Homework - Micro and Macro Terminology

Micro
The little things that add up to make a representation, including the four key areas: mise en scene, camera work, editing and sound.

Enigma - something that creates interest for the audience that is not addressed during the drama

Denotes - defining an object at the simplest level e.g. a heart is red 

Connotes - deeper meaning on something e.g. the heart connoted love

Consumer - viewer of media products

Ideologies - a personal belief e.g. Patriotism is right

Iconography - a visual image of representation e.g. kitchen sink dramas represent a homely community

Stereotype - a view that is perceived as 'the norm' 

Code - signs/symbols e.g. a code of a medical drama would be a heart monitor

Conventions - a set of rules e.g. a convention of a Bond film would the title sequence - it's what they would use to define a Bond film

Verisimilitude - how it relates to real-life e.g. a social realism film, such as This Is England - relates to the views at the time it was made

Ambient Sound - something which creates an atmosphere within a drama, however it's present within it e.g. a heart monitor

Incidental Sound - something which is added over the top of a drama e.g. a soundtrack/sound effect

Motif - a recurring symbol/object e.g. the tardis in Doctor Who

Narrative Bridge - something which joins the narrative together e.g. a montage/flashback

Narrative Economy - saving the story, not revealing full storyline, allowing the audience to make connections 

Editing Micro Terms
Jump Cut - an abrupt transitional device which jars the continuity e.g. my montage with smashup frobo - the action jumped between different parts - mainly done to create dramatic effect

Cross Cutting - interweaving between different locations/settings. Often used to build up tension or compare two different scenes.

Cutaways - shortly interupts continuous action and then jumps back to original shot

Eye-line Match - cuts from one character to another, achieving continuity as the effect that is achieved allows the audience to think they're looking straight at each other

Graphic Match - effect that dissolves two different objects from one to another

Montage - a mini story which cross-cuts between an ongoing narrative e.g. my montages during Missing

Parallel Editing - events in two locations are cut together, in order to imply a connection between the two events

Continuity Editing - aims to create a sense of reality - also nicknamed invisible editing, referring to how the technique does not draw attention to editing process

Macro
This suggests that...

This represents...

This signifies that...

The ideology of...is clearly created through this representation...

Presentation - Footage

Missing - Presentation

Missing - Powerpoint Presentation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evaluation - Question 7

QUESTION 7 - PROGRESSION

Evaluation - Question 6

QUESTION 6 - TECHNOLOGIES

Evaluation - Question 5

QUESTION 5 - ATTRACTING AUDIENCE

Evaluation - Question 4

QUESTION 4 - AUDIENCE

Evaluation - Question 3

"What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?"

Throughout my research, I looked at numerous different films to influence my final production. These included: 

- Hot Fuzz
- Crank
- The Hunger Games
- Bad Boys II
- Casino Royale
- Trainspotting
- Skyfall
- The Usual Suspects

Hot Fuzz
This is an American film, however features English actors, allowing England to also address the film, featuring a larger target audience for the product. 
Distribution: 

(Univeral - International)

(Rogue Pictures - American)

Studios: 

 (Studiocanal - French)

 (Working Title - British)

(Big Talk Productions - British)

I like this film due to the institutions as it has British involvement, however it is classed as an American film, ran by the influence of conglomerates.

Crank

This is an American film, with mainly American involvement.

Distribution: 

(Lakeshore and Lionsgate - American)

Studio: 

As this film is classed as American and doesn't have much British involvement, I am not too sure i'd like to use these institutions for my film as I prefer more of a British involvement, intertwined with conglomerates such as Univeral to push the film to a wider target audience. 

The Hunger Games

American film

Distribution: 

(Lionsgate - American)

Studio:

(Colorforce - American)

Although this is a great action film, both the distribution and studio are American and I prefer British involvement.

Bad Boys II

American Film

Distribution: 

(Columbia - American)

Studio:

(Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer films - American)

Casino Royale and Skyfall

American and British film

Distribution:

(Columbia - American)

(MGM - American)

Studio:

This film caught my eye, as it is classed as an American and British film, having the backing of media conglomerates, however also featuring a British studio, which I was looking for as I wanted the best of both worlds.

Trainspotting

British film

Distribution: 

 (Miramax Films - British)

(PolyGram - American)

Studio: 

(Channel 4 Films - British)

This film is classed as entirely British, which is great for the British market, however it doesn't reach international audiences, limiting the range of viewings. This is why I like to have a mixture of British and American institutions, so that they work together helping each other.

The Usual Suspects

American Film

Distribution: 

(Spelling Films - It's unclear, however known as International)

 (Gramercy - American)

(PolyGram - British)

Studio:

This film also meets the needs of the institutions I wanted, however I was going for bigger American institutions so that they were able to put a lot of the funding into the film to allow it to meet a wider target audience. 

WHY HAVE I CHOSEN THE INSTITUTIONS I HAVE?

For my film Missing, I have chosen to use:

Distribution:

Studio: 

I have chosen to use MGM and Columbia Pictures to distribute my film because they're large conglomerates, well known for the distribution of large action films, such as James Bond films and they receive a large fan base, due to the distribution of such large films.

For my studio I have chosen to use my own independent institution because during my research, a lot of the films that I came across had their own independent studio, allowing a unique feel to be given to the film. I also showed the institutions in the same style as the Bond films as they were my biggest influence and allowed me to choose my institutions wisely. 

Evaluation - Question 2

QUESTION 2 - REPRESENTATION

Evaluation - Question 1

Finally...i've managed to get question 1 all finished.

So, here you go:

QUESTION 1 - USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE

iMovie Problems

Don't even get my started! I've had an absolute nightmare with iMovie during the first question of my evaluation.

I spent ALL DAY Thursday on my first question of the evaluation and the files have become corrupted during me putting them onto my external hard drive and now the project is corrupt. I have taken my mac into the apple shop and they say that nothing can be done, so now the only option is to start again and go through the corrupt project and make it again!

What a nightmare...but that's what i'll have to do!

Detailed Evaluation Plan - First 3 Questions

PLAN

So, my plan for today is to get the first 3 evaluation questions completed.

1. I would like to show a range of comparisons from my media product, to others which I covered during my research, using a either a written format with the use of imagery, or a video format, with a voiceover commentary.

2. For the social groups, I will show a range of shots from my footage, introducing the different characters, showing how they fit into different social groups, such as 'The Russian Mafia'.

3. I will show either a range of imagery comparing my film institution and my research films institutions or there actual moving title, such as Columbia.

FINAL FINAL CUT - MISSING

Here is my final, final cut...

FINAL CUT

Audio Resolved

Last night, Paul Soler managed to pull up the gain of the tracks and lower some of the frequencies to enable the speech to be heard clearer. This sounds much better now and I am much happier with it.

Here's what Paul did to fix the audio:
 - increased gain to maximum boost allowable in Cubase (+24db) on quiet sections.
 - altered compression settings on audio track. Higher ratio (8:1) and increased make up gain considerably to further boost level.

 - tweaked settings on noise reduction plugin. Listened for optimum sweet spot on mid range frequencies whereby Jo's voice was clear but hiss was still being reduced. 

- It was impossible to do both totally effectively because of the quality of the source audio recording.

- applied limiter to output channels for audio mix down in order to prevent clipping.

As you'll be able to tell, the audio is considerably better than originally, however will a few minor errors. 

Paul has been brilliant at fixing this and I can't thank him enough!

Title Sequence and Song Choice

As you well know, I decided to write the song for my title sequence and I also commissioned James Corker to produce my title sequence, however I passed over ideas, which you'll find in one of my previous blog posts. These idea's included: packages, letter, blood, black and red colour scheme etc. After the progress of making the title sequence started, James suggested I took some green background shots and this linked in with another Bond film, Bloodstone as the Bond girls appear in there.

I have my reasoning behind this...

The title sequence that I had James produce, is based around my research into Casino Royale. During the Casino Royale title sequence, there is cards flying around and the items relate to the narrative of the film and this is what I was hoping to create with mine.

Here are some comparisons:

Titles:

Casino Royale

 Missing

 Targets:

Casino Royale

Missing

Titles:

Casino Royale

Missing

Bond Girls: 

Bloodstone

Missing

 Blood Reference:

Casino Royale

Missing

Gun Shots: 

Casino Royale

Missing

My letter reference: 

I can't tell you how pleased I am with the finished title sequence! I absolutely love it - it reflects my research well and also the ideas that I first had in the first place. 

As Skyfall's title sequence is within the narrative, I wanted to go more towards the Casino Royale style and incorporate the story within my sequence, which I did as my film is about a missing package, hence why I wanted envelopes etc. 

Also, due to little budget, this was what we could produce! I think it's pretty spectacular, so well done to James.

My song compares well with my research as the songs that're normally played over the title sequence, either have reference to the film such as Skyfall or have reference to Bond, such as the Quantum Of Solace song and the other songs that're in my previous research and because of this, I wanted my song to have the title of the film, like Skyfall, however also be based around the story with the missing packages.

I chose to a "Bond" style opening as it reflected a lot of my research and I think it draws a nice end to the narrative and it pieces together everything, such as the suspects (highlighting them with targets) and highlighting that the storyline is based around the missing package.

The song that I wrote, "Missing" links in great in terms of the tone and the lyrics as I feature the backing track through my flashforward scenes, however by the end when it comes to the title sequence song, it has built up to the fast bit of the song, so I have put my own twist on how the song works out, moving away from playing a full song at the end and I thought this worked particularly well. 

Here are my lyrics to show that they link in well with the narrative:

MISSING – BY KATHRYN DOWSON

Verse 1

Don’t let it fall out of your hands, don’t let it go

Don’t let it fall and crumble down

You’ll be the one that’s got to pay

When it’s gone

You’ll have to get it home

Chorus

I don’t wanna be the one who’s picking up the pieces

I don’t wanna be the one who’s chasing after you

I don’t wanna be the one who catches you when you fall down

I just want you to find it and bring it back

To me

Verse 2

You best get out there and take a look

You better find it in one piece

Just remember you’re the one

You’ll protect you when they come

When it’s gone

You’ll have to get it home

Chorus

I don’t wanna be the one who’s picking up the pieces

I don’t wanna be the one who’s chasing after you

I don’t wanna be the one who catches you when you fall down

I just want you to find it and bring it back

To me

Middle

You’ve done it again

You’ve let it go

They all want to be you

I don’t why

You mess up when you try

Chorus (x2)

I don’t wanna be the one who’s picking up the pieces

I don’t wanna be the one who’s chasing after you

I don’t wanna be the one who catches you when you fall down

I just want you to find it and bring it back

To me

My full song is available to listen to on SoundCloud: Kathryn's SoundCloud

Let me know what you think!