Binary Oppositions.

The theory of binary oppositions was created by Levi Strauss. They are pairs of concepts that are opposite to each other in meaning.

Examples include: good vs evil, love vs hate, dark vs light etc. These words act as symbols for society's ideas and meanings of the words.

Focus Task.

In today's task we used DSLR cameras to learn as well as practice the functions of manually focusing within shots. We had to show narrow depth of field, this involves having the background of the shot blurred and the foreground in sharp focus. 

We also learnt about changing the F stop, this changes the distance of the focus. The smaller the F stop number, the deeper the focus will. And visa versa. 

Below is a video that shows my group and I practising this technique:

Recce.

We went down an abandoned underground section of Achland Burghley School. It is strictly off limits to students but it is ideal for our horror trailers. I has no stable flooring and there was rubbish everywhere. When we were down there we all felt a bit uneasy and slightly scared due to its emptiness and isolation. Location is very important within the film industry as it can set the whole scene/ prepare us for what may happen next.

*ADD PHOTOS

Permission Letter.

In order to incorporate our chosen songs into our trailers, we had to write letters asking for permission to use the songs due to copyright.

*PRINT SCREEN OF LETTER

Representation Theory.

The media represents the world to us. They show us how things actually are as well as how they should be. The main representations we study in media studies include:

• Femininity
• Masculinity 
• Sexuality 
• Social Class
• Race and Ethnicity 
• National Identity 
• Age

Hegemonic Cultural Stereotyping

This theory suggests that the media reinforces and circulates traditional and old fashioned representations. They then represent them to audiences as common sense eg. men and woman should behave in a certain way.

Masculinity - Eg. Bruce Willis in Die Hard. He's muscular, saves those in trouble, tough, good guy fighting evil.

Femininity - Mary Jane in Spiderman. Weak character that needs to be rescued as she is in danger. 

Sexuality - Graham Norton. Very camp television presenter. 

Race and Ethnicity - Ali G (exaggerated Asian stereotype)

Age - Grandad in Only Fools and Horses.

National Identity - West is West. Father takes son to Pakistan as he feels he has lost connection with his culture. 

Social Class - Hugh Grant as the middle class twit in Notting Hill.

Although these are characters we enjoy to watch, hegemonic stereotyping can lead to passive consumption. Eg. Young boys thinking they should act like Bruce Willis. 

Mulvey's "Male Gaze" Theory.

Laura Mulvey believed that some women were represented in films in a way that will draw male attention. Woman are forced to view things through the eyes of a man.  It is a feministic view of voyeurism. The cameras linger the bodies of females, this shows off women as sexual objects to gratify men. However, there have been changed towards the representation of women over the past few years. For example Kill Bill Vol 2.

Stock Characters in Horrors.

The stock characters are the people who make the film fun and entertaining. We are surrounded by stock characters in real life, that we automatically recognise them and their characteristics as soon as they appear on screen. Although predictable, they are they ones we look forward to seeing the most.

Film School Session - Music

Today's session with songwriter Gary Osborne and script writer Jessie O Mahoney was absoultely hilarious. They told us about their ups and downs within their time being in the industry. Gary has worked with Gary Barlow and Elton John. Jessie who started out as the photocopying script guy for Eastenders has climbed the ladder of success and now writes scripts for the award winning soap. Both him and Gary were quite the characters. We then split off into our groups and analysed song lyrics. My group and I looked at the song "she drives me crazy". Immediately, we had an idea about a boy who is extremely obsessive over his new girlfriend. He has her photos all over is room and is always checking up on her.

Distribution.

Distribution from britneybailey

Analysing a Trailer.

TUCKER & DALE VS EVIL

Genre: There are many representations of iconography that suggest aspects of horror.

Narrative: There are stereotypical characters such as the dumb blonde, the wander etc. 

Vulnerable woman needing protection.

Target Audience: Would have to know the aspects of slasher/horror films in order to find it amusing.

Music: Non- diagetic music creates tension.

Contrapuntal - introduces the comedic side of the film. This highlights their unique selling point as well as the hybrid genre (horror/comedy) 

Shot Types: The establing shot is a high angle bird's eye view of a deserted road - this creates a mysterious atmosphere. We are unaware of where that road leads too but we know that we are about to embark on a adventure. 

Dialogue: "Did you see the way those guys looked at us?" - supports Mulvey's theory that men see woman as sexual objects.

Makeup Practise.

Today's lesson was very fun and practical. We were given the chance to play around with the materials Christine gave us and put into practise the methods she taught us. We wanted to create a zombie look and achieved this by mixing golden syrup and red food colouring to make fake blood. By mixing blue and purple food colouring we were able to make a bruising effect. Overall, I was very happy with what we achieved.

Film School Session - Makeup

Today we were very privileged to have a visit from a highly profound make up artist Christine Blundell. She gave us suggestions on how to create things such as blood and bruises in preparation for our trailer tasks. I was quite surprised to find out that some of the things she told us to use were basic things you would find in a corner shop or supermarket such as food colouring and gelatine. I look forward to seeing her again and expressing my creative side through what she has planned to teach us.