Revision: (Music Videos)

Monday 25th March 2019

Explain how MISE-EN-SCENE has been used in your two music videos to show the genre and represent the band/artist.

• Beyonce: 'If I Were A Boy' - in the music video, Beyonce looks very glamorous and feminine while playing a police officer and a wife. This helps represent her because she is an RnB artist and females looking like this is a large part of this music genre. There is also an urban scene which helps link to the RnB genre.
• Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars: 'Uptown Funk' - in the music video there are urban locations with elements of 1950s style made modern. This helps represents the artists because they are making a modern pop song with retro interests. The people in the video are wearing colourful clothes which also helps link to the retro scenery.

Explain how CAMERAWORK and EDITING has been used in your two music videos to show the genre and represent the band/artist.

• Beyonce: 'If I Were A Boy' - there are long cuts and clips that help tell the story of this narrative based music video. There are also no graphics in this video to help convey the seriousness of this song. Throughout the video, a monochrome filter has been placed onto it to also bring across a more serious theme. The camerawork is smooth and natural as it presents reality better and reflect the sombre mood of the song. There are also some high angle shots which helps the viewer follow the narrative of the music video as it focuses in on the main characters.
• Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars: 'Uptown Funk' - There are different editing techniques in 'Uptown Funk' that makes it differ from the other music video. The cuts are different in this video and are made to change clip along with the beat, whereas the other video changed slowly to tell the story. In this video there is a filter where the colour looks more saturated to make the video look more retro and urban to match with the theme. There are a lot of canted and twisting shots which help to add to the fun theme and match the genre of the song.

Half-term revision

Names: 'If I Were A Boy' - Beyonce and 'Uptown Funk' - Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars

Background Information:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Similarities:

Differences:

Viewers of these videos:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Gender:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Age:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Race:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Sexuality:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Narrative/performance:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Setting:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Costume:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Camera shots/angles:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Editing:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

If I Were A Boy: Video Marketing

• Released on:
• Views: 
• USA Chart Position: 1
• USA iTunes position: 3
• UK Chart Position: 1
• UK Digital Charts Position: 29

Uptown Funk: Video Marketing

• Released on: Vevo and Youtube
• Views: 2.6 billion on Youtube as of 2017 (5th most viewed video of all time)
• USA Chart Position: 1
• USA iTunes Position: 1
• UK Chart Position: 1
• UK Digital Charts: 1

Revision: (Mojo Target Audience)

Monday 18th March 2019

Explain the demographics of the target audience of Mojo magazine: be as specific as you can and explain the appeal of Mojo to them.

The target audience for Mojo magazine is mainly males aged 20-50 years old. Their social class will be ABC1 so they have a high disposable income that they can spend on music. They be interested in rock/alternative music to listen to on CDs they have bought. Mojo is a rock/alternative music magazine so it will appeal to the people who like that genre. The majority of Mojo's covers have mainly large, bold, sans serif font, and the artists on the covers are predominantly males that appeals more towards men. As the articles are quite lengthy and because of the language used, people in the ABC1 category will be more interested in Mojo than people in C2DE.

Christian May Speaker

Christian May Speaker - Editor of City A.M

• News Bias - Christian spoke about many different newspapers and magazines having a bias towards a certain side of a story, but his newspaper tries not to show bias. For example, before Brexit was voted to happen, he was one of the only papers to not say what side they would be on.

• Declining circulation figures - as more and more news is shown online, circulation figures are decreasing because people aren't buying physical newspapers anymore. This is a challenge because these papers need to find money to afford to print stories.

• Fake news - he spoke about how newspapers have to try and avoid fake news and spoke about untrustworthy sources that people have to try and avoid. He also said about Donald Trump and that he accuses stories of being fake news because he doesn't like what has been printed about him.

• Relationship between print & online news - online news is becoming increasingly popular whereas print news is declining in popularity. This is because people can find news online for free so don't bother buying a newspaper (although Christian said City A.M was free).

Cuffs: Episode 1

Imagine you are a TV critic who writes for the Independent. Write a review of the opening episode of the new BBC Police Drama Cuffs.

Cuffs: Season 1 Episode 1 review, worth the watch?

If you enjoy shows such as The Bill, Line of Duty and Luther, you may want to watch the eight episode, 2015 series - Cuffs. Created by Julie Gearey, Cuffs is a drama series that follows the South Sussex Police Force around Brighton, and what its like to be on a modern day front-line. Episode one ("Luck of the Draw") was aired on BBC1 on the 28th October 2015. The eight episodes then ran until the 16th December 2015, but was cancelled after one series, however, don't let this put you off.

In episode one, we get introduced to eight main characters: PC Ryan Draper - a serious but committed and principled police man; PC Jake Vickers - new to the job, Jake is being trained by Ryan and the son of the Chief Superintendent; DS Jo Moffat - a talented detective with a slightly awkward side, and a crush for the Chief; DC Carl Hawkins - only seen a few times, Carl is a tough detective constable who isn't afraid to get stuck into the action; DI Felix Kane - the Detective Inspector with a few too many secrets for his own good; PC Donna Prager - hard working, capable, dependable, and an overall brilliant officer; PC Lino Moretti - dedicated to the job, but a somewhat comical character who can't keep up physically; finally, Chief Superintendent Robert Vickers - Jake's dad and a master at his job, but hints that maybe everything isn't ok at home...

"On his first day working with Ryan, rookie cop Jake faces a challenging shift on the Brighton streets. But, being the boss' son, Jake's biggest challenge is earning the respect of his new colleagues." - this is the basic summary of episode 1. The South Sussex Police Force face a number of challenges that they manage, with a lot of setbacks - not only do we meet the main characters, but we meet a depressed drug addict, a racist murderer and a kidnapper! 

As mentioned, BBC1 in 2015 was the first and only channel to broadcast Cuffs, however the show was sold overseas to New Zealand (broadcasted in January 2016) and Australia (broadcasted in February 2016). The program fits in with the others shown on BBC1 as it follows the same genres, for example, Luther, Bodyguard and Sherlock, as they are all drama series just like Cuffs.

Cuffs was shown on a Wednesday at the pre-watershed time of 8pm, which could have the wrong time for it. Being broadcasted before 9pm really limits what the show could convey. If it was shown at a later time, extra violence and comical scenes could have been added to bring more drama to the show - maybe a missed opportunity? Not only this, but 8pm may have been an inappropriate time for the show to be broadcasted. With scenes of semi-nudity and violence the show may have not been suitable for children still awake at the time.

Undoubtedly, Cuffs would have been a very appealing show to a wide range of different people. A vast mix of different characters ensures that the audience will find at least one character to relate to, adding more appeal to watch the show. Whether you like the serious character (PC Ryan Draper), the secretive character (DI Felix Kane) or the comical character (PC Lino Moretti), there is someone for everyone. The storylines and plot is also bound to appeal to those who love drama and police series, as it is gripping and easy to follow.

So, is Cuffs worth the watch? If you're into fast-paced, action-filed police drama series, with a good mix of hostilities and excitement, than its a definite YES.

Promoting Media Revision Wk6

Promoting Media Revision Wk6

• Explain how an effective media campaign would exploit a variety of media platforms. (Use online, print & audio-visual media forms). 
  Use The Lego Movie to support your answer.

The LEGO Movie constructs an effective marketing campaign by exploiting the movie onto different platforms like print, film and e-media.

One way The LEGO Movie was marketed was by using getting its campaign online. Adverts for the movie would have been placed on the sides of social media, blogs and websites, and trailers for the movie may have been placed in YouTube videos. This is effective because young cinema-goers and some children and parents use social media, and these are the people who are likely to go to the cinema and watch the film, as the film has been marketed at them.

The movie is marketed using print to help create an effective marketing campaign. Before the movie’s release, 6 movie posters were created to help market the film. These posters had pictures of the LEGO Movie characters, including their names and the people who voice them. These posters were included in newspapers, magazines and out and about to help market the film. This helps construct a good marketing campaign because it helps get the attention of the people who want to watch the film. It targets kids because they get an image of what characters will be in the movie. The posters also target adults by putting the actors/actress names on the posters, as the adults may see the name of an actor/actress they like and want to see their part in The LEGO Movie.

The movie also uses film to construct a marketing campaign. The LEGO Movie had trailers that were shown to make people aware that the movie was coming out. Before films shown in cinemas, a theatrical trailer would be shown. A teaser trailer may also be shown on TV, and links to the online media platform as these shorter trailers may also be shown as adverts during YouTube videos. This is effective because it targets movie-goers who may be interested in seeing The LEGO Movie. Teaser trailers were also shown in the adverts of family programmes, which would draw families (the main target audience) into watching the film.

Promoting Media Revision Wk5

Promoting Media Revision Wk 5

What are the genre conventions are shown in the main Lego Movie film poster?

From the movie poster, you can tell it is an action film because of the explosions in the background. You can also tell that it is a children's movie based on the bright colours.  You can also tell it's a family film that appeals to adults because of the famous characters being shown such as Batman and Benny.


Explain how the following elements on the poster appeal to the target audience.

• Title: the young target audience will like the title because it explains to them that this will be a movie about Lego, which has never been done before so they will be interested by it and want to watch it. It will appeal to the young cinema goers because for the same reasons, as they will want to watch an innovative movie built of Lego. The title will appeal to parents because they too would not have seen a full length film made entirely of Lego.
• Tagline: the tagline "The story of a nobody who saved everybody" would interest children into watching the film because they would be interested about who the 'nobody' is and how they are a saviour. The tagline would appeal to young cinema goers because they would be familiar with a storyline of a 'nobody' saving the other characters, but this movie is made of Lego so they will also be interested in how a Lego character can do this. The tagline will appeal to adults and parents because they might be familiar with the feeling of being a nobody, and would want to see the movie to see how the 'nobody' saves 'everybody', which links to the Blumler and Katz theory of personal identity.
• Main image - characters: the characters on the cover may appeal to children because there are a lot of different varieties of people on there that they might be interested in, for example, a builder, superheroes, a villain, and a female character. They may appeal to young cinema goers because they will be able to identify the different character types in a normal movie compared to this movie made of Lego, and will be interested to see if they are right and what these characters do. The characters will appeal to adults and parents because they can see different characters that they may recognise and want to see their involvement in the film, for example, Batman, Superwoman and Benny.
• Main image - setting: the setting may appeal to kids because they may like to make different things with Lego, and this setting of a city is made of Lego so they may want to be able to make their own Lego city and will watch the film to gain inspiration for new things to build. It may appeal to young cinema goers because they may relate the setting to real life films but be interested in how the Lego city will be different and what role it plays in the whole film. The setting might appeal to parents and adults because they may be working people and familiar with a city and the skyscrapers, and would want to see a city made of Lego being destructed by the events in the film.

Analyse how they use stereotypes to create representations that appeal to the target audience:

The LEGO Movie posters create stereotypes by using what the characters are wearing and what they are doing. This creates the stereotype in the audience's head about what the characters are like before even watching the film.

In the main movie poster, Emmet is represented as a working class male as he is dressed in a builders uniform. He could also be seen as the main character because he is positioned at the front of the group. His facial expression in both posters create the stereotype that he is quite weak because he looks afraid. His overall stereotype is that he is a working class male, that unlike most of the others, is scared about what is happening around him.

From the movie posters, Wyldstyle has is made to look as if she is the strong female character. She is made to look like quite a stereotypically 'edgy' girl that is not the same as many female movie characters, this can be seen by the way she is dressed and the way she is fiercely running in the main poster. Wyldstyle's overall stereotype is that she is the brave, emo-looking female character, and different to most female characters in other movies.

Lord Business is made to look like the stereotypical 'bad guy' of the film. This can be shown in the main poster where he is looming over the other characters as they are running from him. In his individual character poster, Lord Business looks even more like the villain of the film because of his evil facial expression, and what he is wearing may also make him look like the antagonist. He has the stereotype of the evil villain that the other characters need to fight against.

Vitruvius can be seen as the wise old man of the film, this stereotype is created by his long white hair and facial expression. The way his eyes are glowing suggests that he is not the normal old man and may have magic powers. His facial expression in the main poster makes him look brave even though there is chaos around him. 

Batman is represented as his normal brave character in the movie posters. His facial expressions in both his poster and the main poster makes him look like the stereotypical hero that is helping the others fight the villain. What he is wearing also helps bring across this stereotype as most people are familiar with Batman, and will understand that he is represented as the hero.

Promoting Media Revision Wk4

Promoting Media Revision Wk4 

Four Uses and Gratifications of the Blulmer and Katz give for accessing media:

• Entertainment - offers distraction from the world.
• Personal identity - helps us consider who we are; what ideas and values we identify with.
• Relationships - we find things we can share and discuss with others.
• Information - new information we want to know or take pleasure in knowing.

Analyse how the Uses and Gratifications of The Lego Movie Video Game are reflected in the cover:

The LEGO Movie Video Game cover has the title in bold writing at the top so that it can be seen easily. This links to the 'Entertainment' uses and gratification theory because it can be easily seen as a video game and will offer a distraction from the world.
The video game cover includes the male characters and female characters to attract people of both genders. This relates to the 'Personal identity' uses and gratifications theory because it helps people relate to the characters in the film and video game based on who they are and what they identify with.
The LEGO Movie Video Game also links to the 'Relationships' theory. This is because all the different characters appear on the cover so people can therefore talk about the different characters in the game and what they do.
The 'Information' uses an gratification theory is also reflected in the video game cover as people may find new information from the game that they did not learn from the film, especially if they have not yet seen the film. An example of this could be what Emmet is holding, as they may be curious as to what it is and take pleasure in finding out.