Tuesday, 23 March 2010

Mr Smith Essay

Digital technology turns media consumers into media producers" in your own experience , how has your creativity developed through using digital technology to complete your coursework productions?

Introduction

Technology and media we have used throughout 2 years at the school, doing print in yr 12 and video in yr 13.

Year 12

Using photoshop to create a magazine cover and contents, using digital technology, e.g internet. How we had to create out own magazine , using other examples & influences.

Year 13

Changing the magazine to a video, after having a wider range of experience using the cameras, characterisitics of short films, & having done a magazine already. New ideas/adapting ideas that were used in yr 12.

Development of skills on photoshop/iMovie

Talk about the quote in the title "Digital technology turns media...."

Conclusion

My own opinion, & summary of how my creativity within media has adapted/improved.

Friday, 5 February 2010

Ethnographic Model

The ethnographic model is the researcher of the test exploring the culture of the target audience to try to understand how they interpret media. This is linked to;
- the focus on the domestic context of reception of media texts
- the element of cultural competence
- technologies

Using the ethnographic model evaluate your own text. Have you inadvertently prevented certain audiences from accessing your text?
The first area suggests that media is structured by the domestic enviroment, for example who is in charge of the TV remote. The audience we have aimed at will be niche, because we are publishing it on the internet. However there is a possibility for our text to be shown on television, as a 3 minute wonder, or a Virgin Short. Stereotypically the man would have control of the remote, however we are not aiming at just a male audience, so it suits us that television can be controlled easier, as most homes have more than one t.v, with sky, sky plus or freeview. This means that people have more of a choice in what they watch, so the types of television being watched wouldnt be stereotyped towards more masculine programmes.
The second area suggests that genre has a gender appeal, for example soaps are watched by females rather than males. This is because the texts include features which would be more suited to that specific audience, e.g character relationships or cliff hangers. In terms of our text, we are aiming it more at females than males, because the stereotypical view of a male would be that our film is depressing and boring; going by all males watch action/thriller genres. However this wont always be the case, but we have included certain elements in our film that would be more suited for a female viewing.
The third area is the way in which we experience media, and the availability to us. For example, information-rich people have access to the internet, sky plus, etc. However information-poor people will not have access to the internet, or have certain channels, and this comes down either not having the money to pay for these forms of media, or not knowing about them or wanting them. Our film is targeted towards information-rich people, because they have the access and the oppurtunity to have our film, where as information-poor people will not.

Friday, 8 January 2010

Sampling

Sampling within music is basically taking a slice or portion out of a different song, or element of digital audio and applying it in a different song. Samples often consist of a part of a song, for example a break, or a drum beat. For example, Kanye West used a lot of sampling in his album graduation in 2007. Sampling is also common in industrial music, with samples coming from T.V programmes or films.

However there are legal issues with sampling. Early artist used to use sections or parts from other artists without permission, however once they started making money from other peoples samples, the origional artists took action and claimed copyright infringment. For example, Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby, used a sample from a Queen song, however they did not have the legal requirements to do so, and eventually got sued a lot a money.


Sampling goes back to 1961, James Tenney used samples from the Elvis song "Blue Suede Shoes." At the same time,many other artists were experementing with sampling, such as Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs.

DJ Shadow is very commonly known for the use of sampling, as his album Endtroducing, is made up entirely of samples. Normally, the sample used within a song is very noticeable, as the artist would have chosen one that is popular already. This helps to increase the target audience, especially if the sample has come from a very popular song.



Endtroducing
DJ Shadow










KanYe West
Graduation

Sunday, 8 November 2009

Pulp Fiction; Post-Modernism


We watched the film Pulp Fiction in class, and identified all the areas of post modernism within the film, below i will be showing some of the the post modern factors within the film, and the inspiration from where it came from.

One element of post modernism is the haircut of Mia, which has clearly been taken from Louise Brooks, who starred in the film Pandoras Box. At the time, to have a haircut like Louise Brooks was a daring thing to do, and was almost unheard of.




The reseraunt used in Pulp Fiction (Jack Rabbit Slim's) is another example of post modernism, as there are referances to many characters from popular culture, e.g Zorro, Elvis, Buddy Holly, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean. All these people are seen within the resteraunt, here is the clip...











(sorry its in french)

Whilst in the resteraunt you also see Maraliyn Monroe doing the classic pose...



... which is a referance to the Subway Scene from "The seven year itch."

The following scene is where Butch chooses a weapon to save Marcellus...










The weapons he picks up are all references to weapons that are used in other films to kill people. For example...
First of all he picks up the hammer, which is a reference to Toolbox Murders (1978)


Then he picks up the Baseball Bat, referance to The Untouchables.





Then he picks up a chainsaw, which is a referance to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.




Until he finally decides upon a samurai sword, which has many referances. Seven Samurai (1954), The Yazuka (1975), Shogun Assasain (1980).