PLANNING | WARDROBE

10/11/14 | PLANNING | WARDROBE

Today we planned what each character in the final film was going to wear.

For the main girl in the film opening we decided that she should either wear jeans or leggings, this will look quite and make her seem as though she is any other girl. This will make her seem very innocent.

We decided to make the boys in the film go for their own looks. This makes it seem very real as they are wearing clothes similar to what the audience would wear.

TV film openings; Girl with Dragon Tattoo and Day After Tomorrow

9/10/14 | RESEARCH | RESEARCH INTO SIMILAR FILM OPENINGS; Day after Tomorrow

The Day after Tomorrow (Roland Emerrich, 2004) opens with a very long track shot over the Antarctic. The shot is long to create the feeling of a remote location. The shots made me wonder whether the immense ice shelves were actually CGI or not. The title credits all appeared to be reflected in the water. The colours used in the opening are dark blue and white to build up the dramatic atmosphere. The music is dramatic and it created a feeling of majesty and awe.

9/10/14 | RESEARCH | RESEARCH INTO SIMILAR FILM OPENINGS; The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

This film opens with an extreme close up of a man un-wrapping a parcel, creating suspense and tension as the audience doesn’t know what is in the parcel.

This gave our group the idea of having an extreme close up of the girls eye which will make the audience are curious on what’s going to happen next.

There are also connotations of technology in it: one of the scenes contains a small section of keyboard in it, showing the audience that the film is based around technological devices. Within a few seconds there is another scene where there are lots of USB wires, reinforcing this idea. This gave us an idea to base our story around a particular technological device/thing that happens.

In another scene you can see a person being chained up, this connotes violence.

A person is covered in black liquid. Black symbolises evil, and if you look closely to the person’s face you can see signs of suffering. There is suspense as the audience is wondering what has happened to the person.

What I did last lesson

Last lesson, our group worked on our storyboard as our old one got thrown in the bin by Ollies nan.
I then worked on my production log after discussing with my group what there is left to be done.
On my productiong portfolio I worked on my makeup construction section and improved it, I still need to take a photo for one of the sections which I will add in.

Section A Institutions: QI and THE IT CROWD

You should be prepared to analyse and discuss the following, as appropriate to the channels/stations and texts studied:

Institutional contexts QI:

 •                  The media channels’/stations’ target audiences.

Institutional contexts need only be discussed insofar as they illuminate the institutions’ choice of texts; they should not be studied independently of QI.

The media channels’/stations’ ethos and histories AND Targeting audiences. 

QI is shown on both BBC 2 and Dave. Dave used to be UKTV but re-branded as Dave because 'everybody knows a bloke called Dave'. It addresses mainstream adult audiences, primarily male. It is 'the home of witty banter' and also factual programmes. Currently, it hosts programmes like Dara O'Briain 's School of Hard Sums, Mock The Week, Have I Got News For You and QI (our text). 

BBC is a PSB channel with a public service remit to entertain, inform and educate. It is a good fit with QI which offers factual information about a wide range of subjects such as history, science, culture, nature, food and so on. 

Dave is currently screening QI on Tuesday nights at 8.00 p.m. and Friday night at 11.00 p.m. The BBC is currently screening QI, on series L, on Thursday night at 10.00p.m. and Friday nights at 11.05 p.m. 

BBC Two’s remit is to be a mixed-genre channel appealing to a broad adult audience with programmes of depth and substance. It should carry the greatest amount and range of knowledge building programming of any BBC television channel, complemented by distinctive comedy, drama and arts programming.— BBC Two remit

Institutional contexts The IT Crowd:

•                  The media channels‘/stations’ brand identities

 •                  The media channels’/stations’ ethos and histories (only relevant if they affect programmes)

 •                  Regulatory (eg Public Service Broadcasting) requirements

 •                  The media channels’/stations’ target audiences.

Institutional contexts need only be discussed insofar as they illuminate the institutions’ choice of texts; they should not be studied independently of The IT Crowd.

C4 hosts The IT Crowd , currently shown on 4OD Offering texts on demand, previously on Friday evenings 10.30 p.m. 4OD is for younger audiences; they prefer online content.
The IT Crowd is screened on Channel 4, and has a brand identity of 'providing television for people who do not have enough of it'. The ethos of Channel 4 suits the same trend of entertain, inform and educate as the BBC and Dave. The show broadcasts a stereotypical geeky IT computer department. This is more acceptable for a programme such as the IT Crowd as opposed to that of a formal, well know programme, due to the fact that the IT Crowd is watched by a very niche audience and is therefore very little known and allows the producers to take risks and get very near the mark with some of their jokes that may come across as offensive to some.

IT Crowd

Stereotypes are very much part of the sitcom genre. Although Moss is constructed as highly intelligent he is very much socially inept. For example when Roy is trying to make Jen think that they are not IT nerds and that they often get visitors,  moss ignores all obvious signals to stop telling the truth. Jen is represented as someone who seems to know nothing about the job she is applying for. When asked about what she knows about technology and computers, her answer is very basic from the knowledge she would actually need to know; 'The web. Using a mouse, mices, using mice. Clicking, double clicking. The computer screen, of course. The keyboard. The... bit that goes on the floor down there.'  However, unlus like Moss, she is very good within a social manner. Roy is presented as short tempered and irritable as he shown he has a short temper with the people he has to help with IT problems, an example of this is when he shouts at the woman down the phone.

Is the audience positioned on equal terms /omniscient?

The audience are positioned on equal terms and omniscient becausse we understaand the jargon that's going on and we understand all the jokes that they are making about the other staff when they are all the way down in IT.

Are we positioned as superior?

Yes, we as the audience are positioned as superior because no matter how hard they try both Roy and Moss are social failures and don't quite understand what it means to be social. We are also positioned as superior towards Jen because she is IT illiterate and although the man that hires her doesn't see it, we do.

In what way are Roy and Moss standard nerds?

Roy and Moss are very much standard nerds as they fit the role as a stereotypical nerd who seems to know everything in within their field of knowledge. However, they are both socailly inept, especially as Roy always tries to get the girl but never succeeds.



What is comic about Jen's appointment as manager of IT? 

It is comical that Jen has been appointed as the IT manager because she seems to not know as much as she should to be able to fill the role. She also lied when asked questions just so she would get the job. It is also commical that when she tries to cover up her little understanding towards Roy and Moss, being the stereotypical nerds they are, they see right through it.

QI Audience Pleasures

Link to clip here

• This clip shows the celebrities eating spicy foods and their reactions provide comedic and good entertainment
• The running commentry of the panellists provides good comedy
• some of the comments and jokes proivde the audience a bundle of laughs

Research | BFI EXIT POLLS/ ROTTEN TOMATOES

Research | BFI EXIT POLLS/ ROTTEN TOMATOES

I went to the BFI site to find out about how exit polls yield information about gender and age. The BFI says: “We carry out exit poll surveys for all the films we support through our distribution fund. Exit polls are standard practice for major releases, but much less so for smaller or independent films.” The BFI ask cinemagoers about themselves and what motivated them to see a film.

I wanted to find out about the kinds of audiences who are likely to watch a film like mine. So I investigated some of the BFI case studies which I present in chart form (quantitative research). I also used the Rotten Tomatoes website to gather some qualitative data.

I also did some qualitative research, using IMDb and Rotten tomatoes. The Rotten Tomatoes website says: “Movies and TV shows are Certified Fresh with a steady Tomatometer of 75% or higher after a set amount of reviews (40 for movies, 20 for TV shows), including 5 reviews from Top Critics.”

• I decided to research Locke (dir. Steven Knight, 2013).

Qualitative Data

This is an audience response from IMDb; “What makes Locke different is that the pressure of life and death is not there. In those movies the leading (and only) men were threaten with the proposal of death, While in this movie, Ivan Locke's way of Life is threaten with change, and it's this change in the concept that made the movie Quiet and low key, but the filmmakers were still able to make if fast pasted and kinetic (having it take place in a Car going down the highway helps).”

Quantitative Data

• I decided to research Ill Manors (dir. Ben Drew, 2012).

Qualitative Data

This is an audience response from IMDb; "Whilst it is an ''urban'' drama at the end of the day, the film does what Kidulthood/Adulthood/Shank could not do and has a go at actually trying to explore the reasons behind why people join gangs or decide to riddle their body with heroin. None of the central characters have parents, and the film suggests this lack of love creates the violence, it's essentially a film encouraging us to hug a hoodie. Outstanding performance goes to Riz Ahmed, who plays a gangster with some moral fibre trying to get out the area. The only negative is that the film tries to tell us too much, there's so many characters and stories happening that it's hard to keep track and some character get lost in the shuffle. But overall, recommended."

Quantitative Data

• I decided to research Tell No One (dir. Guillaume Canet, 2006).

Qualitative Data

This is an audience response from IMDb; "This movie is extremely engaging, well-acted, detailed, moving, thrilling, exciting and satisfying to watch. The stakes get higher and higher as the plot unfolds. What is so unexpected is the many facets the film has, it's not told on one-level there is a mixture of comedy and tragedy that is totally charming and believable. There is a great sense of involvement that gets the viewer attached to the characters and the unique situation that presents itself. It's a total roller- coaster of a movie that has you on the edge of your seat. An extraordinary story that is interestingly told. I've never felt the desire to write a comment on a movie before so the fact that I've taken the time to do it says a lot about the power of it's content. I really recommend this film, it takes you on a journey that divulges secrets beautifully as the story unravels. I left the film crying with a mixture of joy and sadness."

Quantitative Data

• I decided to research 4.3.2.1 (dir. Noel Clarke, Mark Davis, 2010).

Qualitative Data

This is an audience response from IMDb; "It started off slow. It was just quite a lot of things happening, with little sense or links between them, but as the characters divided off into 4, the story really kicked in. It was similar in style to Pulp Fiction in the fact it follows the individual stories of the characters, all of which have links that connect them together throughout. This was very, very well done throughout and included flashbacks between the switching of characters so the audience could remember what had happened. It was very well directed, had a good flow to it, and had lots of comedic parts, all of which were subtlety put in to it so to not make it into a predominately comedic film."

Quantitative Data

• I decided to research This is England (dir. Shane Meadows, 2006).

Qualitative Data

This is an audience response from IMDb; "'This is England' is a must see for the type of persons who enjoy a good old 'innocence of youth' narrative (including a very comedic, almost cringe inducing, 'first kiss' scene) layered with powerful retrospective British realism reflecting early 1980's societal issues of the type that you wont see on any saccharin dipped 'i remember 1982' clip show."

Quantitative Data