Film Language- Learner Response

WWW: comprehensive analysis of media language & a detailed answer.

EBI/LR: representation question doesn't need to focus on advantages/disadvantages link two more paragraphs with a tighter focus on american values/ideologies represented.

Their is hegemony where one country has power over another country. And we as an audience can identify, this as we see how each of the characters are represented. As we see the american traffic controllers being confident, working as a team and are serious. As their use of language is technical and very professional which adds to the kind of way in which they are being represented. Thus the american values reinforces the hierarchy of power, as we see close up of relevant people .Where as the foreigners are quiet and sly as they were whispering amongst each other.The fact that we as the audience cant hear the foreigners, it's like they are not allowed to be heard which reinforces the feeling of danger. And creates suspense for us as the audience.

We as the audience have privileged information as we are aware of what is going to happen, and know instantly that they are powerless as they can't do nothing about it. The representation of the traffic controllers was a positive one as they are doing their work. This is also done effectively as at times we are in their identification and can see what they see. Such as them viewing the radar screen their is a close up for us, this is powerful as it gets us sutured. This focuses on them putting their priorities first, and are engaging this with the audience. As the various of shot/reverse shots and the use of handheld camera, because we are following what they are. This keeps us fully aware of what's going on, and thus our mind is sent in the way they are being represented.

Stereotypical V Alternative

Media Forms and representations

1. How does the trailer use media language to catch the attention of the audience? 

The whole trailer is Non-digetic as it has music soundtrack, this catches the audiences attention as the song is a slow song which is parallel to in which the story is being foretold. Thus there is sound bridges, as there is one sound track throughout the various of scenes we are seeing, this could connote that everything is possibly linked together. So by instantly looking at that, I can see how there is a Linear-pattern as it has a beginning, middle and end. As, we see happiness and sorrow this is connoted beautifully as when we see the whales look beautiful then we see the couple happy. But we know sorrow is coming as we see tragedy happens to the whales, this thus foreshadows the unhappiness of the couple. But we know it's a linear-pattern as before the trailer ends, the couple seem happy. So this is the kind of attitude it leaves the audiences, feel-good.

There is shot/reverse shot as we see a wide ranges of medium shots, close up, long shots ect. At the beginning of the trailer, what I think grabs the audiences attention is the blocking of the character. But what the character is doing, we slowly see a whale appear and we see the body language of  the character which connotes that they have that instant relationship with the whale. Therefore, this foreshadows that something like this will happen later on, relationships will deepen but because of this there will be some hurtful consequence. We then see a close up of a happy woman, this is a powerful shot as straight after we see a slow motion of the whales. Which thus indicates that we are in the woman's point of view, and feel the same sense of emotions as we see the whales too, as we are being encouraged to gaze at. At one point we fertishize on the woman's legs, and then shows a close up of the man. This could be polysemic or could possibly mean their love and affection for each other. The use of camera angles, is very affectively and have done it in a way that instantly grabs the audience's attention which I think he did very well in. At the end there was a steadicam sequence which was effective, as they were happy and following them in front connotes that the outcome was a successful one. 

Throughout the trailer there is key light this catches the audiences attention as its the most brightest and influential as we can see everything clearly, and this is affective as it connotes happiness. However, when there is a tragic or sad moment, it slowly turns to low key lighting which had some shadows to connote the moment we were in and so we could have that emotion to, and it engages with us as the audience. These are affective as it builds the emotion for us as the audience, and keeps us aware by what's going on not by word but by lighting and media terms. So we instantly grab the different kind of emotion whilst watching this. I think this was a montage editing as it involved sequence being placed to each other that conveyed a message to the audience. Moreover, there was a fade out too and when we were seeing different slow motion movements it would fade out to black. Which shows the different tragic elements which are taking place, this catches the audience's attention by doing this. And it caught the audiences attention as it provided an overall impression to the audience, by the different use of media language. The trailer was therefore able to engage and connote different aspects which did catch the attention. 

2. How is gender represented in the trailer?

The target audience for this film would be adults male and females. This is because there is polysemic and the meanings are cleverly portrayed. For an example there is mostly shot/reverse shot between the whales and the characters. Which connote to the audience how couples relationships are likened to that. Moreover, the target audience would most probably be in a relationship and can thus liken themselves to the film. So their would be certain tragedies which would be hurtful but connotes beautifully through media terms thus having a bigger impact to the audience.Also the film is revolved around a young couple, probably in their late 20's and they are represented, in different outcomes which could have a influence on the target audience. But it also shows how in there young age life is tough for the couple, as there are a lot of things separating them. And the woman's illness has made things difficult. Coming from different worlds also makes matters more difficult, but it seems he'll do anything for her. We can see this as he was lying there and she was looking at him, thus came in shot/reverse shot to the male character as he fought harder and stronger for her. 

The genre is drama romantic film, which also includes mystery and suspense. As we don't know what tragic thing is going to occur which leaves the suspense for the audience to solve.The society depicts couples at a young age differently, mostly drinking having fun and living off from their parents. But as we can see from this trailer, the couples  facial expression and body language depicts a different aspect to us, as we see how they have secular jobs and are working hard. But having twists, and the consequence leaves that mind frame set for us for what's going to happen which makes it a moving trailer. Making it having enigma codes which is created leaving the audience to wonder what's going to happen. There is a big emotional vibe, and a feeling of growth between the couple which would represent their gender for being loving and kind-hearted. And really connoting and representing the importance of their relationship, and that they would do anything to save it. Therefore this is all represented cleverly with good use of editing and representing their age in a different way, viewing life from a different point of view. Which would grab the audiences attention and leave them having a feel-good feeling after watching this film especially the couples. 

Magazine Image

The two images I have selected are the ones I would have on my magazine. Either the top or bottom one, I chose these as she is wearing a dress which connotes the 'sleek' look and can inspire woman. Moreover, her hair is straight and dip dyed which conveys the fashion in today's world. This is effective, as it would draw woman into it as they would feel they can get the similar look. Also, my magazine is about fashion, clothing, hair ect.  So this image suits that genre nicely. Her dress is a light beige colour which could connote the latest new colour trend, and this would also inspire the woman.  The camera below is a well known camera, and the magazine I am doing, the brand is promoting our magazine. So for woman who use that camera, may buy it too as there would be information linked to the camera, and our story behind it. There in the top one is also direct mode of address which would make the target audience feel more engaged. The camera is mid-shot it's affective as the target audience get to see what she is wearing and her facial expressions. 

Fish Tank Film Review 

Fish Tank was released in 2009 and was promoted at 62^nd Cannes film festival in France, May 14, 2009. It’s a British drama film and was written and directed by Andrea Arnold. The film won many awards including a jury price at the film festival in addition to that it won the 2010 BAFTA for best British film and the best film award at the evening standard film awards. The director Andrea is an award winning director and actress from England. The further films she has directed are Red Road, Wuthering Heightse, Wasp and Dog. The films she makes she doesn’t really use famous people, as it’s hard to exceed that awareness. She likes working with unknowns or people that have not acted before, as with actors your aware of who they are. That’s what makes her film unique, as you see and can relate to more of a real person. And this is done in Fish Tank, as a casting agent saw (Katie Jarvis) who plays Mia in Fish Tank fighting with her boyfriend on the train station. And therefore thought she would fit in well in the play, which she did as it was more so real.

(Katie Jarvis) plays Mia a difficult 15 years old who lived with her mum and sister in a counselling estate, and is zealous about dancing. Katie had no acting experience before, so it was her first time acting in this film. No one would therefore be familiar with her, so they didn’t know what to expect from a young in experienced person. (Michael Fassbender) is a well-known actor and has acted in many films like, Magneto, Inglourious Basterds, X-Men: First class and Prometheus. He plays Connor in the film fish tank, previously having acting experience he was nominated a few times for best supporting actor. (Kierston Wareing) has starred in; it’s a free world, the take and has been nominated for awards. The audience wouldn’t of have been well aware of the former actress, as she hasn’t had major roles. In the film she stars as Joanne and is Mia’s mum, also Connor’s boyfriend. The main star who the audience would've recognised is Michael Fassbender, but the rest have either no experience or would've played small roles.

The film is about a troubled teenager Mia who is angry at everything around her, she feels helpless and alone. Living an underclass life with her single mother and sister is difficult as they don’t seem to connect and have that bond. There’s not much love shown to her, therefore she is her own person. However, she has a hobby and is passionate about dancing to hip-hop music, doing this Mia feels like she’s in her own world, feels content while doing this every week or so in a room which is of no use. However, things change for the troublesome teenager, as her mum has a new boyfriend who is majority of the time in the house. It’s hard for her to be nice to him, but he always shows a friendly side to Mia displays love. Although liking the attention and compassion she is stuck in the middle as she is confused, whether it’s fatherly love or a different kind of love. However we come to acknowledge that Connor is instantly attracted to her and Mia feels the same way too.

Connor encourages Mia to pursue dancing and go and audition for the dance off. So she applies, and he helps her by lending her the camera and being overly nice which she likes, and later gets accepted for the auditions. As he’s the only one interested in her dance, he ends up seeing the dance which she is going to perform. Mia selects his favourite song to dance too which shows dramatically that she he’s significant, but after that unexpectedly they end up sleeping with each other,  afterwards Connor realises that he has made a big mistake and ends up leaving the family. The mother not knowing that Mia has slept with him, starts panicking as she is unaware of why he left her. Then we come to see how Mia finds out he is married and has a child, and thus is worried as she is coming back to reality. Plus how she had something so nice for a while, but it just vanished like that coming to acknowledge the truth. We see the things she does that represent her anger at life after finding out about Connor and at the end there’s a strange twist and what the audience want to expect to happen doesn't.

The film is an emotional diverse drama which is far off from a feel good movie. It shows the negative outlooks, it’s something that some of us can relate to in a way. It sets the expectations of the film as at the end of it we expect to not have that good feeling. It proves us right and shows the complex side to cinema. The soundtrack went well with the scenes that showed, as it sets the scene for us before-hand and we have that emotional feel to it which is really good. This film is aimed at teenagers over 15 mainly because there is a vast issue for teenagers today not getting jobs, and some remaining on drugs, drinking etc. So watching the film could relate to their situation, and thus can put themselves in Mia's shoes and really identify with her. Moreover, for the teens who have an easy going life can see another side to teenagers. How their life can be, and if someone shows love to them how easily it is to be trapped. I would recommend it as the society are all stereotypical about teenagers, but after watching this film you sort of understand the reasons behind it. The hurt behind the attitude and the actions they take that foreshadow it.  

Analysing two media awards trailers.

The Paper Boy 

What went well was the sound in the paper boy was used effectively, and had digetic sound. What was included was the dialogue by characters in the scene for an example, at the beginning there was scene of boys and girls bulling a boy and there was use of dialogue. The music and other sounds that come from the source we naturally expected. This links to it being a parallel sound as its music we would expect to hear accompanying a scene. There was a moment when everything was monochrome this was good as we could therefore tell it was a flashback that was being held. Most of the times there were Low key lighting there was also areas of chiaroscuro as there were contrasts of light and dark which created the dramatic shadows. The shadows were connoting danger, and it felt more intense as everything put together was represented correctly. 

There was a range of shot/reverse shots in the short clip which got the audience sutured, the close-up shots were powerful as we could clearly see the emotions. There was an area of which we too saw a mid-shot of the man in the car escaping from the 'paper boy.' Using this type of shot was effective as we would want to see what he'd be doing and how quickly he would escape. 

There was continuous editing which is beneficial for us as the audience, as the shots were placed logically the scenes were following on from the next. And thus we try to make sense of one shot joining the next one. An example is we saw an exterior shot of the group of students bullying another one, and then instantly see the following shot of older people and the 'paper boy' so we therefore assume that it was a flashback. And the 'paper boy' was seeking revenge. Moreover, by having the bullying scene at the beginning it foreshadows as that is the whole point to how the story is evolved. All of it was good in there own ways, however what could've been better was if there were more dialogue and something which would entice the audience. And automatically grab their attention, and keep them out of their seats.

Vengeance

What went well was the sound in this short clip was Non-digetic as you could tell there were sounds added during the post-production, e.g. there was a voice over explaining what was happening and how that person felt. This is effective as it allows us to identify and see that person’s point of view. In line with that the sound was however, parallel as it was music we would expect to hear which was accompanying that specific scene. An example is, someone slapped the person across the face and we clearly heard the noise. Moreover, the music was in line with the scenes.There was a scene where it was monochrome and this shot was high-angle is very affective as it made us feel like we are watching a footage from the CCTV camera. And while we were seeing this use of monochrome and high-angle makes the scene more intense and we know what they are doing is wrong. 

There was a group of teenagers in their hoody’s at night running and whilst this was happening there was a tracking shot where the camera follows the action along track laid for the purpose. There was also an area in which some people were lying down on the floor, and the shot was a crane on as the camera was moving around a distance about ground level.The lighting was low-key which was created by using only the key and back lights. This effect produces strong contrasts of light and dark and creates dramatic shadows. This was affective as the scene took place at night, and it was more intense. What they could've improved on was if the quality was clearer and there was different scenes shown to add the story to it, also the quality of the sound wasn't as clear this resulted in not being able to hear for what the voice-over was being said. But overall I think it was a good trailer they had created.

People magazine analysis research

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_7-J8yfjijISTYzMGhYaHdCcnM