant ruling social groups in society, or alternative ideologies such as feminist ideology.

Indexical sign – a sign which has a direct relationship with something it signifies, such as smoke signifies fire.

Image – a visual representation of something.

Institutions – The organisations which produce and control media texts such as the BBC, AOL Time Warner, News International.

Intertextuality – the idea that within popular culture producers borrow other texts to create interest to the audience who like to share the ‘in’ joke. Used a lot in the Simpsons.

Media language – the means by which the media communicates to us and the forms and conventions by which it does so.

Media product – a text that has been designed to be consumed by an audience. E.G a film, radio show, newspaper etc.

Media text – see above. N.B Text usually means a piece of writing

Mise en Scene – literally ‘what’s in the shot’ everything that appears on the screen in a single frame and how this helps the audience to decode what’s going on.

Mode of Address – The way a media product ‘speaks’ to it’s audience. In order to communicate, a producer of any text must make some assumptions about an intended audience; reflections of such assumptions may be discerned in the text (advertisements offer particularly clear examples of this).

Montage – putting together of visual images to form a sequence. Made famous by Russian film maker Eisenstein in his famous film Battleship Potemkin.

Moral Panic – is the intensity of feeling stirred up by the media  about an issue that appears to threaten the social order, such as against Muslims after 9/11, or against immigrants, or against ‘video nasties’  following the Jamie Bulger murder.

Multi-media – computer technology that allows text, sound, graphic and video images to be combined into one programme.

Myth – a complex idea by Roland Barthes that myth is a second order signifying system ie when a sign becomes the signifier of a new sign (2^nd years only this one!)

Narrative code – The way a story is put together within a text, traditionally equilibrium- disequilibrium, new equilibrium, but some text are fractured or non liner, eg Pulp Fiction.

News values – factors that influence whether a story will be picked for coverage.

Non-verbal communication – communication between people other than by speech.

Ownership – who produces and distributes the media texts – and whose interest it is.

Patriarchy – The structural, systematic and historical domination and exploitation of women.

Popular Culture – the study of cultural artefacts of the mass media such as cinema, TV, advertising.

Post Modernism – Anything that challenges the traditional way of doing things, rejecting boundaries between high and low forms of art, rejecting rigid genre distinctions, emphasizing pastiche, parody, intertextuality, irony, and playfulness. Postmodernism favours reflexivity and self-consciousness, fragmentation and discontinuity (especially in narrative structures), ambiguity, simultaneity, and an emphasis on the destructured, decentered, dehumanized subjects! This is tricky!

Preferred Reading - the interpretation of a media product that was intended by the maker or which is dictated by the ideology of the society in which it is viewed. Oppositional Reading – an interpretation of a text by a reader whose social position puts them into direct conflict with its preferred reading. Negotiated Reading – the ‘compromise’ that is reached between the preferred reading offered by a text and the reader’s own assumptions and interpretations

Propaganda – the way ruling classes use the mass media to control or alter the attitudes of others.

Reader – a member of the audience, someone who is actively responding to the text.

Regulation – bodies whose job it is to see that media texts are not seen by the wrong audience (eg British Board of Film Censors) or are fair and honest (EG Advertising Standards Association)

Representation – The way in which the media ‘re-presents’ the world around us in the form of signs and codes for audiences to read.

SFX – special effects or devices to create visual illusions.

Shot – single image taken by a camera.

Sign – a word or image that is used to represent an object or idea.

Signifier/Signified – the ‘thing’ that conveys the meaning, and the meaning conveyed. EG a red rose is a signifier, the signified is love (or the Labour Party!)

Sound Effects – additional sounds other than dialogue or music, designed to add realism or atmosphere.

Stereotype – representation of people or groups of people by a few characteristics eg hoodies, blondes

Still – static image.

Sub-genre – a genre within a genre.

Two Step Flow theory - the idea that ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a wider population.

Uses and Gratifications – ideas about how people use the media and what gratification they get from it. It assumes that members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives.

Double page spread code and conventions

When I done some research on the codes of conventions of a Double Page Spread Magazine Article I found that there were several core traits one must include such as:

A large image: This is to grab the readers attention and straightaway they realize the image is in relation to the article or the subject.


A quote from the interview next to the big image or the headline: This is usually something controversial or shocking said by the celebrity themselves enticing the reader to want to read the article

The celebrity's name in bold: This is just to inform the reader on who the article is about

Font related to genre: Genre related font just gives the double page spread an instant atmosphere which tells part of the story in a way.

Text aligned in columns (usually 2-4): This is purposely for the visualization of the pages so the text looks neat and not all over the place which makes it easier to be read.

The image is usually on the left page: This is just how most music magazines have always set up their articles however some magazines go against this convention just to be different.

Some include by lines which are under the text: This is to give credit to anyone who is not mentioned or not present in image who took part in creating the article, so whether it's the photograther or the writer

The celebrity's name in bold somewhere: This is for anyone who is unaware of who the celebrity is just for them to be introduced

A headline: This is another factor for the reader to be teased into reading the article.

Tascam digital sound recorder

The Tascam's DR-05 is a digital sound recorder I am currently using to record any speech within my projects. I came across this apparatus a while after having started the my project and it is great as it produces high quality sound recording which will enhance speech within a film/documentary. An apparaatus very simple and easy to use which is essentially a microphone.

Radio trailer research (Codes & conventions)

During my research I gained more knowledge than on the codes & conventions of a radio trailer than I had before. This knowledge will be necessary in order for me to produce a radio trailer for my documentary which meets all the qualities of a radio trailer.

I found out that in a radio trailer these are the main aspects one must include:

• Voice over with hints/sound or speech from the film

• Information at the end of the trailer

• The slogan to the film or documentary

• Sound effects when appropriate

• Duration ranging from 30-60 seconds

• The purpose is to persuade various audiences to watch the programme

Using a voiceover will enable the listener to be informed about the film or documentary and maybe find out aspects that didn't seem so obvious. Voice over definitely informs the listener on where and how they can view the film or documentary which is the most important thing.

Little hints and speeches from the documentary allows the listener to have only a little taster of the documentary giving them an insight on what to expect.

Music related to or from the film/documentary is another convention used in radio trailers as it introduces the atmosphere of the film/documentary amongst the listener. This would have an effect which would make the listener feel as if they are in the film or documentary but in reality they are not.

Felma & Louise Analysis

In Felma & Louise we see these two women who were often mistreated by their husbands so they finally take a stand and decide that they would both go on a vacation without the consent of their husbands. This film challenges many stereotypes of the modern day women in America during that time period. We cold argue that Ridley Scott the director of this film was a feminist as the females in the film are mainly empowered.

In the film we notice that Louise is constantly lied to by her husband and Felma is just a housewife to her husband of whom has no respect for her this an example of Feminist Mystique - Womens miseries come from the stereotypical role they were given to play in society as housewives in the 60/70s. After leaving their husbands, on their journey Felma & Louise face many more confrontations with men, for example a guy attempts to rape Felma however Louise comes in time to rescue her and ends up shooting the guy, the fact that a gun is an object mainly associated with a male for many reasons as well as Phallic Fallacy - an object of psychologically resembles to a man's penis, in this scene the director is trying to show us that at that moment his manly hood had been taken away from him and it lay now in the hands of these two women so effectively a woman was now in control of a man.

Furthermore as Felma & Louise were on the run after having committed several crimes their principal means of escape was their vehicle. We are clearly shown by the director in the final few scenes how well Louise was handling and driving the car despite all the obstructions this is another example of challenging a stereotype, as women in society are often seen as average or poor drivers but based on the evidence we see this stereotype is false so therefore empowering these women.

Finally in the final scene when Felma & Louise are at the edge of the Grand Canyon and they are by 30 dozen armed policemen telling them to hand themselves in, even the fact that all the police officers were men represents the route back to being controlled by men metaphorically as they would have gone to prison had they handed themselves in however Felma & Louise choice to drive beyond the edge of the Grand Canyon and die rather than going back into the control of Man.

Tarantino/Kill Bill analysis/ research

 Kill Bill

Tarantino describes the film as a “feminist statement”

'Kill Bill' was similar to the film 'Pulp Fiction', both these films had the the public asking questions of Tarantino as the film's styles of "Bloody" and "Gruesome" scenes became a controversial topic.
However these characteristics would normally relate to the male head actor but in 'Kill Bill' this was no the case as 'Beatrix Kiddo' played a tough woman who was once a member of a violent assassination squad is seen brutally slaying her enemies.


This character is interpreted by Uma Thurman excellently in my opinion, although Beatrix Kiddo displays some Masculine qualities such as her fighting ability and her emotionless behavior but she also does portray some motherly qualities which is one of the main qualities society attaches to feminism.

Two authors Called "ott & mack" openly analyzed the role femininity plays in Kill Bill. According to them feminists are not always solely "Pro women" and that they seek to criticize mass media products that further emphasize "Male Dominance".

Instead of just portraying Feminine qualities to the norms of society she is also seen to have male qualities , this is rare in American Media as the women are often portrayed as weak and fragile with loving and motherly qualities

Ott & Mack go on further to state that essentialism is the idea that gender qualities are innate and inherited as we are shown that she has a seemingly affectionate and motherly relationship with her daughter but she had to learn how to fight. The last factor is patriarchy as in terms of power relations women's interests are subdornate to man on the other hand in Kill Bill we see this social stereotype completely disregarded as Man's interests are subdornate to those of women.

This contradicts American Media as they stick to the norms of the Gendered related qualities with masculinity displayed as the dominant force. These qualities were deliberately executed by Tarantino and this raises questions as to whether Taratino is a feminist?

Feminism related theorist

John Berger - basically expresses that there are different ways of seeing Men and Women "Ways of seeing". Berger argues that man`s presence in the world is all related to potency "what he can do"' power and ability. However women`s presence is related to itself and not the world so effectively women "act the way they would like to be treated"

Terms related to feminism

Scophophilia - the pleasure involved in looking at other people`s bodies as objects (particularly sexually) from the Greek "love of looking"


Feminine Mystique - the idea that women`s miseries come from the stereotypical role women were given in the 60`s and 70`s to play in society which was to be housewives. - Betty Friedan

However in Modern society we see women playing more of a "man`s" role. For example we see women becoming politicians, like the late Margaret Thatcher and the current president of Brazil.

My double page magazine article so far

This is the progress I have made so far with my magazine article and I have managed to include many core traits in order for it to meet what magazine articles consist of such as: a professional photo which allows the reader to see the celebrity or the topic in 3d next to the text, I have also included a headline which almost summarises what the text is about, the text is also in the column form which is how the majority of magazine texts are set up.

Mood board for magazine article

The rest of the images from our shoot

The shoot consisted of two main themes , smart and casual. The aim was to take several photos of Colz in different attire doing different poses in order for us to choose in the end which photo will be most suitable for a magazine article. We could have chosen an images out of those with the darker background but we opted for the white background as this is a common in magazine articles as it allows   the topic to be almost in three dimension beside the text. 

My magazine article ideas

This is the image I will be including in my double page spread magazine article. I organised a work experience placement as a production assistant on one of Colz's photo shoots with the agreement that I would be allowed to take some photos also. With the guidance of the day's photographer I managed to collect some pictures using his camera and advice, this has developed my understanding of studio photography and my interest in it too.   

The Ken burns effect

The Ken Burns effect is an effect commonly used in documentaries, it usually when there is a still image which is slowly zoomed in while a narrator does a voiceover which helps explain the story.
I go on to use this effect for several still images which enhance my documentary.

Case studies which represent women a certain way

50 cent - Disco Inferno

He we see a video of rapper 50 cent and this video is solely focusing on the sex, of these women are placed in the video to pleasure Male viewers and possibly for the envy of female viewers. There are parts when 50 is surrounded by several women, this emphasizes the level of power he has over these females hence why they seem very obedient and allow him to touch their bodies. Close ups of the women's bums and other sexual parts of the body is an idea shared  by a well known theorist by the name Laura Mulvey as she stated that the majority of media is made so everyone is seeing it from a male's point of view.


Mr &  Mrs smith (Film)

However we see an unpopular representation of a female in the film Mr & Mrs Smith. Mrs Smith throughout the film is portrayed as a strong woman who holds a few male characteristics hence why we are shown in this scene she is physically in a fight with her husband and a fight in which she is equally as dominant. This is maybe a representation or a metaphor of what all women secretly aspire to become or a representation that all women are capable of this? The last shot maybe reinforces the dominance of the male species as the mise en scene shows them both holding fire arms however Mr Smiths firearm is a lot longer which is also known as Phallic fallacy which is the idea that states the power of a male over a female.

Quadrophenia

 In Quadrophenia then director portrays these teenagers as young individuals who don't really have an idea on how the outcome of their future will be so instead they just live in the moment. Youth identity in this film is all about reputation and belonging to a specific identity hence why we see a gang culture within this movie between the 'Mods' and 'Rockers'. Each gang had their way of talking, dressing, speaking, etc. You had to be either one otherwise you would not be considered so therefore ones existence was irrelevant.

However these teenagers had no clue who they really were as they just found themselves following the norms of their gangs and inflicted them in their lifestyles, the main character Jimmy experiences a hard time when he realizes that nothing positive seems to come from his lifestyle. We see a great misunderstanding between immy and his parents maybe this suggesting that there is a massive gap between teenagers and their parents as they fail to comprehend the lifestyle of their teenage son or daughter.

Jimmy and his friends get up to no good by breaking into pharmacies, riding on their scooters all night, smoking, drinking, taking drugs, going parties, having sex, etc. Could this be a visual representation of teenagers? or is it the opinion of the director of this movie? Considering this is a movie made around the 60's and 70's could this be that teenagers were like this then but have changed since then? As the David Buckingham theory suggests that youth identity is forever changing so there for it can not be defined.