Exam Mark Scheme

I have been given a mark scheme by the examiners so I can see what should be included in my media coursework and how the work I produce will be marked. Now I have this I can do my work and refer to this to enure the work I make has the needed sections to be able to hit the grades I want. There are two main sections called the video section and the audio section which have levels within so I can uses the criteria in my coursework to produce what my group and I want.

Here is the marking criteria. I would like to be hitting top levels so I need to meet all the demands in all levels to do so.

Research: The Mark Scheme 

The questions that must be addressed in the evaluation are:

 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
 -How does your media product represent particular social groups?
 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
 - Who would be the audience for your media product?
 - How did you attract/address your audience?
 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? 

Individually we must always be thinking and addressing all of these evaluation questions to all our work that we do because all the work goes towards a final product that we will be evaluating. If we have these questions in the back of our minds, it will make it a lot easier to evaluate the work we have produced as a group.

Animatic

Terror In The Night-Narrative Structure

In our groups, we came up with a storyline to meet the title 'Terror In The Night'. WE drew out ten small scenes that would sum up the story being told, our teacher then moved one scene and placed it in a different place, changing the entire narrative structure. Our task was to be able to tell the same story and make it make sense with a different narrative structure. As a group we found this task quite difficult because we felt like the entire story had changed/had to be changed in order for it to make sense. In the end, we were able to keep the same storyline and work around the disruptive narrative structure.

What is the effect of the change in narrative structure?
-The storyline of the film completely changed, it didn't make sense anymore
-The order of the deaths did not follow in order for the film to end how it should do
-Our biggest plot twist did not make sense as one character was not supposed to be send throughout the whole film as she is portrayed to be dead
-The events wouldn't have ran smoothly into each other
-Audience feels sympathy towards different characters

What must happen next to tell the same story but with a different narrative?
-The length of camera shots would need to change in order for the film to flow smoothly and effectively
-May have to re shoot particular scenes

What technical areas need to change?
-Need to start the opening scene with high key lighting
-This would give a sense of happy equilibrium
-Switch to low key lighting when the first character gets accused
-This would create a sense of mystery

Overall this task has been challenging as many elements of the film would have to change for the story to fit this new narrative, however it would be possible using various editing techniques and having to re shoot some scenes to capture the storyline the way we want it with the new narrative.

Mise en Scene Notes

Concept of Genre

The Key Concepts 

Representation: often pronounced in media as 're-presentation' as it means how the media can re-present something to convey there own message. An example of this would be if there was two opponents and how a certain news paper might present one better than the other opponent. Representation in genre would then be the 'stereotypes' which are conveyed for the audiences reassurance of the genre they are watching. An example of this could be if the audience is watching a western and the protagonist sherif has a star sherif badge on, a cowboy hat, brown leather boots and guns, as this is a stereotypical image of a sherif and the audience likes to know this as opposed to the sherif wearing something non suggestive of being a sherif.

Audience: Age, race, class, gender, ability and interest all come under this heading as all of these and many other things can be what the producers of a text can be aiming their work at. Age could typically be grouped on age rating which is seen on the cover of film and tv series packaging in a little symbol at the bottom of the cover. Gender is another as the audience is considered in everything produced, like whether there is a film with a protagonist that is male or female that could decide whether the film is aimed to an audience of either or if the genre of the film is a typical chick flick or rom com which is often thought as as a 'female' style of film or an action thriller which could stereotypical be aimed towards a 'male' audience.

Ideology: Is the ideas behind a media text, the secrete or not so secrete agenda of the producers. Images and words in media text are ways of defining social and culture issues which are all part of the ideology analysis of the film though out. An example of could be the samba the lion in the lion king in comparison to the hyenas. This is a good example as the ideology behind this is that the lions who are shown as the 'good guys' in the film use actors that have an American- English accent in comparison to the 'bad' hyenas who have ethnic accents. This is then Disney using ideology to show further that people with American-English accents are better people than those with a different ethnic accent which summarises ideas socially about the cultural issues in the world.

Language: Written, verbal, non verbal, visual are all ways of media language used for different effects and response in media texts. Print based media is used in news papers to present language which is appropriate to the messages they are trying to convey but also their audience who would typically be older than 16. Another example would be non verbal language such as body language, hand gestures ect which are used in films/ tv programs for emphasis on words said.

Institution: An institution is a profit based organisation that deal in the distribution and creation of advertising, entertainment and information service. These institutions are split into 5 main institutions: internet, film, newspapers, radio/broadcast and music. these all use genre to convey their own messages.

Narrative: A narrative is a 'story' or 'storyline'. However the difference between a 'Story' and a narrative is that the story is the substance like 'A and B meet, something happens and then order returns' and the narrative is the way the story relates 'once apon a time was a duck...'.

Camera Angles

There are many 'Technical Codes' in media which all manipulate how the audience sees the film to help convey what the directors of films want the audience to be thinking at moments throughout their texts. Camera angles is a main 'Technical Code' which film producers use to show what they are trying to portrait in the way they want it to be shown, to convey certain emotions and feelings about characters and the narrative in the film. A prime example of this would be if a character is shot from a high angle or a low angle, a high angle looking down on the character suggesting little power or importance within the film and a low angle conveying power and status over others in the film.

Here are some camera angles which filmers uses for certain meaning within production:

Aerial Movement/shot: Follows subject from a high view

Tracking Shot: The camera moves to follow the movement of a character or object

Tilt Shot: The camera is stationary but tilts up or down

Pan Shot: Camera stationary but moves left or right

Extreme Close Up: Emotion, intiment, detail

Extreme Long Shot: Setting fills frame, where things are set

Long Shot: Subject in relation to their surrounding

Medium Long Shot: Setting and subject= equal proportion

Medium Shot: Subject cut off at waist, costume and some emotion shown

Over The Shoulder Shot:  Audience involved in the film

High Angle: Makes subject appear weak

Low Angle: Makes subject look powerful

Genre Theory

Daniel Chandler: Conventional definitions of genre tend to be based on the notion that they constitute particular conventions of content (such as themes or settings) and/or form (including structure and style) which are shaped by the texts which are regarded as belonging to them.

David buckingham argues that genre is not simply given by the culture: rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change (buckingham 1993).

John Fiske defines genres as attempts to structure some order into the wide range of texts and meaning that circulate in our culture for the convieience of both producers and audiences.

Rick Altman argues that genres are usually defined in terms of media language (semantic elements) and codes (in western for example: guns, horses, landscapes, characters or even stars like John Wayne or clint Eastwood or certain ideologies and narratives.