Charlie Lewin
Q.1
A Describe and evaluate your skills development over the course of your
production work, from Foundation Portfolio to Advanced Portfolio.
In
relation to research / creative
From AS to A2 my skills have developed in
both areas of research and post-production, which have made my A2 Advanced
Portfolio more advanced. In my initial
stages of research my purpose was to establish our target audience for our
music video “One More Year”. I achieved this through a survey where I learnt our
target audience was primarily young adults from the ages of 16-24, with the
majority being male. I presented my target audience research on a YUDU and
posted it on my blog as a guide to how I was going to further improve my
research stage. Now aware that I was targeting young adults, I wanted to
improve my research skills from AS, where instead I rushed into
post-production, but instead learn more about the genre. I wanted “One More
Year” to mirror real media products from the Indie/ Genre band, so to achieve
this I looked into the style of the genre and created a couple mood boards and
consumer profile’s as a starting point before production.
This shows a development in my research
skills, since in, AS I didn’t establish a mood I wanted to create in my film.
Therefore, as a result of the mood boards shaped the locations of our shooting
and the styling of lead singer Jonny in order to be continually fitting with
the genre, making it a more successful product. My research skills were again
developed when I made a slide share, which explored Directors label. Directors
Label gave us a platform on which we could learn about code and conventions of
music videos and apply them to our own. For example, our group took on aspects
of Mark Romanek’s production of the Red Hot Chili Peppers “Can’t stop” music
video. The
video builds a picture of the performers as a group of friends larking around,
having fun, play fighting at times, experimenting and getting things wrong.
There is a laddish feel to the video, which compliments their unconventional
star image. We liked the boyish and playful aspect of the video, which we
thought would similarly appeal to our target audience of young adults. Through
research of real media products through Directors Label our group showed an
advancement of research skills, which effectively improved the outcome of our
Advanced Portfolio.
In
addition, our group engaged in advance research of Album Covers in order to have
our own be fitting with the code and conventions of a Digi-Pack. We found often
album Covers will often focus on the artists star image and portray qualities
of their genre. Many album covers have close up of the artists themselves which
creates a personal relationship between the star and the buyer. Albums are also
promoted through direct address where they simply have their name across the
album, to be recognized more simply. We applied these code and conventions to
our album cover by having a close up of lead singer Jonny and having the bands
name FIJ emphasized through bold and large font. However we retained qualities
of our genre, which we learnt in our research stages and through the use of
red-wash over coffee ring stains we were able to achieve a carefree and young
feel that, would appeal to our target audience. This year having ancillary
products, we recognized that more research was necessary opposed to AS where we
produced a single product. This shows advancement in our research skills and as
a result all products of our advanced portfolio were effectively linked in and
complimentary.
Our creative
skills were improved as a result of our extensive research stages since having
the knowledge our ability to make creative decisions were increased. This was
limited for us in AS, were having not done as such extensive research our
creativity in area’s of editing and shooting were lacking. We wanted this year
to develop our creativeness with shot angles, which we effectively achieved
through skateboarding shots. The fast-pace of the teenage board skateboarding
allowed us to have fast-cut continuity editing, which we had not explored in
our AS film production. We also showed a development in creativity in editing
with our use of long-cross dissolves. This becomes a common feature throughout
our music video “One More Year” which think is effective with the cross divisions
of shots being visually interesting. Therefore, as a result of our research our
advanced portfolio creativity was improved as well. This shows a development in
skills in all area’s of production from AS.
AS COURSEWORK DISCUSSED - THRILLER OPENING BLACK ROSE
Narrative is defined as a chain of events in a cause and effect relationship occurring in time, which effectively results in narrative being the often-primary focus within stories. When evaluating narrative alongside my AS coursework Thriller Opening it becomes evident that features of it can be explained by theorists such as Propp, Todrov and Strauss.
Initially, our group thought it was necessary to create an effective diegesis in order to support a stronger narrative. Diegesis means that an internal world is created by the story that the characters themselves experience and encounter. This internal world could be made real through our film opening since protagonist Natalie’s obscure hideouts are witnessed in shots of dark rooms and eerie woods. This world is characteristic to Natalie, which effectively creates a unique narrative form to the Black Rose. Vladimir Prop suggests that characters often took the role of narrative by serving a purpose within the plot. This is proved relevant when discussing the Black Rose since Natalie’s character falls into his character type of “villain”. Although Natalie is a less stereotypical villain it becomes increasingly evident through the scene opening that her intentions are not good making her the person within the film that must be overcome. The doctor is also seen undertaking the role of “ Hero” since it is suggested in his opening voice over that he will play a notable role in stopping the “deranged” Natalie from causing harm. Through theorist Propp it becomes evident that our film opening is largely lead by characters action since they are the primary focus of the film.
For Barthes the connotations within the image are the visual elements that can be decoded that is, the symbolic message. Our group incorporated semiotics when filming which is evident in the tittle itself, The Black Rose, is significant in foreshadowing the narrative since it is unnatural for nature to create black flowers. This suggests that unnatural behavior will be demonstrated by Natalie and ultimately supports the narrative. Theorist Levi Strauss concludes that often “binary opposites” lead narrative, which can be seen applicable with the Black Rose with the battle of good or evil. Although this contrast of good and evil is less subtle than those presented in films such as Star Wars and Harry Potter, it still is an underlying feature throughout the narrative. The doctor is presented as the good trying the overcome the “evil” habits of patient Natalie. Strauss opposed to Propp often challenges stereotypes within Narrative and believes that binary opposites are often the central focus. Although this theory may be less significant when evaluating the Black Rose, in comparison to Propp, it is evident that binary opposites do come into feature.
Flashbacks is another technique that is incorporated in the Black Rose film opening since this can give the narrative as less linear take by adding dimensions and layers into the story plot. Theorist Todrov suggests that linear narratives are often structure in five stages by starting at equilibrium and through series of events of disruption again returns to the initially state of equilibrium. This theory is the less applicable to the Black Rose film opening since the narrative is less conventional than other thrillers with the use of constant flashbacks and a lack of climax within the story plot. There seems to be a lack of equilibrium to start with since it can be implied that Natalie has had this condition for a while which means that disruption may have been present within the past. This presents a less conventional narrative such as the one Todrov presents however to an extent this can be applied since it seems from the Doctors Voice over that he is retelling the story from the future indicating that by the end of the story equilibrium may been installed. However this theory plays less of a feature when discussing narrative in the Black Rose film opening since it can be argued that the subject matter makes it harder for equilibrium to be initially present.
Consideration of theorists came into play when regarding all three stages of Planning, Researching and Construction of the film opening. Our group new it was necessary to have strong character styles in place whilst also presenting a conflict for these characters to overcome. As well this it was imperative for our narrative to have an underlying “binary opposite” for the audience to constantly witness the strong contrasts such as good and evil. All this theorists present features that have been included in our film opening in order to make the narrative as strong as possible.
'Media representations are complex, not simple and straightforward.' How far do you agree with this statement in relation to the collective group that you have studied.'
I have studied collective identity in relation to British Asians. By representation I understand the way British Asians are portrayed in media platforms such as film, television, radio, Internet and the press. By complex I understand representations are always mediated. “British Asian” is a collective term, which can be used to refer to people of first, second, and third later generation immigrants. Therefore there is no one single 'collective' identity, which make representations in fact “complex”.
Firstly, in this essay I intend to use texts such as Peter Sellers 1960 “Goodness Gracious Me”, Gurinder Chadha’s 2002 Bend it Like Beckham, BBC’s 2012 Indian Doctor Series to explore whether the media representations are “straightforward”. In addition I will use articles from the press, to further show British Asian collective identity and acknowledge future trends in their representation.
In the course of my response I will draw on research and theoretical
frameworks that have illuminated texts, such as Dick Hebdige on subcultures,
Roland Barthes on semitioc codes and Ervin Goffman's The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. This can be applied in order to demonstrate how media representations are complex, with collective identities such as British Asians, having more than one identity. This can be illustrated in Bend it Like Beckham where....
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