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.
Wednesday, 28 January 2015
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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