media homework due to 19.12.12

The Hour and how genders are repersented

Compare the way the opening scene in ‘The Hour’ represents gender stereotypes, using camera shots, mise –en-scene, editing & sound.

The Hour is a drama set in the 1950’s based around a news television program shown on the BBC. There are many characters in the clip is one main one is a female woman who we follow around the office and we see her under a lot of pressure to get this show on and get everything prefect.

 

There is a lot of sound in the clip right at the very start we hear someone frantically tapping away at a type writer and then there is a tilt up shot where we see newspapers scattered across a desk this a directors short hand for stating we were in an office and had something to do with something media/press related. The camera stops when in the centre of the frame is the main woman in the clip she looks stressed you can tell this through the mise-en-scene, she has her hands on her temples, her glasses positioned on the end of her nose showing she is in a ‘working hard’ frame of mind & she is puffing really hard on a cigarette these are all stereotypes and/or directors short hand for showing she is stressed and under pressure.

Whilst the man and presenter of the TV is sitting in a jazzy club there are close ups of him drinking, lighting a fag and looking at his watch this shows he is not in a rush, he appears smooth and cool headed as he doesn't feel the pressure as he has time to sign a autograph for a fan when she asks we are unaware who he is but when the actress comes up and asks her we are instantly aware he must be famous. The tilt down shot shows the bit of paper he has just signed this may have been setup as a way of us finding out who he is without actually stating. This is showing that while all the women are flapping about in the studio the main star of the show is chilling and acting all calm and collected this plays along with the stereotype that all women are hormonal and stressy.

The director has a way of adding pressure with clever editing techniques there is a triple shot of 3 different actors/actresses looking at their watches they move in a sweep movement this is a clever way of confirming the pressure . The non-digetic sound of the piano jazz and the ticking of a metronome, this has carried on from the sound of the typing on the typewriter, also is adding and topping up the pressure. The main actress has to pay a visit to the new head of news, the pause before she knocks emphasises that even though she has her own PA, she isn't as high up as him and  she is under him. The set up and in the room is a clever mise-en-scene. As viewers they feel uncomfortable as the room is all dark and eary. This shows a deeper meaning that maybe the man is trying to get in the zone of the TV show.  

Discus ways in which different generations & class presented in BBC3’s some girls, use mise-en-scene, shot types, sound and editing.
We watched a clip of some girls this is a comedy drama series that is shown 10pm on Tuesday’s. It is about a group of stereotypical girls aged about 15/16. The clip we watched had its own main character ‘Viva’ she lives in a flat with her brother, dad & step mum.  The step mum is also her PE teacher at school. So for her the setup is a bit unusual.

The PE teacher/Step Mum is very unprofessional when it comes to Viva’s PE lesson she is wearing a strappy top with really tight yoga pants. Viva is rude to her and answers her back; this is because I think Viva doesn’t know where she stands with her because of the situation at home there is a clever shot type when Viva is on the floor doing press ups, it’s a close up of the teacher with Viva and her mate in the background gossiping. At home the Step Mum is perceived as the stereotypical evil step mum. She was walking round the flat like she owns it in a really short dressing gown the director may have been incorporated to make the viewer feel as awkward as Viva that is her teacher sitting in front of her.
There is role reversal with her Dad & Step Mum; she finds out that her Step Mum is pregnant. There are different views on this pregnancy; Viva is dead set on her getting rid of it. She mentions a friend who has had it done this is stereotyping that all teenagers are getting pregnant and having abortions. There is a shot from Viva’s point of view when she is looking at them as if they are the teenage lovebirds, and as if she is the responsible adult. Then Viva gets worried that the baby will have nowhere to sleep. Viva gets angry when the step mum over rides her dads opinion and says that she will have to move out and give the baby her room.
Viva packs a backpack and leaves without anyone saying bye or questioning her. When she is packing there is a fast beat music behind her packing her back, it has been edited in with a close up of the top of the bag and the odd thing she puts in, we don’t see everything because that would be boring so it has been edited out so we only get the main idea.
When Viva slams the door and runs down the stairs there is a shot from above as she runs downstairs. This is done so you feel sorry for her, that no one says bye or seems to care.

There is a teenage girl sat on a bench with a baby in a push chair with fag in one hand and a can of beer in the other this has been set up to mock teenage mums and put substance to the stereotype that all teenage mums are from under privileged backgrounds with no aspiration.

key consepts and skills

this task i was given a 4 page hand out with activits to do i thought i twould be easier to do them by hand so i have them for revision and will also make it a lot easier to learn, for me at least. For the 1st & 2nd activity we had to watch clips from movies or tv for action i picked a short clip from gold finger, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJubOZLpp4A and form my big fat gypsy wedding series 1 eposide 3.
The rest of the activities involved watching verious movies and clips, some where easier to find than others but if i could find one i just made do with what i thought would be okay.

Essay

Discuss the way in which the extract uses camera shots, editing, sound, mise-en-scene to construct representations of relationships

 

The clip we were shown had 2 main characters, man and wife, but they have a complex relationship. With trust and commitment issues.

The first scene is then in the back of a black cab, this shows that they are quite well off that they can afford to travel this way rather than a bus or walking. The woman says 'second time lucky' then there is a close up of their hands both of them are wearing wedding rings this is a clever way of making you aware they just got remarried without actually saying it. They are both wearing casual clothes, this could be refected in their relationship. She then says 'I know about Milissa' but we hear no more about Milissa so that is a scriped way of showing their complex relationship She then goes on to say that if anothing should happen to her she would want him to move on and love someone else this makes the audince want to keep watching wating to see what may happen foreshowdwing what may happen next.

 

When the cab stops the woman gets out and pays the taxi driver, the man is still unaware where they are, this shows that she was in control and that maybe she has power within the relationship. Then a ambulance pulls into the building behind her this is another clever way of saying where they are without actually stating; 'We are at the hospital'. The woman needs to go and see her consultant, he fights to come with her but she resists and says he should just wait outside. This could show that he doesnt trust her and their may be secrets within the relationship. 

 

 

Next secene she is in the doctors room, you can see the doctor is talking and she is nooding with tears streenming down her face but the director has choosen to drown out what he is saying to her with slow piano music. By this time we are still unawre if it is good or bad news and this adds more to the tention. Their is a high shot of her doctor and her sitting at the desk this may be forshadowment that someone is looking down at her or it may mean that we shouldn't be there so we are like a fly on the wall.

All the time when she is in the doctors it keeps cutting out to the man outside who is sitting in an outside coffee shop. He keeps fiddling with his wedding ring this shows he is unsure of how he is feeling about her and confused by the lack of trust within the relationship.

 

The he sees her walking, through the black iron gates she is doing her parker jacket up. She wipes her eyes then looks up at him smiling this adds yet more confusion and tention, is it going to be good news? She then shouts across the road at him this could be a metaphor that she wants to shout about her results/news.

Then without looking she steps into the road, the camera is placed over the otherside of the road a bus blocks the cameras veiw of her it is unclear what hits her but i think ity was a car going the other way alongside the bus, but there is a beep and a crash i think this was added in later the man is watching from his sitting position in the coffee shop. All sound is drowned out you can hear a heart beat hard and strong then he puts one foot in the road and the sound is back. He is frantically trying to get across the road, this leaves the audiunce on the edge of the seat. When he gets there she says a few words then dies. The camera pulls out and raises up this is conculing what was forshadowed in the doctors room, of someone up above looking down. There were white lillies scattered across the pavement from a flower stall that the women knocked over when she got hit. It is a very unforfilling ending because we never find out what was that she was in hospital for or what will happen next.

Glossary So Far

Audince

people who watch the drama

 

Characters

actors and acresses that take the scripted roles within any sort of acting

 

Mise-en-scene

reasoning for everything being in the scene

 

Editing

a process used to get rid of all the bad shots and smooth out 2 different bits of filming make them look as one

 

Sound

a sound stimulants (e.g. music, phone ringing, loud crash) used to assert a feeling, emotion or thought

 

Composition

how and why different camera shots are used and why they are used

 

Zoom

Zoom In- moving toward a subject

Zoom Out- moving away from a subject 

 

 

Camera Shots

where the camera is in relation to what it is filming and how that presents the object/person in the shot

 

Shot Types

Aerial  Shot-taken form directly above from a height (normally helicopter)

Extreme Wide Shot- the view is far away from the subject it isn't even visible

Very Wide Shot- the subject is barley visible but main focus is on the environment around

Wide Shot- the subject takes up the whole frame (aka long shot or full shot)

Mid Shot- shows a part of the subject in detail. (waist up)

Medium Close Up- shows more of subject than environment (shoulders up)

Close Up- a certain feature or part of a subject takes up the whole frame (just face)

Extreme Close Up- gets really close to the subject and shows extreme detail (just eyes)

Cut In- shows a part of the body in detail

Cutaway- shows something other than the subject

Two-Shot- a shot of two people at about mid shot range

Over The Shoulder- looking from behind the subject make you feel as if you are 3rd party

Point Of View- shot of the view from subjects perspective

Weather Shot- shot of the weather chosen for its connotations (rain=sadness)

 

Shot Angles

High- used to show you are above/superior of the subject

Low- show power of the subject

Canted or Oblique- shot is tittled to look distorted

 

Camera Movement

Pan- camera moves horizontally from left to right or right to left slowly to reveal more of the setting

Tilt- the camera moving up and down moving the attention of the audience & give more info

 

Depth Of Field

what is in focus in the shot and what is its propose

 

 

 

 

This is a cut in shot taken from eastsnders when Jame found out she couldn't have children. There was slow moving music playing in the background. You can hear Jane crying so you don't need to see her facial expression to know the emotions she is feeling. Jane's dark clothes also portray this Ian in the lighter clothes is the bringer of the bad news.

 This cut away photo was published in a magazine at the return of Ian. he'd been in hiding for a few months and had came out as living on the streets.  The tree symbolises his hiding and the styling and make up cuts make him look really rough.

This was a argument between Roxy & Binica. The director has used a mid shot so you feel as if you are the 3rd person in the shot. and you are right in the middle of the drama. Binica is wearing her typical bight mix matched clashing colours, Roxy is in coral soft colours. the facial expression Binica is pulling sums up the  emoticon of the whole scene

 

Different Social Groups In TV dramas; part 1

Different social groups are represented in different ways in television dramas.

For example in EastEnders on 11th September 2012, Ray Dixon (played by Chucky Venn) he is the chef in the famous 'Queen Victoria Pub' he came into conflict with a white police officer. They were stood just a few feet away from a train bridge going across a road. The police car was driving pasted and pulled over and asked Ray to take off his jumper after a robbery had been reported. 

In Ray's eyes he saw he was being singled out because he was black, and wearing a baggy jumper. This rises questions about is the police force racist. Or did they have a valid reason for stopping and searching him.

Mo Harris an underdog of the square  and no stranger to the police, witnessed the whole thing. He helped ray pick up his stuff after he'd been searched and the police had driven off. This shows the tight community spirit of the EastEnders community.

 

 

 

Mise en scène

Mise en scène, is french, directly translated means, 'put in the scene'. We use it to described things that are in the frame and why they are there. 
Things that need to be taken into consideration;

• Props
• Lighting
• Sound
• Positioning
• Location
• Styling
• Make Up

many people get paid a lot of money to arrange and come up with the ideas for this.

http://www.britishcollegeofprofessionalstyling.com/ this is a college i found that specialises in training people in all different types of styling. Fashion, Hair, Make up.

Analysing Music Vedios

Ghetto Gospel- Tu Pack F.t Elton John.
this music video is just under 4 and a half minuets long, its involves a black American youth that gets caught up in a drive by shooting. Its high impact and emotional.
i analysed different sections of the video

 The video is in reverse you see the reaction of the shooting then see the story behind it.

This is a close up shot, of the mothers reaction, it's so emotive, the sirens are sounding coming from the surrounding emergency services and the screams and cries of her crying.

This contradicts the stereotype that young parents are bad parents. But also shows that although this guy is involved in gang culture, he is still a family man and he still has a family.

This is a cut away shot, because the main focal point is the father and son but the mother is closer to us in the frame.




In this screen shot you see the gang, they are buying drugs of the women on the far right. This low shot is used so you feel like the gang has power and that if you bumped into them you'd feel intimidated.

1. Music Videos

Should some music videos be banned?
Should there be age ratings on some videos?

i had a look online at some of the debates and came across these.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6376421.stm
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/124/5/1488.abstract

I agree that some videos that i have seen i think are a bit too much.
Sterotypes are strongly visible in the music vedios & can be a bit offencive.

There are many types of music vedios,

• narative- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FJO6b8GL3M
• lyric- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fko7_SV3Lc
• performance- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFL9wRLpgng
• dance- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob7vObnFUJc
• lone stoplight- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aplWTXEcY70
• anamation- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6md5RSnVUuo
• and many more...

Why Do People Watch Crime Dramas?

Crime Dramas are very popular on television. I know personally I like to watch them. You can get right into the action and can play a little guess who game with yourself and the telly.

There are many types of crime drama, from police dramas like the bill to gritty graphic crime dramas like CSI.

They are mostly on in prime time as they are widely watched and I know they can appeal to different age groups. For the more gritty ones you need a strong stomach. Whereas something light like ‘George Gently’ (bbc1) adds an aspect of comedy.

After watching the opening to a ‘George Gently’ episode in school, I went home and watched one about the murder of a black women and there were topical race issues covered as it is set in 60/70’s and racism was a much bigger problem than as it is now.

Elderly people may watch crime dramas for two main reasons I can think of, one, that they would watch the classics and reminisce about how everything was good ‘back in the day’. Two, that if they are lonely and they want a bit of a mental challenge to see if they can work out the famous ‘who done it’ before the detective.

Soap Operas; Audience Relationship & Storylines

They cover topical and potentially sensitive areas. (Such as: mental health, abortion & and death) many helplines have been set up to deal with people who may be suffering with the subject of that episode. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/kent/hi/tv_and_radio/newsid_8428000/8428494.stm)

Soap Operas are set so you feel like you a part of the drama and you know on a personal level the charaters. People feel bonds and empathy for the charaters and can have very strong opinions on them and what they should do with the issue that has occoured.

Audinces vary in age, from the elerdly that may watch it for a bit of company of an evening, to the families that watch it with young childern and the people who watch it to tweet about it. Or to see how a plot in unfloding.

To get people talking about the show maybe if it has lost some veiwers they always introduce something drymatic. With an example being EastEnders;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8520818.stm

Where it could of been one of many people and each having there own motive, and without an alibi. The papers and magazines went crazy as veiwings rocketed. The famous 'Who Shot Phil' storyline was so cleverly writen as it lasted 5 weeks thats, 20 epersiodes.

 

 

 

On The Eastenders webisite there is always a vote and you can give your own oppinion that is rumored to inslunce the writers. 

 

Media are all abored with magazines giving weekly updates. Twitter being live and the other day i saw '#WhosSleepingWithKat' trending. This is the curerent 'nation divider' in EastEnders.

 

 

 

 

Soap Operas; Inside Story

The term soap opera originated in the 1930’s, when US radio serials where sponsored by major soap powder companies.

Television soap operas run in a serial format, in which narratives are carried from one episode to the next. Soap operas famously finish with a cliff-hanger at the end to incise you into watching the next instalment.

Many people watch them religiously as they are strategically scheduled to be on just as people are theoretically finishing diner. And most content is suitable for all ages. As there is no use of bad language as the main soap operas are on before the watershed.

Diffrent Shot Types And Uses Of Them

Shot Angles

 

Low & Worm Eye Shots; These indicate that the person in the frame is important and dominant and you as a viewer are feeling intimidated by them.

Eye Level; These indicate that the person in the frame is equal to you and you as a viewer feel like you are there and the drama is bringing you in.

High & Bird's Eye Shots; These indicate the opposite of low shot. That the person/object in the frame is of minor significance a high shot is used so you pitty or sympathise with the character.

Canted Shots; these are rarely used to simulate and portray confusion or bafflement.

 

 

Shot Sizes

 

 

 

ECU (extreme close up): gets right in and shows extreme detail in the face and facial expressions.      CU (close up): A certain feature or part of the subject takes up the whole frame
MCU (medium close up): half way between MS&CU.
MS (mid shot): shows some part of the subject in more detail while still giving an impression of the whole subject.
WS (wide shot): the subject takes up the full frame, or at least as much as possible (aka: long shot, full shot)
VWS (very wide shot): the subject is just visible but emphasis is mainly on placing and environment.
EWS (extreme wide shot): the view is so far away from the subject that it isn't even visible. e.g the title sequence on EastEnders.



                                                                   

            

 

 

 

TV Scheduling

When a particular TV show is shown determines what type of show it is, its audience, ratings.

'PRIME TIME’ this is the time most broadcasting companies fight for. This is between  7pm and 10pm.

Things that they think will attract big audiences e.g. soaps, talent shows & series dramas are often on in this time, when companies are fighting for bigger audience numbers.

TV shows with a niche (small) audience will be on at a different time of day when less people are likely to be watching TV. This is done so they don’t lose a mass of the audience who may not be interested in the topic of the TV show

‘Daytime’ TV is shown between the hours of 10am-4.30pm daytime TV is often slated as not being very good, but companies do it so that the good shows are on when people are free to watch TV and they can gain the bigger audience.

Magazines like the TV times publish the TV schedule so more people would be persuaded to buy the magazine so that is too types of media combined. 

Different Genres Of TV With Examples

•Soap Opera; EastEnders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale

•Costume/Period Drama; Downton Abbey, Heartbeat, Upstairs Downstairs

•Medical/Emergency; Sun, Sea and A&E, Causality,  Holby City

•Literary Adaptations; TOWIE, Blue Peter, Top Gear

•Crime Dramas; The Bill, Midsummer Murders, CSI

•Contemporary Drama; Waterloo Road, Merlin, Tracy Beaker

•Comedy Drama; Bad Education, Miranda, two and a half men

•Sci-fi/Fantasy; Doctor Who, Star Trek, Red Dwarf

•Spy Drama; MI High, The Professionals, The Saint

•Adult Animations; Family Guy, American Dad, South Park

•Stand Up Comedy; Live At The Apollo, Lee Nelsons Well Good Show, Comedy At The Fringe

•Quiz Shows; Eggheads, Weakest Link, Mastermind

•Talent Shows; Xfactor, BGT, Somewhere Over The Rainbow

•Panel Shows; QI, Mock The Week, Have I Got News For You

•Current Affairs; News Night, Panorama, Watchdog

•Cooking; Come Dine With Me, Ready Steady Cook, Hells Kitchen

•Property Programs; Location Location Location, Homes Under The Hammer, Propertywatch

•Building; DIY SOS,  Grand Designs,  60 Minuet Makeover

•Shopping; Bid Drop TV, QVC, Ideal World

•Video Clip Comedy; You’ve been Framed, Planets Funniest Animals, Worlds Craziest Fools