How has technology impacted the film industry?

Production( Filming and Editing equitment)

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is made by recording  images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry.

In past years, picture editors dealt only with just that (picture). Sound, music, and (more recently) visual effects,  However, digital systems have increasingly put these responsibilities on the picture editor. It is common, especially on lower budget films, for the assistant editors or even the editor to cut in music, mock up visual effects, and add sound effects or other sound replacements. These temporary elements are usually replaced with more refined final elements by the sound, music, and visual effects teams hired to complete the picture.
Decisions about the technology that is to be used during the principle shooting will affect what the audience ultimately sees at the multiplex, Camera selection may appear to be a difficult procedure; however, the choices that are available to filmmakers are somewhat limited. Several lenses are used on a feature film, and the decision to use a specific lens is based on the action, composition, and lighting of a particular scene or shot.
Prior to the 1980s, almost every motion picture was shot using the single-camera method. The single-camera approach is exacting and methodical. The first step in the process is to shoot the master scene that captures all of the essential action and dialogue. More detailed shots, including close-ups, medium close-ups, and reaction shots, are then shot individually. Each new camera setup is time consuming. A large number of lighting changes and camera setups can often lead to production delays. Throughout the 1990s, the pressure to reduce the shooting schedules of feature film projects led to the increased use of the multicamera technique.

Distribution- Marketing to an audience

With the use of marketing to an audience who is always connect to there smart phone, you begin to widen the audience and appeal to a younger tarrget age, this is a clever way of getting to them because they are always using there mobile phones, such as:

• Automatic e-mails( sent straight to all smart phones)
• Free texts from your network offering cinema deals ( orange wednesdays)
• Browser advertisements ( pop-ups)
• Broadcast messages
• Apps

Exhibition- Digital projection & other ways of viewing

The ability to be able to download films off the internet both illegal & legal have impacted the film industry, for the worst this is becuase it enables you to view a film from your own home, which decreases cinems ticket sales and profit, therefore has an impact on the cinema itself, less customers means less money. If illegally downloaded, it is usually free therefore the film industry & cinema are effected, none make profit from it.

Pay per view impacts the film industry by making the film welll known & also helps to advetise it & contributes the profit.
Dvd & Blu-Ray helps impact the film industry because it advertises the films and makes it well known as it is displayed on billboards, TV adverts & posters, it also makes it easier for people to watch the film, when you want & where you want, but the downside of this is you can lend out the DVD to various people rather than them seeing it thierself or buying it etc
The use of streaming has the same effect as illegal downloading, such as the use of YouTube, there is no cost funded to watch this therefore lowering the profit and sales for that film as anybody anywhere can watch whatever they want whenever they want as many times for nothing.

Life Cycle of a Film

The films come from the filmmakers; they are big-budget personal expression.
Their quality comes out of a commitment to emotional truth, in every way possible. All considerations, technical and artistic, come out of a passionate interest in telling a story: through character design and cloth dynamics, texture, lighting, performance, sound, story... every department comes together, with their expertise and enthusiasm, to help the director make their film.

Pre-production—Preparations are made for the shoot, in which cast and film crew are hired, locations are selected, and sets are built. This is also the stage in which the ideas for the film are created, rights to books/plays are bought, etc.
Production—The raw elements for the finished film are recorded.
Post-Production—The film is edited; production sound (dialogue) is concurrently (but separately) edited, music tracks (and songs) are composed, performed and recorded, if a film is sought to have a score; sound effects are designed and recorded; and any other computer-graphic 'visual' effects are digitally added, all sound elements are mixed into "stems" then the stems are mixed then married to picture and the film is fully completed

Finding funding for a short, feature length or documentary film is notoriously difficult to find and is often the main barrier to films going into production.

Funding opportunities generally come from organisations such as regional screen agencies or national film organisations, but can also come from private individuals or commercial companies.

Getting investors to support your film is one of the most difficult challenges of filmmaking. To cash in on the $8 billion-plus independent film market, you’ll need a sound business plan and a firm understanding of the financing process.

Prime Evil Gender Representation

Overall in the clip the women and males role's have been reversed, the women have taken on the active role, such as when Abby shoots the tiger and attacks it with the digger, the women are more dominant yet vunerable when approached.
The men are also in casual clothes where the 2 women are quite dressed up e.g leather, dress, lipstick, tights, fur coat etc.

Sound

Diegetic: The sounds the characters can hear within the scene
Non-Diegetic: This is the sound put in at the editing stage, the sound the characters cannot hear e.g. Canned Laughter

Soundtrack: The music chosen to go with a particular scene, this creates a certain mood.
(Score): Writing original music for the scene.

Sound Effects:
- Sounds difficult to record on set
- Added in editing e.g. Gun shots & Explosions etc
- Like special effects but with sound
- Creates drama or an effect

Theme:
- Soundtrack which goes with certain situations or characters e.g. the Friends & Eastenders theme tunes or the music of James Bond when he comes on screen/is about to do something

Ambient Sound: Natural sounds from the environment

Dialogue: Actors speech (Internation meaning - angry, upset etc & Culture)

Sound Bridge: Soundtrack which bridges (plays along) two scenes

Diary of a Call Girl

We instantly notice that there is no soundtrack, this emphasises the awkwardness, and this enables us to hear the awkward silences so we get a feel of what it would be like to be there in that situation.

The dialogue is left unfinished a lot, once again a sign of awkwardness, and this awkwardness points towards his disability.

The sound effects of when Belle goes to lock the door, the noise of all the locks is really clear and emphasises hois vulnerability and the awkwardness of when she realises she has to leave them.

Cutting to the father in the van, the noise (diegetic sound) of him playing with the windows, seat and horn and radio is also emphasised likewise to the locks on the door upstairs, this draws attention to how HE feels protective of his son.

We also finally have a soundbridge from the van scene to the bedroom scene and the use of a violin. this is love making music, but it is also pitying, we feel sorry for the boy unable to do things for himself.

Continuity Editing

180 Degree Rule
- Part of achieving continuity
- Have to observe more in the shoot than the edit
- Can disorientate viewer without it
- Shows conversation

Invisible Editing
- Makes action flow smoothly
- Clip uses continuity throughout

Eyeline Match
- First shot is a person looking at something (Shot A)
- 2nd shot we see what they're looking at (Shot B)

Cross Cutting
- Builds tension, 2 story lines are going to combine
- Cuts from one one scene to another scene
- Shows two things happening simultaneously
- Simultaneous narratives

Action Match/Cutting on Motion:
- To create continuity cut on motion
- Looks smooth
- Allows to move from a Close Up to Wide Shot for example
- Matching one shot to another shot
- Action starts in one shot and it's completed in the next

Graphic Match:
- Usually used to draw attention to a theme going on (in a film)
- 2 shots chosen for graphic similarity e.g. Man in the jungle looks up at a cliff, cuts to his wife in a city looking up at a building thats similar to that cliff

Shot Reverse Shot:
- Used during conversations
- From person 1, cuts to person 2 back to person one

Transitions:
- Any time we go from one shot to another is a transition
- Hard Cut - No fading, dissolving etc
- Dissolve - Place one image ontop of another then 1st image dissolves
- Crossfade - Slotting two images/shots together
- Fade In, Fade Out

Jump Cut:
- Jarring edit, takes out a chunk of time
- Series of cuts which create discontinuity
- Usually to show a uncomfortable impatient time
- This cut draws attention to the edit

Montague:
- Shots chosen for thematic relationship
- Often used to show development and to 'crunch' time
- Development of character/time etc

Pace:
- How does the edit effect the mood through the pace of the clip
- Fast/Slow

Priveledge and Marginisation:
- Characters
- Priveledge means more screen time
- Marginilisation means less screen time

Representation of Disability



Secret Diary of a Call Girl

At the beginning of the clip there is an instant eye line match from the boy to the son emphasising the awkwardness of having to pay for whats about to take place, this is also highlighted further of the eye line match from Belle to father to son.

Next we see a match on action when the Dad takes his son from the wheelchair to the bed, this creates a fluid motion.

Then once again there is another eyeline match from Belle to the son, this shows us Belle feeling awkward in this situation.

We then move into a shot reverse shot between Belle and the boy, this emphasises his vulnerablity and establishes the relationship between actions, the locking of the door makes him feel anxious and leaves him feeling isolated without his father.

The overall pace throughout the clip has been slowed down generating a feeling of anxiety, there are long awkward silences and these are shown to make us feel awkward as if we was in the room with them.

The 180 degree rule has been used/observed through the whole scene, and the editing maintains the continuity throughout.

Next, the eye line match of the father looking up to the building from his van shows his feelings of protectiveness and anxiousness for his son.

Then we have the jump cuts of the father in the van, this cuts out chunks of time and is deliberately discontinous once again showing his anxiousness, his on edge for his son, this is highlighted through the editing.

The cross cutting from the van to the bedroom shows us that these actions are taking place simultaenously but different situations from different view points.

The edit is priveledgeing the master shot in the scene of Belle and the boy, her being above him shows his vulnerability once again, she's the more confident one and she's in control.

Camera Analysis of Monarch of the Glen clip

The first part of the clip starts with a dolly shot, once again we can see the tools that men would use for hard labour, showing some sort of experience, and that these men are men of work.

Moving onto the next scene, the camera pans from the doorway across the courtyard into an over the shoulder shot, which is a medium long shot of the girl (as the camera only allows us to see to just below her knees) this allows us to see her costume and body language, and this is a representation of age, we can tell from her costume and the way she is standing that she is clearly a teenager and younger than most of the other characters, the panning of the camera from the doorway across the courtyard also shows us a glimpse of the scene and where they are.

The camera then moves into a dolly shot of the girl in the car, then moving into a close up so we can read her emotions and shows us her confusion and uncertainty of how to start the car, this emphasises her emotions to show us she doesn’t know what she’s doing, she’s lying about being able to drive.

At the car crash scene, we can automatically see that this is a wide shot to show us the change of the scene and establish the new location. Then when the headmaster gets out of the car the camera moves to a medium long shot of him, once again to show his costume and body language, from this we can clearly see his angry expression. His costume gives us an idea of the type of character he is, this creates a young vs old conflict. We then see a shot reverse shot of the headmaster, to the man, back to the headmaster with the camera panning in-between characters conversation, this is also a representation of age, by the sudden movements we see the difference in age and the height/authority is emphasised. When Amy is then obviously caught out the vulnerability of her is emphasised and we sympathise with her as the camera is brought down to her eye level to make us relate to how she is feeling, almost childish, this would also be considered as a two shot close up of Amy and the woman.

Moving onto the office/study scene, straight away we have a long shot of the two men, this once again establishes the new location and we can see that the room is an adult room, we wouldn’t see teenagers bedrooms like this, this is a representation of age once again, there choice of place is mature and old fashioned. The camera then moves onto a low angle shot when the man offers the headmaster some brandy, this is almost from Amy’s point of view, and it gives the two men an authority of age, once again a representation of age, between the men and Amy.

We then get a close-up and a medium close up when the man is telling off Amy, this is once again putting us in Amy’s shoes/position and it makes us feel like where getting told off, there is also the use of the shot reverse shot as it pans from the man to Amy to see each others reactions and body language/facial expressions as this is quite an intense moment.

We then have a wide shot of a field to establish the change of scene.

Next we have a montauge of camera work, we have a mixture of close ups, long shots and mid shots, this is put together for thematic purpose, this is mainly showing the use of tools and is a source of theme building through editing, it also condenses time.

The next scene is the bedroom scene, here there is a change of scene but no establishing shot, the camera tilts to show us a shot of a stuffed animal and moves down (or tilts to reveal) her goodbye note, the camera then pans to revel the second teddy bear and another note with girly childish handwriting. The camera then tilts up to reveal Amy putting on her backpack, then pans and zooms into a photograph on her mirror, this emphasises her emotions to what’s going on, her youth is emphasises through the camerawork. We then have a long shot to show the window Amy went out of to emphasise her over-reaction to the whole situation which gives us a childish impression once again, but the camera is now outside looking in through the window to emphasise with Amy, we once again see things from her point of view. The medium close up of the woman looking out of the window is to show her emotion to what’s going/gone on.

The final scene in which the camera is aPauls eye level, this makes us feel his guilt, where experiencing the narrative from his perspectivet  and this puts us in the frame, we feel like where there with him feeling his emotion.

Mise En Scene of Youtube Clip in Class

·       Setting/Location

X   Costume

·       Props

·       Lighting

·       Body Language & Blocking (How actors move around on set)

·       Make-Up

In the first part of the clip the first thing you notice is the props that the men are using, which are tools, tools are commonly associated with men and construct a representation of age amongst the kind of men that use them which are usually older, more skillful men.

At first sight of the young girl who this clip is mainly focused on throughout we can see by her clothes/outfit that she is quite young as she is dressed in casual, young clothes, around the teenage region, whereas the older people are in heavy work clothes, this is another representation of age, showing us another way in which we distinguish one age group from another.

 We can also see at once when we get a first sight of the headmaster at the scene of the car crash that he is dressed in an old fashioned posh/smart way, and his long grey beard resembles his age which is clearly quite old, another representation of age by physical appearance.

We also see that when the young girl is in the car, her body language shows us that she is confused, a hint towards that she was lying about being able to drive, this shows her youth and vulnerability. We also notice this when once again her use of body language when she has been found out about not going to school is childish, she’s scared and tries to hide, like a little girl would when there being scolded or told off they run to ‘Mummy’ or ‘Daddy’ as a shield to hide behind.

In the next part of the clip, we are taken to a room inside their house in which the man which seems to be of some Father figure to the young girl and the Headmaster are having a conversation, we notice that the room is really old fashioned with oak wood paneling, and seems to resemble that of an old study/office, it’s quite dark and we can see there are candles which would have been used in the old times instead of the use of electricity, the man also offers the Headmaster a Brandy, this is commonly associated as an old man’s drink, and quite posh, it’s rarely common nowadays so it is once again (like the office) a past time prop.

I also noticed, that they have used natural lighting, from the sun through the window to cause natural daylight falling into the office (the use of a Fill Light could also of been used here on set to create the element of natural daylight), and as most of the other scenes are shot outside, just as general daylight so that the lighting is soft and everything in the shot is illuminated and you can see everything going on, as well as facial expressions and body language/gestures.

The scene where the man is telling off the young girl, we get very common stereotypical body language and gestures used here, he’s wagging his finger and her telling her off, and she shrugs in a defensive manner, once she has been scolded when the man raises his voice, she retaliates in a very childish way and runs out of the room flinging her arms down this is an infantile gesture, this is a very good representation of age as this is very common behavior we would see from everyday teenagers/Father figures in a likewise situation.

At the building/working scene there is a selection of a vary of shots put together, known as a montage. Once again we get the stereotypical representation of age associated with men as there is the use of tools and skills to build, this is showing being old and wise to know what you’re doing.

The final important part of this clip, is the bedroom scene, this is a huge representation of age towards the teenage girl, she leaves notes in very childish handwriting against teddy bears that she has also left, this is a childish gesture of goodbye before she runs away, we also catch a glimpse of the magazines on her bed, which are aimed at a young teenage girl audience, this gives us a idea of her age, another way of representation of age.

Stereotypical Soap Opera Representation of a Male Villain/Bully

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upRAUkGewxk

A stereotypical clip of a male villain in the soap opera Hollyoaks, where Warren is the village criminal and bully, these are usually seen in soap operas across TV e.g. Eastenders, Emmerdale etc, the male villain usually intimidates people and threatens them into helping them do bad things, everybody blames bad happenings on them such as murders or when things get stolen or damaged, and they are usually a very mysterious shady character who nobody really trusts.

Media Key Concepts

Media Key Concepts:

• Media Language
• Representation
• Audiences
• Institutions

Part A: Analyse a 5min clip of a British TV Drama

• Cinematography (Camera Work)
• Editing (Special Effects, Cuts)
• Sound (Diegetic, Non-Diegetic)
• Mise en scene - Setting, Make-up, Props, Location, Lighting etc

Representation
How Media Language builds a representation of the following:

• Age
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Sexuality
• Regional Identity
• Ability/Disability
• Class/Social Status

Part B: Audiences & Institutions

Prepare a Case Study of 2 films

You will be tested on your knowledge of the relationship between the people who produce, distribute and exhibit the film (institutions) & the people who go to see it (audience) how, why and where they see them.