Research for Ms.Wigley - Case Study

Here is the following research I did for my primary text which is the X Factor,


Media Language

In 2009, for the first time, the televised audition 
stage of the programme was held before a live 
audience. This meant that the ‘look’ of the early 
stages of the programme altered from the logo 
bedecked audition rooms of the previous series 
to the warmer and more ‘show-biz’ location of a 
live theatre (already a successful presentational 
format for  Britain’s Got Talent).



The addition of a live audience creates a dynamism and excitement as they become excited by the auditions and respond to the performances before them. Better auditions tend to be presented to television audiences using a wide variety of camera angles and editing techniques which again give a more professional appearance.


Narrative



A range of complex narratives are created by 
the show.
The series creates a general narrative based on 
the competition itself. It uses the now familiar 
elimination technique throughout which can be 
related to the repetition (and further 
complication) of the problem of the narrative. 
Each stage develops the problem. At auditions, 
the main question raised is – ‘will there be any 
good contestants who can go on to boot camp?

Media Self Evaluation

• Attainment = 2

I believe my so far since the start of media has been very good as I am currently exceeding my target grades by one grade above. However, although I am currently satisfied, I aim to exceed my target grade by two grades above and achieve my aspirational target grade which is an A.

• Effort = 1

I believe my effort in class and home towards media is excellent as I try to produce work of my best ability for all work set.

• Punctuality = 3

I believe my punctuality this term has been average as I have been missing from class due to illness and other reasons.

• Submission and quality of homework = 1

I believe the submission and quality of my homework throughout media has been excellent as I give time and care about the work I produce, therefore I believe I have achieved this.

• Ability to work independently = 2

I believe that my ability to work independently is very good as I believe this is also one of my best personality traits.

• Quality of writing = 1

I believe the quality of writing throughout my work in media has been excellent due to the time and effort I take as my I value my work highly.

• Organisation of blog = 1

I believe the organisation of my blog is excellent as I have uploaded and clearly labelled all of my work and met all my deadlines.

• Oral contributions in class = 2

I believe my oral contributions in class have been very good as I am not afraid to contribute and ask questions.

Three WWW's

• I have grown in confidence in Media.
• I have learnt various media techniques and terminology which will help me achieve a good grade.
• I believe that the quality and understanding of my written work in media has improved a lot.

Three Targets (EBI's)

• Try and be punctual to all my media lessons.
• Try and contribute more to the class which would help myself and my peers.
• I will also try and stay consistent regarding the quality of my homework.

Mr Bush - Saw I Analysis - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq7FVtth39s

For my analysis of a Film I have chosen “Saw I”. I have chosen this film because of the various twists and equilibriums which gives the film a very interesting climax which makes the film so powerful. The film is about an old man punishing people for the bad things that they have done by using people that they love as a scapegoat. The main protagonist within the film is an old man called Tom, he is the controller of the game and he conveys different messages across to his clients for their sins to be paid. 

Furthermore, I believe this film is specifically aimed for and older generation target audience roughly ages between 19 to 40 years of age due to the brutal plot of this story. The genre of this film is horror and has a lot of bloody scenes which shows the audience that it is clearly targeted at an older audience who I believe are primarily males as I believe they would be mostly attracted to the genre of this film.

However; females may also be interested in watching this film for required reasons. Therefore, I believe that the films primary audience is males aged from 18-30 and the films secondary audience being females aged from 18-25.  

The language used within the film is very informal and contains a lot of swearing when a crowd of people are trying to save their own lives. This is very effective as it creates a lot of tension to the audience whilst creating a lot of suspense and encouraging the audience to identify with the terrified people. 

The film also has a lot of enigma codes for example, when the old man, as we do not who his identity, where he lives, or his name till the very end. The film also foreshadows a lot of these factors about Tom but does not give away the story in order to keep suspense. Saw also has action codes for example, when the girl puts the knife up into the air to stab her boyfriend in order to prevent her jaw from snapping in half.

Furthermore, the story develops into a linear pattern. As The scenes are not all mixed up, and an advantage of this is that the story then has a set rhythm and flow to it which creates an intense atmosphere between audiences. 

The equilibrium within the film is when the girl sits on the chair with the mask on her face. This creates a terrifying opening to the film and the props that are used to connote death and violence due to their nature and looks. 

Furthermore, the disequilibrium in the film is when the girl finds her boyfriend lying on the ground with the key in his intestines. However, the new equilibrium occurs when she unlocks herself from the death mask and she waits their on the floor terrified of what might happen next. This is another enigma code in the film as she then sees a shadow of something and is very petrified of what that might be. This further creates a lot of suspense for the audience.

Ms.Wigley - New Moon analysis

What techniques does this trailer used to persuade an audience to see the film?

The Twilight: New moon trailer uses various camera techniques and angles to help us the audience, to engage with the characters in the trailer. We see this with the use of high angle of shots of the female protagonist Bella. These shots connote to us that she is less superior than others and is vulnerable after Edward has left her.

This persuades the audience to see the film as we are interested and worried about the protagonist characters. Also the continuous editing connotes the narrative of the film and movement of the characters allow the audience to understand what is happening. This again allows the audience to relate to the characters. Also the use of the shot-reverse-shot persuades the audience to watch the film as we can see what the characters are feeling.

Furthermore, we see different medium shots of Bella when she is in contact with other characters which connotes that she is controlled by others in the film and gives us an insight to the main character and how she is feeling. We identify with Bella by the different camera angles and engage with her character which connotes to the audience how she is feeling. The crane shot of Bella on the mountains by herself connote to the audience that there is some kind of danger present in the second film in the Twilight Saga.

Also, The use of dark colours reflects sadness and creates mystery and suspense which again persuades an audience to see the film. The Digetic sound in the background, fast and harsh creates tension that something is going to happen. The false ending leaves the trailer in a cliff hanger as the silence engages the audience as we are not sure what has happened, as we are ambiguous. Also the genre of the film persuades the audience to watch the film as it is a hybrid-genre of fantasy and drama.  

How is the gender represented in this trailer?

In the trailer of Twilight: New moon, the Male characters are shown to be the more dominant gender whereas the Female characters are shown to the audience of being the more reckless and weak gender. This is shown throughout the trailer as Bella the main character within the film is always spoken at and always looking for advice which shows the audience that she is emotionally unstable and weak.

Also, the male protagonists within the trailer are stereotypically shown to be the big hero’s who save the women characters as if they were a “Damsel in Distress”.

Furthermore, in the trailer, the woman characters are shown to the audience of having to look up to the male characters and are ultimately powerless when compared to the male dominance. Also, the female characters in the trailer are shown in higher camera angle which outlines the fact that they are weak as the camera looks down upon them. However, the male characters are shown to the audience in Lower angle shots which I believe is parallel to the power between the two genders. 

This is shown in a particular scene where the female character Bella is rescued by one of the trailers leading male protagonist Jacob who is shown in a low angle shot which makes the audience look up to the character and in turn shows the audience that males are more dominant than females.

What Hollywood values are used in the trailer?

Twilight: New moon consists of a hybrid genre which allows the film to attract a host of different audiences. We know that the film is a hybrid as there are two sets of genres in the film which are action and romance which makes this film to appeal to both males and females.

Furthermore, the film is of Hollywood valued identity as it was produced in Hollywood and the values of the film are associated with Hollywood. Firstly the characters are the ones who sell the film as they are known celebrities, which create a brand for the film.

Also, twilight has created its brand through the popular twilight books as Hollywood only make best blockbuster films. This is why Hollywood producers decided to create a film based upon the book, as the book was very influential on people it allows Hollywood to target this film at their mainstream audience and know that people would love this film

The film is extremely professional suggesting the best producers were used and special effects were also used reiterating the high quality and high costing of twilight new moon. Furthermore, The film promotes a dominant ideology of Americans being rich and this is conveyed by the student’s cars in the film which also suggests they are rich. Also, as the film builds suspense between Bella saving Edward from killing himself and this is linked with Hollywood as suspense pleases their target audience and this engages there audience to stay loyal to watching films from Hollywood. The films portrays a love film and it is consistent in Hollywood films that there is a good ending which pleases the audience and this touches all people creates a positive universal theme. There are many additional casts involved in this film which expresses the films high budget in contrast to a low budget film there would be a use of minimum casts.

What target audience would be attracted to this film?

I believe the target audience of this film is directed at females from the ages of 16-14. This is because I believe that with the use of a love triangle and this creates entertainment amongst females who are engaged by love films and this allows the females to relate their feelings to Bella who is in love with a vampire and cannot be with him this allows females to become Bella and feel similar emotions and feelings. The primary gender includes woman as they are aware of the twilight books and as they are very popular the majority of gender that will see this film is females as they prefer reading rather than males.

I believe that the Females are the primary audience for this film as the males within the film will be seen as a sex object which will appeal to females as they may like the cast therefore they will watch the film because of the cast and that is what sells the film furthermore they could appeal to male because of their body therefore showing that people will like you if you have that body therefore it motivates people to become stronger.

However, as the secondary audience, I believe young males would be attracted to this film, because of the violence and the protagonist Bella. I also believe that the social class related to this film would be in the C2DE category as the film will appeals to teenagers who are in school and are unemployed.

Media Analysis - Mr Bush

Firstly, the piece of media that I have chosen to analyse is Batman: The Dark Knight. We know the film is a hybrid as its film genre is action/thriller. This is connoted to us due to the fast paced editing and camera movement within the opening scenes of the media. Also, the Non-Digetic sound effects used in the sequence also connote that more intense, fast paced action is yet to come. This is shown when the narrator at the beginning of the scene says “where do we begin?” this connotes ambiguity and is a very effective technique as it catches the attention of the reader just as they are whisked away by the action packed scenes in the media.

In this particular piece of media, the main protagonist in the film “The Batman” is shown to be a very mysterious character. This is shown in the first 10 seconds within the opening scene when a dark shadowy figure is seen to jump of a building wearing dark, black clothing. The building itself is made to seem mysterious as it is set in the night time with low-key lighting surrounding the building. This further shows the batman to be a very precarious character to whom the audience is encouraged to identify with. As we first see the camera pan over to the Batman, the camera then shows a high angle shot where the audience are seeing a birds-eye view of what the Batman is seeing. This further encourages the audience to engage with the Batman as he is the one character that we are seeing the most of onscreen and also the one character that we are learning about the most.

This technique is very useful as it places the audience in the characters shoes and makes the audience think “why is he jumping of a building?” and it also creates suspense and makes the audience want to watch on further.

Most Of the shots used in the opening scene was the long shot, the long shot is a very effective technique as from this the audience can understand and acknowledge the setting of the scene in which the protagonist is placed in. It also makes the audience more aware of the mood in general which is shown to be intense and gloomy, due to the mise-en-scene being very dark and intense Non-Digetic sounds being used.

Furthermore, later on in the piece of media, we are introduced to another protagonist “The Joker”. The character wears dark clothes and looks suspicious which connotes to us that he is the villain within the storyline. However, he arouses the audience by being extravagant with his costume, hair and make up and also by using weird facial expressions which almost makes him a funny and crazy character.

This thought quickly changes when we hear and see The Joker uttering the words “Kill the batman” which immediately confirms that he is the Villain and that he is in fact a very twisted character. The audience are then again alerted to the mischievous and twisted mind of the joker when he fires a bullet in a crowded city centre. This causes panic and chaos for the people. However, the Joker loves to feed off others pain and unhappiness which is shown when he laughs like a little child at the people trying to scatter away from the trouble. This further confirms that he is in fact a very twisted character and also foreshadows the trouble ahead.

More Over, towards the end of the piece of media, we are introduced to another important character, Harvey Dent who is the chief police inspector. During a tracking shot when we fisrt learn about Harveys character, we hear Harvey say “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. “ When we first hear him say this, we don’t really take notice. However this one quote is very effective as it foreshadows the rest of the storyline as further on in the film Harvey loses the love of his life and decided to ditch trying to become a hero and live the rest of his life as a villain.

Furthermore, I believe that the use of the dark colours and effects used in each mise-en-scene is parallel to the broken society of Gotham City which is why it is up to the Batman to stop the demise and evil ruling over Gotham.

In conclusion, I believe that the techniques used by the directors while creating this 2 minute sequence have been very effective in promoting the film as the use of Digetic and non-Digetic sound along with the use of rapid camera movement and angles such as the long shot, Pan and close up. It has managed to create suspense and leaves the audience on the edge of their seats which in turn leaves viewers wanting to watch on.