In today’s workshop we experimented with Photoshop for our up coming task. This was the first time i have used photoshop and i found it very interesting and enjoyable. It wasn’t as complex as i first thought and i found it quite easy to use. The above photo is what i created using overlays in images and text. I also learnt cloning and cutting out images from other pictures and importing them into mine. These new skills, will help me in the future when i deal with pictures and other photos.
We have been asked to look at an essay by Lev Manovich called “Understanding Hybid Media” and give our thoughts on it. Firstly I found the essay quite difficult to follow as he uses very heavy media language. Manovich’s main point in the essay was that media is changing in what he called the “The Invisible Revolution.” By this he is referring to media advances in graphics, photography, animation and 3D. The essay explains that in the early 90’s computer generated images started to come into to films, Tv and music videos and that it’s progression has been fast. I find this point is true, early graphics used in media were obvious to the public eye but as time goes on they’re getting better and better quality and detail it’s becoming harder to tell whats computer generated and real life.
When Jurassic Park was released in 1993 it was the first Hollywood blockbuster to use CGI (Computer Generated Images.) This was revolutionary at the time as the CGI dinosaurs (for then) looked completely real. Audiences around the world went to see the film for these groundbreaking effects. However compared with a new release like “AVATAR” the effects in “Jurassic Park” look incredibly dated and bland, but easily pleased audiences at the time but went out of date face. This is the point I got from Manovic’s essay, that the industry changes so quick.
Here’s a quick video of the CGI T-REX in Jurassic Park
Avatar trailer
Another point of the eassy I found interesting and which i agreed on, was how Manovic explains the use of computer programs such as Adobe Aftereffects and Adobe photoshop allows the common person to add graphics into their pieces of media. With such programs it means there is an increase in graphics in all forms of media and as these programs improve as such will the graphics.
Overall i found it a difficult essay to read, and I hope I have understood the intending meaning. I do agree with most of the points made, however I think some of them are obvious,
My group started filming our short film for the inner ring road project. So far it’s going quite slowly do to the weather and other work commitments. But we’ll be back out shooting on Friday if the weather is good.
In Monday’s lecture we looked at narrative and narrative theories. The two main theories we looked at were from Tzvetan Todorov, and Vladimir Propp. Todorov proposed a basic structure for all narratives. He stated that films and programmes begin with an equilibrium, a calm period. Then agents of disruption cause disequilibrium, a period of un-settlement and disquiet. This is then followed by a renewed state of peace and harmony for the protagonists and a new equilibrium brings the chaos to an end. The simplest form of narrative (sometimes referred to as ‘Classic’ or ‘Hollywood’ narrative). As Vladimir Propp studied Russian fairytales and discovered that in stories there were always 8 types of characters evident. These are: the hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, the false hero, the helper, the princess and her father. This is easily relatable to films and programmes today.
For our task this week we had to choose 3 media objects and see how these theories apply to each object.
The first object i looked at was the Sun newspaper. Though not always truthful, this paper is meant to provide its audience with factual information. For this i didn’t think that Todorov’s theory applied to it, but in a way Propp’s one does. The sun newspaper is always making celebrities out to be either hero’s or villains, and sometimes report their stories in a fairy tale fashion.
The second media object i looked at was easy to put these two theories to it. It was the film “Tombstone.” At the beginning of the film the Earps are arriving in a new town to settle down. All is good and this is calm period. The the cowboy gang disrupt the Earps and cause trouble. Then there’s a mini war between the Earps and the cowboys, which is the period of un-settlement, and at the end the good Earps over come the cowboy’s as equilibrium returns. So yeah, this film does follow Todorov’s theory. Propp’s theory of characters fit into “Tombstone” also. Theres the Hero (Wyatt Earp), the villan (Johnny Ringo and the cowboys) the helper (Doc Holiday and other Earp brothers) the father (Wyatt Earp acts the father figure)
The third object i have chosen is “Harry Hill’s TV Burp.” Like “The Sun” newspaper it has short stories about celebrities, but doesnt really follow either theory.
So from this, i find that Todorov’s and Propp’s theories apply mostly to fiction media objects. They can apply to some true life stories but not all, as in life not everything finds equilibrium in the end or even begins with it, and in reality there isn’t always the characters from Propp’s theory.
This weekend i edited the footage of my bands (King Hermit) trip to New York city. It was edited as a montage video but could be classed as a music video. Here it is anyway:
This week i have been looking at vulnerable audiences and how the media effects them. The media can be used to control audiences with things such as propaganda, but also by adverts or messages in films and Tv programs. Adverts will give off the message that the audience will want the product to hopefully influence them to go out and by it. There is a theory about this called the hypodermic needle.
“The hypodermic needle model (also known as the hypodermic-syringe model) is a model of communications also referred to as the “magic bullet” perspective, or the transmission-belt model. Essentially, this model holds that an intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver. The model is rooted in 1930s behaviorism created by the Frankfurt School in Germany and is considered by many to be obsolete today.” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypodermic_needle_model
For the task this week, i have been asked to pick an object from my cabinet of curiosities and see the effect it had/has on a vulnerable audience. I chose the film “JAWS”
When “Jaws” was released in 1975 it had an effect on an audience i believe like no other film. Firstly the film was hugely popular and is sometimes credited as the first summer blockbuster. However, it did strike fear into the audience that still lasts today. People already feared sharks but not on the scale as they do after seeing “Jaws.” It effected some people who since watching that film, they have a fear of going swimming in the sea.
The negative effect it had on society was that due to the new found fear of sharks, so grew hatred for them. People went out in the thousands to hunt and kill sharks (as characters do in “Jaws”). In fact shark experts say that around the late 70’s the shark population did dip due to these hunts. It was only recently with documentaries on sharks did the media show them in a more positive light. However even today if theres any shark related incident in the media, it always references “Jaws”
After the Khalid presentation, we were split into new groups for a new project, the inner ring road project. For this project we have to make a short four minute film that is some sort of road or journey movie. The film should start off at the other side of the Coventry ring road and end up in the Ellen Terry building.
Our group had a meeting on Friday, and decided to make a film about a friendly business man who receives a call from an anonymous caller who has kidnapped the man’s daughter. The caller requests that the man (who we named John) carry out tasks of murder to gain clues to where his daughter is. The final clue will lead him to Ellen Terry.
Today we pitched our idea to the class and got the feedback that we should make sure that we dont over complicate the plot as we only have four minutes to tell our story. With this on taken into account, we will soon start pre-production work on our film.
For my task this week, i have to put objects from my cabinet of curiosities into the groups that media companies use to target their audience. The groups are as followed:
A/Bs – Top management, bankers, lawyers, doctors and other professionals. Also Middle management, teachers, many ‘creatives’ eg graphic designers etc.
C1/C2s - Office supervisors, junior managers, nurses, specialist clerical staff etc. And Skilled workers, tradespersons (white collar)
D/Es - Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers (blue collar). And Unemployed, students, pensioners, casual workers
The Dark Side Of The Moon
I would class this Pink Floyd album as a D/E album. The theme of the album is having an everyday life with little money. In fact the track “Money” is about the control money can have on people and how there isn’t a lot of it for poorer people. When this album was released in 70’s, there were a lot of strikes going on, people’s attitude was changing from the peace-loving hippies of the 60’s to a revolutionary attitude. This album reflects this with its dark theme and lyrics. So on its original release this album would have appealed to the working class and the unemployed. Today however it is mostly brought by students, but their group is still D/E
Rubber Soul
This is the album that saw the first hint of change from the teeny bopper music, to the more psychedelic of Beatle music. However it was still aimed at the teens and pop genre therefore classing it under a D/E group. I’m sure different types of people from each group have brought the album, it is mostly students and casual workers that it is targeted to.
Fight Club
As the whole story of this film is the unemployed, working class and manual workers rising up to strike back at the higher classes and corporate companies, I would have also classed this film as a D/E group. However, the twist in this is that the lead character, the man responsible for the uprising is himself in the C1/C2 group. So it may actually target more that group because we see the story from the main character’s perspective.
Saving Private Ryan
I would say Saving Private Ryan could come under all groups. People from Doctors, Lawyers, nurses to the unemployed would watch this film. Maybe for different reasons, the higher groups could watch it as a historic story where as some in the lower groups could watch it as an action film.
Playstation 3
This is a tricky one because when the PS3 was released, its cost was much higher than it is now. It was considerably higher in price than its rival the Xbox360. Originally i would say that the PS3 was a C1/C2 group, maybe even a bit A/B group. However due to poor sales, the PS3 has dropped in price and began to appeal to more D/E groups as well as C1/C2 groups.
Looking at the objects i have categorized, most of them are in the D/E groups. One or two might push to the C groups, but mainly its D/E. This could suggest that this system works, as i am a student and fall into the target audience of D/E.
Today was the day that we introduced Khalid to the class. After a lecture on sound in films, my group did the final preparations before heading down to present Khalid. We ran though the script we has planned for the presentation, and also set up on Dave’s laptop the order Khalid will speak about his social network sites. Then with about 15 minutes before the workshop started, i got dressed up as Khalid and made my way down to the class.
Our group were the first group to do their presentation, and after an introduction by Dave, i (as Khalid) took the stage. Khalid is a shy, timid sort of fella so i acted nervous, with slight pauses between my speech. I also added a foreign accent which i hope didn’t sound like any other accent. During the presentation i shown the Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and WordPress blogs that the group have come up with during the last two weeks. On these pages there are groups Khalid has joined that have a common interest as himself, also pictures of his time in Coventry.
After the presentation we were given feedback on our work. A lot of the class said that they thought it was an original idea to bring the character to life, not only via social internet sites but to bring him into the room. Some people found my performance funny, which is what the group aimed for. Some of the criticisms made fair points too. Some said they would have liked to have seen more people from the group talk. Another person said they would have like to have seen some physical objects that relate to the stories Khalid was saying.
Over all it was a good presentation. If would improve it if i was to do it again by bringing more physical objects and maybe speak about Khalid’s background a bit more, but i enjoyed the project and are now looking forward to the new one.
Hi James
Well well well, back at uni again eh? Who would have thought it? You did a lot to get here kiddo so don’t muck it up. So what am i expecting out of you? Well not too much, i know you’re a bit of a dreamer but if you concentrate and crack on i recon you’ll do fine. You already had some media background (mostly film and radio) and i hope you will expand on that by learning new skills and techniques. I know you were very narrow minded last time you tried uni, so i expect you to expand and be willing to try new things. Who know’s you might find something you love doing. Attendance is something else to concentrate on. Try not missing a lecture if it’s possible because you’ll find catching up with work more stressful than doing it in the first place. But most of all, try doing everything to the best of your ability because you know you have talent so use it. I’m sure if you try hard and go in with an open mind you’ll pass with flying colours.
Laters Gaters
Jimatay
p.s One thing i forgot, for GOD’S SAKE enjoy it! 
Asiagomedia Blog Tim March Blog
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