Tuesday 15 March 2016

The Hurt Locker

Q1) Explain two ways the characters and/ or events fit the action adventure genre. (10 marks)


In 'The Hurt Locker' the characters automatically fit in with the action/adventure genre because they're in the army. This makes the audience feel as if they will be action as army is associated with action/adventure due to wars. The characters fit in with action/adventure because of the situation they're put in and the way they try to solve the problem. It all goes tense as people begin to say that they should just shoot him and people begin to shout and become nervous of what will happen.

The civilians fit in with the action/adventure because the civilian is wearing a bomb vest which was put on him and that's what makes the action theme. As well all the other civilians are running away because they don't want to get blown up if the army cannot take the bomb vest off him.

Q2) Explain how each of the following is used to create effect:
soundtrack
editing
mise en scene
camera work

In 'The Hurt Locker' the soundtrack consists of mostly dialogue. At the start of the clip the army begin by shouting at a mysterious character who is approaching them with his hands up so you can tell in their voice that they are nervous about this man walking towards them. As he gets closer their volume increases  and it seems that they're becoming more and more nervous to the point where the soldiers suggesting to just shoot him to not put all of their life's in danger. The protagonist then equips a body suit so he could go and try to save the man. When he gets to the man with the bomb vest he has to get a friend to translate for him due to their communication difficulty, during this time he speaks calmly to the man so he doesn't get even more nervous and uncomfortable than he already is. Whilst the protagonist and the victim are talking he explains that he has a family and begins begging that he fixes the problem. As the protagonist realises that  he will run out of time he has to apologise to the victim and run for his life shouting at his fellow army colleagues to get back and take shelter before the bomb explodes so they don't get injured as well.

With in 'The Hurt Locker' editing rally sets the pace for this scene as it's very tense with them being in a war zone as they always feel in danger. As the man approaches the camera changes camera angle all around to see people watching the man approach as well as the army backing up. This happens fast because it makes the audience know that this scene will be action genre due to the way the editing has influenced it.

Mise en scene is added in this film as the lighting is natural due to them being outside. The props involved would consist of the army uniforms to the guns and the bomb, everything wore and used such as the bolt cutters to try and remove the bomb vest would be classed as a prop because without them the film wouldn't look as realistic and therefore wouldn't make the film look as good.

The camera work really sets the scene and lets the audience know that the scene is a action scene. The way people know this is because of the fact that the camera is focused on the soldiers and makes the audience see they're nervous as this random man approaches. Because the camera is focused on their faces and is switching to another soldiers face around every 3 seconds it really sets the pace of that particular scene.

Tuesday 1 March 2016

Edge of Tomorrow

Q1) Explain two ways the characters and/ or events fit the action adventure genre. Use examples from the extract. [10 marks]

This fits in with the action adventure genre because of the action sequences between good and evil, which in this case the aliens being evil and humans being good. Cage is the protagonist who is seen as the underdog but he has lots of character traits that people value, such as strength, intelligence and in the end he is brave.
Rita (supporting character) is a protagonist who is seen by everyone as a world wide hero for her duty on the battle field. This is different compared to other films as usually the stereotypical hero on a battle field is normally a strong man but in this case women are seen stronger. This is an oppositional reading of the normal female stereotype.

Q2) Explain how each of the following is used to create effects:

  • Soundtrack
  • Editing
  • Camera work
  • Mise-en-scene
Camera

With in 'Edge of Tomorrow' the camera is used in various ways to achieved its full potential to entertain. Point-of-view shot shows the perspective of Cage whilst he is fighting the aliens and shows his perspective and how action packed the film is. The hand held camera shot is used when all the soldiers are lining up ready to drop and the camera is walking down the pathway shaking which gives the audience an idea about how many explosions are going on below but they're in the sky which emphasizes how big these explosions are and that they now realize they're in a war. Tracking shot is used when a human aircraft is falling from the sky onto a soldier which gives the viewers an idea of the humans losing as no sight of alien death has been seen. Another example of tracking shot is when one of the aliens is on a fallen airship and it is dodging the bullets but with Cage killing the alien it highlights him being the hero. The Dolly zoom shot is used when a alien rises from the ground and the camera then zoomed (Dolly zoom) in on the alien which emphasizes the present danger.

Editing

With in 'Edge of Tomorrow' editing is used to create effects which a camera can't do on its own so it needs computer editing.Throughout 'Edge of Tomorrow' CGI is used on Cage and his fellow soldiers as the body suits, this is used to give the audience the futuristic effect and really gives off the sci-fi part of the genre. When Cage keeps waking up time after time and it keeps cutting to him doing the same reaction after dying, this is called a jump cut. Fast paced editing is used when Cage dies from the car for example but straight the way he runs past the car after he has died.

Sound

'Edge of Tomorrow' uses sound throughout the film to give the audience a better picture of what's going on in the film and make it feel like the audience are in the film. Digenic sound is used for characters speaking to each other for example Cage speaking to soldiers about why he shouldn't be in the war with them. Synchronous sound is in th film because in a war you expect to hear gunfire and explosions. The more explosions means the louder they're and that makes the audience more exited because of the amount of action that happens.

Mise-en-scene 

Mise-en-scene throughout 'Edge of Tomorrow' is where about the the clip is shot, lighting, relationship between actors, costume and props. The lighting when they get to the beach is natural but dull because it's overcast. The relationship between the Cage and other characters develop as the film goes on because he dies and learns from his mistakes. The costume of Cage and the rest of the soldiers depends on the caliber of soldier they're as the higher rank you are the better suit you get. Rita is one of the highest soldier ranks you can get therefore she has a sword as well as two mini guns on her back where as Cage has the basic suit although it's still effective. The props for the clip would be the weapons the have such as the sword Rita has and the guns attached do Cage's arm.



Tuesday 9 February 2016

4. (b) Discuss in detail how one programme offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the

4) A- Compare how and why two programmes were scheduled on different channels

Bad Education is commissioned by the BBC. It was produced by Tiger Aspect Productions for BBC3.


Bad Education is aimed at 15-20 year olds, both males and females. This is because the programme is based around 15-16 years olds as many of the characters are that age. As it is set in a school it is relatable to the 15-20 age group as they are either in school or have shortly left school. It appeals to both genders as both genders are featured it dose not favour one or the other. Teenagers can relate to the characters as they are ordinary (like themselves) and are in the same situation and have the same mind-set as the teenagers watching.


Bad Education was shown at 10:00 PM on a Tuesday night. The programme was shown at this time as that is the time the target audience is free and likely to be relaxing and watching TV. Bad Education is shown on the BBC as it a British programme, set in a British school featuring British actors and characters. The BBC may also commission Bad Education to help attract a younger audience. Bad Education is shown after the 9PM watershed as it includes sexual references and inappropriate language. Bad Education also portrays school in a slightly more realistic and negative light, that older viewers and the target audience will understand and find funny but younger viewers won't and will be more shocked.

Friday Night Dinner


Friday Night Dinner is commissioned by Channel 4. It was produced by Popper Pictures and Big Talk Productions.
Friday Night Dinner target audience is the Jewish Community as the programme is about Friday night dinner which is part of their culture so it appeals to them a lot. The ages of the target audience can really vary as the age of the characters do. It will appeal to 18-25 year olds, mainly boys, as two of the four main characters are this age making them very relatable. It will also appeal to 40-55 years olds, both males and females, as they will be able to relate to the parents in the programme.
The programme is on a Sunday after the 9 PM watershed.



A public service broadcaster has more freedom as they broadcast shows that appeal to lots of different people, as shown by Bad Education Appealing to 15-20 years old.





4) B- Discuss in detail how one  programme offers audience pleasures. Give examples from the programme. 

‘Bad Education’ is a sitcom which is a comedy which is set in the same location as the title refers to with the same characters at school. This allows the audience to build a relationship with each of the characters as they get to know them, plus the audience is also included in the story line as they they get to see each episode unfold.
‘Bad Education’ offers us audience gratification because of the various stereotypes presented in the programme. One stereotype presented is the ‘chav’ stereotype, in which we see this in Mitchell one of Mr Wickers' students who is particularly difficult to teach, not that Mr Wickers has any intention to teach his students anyway.
The narrative pleasures with in Bad education makes the audience know how the story will begin and end, with a problem and at the end somehow everything will be better. This makes the audience understand the construction of the episode and how it will be formatted.
The comedy with in Bad education is the thing that really makes people watch this as Mr Wickers makes fun of himself as well as the awkward positions he always finds him self in which amuses the audience of Bad Education.The familiarity with the characters and the setting allows the audience to get to know the characters and their personality and behaviour throughout the episode. This will also lead the audience to analyse the stereotypes that each character plays to make it entertaining as they are familiar with the concept of stereotyping which makes each character have a likeable trait. One example of a stereotype is Jing. Her character is specified as the logical and smart one, who is also portrayed as the 'smart Asian'. Throughout the episode, we see her personality as arrogant and egotistical because of her knowledge and constantly telling the teacher what to do and insulting them for not handling the class the way that anyone would expect the teacher to behave.  







Another stereotype would be Alfie Wickers who is portrayed as the lovable loser. Throughout the entire episode we see him trying to impress his colleague Miss Gulliver who rejects him because of his immature and irresponsible attributes. He seems to constantly do this throughout the series to make it humorous for the audience as he fails no matter how many times he tries. Relating to this, this is how the audience familiarised themselves with the characters. Alfie Wickers is the immature teacher who has no authority over the students and lets himself get bullied because of this. This makes the audience realise that these are the attributes that he shows throughout all the episodes and how the audience can identify how he will act in different situations which is presented in the narrative. One example of this is when the school bully confronts Mr Wickers in the corridor and compliments him on his shows, following this he threatens Alfie to give him his shoes. Because Alfie has no authority he unwillingly gives him the shoes and looks in loss property for a pair of ugly shoes. The audience will find this aspect funny but will realise that Alfie has no authority over the other students. 

Thursday 4 February 2016

Audience Pleasure

The pleasures are:
  • narrative pleasures such as those of narrative resolution, 
  • character identification, snowballing narrative, suspense, comedy, and so on
  • pleasures of recognition, familiarity and anticipation
  • pleasures of difference-within-repetition
  • performance unpredictability and spontaneity
  • transgressive pleasures
  • specific pleasures associated with performers or personalities

Remember to include clear examples from episode one.

What do these terms mean?

Narrative pleasures refer to the audience enjoying how the storyline is constructed. In situation comedy, the plot starts and ends in exactly the same place. What happens in between is usually a snowballing narrative of one problem added onto another problem, This is usually caused by the stupid decisions of the character and the audience laugh as they make each poor choice.

Character identification is how the audience knows the characters well and can predict how they will behave. Audiences feel they can relate the the characters and they become well loved because of these predictable character traits. How does Mr Wickers appeal to the target audience? He is seen as the worse teacher ever but he is surrounded by some of the weirdest teachers who by comparison make him seem far better than any alternative. His intentions are good and the audience identify with him, even though he is immature and makes such cringe-worthy decisions. 

Wednesday 3 February 2016

TV Comedy Scheduling


Bad Education


  • Who commissioned the programmes? BBC 3 was the programme that commissioned Bad Education
  • Who produced them? Tiger Aspect Productions and Jack Whitehall
  • What audience are they aimed at? Why? The audience is aimed at both men and women aged 16 to 35 because of the type of humour is particular to them as it is a quite immature sense of humour.
  • Why are they on at that time and on that channel? They were on BBC 3 at 10pm because that is the watershed time which is from 9pm onwards and 10pm is one of the prime times for adult humour. The reason Bad Education chose to go with BBC 3 was due to how many people watch their programmes as they got a large audience. Also it was shown on a Wednesday.
  • Are they on after the watershed? Why? They're after the watershed because it is aimed at an older audience due to it having rude humour.



Friday Night Dinner


  • Who commissioned the programme? Channel 4 was the programme that commissioned Friday Night Dinner
  • Who produced Friday Night Dinner? Big Talk Productions and Popper Pictures
  • What audience are they aimed at? Friday Night Dinner is aimed towards both men and women aged 16 to 35 due to the type of humour it presents to people that watch this.
  • Why are they on at that time and on that channel? The reason Channel 4 is their audience who watch and who know about channel 4 is a lot so if they have their channel is on channel 4 then they will get a lot of people watching for their first time. It is down to the programme to make the audience come back to watch the programme depending on its content the programme has to offer. 9 pm  is the time Friday Night Dinner is on.
  • Are they on after the watershed? Why? 

Thursday 21 January 2016

Television Comedy (Situation Comedy)

  1. The Inbetweeners                                                                     
  2. Black Adder
  3. Mr Bean
  4. Benidorm
  5. The Simpsons
1.Network: Channel 4
 First episode:1st May 2008
 Last episode:18th October 2010