The Flight Of The Conchords are a brilliant modern comedy music duo that have their own TV show.
Monday 30 November 2009
The clip begins with a long shot, as they film Mcgavin putting the ball. It then flicks to a medium shot of the two commentators, before switching to a low angle shot and tilting down to watch the golf ball fall into the hole. We then see a midshot of McGavin, who makes the shape of a gun with his fingers and shoots it. Camera then tilts again as he picks up ball. Cut to a tilting high-angle long shot of people gathering round to watch Happy. Another midshot is used on the commentators, before cutting to a long shot of Happy and the man who is trying to help him. Cut to a midshot of them both, and then back to a longshot as happy goes to put the ball. When the ball does not go down the hole, we see a close-up of happy shouting at the ball.
Wednesday 25 November 2009
Camera angles and editing
Long shot - In film, a view of a scene that is shot from a considerable distance, so that people appear as indistinct shapes. An extreme long shot is a view from an even greater distance, in which people appear as small dots in the landscape if at all (eg. a shot of New York's skyline).
Medium shot - view between long shot and close-up: a filmed view, midway between long shot and close-up, that shows a standing person from the waist up or the full body of a sitting person
Close up - A photograph or a film or television shot in which the subject is tightly framed and shown at a relatively large scale
Shot reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is a film technique wherein one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking "back" at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.
High angle shots -In film, a high angle shot is usually when the camera is located high. With this type of angle, the camera looks down on the subject and the point of focus often get "swallowed up" by the setting
low-angle shot, is a shot from a camera positioned low on the vertical axis, often at knee height, looking up.
tracking shot - A movie shot made by a camera moving steadily on a track or dolly.
pan - To move a movie or television camera to follow an object or create a panoramic effect
Tilting is a cinematographic technique in which the camera is stationary and rotates in a vertical plane (or tilting plane). A rotation in a horizontal plane is known as panning. Tilting the camera results in a motion similar to someone nodding their head "yes" or to an aircraft performing a pitch rotation.
Continuity - consistency in the details from one part of a film or broadcast to another
montage - a style of film-making that makes extensive use of cuts, camera movements, and changes of camera position, particularly to set up new meanings not conveyed by the filmed action itself
transitions - the changing of one image to another
cross cutting/parallel editing - Cross-cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simultaneity of these two actions but this is not always the case.
In film editing, a dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another. In film, this effect is created by controlled double exposure from frame to frame; transiting from the end of one clip to the beginning of another.
In film editing, a wipe is a gradual spatial transition from one image to another. One image is replaced by another with a distinct edge that forms a shape. A simple edge, an expanding circle, or the turning of a page are all examples.
Medium shot - view between long shot and close-up: a filmed view, midway between long shot and close-up, that shows a standing person from the waist up or the full body of a sitting person
Close up - A photograph or a film or television shot in which the subject is tightly framed and shown at a relatively large scale
Shot reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is a film technique wherein one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking "back" at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.
High angle shots -In film, a high angle shot is usually when the camera is located high. With this type of angle, the camera looks down on the subject and the point of focus often get "swallowed up" by the setting
low-angle shot, is a shot from a camera positioned low on the vertical axis, often at knee height, looking up.
tracking shot - A movie shot made by a camera moving steadily on a track or dolly.
pan - To move a movie or television camera to follow an object or create a panoramic effect
Tilting is a cinematographic technique in which the camera is stationary and rotates in a vertical plane (or tilting plane). A rotation in a horizontal plane is known as panning. Tilting the camera results in a motion similar to someone nodding their head "yes" or to an aircraft performing a pitch rotation.
Continuity - consistency in the details from one part of a film or broadcast to another
montage - a style of film-making that makes extensive use of cuts, camera movements, and changes of camera position, particularly to set up new meanings not conveyed by the filmed action itself
transitions - the changing of one image to another
cross cutting/parallel editing - Cross-cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simultaneity of these two actions but this is not always the case.
In film editing, a dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another. In film, this effect is created by controlled double exposure from frame to frame; transiting from the end of one clip to the beginning of another.
In film editing, a wipe is a gradual spatial transition from one image to another. One image is replaced by another with a distinct edge that forms a shape. A simple edge, an expanding circle, or the turning of a page are all examples.
New technologies and stuff
In order to keep up with the global market companies must make use of new technologies available to the public. This includes devices on technology such as mobiles, computers and television. New technologies have allowed institutions to target audiences in different ways, as they can take advantage of the technologies available. For example, in the case of advertising, online social networking sites use cookies to register keywords typed in by someone so that they can target people for advertising.In addition to this technology can be used in many different forms, aside from social networking institution may seek to stream, use podcasts, use downloads and RSS feeds the list goes on however for institution it may be seen as a cheaper, more efficient alternative as costs are low in comparison to an advert on TV for example, however high budget films will seek to exploit as many medias as possible whereas a low budget film will use technology predominantly when its is free or cheap. What are seen as an efficient use of technology are through such sites as YouTube, where lower budget films may seek to upload films on YouTube as apposed to advertising on TV essentially because institutions budgets differ.
New technology has changed out experience with movies; through such editing technology films are more capable of capturing the essence of realism. Special effects have now progressed and have achieved remarkable finishing products, in addition to this our experience in cinemas allow us to escape from reality through digital effects and sound quality , also some modern day films have now started using 3d technology predominantly for animation films it makes a film more “real” and more in contact with the audience.
New technology has changed out experience with movies; through such editing technology films are more capable of capturing the essence of realism. Special effects have now progressed and have achieved remarkable finishing products, in addition to this our experience in cinemas allow us to escape from reality through digital effects and sound quality , also some modern day films have now started using 3d technology predominantly for animation films it makes a film more “real” and more in contact with the audience.
Friday 20 November 2009
Distribution: This is about keeping films 'alive' and in the public eye, as well as when released on dvd. New films are generally released on fridays, as scheduled by the Film Distributor Association. Distributors try to find 'light' weeks, where there is no competing films released and not too much competition in that week.
Logistics is also about the organisation of a film, this tends to be more important in independant films as they have less money to spend. Hollywood films tend to have about 1000 prints which are sent to different countries and distributed themselves. Independent film companies, in contrast, would have about 10 prints. Howver, grants are available, for example the film This Is England got a grant from the national lottery and so could afford to buy another 20. Most films are made in 35 mm prints, which would typically cost about 1000 pounds per film and double if the film has subtitles. Each reel lasts abut twenty minutes, and on average there are about 6 reels in a movie. Cinema companies wouldn't buy these, they would be rented from film producers. This could be described as the third link in the supply chain - distributing. Distribution is most successful when 'vertically integrated', where the three stages in the supply chain are seen as part of the same process or company.
Digital Distribution is basically using things digitally or downloading/streaming via internet. This is cheaper,as there is no need for physical manufacturing. This is better for the consumer as it is easier and cheaper, however, this is also very detrimental to film companies and therefore damaging to the very cinema experience itself.
Licensing is the process by which the distributor gets the legal right to exploit a film. U.S. films have their own distributors in the 90+ market territories throughout the world. Independent companies, again in contrast, have to sell their licenses to independent distributors.
Logistics is also about the organisation of a film, this tends to be more important in independant films as they have less money to spend. Hollywood films tend to have about 1000 prints which are sent to different countries and distributed themselves. Independent film companies, in contrast, would have about 10 prints. Howver, grants are available, for example the film This Is England got a grant from the national lottery and so could afford to buy another 20. Most films are made in 35 mm prints, which would typically cost about 1000 pounds per film and double if the film has subtitles. Each reel lasts abut twenty minutes, and on average there are about 6 reels in a movie. Cinema companies wouldn't buy these, they would be rented from film producers. This could be described as the third link in the supply chain - distributing. Distribution is most successful when 'vertically integrated', where the three stages in the supply chain are seen as part of the same process or company.
Digital Distribution is basically using things digitally or downloading/streaming via internet. This is cheaper,as there is no need for physical manufacturing. This is better for the consumer as it is easier and cheaper, however, this is also very detrimental to film companies and therefore damaging to the very cinema experience itself.
Licensing is the process by which the distributor gets the legal right to exploit a film. U.S. films have their own distributors in the 90+ market territories throughout the world. Independent companies, again in contrast, have to sell their licenses to independent distributors.
Wednesday 18 November 2009
Monday 16 November 2009
Victoria's Secret
To apply the three theories we choice to analyse a cover from Victoria's Secret an American retailer for women's lingerie.
Mulvey's theory believed that you had to view the image as a heterosexual male. In this case, the first thing to notice when analysing is that males would be attracted to this advert, which fits Mulvey's theory of looking at it as a heterosexual male. She also said that female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily by identification with the male viewer. Features of 'the gaze' in the theory was that the camera lingers of the curves of the female body, perfect for a lingerie advert.
By analysing the advert with Ferguson's theory, the advert falls into two categories; Invitational and Romantic or Sexual. As we can see the model's main emphasis is on her eyes, which suggests an enigma and mystery. But the reason why the picture falls into two categories would be the subject of the advert, which could include the viewer a potential partner.
For Millum's theory the advert fits into the Seductive category, as the model's eyes are deliberately shaded and looking the reader in the eye. This creates an arrogant/self-sufficient look which also comes across as confident.
Thursday 12 November 2009
Shameless
Shameless is a gritty British Drama that explores working class issues such as sexuality and poverty. The story centres around the Gallagher family, this consists of:
Frank, the father, is an alcoholic who is very primitive and seems to be a very bad person. He regularly has to be carried home when he's been out drinking and is snidy and selfish with the other characters, even though they look after him.
Ian -Appears to be somewhat of a victim, he seems to be quiet but occasionally shows insight. His brother Lip finds homosexual pornography in his room which prove him to be gay. He has a relationship with Cash and is shown to be a bit of a hothead when talking about him. He has a slightly geeky, mawkish appearance and could be portrayed as cute, a concept perhaps challenged when we find out about his antics with Cash.
'Lip' is the oldest son and seems to be a fairly average boy. He regularly has sexual encounters with his girlfriend, and yet seems fairly intelligent compared to the other characters. He is very close to his brother Ian, looks after him and is also the first to find out about his homosexuality.
Steve is Fiona's new boyfriend, she meets him at a party and he comes across as being a bit smarmy, he appears to have more money than the Gallaghers due to the cars he drives and he buys them a new washing machine. However, we soon learn he steals and sells cars. He appears to have evry strong feelings for fiona, but also has a way with words, such as when he woos her in the kitchen, and gave his speech about life in general. This gives me the impression that he is sly and savvy, that he has always got his way through life by working intelligently and craftily.
Fiona is the mother figure in the family- she is the eldest of the siblings and looks after them all. She appears to be selfless and regularly comes home early to see to her family. She is poor and wears cheap clothing such as big hoop earrings, and yet she seems to be ashamed of her background. She is the most likeable character in the drama, the embodiment of everything the traditional idea of a woman should be.
Marketing
50% of the average film budget is spent on marketing and raising audience awareness. There are different ways to do this:
Merchandise - especially for children's films, bags might be made, toys made and sold. One of the most effective toy strategies in recent years has been to make toys that are sold in Mcdonalds happy meals.
Viral Marketing - This uses word-of-mouth to get people talking about the film, making it a 'must-see' you can do this in many different ways, one of the most effective ways being to scare or shock people. An effective example of this is the video the government made recently to warn against teenage pregnancy:
Synergy Marketing - This is where a company uses another company's success to market it's product. Walt Disney first invented this by allowing many other companies to use Mickey Mouse in it's products:
Product Placement: this is when a company puts it's logos and products into a film to advertise it: Good examples of this are the Aston Martin and Rolex products James Bond uses in his films.
Working Title Films have produced 'Bridget Jones' Diary' and 'The Boat That Rocked'
'Bridget Jones' Diary' uses synergy marketing- the company who produced it, Vision Video Limited, appointed New Media Maze to promote the film for them. They used competition prizes and merchandise, and advertised it a lot on the internet, also trying to filter it through to viral marketing. They use a lot of above the line advertising for this.
'The Boat That Rocked' also use merchandise - they manufactured an old fashioned radio used during the era the film was set and updated it to become digital, with a tag saying 'the boat that rocked' on it. The film also used a well-publicised soundtrack,as the movie is based around music.
When compared to a Hollywood Blockbuster such as Casino Royale, though, both films seem below the line. Casino Royale used billboards, movie trailers at cinemas and on television, a large premier, and a prolific soundtrack. They also used Movie stars such as Daniel Craig and Judi Dench to further raise the film's profile.
Merchandise - especially for children's films, bags might be made, toys made and sold. One of the most effective toy strategies in recent years has been to make toys that are sold in Mcdonalds happy meals.
Viral Marketing - This uses word-of-mouth to get people talking about the film, making it a 'must-see' you can do this in many different ways, one of the most effective ways being to scare or shock people. An effective example of this is the video the government made recently to warn against teenage pregnancy:
Synergy Marketing - This is where a company uses another company's success to market it's product. Walt Disney first invented this by allowing many other companies to use Mickey Mouse in it's products:
Product Placement: this is when a company puts it's logos and products into a film to advertise it: Good examples of this are the Aston Martin and Rolex products James Bond uses in his films.
Working Title Films have produced 'Bridget Jones' Diary' and 'The Boat That Rocked'
'Bridget Jones' Diary' uses synergy marketing- the company who produced it, Vision Video Limited, appointed New Media Maze to promote the film for them. They used competition prizes and merchandise, and advertised it a lot on the internet, also trying to filter it through to viral marketing. They use a lot of above the line advertising for this.
'The Boat That Rocked' also use merchandise - they manufactured an old fashioned radio used during the era the film was set and updated it to become digital, with a tag saying 'the boat that rocked' on it. The film also used a well-publicised soundtrack,as the movie is based around music.
When compared to a Hollywood Blockbuster such as Casino Royale, though, both films seem below the line. Casino Royale used billboards, movie trailers at cinemas and on television, a large premier, and a prolific soundtrack. They also used Movie stars such as Daniel Craig and Judi Dench to further raise the film's profile.
Wednesday 11 November 2009
The Male Gaze
Marjorie Ferguson identified four main poses on women's facial features in advertising:
Chocolate Box: the women's smile is either a full smile or half, with her lips slightly parted or together, teeth barely visible. The face should be mainly facing the camera.This communicates a mood of bland perfection - the features are flawless and yet devoid of mood or character.
Invitational: the head might be cocked to one side with an invitational look in the eyes and a closed mouth, or only a hint of a smile. This communicates enigma or mischief, and only hints of sexual contact rather than promises it.
Super-smiler: the model's face is full-on smiling at the camera, with hair possibly wind-blown, the mouth wide open and toothy. This is similar to the chocolate box except is demanding and more attention-seeking with a 'look-at-me' attitude; the hard sell.
Romantic or Sexual: a more general type which includes the viewer as a potential parter, the 'twosome', focuses on the overtly sensual or sexual, with the model typically in a position of dominance. This communicates a mood of availability from the model.
Trevor Millum also offered his opinions on female expressions, he believed they copuld be split into these categories:
Seductive: self-sufficient and confident, obtrusive hair, often blonde, with full lips parted or straight. They usually look the viewer in the eye, maybe as she looks at herself in the mirror.
Carefree: by creating an outdoor kind of look for the model, for example having long flowing hair, with a smile. This gives an atmosphere of an active or healthy feeling to the photograph.
Practical: concentrating, engaged on the business in hand, mouth closed, eyes object-directed, sometimes a slight frown; hair often short or tied back.
Comic: deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated, acting the fool, pulling faces for the benefit of a real or imaginary audience, sometimes close to a sort of archness.
Catalogue: a neutral look as of a dummy, artificial, waxlike; features may be in any position, but most likely to be with eyes open wide and a smile, but the look remains vacant and empty; personality has been removed. (Millum 1975, 97-8)
Chocolate Box: the women's smile is either a full smile or half, with her lips slightly parted or together, teeth barely visible. The face should be mainly facing the camera.This communicates a mood of bland perfection - the features are flawless and yet devoid of mood or character.
Invitational: the head might be cocked to one side with an invitational look in the eyes and a closed mouth, or only a hint of a smile. This communicates enigma or mischief, and only hints of sexual contact rather than promises it.
Super-smiler: the model's face is full-on smiling at the camera, with hair possibly wind-blown, the mouth wide open and toothy. This is similar to the chocolate box except is demanding and more attention-seeking with a 'look-at-me' attitude; the hard sell.
Romantic or Sexual: a more general type which includes the viewer as a potential parter, the 'twosome', focuses on the overtly sensual or sexual, with the model typically in a position of dominance. This communicates a mood of availability from the model.
Trevor Millum also offered his opinions on female expressions, he believed they copuld be split into these categories:
Seductive: self-sufficient and confident, obtrusive hair, often blonde, with full lips parted or straight. They usually look the viewer in the eye, maybe as she looks at herself in the mirror.
Carefree: by creating an outdoor kind of look for the model, for example having long flowing hair, with a smile. This gives an atmosphere of an active or healthy feeling to the photograph.
Practical: concentrating, engaged on the business in hand, mouth closed, eyes object-directed, sometimes a slight frown; hair often short or tied back.
Comic: deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated, acting the fool, pulling faces for the benefit of a real or imaginary audience, sometimes close to a sort of archness.
Catalogue: a neutral look as of a dummy, artificial, waxlike; features may be in any position, but most likely to be with eyes open wide and a smile, but the look remains vacant and empty; personality has been removed. (Millum 1975, 97-8)
There's two kinds of advertising in film - above the line and below the line. Above the line consists of adverts that you are made to see such as movie trailers at a cinema, and billboards that you see on the street. Below the line promotion is a different type of advertising that you either come upon by chance or look for, such as social networking sites, websites and viral marketing, which is where information is passed on from perosn to person.
Different marketing strategies are used by different film companies - for example, Hollywood have recently made a film called 2012 and are advertising it at the moment. Building-sized billboards are being put up all over New York as part of the advertising campaign, the indication is that they are trying to build up some kind of hysteria, to increase viral marketing and make the film a 'must-see'. The budget for the movie '2012' was 200 million.
The movie “a serious man” had a budget for $7,000,000 which is essentially seen in the film industry as a low budget film. The marketing for the film used a below the line promotion scheme, an example of this is when they had their premier which was in an independent cinema, whereas a Hollywood film like “2012” had a great amount of money to work with.
'Bunny and the Bull' is a debut film made by Paul King, the producer of the popular cult tv comedy "The Mighty Boosh" he released a clip on the internet to advertise the program, featuring Boosh star Julian Barrett drinking dog milk. This increased Viral marketing as it is shocking but also increased profile as it is done by someone already famous.
Generally a Hollywood movie will use the above the line promotion scheme as it can be viewed by a large audience, even if consumers whish not to view the adverts it will still get recognition on a large scale, whereas a low budget film will seek to use below the line promotion to adapt to their budget and usually needs to be searched for by the consumer instead of stumbling upon it.
Tuesday 10 November 2009
Friday 6 November 2009
The Killers
The Killers are a band from Las Vegas that capitalise upon themes of glamour and romance, whilst musically taking inspiration from the likes of Bruce Springsteen and the Pet Shop Boys. A brilliant song.
Thursday 5 November 2009
Film budgets
Hot Fuzz.
Working Title Films.
Budget: 8 million.
Created because director Wright wanted to make a funny cop film, as he felt that "every other country in the world had its own tradition of great cop films and we had none"
Dead Man's Shoes.
WARP films.
Budget: 723,000
Created to prove that thriller films can be low-budget.
This Is England.
WARP films.
Budget: 1,500,000
Wanted to create a film that realistically portrayed working-class northern england that explored issues like racism whilst appealing to a relatively wide audience.
Working Title Films.
Budget: 8 million.
Created because director Wright wanted to make a funny cop film, as he felt that "every other country in the world had its own tradition of great cop films and we had none"
Dead Man's Shoes.
WARP films.
Budget: 723,000
Created to prove that thriller films can be low-budget.
This Is England.
WARP films.
Budget: 1,500,000
Wanted to create a film that realistically portrayed working-class northern england that explored issues like racism whilst appealing to a relatively wide audience.
How do the institution's budgets affect the production practices that they used to make a film appeal to the target audience?
An institution's budget has a massive effect on every production practice a production team use. The aim is to find more creative ways to make a film so as to compensate for the low budget and increase the 'bullseye' - the target audience. Warp Films have a low budget, and they created the films Dead Man's Shoes and This Is England. This is apparent in the actors used: Dead Man's shoes uses little-known actors such as Paddy Considine and Gary Stretch, because they are cheaper to recruit than actors such as Jude Law etc that are used in high-budget films.
The editing is also very different: effects used are simple - black-and-white crackly films are used, which could be reproduced more or less anywhere. Slow cuts are used, which makes it seem realistic - the genre is social realism which is more or less the only genre that suits really low budget films as they cannot afford to produce the effects required to make a higher calibre film such as a fantasy or action thriller. This means exploring realistic issues explored in the real world, such as disability, war, and drugs. The locations used are prefabricated - they cannot afford to create a set and so use locations such as dilapidated houses etc. The target audience appears to be adult males, who are capable to deal with and can relate to the issues and themes raised within the movie.
Compare this, then, to a movie such as Hot Fuzz, made by Working Title films, a company with a higher budget to dispense. It uses established comedic actors such as Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, along with an extensive cast and uncredited cameos. Editing is done by a team of ten artists to add explosions, gore etc. The genre is a hybrid between action and comedy - this widens the bullseye, as it covers a wider range of movies and therefore movie fans, too. Therefore the editing follow suit - fast, sweeping shots are used in parts, giving the film a sense of non-realism. This allows us to laugh at the film - the issues are obviously not intended to be taken seriously and so we can laugh at things we otherwise may not have. Traditional british landmarks such as the houses of parliament and the british flag are used to appeal to a british audience.
The editing is also very different: effects used are simple - black-and-white crackly films are used, which could be reproduced more or less anywhere. Slow cuts are used, which makes it seem realistic - the genre is social realism which is more or less the only genre that suits really low budget films as they cannot afford to produce the effects required to make a higher calibre film such as a fantasy or action thriller. This means exploring realistic issues explored in the real world, such as disability, war, and drugs. The locations used are prefabricated - they cannot afford to create a set and so use locations such as dilapidated houses etc. The target audience appears to be adult males, who are capable to deal with and can relate to the issues and themes raised within the movie.
Compare this, then, to a movie such as Hot Fuzz, made by Working Title films, a company with a higher budget to dispense. It uses established comedic actors such as Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, along with an extensive cast and uncredited cameos. Editing is done by a team of ten artists to add explosions, gore etc. The genre is a hybrid between action and comedy - this widens the bullseye, as it covers a wider range of movies and therefore movie fans, too. Therefore the editing follow suit - fast, sweeping shots are used in parts, giving the film a sense of non-realism. This allows us to laugh at the film - the issues are obviously not intended to be taken seriously and so we can laugh at things we otherwise may not have. Traditional british landmarks such as the houses of parliament and the british flag are used to appeal to a british audience.
Wednesday 4 November 2009
Black People Presentation
View more presentations from guest47c974.
This is the slideshow that me, Giorgio and Ricken created to explore an area of stereotyping. I was not here for the first lesson of this, but contributed during the second lesson. Unforunately, we embedded the slideshow into our blogs before altering the names on the slide, and it is on Giorgio's pc and as he wasn't here we were not able to alter it.
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