Wednesday, 6 May 2015
Final finished documentary of 'The Indefinite Eye'
Tuesday, 21 April 2015
Zionism
Zionism is an organisation in which is for Jews and Jewish culture in accommodating them with a Jewish homeland- that of which they conquered and is now the state of Israel.
The founder of the Zionist movement is said to be Theodor Herzi in 1896. Zionism itself was more so introduced in the 19th century when Palestine. Soon after this most leaders of the movement associated the main goal with creating the desired state in Palestine, then an area controlled by the Ottoman Empire.
Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues to go forward on behalf of Israel and address threats to its continued existence and security.
Critics of Zionism view it as colonialist, racist and exceptionalist ideology that led advocates to acts of political violence and terrorism during Mandatory Palestine, followed by the exodus of Palestinians, and the subsequent denial of their human rights.
The founder of the Zionist movement is said to be Theodor Herzi in 1896. Zionism itself was more so introduced in the 19th century when Palestine. Soon after this most leaders of the movement associated the main goal with creating the desired state in Palestine, then an area controlled by the Ottoman Empire.
Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues to go forward on behalf of Israel and address threats to its continued existence and security.
Critics of Zionism view it as colonialist, racist and exceptionalist ideology that led advocates to acts of political violence and terrorism during Mandatory Palestine, followed by the exodus of Palestinians, and the subsequent denial of their human rights.
EVALUATION- How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
Short film documentary 'The Indefinite Eye':
My aim was to convey the suffering and raise awareness on the conflict between Palestine and Israel and the barbaric happening that take place everyday, however I felt that doing this in a more personal way my audience may feel that they could connect with the film on a more intense level rather than just the opinion on the conflict from various different perspectives. I feel as though in the end I successfully portrayed these intentions through the combination of my short film and ancillary tasks.
'The Indefinite Eye Poster:
'The Indefinite Eye film review:
My aim was to convey the suffering and raise awareness on the conflict between Palestine and Israel and the barbaric happening that take place everyday, however I felt that doing this in a more personal way my audience may feel that they could connect with the film on a more intense level rather than just the opinion on the conflict from various different perspectives. I feel as though in the end I successfully portrayed these intentions through the combination of my short film and ancillary tasks.
EVALUATION- how did you use media technologies in the constructions and research and planning and evaluation stages?
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EVALUATION: What have your learnt from audience feedback?
EVALUATION: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In general I feel that the overall plot of my documentary is using the typical forms and conventions of a documentary in the sense that a documentary conveys the reality of a situation or action, additionally my short film is portraying the reality of the situation happening in Palestine/Israel and is informing the audience with facts and statistics of the difficulties. For example: I show the conditions that many Palestinian children are living in everyday.
I chose to stick to the usual conventions of my genre type film otherwise it would not fall under the category of a documentary, as it would then contain perhaps a minimal amount of characters, usually a plot twist and either a happy or unpleasant ending. I feel that genre types such as: romance, horror, comedy, thriller, action etc. come under the theory of Stanislavski in which allows the audience to follow a story and make a connection with the characters, on the other hand my documentary follows the conventions of Berolt Brecht in which is also a theatre practitioner, although he does not consistently allow the audience to become attached to the characters or plot of the performance/film, Brecht goes by the purpose of making a political point and making the audience aware or to recognise a certain situation.
Firstly I believe that my short film documentary uses the conventions of a short film in terms of character within my short film. Typically there is a minimal of 1-3 characters due to it being a short filmand the duration of the film usually being up to 5-6 minutes long. Additionally my film contains only 1 main character who stands as the protagonist, this is somewhat different to the typical amount of characters in a political type of documentary as there can be a wide range of interviewee's or opinion leaders. However as my film was an extremely personal topic for me I decided to include only one interviewee and someone of who I trust and value the opinion of, therefore I feel as though just having 1 character conveys this to my audience members are they are able to recognise that this is an important subject in which I feel passionately about.
In terms of my budget I believe that again here I followed the forms and conventions of a short film as the budget is usually low. Evidently I did not have the budget to pay well known actors or to afford expensive and efficient equipment to film with. Therefore I used people that I knew and were willing to be apart of my film documentary and made the most of equipment that I already had, such as: my own camera and I Phone, all of which I was happy and content to work with. When it came to location the majority of my filming was done inside of a house and features my main protagonist 'Samir', this was where I interviewed him as I feel that I needed purely a plain and minimal setting in order for the focus to be mainly on him so that my audience members can listen to the information and opinions of the main character and not become distracted by anything else within the scene. Moreover I used a lot of split screening and parallel editing therefore I felt as though the filming that includes my main character needed to be simple in order to contrast with the busy and visual actions in which were happening on the other side of the screen. This allows my audience members to see the main character as well as seeing the visual element to my film. Moreover part of my filming was in public places for example: London Oxford Street and Westminster.
Again forms and conventions that I feel I have followed is that I have used traditional elements such as: a voice-over, interviewees, a strong opinion, a chronological order of events and more. I simply felt as though these were relevant and appropriate for my documentary as it conveys the order of events from before 1948- to this living day, the effects that certain events have had on people and a two or one sided opinion.
In addition I consider my media product to have developed the forms and conventions of a short film as I attempted to structure my film purposely in a way that is suited to a modern audience and to sustain their interest through out the duration of my short film. I feel that I have done this with the use of the filming of the protests in which were recent events therefore maintaining that relevant interest.
EVALUATION: What have your learnt from audience feedback?
EVALUATION: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In general I feel that the overall plot of my documentary is using the typical forms and conventions of a documentary in the sense that a documentary conveys the reality of a situation or action, additionally my short film is portraying the reality of the situation happening in Palestine/Israel and is informing the audience with facts and statistics of the difficulties. For example: I show the conditions that many Palestinian children are living in everyday.
I chose to stick to the usual conventions of my genre type film otherwise it would not fall under the category of a documentary, as it would then contain perhaps a minimal amount of characters, usually a plot twist and either a happy or unpleasant ending. I feel that genre types such as: romance, horror, comedy, thriller, action etc. come under the theory of Stanislavski in which allows the audience to follow a story and make a connection with the characters, on the other hand my documentary follows the conventions of Berolt Brecht in which is also a theatre practitioner, although he does not consistently allow the audience to become attached to the characters or plot of the performance/film, Brecht goes by the purpose of making a political point and making the audience aware or to recognise a certain situation.
Firstly I believe that my short film documentary uses the conventions of a short film in terms of character within my short film. Typically there is a minimal of 1-3 characters due to it being a short filmand the duration of the film usually being up to 5-6 minutes long. Additionally my film contains only 1 main character who stands as the protagonist, this is somewhat different to the typical amount of characters in a political type of documentary as there can be a wide range of interviewee's or opinion leaders. However as my film was an extremely personal topic for me I decided to include only one interviewee and someone of who I trust and value the opinion of, therefore I feel as though just having 1 character conveys this to my audience members are they are able to recognise that this is an important subject in which I feel passionately about.
In terms of my budget I believe that again here I followed the forms and conventions of a short film as the budget is usually low. Evidently I did not have the budget to pay well known actors or to afford expensive and efficient equipment to film with. Therefore I used people that I knew and were willing to be apart of my film documentary and made the most of equipment that I already had, such as: my own camera and I Phone, all of which I was happy and content to work with. When it came to location the majority of my filming was done inside of a house and features my main protagonist 'Samir', this was where I interviewed him as I feel that I needed purely a plain and minimal setting in order for the focus to be mainly on him so that my audience members can listen to the information and opinions of the main character and not become distracted by anything else within the scene. Moreover I used a lot of split screening and parallel editing therefore I felt as though the filming that includes my main character needed to be simple in order to contrast with the busy and visual actions in which were happening on the other side of the screen. This allows my audience members to see the main character as well as seeing the visual element to my film. Moreover part of my filming was in public places for example: London Oxford Street and Westminster.
Again forms and conventions that I feel I have followed is that I have used traditional elements such as: a voice-over, interviewees, a strong opinion, a chronological order of events and more. I simply felt as though these were relevant and appropriate for my documentary as it conveys the order of events from before 1948- to this living day, the effects that certain events have had on people and a two or one sided opinion.
In addition I consider my media product to have developed the forms and conventions of a short film as I attempted to structure my film purposely in a way that is suited to a modern audience and to sustain their interest through out the duration of my short film. I feel that I have done this with the use of the filming of the protests in which were recent events therefore maintaining that relevant interest.
Monday, 13 April 2015
Thursday, 9 April 2015
Friday, 3 April 2015
The Indefinite Eye
Indefinite meaning that although what I am showing you in my film is my own perception and opinions on the conflict and that I feel very strongly about this, however this may not be how everyone else will or already does perceive this conflict therefore I am informing my audience that my documentary is the issues from my eyes and my own thoughts upon this, perhaps my own knowledge on it, my influences when growing up and learning about the problems In which my homeland is experiencing etc. The use of the word 'eye' again conveying how this is how I personally see and view the subject through my own 'eyes'.
Monday, 23 March 2015
Saturday, 21 March 2015
Research
Research I did in order to help increase my knowledge and understanding on the conflict and making a documentary:
The film '5 Broken Cameras' - By a Palestinian Emad Burnat and Israeli Guy Davidi.
(The film won a 2012 Sundance Film Festival award, it won the Golden Apricot at the 2012 Yerevan International Film Festival, Armenia, for Best Documentary Film, won the 2013 International Emmy Award, and was nominated for a 2012 Academy Award.)
Plot:
The 94 minute documentary conveys the conflict between Palestine and Israel from a first hand experience and complete eye witnessing. Helping to show and give evidence of the atrocious and heartbreaking realities that the Palestinians live and experience every day monotonously.
The documentary is set in a small village in the Israel west bank barrier in Bil'in, it presents many of the protests in which took place here and the general struggle to live from 2005 until 2010 , the filming being done over 5 different cameras and the 6th has continued filming from 2010 onwards today. The majority of the filming was taken by the Palestinian Eman Burnat himself and later on in 2009 the Israeli Guy Davidi then joined him in his pursuit.
Emad Burnat begins the film almost expressing how he feels due to these happenings, words such as:
"They burn in my head like a hot flame"
"The old wounds don't have time to heal"
"Each of my children experienced a different childhood"
"A day of demonstration in the village is better than a wedding"
"It takes strength to turn anger into something positive"
"Its an endless cycle"
Quotations like these stand out, these are not words in which come from a place of civilization or security, these words come from uncertainty, destruction and restriction, however many Palestinians still seem to find the strength to resist and remain optimistic.
As these Palestinians attempt to live their life and also attempt to peacefully protest for their freedom and to gain back parts of their own land, it is soon evident that the Israeli forces have no problems disrupting and harshly retaliating to this, tactics such as: "special Israeli soldiers planted among us to create chaos" therefore falsely working with the Palestinian people however sabotaging their resistance and causing more problems for the Palestinians, causing many to be arrested etc. Moreover within the film we see how Palestine is dominated and occupied by many Israeli laws and soldiers, although when the Palestinians again powerlessly use some of the laws in which the Israelis force upon them and reverse these laws toward Israelis they disapprove of this, conveying the inequality and lack of power that the Palestinians suffer from.
Not only are the Palestinians victims in their everyday living but also have the painful task of bringing their children up in such a barbaric, cruel and suppressed state, a place where "death is all around". For example: Emad uses his youngest son Gibreel as a central point within the documentary, he illustrates how upsetting it is having to watch Gibreel's childlike innocence slowly fade and how Emad has no choice or other option but for Gibreel to see things with his own eyes, in order to understand the "vulnerability" of life as he also quotes "They have to become strong men", as clearly there is no chance of easy survival if you are weak.
Towards the end of the documentary it becomes visible to us an audience as to why Emad and Guy created this documentary or why Emad used the concept of filming to help him cope with the struggles in Palestine. As he experiences and lives through the continuous hurt he hopes that "capturing these images will have some meaning" and that his filming helps to convey to us an audience that although the Palestinians experience no end of agony they still seem to "raise morale even when things seem hopeless" conveying their overwhelming strength and persistence in fighting for the survival of their homeland.
This was an extremely moving documentary for me, as it indeed depicts the realities of general living for the Palestinians, how their every move is dictated and dominated by Israeli forces. However I also view this documentary to be uplifting and positive in the sense that it presents the Palestinians exactly as they are: courageous, resistant and inspiring. As I display my gratitude for this documentary I will leave you with this:
"By healing I resist oppression, when I'm hurt over and over again, I forget the wounds that rule my life. Forgotten wounds cant be healed, so I film to heal"
The film '5 Broken Cameras' - By a Palestinian Emad Burnat and Israeli Guy Davidi.
(The film won a 2012 Sundance Film Festival award, it won the Golden Apricot at the 2012 Yerevan International Film Festival, Armenia, for Best Documentary Film, won the 2013 International Emmy Award, and was nominated for a 2012 Academy Award.)
Plot:
The 94 minute documentary conveys the conflict between Palestine and Israel from a first hand experience and complete eye witnessing. Helping to show and give evidence of the atrocious and heartbreaking realities that the Palestinians live and experience every day monotonously.
The documentary is set in a small village in the Israel west bank barrier in Bil'in, it presents many of the protests in which took place here and the general struggle to live from 2005 until 2010 , the filming being done over 5 different cameras and the 6th has continued filming from 2010 onwards today. The majority of the filming was taken by the Palestinian Eman Burnat himself and later on in 2009 the Israeli Guy Davidi then joined him in his pursuit.
Emad Burnat begins the film almost expressing how he feels due to these happenings, words such as:
"They burn in my head like a hot flame"
"The old wounds don't have time to heal"
"Each of my children experienced a different childhood"
"A day of demonstration in the village is better than a wedding"
"It takes strength to turn anger into something positive"
"Its an endless cycle"
Quotations like these stand out, these are not words in which come from a place of civilization or security, these words come from uncertainty, destruction and restriction, however many Palestinians still seem to find the strength to resist and remain optimistic.
As these Palestinians attempt to live their life and also attempt to peacefully protest for their freedom and to gain back parts of their own land, it is soon evident that the Israeli forces have no problems disrupting and harshly retaliating to this, tactics such as: "special Israeli soldiers planted among us to create chaos" therefore falsely working with the Palestinian people however sabotaging their resistance and causing more problems for the Palestinians, causing many to be arrested etc. Moreover within the film we see how Palestine is dominated and occupied by many Israeli laws and soldiers, although when the Palestinians again powerlessly use some of the laws in which the Israelis force upon them and reverse these laws toward Israelis they disapprove of this, conveying the inequality and lack of power that the Palestinians suffer from.
Not only are the Palestinians victims in their everyday living but also have the painful task of bringing their children up in such a barbaric, cruel and suppressed state, a place where "death is all around". For example: Emad uses his youngest son Gibreel as a central point within the documentary, he illustrates how upsetting it is having to watch Gibreel's childlike innocence slowly fade and how Emad has no choice or other option but for Gibreel to see things with his own eyes, in order to understand the "vulnerability" of life as he also quotes "They have to become strong men", as clearly there is no chance of easy survival if you are weak.
Towards the end of the documentary it becomes visible to us an audience as to why Emad and Guy created this documentary or why Emad used the concept of filming to help him cope with the struggles in Palestine. As he experiences and lives through the continuous hurt he hopes that "capturing these images will have some meaning" and that his filming helps to convey to us an audience that although the Palestinians experience no end of agony they still seem to "raise morale even when things seem hopeless" conveying their overwhelming strength and persistence in fighting for the survival of their homeland.
This was an extremely moving documentary for me, as it indeed depicts the realities of general living for the Palestinians, how their every move is dictated and dominated by Israeli forces. However I also view this documentary to be uplifting and positive in the sense that it presents the Palestinians exactly as they are: courageous, resistant and inspiring. As I display my gratitude for this documentary I will leave you with this:
"By healing I resist oppression, when I'm hurt over and over again, I forget the wounds that rule my life. Forgotten wounds cant be healed, so I film to heal"
Monday, 9 March 2015
What uses and gratifications can your audience get from your media coursework?
Uses and Gratifications Theory In terms of audience pleasures:
Surveillance: In terms of my A2 coursework task in creating a short film, poster and review. I feel as though my audience members could easily consume my product for the use of 'Surveillance' due to my short film being a political documentary based upon real and unfortunate issues happening today, therefore my audience can use this as a way of finding out what is happening in the world and being informed on real life problems.
Correlation:
Here my audience members may not be able to relate to the issues within my product as harshly, however they may be able to compare their own life with the life of real life people in which are brutally effected by the conflict happening in Palestine/Israel and perhaps could feel grateful or appreciative for their own life. For example: half way through my short film, when conveying to the audience how Israel had created blockade in Palestine, preventing any goods or even people for leaving or entering into the region of Palestine. Therefore my audience when watching this may understand and realize their own privileges and the advantages that they have in everyday life.
Entertainment:
In terms of entertainment I feel as though my audience may not specifically use my product for entertainment purposes as what I am conveying is a serious issue, however they may enjoy the genre type of a documentary in general and enjoy learning and educating themselves on real life events. Such as; more towards the beginning of my short film, I explain the brief history of the conflict and how it evolved, therefore an audience member that enjoys learning the history of events or issues, they may use my product personal for entertainment.
Diversion:
By viewing my documentary the audience could well use the product for diversion, as although I am informing them that these happenings are a reality and not a fictional short film, I may still distract them from their own reality or daily routine. For example: by understanding of the atrocities that many Palestinians have experienced, being driven out of their homes, participating in a war in which is an unequal fight due to lack of military and economic power that Palestine have. This may divert my audience from thinking of their own life and personal everyday problems
Surveillance: In terms of my A2 coursework task in creating a short film, poster and review. I feel as though my audience members could easily consume my product for the use of 'Surveillance' due to my short film being a political documentary based upon real and unfortunate issues happening today, therefore my audience can use this as a way of finding out what is happening in the world and being informed on real life problems.
Correlation:
Here my audience members may not be able to relate to the issues within my product as harshly, however they may be able to compare their own life with the life of real life people in which are brutally effected by the conflict happening in Palestine/Israel and perhaps could feel grateful or appreciative for their own life. For example: half way through my short film, when conveying to the audience how Israel had created blockade in Palestine, preventing any goods or even people for leaving or entering into the region of Palestine. Therefore my audience when watching this may understand and realize their own privileges and the advantages that they have in everyday life.
Entertainment:
In terms of entertainment I feel as though my audience may not specifically use my product for entertainment purposes as what I am conveying is a serious issue, however they may enjoy the genre type of a documentary in general and enjoy learning and educating themselves on real life events. Such as; more towards the beginning of my short film, I explain the brief history of the conflict and how it evolved, therefore an audience member that enjoys learning the history of events or issues, they may use my product personal for entertainment.
Diversion:
By viewing my documentary the audience could well use the product for diversion, as although I am informing them that these happenings are a reality and not a fictional short film, I may still distract them from their own reality or daily routine. For example: by understanding of the atrocities that many Palestinians have experienced, being driven out of their homes, participating in a war in which is an unequal fight due to lack of military and economic power that Palestine have. This may divert my audience from thinking of their own life and personal everyday problems
Monday, 2 March 2015
Wednesday, 28 January 2015
Creative Proccesses
Creative Processes
When in the process of creating my short film and creating blog posts for my coursework, there were a few things In which helped me either present my work in a certain way, or elements in which fed my inspiration.
Prezi- is a free website, In which allows you to present your work/thoughts/or ideas creatively. Giving me the ability to insert my text or images into a circles, squares, colorful or minimalistic text boxes in which flow from one to another entertaining and sustaining the interest of my reader.
Slideshare- Slideshare similar to Prezi enables me to present my work in a more creative and diverse way as this shows my technical ability to portray a diverse range of ways in which I can entertain and inform my audience.
Final Cut pro- Final cut pro is an editing application, however this is not free. I use this on the Macs at school in order to create my short film, this enables me to change the way my filming appears, the sound and transitions in order to create the best possible film for my audience.
Pixlr- Pixlr is a free image application in which I have been using for a long time, all through my Media Studied course, this has helped me edit my images in which I have neede to create my music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread as well as using Pixlr for my poster and review for my short film. With the use of different effects, sizing, adjustments etc. It provides me with resources to creating professional looking images.
Blogs and magazines/newspapers- In general I am a lover of blogs, reading and understanding of other peoples interpretation on specific topic areas. This helped me when looking at inspiration for my music magazine but also my short film. In terms of magazines and newspapers I looked at the areas associated with political issues and information on real life issues in order to see how they would approach the subject matter.
When in the process of creating my short film and creating blog posts for my coursework, there were a few things In which helped me either present my work in a certain way, or elements in which fed my inspiration.
Prezi- is a free website, In which allows you to present your work/thoughts/or ideas creatively. Giving me the ability to insert my text or images into a circles, squares, colorful or minimalistic text boxes in which flow from one to another entertaining and sustaining the interest of my reader.
Slideshare- Slideshare similar to Prezi enables me to present my work in a more creative and diverse way as this shows my technical ability to portray a diverse range of ways in which I can entertain and inform my audience.
Final Cut pro- Final cut pro is an editing application, however this is not free. I use this on the Macs at school in order to create my short film, this enables me to change the way my filming appears, the sound and transitions in order to create the best possible film for my audience.
Pixlr- Pixlr is a free image application in which I have been using for a long time, all through my Media Studied course, this has helped me edit my images in which I have neede to create my music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread as well as using Pixlr for my poster and review for my short film. With the use of different effects, sizing, adjustments etc. It provides me with resources to creating professional looking images.
Blogs and magazines/newspapers- In general I am a lover of blogs, reading and understanding of other peoples interpretation on specific topic areas. This helped me when looking at inspiration for my music magazine but also my short film. In terms of magazines and newspapers I looked at the areas associated with political issues and information on real life issues in order to see how they would approach the subject matter.
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Evaluation 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?
In general I feel that the overall plot of my documentary is using the typical forms and conventions of a documentary in the sense that a documentary conveys the reality of a situation or action, additionally my short film is portraying the reality of the situation happening in Palestine/Israel and is informing the audience with facts and statistics of the difficulties. For example: I show the conditions that many Palestinian children are living in everyday.
I chose to stick to the usual conventions of my genre type film otherwise it would not fall under the category of a documentary, as it would then contain perhaps a minimal amount of characters, usually a plot twist and either a happy or unpleasant ending. I feel that genre types such as: romance, horror, comedy, thriller, action etc. come under the theory of Stanislavski in which allows the audience to follow a story and make a connection with the characters, on the other hand my documentary follows the conventions of Berolt Brecht in which is also a theatre practitioner, although he does not consistently allow the audience to become attached to the characters or plot of the performance/film, Brecht goes by the purpose of making a political point and making the audience aware or to recognise a certain situation.
Firstly I believe that my short film documentary uses the conventions of a short film in terms of character within my short film. Typically there is a minimal of 1-3 characters due to it being a short filmand the duration of the film usually being up to 5-6 minutes long. Additionally my film contains only 1 main character who stands as the protagonist, this is somewhat different to the typical amount of characters in a political type of documentary as there can be a wide range of interviewee's or opinion leaders. However as my film was an extremely personal topic for me I decided to include only one interviewee and someone of who I trust and value the opinion of, therefore I feel as though just having 1 character conveys this to my audience members are they are able to recognise that this is an important subject in which I feel passionately about.
In terms of my budget I believe that again here I followed the forms and conventions of a short film as the budget is usually low. Evidently I did not have the budget to pay well known actors or to afford expensive and efficient equipment to film with. Therefore I used people that I knew and were willing to be apart of my film documentary and made the most of equipment that I already had, such as: my own camera and I Phone, all of which I was happy and content to work with. When it came to location the majority of my filming was done inside of a house and features my main protagonist 'Samir', this was where I interviewed him as I feel that I needed purely a plain and minimal setting in order for the focus to be mainly on him so that my audience members can listen to the information and opinions of the main character and not become distracted by anything else within the scene. Moreover I used a lot of split screening and parallel editing therefore I felt as though the filming that includes my main character needed to be simple in order to contrast with the busy and visual actions in which were happening on the other side of the screen. This allows my audience members to see the main character as well as seeing the visual element to my film. Moreover part of my filming was in public places for example: London Oxford Street and Westminster.
Again forms and conventions that I feel I have followed is that I have used traditional elements such as: a voice-over, interviewees, a strong opinion, a chronological order of events and more. I simply felt as though these were relevant and appropriate for my documentary as it conveys the order of events from before 1948- to this living day, the effects that certain events have had on people and a two or one sided opinion.
In addition I consider my media product to have developed the forms and conventions of a short film as I attempted to structure my film purposely in a way that is suited to a modern audience and to sustain their interest through out the duration of my short film. I feel that I have done this with the use of the filming of the protests in which were recent events therefore maintaining that relevant interest.
In general I feel that the overall plot of my documentary is using the typical forms and conventions of a documentary in the sense that a documentary conveys the reality of a situation or action, additionally my short film is portraying the reality of the situation happening in Palestine/Israel and is informing the audience with facts and statistics of the difficulties. For example: I show the conditions that many Palestinian children are living in everyday.
I chose to stick to the usual conventions of my genre type film otherwise it would not fall under the category of a documentary, as it would then contain perhaps a minimal amount of characters, usually a plot twist and either a happy or unpleasant ending. I feel that genre types such as: romance, horror, comedy, thriller, action etc. come under the theory of Stanislavski in which allows the audience to follow a story and make a connection with the characters, on the other hand my documentary follows the conventions of Berolt Brecht in which is also a theatre practitioner, although he does not consistently allow the audience to become attached to the characters or plot of the performance/film, Brecht goes by the purpose of making a political point and making the audience aware or to recognise a certain situation.
Firstly I believe that my short film documentary uses the conventions of a short film in terms of character within my short film. Typically there is a minimal of 1-3 characters due to it being a short filmand the duration of the film usually being up to 5-6 minutes long. Additionally my film contains only 1 main character who stands as the protagonist, this is somewhat different to the typical amount of characters in a political type of documentary as there can be a wide range of interviewee's or opinion leaders. However as my film was an extremely personal topic for me I decided to include only one interviewee and someone of who I trust and value the opinion of, therefore I feel as though just having 1 character conveys this to my audience members are they are able to recognise that this is an important subject in which I feel passionately about.
In terms of my budget I believe that again here I followed the forms and conventions of a short film as the budget is usually low. Evidently I did not have the budget to pay well known actors or to afford expensive and efficient equipment to film with. Therefore I used people that I knew and were willing to be apart of my film documentary and made the most of equipment that I already had, such as: my own camera and I Phone, all of which I was happy and content to work with. When it came to location the majority of my filming was done inside of a house and features my main protagonist 'Samir', this was where I interviewed him as I feel that I needed purely a plain and minimal setting in order for the focus to be mainly on him so that my audience members can listen to the information and opinions of the main character and not become distracted by anything else within the scene. Moreover I used a lot of split screening and parallel editing therefore I felt as though the filming that includes my main character needed to be simple in order to contrast with the busy and visual actions in which were happening on the other side of the screen. This allows my audience members to see the main character as well as seeing the visual element to my film. Moreover part of my filming was in public places for example: London Oxford Street and Westminster.
Again forms and conventions that I feel I have followed is that I have used traditional elements such as: a voice-over, interviewees, a strong opinion, a chronological order of events and more. I simply felt as though these were relevant and appropriate for my documentary as it conveys the order of events from before 1948- to this living day, the effects that certain events have had on people and a two or one sided opinion.
In addition I consider my media product to have developed the forms and conventions of a short film as I attempted to structure my film purposely in a way that is suited to a modern audience and to sustain their interest through out the duration of my short film. I feel that I have done this with the use of the filming of the protests in which were recent events therefore maintaining that relevant interest.
Tuesday, 13 January 2015
Uses and Gratifications Theory
Uses and Gratifications Theory
The definition itself is associated with the audience and how and why people use media: what people do with media' more so than what media does to people. Uses and gratifications theory focuses upon the different ways in which people emotionally/physically connect to what they are watching/reading/hearing. Whether media is used as an act of escapism and that person may depend on media to make them feel a certain way, however it may be that it used as a form of socialising and creating relationship with others. It may even be used in hope in finding themselves and their own identity or it may just simply be used to discover information and events that are happening.
Most theorists say that there are 4 different ways in which media is used by audience members:
The definition itself is associated with the audience and how and why people use media: what people do with media' more so than what media does to people. Uses and gratifications theory focuses upon the different ways in which people emotionally/physically connect to what they are watching/reading/hearing. Whether media is used as an act of escapism and that person may depend on media to make them feel a certain way, however it may be that it used as a form of socialising and creating relationship with others. It may even be used in hope in finding themselves and their own identity or it may just simply be used to discover information and events that are happening.
Most theorists say that there are 4 different ways in which media is used by audience members:
Diversion: (Escapism) When the media
is used as a way of helping you escape from reality and hide away
into continually consuming a piece of media such as: Watching a TV
program everyday (EastEnders or The real Housewives of Orange County)
Personal Relationship: Using the
media to form relationships with others, to feel apart of a social
group or to even create your persona. Such as: Twitter, Facebook or
YouTube.
Personal Identity: This would be when
media is used to help you discover yourself or to learn perhaps the
history of your origins/background. Such as (For me it would be
watching a documentary on Palestine as this is where I am from
therefore I would be discovering the elements of the country in which
I associate myself with). It may also be watching a documentary on
the Music industry as this may be your passion in which you wish to
pursue.
Lastly...
Surveillance: This is simply finding
out information on celebrities and their lifestyle, when/why they are
visiting a certain place and doing specific events. E.g. CD/book
signing.
Viewers typically tend to have a
favourite genre type as they are ensured of what types of feelings
and emotions in which that specific genre is going to provide them
with, such as a Rom-Com: as this will help the viewer to escape
emotionally and become attached to the characters in the film.
Where as in a horror film, the viewer
would perhaps become familiar with the villain and the heroic figure
and therefore aspire to act in a similar manner.
As my genre of film is a documentary
it can always be difficult in knowing the emotions in which this type
of film will provide the viewer with, as the contents of a
documentary can vary from Environmental issues, Animal documentaries,
money/ the economy( e.g. benefit street) or in my case political
issues. As my film is about the conflict between Palestine and Israel
and is conveying of the happenings that sparked this issue and why it
still continues to this day. My film may create realisation,
anger/frustration or sympathy and melancholy. Emotionally and
physically they may want to actively contribute and want to help
resolve the situation however it may leave them feeling upset and
dispirited after seeing the true reality of the issue and the effect
it has on my sufferers out there.
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