Class essay on Disney Marketing / Circulation

Student essay on jungle book from Kyle Cousins

Theorists

 

 

Stuart Hall

 How media can affect the minds. I.e. if a particular image is frequently associated with a particular feel or scenario, then that can affect our outlook on such things.

 

Barthes

 Semiotics. Symbolism. How we view a particular item, scene or look. I.e. how a piece of clothing  linked to terrorism can cause fear. Or how someone wearing an authorities uniform can seem more trustworthy.

 

George Gerbner

 Television. Cultivation theory. How people, if enough time is spent in the 'television' (or media) world, they will begin to believe the messages being portrayed. "Grown" to believe.

 

Hypodermic

 The theory that the media 'injects' views directly into the passive audience. I.e. with Nazi propaganda, it was wholly believed by the people, and acted uniformly regardless of stimuli.

 

Albert Bandura

 The theory that media can affect behaviour and thoughts through imitation. As a child would, different stimuli within the media can affect people and cause them to act in a particular way.

 

Steve Neale

 Genre. How a film must follow a specific set of 'rules', by following stereotypes and conventions, to be able to be defined as one of that genre.

 

 

Curran and Seaton

Industries. How the media is owned by a 'specific group', and how that can affect what it portrays. I.e. Rupert Murdoch owning a lot of News outlets, can decide what gets reported and not.

Mise-en-Scene

• Mise-En-Scene is a French term meaning what is put into a scene or frame
• It is made up of visual information in front of the camera
• It communicates essential information to the audience about setting (time & place) and characters
• It is made up of 5 elements. Costume, Lighting, Actors (gender / age), Make-up, Props and Setting. (Settings & Props - costume, hair & make up, facial expressions & body language, lighting & colour, positioning of characters / objects within the frame)

 

Settings & Props

 

Settings & Locations play an important part in film-making and are not just 'backgrounds'. Sets are either built from scratch or a great deal of time is spent to find a setting which already exists. Settings can manipulate an audience by building certain expectations and then taking a different turn.

 

Settings and props in:

 

A science fiction film:

 

• Sleek, modern designs
• Futuristic inventions
• Space / Aliens / Other planets and galaxies
• Hovercraft
• Lasers
• Holograms

 

A romantic comedy:

• Highschool / university / college
• Chocolates
• Roses
• Animals

 

A horror film:

• Fog
• Forest / Abandoned building / night-time
• Knife
• Mask
• Blood
• Body parts

Semiotics - Barthes

 

First off, the characters are clearly not human. The light blue dots lining up the features of the darker blue skinned creatures makes them look primal yet also in tune with their bodies. Similarly, the wide eyes with stark green contrasting from their blue complexion captures the attention, and presents them as 'spiritual', as the eyes are the gateway to the soul.

The two characters in the scene are also at equal height, similar facial expression yet easily differentiated. This shows a sense of unity and non-prejudice between the creatures, yet the emotions portray thoughts that the film will have a serious tone. This could be because everything in the scene is blue tinted and appears natural, (with the world and animals), while the scene is also centred on and is being invaded by unnatural grey military helicopters, which suggests a possible conflict for the land the creatures live on.

Finally, the two planets being split in half but still near each other suggests that the helicopters could be of a different planet to the creatures, possibly Earth and humanity.

Media representation of me

This is a representation of my most used media.

Media Vocabulary

Mise En Scene

The arrangement of props and other items on the set of film, or the stage of a production. Typically placed specifically to further the narrative or create a mood.

Semiotics 

The study of signs of symbols and their use or interpretation.

Genre 

A style or category of media you can come across that can spread information. I.e. Newspapers, Radio, Videogames and Music.

Denotation

Referring to something through a word or symbol.

Connotation

A thought or feeling that can be conveyed from something, other than it's primary, literal or physical meaning.

Psychographic

The way of categorizing a population by personality.

Demographic Profiling
Categorizing by occupation. (A, B, C1, C2, D, E).

Practice Footage

Today we learned how to use Adobe Premiere. This allowed me to get a deeper grasp of the skills required for editing and on top of this allowed me to become ready for any future tasks involving this.

The creativity I could use on this task was helpful, as I wasn't restricted to a specific theme bar the footage used. This meant it was easier to make a final product I felt was interesting, and could feel satisfied with.

Advert Evaluation

1) What was the task you were given and who was your target audience? As the audience wasn't typical of the product how did you manage to sell it? What was the name of your brand? 

The task we were given was to advert an energy drink for men over 60. We managed to sell the product to the audience through exercise. As the advert starts, the old man would be slow and out of energy. When he takes the drink, (named Snowball Blitz), he would gain lots of energy and outpace the young runner he was exercising with.

2) Who did you work with and how did you divide the research, planning, filming and responsibilities? 

The original group was Maisie, Thiluksha, Alex B and I. The roles were split up into different aspects of the advert. Maisie and I would be focusing on the general stuff, like the slogan, script and brand name; and I would also be doing the camera work and editing. Thiluksha originally would create the storyboard and Alex would create the logo for the bottle. While this did happen, the final product was with different people. Due to difficulties in the production of the advert, the advert was changed. The filming was done by Thiluksha, the acting in the scene was Grace, (outsider of the group, kindly offered to help), and I. The editing was done by us, with Alex's help as she joined later on.

3) How did you plan your sequence? 

We planned the sequence by creating a script and storyboard. We brainstormed ideas as a group and came up with a general idea, and fleshed it out as we went along. This general idea allowed us to have a basis to change it later on, as the advert was changed heavily.

4) What research and planning did you undertake? 

Research was done for copyright puposes. We googled the brand to see if it already existed, and if it would be a breach of copyright. We also planned the logo ahead of time to make it unique and creative.

5) What was you initial feedback? What did others say about your production? How successful was your sequence?

I believe the sequence was a success. It maintains the focus on the target audience, and makes them feel that the drink would empower them, (as it would). Nothing major stands out as differing from the idea.

6) Identify what went well and with hindsight what you do to improve/do differently.

In hindsight, I think that the original planning went well. We managed to attain a basic plan and work on it from there. To improve, we needed to communicate more and plan when we would put the plan into action, and actually record it.
7) What have you learnt from completing this task (groups skills, communication, compromise, using your initiative, creative input, production skills, editing etc)

Through this, I've learnt input from all members of a group is very important, rather than leaving it to a few or a singular person. Similarly, I've learnt some new editing skills and how to communicate my ideas to other group members.8) Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing your future productions?

The editing skills will be integral to any video made in the future, so they are very significant. Similarly, the group work skills make it so that in future ideas I or anyone else can think of can be thought of and possibly included into the final product, rather than disgarded.

Media Vocabulary

Theory

Fruitella Advert