Media Audiences:
What techniques does the opening sequence use to appeal to a weekday mainstream audience?
At the start of this sequence there is slow eerie music combined with a slow motion effect. This makes the audience have the feeling that something big/dramatic will stop this eerie peace. This creates an enigma code as it leaves the audience wondering what the disturbance to this suburban town might be. Although later in the sequence we realise that it may be the couple in the car who create this disturbance, further enigma codes are created through their use of foreign language, the reason why the couple want to wreck a seemingly ordinary couple and how the couple in the cars world was destroyed.
Furthermore, binary oppositions are used to draw in the audience to make them continue watching more. The serious, unerving couple inside the car contrast with the happy, carefree couple inside the house. This makes the audience fully aware of who is likely to be the main antagonists of the show. However the audience can also infer from the dialect between the two characters that they cannot be simply defined as "bad" and that perhaps there are deeper reasons for why the couple are going to do whatever there demeanors seem to suggest they are about to do.
What does this text tell us about the media institutions involved?
The opening sequence of this clip shows us the BBC logo. A government funded TV channel whose goals are to educate, inform and entertain. Through the use of music and drama we can infer that this text may be slightly more towards the entertainment part of the BBC's goals. Although this may be the case it is beileved that most BBC shows offer us some form of way to educate and inform us an example from another show could be "Mock The Week" which gives us a humouros detail of the weeks events by a panel of comedians. Spooks is a well known show that produces episodes centred around serious matter such as terrorism, rape etc so although it is an entertaining show other elemts of the BBC's policy can be put into the show because of this some may view it as slightly higher brow TV.
Media Forms: How does the extract follow the codes and convention of an opening sequence?
Many conventions of modern day dramas are shown within this extract of spooks. For instance, thee use of enigma codes thorughout the opening scenes keep the audience wanting to watch it for longer periods of time and many dramas such as The wire, CSI, Doctor Who etc use this as a means of 'hooking' the audience into the programme. Showing the BBC logo is also common in most BBC dramas and is most famously done in the programme life on mars in which they swap the bbc logo for an older version of it in order to illustrate that the show is set in the 70s ( the show was made in 2005.
By cutting at the end of a dramatic conversation also leaves the major enigma code for this episode and is done in most programmes in orger to generate further interest in other enigma codes. We also have numerous action codes such as the fcat that the couple in the car seem to have high tech equipment when spying on the couple in the house. This makes the audience aware that this isnt an ordinary couple and makes them want to carry on watching the show.
Media Representation: How are people and places represented in this opening sequence?
As i have mentioned before there is a clear binary oppoistion between the two couples of the opening extract. The couple in the car are more serious and the dialect suggests they be sinister although the girls remorseful tone suggest they may not be enitrely evil/bad we can suggest them to be the main antagonists.
whilst the couple inside the house are shown to be happy and carefree their seems to be a lack of focus on them to suggest they could be protaginists. Instead they are viewed as the victims and perhaps even the disequillibrium for our true heroes/protaginists to overcome.
The setting of the scene is in a surburban town presumably in the city of London although the surburbs are traditionally seen as a happy, safe place this time it is seen as having an underlying evil. This is hown best in the music and the slow motion start. Although the direct denotation of a girl playing is pleasant when it is added towards the sinister music and slow motion, close up camera shots it makes it seem a lot more sinister.
Tuesday 21 April 2009
Friday 6 February 2009
Black Hole Sun-Soundgarden
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiSkyEyBczU
Analysing music video
The music video for black hole sun is very surreal and this is parallel to the music of the song. It features people in a suburban town with distorted images surrounding them.
The most striking image of the music video is when the housewife’s face stretches out from a close up angle. This showcases perfectly the surreal aspect of the music video.
Another interesting image is that of the hurricane. This scene is very dramatic and features many of the characters destruction. You could infer that this is parallel to the song’s lyrics
“Black hole sun wont you come wash away the rain”
All in all the music video for black hole sun is a successful portrayal of the song. Its surrealistic video is memorable and orginal.
Analysing music video
The music video for black hole sun is very surreal and this is parallel to the music of the song. It features people in a suburban town with distorted images surrounding them.
The most striking image of the music video is when the housewife’s face stretches out from a close up angle. This showcases perfectly the surreal aspect of the music video.
Another interesting image is that of the hurricane. This scene is very dramatic and features many of the characters destruction. You could infer that this is parallel to the song’s lyrics
“Black hole sun wont you come wash away the rain”
All in all the music video for black hole sun is a successful portrayal of the song. Its surrealistic video is memorable and orginal.
Tuesday 27 January 2009
superbad clip
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kxk0862ozC4
This is my favourite scene from the high school teen comedy Superbad. The scene depicts it humour from the goofiness of the characters seth and evan. It relies heavily on sexual humour and is fairly slpastick.
This is my favourite scene from the high school teen comedy Superbad. The scene depicts it humour from the goofiness of the characters seth and evan. It relies heavily on sexual humour and is fairly slpastick.
Bullet Boy
Lighting:
The film trailer generally has low key lighting this connotes the dark subject matter in the film such as violence. However there are seen when high key light are shown such as when he is with his girlfriend. This shows that the character may not be as dark as his surroundings seem to suggest. It offers us more empathy for what he is going through i.e. violence
Props:
Due to the clothing of the characters and the use of guns we can suggest that the film is going to be about crime specifically that amongst young black males. The way the characters interact with these props in the trailer also suggest to us that these characters are not really bad but are however a product of there environment (more in which will be explored in settings)
Narrative/Characters:
The film trailer shows that the films narrative will be based primarily on young adolescents of black descent in Britain. The narrative shows violence and the general stereotype of young black males in Britain. However by having one of the protagonists seen to be in love (or in a relationship) changes the audience view on what the film is about. This is a film not criticising these people but trying to understand them
Setting:
The setting of the film seems to be in a deprived area of London (as shown at the start of the movie when there are flats/poor housing conditions) this setting shows us that the surroundings of these individuals and the conditions that they live in may have a connection to who they are as people. Comparing the setting of bullet boy to another movie using adolescents such as Clueless or Superbad shows us generally what to expect from the movie for example the teenagers in clueless live in big suburban houses and the characters are more superficial, the teenagers in Superbad live in a middle class suburb in America and they seem more mischievous while the teenagers in Bullet Boy live in working class environment and are seen as more violent than these other films.
The film trailer generally has low key lighting this connotes the dark subject matter in the film such as violence. However there are seen when high key light are shown such as when he is with his girlfriend. This shows that the character may not be as dark as his surroundings seem to suggest. It offers us more empathy for what he is going through i.e. violence
Props:
Due to the clothing of the characters and the use of guns we can suggest that the film is going to be about crime specifically that amongst young black males. The way the characters interact with these props in the trailer also suggest to us that these characters are not really bad but are however a product of there environment (more in which will be explored in settings)
Narrative/Characters:
The film trailer shows that the films narrative will be based primarily on young adolescents of black descent in Britain. The narrative shows violence and the general stereotype of young black males in Britain. However by having one of the protagonists seen to be in love (or in a relationship) changes the audience view on what the film is about. This is a film not criticising these people but trying to understand them
Setting:
The setting of the film seems to be in a deprived area of London (as shown at the start of the movie when there are flats/poor housing conditions) this setting shows us that the surroundings of these individuals and the conditions that they live in may have a connection to who they are as people. Comparing the setting of bullet boy to another movie using adolescents such as Clueless or Superbad shows us generally what to expect from the movie for example the teenagers in clueless live in big suburban houses and the characters are more superficial, the teenagers in Superbad live in a middle class suburb in America and they seem more mischievous while the teenagers in Bullet Boy live in working class environment and are seen as more violent than these other films.
Tuesday 2 December 2008
Analysis of Trailer
The following essay will look to analyse the film trailer ‘City Of Men’ paying close attention to representation & audience. City of Men is a foreign film set in Brazil, specifically Rio de Janeiroe, and is directed by the award winning directors/producers that made City of God.
The trailer to City of Men shows quite a violent representation of the movie. For instance, in the trailer there are a number of scenes were guns are used such as the ending clip. From this I can gather that the age range that the film wants its audience to be is over 18 (or at least a young adult).
In the trailer the scenes are set in the slums and feature young black men. By using ABC1 Classification system i would guess that the audience they are targeting are around the C2/D1 classification i would say this because of the setting and the actors that they have chosen (young ethnic people) are appealing to this audience this is because it gives the C2/D1 classification a sense of Personal identity which is when the audience feel sympathetic towards a character or feel that the character represents a bit of themselves also it gives the audience a sense of escapism when watching the film.
Although the film is catered towards the C2/D2 classification I can infer from the trailer that it is more targeted towards males. I know this because of the way the trailer represents woman:
• As sexual objects to satisfy the leading men’s needs
• Scared, while the men are shown being brave when gunfire is heard, the woman cower huddled down with children.
Also the name of the film is a massive indication of who the film is catered to. The connotation’s of the films title ‘City of Men’ is of danger & masculinity a place where the traditional or stereotypical roles of woman as carers & mothers are seen as weak.
Another market in which the film might target is the more niche market of foreign film fans. This audience will be more likely to watch the film in the western world despite the fact that some of the audience will not fit into the classifications i have stated above.
The representation of the young men in the film is that they are naturally good but there personalities have become distorted because of the crime and poverty they live around. I came to this conclusion based on the fact that the start the trailer shows the lead males as friends on a beach but by the end a stand off was occurring between both of them as to suggest that there feeling of brotherly love has now changed.
Despite the fact that the representation of characters is important I find it more relevant to talk about the representation of the place in which they live in. As i have already said i believe that the film wants to show these characters as naturally good and that it is the place in which they live in that is the real antagonist. By showing at the start a Bird view angle of the city it emphasises how poor & desolate the whole city is rather than just showing the poverty of specific characters. This is important because it gives us a more authentic image of how society/people work in the city as the connotation of poverty is a lack of education, Ghetto’s etc.
In Conclusion, I believe that this film trailer is targeted towards young males of the C2/D1 classification. I also have stated that the film may find popularity in foreign film lovers.
The trailer to City of Men shows quite a violent representation of the movie. For instance, in the trailer there are a number of scenes were guns are used such as the ending clip. From this I can gather that the age range that the film wants its audience to be is over 18 (or at least a young adult).
In the trailer the scenes are set in the slums and feature young black men. By using ABC1 Classification system i would guess that the audience they are targeting are around the C2/D1 classification i would say this because of the setting and the actors that they have chosen (young ethnic people) are appealing to this audience this is because it gives the C2/D1 classification a sense of Personal identity which is when the audience feel sympathetic towards a character or feel that the character represents a bit of themselves also it gives the audience a sense of escapism when watching the film.
Although the film is catered towards the C2/D2 classification I can infer from the trailer that it is more targeted towards males. I know this because of the way the trailer represents woman:
• As sexual objects to satisfy the leading men’s needs
• Scared, while the men are shown being brave when gunfire is heard, the woman cower huddled down with children.
Also the name of the film is a massive indication of who the film is catered to. The connotation’s of the films title ‘City of Men’ is of danger & masculinity a place where the traditional or stereotypical roles of woman as carers & mothers are seen as weak.
Another market in which the film might target is the more niche market of foreign film fans. This audience will be more likely to watch the film in the western world despite the fact that some of the audience will not fit into the classifications i have stated above.
The representation of the young men in the film is that they are naturally good but there personalities have become distorted because of the crime and poverty they live around. I came to this conclusion based on the fact that the start the trailer shows the lead males as friends on a beach but by the end a stand off was occurring between both of them as to suggest that there feeling of brotherly love has now changed.
Despite the fact that the representation of characters is important I find it more relevant to talk about the representation of the place in which they live in. As i have already said i believe that the film wants to show these characters as naturally good and that it is the place in which they live in that is the real antagonist. By showing at the start a Bird view angle of the city it emphasises how poor & desolate the whole city is rather than just showing the poverty of specific characters. This is important because it gives us a more authentic image of how society/people work in the city as the connotation of poverty is a lack of education, Ghetto’s etc.
In Conclusion, I believe that this film trailer is targeted towards young males of the C2/D1 classification. I also have stated that the film may find popularity in foreign film lovers.
Tuesday 25 November 2008
Analyse the Opening Sequence for Heroes
In this essay i will be analysing the first three minutes of the television programme Heroes I will be comparing it to other TV shows in the same genre as well.
The opening to heroes shows a solar eclipse of the Earth. This striking image had become synonymous with the show since it has been created. The reason this image remains so popular is because of its uniqueness compared to other TV shows with an opening title. Comparing the title sequence of Heroes to that of Smallville you can tell the distinct differences between them. In Smallville the title sequence is considerably longer, shows each of the main character & has theme music which is both contemporary and popular. However in Heroes the title sequence shows none of the main characters and doesn’t have a particular theme song, only having a strange eerie noise in the background. The differences in the title sequence of heroes to other contemporary TV dramas may indicate what audience Heroes is trying to reach. I believe that the audience that Heroes is trying to reach by having this eerie, more adult title sequence is that of C1 &B2 perhaps with aspiring C2’s this is because it is more serious, dark & controversial than other TV shows and this type of more intellectual viewing might be better for this type of audience.
Following off from the title sequence there is a voice over telling you the events of the previous episode. This is a very traditional aspect of TV dramas especially ones that are made in the United States. This could show that although Heroes is a new & contemporary television show it also has strong traditions with American culture & television. The voice over itself is of a very serious tone which is typical of American television. This is done to create a serious reflection of the events in the story so far.
The first shot is a bird’s eye view of the protagonist falling from a building. This is an enigma code in the sense that it makes the audience wonder why he is doing this. The fact that he is falling is a denotation however the connotations of him falling are that perhaps he cannot control his destiny or that he wants a change. The symbol of a man falling is a very powerful image as it has been used throughout times and even in dreams to show the frailty of mankind.
The image then cuts to the image of the protagonist (Peter Petrelli) lying in a hospital next to his brother, Nathan, this dramatic change in scenes gives the audience a feeling that peter was involved in this event but is now over it. This means that the previous scene was possibly the driving force behind the next scene. This makes the audience aware of what they’re watching in the show.
The opening to heroes shows a solar eclipse of the Earth. This striking image had become synonymous with the show since it has been created. The reason this image remains so popular is because of its uniqueness compared to other TV shows with an opening title. Comparing the title sequence of Heroes to that of Smallville you can tell the distinct differences between them. In Smallville the title sequence is considerably longer, shows each of the main character & has theme music which is both contemporary and popular. However in Heroes the title sequence shows none of the main characters and doesn’t have a particular theme song, only having a strange eerie noise in the background. The differences in the title sequence of heroes to other contemporary TV dramas may indicate what audience Heroes is trying to reach. I believe that the audience that Heroes is trying to reach by having this eerie, more adult title sequence is that of C1 &B2 perhaps with aspiring C2’s this is because it is more serious, dark & controversial than other TV shows and this type of more intellectual viewing might be better for this type of audience.
Following off from the title sequence there is a voice over telling you the events of the previous episode. This is a very traditional aspect of TV dramas especially ones that are made in the United States. This could show that although Heroes is a new & contemporary television show it also has strong traditions with American culture & television. The voice over itself is of a very serious tone which is typical of American television. This is done to create a serious reflection of the events in the story so far.
The first shot is a bird’s eye view of the protagonist falling from a building. This is an enigma code in the sense that it makes the audience wonder why he is doing this. The fact that he is falling is a denotation however the connotations of him falling are that perhaps he cannot control his destiny or that he wants a change. The symbol of a man falling is a very powerful image as it has been used throughout times and even in dreams to show the frailty of mankind.
The image then cuts to the image of the protagonist (Peter Petrelli) lying in a hospital next to his brother, Nathan, this dramatic change in scenes gives the audience a feeling that peter was involved in this event but is now over it. This means that the previous scene was possibly the driving force behind the next scene. This makes the audience aware of what they’re watching in the show.
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