Questions to answer.

What do we mean by digital media technology? Digital media is digitized content that can be transmitted over the internet or computer networks. This can include text, audio, video, and graphics. This means that news from a TV network, newspaper, magazine, etc. that is presented on a blog etc. What is the relationship between creativity digital media technology? Over time, a lot of digital media technology has evolved and progressed in this generation. This has allowed for people to come more creative and create more ideas and things in the digital world that hadnt been created before. Also if things had become already done then it allowed them to be done more uniquely and in a different yet creative way. Experimentation - i have tried different methods and ideas whilst planning my production work, this allowed me to see what went well and what didnt go aswell, as well to adjust this around my production work. Hyper- reality - i have attempted to create this feeling by following the conventions of horrors and what needs to be included in them in order to be a good horror Acess to social medias - I have been able to use many social medias to do my research background, this allowed me to get more of a outside view on what people think about the ideas i have for my horror. Creation of media - i have used different media programmes to allow a horror trailer to be created that fits in the conventions of the post modern generation today.

Conventions Essay.

Conventions are seen as rules to follow therefore the conventions we have learnt in as to a2 are seen as the rules to follow when making our media products. It is seen that we can either deliberately or unconsciously break these rules. In As I unconsciously broke them, this is due to the last year I had a lack of understanding on what the conventions of a rock genre was and even though I did understand why certain conventions where there I continued to ignore that and create an unrealistic rock magazine, this may also be the product of not doing enough research and planning and not understand what I did research. On the other hand due to four weeks prior to the summer before A2 I learnt about the conventions of horror in a deeper aspect and this allowed me to shape a realistic trailer that didn’t break the conventions. I found A2 easier to get the hang off because I was my own target audience. As I was fond of horrors, I knew what I liked to watch and how to make my own target audience on the edge of their seat. In my AS year, a lot of my research and planning was done from popular rock magazines like Kerrang and NME. I focused on conventions of the magazine so I knew the sort of things I needed to focus on putting in my own rock magazine. For example the dominant image of the majority of the rock magazines were a main focus of a single person as a mid-shot that show the costume and props they are wearing. This helped me identify that I needed to focus my shots as a mid-shot focus on a single person. On the other hand when it came to actually taking the shots I realised that I was swaying from the conventional shots that I was supposed to have taken and that was downfall of my magazine. My shots were not as strong as they should have been and therefore brought my final product grade down. When it came to audience research for my rock magazine I was very lazy. I understood that I needed to create a questionnaire to extend my planning before I started creating my own product. However through evaluation now I realise that I didn’t find and ask the right people in order to get valuable results to follow the correct rock conventions. In my A2 year, my research and planning has improved and developed dramatically. The fact that this year is group, it has enabled me to become more motivated and positive in order to achieve the best grade for my team. Due to the fact that we learnt about horrors a month before summer, I feel it benefited my summer trailer majorly. This is because I knew there was certain conventions that I had to follow in order to make it an affective attempt of a good summer trailer. Through this month of deep research before summer, I found out that a lot of different aspects of horror have a deeper meaning that I originally thought. Especially as a lover of horrors I found it very creative the way horrors are analysed and deeply thought about before actually being filmed. For example instead of a dagger just being a weapon against a protagonist, it is seen as a phallic object sexually abusing the protagonist, normally connoting male power domination over women. I found the research I found out so interesting, it allowed me to become more creative and clever when it came to planning my own summer trailer. I think interest was what I was missing in my AS year the most, I didn’t find myself interested in music magazines, especially rock as the genre. From my planning and research I understood fully all the different aspects and conventions of horrors and now know how I can attempt to interpret them in my own trailer. From AS to A2 I feel my research and planning has improved majorly. In A2 my research and planning has been a lot more successful, I understand the need to do all of that work before I go on and create the final product in this case a media trailer. I feel because my research and planning wasn’t done as in-depth as it should have been, it affected my first year majorly and led me to be less creative and a lower grade. On the other hand in A2 I feel research and planning has really affected my work in a positive aspect and made me more prepared for making my final product. If I was to go back into my AS year I would defiantly make sure I’m more focused on creating more reliable research and planning that I know will affect my work in a positive manner and provide me a higher grade. This year I have been able to relate a lot easier to my audience and their needs and this has made my work better. Another thing that I have developed since last year was becoming more aware of not breaking the conventions of a horror film, this helped me to remain focused and allow my work to be conventional of that type of film genre. Overall I feel I have developed as a post-modern media producer in my generation today. For example I make sure I get as creative I can with the technology that I have to use. This helps improve my work and keeps me as a post-modern media producer. In this generation pretty much anything is seen as creative however it is difficult to make it original because everything has already been done, because of this I make sure I am always as creative as I can possible think of because if I don’t try to do that then my work will be boring. In conclusion over the last two years my work has developed sufficiently and effectively with the generation we are in and my research and planning has developed alongside it. This year has really opened my eyes to how helpful research and planning is and how it helps me to become more creative then I was in AS.

How much was your own production influenced by existing texts? I should have adapted my work to the other rock genre magazines more. Why follow conventions? Because this is what the audience are used to, its what they enjoy and know so well. If different music magazines didn't follow the conventions then there wouldn't be a set genre difference in magazines. Which conventions did you follow? I made sure I focused on having an dominant image, the masthead being striking and there being strap lines and cover lines aswell. To what extent did you not following existing conventions? I didn't focus on the rule of thirds enough. There wasn't enough space on my magazine. My other photos on my main page was not ordered and sectioned off enough and my selling line wasn't clear or conventional. Was this intentional and if so why? No this wasn't intentional, I think if I was more conventional my grade would improve majorly. To what extend did following conventions limit your own creativity? It was hard to be conventional and creative at the same time because making sure you have the conventions of a music magazine is impossible. Conventions are another way of us copying other music magazines.

Analysis over example essay.

Point - The more analysing I done of previous and popular magazines, the more I became aware of conventions of this genre. Evidence- NME and Kerrang! always had their masthead on the top third of the page. Explain - This stood out to the consumers eye and reflected the genre of the magazine. Point- Even though I had done previous research, the concept was new to her so she conducted further research in order to get a better understanding. Evidence- Andrew Godwin was a major research element as he conducted his own theory into the conventions that make up a music video. Explain- This allowed her to develop particular conventions that she didn't know about before for example video imagery which improved her grade.

Research and Planning essay.

Conventions are seen as rules to follow therefore the conventions we have learnt in as to a2 are seen as the rules to follow when making our media products. It is seen that we can either deliberately or unconsciously break these rules. In As I unconsciously broke them, this is due to the last year I had a lack of understanding on what the conventions of a rock genre was and even though I did understand why certain conventions where there I continued to ignore that and create an unrealistic rock magazine, this may also be the product of not doing enough research and planning and not understand what I did research. On the other hand due to four weeks prior to the summer before A2 I learnt about the conventions of horror in a deeper aspect and this allowed me to shape a realistic trailer that didn’t break the conventions. I found A2 easier to get the hang off because I was my own target audience. As I was fond of horrors, I knew what I liked to watch and how to make my own target audience on the edge of their seat. In my AS year, a lot of my research and planning was done from popular rock magazines like Kerrang and NME. I focused on conventions of the magazine so I knew the sort of things I needed to focus on putting in my own rock magazine. For example the dominant image of the majority of the rock magazines were a main focus of a single person as a mid-shot that show the costume and props they are wearing. This helped me identify that I needed to focus my shots as a mid-shot focus on a single person. On the other hand when it came to actually taking the shots I realised that I was swaying from the conventional shots that I was supposed to have taken and that was downfall of my magazine. My shots were not as strong as they should have been and therefore brought my final product grade down. When it came to audience research for my rock magazine I was very lazy. I understood that I needed to create a questionnaire to extend my planning before I started creating my own product. However through evaluation now I realise that I didn’t find and ask the right people in order to get valuable results to follow the correct rock conventions. In my A2 year, my research and planning has improved and developed dramatically. The fact that this year is group, it has enabled me to become more motivated and positive in order to achieve the best grade for my team. Due to the fact that we learnt about horrors a month before summer, I feel it benefited my summer trailer majorly. This is because I knew there was certain conventions that I had to follow in order to make it an affective attempt of a good summer trailer. Through this month of deep research before summer, I found out that a lot of different aspects of horror have a deeper meaning that I originally thought. Especially as a lover of horrors I found it very creative the way horrors are analysed and deeply thought about before actually being filmed. For example instead of a dagger just being a weapon against a protagonist, it is seen as a phallic object sexually abusing the protagonist, normally connoting male power domination over women. I found the research I found out so interesting, it allowed me to become more creative and clever when it came to planning my own summer trailer. I think interest was what I was missing in my AS year the most, I didn’t find myself interested in music magazines, especially rock as the genre. From my planning and research I understood fully all the different aspects and conventions of horrors and now know how I can attempt to interpret them in my own trailer. From AS to A2 I feel my research and planning has improved majorly. In A2 my research and planning has been a lot more successful, I understand the need to do all of that work before I go on and create the final product in this case a media trailer. I feel because my research and planning wasn’t done as in-depth as it should have been, it affected my first year majorly and led me to be less creative and a lower grade. On the other hand in A2 I feel research and planning has really affected my work in a positive aspect and made me more prepared for making my final product. If I was to go back into my AS year I would defiantly make sure I’m more focused on creating more reliable research and planning that I know will affect my work in a positive manner and provide me a higher grade. This year I have been able to relate a lot easier to my audience and their needs and this has made my work better. Another thing that I have developed since last year was becoming more aware of not breaking the conventions of a horror film, this helped me to remain focused and allow my work to be conventional of that type of film genre. Overall I feel I have developed as a post-modern media producer in my generation today. For example I make sure I get as creative I can with the technology that I have to use. This helps improve my work and keeps me as a post-modern media producer. In this generation pretty much anything is seen as creative however it is difficult to make it original because everything has already been done, because of this I make sure I am always as creative as I can possible think of because if I don’t try to do that then my work will be boring. In conclusion over the last two years my work has developed sufficiently and effectively with the generation we are in and my research and planning has developed alongside it. This year has really opened my eyes to how helpful research and planning is and how it helps me to become more creative then I was in AS.

Media Language Essay

Media language essay. Media language does not refer to the words spoken by and actor in the text, but the language and codes of the medium. Semiotics is a major topic when exploring media texts in horror films. They are used to describe how meaning is constructed through language and codes for example a sign is anything that carries meaning, it can be explicit icons, implicit symbols or iconic signs. I will be exploring different theorist’s beliefs and theories on media language in horrors. The first theorist is a man called Ferdinand de Saussure, he explored the signifier and the signified. He stated that the signifier is the physical form of the sign, the signified is the idea that the signifier produces and the referent is the real thing it stands for. Regarding my summer there are many elements that relate to Ferdinand de Saussure’s theory. For example in my trailer we use the weapon of a knife to stab and harm the protagonist. The referent would just be that it was a weapon used against someone to hurt them. On the other hand the knife is also seen as a signifier used against the protagonist to signify penetration. Instead of stabbing the protagonist, the antagonist is penetrating the protagonist sexually. It explores the idea of male dominance and power that they have over someone usually a woman. Symbolic codes are also explored through the media language of a horror. A theory was created in regard to symbolic codes, this was that mise-en-scene is a way the media language is shown through. These are things like costume, props and setting and lighting. Lighting was explored through my media summer trailer extensively, it is a very important aspect of films as different lighting helps to establish setting, characters and moods. I made sure I filmed at night in a setting that didn’t have a lot of light. For example a lot of it was filmed in an alleyway next to a field. This only had street lighting and the occasional use of a camera torch, I found this effective because the darkness behind the main subject of the scene created enigma and suspense. This is because no one knew what was happening and therefore was scared in suspense. Technical codes are also explored through the media language of horror films. When describing movement with the camera in a film we consider the primary and secondary action. For example the primary being the movement of the characters and the secondary being the movement in the camera relating to those objects. The camera shots and angles we use is very important in horrors because it lets us create different scenes that are effective in different scenes of a horror. For example in my summer trailer we used multiple tracking shots of the protagonist in things like chases, this is an effective camera movement because it creates suspense and puts us in the point of view of the antagonist. I will defiantly be using this camera movement in my actual teaser trailer because I know its effective and will help achieve the way I want my trailer to look. Editing is widely effective and explored in filming too. A lot of the important work for films and their pre-production is done in the editing suite and can be broken down using a range of language. When my summer trailer was being created we filmed a lot of long scenes and therefore felt we needed to edit them. This was great when we wanted to do shorts clips that helped create a montage. Instead of filming short clips we just edited long ones down to short and smaller ones. This was very effective and I know for certain if I hadn’t edited the trailer before presenting it then it would be nowhere near as good as it was as its final product. Finally audio codes are used to be explored in horror films, this is sound. Sound refers to the strong relationship between dialogue and visuals and the effect sound has to a text. A main type of sound that is explored in horrors are diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Non diegetic sound was widely explored in my summer trailer. I used a soundtrack that fitted my horror genre and scenes well and it was therefore really effective in my final product. I will definitely be using it in my real final product. In conclusion media language has been explored by many theorists that created different explanations about the horror genre. After analysing their theories against my own summer trailer I feel it has helped me improve on my previous work in time for my future work. I now won’t make these mistakes that are identified through the theories and it will therefore improve my grade for the future.

Audience Essay

Audience essay. Every media company wants to target a particular type of audience, therefore, media companies produce texts that target a particular “type” of audience. Therefore in this essay I will be exploring these different types of audiences, these are normally analysed by different theories that theorists have created overtime to explain why the audience of horrors are the audience. The first theory that is used to explain audiences in horrors is called “The Hypodermic Model” This is the belief that the texts are injected into the audience by powerful media. The audience is powerless to resist and therefore the media works like a drug that the audience is addicted to. Another model that is explored in relation to audience is called “The Effects Model” This model is the consumption of media texts has an effect upon the audience. It is normally considered as a negative effect. Audiences are powerless to this theory and that makes them not easy to prevent the influence of the model. The power is always in the message of the text in the horror film. Due to the fact that my horror trailer had the sub-genre of slasher, may suggest that people could start to act in a violent manner in the future after watching the film. Because of all the violence in my trailer it may continue the bad effect on the audience that we have targeted at. A theorist called Stuart Hall developed an active theory titled “encoding and decoding model” that analysed the relationship between the producer and the audience of the horror. He identified three types of audience readings of the text, the one that relates to my summer trailer would be “negotiated” this is where the audience accepts, rejects or refines the elements of the text in light of previously held views. For example to further this explanation I can relate it to my horror trailer that I created over the summer. Because it was a slasher there was a defined audience that we aimed at to achieve. We chose a similar audience that other slashers would have chosen. This is how it fits into the negotiated section, due to it being a similar audience to other slashers, they are used to the elements that are highlighted in media texts like my trailer. They are then used to the elements because they have seen them before and are less likely to have a strong opinion on the elements. A psychology theorist called Mary Jones created the theory that talked about desensitisation. She believed that the more violence that the viewers of the horrors are exposed to then the less sensitive they will come to it and therefore the violence no longer seems to bother them in the sense as it did before. This was a major negative factor towards my summer trailer. Due to the situation it was in and the way we did it, it was full of desensitisation elements. For example we used conventional and stereotypical weapons with a stereotypical story line. This would have been viewed as boring to the audience because it’s what they are used to and therefore wouldn’t come out of the film happy because their needs haven’t been fulfilled. On the other hand this is a positive because in the future I know to think outside the box on how to go around the conventional elements of horrors. Another theory regarding horror audiences would be the copycat theory. This is when audiences will copy what they see in a media text. It refers to how the media can influence and affect the audience’s behaviour. I don’t believe that my horror trailer would create the copycat theory to happen. This because it wasn’t an as effective trailer for a well-known theory like that to occur. On the other hand, because of the stereotypical aspects we have in our own horror, I believe that we in a way copied other slasher films and it made our own horror less effective. In conclusion audience has been explored by many theories that created different explanations about the horror genre and its audiences. After analysing their theories against my own summer trailer I feel it has helped me improve on my previous work in time for my future work. I now won’t make these mistakes that are identified through the theories and it will therefore improve my grade for the future.