The deadline for the completion of these two questions is Friday 8th March.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Here you get to discuss and show-off your use of
representation. You can either produce a DVD voiceover with script (see below) - or a more traditional essay style response. If you produce the essay response you should write up and present everything in word and then upload your document into Slideshare and then embed the slideshare document into your Media Blog.
Here's an example
essay response from a few years ago (I've removed the original images - you should illustrate this with screenshots of your film opening):
The opening
to our film is set in a family environment in the centre of London. We wanted
our characters to fit the stereotype of a warm, loving family with kids.
However, we deviated away from having a mother for the two daughters in our
film, and kept it a single parent family. I believe this showed the audience the
strong bond which can be formed between a father and a child when a mother is
not present, because normally the mother is considered the main caregiver.
Especially in this case, the two children are daughters who would normally
relate better towards their mother, but the absence of a mother makes their
relationship with their father stronger. This in turn makes the struggle for the
father to find his kidnapped daughter more passionate and dramatic. On the other
hand, one may view fathers as being naturally worse at caring for children than
mothers, and therefore when the daughter is kidnapped, the audience may view
this as the father being naïve or ignorant for leaving his two young children
vulnerably home alone.
We had to choose the actors
to play our characters very carefully, as we wanted to make sure that the right
representations were carried across to the audience. For example, for our two
young actresses, we had two completely different ideas to make them seem younger
and more vulnerable. The eldest daughter we tried to portray as being an angst
teenager who would be disobedient towards her father’s demands and subsequently
lead to the kidnapping of her younger sister. This look is similar to that
portrayed by Taylor Momsen in Gossip Girl. This also encourages people of
her age to come and view our film as they can relate to her actions at that age
in life.
Next, we decided to choose a
very young actress to play our youngest daughter so she could create this cute
child image; playing with her dolls, talking to her dolls, listening to
beautiful music while dressed up. This image which we wanted to be portrayed in
our film is the same as that by Drew Barrymore in E.T. and Abigail
Breslin in Signs.
Finally, in our planning we
had to decide on who would play our dad. We came up with the type of real actors
that would suit the role that we wanted to be played out and came to the
conclusion that someone like Jason Isaac would suit our role as being a caring
father but also have the potential to be brutal, strong and forceful at the same
time. This idea of the main man in the film being masculine and macho falls in
line with the hard lead for men in thriller films. Nicolas Cage in
Kick-Ass is a suitable example of the type of image we would like to be
represented in our film, especially as Cage also plays a father who has a
'dark' side as well.
For
cultural background and social status our family is within the bracket of
middle-class and British. They live in a big house in the centre of London and
later on in the film as the father’s past is revealed, we uncover a secret, spy
lifestyle which pays well for him. The absence of a mother adds to the “good
father” image which has been created in the opening to our film and is fast
becoming more popular in today’s society. The audience will naturally feel
sympathetic towards the father as he lost his wife to illness a few years before
the time our film was set. It also exemplifies his heroism at the end of the
film and therefore makes the ending more dramatic and interesting. I believe
verisimilitude is heightened in the opening of our film because of the mundane
nature and family environment of which it is set in. This will suit and interest
a lot of different audiences as many find it difficult to relate to things so
unrealistic or non-representative of the society we live in today.
Here's an example of a DVD voiceover answering this question:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzhjR8Em7t4&feature=player_embedded
And here's the film opening that Jordan is referring to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jc7GnmZAYvs
3. What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?
In this question you need to explain what kind of company would distribute your film. Here it would be useful to refer back to your work on the Distribution and the Film Industry completed last term.
You should produce a 2 minute scripted voiceover for a presentation that refers to similar film distribution and exhibition companies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cRNVyUMl310
Most of you will have created an ident to go with your production company. Consider from your research and planning what kind of company will distribute your film? Think about 'real world' companies that are similar to your invented one. Offer examples of the kinds of film they have released in recent years that target a similar audience to your film.
Then consider where your film might be shown. What kind of cinema might pick-up your film? You may ned to refer back to your work on exhibition for some details. Here's some ideas to get you thinking...
1. Multiplex
A North American concept, the first
UK cinema opening in
Milton
Keynes in 1985 owned by the American Multi-Cinema Corporation
(AMC). There are now a number of chains such as UGC, UCI,
Warner Village
and MGM. Most Odeon cinemas outside
London
also now have multiplex sites, although some are still 4-5 screen high street
sites.
The multiplex cinema tends to be a recent/new building situated on the edge
of a large conurbation or city and houses between eight to fifteen screens. The
US
distributors determined that cinemas should be located close to large shopping
centres, restaurants and other leisure pursuits (bowling, ice‑skating rinks
etc.) to attract as wide a potential audience as possible. Easy access and
parking for cars, an opportunity to combine a cinema visit with a shopping
spree and a meal out has changed the concept of cinema going and seems to have
been fundamental to the success of the multiplex. It has turned cinema going,
literally, into a 'family centred' activity.
The number of screens can range from 12-15, and in some
cases up to 25, such as Star City in Birmingham.
However, this `megaplex', which boasted shops, restaurants, a tattoo bar and
screens that were to be dedicated to art house and Bollywood fare, has proved
to be problematic. While there is a greater representation of Asian cinema than
usual for a multiplex, reflecting the local demographic, the commitment to art
house cinema appears to have fallen victim to the Hollywood
juggernaught. Multiplexes claim to offer a wide range of choice, but in
reality, across the country they will all play the same 8-10 core titles.
2. Multi-Screen Cinema (City Centre)
Slightly different to the large, out-of-town multiplex - the
multi-screen cinema is an upgrade of the old 1970s ‘flea-pits’.
Not only were these old cinemas renovated, but the old large
single auditorium cinemas with an audience capacity of fifteen hundred people,
were divided into three to eight screen cinemas. These became known as
multi-screen cinemas. The multi-screen cinemas echoed the multiplex notion of offering
a choice of films in a modern, comfortable environment. However, they attracted
a different type of audience from the multiplex due to their city centre
location. Very few can offer the large car parking facilities of the multiplex
but most are easily accessible by public transport and are convenient for those
working or shopping in the city centre.
3. Commercial Art House
A number of commercial cinemas across the country now mix
art house and multiplex programming, the most successful being the City Screen
chain. City Screen run the Curzon Soho Cinema in London and also a number of
sites across the country in towns such as York, Stratford Upon Avon, Cambridge
and Brighton where there is no other art house provision. Technical facilities
are usually excellent, and most sites have a bar and restaurant. As with
multiplexes, the financing of the City Screen circuit is complicated, based in London and New
York.
