Research and Planning

MEST2

5 programs that are similar to my genre/idea that i will be making for my media course work i have picked a range of films and programs that have helped influenced my ideas for my coursework.

• Dexter-

Camerawork –The first shot that is used in the morning routine of Dexter is a close up shot, this shows that the director wants the audience to concentrate on a specific scene which is the mosquito. The next scene can be considered an extreme long shot or a close as the mosquito is fully in the scene but also a small proportion of a person is in the scene. The camera starts to pan revealing more to the audience about who the character is however a shallow depth of field has been used which continues to keep the person anonymous. The next scene is where the mosquito is then slapped and the man in the background then comes in to focus and the scene is a long scene lasting around 5 seconds. This has been done to keep the audience interested and want to more but also the killing of the mosquito can suggest what the program will be about.

Editing- the editing in the first few scene is done through fast cuts, this suggests that the program that is about to start is a fast paced program which helps the audience get a better idea what they are watching. A match on action shot is used when the character slaps the mosquito this is done in order to to continue to show the continuity of the scenes which suggests a coherence between the shots for the audience.

Sound- the music that is used is non-diegetic, however the sound of the actions that the man does in the scene such as the slap and the sound of him shaving are
examples of diegetic sound as they are part of the video clip.

Mise-en-scene- The part of mise-en scene I will be analysing is the positioning of character/objecting within the frame. The start of the scene the mosquito is placed in the centre of the frame, also the mosquito takes up around 1/6 of the frame which shows that the mosquito has been filmed at a close up so that it is bigger in the frame. The second scene reveals more of the position of the character allowing the audience to establish what is taking place in the frame. The second shots shows the actual size of the mosquito also position of the body part seems like a arm but also the man face is lying on its side which allows the audience to establish that the man is sleeping/napping.  

audience-Dexter is a program that would be shown after water shed due to the blood and violence the target audience for this would be adults, as it aired on a Sunday at around 9pm 

• Sherlock Holmes movie-

Camerawork - The scene is followed by close up of a man behind bars the scene used is very interesting as it can be manipulative and allows the audience to make judgement of weather the man in the scene is talking to someone who is behind the bars of is he talking to someone from inside the bars. This therefore means that the audience has to make a decision of whether the man can be seen as good or bad. The use of extreme shots has been used the main character jumps out of the window this has been done to show the audience what is taking place and where  the man is jumping but also to help emphasise that the man is jumping from great height into water . The shot can also be an establishing show as it is an extreme long shot of an iconic point in London.


Editing-a fade in has been used suggest time passing of time in this case in an earlier generation due to use of horse and carriage. It is used with a vertical pan which allows the audience to establish more about the setting. The scene is followed by close up of a man behind bars the scene used is very interesting as it can be manipulative and allows the audience to make judgement of weather the man in the scene is talking to someone who is behind the bars of is he talking to someone from inside the bars. This therefore means that the audience has to make a decision of weather the man can be seen as good or bad.


Sound-the diegetic sound that is used is the sound of props and dialogue, the sound of the horse and carriage allows the audience to establish what it is through the sound of the hooves hitting the floor and the sound of the wooden wheels rolling, another example is the sound of the door being kicked open. Non-diegetic sound has been used in order to help set the mood , a fast paced beat has been placed in the background which has been synced with the diegetic sound along with the actions that take place in the scene. This has been done in order to emphasis the diegetic sound of objects that take place but also the music allows the audience to establish that tension could be building up.


Mise-en-scene- the setting can be established through the props used in the scene such as the horse and carriage it shows that audience it is set a long time ago as there are no cars also the use of icon points such as house of parliament is another example of how the director has tried to establish the setting.


Sherlock homles would target families due to the comedy and action scenes in the film, it is aged an 15 however has the use of alcohol and smoking and brief nudity. This can therefore be argued that it may not be suitable for minors but anyone who is 15 and older, it would also be appealing to older people as the movie is based on Sherlock homles which was from a long time ago which would there mean elderly people may be attracted to the film


• Top boy-

Camerawork –the shot that is used is an arc shot, this is when a camera move in a semi-circle around a subject. The top boy trailer is an example of how it’s been used and in this case allows the audience to the character and also the background. This has been done so that audiences are able to establish where it has been set and what is going on. The scene is also zooming out which suggests that the director is allowing the audience to establish where the subject is what he is doing and what is around him.


Editing- continuity editing has been done in order to help suggests tension and emotion. As the camera start to zoom out the subject of the scene put his leg down which is done at a slower pace which suggests that the director wants the audience to feel emotions for the character.


Sound-diegetic sound that is used is the dialogue by the character however is can be seen as thought as the character is not saying them. Non diegetic sound that is used is the sound a piano which is played with low notes suggesting seriousness of the character but also tension.


Mise-en-scene- The aspect of the mise-en-scene I will be targeting is settings and props. The setting of the video clip is established through the props that are used, such as the wooden book shelf which suggests that the subject is in an expensive place, this is also that supported a painting that is on the wall that has a large frame which suggests it is of high value. Finally a lamp is used which is over a bottle or port which can suggests the mood of the character but also that the character may be depressed.


audience-Top boy can be aimed at teenagers and possibly young adults as the program is about guns, drugs and gangs which is normally connoted to teenagers. The TV series is set in London estate showing the struggle that people have.


• The Bourne Ultimatum-

Camerawork – the first scene is a close up of a character amongst other people walking with the focus directed at him, and a shallow depth of field on the background which shows that audience where the director wants the audience to focus on. A shot reverse shot is used in order to that a conversation is taking place between two characters which is done at a close up, this suggests to the audience that the directed wants the audience to focus on facial expression.


Editing- the start of the trailer is started with slow cuts which shows that tension is building, after the institution being shown the shots start to spend up switching between the main character and other shots this therefore suggests to the audience that some kind of hunt/chase is taking place. The use of recording a CCTV camera suggests that the main character is on the run and can be seen as the victim or the criminal. The scene is then followed by showing a map which supports that he is being looked for.


Sound-diegetic sound that is used is the sound of objects that are used in the scene such as the sound of the computer when showing the images of main character. Non-diegetic sound then emerges after showing the institution, fast paced mood music is added to help show tension building up which keeps the audience hooked as they feel something is going to happen.


Mise-en-scene- the facial expression that are shown by the character help the audience establish the mood of the character is also allows the audience to establish that impact of what is happening or taking place. The scene where the main male character is talking to a female character, the male character has a face that is surprised but at the same time intrigued which allows the audience to establish what impact the scene has had on the character but also understand the characters emotion.


audience- The Bourne ultimatum based on the trailer seem that ti would be aimed at people ages 15 and over due to the violence and death that takes places it would target adults and teenager as it is an action film but at the same time is about a serious situation which means it may appeal to young adults.


• Mr & Mrs Smith-

Camerawork – at the start of Mr & Mrs smith we are introduced to first character by a use of a medium long shot showing a lady legs in high heeled boots coming out of the car which is then followed by a medium show showing the back of a women a man on a bed in the middle behind her legs. This continues to keep the audience in suspense because they still have not been introduced to the main character. The next scene is a medium long shot and introducing the character taking of her jacket. As the main female character jumps out the building a panning shot is used to show her jumping and follows her as she jumps this has been done to show the audience that the character is portrayed as dangerous which can help identify what the film will be about but also the genre of the film.

Editing- the trailer of Mr & Mrs fast paced cuts have been used to suggests how the film would may be. Also fast dissolves are used which can signify a passing of time which allows audiences to understand that the scenes link. Match on action shots are used several times throughout the trailer which suggests that the trailer is fast paced but is also allows the audience to see that action that is taking place which keeps the audience hooked on.

Sound-diegetic sound is used during the scene of guns and during dialogue this has been done to allow the audience to understand what is going on, the dialogue allows the audience to understand what is taking place but also helps to identify the genre. Non-diegetic sound that is used is the music in the background this has been done to help set a mood the music starts of fast in time within the scene. The music then slows down and become slower when the 2 characters are introduced to the audience which suggests that they are a normal couple.

Mise-en-scene- the setting of the trailer is based in several places which suggests that there is some kind of chase within the movie. The props that are used help identify where the characters are and what they are doing. For example the guns that are used suggests that there are aspects of violence, explosions also suggests this. The props such as the bathroom, kitchen bedroom suggests that they are in a house, the male character uses the TV watching sport which suggests that they are like any normal husband and wife.

audience- the audience of this film would be anyone above the age of 15 and would appeal to all audiences as the film has humour that takes place also due some of the sexual scenes which means that it may not be suitable for minors.

institution research

E4- is aimed at young audiences due to its witty persona and strong branding. E4 is on Freeview, cable , sky and also online which means that there are many ways for people to be able to access to E4’s content. E4 has shown to be very successful as it won an award for channel of the year in February 2011. E4 is known to bring original successful program to their audiences such as skins, misfits and inbetweaners. E4 and E4 +1's Share of Commercial Impacts holds steady very strong for 16-34s. Furthermore within its competitive set E4 is the top converting channel for Adults 16-34, Women 16-34 and social demographics groups ABC1 16-34s. through research is has been established that E4 viewers are mainly young and upmarket,  and at the same time are also known to be fashion conscious, sociable, connected, heavy internet users, they love going out and tend to use advertising as one of their many information sources. They are also likely to be opinion formers and more likely to talk about brands that are appealing and can persuade them to try new things that they may not be familiar with. E4 and E4+1 reach over 8.9m people each month,  in addition of this it has a young and upmarket viewing profile, with; 52% of viewers 16-34  which is only 23%  compared to Commercial TV, 43% ABC1 (and again 38% compared to commercial TV and 61% female 54% compared to the Total  amount of people that watch commercial TV.

BBC 3- Like E4 the target audience for bbc 3 is also aimed at people ages 16–34 and has the purpose of providing innovative and original content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent and new technologies. The channel is on-air from 7pm to around 5am each night, in order to share terrestrial television bandwidth with CBBC. Bbc 3 is known for covering all genres, from current affairs, to drama, to comedy to animation. Examples such as family guy Sherlock, little Britain and gavin and stacy which had also won an BAFTA award in 2008 best comedy performance award was awarded to James Corden for his part . BBC face heavy competition from rivals such as ITV2 and E4, for an audience that the BBC has traditionally had difficulty in attracting. In 2008 it reached 26.3% of 16–34 year-olds in digital homes—the channels highest ever such reach and above that of E4, ITV2, Dave and Sky1. On average, nine million people watch BBC Three every week, and it has a 2.6% share of the 15–34-year-old audience and 1.4% of the whole population, according to the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB).

audience research and planning

the target audience  for my genre would be 15-34 year olds and the socio economic groups C1, C2, D, and E. It will also be suitable for pre-watershed broadcasting. the psychographics from young and rubicam would be resigned, stugglers, mainstreamers and apirer. Our plan is to use codes and conventions from existing formats with new and creative ideas that are similar to dexter and aspects of  other crime films such as Mr & Mrs smith and Sherlock holmes. Mr & Mrs smith and sherlock are both 15 rated films and so i would have to make sure that my production does is suitable for pre-watershed. by pre water shed i mean that I will not have the following in order to meet guidelines ;

• The coverage of sexual and other offences in the UK involving under-eighteens
• Drugs, smoking, solvents and alcohol
• Violence and dangerous behaviour
• Offensive language
• Sexual material
• Nudity
• Films, premium subscription film services, pay per view services
• Exorcism, the occult and the paranormal
• The involvement of people under eighteen in programmes

Focus group

Production is going to be about a serial killer the production is similar to the program Dexter which is an American crime drama about “Dexter” who has a secret life of being a serial killer. Our crime drama would be very similar as it would be the British version which we plan to film in central London locations such as Trafalgar square and parliament. This would also be a first for E4 which therefore gives our program a unique advantage over other crime dramas. A male serial killer will be used and will be played by vinesh (my-self) which will show a series of events that led up to the murders and how the murders will be carried out. The main character we are thinking that the character will be from an upper class background which has a fast paced story line in order to keep audiences engaged and keep them on edge. Idea were generated from programs such as Dexter, white chapel, Luther and Top boy this has been done as they are examples of successful crime dramas and urban crime dramas. We all wanted to be incorporated in the idea in order to ensure that everybody is able to take part in every stage of the production from filming all the way to editing, as a group we have decided also that we may reveal the characters face at the end which will continue to ensure that the program continues an enigma throughout. For one the main scene we were going to show a scene of a person being pushed in to a bathtub however this needed to be confirmed and don’t in a way that would not breach the program of being shown at pre-water shed. The opening sequence we are considering that we show scenes that would take place across the series in order to keep audiences attracted to our show. We plan for our program to shown on E4 on a Sunday at around 8pm as most people would be at home as well which would mean we target a greater target audience which is the same as when Dexter is shown and should appeal for audiences of 15 – 35. We plan to target males and females and people and socio economic groups C1, C2, D, and E. It will also be suitable for pre-watershed broadcasting. the psychographics from young and rubicam would be resigned, stugglers, mainstreamers and apirer.  Comment from Mr Halsey “that’s a more traditional title sequence the wire would be a good example, that has little snippets rather than just focusing on one episode”. comment from student “ I would not personally watch something like that with my family because I think my mum would think it’s not good for my eyes” I then suggested that that what the student has said is questionable as Dexter is a pre-watershed program which is very similar to our idea and have huge target audience. Another student said that “we should look at Texas chainsaw of massacre which shows many killings and is don’t very successfully.  Another student said that “it is difficult to this as program in the past have not always been very successful example is inbetweaners was successful in the uk but when it went to the US was not as successful”. Halsey “Dexter was a playful theme in order to not be as serious but also have humour.”  We plan to use lots of manipulation by the use of close ups which would make the audience to think that it’s something but completely different along with high frame rate shots in order to show things flying. Halsey “important to be able to establish the narrative scene but at the same time be able to make the character likeable and use juxtaposition to show him being really loving caring”. We considered he may be in a relationship in order to this as it would be good use of binary opposites. Name of the program is still not confirmed and will be done close to the time. The information has helped me to understand what me and my group have to consider to in order to ensure that the program is successful and that it does breach being able to be shown at pre-watershed.

Pre-prodution

Representation of teenagers

The left side is showing the dominant representation of teenager and the right side shows the alternative.

Audience theory

Hypodermic needle theory-

Playing violent videos games can be said to have factors of the hypodermic needle theory. The hypodermic needle theory is a model of communications suggesting that media institutions inject messages/views that are completely accepted by the receiver. The theory links with the newspaper article from the daily mail about how playing violent video games can increase aggressive behaviours.  The article based on the headline is very deceiving and is a very good example of how the hypodermic needle theory has been applied, the head line which is “Playing violent video games for just 20 minutes a day can encourage aggressive behaviour” this shows the media is trying to get people’s attention by suggesting that playing “video games” can increase aggressive behaviour. The heading says “video games “ which is very generic , however after further reading the article it then says that non-violent games played for 20 minutes for 3 consecutive days has no effect on aggression. However once reading more in the article it then refers to previous studies which suggests that playing videos game frequently can shows a suggestions of increase aggression.   

Two-step flow model-

Jamal Edwards is a good example of how the two step flow theory can be applied. The two step theory is broken down into 2 steps, the first step- opinion leaders get information from a media source the second step- opinion leaders then pass the information, along with their own interpretations. Jamal Edwards had used the media in order to expand his success, youtube was key in helping Jamal Edwards be able to get the opportunities that had help him become successful. 

Blumler and katz’s-

Diversion-people use the media to fulfill needs of companionship, and to form relationships with others. OK magazine is a good example if this it allows people to be engaged with celebrity relationships but also allows people to relate there on problems with similar ones that can be found in the magazine

Personal relationships-people use the media to fulfill needs of companionship, and to form relationships with others. Facebook is an example of how people can do this by posting statuses and showing there relationship status and who it is with.

Personal identity-media is used by individuals to find out about yourself, sometimes people that are presented, in some way to reflect us. Jeremy Kyle show is an example of how media can help individuals find out more about themselves , the Jeremy Kyle show allows people to reflect some of their life to similar situations in the program.

Surveillance- using the media to find out what is going on around us, for example reading a magazine, which tells us what has been going on in the daily lives of celebrities. The news is a very good example of how people use the uses and Gratifications theory in order to have surveillance on what’s going on around the world and locally. The news allows people to be informed but also educated.

Dependency theory-

 What do YOU primarily use the media for: entertainment or information? (Or something else?)I use the media for 3 reasons for entertainment, information and to be educated.

To what extent do you feel we are dependent on the media? I feel we are very reliant on the media, we use the media to help us create views and opinions on certain things. I feel this has happed because people have more trust in the media and believe that “if its public is has to be true” which has meant that the public have become very narrow minded in what they think. The public being dependent on the media has meant that the public are using the ability to think for themselves less but also are not breaking down information as much to see both side but only believe what they read.

·      Has our dependence on the media changed over the last 10 years?  Over the last 10 years people have become more dependent on the media to help keep them informed but also people believe that the media give accurate representation of what is going on in the world as they believe that if media institutions publish it then it’s true. With digital media that has also increased in the past years has meant that people have quicker and easy access to accessing media of smart phones and tablets this has therefore meant that people are able to keep up to date more quickly but also are more informed.