My Mums New Boyfriend - Trailer Analysis

How does the trailer use media language to establish the film's genre?

1. Media language is the use of technical devices that allow the film to speak to its audience and spectators this can include the use of sound and voiceovers. This trailer uses a variety of media language to establish the films genre, one way in which it does this is by including the non digetic soundtrack which is consistent throughout the trailer, the tempo of the music and its pace indicate to the audience the genre of the film as it appears conventional with this type of narrative and therefore the audience associate it instantly with the genre. Another way in which the trailer uses media language is by using iconography which is very important to allow the audience to establish the genre or sub genres of a film, objects like guns and police badges are evident throughout the two minute trailer and therefore by these objects being seen by the audience it allows them to identify them as being dominant in this type of film and therefore allows the audience to conclude weather this film is appropriate for them and the gratification that they seek. The use of different shots and angles in this trailer is also another way that media language has been used to represent the genre of this film, certain shots for example the ELS and LS shots are relied upon heavily in this films within this genre, these films often share similar narratives and therefore these shots are continuously used for films to reach their aim of the gratification of escape which this film seeks to provide. As a result of using these shots the audience instantly recognise the narrative as they have become an a popular convention in this genre.

2. Family is portrayed as a unique unit in this trailer it does not consist of the stereotypes in which we expect from family which is often a mum, dad and children but in this trailer it appears that this family consists of a mum and her son and follows their fractured relationship and the journey which they undertake in building the love and trust which should exist in a family unit

3. There are many Hollywood values in this trailer theses consist of the understanding of different people, the respect in which characters show to other people and the forgiveness which always occurs as a result

 4. The trailer consists of many events which could occur in people’s real life and therefore the demographic feel an instant association with the characters of the film and feel interested in the events of the characters as they can relate it to there own life

Portrayal of Brick Lane

The Portrayal of Brick lane in the film is a polite retelling of the novel; however it has been made out to be a deeply offensive portrayal of a community.  Many critics have commented on its fantastic storyline and its reality as it does reflect many peoples lives today but has received  “overwhelming” criticism by the Bangladeshi community located in the east end; they feel that Monica Ali, the author of brick lane has insulted there community but producing vile representations of there community. A spokesman for the campaign against the release of the film has said “she does not no us and she will never be one of us”. This outrage which is apparent in the Bangladeshi community in the east end is questioned by many critics as they can see no reason how the portrayal of there community has caused any offence and are particularly insulted by the fact that as a result of there ignorant protests the film was pulled from the royal command performance.

Many critics are puzzled into why such an outstanding novel and film has received so much criticism by a community which by its own admission had been marginalised and not represented by the film industry. Brick lane was an exciting new film which had a majority ethnic cast surely this would come as a positive and a great step in the right direction in not marginalising  ethnic groups. The Representation of the community has come under scrutiny as people have tried to find the source of the anger held by some protesters located in the east end where the film was set, could it be the way in which the daughters of Nazneen are westernised for example Shamsa rolling up her skirt or the promotion of suicide which is seen at the start of the film, the answer is till unclear but the distaste by the Bangladeshi community is clear.

The audience may feel that there community has been westernised severely damaging there culture and representing them in a bad light for example the use of mobile phones which may not portray the life in Bangladesh or the fact that there were explicit sex scenes which involved a married women having an affair. However the film does contain subtitles as characters frequently speak in other languages and cultural music is played often as well in times when we seen  Nazneen pine form home

Overall I feel that Brick Lane is a fair and honest portrayal, I feel it is not offensive and in fact is a great success in helping to promote minority groups within the film industry, the protesters against this novel and film are detracting from this and in my view overshadows the success of this novel and film.

Word Count: 460

Student Demonstrations - The Media's Story

The media have been surprisingly calm about the student demonstrations with institutions such as the guardian being open minded about the cause of the protest. The riots in the summer has provided students with masses of bad press and I think that as a result of the vendetta against students in London in the summer institutions such as the guardian and the independent are trying to compensate for the stories which took hold of the headlines and transformed all students into nasty criminals

The Guardian newspaper played down the recent demonstrations often comparing it to last years demonstration which was a catastrophe, they complemented the students for there behaviour while of course drawing on the minority who spoiled the peaceful demonstrations, while reporters did not print stories which painted these students as devils they merely belittled the demonstration comparing the numbers of people which turned out with last years demonstration often commenting that “it was an easy task for police” Although institutions such as the guardian did not stand against students is used them to complements services such as the police who have also received recent bad press and therefore this was an opportunity for faith to be restored in a vital services which everyone should be able to depend on.

In the many articles written about the student protest nearly all reporters emphasised the fact that small minorities of students had come to the demonstrations with the intention to fight yet this was not the majority but was clear to the reader. In my view I feel that this is an exercise by a variety of institutions in the media industry to blame the problems which occur in the UK on students, this demonstration was the perfect opportunity for the problems of politics to be blamed on the people on the street as it is vital in the business world that it is seen that politicians are always correct and the fact no one has the right to disagree with them.

Many articles produced about the student demonstrations are often fabrications of the truth. However due to this demonstration be deeply uneventful unlike the last one this provided a big void for the papers front page and therefore it was up to the editors to fill this gap with information, true or not, but as this demonstration was uneventful the easiest solution would be to retell the events of the last student demonstration and combine it with the riots of the summer and focus on them issues. Many articles focus on these issues with a mere two paragraphs stating facts and comments from the student demonstration which has just occurred. This shows how the platform of print has become corrupted and interested in one thing; selling papers this has recently been validated by the exposure of Rupert Murdoch. The newspapers mainly as well as different institutions continuously fabricate stories halving there stories and halving them again may achieve just some of the truth.

Film Overview- Continiued

Section B

"The Devil Wears Parada"

Decsions
Advertising decisions made by 20th Century fox was integral to the films promotion and success. Individual decisions made about the symbolisms made in the film secured the identity of this film, the devils pitchfork on the red high heell was a great eye catching image which was instantly associated with the film and is iconic to this particular film, many comments were made about this decision and was very popular with audiences in and outside the US as the plot could relate to many peoples struggles with there career. However some criticised the decision and suggested it portrayed a negative work ethic and encouraged employees to see there bosses as the devil in the world of work. The idea of the devils pitchfork on the heel was hugely successful and became a brand and was the medium which related to all products relating to the film.

Another decision made by 20th Century fox although accidental turned out very effective, this was the decision to uses snippets of clips from the film as a trailer for film festivals as they had not had a chance to create a trailer. However this was overwhelmingly popular and was ground breaking as this was rarely done previously, audiences felt that they could relate to the film through the trailer yet it did not give anything away meaning that audiences were enticed into watching the film. The trailer was so successful that fox decided to use what was meant to be a preliminary trailer. These two decisions although very small allowed the film to be greatly received in many parts of the globe and consequently winning many awards from an outstanding cast of the likes of Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway

Products:
As the film is produced by 20th Century fox it is not hard to assume that they directors has large budget to play around with, this has alowed them to use major companies in the film which has proved as a source of advertising. Due to the film promtoing luxry and style, large companies such as Apple and Starbucks have been used in thisn film

Aside from the clothing and accessories, some other well-known brands are conspicuous in the film.

• Apple computers are used in the Runway offices, consistent with many real publishing companies.
• Bottles of Italian San Pellegrino mineral water are seen in the Runway offices.
• Miranda drinks coffee from a nearby Starbucks.
• The two are frequently driven around in Lincoln Town Cars and Mercedes-Benz S-Class S550

Location

New York

·         The News Corporation building on Sixth Avenue was used for the exteriors and lobby of Elias-Clark's headquarters.

·         The Runway offices are partially corridors in the neighboring Fox building and partially sets.

·         The Elias-Clark cafeteria is the one at the Reuters office in Manhattan.

·         The restaurant Nate works at (and where Andrea, Doug and Lily eat dinner on occasion) is in TriBeCa.

·         The Smith and Wollensky and its kitchen were used.

·         The Calvin Klein showroom is used in the deleted scenes.

·         Holt's studio is a loft used by an actual designer.

·         The American Museum of Natural History was used for the exterior of the museum benefit, while the lobby of one of the Foley Square courthouses is used for the interior.^[

·         The Priestly townhouse is on the Upper East Side and belongs to a friend of Finerman's. It had to be dressed on short notice after another one could not be used

·         The Amtrak train the twins are taking is going up the Hudson River at Haverstraw Bay.

·         Streep exits her limousine, supposedly in Paris, at 77th Street and Central Park West.

·         The New York Mirror newsroom where Andrea gets hired at the end of the film is that of the New York Sun.^[5]

Paris

The crew was in Paris for only two days, and used only exteriors. Streep did not make the trip

·         The fountain Andy throws her phone into is on the Place de la Concorde.

·         All the hotel interiors are actually the St. Regis in Manhattan. The fashion shows were filmed on a soundstage in Queens. Likewise, Christian's hotel is the Times Square W Hotel

Film Overview

Section A

1. The stages in which a film has to go through to be exhibited in the cinema are lengthy , this often means it takes a couple of years for the initial idea of a film to be exhibited on "the big screen" the first stage would be to have an idea or storyline for your film, you would then create ideas on how the film would unfold and how you could promote this film to gain maximum viewing. After this it is vital that you can assemble a crew which would consist of a director, producer, screenwriter, cast and crew, it is vital that all of the people involved have faith in your idea and believe in your vision this often takes time to find the right cast and crew. Once the right production group has been found it is there job to complete the making of the film, it is then sent to the studio and once it has been viewed the studio make a licensing agreement with a distribution company, it is then up to the licensing company how many companies of the film they are willing to produce. Then the distribution has a screening of the film to prospective buyers and theatre companies, it is prospective buyers who then negotiate with the distribution company on which films they wish to lease and the terms and conditions of the licensing agreement. Once this has all been arranged the prints are sent out to the cinemas and theatres which are showing the film a couple of days before its due for release. The Cinemas then show the film for certain amount of weeks in which they feel the film is viable for this is called engagement. it is then up to the paying public to purchase a ticket and watch the film. Once the engagement period has finished the cinemas send back the copies of the film and makes payment on there lease agreement. These stages which a film has to go through to be viewed in cinemas is lengthy and time consuming and can often take many years

2.Film Distribution: is the process in which a film is made available to watch by a viewer or a film distributor, this can occur in many ways for example theatrical release and home entertainment release.

3.The Hollywood studio system in the 30s and 40s was a system which is credited with producing many stars. the studios spent and invested money into promising talent and gave them training and education in the film industry preparing and bettering themselves this meant that many stars were found in this system and was like a process in which the best young actors and actresses has access to. Studios took control of the lives of many of its clients imposing rules and regulations on them a delving deep inside there personal life. Studios had total control over the clients employing them on short term contracts meaning they could be dropped if they failed to provide some attraction this meant that the studios only had the best that was around and were incredible influential and had great power.

4. The introduction of new technology has enabled the production, distribution and exhibition of films to be drastically transformed, it means that the process undertaken to get an a story on to “the big screen” takes a less time and is not so time consuming and is a lot easier fro many groups of people for example film distributors. Many process which are required for an exhibition of a film can now be undertaken by using  computers which can shorten the time taken to create a film dramatically it also means the groups involved for example studios and film distributors are not waiting as long as they might have in the past as the technology has enabled them to be more efficient and have better quality as the film industry is continuously trying to find a new niche.

5. Horizontal Integration: is a practice in by which companies that produce a similar product or provide a similar service merge an example of this would be the content which is used is to broadcast a TV show could also be used in broadcasting a radio  and the content used in a hard copy of a newspaper could also be used in a online newspaper.

Vertical Integration: is the process in which several steps in the production and/or distribution of a product or service are controlled by a single company or entity, in order to increase that company’s or entity’s power in the marketplace. A car company that expands into tire manufacturing would be an example of vertical integration. Another example of Vertical integration is the brand that you see on the bottle is the producer of the drink but not necessarily the maker of the bottles that carry these drinks

Celebrities recieve payouts for voicemails tapped?

In my view no celebrity should receive any payout for what has been called an “INTRUSION in there PERSONAL LFE". As a celebrity they will have many fans these people are mostly inspirational people and therefore will inevitably have a following, this means people will want to no what is occurring in the life’s of these celebrities and therefore celebrities should be willing to bear all to the public the ones who give them support day after day and who but tickets to the concerts and who are the backbone of there career, if celebrities had nothing to hide why is it a problem if papers expose parts of what they call “ Personal Life”

Another reason why I feel that it is wrong that Celebrities should receive a payout after these situations is because the celebrities and there management use the media to there advantage for example newspapers; when they need to and are not afraid of giving newspapers stories if it helps there career but when newspapers publish something that maybe derogatory towards them they say that it is an invasion of privacy and has no public interest. The fact of the matter is there is a lot of public interest and yes it should be published if they are willing to use the media in they way that they want to wanting to further there career then they should not  be upset when the newspapers publish stories about them.

I found it outrageous that celebrities earn such a vast amount of money for doing very little or doing a job which they love and want compensation for the inconvenience and damage to there reputation when a story is published about them. Many of the fans who support these celebrities earn a very small fraction of what they get and they still want more money. Why not give something g back to the people who make sure they have a career? In my view it is greediness at the root of this issue and I feel celebrities can’t take the heat they better get out of the kitchen. They knew what they were letting themselves in for and if they don’t like it, they know were the door is.

Why should we have a screening at BDA?

In my view this documentary should be screened across the entire country, it is different, innovative and just brilliant. I feel that by having such a documentary screened here it could help us as Media A-Level students massively it will give us an exciting edge over other students and provide us with interesting knowledge about media, which is just what we need, i could not think of anything better to help us through this course, it would be amazing if we could have a screening a BDA

Not only will the screening of the documentary help us as Media-A-Level students but I feel that it will help broaden the perception of media in this school and the surrounding area. BDA is a place where social media is relied upon a lot and I feel that by having this screening it could help a vast amount of people have a more in-depth knowledge about Social Media.

Textual Analysis- Fosters- You wouldn't want a warm beer would you?

This print advertisement is for the drinks company “ Fosters” it is one of many advertisements in there advertising campaign “ you wouldn’t want a warm beer would you” they have decided on using a variety of platforms for there campaign  for example television but this is just one of the many print adverts which they have produced. The aim of this text is to promote the rebranding of the drink “Fosters” it is an already established alcoholic drink and therefore the audience instantly recognise the “Fosters” label.

Firstly, the use of the bright colours such as blue in the background connotes relaxation and hot weather this is representative of the country where fosters is created which is Australia. The use of the colour blue denotes hot weather and relaxation, blue denotes something that is refreshing and therefore the drink fosters could is associated with this idea. Also the bright colours of orange and green contrast the light blue of the background this makes sure that the women are the focus of the advertisement. The bright colours worn by the two women in the shot are very bright and also have connotations of fun and hot weather this suggests that “ Fosters” wishes to use the origin of fosters which is Australia as the setting  for the promotion.

The use of facial expressions are very interesting they lady in the green could be said to wanting what is being promoted which is the drink fosters, the fact that a lady is wanting this drink is slightly unconventional as this advertising campaign is aimed at men, however the women could be said to have features which resemble people of the male gender for example the short hair which the lady has and the fact that they lady appears to be flat chested. This could be considered as a vital decision made by the advertising company for this drink to appeal to both genders male and female. Also the lack of facial expression from the lady in the orange is vital in this print advertisement as it could be said that by allowing the audience to view the ladies facial expression it would detract from her breasts which is the main focus of the advert as the product of Fosters is directly under them, However it is unconventional that that parts of the ladies body; her breast are bigger than the product which is being promoted; the fosters drink.

The positioning of objects in the advertisement is also very important, the lady in orange, although we can only see her side on she is vital as her body Is used to sexualise the product which is fosters this means that this therefore questions the ethics of this advertisement as it could be argued that the lady is being exploited here and she is only being used in a sexual way to promote the drink fosters.

The lack of unnecessary objects in the advertisement is vital in the success of this advertisement, if the advertisement was congested it would detract from the adverts message and therefore maximum appeal is not created. The slogan that accompanies the text is very small and is not as predominant as other objects in the text for example the product Fosters or the two ladies. It could be said that the advertising company or the company Fosters have took this decision to reduce emphasis on the slogan because fosters is a product that is well established and popular in the selection of alcoholic drinks and therefore they rely on the logo of fosters to represent there product and to attract the attention of the desired demographic.

The advertisement is very uncongested and the use of text is limited therefore the advertising company have chosen to use bright colours which could be associated with Fosters to attract the attention of the audience, the contrasting colours of the background and the two ladies is eye-catching and engages the reader, also all the colours used in this advertisement connote the theme of summer and hot weather this has a direct link to the product Fosters as it originates from Australia where we associate all these connotations

I feel that this print advertisement is very successful its aim in targeting its demographic, I feel that the advertising company has stuck to many conventions you would expect to see in a alcoholic drinks advert targeted at the male demographic for example the use of females in the advert as beer and women are often stereotyped as favourites of the male population. However I also feel that Fosters or the advertising company have broken some of the conventions of this type of advertisement for example the type of women which they have used. I also feel that the advertising company have used the established reputation of fosters to proceed the advertisement and therefore can afford to make the advertisement less congested as the established brand of fosters is instantly recognised with its target demographic. I feel that this print advertisement is part of a successful advertising campaign produced by Fosters.

To what extent is the opening of children of men a cinematic genius? Discuss.

The film "Children of Men" has been nominated for some of the most prestigious awards within the film industry and it is easy to see why; this film is considered a cinematic genius. The use of language throughout this text is outstanding. The use of a variety of camera shots for example MS and P.OV is the reason why we call the opening of this film a cinematic genius, these shots enable the audience to view a variety of different emotions from characters for example the variety of facial expression from the crowd of people in the café, it also allows us an audience to be a part of the film as the P.O.V includes the audience in the opening of the film, when the camera rotates round the main character it sets us up for the explosion which is about to occur, this is absolute genius as it is the last thing the audience expects and draws the audience in to the tragedy which is about to occur.

Analysis Of Media Texts

Institutions

This media text is in the form of an television adevertisment, this is a great way of advertising as it reaches a wide demographic, many people are subjected to advertisements and comericals between there favourite shows this means that a wide audience are likely to view the advert. However as WKD is a product aimed at adults it would have to be used after the watershed and as a result would have to seperate itself from the many other advertisments viewers are subjected to in this busy television slot.

OFCOM the television regulators would have to restrict this advert from being shown before the waterhshed and therfore the company WKD would have to make sure that there advertisment is diffrent and inotitive to atract the attention of its demographic. How do they do this? Well The company WKD would have to produce some basic ideas for the advert and requiremnts that the advert should include before it is allowed to air. This means creative teams would have to research the likes and dislikes of the demographic which they wish to aim at and outline key features in the advert which they would like to see.

This is then sent to an advertising compnay were the vision for the advert is developed and produced, it is then retunred to the client which is WKD for their aproval and any chnages that need to be made are produced. After the advert is complete the regulator OFCOM has to aprove the advert, making sure it complies with regulations of advertising. Producing the advert would cost alot of money and therfore it is vital that mistakes are kept to a minimum, the client which is WKD would have to pay the advertising agency which they use to produce the advert and would have to pay the agency for the final production of the advert for example the location which they use and the actors which are in the advertisment.

WKD is an well established adult drinks company and therfore as it is a known company advertisements are easier to construct; agancies are more likely to work with more established brands as it improves there repuatation. Finally all organisations that take part in the advetisment WKD its self and the agency which it uses would hope that as a result of a sucsesfull advert the product is recieved well and is popular with the target demogarphic this would idicate a sucssesfull campaign for WKD and would mean that the advertising agency gains credit for the succsesfull job and is likely to be used for future campaigns.

Representation

In media representations are vital, audiences asses the representation of a product and make descions on weather it is a product they like or dislike, this often means that media texts such as this one; a television advert would try to respresent as many people from a variety of diffrent social groups, this would means that the product WKD could be acociated with a wide demographic and as a result gain succses. However in this text many social groups are excluded and the focus of the advert is the portayl of a "typical" man wanting to spend time drinking with his firends as the expense of a women. This advert is comical and is very popular with men as there is an instant acosication with the scenerio of the advert. However this generally excludes wommen and could be said is sexist towards Wommen as it is funny at the expense of Wommen.

The advert is complelty restrictive in the groups that it represents  but as it is one advert in a large campign it aims at achieving the attention of one group of people within society which is men, there are other adverts in the WKD campaign which relate to other groups such as wommen and therfore this disective method of reaching target demographics aims to get a variety of people acoicated with this drink.

Week 1 Media!!!

First weeks been good, bit scared about the jump up to A-level but its going ok, learnt new words!!! excitement! i think i am going to be using the word "TEXT" alot going to be my new favourite word! Learnt some basics this week but hopefully get on to more stuff as we go on, very intresting arguing my controversial points to the group, you know me I just have to be diffrent to everyone else- even if it is just to enoy them haha! Start as you mean to go on!!! Roll on this week! :)