News Task

1.Explain you role/responsibility within the team and the task. What were you required to do?

As part of the editorial team, my role was within the home page of the Mirror Online. I had to find pictures, headlines and section links for two news stories; Meghan Markle's american wedding theme and the freak weather in the UK. I also needed to provide the skin that went on the background of the webpage.

2. For one media form, describe the codes and conventions you chose to follow and explain their intended impact.

For the article titles, I tried to keep in the style of the mirror online by using puns and punchy lines such as "The american dream wedding" and "ice attacks". The usual attempt to be dramatic and add either scandal or humor to an article was what I tried to convey.

3.Explain how your choices reflect the real newspapers values and target audience

My choice of skin was a coca cola advert, displaying their newest products CokeZero and CokeLife. I chose this because as a mainstream newspaper, the ad would appeal to their middle age demographic (the chief shoppers in the household) and also the younger generations who would be more likely to consume fizzy drinks. The CDE readership also means that the readers would likely have less disposable income, and so would be more responsive to a cheap product.

4.Explain how your team adapted the news across the three different media forms an the reasons behind your decisions.

We knew that online would have minimal text, as it usually requires you to click on the article to read it. We knew for the print version there would be more copy on the front page, so tried to include that. For the social media, the emphasis for Instagram is more on the image itself, as its audience is more aesthetically focused

5. In hindsight, s there anything about your teams outcomes that you would adapt or improve?

I think overall as a team we worked really well and didn't have any problems communicating. Personally, in the online section i think we should've been more careful with measurements of pictures when printing out as we had some blank space around some of the writing which looked unprofessional. I also think we needed to be more aware of the colour scheme as a whole rather than our individual sections, keeping in my the red masthead and left wing (red) outlook and coordinating the colours more with that.

Minecraft Pocket Edition Gameplay video for Youtube

1. How I did it

I filmed myself on the ipad camera while watching the video I used, in order to coordinate my speech with the gameplay. I then inserted this into the top right hand corner as most of these videos do. I watched some videos on youtube to prep for how I was going to speak and describe the game. Most of the videos I watched are very casual and often funny, appealing not only to people that need to see how the game is played but also making it interesting.

2. How my video might attract the attention of Mojang/Minecraft and how it might influence them.

Firstly, being a female gamer, a minority of the Minecraft community, my video might be interesting to the company. I also tried to make my video fun and relate it to my own tastes, like focusing more on how my house would look and be arranged. I would hope Minecraft might also be interested in my style of gameplay, going back to basics with no mods, and also thinking about using these kinds of videos at beginner levels as well as professional.

Billboard Cover Shoot

Summarise the music celebrity you have created. Include name, music genre, personality and how they are being used to comment on contemporary celebrity.

The music celebrity I have created is called Pilly Talm
er, she is a new rising star who is taking the charts by storm. Her music genre is pop/rock and her music takes inspiration from 70’s stars like Madonna and Blondie, this is also reflected in her image, style and personality. In her Billboard cover, she is used to comment on the traditional styles of music and how the idea of celebrity has been reimagined for a modern audience and held in esteem similar to a queen or aristocrat history.

Evaluate how you have constructed the representation of your celebrity through your cover image and cover headline/text (denotation/connotation of text and image).

I have used a representation of old and new through the clothing and accessories. I used a headpiece similar to Victoriana headdresses that gives an idea of formality and solemnity. I further emphasised this by keeping the exposure high on the camera to give my skin the pale and bright quality often seen in Renaissance/Victorian paintings. For my pose I kept my face neutral and my back stiff to give the impression of regality. I wore costume jewellery, (earrings, bracelets etc.). I then contrasted this with the new by wearing a branded Adidas top, giving the idea of current, sporty casual style in contrast to the rest of the image.

Analyse how far you have used and/or challenged stereotypes of gender/race/age/sexuality in your cover.

I think I’ve challenged stereotypes surrounding age a lot in my cover. Most people would expect a new and young star to appear full of energy or sexualised on a cover. I tried to use the concept of old and new to say something about how maturity and elegance shouldn’t just be reserved for older musicians. Rather than the usual stereotypes of rebelliousness or naivety, I really wanted to emphasise the fact that age has no bearing on talent.

Reflect on the production/editing process. Are you pleased with the end result?

I think the editing process went smoothly as I took precautions in the actual shoot, (such as making sure there were no wisps of hair). Overall, I’m pleased with the end result as I think it conveyed my theme and music artist clearly and looks realistic as an overall magazine cover. I think the use of colour and slogan would certainly grab attention on a magazine stand.

Identify what is successful about your shot? What would you have done differently in hindsight?

In hindsight, I think I rushed the planning process, thinking too much about the kind of star and image I wanted to portray rather than how I was actually going to o it. Instead of trying to show a contrast between old and new, I think I should’ve gone the whole way with the Victoriana style theme, adding my outfit and other props to it. The “new” could have come really from the fact I am clearly a young star and it is obviously  a modern cover – maybe by trying to be more subtle I would’ve made a larger impact. I also would have like to play around with colour schemes as overall mine didn’t all match up. I would have preferred a red/gold/black scheme that would fit with the theme better than the pinks/whites/purples I ended up with.

Reflections on shots

We chose the genre of mystery for our TV drama still. This genre lends itself fairly easily to stills as, being about mystery, the point is not to signify too much. The use of light mainly gives the idea of the genre. Oliver’s face is only half in direct light, half in shadow. He stands in the dark part of the shot which contrasts with the lighter, white pillar next to him. He is looking out of shot at something the audience can’t see, which leads us to ask questions. The positioning of his hands and the way he’s standing behind the pillar and looking round shows he’s hiding and looking at something/someone without wanting to be seen.

To achieve the affect we placed our camera low down on the tripod and tilted it upwards. We used the paglight to illuminate from the bottom right hand corner to create a shadow around his hand and to enable the left half of his face to be shielded from view. This also illuminated the white pillar more. We positioned him in the 3^rd fraction of the shot in order to further show he is hiding and trying to remain unseen, as oppose to placing him in plain view in the centre. We made his facial expression serious to show it was a solemn drama rather than smiling if it had been comedic or happy.

With the shot, we were attempting to communicate the idea of watching/ someone being watched. The subject of our mystery TV show could be detective based as he seems to be snooping around or even about a stalker/murderer. We wanted to make our shot daunting without becoming a horror-type genre.

I think our shot is successful as it clearly communicates the genre were we attempting using only subtle hints like shadow, positioning and facial expression to do so. Other myster y tv dramas like Twin Peaks and Midsomer murders feature similar stills like characters looking into the distant from the edges of the frame, so an audience would be able to relate our still to these.

In hindsight, we could have included another character in the foreground who is the person being watched as I think this would have been clearer in communicating the mystery genre. I would also like to have included some more costume as I think it is a clear indicator of the kind of TV drama you are making.

Video Games & Me

At the current point, I play no games whatsoever. I'm not entirely sure why this is but I used to play a lot more in the past. At a younger age, around 7/8 I had a Tamagochti and regularly played on that, I also played many online mini games at home based around TV shows on Disney Channel and CBBC. At around 11/12 I had a PlayStation 2 which I used with a microphone attachment with friends or my sister to play two player singing based games like Singstar or American Idol. I continued to largely play games at home and upgraded to a Wii, branching out into more action/adventure games like Mario Kart and Wii sports resort. Often at friends houses, these same games would be in use regularly. I also played Just Dance very regularly and I think the period between the ages of 11-14 was the height of my gaming use. I also had a Nintendo DS and would play role playing games like cooking mama, ImagineDoctor and ImagingTeacher. With my increased use of portable modes of game playing like DS, my phone an iPad, I think the social aspect I used to have largely disappeared different reason for gaming. Rather than playing as a social activity, I began playing more as a boredom buster. As I got into year 10 and 11, I played on the train to school on my iPhone, games like temple run, candy crush and solitaire. These games were played more addictively than when I was younger and I got into the habit of playing these at the same times everyday. Towards the middle of year 11, GCSE revision put a stop to most of the iPhone games I would play as I lacked the time to try and try to complete one level and since then I haven't got back into the habit again.

Minecraft Mission

I have never played Minecraft before until today and this is my first attempt at building a house. It seems like something which, with a bit of practice, could become really challenging and engrossing. Using the iPad pocket edition means you can play this game in many different locations due to its portability. So far, it seems pretty solitary as I am the only player and this makes the game quite accessible to all times of day and lack of people needed to play.

My Breakfast Show Segment

1. Did you fulfill all the content requirements; both in terms of including all the correct features as well as the actual choices made?

We fulfilled all the criteria, the jingles, celebrity gamble feature, tracks, news report and celebrity guest promo. In doing these we aimed to add our own personal flare, as the radio 1 dj's do and also make choices similar to the ones the breakfast show would chose - particularly in terms of music, jokes and news features.

2. Have you nailed the conventions and style of Nick Grimshaw and the Radio1 Breakfast Show?

In terms of chat, we tried to create the light hearted, friendly style chat of the breakfast show. We kept our tones chirpy and upbeat and used direct address to involve the audience and create a more personal feel. For music, we used tracks that are currently in the charts and recently released to fit in with the aim for youth aimed, new and emerging music. We also finished our show with a track from Mabel, an emerging UK artist, to help achieve the aim of showcasing British talent that the show has. In celebrity gamble, we made small jokes at the expense of the celebrities keeping them mildly offensive and fun like Nick Grimshaw does. We chose news stories and slang that we thought would appeal to the target 15-29 year old audience. Also, we included klaxon noises that Nick Grimshaw often uses in the show and time checks that add to the "wake up" feel of the programme. We kept most of the show centred on the music, as they aim to do, discussing charts and artist news during the show.

3. How well did you manage running order/timings?
In a time limit of three minutes, our breakfast show ended up 2mins 54seconds, which overall we were pleased with as we managed this without any awkward pauses which would've increased our time otherwise. In terms of running order, all the transitions were smooth and we took care to have all the tracks we were playing lined up and ready to go. The use of the jingles helped to structure and break up the different segments whilst allowing us to have a break between speaking and think about what we would say next. The running order fit with the template we were given and we tried to stick to the allotted time for each segment.

Music Video Analysis

Dua Lipa - New Rules

Beauty Shot 

the conventional technique found in generally female music videos opens "New Rules" with Dua Lipa sporting a full face of makeup and pouting as the camera zooms in and out.

Combination of Audio/Visual

The lyrics here are "Don't pick up the phone", the visual illustrates this point obviously. This is done a few times in the video, featuring the same movement sequence but in different outfits for each chorus, presumably to reinforce the idea of new rules via repetition.

Varied and Fast changing mise en scene

Here, Dua Lipa opens curtains and is transported from an apartment to a poolside, changing outfits in record time. The suspension of disbelief at the immediate and impossible changes are a key feature of music videos.

Extreme Contrasts in camera shots/ angles

The interesting camera pan from upside down to the right way up seems to imply three layers to the pool and ground and is another unusual way of rapidly changing the setting to allow outfit change.

Cutting to the beat

Here, each girl turns her head to a beat of the song.The use of different coloured dressing gowns also adds to the aesthetic appeal and order created in the shot.

Continuity Video

1. Explain the story of your video

We began with Abbie walking down one corridor while reading her folder and not looking where she was going. At the same time Ollie was walking down another corridor looking down at his phone. As they rounded the same corner they bumped into each other and crashed into each other. Ollie's phone fell to the floor and broke into pieces. He picked it up and then angrily shouted at Abby.

2.How did you attempt to create 'narrative flow' (continuity)?

Before we started filming we created a story board of the six shots we wanted so we could easily work out the postioning of the next shot and create a flow in the story.
We used an establishing shot of Abbie and then a reverse tracking shot of Ollie to make it clear they were both walking along corridors of the same setting.
The audience could preempt the crash as the motivation was clear (both of them were looking downwards,distracted) and the clear movement forward between shots created a match on action effect.
To create continuity we watched back over every shot of the crash and repeated the following shots a few times to ensure it flowed and looked realistic. We made sure positioning was the same in each shot so the movement looked continuous.
Oli had his hood up at the beginning and we made sure it was up in every shot so as to look realistic.

3.Did you achieve full continuity?If not, why not?

I think we achieved good continuity with the crash as we cut between the mastershot and the following mid shot of the crash smoothly. We followed the 180 and 30 degree rules so avoided losing continuity with change of viewpoint or jump shots.We could have achieved slightly more continuity in the shot with the phone on the floor, maybe some movement of feet or some dialogue to illustrate Ollie's annoyance could've helped add some more continuity.

4. In hindsight, what would you do differently to improve the narrative flow of your video and tell your story more effectively?

The first shot is very central, compared to Ollie's shot where we clearly see him moving from right to left. We should have filmed at a different angle so it would be clear that Abbie was travelling from the left to right, in order for an audience to preempt a crash.

Acting wise - the acting could have been better if Abbie had had a more convincing reaction to the crash and Ollie a more angry reaction to his broken phone

Trailer Analysis : Hostiles

Hostiles

Came out on the 5^th of Sept 2017

Analyse Audience Appeal

·         No one is visible in the first couple of shots and we only hear a voiceover, builds anticipation

·         Voiceover is low, husky and with a serious tone, you can barely make out what they’re saying which adds mystery and drama

·         Use of little dialogue grabs attention as audience is made to analyse what they’re being shown themselves

·         Talk of God “being blind to what’s been going on” suggest terrible things happening without saying explicitly what

·         Very little plot is given away which leaves plenty of enigmas and makes you want to find out

·         Use of fade in and out of black to separate scenes creates drama and allows smooth transition

·         There is a period of 10 seconds over which quick snapshots of knives, guns, fire, fighting and a hanging body are seen –the use of timing means not much I given away but the audience wants to know how, why and who is doing these things

Genre signifiers

·         First couple of shots are silent and establish setting

·         Saloons, American flag, Wagons and porches – leads us to assume we are in the Wild West

·         Female period dress signifies it’s not a modern film

·         When we first see a character they’re wearing a cowboy hat and later men on horseback, Native Americans and use of western style action shots (reaching into holster)

·         A Native American chief is seen in traditional dress which alludes to the classic “Cowboys and Indians” theme of the genre

Character & Representation

·         We see the first two characters from behind so gives enigma codes

·         Mostly male characters

·         Main character is Christian Bale as he is given the most screen time in the trailer, seconded by Rosamund Pike

·         His character is represented as masculine and slightly moral due to his “belief in god” in a lawless place which adds depth and makes his character interesting

·         Christian Bale wears a blue velvet uniform so could be a military man

·         Rosamund Pike seemingly plays damsel as we see two close ups of her looking terrified

Branding

·         “From the director of Black Mass, Out of the furnace and Crazy heart – if you’ve seen any of these films it adds incentive to see this one

·         Use of 3 credits emphasise this directors success as they’ve made many films

·         Rosamund Pike and Christian Bale are both award winning famous actors so giving them screen time gives fans an incentive to see them – these are also not roles they typically play ·         Coming Soon flashes at end to add expectation