SKINS - Initial Analysis

There is a number of different shots used throughout the five minute clip from Skins that present the characters as reckless and at a confused aged which is full of lust and a representation of their age. 

An establishing shot starts of the scene. Three boys are walking into a house, however give the impression that they are intoxicated as they appear not to be able to walk in a straight line representing their age to be reckless. Within the shot their also seems to be quite a bit of litter on the lawn which gives the impression that their age group don’t care about the environment, again they are reckless. The non-diagetic sound, the music in the background suggests they are getting up to no good due to the bouncy, jolly music which may mean they're going to ‘clown’ about.

 The scene then switches to them going into the house where they give the idea that they are disrespectful as they just walk in, also leaving their shoes on which can be seen to be disrespectful as well. There are empty bottles in the long shot which agrees with the stereotype that teenagers these days ignore things which may have a negative impact on their health, they are naive and prefer to have a good time whilst at the age they are at. A point-of-view shot is on screen when one of the boys takes the phones left on the table. Many people link the disgrace of stealing with teens and this supports the ideas and makes the young males look very disrespected towards others. 

The scene then changes to further into the party where everyone is dancing in a room. Th camera shot used is an over-the-shoulder shot or mid shot which shows the view from one of the characters. Age is represented in this scene by the type of dancing and music they are listening to. It is jolly and quick-paced just like the teenagers are. All the clothes worn in this scene are very colourful which could represent the colourful personality of the teenagers. It may also mean that they are all happy and living a joyful life at this moment in time, which of course is a representation of age that teenagers party all the time and like to have fun. 

Paul Hunt - Disability

Paul hunt disability from Sarah Ghost

Representation of Ethnicity - Hotel Babylon

At the beginning of this clip, the scene shows a swimming pool with the majority of the people whom are white staying there. The worker, Ben, is well-dressed. He seems very formal which is typical of a waiter which links to black people when they used to be slaves to many white people, they are of lower authority. The non-diegetic music in the background is very calming creating a relaxed vibe for the people there along with the cool, blue tones of the lighting reflected off the pool which also give a sense of clinical well-being and cleanliness. These indulgences and the formality of speech toward the customers give the impression that the place is an expensive spa/hotel and the people who attend have some wealth. 
A tracking shot is used when the waiter is walking along the pool-side and followed by a mid-shot when he is interrupted. The man who works at the hotel is dressed smartly and speaks proper english, though the man who jumps out of the pool does not have these traits. He is loud and is presented as a conventional black male. It is clear that he is from a different background to Ben as he speaks with a different dialect using words such as 'bro' and 'man'. He also grooms up differently due to the fat he has a lot of tattoos, dreadlocks and is wearing a large gold chain around his neck. Ben seems uneasy when he's talking to him as he maybe hasn't seem his mate in many years and in that time he has changed. The fact he recognises him suggests at one point, Ben was just like his friend but made his way up in society. However, Ben is trying to cover up that he's changed and so is trying to have a conversation with him using convergence. It is clear that he is feeling uncomfortable and so he tries to dismiss the conversation by telling his friend he has to get back to work. When he can't get away, the topic of parties, girls and drugs is all he seems to be worried about, their priorities seem like total opposites. This scene shows both the stereotypical image of a black man and a non-stereotypical image. 

The next scene is between two passive female french maids and an active asian man. A mid-shot is first in place as the women are identified by the audience as maids due to their cleaning trolleys. The man is seen wearing glasses which shows intelligence which is also a stereotype of asian people. The non-diabetic music in the background is rising the tension so the audience can begin to imagine what 'paying double for double' means. In the room, an asian man is sat on the bed waiting for them to come in. the woman start stripping for the man which supports the concepts of the male gaze from Laura Mulvey's ideas. They are there for the visual pleasure of the male and an erotic object for them and the audience. The french maids begin to strip and dance sexually for the man which could links to some peoples opinion of french maids being sexy. The m=non-diegetic music that comes on in the background is also french which gives a stronger impression that the maids are in fact french and are doing this to get some extra money. A close-up shot on the mans face is used when he is looking at the women to show the women are there only to look at which again supports the ideas's that women are objectified and there only for the male gaze. It also may link to the fact that some asian men are seen as perverted which is clearly shown in this scene. When one of the maids refuses to strip and leaves, the other women is straight on the phone which makes the audience think that this happens a lot and there is always someone who knows what they are doing available. 

Later on in the clip shows two men who seem to be chefs in a kitchen. One of them being Italian, stereotypically associated with having a taste for food and cooking. He is dressed in black which could represent anger and dullness whereas the English chef is dresses in white giving a sense of innocence. The English chef is also over weight which is a stereotypical image of many English citizens. The italian man on the other hand is a lot smaller in both weight and height. The English chef in this situation is threatened by the Italian chef due to his vulnerability. A knife is held at him which shows how sly the Italians can be if they get angry. The non-diabetic sound in the background shows the busy work place they are in due to the shouting of orders and movement about. 

Representation of Class & Status - Shamelss

In this clip from Shameless, It is apparent that the characters come from a low, working class background. The audience can see this from an over-the-shoulder shot, showing the state of the rooms that show the family is in. There are bottles and unclean dishes left lying on every surface which gives the impression that they are very unhygienic and dirty which is a stereotypical view of the working class. The walls where the characters are sat down look un-finished and have no paint on them, they are just large, grey bricks which shows they don't have the time or money to go out and buy paint to make their home look presentable. This is what we think most lower class people live like and so gives the image of the working class.

At the beginning, the mid-shot shows the father wander into the room and his appearance isn't very attractive. His clothes look messy and hanging off his shoulders, whilst his hair looks like it hasn't been washed in many days. This could mean that he either can't be bothered to groom himself or that he doesn't have the money too take care of himself, which conforms to the expectations of the working class. Also, on the staircase behind him, the paint seems to have peeled off giving the impression that they have little money to deal with this problem. This leads us to the assumption that they may live in a small, shabby flat owned by the council and with many previous tenants 

When a conversation begins between himself and the boy at the table, through the diegetic dialog, the audience may assume the characters aren't well educated and maybe a little rough. This is because of the taboo language used such as 'bollocks' and 'fucked'. A hand-held camera is in use which signifies a gritty realism and makes the viewers feel apart of the conversation. 

One of the characters sat at the table is holding a baby. She looks rather young but straight away we assume it belongs to her due to the conditions and assumptions the audience has already made. Low-class citizens are often linked to school dropouts and so we suspect that she has left school in order to take care of her baby. This means she would lack the education she should be having, leaving her dependant on government program money. This indicates the living conditions they are in support the lower class society as a majority of teenage pregnancies are from women who live in a lower class neighbourhoods.

When the father and his son continue to have an argument, a point-of-view shot is used at eye level. the distance between the two characters is very little showing the argument is getting bigger. In this situation, the father doesn't seem to know any answers and calls his son a 'smart arse'. This shows that he is a stereotypical low-class father as he isn't ful-filling the role he should be. He doesn't know how to control and it doesn't look like he can run his family and these are all things associated with the stereotypes of the working class. 

Fast-paced editing is used when the father uses facial expressions and shows that he is maybe 'not all there'. He starts going quite crazy and shows no formality which is a factor within working-class people. It is a close-up shot and canted angles jump from one way to the other to further point out his insanity which could be due to him living in low-class conditions and not happy or not yet satisfied. 

The mood changes from tense to saddening and more relaxed as the non-diabetic music in the background becomes fairly quiet adding a calming atmosphere. Despite the poor situation they live in, the father has come to the realisation that they all need each other and want to be a family. They become loving towards each other and the father claims that it is because of him that they are happy at that particular moment but he's only saying that to portray his father figure role. 

As the scene moves outside, the audience has more information which suggests they are living in poor conditions. It looks like a council estate which is stereotypical inviting towards those with little money. A close-up shot is seen on the turtle as the audience is shown how careless the family really are. They have no idea that the turtle is slowly wandering into the road which shows their lack of interest and awareness of their surrounding and upholds the idea that low-class families care only about themselves. 

The very last shot shows an aerial shot which establishes the location that the family are within. It also shows the audience of where they could be living if they had more money but due to the costs of living, they have had to settle with much less. The shot is moving onto another scene and creating a ground for a new sketch. 

The Gaze - Male & Female

The gaze from Sarah Ghost

Disability in Media - The Inbetweeners

Why is the clip funny? The clip is funny because the characters who hit the disabled girl with frisbee, don't actually mean to hit her. It was an awful aim which resulted in controversy whether or not it was many to hit the disabled female. It makes the audience laugh due to the awkwardness between the characters as they now it looks very bad as the disabled are represented in the media to need a lot of care.

How is the disabled girl being represented? The disabled girl is represented as the laughing stock of the clip. It wouldn't be funny to viewers if she was as abled as the rest of the characters. When will realises that the person he has hit is intact a girl, he goes out of his way to make a personal over the top apology. 

Are we meant to laugh at the disabled person? It would be greatly frowned upon if we laughed at disabled people in a real-life situation but in the media, they are represented as the comedy in programmes and the joke. Therefore, people do laugh because that is why some dialled characters are placed into scenes like this. It is focused around the humour of hitting the disabled girl. 

Are they the 'butt' of the joke? The disabled girl is the butt of the joke as without her, the audience may not find it as amusing as they would have done if an abled person had been hit. However, the boys reactions to hitting the girl are part of the joke as they are unsure on how to react and consequently solve the situation they have got themselves into. 

How do you think disabled people respond to this? Most disabled people who watch this must know it is a joke and take it light-heartedly but a majority of the disabled viewers may also take it offensively as it looks like they are something funny and not tank seriously.

Are we as a society cultivated to think we should pity the disabled? As a society, we are cultivated to think we should pity the disabled as they aren't as independent as us and are we are told to care for them and help them if necessary. 

Beyoncé - 1+1 (Male Gaze Analysis)

In the opening of the music video, a mid-shot is seen on Beyonce which shows her skin to be fairly shiny and quite wet. This could give the impression of her after a sexual interaction as she is sweaty and more attractive to a male watching the video. The way she is moving means the audience can get a clearer view of her face and shoulders as the light is reflecting of her at different angles. It is seducing the male viewers making them want her. When she says the word 'you' she looks directly into the camera, suggesting she is talking to whoever is watching the video, therefore making it more personal. A steadicam follows her body movements down her which makes the audience think she is naked due to the clothing that cannot be seen.

A close up shot of her face makes the audience able to visualise her. She can be seen wearing a gold coloured dress which gives the impression of expense and luxury. She is like a piece of rare gold which most men would be attracted to. When the water is running down the screen, it may be a bodily fluid running which leads to a believe that a sexual encounter may have occurred in the shower and her reaching to the water makes the audience feel like she's trying to reach through them as an individual, therefore grabbing their attention.  Extreme close-ups are showing Beyonce's most prominant and sexual features; lips and eyes which seduce the males.

Later, you can see her slowly taking off her clothing, revealing she may about to be having sex. When she says the sentence 'Make love to me' It shows her desperateness and is as if she wants to or has to please her partner which agrees with the stereotypes that the male is significant and of a higher importance to the women. Everything she does is to make the male happen which is a huge factor in the male gaze. The red lighting behind her indicates the love and pleasure that is happening and possible danger.

A dissolve edit is used when moving to the long shot which keeps the slow movements going. Her clothing is very revealing which makes her more appealing to males and represent bed sheets due to the large, flowing fabric. The smoke and fluidness of the fabric suggests the pleasure she may be receiving which adds to the male gaze as eel as the mirrored screen creating a dreamy feel. The black background means that the audience can focus all of their attention on Beyonce, she is an object of sex as she is seducing the males.

Later in the video, male dominance is seen when Beyonce is wrapped with a male's muscle, strong arms. It shows she is an object belongs to him and is trapped by his actions. She is inferior to the male which supports the ideas of the male gaze. At the end of the video, A fade edit is used to fade Beyonce to black. The ending of the video is very similar to the beginning which gives the idea she is in the same position and will be forever in the males control.

Representation of Disability - Secret Diary of a Call Girl

At the beginning of this scene, the shot used is an over-the-shoulder shot when the call girl opens the door. Straight away, it is apparent that the girl who has no disability is superior to the boy in the wheelchair. The canted angle shows the audience that she is looking down on him as he is in a wheelchair. The look on her face makes the audience feel as though she may not be comfortable in the presence of a person with a disability, hence her fake smile. Looking at the two characters, it is clear by how they present themselves and the clothes they are wearing that they live different lifestyles.  A long shot shows she is wearing a lightly coloured dress, curled her hair and is wearing makeup which shows her femininity and the fact that females like to take care of themselves, especially in the presence of a male. The male on the other hand, enters the room wearing a fairly dull and boring t-shirt which gives the impression he doesn't care what he looks like, maybe due to the fact he does have a disability or foreshadowing something dark will occur.


A tracking shot is used when the characters move further into the room. There is a silence which shows the awkwardness occurring between the three characters. Following this, a mid-shot can be seen. As the mid-shot moves from the male with the disability, to the call girl, the audience can grasp that she seems uneasy and isn't sure what to say or do. She looks down on him as he is inferior to her.  The red walls give the feeling of love and sexual activity which in fact is the aim of the call-girl's job. He relies on his dad to lift him onto the bed, this agrees with the the stereotype that the disabled need help and are of charity. A long shot seems to focus the attention on the boy on the bed which highlights why he is there and gives the audience more sense of what is going to happen. The camera always seems to tilt down on the boy to show him of a lower level and tilt upwards on the call girl which makes her seem of higher importance.

When the call girl and boy are in bed, non-diabetic sound is apparent when they are there.  The dad is waiting in the car showing his protectiveness for his son. If he didn't have a disability, he probably wouldn't be waiting for him as his disability means he has less independence.

The Importance of Cross Media Convergence and Synergy in Production, Distribution and Marketing

The Avengers, is a 2012 American superhero film based on the Marvel comics superhero team of the same name, produced by Marvel studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sixth instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Avengers Assemble: the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing: Who publicised and distributed the film? How did these companies work together? What roles did they undertake?

A Five-Year Marketing Plan: Avengers benefited from something no movie had before: It has been marketed to audiences since Iron Man first appeared at Comic-Con in 2007. When that movie became a surprise hit in May 2008 with a $98.6 million opening weekend, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige quickly unveiled his intention to make four more movies -- The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America -- all of which would lead to a giant team-up. Avengers characters like Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) popped up in those movies, and the original Iron Man featured a coda segment devoted to the Avengers initiative. At the time, only comic-book fans understood the reference.

"They established character equity that, when combined, makes one and one equal a lot more than two," notes Disney distribution head Dave Hollis. "This is Feige's six-year vision to get to a place where people would want to watch these characters assemble. "Grouping several heroes in one movie also primed a wider swath of moviegoers to show up opening weekend. Not a fan of Chris Evans as Captain America? How about Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man or Chris Hemsworth as Thor? "Every movie that they released was prepping for this one," says a top producer. "That's never been done before, and it was ingenious."

The Avengers audience breakdown -- 50 percent over 25, 40 percent female, 55 percent couples, 24 percent families -- shows the film's wide appeal. That's a testament to casting. Fortysomething leading men Downey, Renner and Mark Ruffalo signaled to adults that the movie wasn't just for kids. Hemsworth, 28, and Evans, 30, appealed to young adults, and Samuel L. Jackson, 63, has a huge African-American fan base. At the same time, colorful costumes helped sell the movie to youngsters.

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Essay: Why did Dredd flop at the Box Office?

Why did Dredd flop at the Box Office?

In September 2012, the film 'Dredd' was released by Lions Gate Entertainment. Many other films with a similar genre had been released around the same time. These included films such as Marvel's 'The Avengers'. The idea for the film came from the comic book ‘2000AD’ and the film in 1985 which was based on this comic, whom Sylvester Stallone starred as the main character, Judge Dredd. It seemed that before it got the green light, the future was looking bright for Dredd and both the media and future audience had an exciting feeling about what it would bring to the screens. 

The income of money relies on how big of an audience views a film. There is a vast majority of reasons why someone may or may not choose to watch something, one of these being who is starring in the film. Dredd didn’t have the names of well known ‘A-list’ stars and so people weren't bothered about seeing a film with actors and actresses they had never heard of before. Karl Urban was the leading role of Dredd himself but this film was one of the biggest roles he had played and so it didn't really appeal watch him. Other than the lack of big stars, the director was equally unknown as he hadn't done any successful movies in the past, but mostly TV shows such as Cold Feet, The Jury and films such as Vantage Point and Endgame, which aren’t very known. 

Dredd had a particularly small budget at $45 million and so they had to thin carefully how they wanted to balance the money between resources. Though it did look positive at the beginning as the pre-sales made approximately $30 million, and the rights to the film being sold was $7 million. 

During the production of the film, the low finance meant a cut down on the camera and editing. A large part of the film was the slo-mo which was a them and the use of SFX helped it come alive. However, it didn't seem entirely convincing and so audiences would watch the film, leave disappointed and not recommend the film to others. The choice to use 3d cameras had a set back on the success of the film,this being that if they used less of the money on the 3d cameras, more of it could have been spent on the SFX to make the audience more satisfied. Alex Garland and the film makers said they didn’t really think about the certificate of the film as an 18. Garland said 'By the end of that we didn’t have any pressure. You could have had studio pressure possibly if it was a studio movie in a different way, that could happen, but the way this movie was set up it was never really an issue.’ However this was an issue as it limited the amount of people that could go and see the film. Dredd was up against competition as ‘Avengers Assemble’ was also released at the same time and had a wider range and over pall bigger audience as the film had a certificate of 12A. Dredd was limited to adults, whereas practically anyone could go to see Avengers Assemble and so families would choose to see that, it was more of an option for all ages, filling the four quadrant pictures. It was also a Marvel film which attracted more attention due to its success and big name in the industry of films. 

In the filming of Dredd, something that let it down was the lack of variety in location as it was filmed only in Johannesburg and Cape Town Film Studios. If it was filmed in more locations then it would have maybe meant the audience would have been more intrigued and recommended the film for others to watch.

Also, there was only an option for it to be screened in 3d at cinemas so, 2D screenings were notoriously limited as the distributor denied cinemas' requests for 2D prints. 2,506 of which were able to show Dredd but only 2,200 were in 3D. 

The marketing choices of the film didn't seem to help. Lionsgate contributed $25 million to advertising & print costs which is almost half of the budget. However there was still very little money for a large campaign so only few choices were made. These included the ‘Dredd Report’ which was a spin on the Drudge Report. An exclusive film poster featuring artwork by Jock was released by Mondo to promote the film's appearance at the 2012 Fantastic Fest in September 2012. 

Shortly before Dredd was released, a film called ‘The Raid’ was also released. Unfortunately for those involved in Dredd, people thought it copied the same concept and comparable plot with which includes lawmen fighting their way through a tower block of terror. 

In conclusion i believe that one the main reasons Dredd was a failure was due to major competition the film had to live up to. There were many films out of similar genre around the time Dredd was released which were very well known from Marvel films such as Spiderman and the Avengers characters. This meant that people were satisfied and didn't need this new film, which failed also in the past creation of ‘Judge Dredd’. It being an 18 meant most cinema goers weren't actually allowed to see it so potential money towards the film was lost immediately which was a resulting factor in the Domestic Total Gross of the film standing at $13,414,714.

Gender Representation Ananlysis - Wire in the Blood

Camera Shots

At the beginning of the clip,  there is an over-the-shoulder shot which shows what can be seen from behind the woman's shoulder when the man is walking away. The fact he is walking away from her when she is asking for his help shows that he believes he is more important. This agrees with Laura Mulveys view that a women are passive characters under the control of males. Soon after, a crane shot occurs which defines the height and authority of the characters. In this shot, the man is walking up the hill which shows he is of more dominance than the woman as in the clip he is higher and looking down on the women. The hand-held camera shot follows what the women is doing when she bends down to collect things. This lets the audience be more involved with her.

Mise en Scene

The start of the clip is set in a street which seems to be in the middle of a crime scene. The woman and man together are colleagues and arguing about something to do with work. In the end, the man gets the last say which again is a reoccurring matter that he is more significant to the situation.
In the clip where they are looking into the crime scene, the atmosphere is dark and a little eerie. This makes the men doing the job look strong and brave as they are trying to discover what has happened against the law, they are seen as 'heroes'. The woman is represented as busy and having a hard time between work and he child. This is showing the typical woman to be busy with her children. Most of the clothing in this clip is dull coloured and fairly casual. most of the characters involved are dressed fairly formally which gives the impression they hold the responsibility for an important job. the men sat in a room smoking are wearing tatty, casual clothes which look very cheap which shows they don't have a proper role in society. The fact the women is wearing jewellery shows she cares about her image which is a stereotypical female trait.

Sound

In the whole clip, there is a continuous use of diegetic sound, constant dialogue. Whenever a conversation is occurring between the man and the women, the women always seems to have a problem but the man care-free. this shows a status of object and the man doesn't really care how the women feels or what she has to say. When Tony, the main male character is sat on the sofa with the boy, it is apparent that non-diegetic sound is heard from the TV, whilst they are having a conversation.

Editing

A vast majority of the editing in the entire clip is cut to maintain continuous editing. This is seen when the scenes jump from one location to another.