Mock Re-write
1A-
It is clear to see that digital
technology has helped me to reach the best of my abilities at both AS
and A2, supplying me with a range
of advanced technologies that have allowed to be develop
professional media texts
including a music magazine and a music video.
For my foundation portfolio, I
used Adobe InDesign CS5 to create my music magazine. InDesign
supplied me with a range of tools
that helped my work look professional, especially the text tools. I
previously discovered that pull
quotes are a commonly used convention in magazines and I wanted
to include these in my own work
to entice the reader. Furthermore, I wanted to use pull quotes to
present the most relevant parts
of my text and to separate the main article – making the layout
more appealing. To make the pull
quotes look successful I wanted to space the characters out
accordingly. To do this, I
selected the tracking tool and highlighted the characters I wanted to space
out. For shorter words I
increased the space and for longer words I decreased the space. This way I
was able to fit the pull quote
into the space I previously designed for it. I used pull quotes on each of
my double page spreads which made
up the article of my music artist. In fact, one of my double page
spreads only included a single
image and a pull quote, emphasising the importunate of the pull
quote and presentation. I believe
the tools made my work appear neater and similar to existing
magazines, for instance many
current music magazines like NME include large images of the artist
accompanied by a pull quote on
double page spreads as well as single pages to stand out the
consumer.
Adobe Photoshop was another
software I used during the creation of my foundation task. I wanted
to include a wide variety of
image styles in my magazine so I edited some of my shots in Photoshop
by editing my shots in Photoshop
to black and white. This way they would also contrast with the
colour images on the page.
Firstly I removed the background by selecting the white background to
delete it. I then selected the
layers section to create a new fill or adjustment layer, and selected
black and white. This effect was
used on my second and fourth images on my last double page
spread and also on the artist’s
own product – her album which was placed in a box out text.
Supplying this look to the
artist’s own products also suggests her quirky image. I believe these
images helped to create an
authentic piece of coursework, especially as black and white are
considered trendy colours to
teenage audiences, which my piece was aimed at.
Moving onto my advanced
portfolio, my use of digital technology developed as, although I had used
the SLR 600D Camera previously at
AS, I went from shooting single individual photos to moving
images. To maximise the quality
of my video in the dark, I had to adjust the settings. I increased the
ISO which increased the
sensitivity of the camera so I could attain the best possible professional
outcome. Using a lens with an
aperture of 1.8 allowed me to shot in high quality in low light, which
was vital for my music videos
that were shot outside. This also means shots taken at my house were
also just as high quality as the
footage in the studio, due to the advance digital technology I had
access to.
Regarding software programmes,
Adobe Premiere CS6 was a new a software I discovered during my
advanced portfolio. One of the
most beneficial skills I learnt was how to remove a green screen from
my footage. To achieve this new
skill, I selected the ‘eight. Garbage matte’ video effect and added it
to my video. I then re-shaped
this to get rid of any excess background. After I selected the ultra key
effect and changed the colour to
green. I then adjusted the shadow and soften tool until I was
happy with overall image, and
imported the flashback into the background. This way I was able to
include both a narrative and a
performance in one scene, as well as drawing attention to the
emotional lyrics in the song as
the audience can link these to the flashbacks of the couple. I believe
this technique is quite unique as
it is not usually something shown in music videos in this way.
Overall using green screen to my
advantage has allowed me to develop professional skills, taking my
previous panning and research
ideas and being able to produce them through digital technology.
1B-
Media language refers to how
media texts communicate messages to their audience. This can be
through a set of sings or codes
that the audience have to make meaning of, depending on their own
experiences and interpretations.
Saussure is known as the founder
of semiotics. He implied that no object is without meaning and no
meaning can be generated without
that object, or indeed its source. Media texts communicate
different meanings through a set
of signs and these signs each include a signifier and a signified.
There are many close-ups of the
rose painting in the video, suggesting the object’s importance. The
denotation of this sign is the
painting itself as well as the colours including red and black paint. The
connotations depend of the
experiences of that individual, therefore suggesting a polysemic sign.
The close-up shot displays the
fine detail of the rose to the audience. These set of shots make the
audience aware of what the
protagonist is painting and the rose may represent romance, linking to
the narrative. Other close-up
shots, especially towards the end of the video where she uses red paint
to colour the rose, highlights
the red paint spilt on her hand. This could have connotations of blood
and hurt, again linking back to
the story behind the video. The colours themselves also have strong
connotations. In a close-up shot
where red paint drips onto the portrait – red can signify both love
and danger. These ideas
constantly refer back to the heartbroken theme, and perhaps make the
audience aware of the current
social conventions of a common heartbreak between a young couple.
The audience can further connect
their own love experiences to the video and sympathise with the
character if they have gone
through a similar scenario.
The work of Laura Mulvey can also
be discussed to represent the use of the female protagonist.
Mulvey Her theory suggests that
the female in my video will either be seen as the housewife
Madonna or the whore. This
explains the ‘Madonna whore’ binary where women are viewed by men
as either, yet they are still
seen as the ‘second sex’ because they are being placed by men. The close-
up shots of the female singing,
focuses on the heavy make-up used, especially the dark lipstick and
the full lips, implying a ‘whore
persona’ as she is being used for visual pleasure from a man’s
perspective. The lingering mid-shots
in the studio also show shots of the singer grabbing her top and
slightly lifting it above her
waist. This creates a seductive and flirtacious character, again supporting
the ‘male gaze’ as she is being
shown from a male’s point of view. Long shots of the artist singing
display her entire outfit: a vest
top, shorts, black tights and black leather boots – a typical female
rock image. This image is often
seen as controversial as it emphasises the female’s figure, in
particular her legs, implying the
dominance of male viewers. However the singer can also be seen as
the opposing role in some sense
through the flashbacks of the couple, indicating a healthy
heterosexual relationship. In
these shots the audience see her laughing compared to the sad
emotions she expresses when she
sings. Yet as the male caused her to feel this way, she can still be
seen as playing a passive role in
the narrative. These representations give a layer of meaning
towards the audience so they can
understand the opposing roles in the ‘male gaze’ and although the
flashbacks portray her as the
‘Madonna’, more often the viewers are encouraged to view her as the
‘whore’. This links to typical
genre conventions of both pop and rock music videos where females are
often shown for visual pleasure.
In conclusion, in my video media
language uses signs to express romance, heart break and the
notions of femininity. As there
are polysemic signs through the use of camera and mise-en-scene,
the audience can make up their own
conclusion.
2-
Postmodernism is a way of
thinking about cultures, philosophy and the arts. More general, it is a
concept categorised by a set of
theories and ideologies. Popular postmodern traits include
intertextuality, pastiche and
hyperreality which I will discuss when analysing my case studies
‘Maleficent’ (Robert Stromberg,
2014) and ‘Black Widow’ (Director X, 2014).
My first case study is
‘Maleficent’, a film about the untold story of the villain in Disney’s
‘Sleeping
Beauty’. Immediately it is clear
to see how this is a postmodern film as it is based on an already
existing media text, it uses
intertextuality and focuses on a completely different character within the
story. It can be said that the
film is a recycled fairy-tale from the original – introducing the bricolage
technique where work is created
using available and existing materials, which is effectively what
‘Maleficent’ does. ‘Maleficent’
is also pastiche, a trait discovered by Freidrich Jameson, as it imitates
the work of existing films by
including the same characters and locations. Both ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and
‘Maleficent’ also include similar
scenes, for example when Maleficent goes to visit Aurora as a baby
and casts a spell on her in the
castle.
The film also creates a sense of hyperreality,
a motion discovered by Baudrilliard, through the way it
is shown on screen. Maleficent
has a sense of hyperreality as it is sometimes difficult for the viewer
to distinguish between what is
real and what is not during the film. ‘Maleficent’ is a myth based on a
realistic-looking landscape yet
the landscape is in fact a magical made-up land. Therefore the way it
has been edited creates a sense
of a hyperreality world towards the audience.
‘Maleficent’ is also very
artificial – another trait as to how the film is considered postmodern,
because it uses CGI to create
mythical creatures that the audience otherwise wouldn’t see in real
life. For example, Maleficent
herself is very artificial due to her black wings and horns. There is a
scene in particular, where she is
flying other the kingdom as a little girl which clearly uses CGI effects
as this would never be possible
in reality. This also emphasises how the film is a fairy-tale as
sometimes postmodern films like
to draw attention to the fact they are fictious. However the
characters have been edited this
way to appear real with the audience so they can engage and relate
with them more, as well as what
is happening in the film. This also displays how important
technology is within
postmodernity.
Another trait of Maleficent is
its claim to moral truth. As the film focuses on the villain as the
protagonist, it is sometimes hard
to distinguish whether in fact she is the hero. In the original
‘Sleeping Beauty’ it was easy to
recgonise Maleficent as the villain however this film takes on more
complicated approaches towards
the character. For example the scene where Maleficent’s wings get
stolen from her childhood friend,
the audience automatically sympathises with her and she is seen
as the victim. This explains how
postmodern films tend to upset mainstream conventions of
narratives and characterisations
because it tells the story from a different perspective.
My other case study is the music
video ‘Black Widow’ by Rita Ora and Iggy Azalea. This media text
also includes pastiche a sit
imitates the film ‘Kill Bill’ through the various props and costumes. Both
artists wear leather jumpsuits,
like the protagonist in ‘Kill Bill’ the bride, however they are slightly
different from the original due
to their colour. This suggests how the producers didn’t want to
exactly replicate the film, but
instead imitate it- a more playful side of postmodern culture.
Intertextuality is another trait
within ‘Black Widow’ as from the beginning, the audience is
introduced to Michael Madsen,
which ironically links in with the original film ‘Kill Bill’ as he also
starred in this. Rital Ora’s old
label head ‘T.I’ and actor ‘Paul Sorvino’ are also in the poker scene of
the video. All of these appearances
link to either the film or music industry which the audience, if
they recognise them, will be able
to make connections with. A more humorous example of
intertextuality is the reference
to the current song ‘What does the fox say?’ as the restaurant owner
says this to Iggy at the start of
the video. This is another way the audience can understand the
references, as the song was very
popular during this video’s release.
As mentioned before, some
postmodern texts like to draw attention to the fact they’re fictous. This
is seen in ‘Black Widow’ where
Iggy look directly at the camera to make eye contact with the
audience, as well as the many
posters that advertise the video within the restaurant. This implies
how postmodern texts are
hyper-conscious as they directly address the audience.
I believe postmodernity will
continue to appear within the arts as traits such as intertextuality are
now becoming more commonly used
and I believe this will continue to adapt in the future, as
audience will accept that modernity
no longer exist.
