Media coursework blog 2

Wednesday, 6 February 2019

An introduction to TV Drama: Blog task

1.

A serial television is content that is produced for broadcast and is traditionally watched on a television set.

2.

- Doctor Who

- The Sweeney

- Minder

- Starsky and Hutch

- The A-Team

3.

- Period (costume): Downton Abbey

- Science-fiction/fantasy: Teen Wolf

- Family: Eastenders

- Teen: 13 reasons why

4.

A setting is designated or created for certain purposes for example, if it is a crime scene a dining room cannot be used as a prison confrontation room.

5.

Characters in serial dramas go on a journey, allowing them to change and develop which would give audiences to grow along with the character and make them feel a bond as if they are part of this journey or change as well.

6.

Multi-stranded means they don't always follow one story-line; have a new story-line every episode. Examples of this are Suits and Luther.

7.

It is a technique used to jump straight into the story before the title sequence and opening texts. Done to involve audience in the plot straight away to reduce chances of them turning it off.

8.

Todorov's theory of equilibrium can be applied to TV dramas as you see progression in the attitudes of characters and one character becomes the main focus of the drama; the persona.

9.

They are usually distributed depending on who the target market is; if their main target market is teens then they would distribute it on Netflix, if it is aimed at families or the older generation then they would distribute it on public service broadcasting channels...

10.

Subscription channels have changed the form of TV dramas as people are now able to watch dramas wherever they want, whenever they want due to development of technology. By having access to Netflix and Amazon Prime not a lot of people watch public service broadcasting channels anymore.

11.

Suits -

Setting: In a professional law firm in Manhattan; a famous city known to be for the rich.

Characters: Educated, upper class law professionals and big business men and women who are the ones facing the issues.

Narrative: New story-line per episode. Main idea is that there is a new case to solve everyday and is based on how the persona handles the case and solves it.

Form: Distributor - Netflix, Run time - 45mins

12.

BBC are under pressure to create content that is more distinctive. Television drama is filling the void vacated by the mid-budget movie. BBC 3 moves onto an online platform; BBC iPlayer and we also see a rise in things like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Chicken: Index

Sunday, 3 February 2019

Film regulation and the BBFC

1.

Focus is on helping children and families choose well by providing them with guidance on what to choose; what would be right for them and what not to.

2.

Consider relevant legislation, look out for things such as violence, sex, sexual violence, drugs, horror aspects, imitable behaviour, discrimination, strong language, controversial decisions etc. If the content seems to fall between two age ratings, it will be referred to the Compliance Manager or Head of Compliance. Should content be found to be illegal or unacceptable, Officers will draw up a list of cuts which will be sent to the distributor.

3.

‘Moral harm’ may be caused e.g. desensitising potential viewer to effects of violence, degrading potential viewer’s sense of empathy, encouraging dehumanised view of others etc. Regard to children, harm may also include retarding social and moral development; distorting viewers sense of right and wrong. If the work has a generally dark or unsettling tone that may disturb the audience at that level; it may receive a more restrictive rating.

4.

Members of the public thought the violence was too strong to be considered a 12A. I agree with the age rating as the violence doesn't go into detail, it gets cut out and the blood and injuries aren't too gruesome and puts audiences at unease.

5.

Dangerous behaviour should not dwell on detail which could be copied. The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour, although there may be racist, homophobic or other discriminatory themes and language. Drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. There may be strong language. Very strong language may be permitted. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context. Sexual activity may be portrayed, but without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual violence but any depiction of the stronger forms of sexual violence must not be detailed. There may be strong threat and horror. Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury.

6.

Three uses of very strong language (‘c**t’), one of which is directed by a male character to another in a moment of tension, while the other two refer to a woman who is not present at the time. There is also frequent use of strong language (‘f**k’). There is a scene of strong violence, in which a man is beaten up, resulting in bloody injury to his face.The film contains strong, but not graphic, references to child abuse.

Tuesday, 22 January 2019

Chicken Blog Task

Final Reading; Arthouse Films -

1.

Arthouse films are artistic rather than commercial in character; films that are purposely difficult to understand or ‘read’. It is a cinema of psychological effects in search of their causes. An example of an Arthouse film would be Lore which considers what would’ve happened to children in the immediate aftermath of WW2.

2.

Bordwell suggested that arthouse is also characterised by ‘maximum ambiguity’, where bizarre events can only be explained by the characters judgement rather than the world of film. Art cinema are not in the business to make it easy for the audience.

3.

Arthouse cinema isn't really for audiences who watch films just for entertainment.

4.

Arthouse films may only be for older audiences as it takes time to get a better understanding of the story and younger audiences may not be capable of understanding the plot and paying attention to small details. They may also not be interested in these kinds of films as most of them watch films for entertainment purposes. It will be suitable for middle class people as it is a bit more sophisticated.

5.

Chicken is a film that would mainly interest college and university students as they would be able to link it back to their work and is a good example for them to use. Other than that, it is also suitable for college students as the persona is around the same age as them, therefore they would be able to relate to certain things or have a better understanding and connection with the character.

Funding:

1.

£110,000

2.

Raised money through individuals contributing e.g. friends and family

3.

Hollywood films cost millions to make whereas this only costed £110,000 and it was also filmed within a short time.

4.

BFI film fund helps UK filmakers and films and also help increase audiences for them.

5.

Chicken may have been able to already raise the funds needed as it was just a low budget film.

Production:

1.

They struggled with lighting and it was raining quite a lot in the location which made filming more difficult.

2.

It took 19 days to shoot.

3.

Distribution:

1.

Failed to secure distribution deal in 2014 but once the film won a few awards, it was released in UK cinemas in 2016.

2.

Edinburgh International Film Festival (2015)

3.

Gives them recognition and the two year film festival circuit is what led chicken to winning awards and then being shown in cinemas.

4.

It was released in the UK cinemas in 2016.

5.

6.

Because it is a free to air channel which means plenty of British people would watch it; the film would gain more popularity.

7.

Released in USA/Canada in January 2018.

Promotion:

1.

The trailer suggests that Chicken is a family friendly movie which is a film based on a teenager who lives a life out of the ordinary; not something you would typically see in a film. The trailer makes audience wonder what is going on and will tempt them to watch the movie in order to find out what events occur in this unique plot.

2.

The poster for Chicken is a lot more simple compared to the trailer. The trailer tells audience a lot more about the story line whereas the Chicken poster only shows the setting and the protagonist. The audience don't get much of an idea about what the narrative is about by looking at the poster compared to the trailer.

3.

Reviews from popular influential figures is important for the film as it gives them more promotion.

4.

They constantly post different shots from the film featuring different characters to keep audience interested and have them wonder.

5.

They repost tweets that famous accounts post promoting the film as it shows how much recognition they've gained.

6.

The Facebook account posts snippets of the film either in picture or video form to give audience a slight hint on what the film is about and then hopefully they would like to watch the film to find out the whole story and see why certain things shown in the snippets occurred.

7.

The Chicken Facebook page has liked well-known film producers and institutions such as Cineworld which shows that they are trying to get recognised by these media platforms so that they can either get promoted through them or get a chance to air their film in these cinemas.

8.

People such as Mark Kermode who is an English film critic, have been quoted on the page to show how much recognition they have gained and to also prove to potential audience that it is worth investing their time in this film as even critics have given it a good review.

9.

The website gives options to either buy the film as a blu-ray, CD or download it on iTunes. This shows how much easier it is to access films these days as people don't need to go to a cinema to watch it or wait till it is aired on TV, they can purchase it for themselves and watch it whenever they want.

10.

The channel has teasers from the film which would tempt audience to watch the film and find out more. There is also a video of an interview with an old actor which shows that their film has reached out to people that have been in the industry for a long time.

Thursday, 17 January 2019

British Film Industry Fact sheets

#132 -

1.

To determine whether a film is British or not, it mainly depends on what you look at to consider it a British film, for example some people would consider a film that is produced by the British as a British film, if the cast is British, if it's set in Britain, if the story-line is based on British aspects etc.

2.

Most Hollywood films are high budget with a heavy reliance on celebrities in both cast and crew. Although there are some high budget British films, a lot of them consist of a low budget, character rather than spectacle driven stories and a heavier reliance on word of mouth and viral advertising.

3.

The James Bond franchise started in the 1960's.

4.

1970's saw a rise in British Films of sexual content, both the act of sex and sex linked to violence. 1980's saw the rise of videos and the ‘video nasty’s scare where film making was becoming more accessible and more extreme content was being created and started to become popular in Britain.

5.

Representation of the youth - Clockwork Orange; violence, anti-establishment and compulsion to act in an anarchic (uncontrolled) way

Attack the Block; more realistic portrayal of the youth.
Challenges stereotypes of women; used to be portrayed as either the virgin, the mother or the whore.

6.

British films have always been full of socially conscious narrative and characters.
Producers include at least a little bit of humour even during serious films that talk about difficulties so that the British audience get more of an enjoyment out of it.

#100

1.

It is divided into 4 sections; cultural context, cultural contribution, cultural hubs and cultural practitioners. A film must score at least 16 out of 31 points to classified as a British film.

2.

Sweeney:

Attack the Block:

The King's Speech:

We need to talk about Kevin:

Skyfall:

3.

British film industry is production led rather than distribution led; means many UK films are made but filmmakers have to sacrifice distribution rights be selling the film to a distribution company in order to get the film exhibited. All revenues from selling the films in various different categories are lost.

4.

- Outstanding creative skills of practitioners

- Outstanding facilities
- Several important film Studios are British, e.g. Ealing Studios and Pinewood Studios.

5.

- Rely upon co-productions with American studios

- Attempt to make low budget films targeted at a niche, British audience

6.

The first option would be best as low budget films have a higher risk of failure so British films could get funding's from co-producers in other Countries to make a high budget film that is massively successful and keep the British Film Industry in the business.