Tuesday, 4 November 2014

Lighting pictures

Tried to show tiredness (white picture)
Tried to show mystery (red picture)

Wednesday, 22 October 2014

2012, Blockbuster?

During the advert for the film 2012, there are many details which show how it can be called a blockbuster. The main reason is the amount of special effects they have used to create the destructive scenes. An example of this is when the family are flying over the city as it is being crushed and destroyed. They are using massive cracks in the ground and huge explosions as they fly overhead. This shows that they had a large budget in able to create these special effects.


Another reason why 2012 can be considered a blockbuster is that it was made by one of the 'Big 6'. It was made by Columbia who is one of the biggest film companies in the world. This shows that it would have a big budget and a wide audience.


Another reason for considering this film a blockbuster is the use of famous stars in the film. In the advert we see the main actor being John Cusack, known for being in Hot Tub Time Machine and runaway jury would have cost a few million to be in the film. Another example is the director Roland Emmerich who is known for his world destruction films. This theme is not a cheap one to create as it would need a high budget for all the special effects and CGI.

Friday, 3 October 2014

Doc Martin

In this scene of Doc Martin, there are several different details that give a view on the regional identities of the characters.

Doc Martin is shown to be very different to the other local characters in the scene. One example of this is the difference in the costumes. Doc martin is wearing a very smart suit under a long coat which tells us that he is a smart and professional character. However his new receptionist is wearing a T-shirt with a neon smiley face on, this shows how she is not very professional when it comes to working. Doc Martin is used to looking smart as he is from London where you must look professional for going to work, however it is very different in this small village.

As well as the costumes there are some other minor details which show the difference in the regional characters. The two plumbers at the start which are father and son are very stereotypical for small villages to have family business'. Another example is the different accents of the characters in the scene. This clearly shows how they are from different areas. Doc Martin also comes across as being very emotionally closed which is again very stereotypical for people living in large cities like London.

At the start of the scene we get the sense that Doc Martin is a very organised character. We can see this when people are just standing around talking and a stray dog walks into the room. Doc Martin immediately raises his voice which tells us how he gets frustrated when things are not working to plan. However the local characters are not fazed when this happens and carry on. This can be linked to Doc Martin being a very professional character and organised.

Wednesday, 24 September 2014

How is gender represented in this scene of Doctor Who




Throughout this scene, men are represented to be very powerful. One example of this is at the start when the master is stood at the top of the stairs and the camera is tilted to be looking up at him. This gives the effect that he is above us and more dominant than us. Another example of men having power is when the doctor begins to regenerate. A bright white light circles him showing that he is powerful as he is also levitating. Another example is when the master demands Martha to kneel. This shows that he has power over her and can order her to do what he wants. Another piece of evidence of men having power is when the Doctor starts to overthrow the Master. The camera is tilted to be looking up at him showing that the doctor is looking down at the master showing power and dominance.




Throughout this scene women are seen to be powerless. One example of this is that two women are being held captive by two male guards. They also do not speak throughout the majority of the scene. This shows that they were not able to fight back or say anything. As well as this there is a blonde women in a red silk dress. She is used as a sex object in this scene. Also she never speaks in the scene showing how she wasn't confident and dominant enough to speak out.


However later on in the scene Martha starts to gain power and bravery. One example of this is when Martha starts to stand up and shout at the Master. This shows that she now has taken the power from the master because she has outsmarted him.


Friday, 19 September 2014

Parent consoling child over GCSE result video

This is my first AS Media Studies video. It is a scene from a soap opera about a teenager who gets some bad GCSE results and is consoled by his parent at home.

Tuesday, 16 September 2014

Se7en Sloth scene, Mise en Scene analysis

In this scene from David Fincher's Se7en, the police enter a dark and duty house and are searching through the rooms. They create suspense by using different camera movements. For example when the police team enter one of the rooms they stop and the camera zooms out and leaves you in suspense as to what they have stopped and looking at. As well as this at the start of the scene they use the camera to show how the policeman maybe feeling, this is called interplated. The camera is shaking to show how the policemen might well be feeling a bit jittery and shaky. This creates a scary tension and intriguing feel to this scene and gives us an idea that the rest of the film is a quite dark and scary film.

As well as this, they are trying to use props to create a high level of verisimilitude. For example they use thousands of air fresheners to show how the murder tried to conceal the smell of the decomposing body. As well as this the costumes that the policemen are wearing seem to be very similar to the real ones worn. This makes it realistic as they have not made the costumes bright and vibrant and nothing like the real thing. This gives us the idea that the film is made to have a high verisimilitude feel to it.

Also the scene has been created to be very dark, old and scary. They have done this by making it very dark and dusty in the air. Another example is the old furniture in the building. Old broken blinds, a metal bed and an old lamp by the bed. This gives a very old and creepy feel to the building. 

Tuesday, 9 September 2014

First Lesson

Today was my first lesson of AS Media Studies. We started off by learning about Semiology, the study of signs. We learnt all about the different kind of signs that we see. Symbolic, iconic and indexical were the three types that we learnt about. How signs can be polysemic which means to have more than one meaning and the connotation or meaning of the sign. Overall the lesson was a good start to Media Studies.