Representation of Ethnicity - Luther

In the opening scene a white man is running from the black man, Luther. When the camera is looking at the white man he is small in the shot and doesn’t make the viewer feel he is an intimidating character. When the camera is on Luther he fills the shot and the camera is looking up to him. This shows how he is a powerful, intimidating character which is a stereo type of thuggish black men. At first the viewer is lead to think that Luther is the bad person in this scene. The viewer thinks this because he is a big black man and it looks like he is wearing a hoody which conforms to the stereotype making the viewer just suppose he is the bad guy chasing an innocent white guy.

When The chase is happening we hear a strange quick noise. It sounds like a noise from the jungle. This gives the impression that the white man is being hunted down by the black man who could be made to look like a predatory character.

The setting for the first scene is in an abandoned factory, this sort of run down urban area is the sort that we would typically associate to gangs and thugs. This stereotype helps the user to think that Luther is the bad person in this scene because black people are perceived to be bad.

When he catches the white man on the catwalk we hear him speak for the first time, he speaks with a street accent which once again makes him conform to the stereotype.

When Luther is talking the camera shot is a close up of his face. The camera is angled up to show that he is an overpowering character and you can see the anger in his face. The way he overpowers the smaller white man is stereo typical of a black man because they are perceived to be aggressive people.

There is a use of parallel editing in the scene where he is questioning the white man. Whilst the white team of police are shown to be going by the rules and being very formal and showing full respect to each other calling their boss “mom” etc. Whereas Luther is shown to be doing the gritty dirty work. This is stereotypical of a black man to not follow the rules and be doing the dirty work rather than the white person.

However after this he goes against the stereotype when he lets the white man fall you can see the hurt and regret in his eyes. This is not what you would expect to see from a black character because you expect them to be heartless because of the hard stereotype we have been taught to think of.

Media Institution Research

20^th Century Fox have currently produced 1501 films. The most current production being worked on being I Robot 2. Other successful films that 20^th Century has produced are the recent Rise of the Planet of the Apes. One of their biggest successes would have been Avatar which was produced in 2010 and Die Hard 4.0 that was released in 2007 was another big success. They specialise in action films.

20^th Century is a subsidiary arm of News Corp ran by Rupert Murdoch. News Corps other subsidiary arms include Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, all of the Fox Network channels and the National Geographic channels. 20^th Century hold 11.1% of the production market making them the smallest of the big 6 institutes.

20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of the 20^th century film studio.

Working Title is an independent British institution. It has currently produced 167 films. These include titles such as Hot Fuzz, Mr Beans Holiday and Shaun of the Dead. Films that they have been most successful with have been comedy films. Working Title is owned by Universal Studios which one of the Big 6 American production companies. Working Title has been contractually allowed to produce any film with a budget of up to $35 million from Universal Studios. Working Title Films signed a deal with Universal Studios in 1999 for a reported $600 million, which them the power to commission projects with a budget of up to $35 million without having to consult Universal. Before Working title became a part of the Universal group it was part of the PolyGram group who were a major label recording company which then bought 20^th Century records and the Fox network. Polygram then in 1999 merged into Universal Music. Before Working Title was a part of Polygram it was an independent film producer.

Representation of Gender - Primevil

In the opening scene of the clip we are introduced to a male and a female character walking together. The male character is shown to be a lot bigger than the female and looks over powering making the female character look small. This is a sterotype of men and women ebacuse it is making the female character look weaker thant the male.

 When the body has been dug up from the trench only the men stand around and discuss the options of what to do next. The clip cuts to whoever is speaking at the time and this shows once again that the male is the more dominant gender in this clip as they are the ones making all of the discisions.

 When the smartly dresses lady starts threatening the dog breeder about the police the male character gets very angry about being told what to do/ being pushed around. The music changes from being quite peaceful to dark music and lots of noise when he flips and becomes mad. He gets mad because he is being told what to do by the female character and needs to prove he is the more dominant character. The femle backs down to him very quickly

 When the 3 people enter the room where the dog breeder is the front person of the 3 is the male and he is close to the camera making him look bigger than the woman and the other male. This once again shows that the male is the leader and the more dominant gender.

Representation of Etnicity - Hotel Babylon

As the group of smartly dressed men come into scene near the start of the clip there is a black man sat reading a newspaper. When they come in he looks up from his newspaper looking very concerned and scared about the group of men who have just arrived. This shows how the group of white men are the more powerful ethnic in this scene. When the lady at the desk needs a job doing she looks to the same black man to do it. This once again shows that the people of white ethnicity in this scene are the more powerful as she is giving the orders. When he is asked to do this he is confused and she says “Brain like a sieve”. This shows a lack of respect for the black man.

 Once the staff are aware that immigration have arrived there is a big rush for them to hide. There is one black man Ibrahim the cleaner who is going about his work with his headphones on so is unaware of the situation. This once again portrays that the people of black ethnicity in this clip are more clueless than those who are white. When the group of white men bump into Ibrahim he is scared and tries to run but he falls and is instantly caught by the group of white men showing that they are the stronger more powerful ethnicity.

Another way that there is a contrast shown between the ethnicity groups is that the group of white men are shown to be very heartless. They are there to do their job and they don’t care whose life’s they are ruining because they believe that they are a higher more important people than the immigrants. This is a contrast to the immigrants who all treat each other as one family. Although they all come from different ethnicity groups they stick together to give them all the best chance at life and treat all people equally. This is shown throughout the clip as the white people show no respect for any of the staff at the hotel whereas the hotel staff all look out for each other to make sure that they are safe and show equal respect to everyone in the scene.

 The white lady on the reception has the same attitude as the group of immigration officers. Once Ibrahim has been taken out of the hotel she doesn’t show any remorse for any of the immigrant workers, she is just concerned about the business and customers to the hotel. The way she talks about the workers shows very little respect for them showing that she believes as she is white she is in the more powerful ethnicity group.

Representation of Class - Monarch of the Glen

Sound – The young girl that has been taken in by the rich family has a strong Welsh accent whereas the man who has taken her in has a very received pronunciation. This shows that he is much more of an upper class to her and portrays him as more of a leading character.

Camera shots/ Angles - After the young girl has crashed the car we are introduced to the headmaster. When he is speaking he fills the camera shot and is the only person visible in the shot at this moment. This gives the effect that he is a big character and makes the viewer feel as if you are looking up at them. This makes him seem like a much more powerful character. This contrasts with the camera angle when it cuts to the young girl. She only just fills half of the shot, this being the bottom half meaning that as a viewer you look down on her. This shows you that she is the weaker character compared to the head master. Another way that this shot makes her look small is by crowding her with people taller than her. This just enhances the idea of her being the smaller, weaker character in this shot.

Camera shots/ Angles - Again at 2:33 in the clip there is an over the shoulder shot from behind the young girl looking up at her ‘father figure’. This shot shows how much of a bigger more powerful the man is compared to her. When she begins speaking the shot changes from to have to camera looking down on her with a mid-shot. The way that the camera angle alternates depending on who is speaking helps to show the contrast in class and power in this clip. When the man is speaking the camera is looking up to him. But when the girl is speaking the camera is angles to look down on her as she is the lower class and the less powerful character in this shot.

Mise en scene – In the first scene of the clip we are introduced to the young girl and a young boy character. The building behind them looks like it is a mess and there are kitchen towels hanging across the courtyard drying. They are doing manual labour, sweeping up. This shows that these two characters are both from a working class.

Sound - In the last scene in the extract we see the leading man at a farm setting. When the farmer comes to argue what is going on he has a very thick Welsh accent. When the leading man speaks he speaks with a received pronunciation and speaks to the farmer with a clear lack of respect. You can tell from the way that he speaks down to the farmer that he is from a higher class of people.

Representation of Age in TV Drama

Representation of Age on Prezi

Film Editing Introduction

Montage 



Continuity

 

Sound

The first 35 seconds of this clip is an example of diegetic sound. Diegetic sound is the sound that comes from a person or object in thee diegesis (the world of the story) and seen within the field of vision.



The soundtrack to this video is an example of non-diegetic sound. Non- diegetic sound comes from nothing within the field and has been added afterwards in the editing process.



This clip is an example of sycrnous sound. This is where the sound is synchronised with the object emitting that sound. For example - lip syncing.



In this clip 3:40 - 4:00 is dialogue. This is the sound made by characters talking to eachother. Also in this clip from 4:00 - 4:10 there is an example of an audio bridge.  This is where the sound either diegetic or non-diegetic (this example be non-diegetic) continues across one or more cuts/ transitions. This example is where the soundtrack continues over a montage of different clips. 

Sound – Hunger clip 9

Activity 1

In this activity we have been told to write down all of the sounds we can hear in it. This is the list of sounds that I found:
Birds
Breathing
Footsteps
Keys dangling
Chairs scraping
Singing on the bus
Each of these sounds break the silence of the clip. They create a very tense atmosphere as the viewer doesn’t know what sound is going to happen next and every sound is very amplified by the concrete walls and floors making a very cold feeling scene.

Activity 2

When there is only silence the camera is usually focused on the dying man. The story is of a man who is on hunger strike and in this clip we can see his condition deteriorating to the point where he dies. The silence in this scene means that you focus on the dying man which can create emotion for the viewer and makes you feel quite uncomfortable and awkward.

Activity 4

The only piece of music we hear in the clip is towards the end when the man has his flashback. It isn’t really music. It is just a harsh noise of a horn being blown. It was a very mournful noise and makes the viewer feel uncomfortable. I feel that this horn could be related to the man’s current physical state. The man dies shortly after this noise so I feel this could be a signal to the end of his life.

Skins Analysis

Representation of age

On the first episode of the first series of skins we are introduced to all of the characters in the first 15-20 minutes of the programme. I am concentrating on the first 5 minutes of the episode where we are introduced to Tony, Effy, Dad and the Mum.

The intro/ theme tune of skins is not the typical sort of tune that you would expect to be used to attract a teenage audience. It is fast paced but is not a song it is just a backing tune.  This theme tune works and suits the programme because it is upbeat and different just like the programme.

We are introduced to Tony first with a Birdseye view of him in the middle of his bed. It is much more neat than you would ever expect anyones bed to be. This theme of neat and cleanliness carrys on throughout the scene when you see him looking through his drawers and his clothes are folded perfectly. This shows how he is not the normal stereotypically messy teenager. Also in the scene where we are introduced to Tony we see a montage of him exercising. This shows that he has a morning routine. This added to the neatness of his room shows that he is very specific in the way he wants things to look, whether it is his body or his room. Tonys cleanliness and routine is the opposite of the teenage stereotype but then in clips such as where he is looking at his naked neighbour you can see that he is still the typical teenager.

We are then introduced to effy. She is walking down the road wearing what a typical stereotypical rebellious teenage girl would be wearing. A short skirt and lots of makeup. She looks rough as if she has been out all night and looks about 16-17 years old. She and her brother have worked out a way for her to get inside without her parents seeing her this way as she obviously was not allowed out that night. She gets changed into her school uniform and takes off her make up. When Tony goes downstairs his mum said to him that effy hadn’t slept very well which shows that effy is a deceptive character and knows how to deceive her parents well. When she is at the table she looks a lot younger and innocent. You wouldn’t know that she was the same girl as what you saw just a few minutes earlier. She fits the stereotype of a typical teenage girl. This is because she is deceptive to her parents and very sneaky. She is very grown up for her age just like the typical teenage girl.

The first time we are introduced to the dad he charges into Tonys room shouting and swearing. Straight away we can tell that he is an angry man, but he is also a weak man. I feel that he is weak because of the way he reacts to Tony when Tony does something against him. He shouts and curses which  makes Tony look like the more controlling character. You can tell no one in the household takes him seriously when he comes downstairs after being locked out of the bathroom and he gets no sympathy off of any of his family. He would stereo typically be the working class dad who is very bold and loud, yet his whole family don’t take him seriously. The way he walks around the house with trousers that are too small for him and unclean is also showing the stereotypical  Dad.

We are lastly introduced to the mum. She is very naive and gentle. This is stereotypical of a mum to be this way. The way she is looking after effy in the morning, not realising she had been out all night is the way a mum would act as she is innocent in thinking that her daughter was in trying to sleep.

Shots and angles - Mid shot

I could use this to show the character glances at something

Shots and Angles - Close up

This is a clip taken from the upcoming sequel, Taken 2. This is a close up shot of the leader of the rival gang. We as the viewer can tell that he is the leader because he is the man stod in the middle. The angle of which this is filmed also support this because when the close up is on him, the camera is low down meaning that we are looking up to this character showing he is the man in power at this point. This is a clip taken from the film SuperBad. There are two close up shots in this clip. The first is a shot of 'Mclovin' the camera is looking down on him because he is scared and belittled by the police officer. The camera then switches to the Police officers face but it looking up at him slightly. This shows that he is the man in power. Using camera angles in this way mean that as the viewer you can tell who is in the power in this scene.

Shots and Angles - Extra long shot

This is a clip from the upcoming new James Bond film, Skyfall. This extra long shot sets the scene for what happens in the next action sequence. A shot like this helps to build atmosphere because of where it is set. And gives you an idea of the scale of the set This clip is from the new seuquel Taken 2. This longshot sets the scene where the bad gang are all collected together, it makes the area look barren and poor making thing gang look like a poor group of people.

American Beauty

American Beauty

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Case Study - Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The gaze

Eva Mendes Calvin Klein advert

The advert is focused on the spectators gaze. This is becase of the way she is not looking into the camera and her body position. She's not looking at into the camera suggesting she is distracted from the viewer. The way she is stood shows off her legs and is suggestive towards the male viewer.

The advert would appeal the male audience but the product is targeted towards a female audience. The reson they have done this is because her body could inspire women to look like that and to get that look the viewer may feel they have to but the CK product. The way she has her leg on the left picture drwas attention to the product. A man might buy this product for his wife/ Girlfriend because he may feel it makes her more attractive to him because of the image he has seen in the advert.

The colour scheme is very simple so that you're not distracted by any colour or other images. This means you as the viewer are totally concentrated the the woman and the product. The image on the left is much larger and closer in that the image on the right. This draws the viewers attention to the image on the left. They have done it this way because the product is much clearer on the left image so the viewer concentrates a lot more on the image displaying product. Having two images on this advert means that they are promoting two products at the same time.

The gaze

Freddie Ljungberg Calvin Klein advert

He is using direct address to break down the fourth wall to create a relatiopnship with anyone who looks at this advert. For the female viewer they would be able to pick up the intense, suggestive look he is giving towards us. This advert would appeal to women more than men because of the images used. Men would see his body as a look that they would want to achieve so that is what would make them buy the product he is advertising. Women may also buy this product for their boyfriend/ husband because in their eyes it may make thier partner look more attractive like the man in the advert because of what they have seen in this image. 

He is holding the bar above to show off his muscles to make women want to see the advert. His hand holding the boxers draws attention to the product.

I feel that they have used the colour red as a background because red is the colour of love and passion, but is also a colour for anger and strength. This attributes of a man are all things that would attract the female audience.

The gaze - Forms of the gaze

·         The spectators gazeThe viewer (us) looking at the object (actor/ actress) in a film

·         The intra-diegetic gazePeople looking at each other in a text

·         The look of the cameraWorks best in a scene where a character is on their own. The camera will, for example look up and down a character or focus on a particular body part.

·         The direct address (or extra-diegetic) to the viewer
The actor looks at us. It’s called breaking the fourth wall.
What it does- Creates a relationship between us and them. It tells us it (the film) isn’t real.

Representation - Woman

She looks like an old lady who is a hoarder of different items. She wears a mix of clothes from different eras of fasion which makes me think that the clothes she has collected as she has grown up, she stills wears it as she is one of them old ladies who feel an item shouldn't be wasted. I feel that she could be quite poor and doesn't have a strong family connection.

Representation - Man 1

He looks like he has been brought up in a rich environment with a good education. I felt this because of his smart dress. His hair is well groomed which suggests he cares about his looks. His facial expression looks like he is looking down on someone which could be due to his rich up-coming. He looks like a dishonest man who would lie and cheat to benefit himself.

Representation - Man 2

Looking at the image of this man, I feel that he is unclean. He is wearing clashing clothes which could mean that he can't afford a proper outfit. His trousers look like they have been repaired which suggests that he has a little amount of money. He is not well groomed. He has a beard and is wearing his hat down low which makes me think that he is ashamed of what he looks like.

The British Film Industry

America produce 75% of the UK's Box Office Films
The British movie industry doesn't have an oligopoly of large companies is has a selection of smaller independant companies.

• Big Talk: Produced films such as Paul, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
  Paul was a co-production with a larger company providing a larger budget for the film.
• Working Title Films: Produced films such as About a Boy, Love Actually and Notting Hill.
• Film 4: Is a subsidary arm of channel 4.
  Produced films such as This is England and Trainspotting.
• BBC Films: Is a subsidary arm of the BBC. The BBC is funded by the TV Licence.
  Produced films such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
• The UK Film Council - Lottery Funding: Provide film producers with funding to help smaller producers be able to create their movies in return for a taking in the return on the movie to generate a profit.
  Produced films such as The Kings Speech, The Woman in Black and Kidulthood.

The American Film Industry

90% of all American Block Busters are made by the 6 main studios.

• Columbia Pictures: Conglomerate - Sony Corporation (5th largest company)
  Other arms of conglomerate include Sony Computers, Sony music and Sony Publishing.
  With a company like this they can use product placement within their movies to help promote other arms of their company.
  Films they have produced include: Men in Black, The Social Network and 21 Jump Street.
• Paramount: Conglomerate - Viacom (4th largest company)
  Other arms of conglomerate include MTV, Nickelodeon and Dreamworks.
  Films they have produced include: Shrek, Mission Impossible and Paranormal Activity.
• 20th Century Fox: Conglomerate - News Corp (3rd largest company)
  Other arms of conglomerate include Sky TV, Fox Channel, The Sun and HarperColling publishing.
  Films they have produced include: Avatar and The A Team.
• Warner Brothers: Conglomerate - Time Warner (2nd largest company)
  Other arms of conglomerate include HBO and Warner music.
  Films they have produced include: Harry Potter and The Dark Knight.
• Walt Disney Pictures: Conglomerate - The Walt Disney Company (Biggest company)
  Other arms of conglomerate include Pixar and the Disney Channel.
  Films they have produced include: Toy Story, Narnia, National Treasure and Finding Nemo.
• Universal Pictures: Conglomerate - GE (2nd largest company in the World)
  Other arms of conglomerate include NBC, RC Records and Comcast.
  Films they have produced include: The Bourne Series, Ted and Kick-Ass.

Representation of Myself

I feel that I dress the way that I do because of my hobby and friends. I dress in plain coloured t-shirts (white or black) and for most of the time wear black skinny jeans. The reason for this style is because this is the way most BMX riders dress. It sounds stupid but as a practical point if you fall off on grass you don’t end up with grass stains! I wear t-shirts over any other type of top because they are more comfy and are easier to move in. I tend to wear shoes which are made for BMX or skating this is because of the stronger, heavier sole of the shoe so that they don’t wear down as fast. Apart from that I usually chose the brand of my shoes and t-shirts due to what my favourite riders wear or new products that I see in a magazine.

I have a messy hair style, I have this hair because I’m lazy and laid back and it doesn’t really take any time to style. I prefer the look of long hair with a beanie hat which is a reason I keep it this way. This is because I am almost never seen without wearing a beanie hat. I chose to do this because it is what some of my favourite BMX riders do and it is something that people know me for now.

About Me...

I study Media, Business, IT and DT. I chose to take media as a subject because I am interested in design, camera work and editing.

Whenever i'm not at school and the sun is out i'm riding my BMX bike with my mates at the local skatepark. We film, and make short film edits of what we do. I also ride a longboard every now and then!

I'm not into reading but I do like to have the new 'ridebmx' magazines.

Media Induction Work

CD artwork made from a random selection of an image, Title and Sub-heading