Media 1

Media

Narrative

the way the different elements in a story are organized to make a meaningful story

Genre

french word which means 'type', we classify films into different genres which describes their typical subject matters.

The difference between narrative + story

a narrative is a series of events, how these events are arranged, has elements

Style

a recognizable group of conventions used by media creators to add visual appeal, meaning or depth to their work

What should be in a story?

a story needs a structure which consists of a beginning, middle and an end. A story also needs a purpose, intention and audience.

What form/genre/style do your chosen media creators explore?

Pawel Kuczynski employs a satirical style to express his thoughts on the problems in society.

What codes + conventions are used in the work of your chosen media creators?

Pawel Kuczynski uses mis en scene thoughtfully to place focus on what he wants the audience to see. The use of an airbrush effect is seen throughout the Facebook series. Colour is used symbolically.

Three act structure narrative device

1. The opening 2. rising tension 3. Height of tension and resolution

Act 1

sets the scene, introduces main characters, presents audience with key questions, the dilemma or problem that needs to be solved or resolved

Act 2

the problem is expanded, the main characters try to overcome it whilst obstacles are put in their way

Act 3

The climax and resolution

Five stages of the production process

development, pre-production, production, post production distribution

Development

Ideas, intention, narrative and audience explored.

Pre production

Documentation and planning of production using tools such as production notes and storyboards. Equipment, technologies, and materials.

Production

The planned production design is captured and recorded. Reflection and evaluation through written documentation and feedback.

Post Production

production is refined and resolved. Specific equipment and technologies are used in editing.

Distribution

the product is delivered to the specified audience in a planned context + location.

Establishing Shot (ES) or Extreme Long shot (ELS)

provides large amount of visual info, used to show setting + environment

Long Shot (LS)

provides a large amount of info, it reveals entire body from top to toe

Medium Long shot (MLS)

frames almost all of the body, often from knees up or toe to neck

Mid shot (MS)

frames half of body, usually from waist up or waist down

Medium Close Up (MCU)

reveals part of the body, usually shows head, neck + shoulders

Extreme Closeup (ECU)

reveals part of an object or a section of the body e.g) eye

Close up (CU)

reveals an object at close range or frames one part of body e.g) face

What should a good story board include?

a decent sized picture clearly showing what is being 'seen' on the screen,
scene numbers + shot numbers, shot length, description of any action that takes place,
how technical equipment will be used,
(description of any audio e.g) music, dialogue. or sound effects

High angle

camera is placed above the subject being filmed, giving the appearance of looking down

Low angle

camera is placed below the subject being filmed, giving the appearance of looking upward

Dutch angle

camera is tilted to the side during film, disorientating the viewer + distorting picture

Pan

camera moves from one side to another on a horizontal axis

Tilt

camera moves up or down on a vertical axis

Tracking

camera follows a subject

Handheld

camera is held in hand, greater freedom of movement but creates shaky shots

Act 1

Establishes tone and genre

Characters

Narratives establish their traits, motivation and goals in act 1.

Character arc

To engage audience a good character must evolve

Settings

Often plays an important role in character motivation

Empathy

Audience is engaged by connecting to the protagonist point of view

Multiple story lines

Sub

cause and effect

series of events in narratives linked

cause and effect

Inseparable from charcter and audience engagement

Multiple story lines

Protagonist has to deal with external and internal conflict

Structuring of time

Directors manipulate time in ways to serve the narrative

New Media

Computer based media combine traditional media forms with new digital versons.

Convergence

The merging of communication networks, computer technology and content create an overlapping and result in new media forms

Hybridisation

This new form of media is the convergence of media technologies
such as digital photography, video and text

combined to produce media forms such as blogs or an on line zine.

Classification

A system of allocating media content to particular categories

Censorship

A system of removing scenes or shots that could offend some interest group or political party.

Australian Classification Board

The organisation that classifies films and computer games.

Australian content rules

Set by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). They aim to develop and encourage Australian cultural identity.

Localisation

The ability for digital media to target like minded , sub cultural audiences, who may find mainstream channels irrelevant.

Globalisation

New media technology has made it possible to access media content from anywhere in the world over the internet.

ICEAGES

I = industry
C= culture
E= economy
A= audience
G = government
E = ethics
S = society

Hybridisation

Sees media forms coming together to make a different media product,
but also allowing the separate forms to continue

Charcteristics + Codes/Conventions and structure of Podcasts

Starts with music/Starts with a welcome + introduction of speaker and topic/Ends with same music as start/Speakers thank audience at end/Adverts at the beginning,
middle or end/technical codes of sound effects + fading in and out of music is used/Speakers use questions/interviews to structure their narrative

New/current Media and Change issues

The release of air pods (wireless earphones)/Face ID to unlock devices/iTunes has been replaced by Apple Music/Social media platforms have altered their software so that people can no longer see the amount of likes on someone's post

intellectual property

a category of intangible property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect such as patents and copyrights

Apple launches the iPhone

2007

How has the rise of Web 2.0 changed the way that people interact with digital media?

Now days the public has a lot quicker access to technologies and the media. They are also becoming frequently more used

Who had the power to distribute information to the masses in the early days of media?

The Church. People went to the Church to receive news and and the Church often published religious transcripts to inform people of spirituality and the goodness of God

Media and change impacts on society

New social media platforms provide opportunities for people to connect with others and to form online communities

Media and change impacts on ethics

New media technologies have changed the way that people interact posing ethical challengers for audiences and industry.
Ethical issues include online bullying, privacy, inappropriate content and constructing one's online identity

Media and change impacts on audience

New technologies have changed the relationship between the media and audiences.
Audiences now have the potential to create and share their own content

Media and change impacts on Economy

New technologies have presented economic opportunities and challengers for existing

industries/Music industry have struggled with the challenge of digital downloads which has meant that people can easily pirate
music/streaming services such as Spotify has brought in more income for the music industry

Media and change impacts on Culture

New technologies have redefined art and entertainment and have provided new opportunities for self-expression/DVDs allow audience to binge entire seasons/

the development of cable channels in the USA led to the rise of long-form story telling/new technology has led to a creative/

cultural revolution, ordinary people now have the ability to make their own films using smartphones

Media and Change impacts on industry

the rise of the internet has challenged traditional print publications such as newspapers. Newspapers have moved online and have started providing video and audio content in their stories

Old media and change issues

overload/overabundance of information from the media/old generations warn younger generations against new technologies/wireless radio

a distraction for children from reading and studying/televisions may disturb the pattern of family living/the Internet causes mental problems

New media

F orms of media that are native to computers, computational and rely on computers for redistribution.

Some examples of new media are telephones, computers, virtual worlds, single media, website games, human-computer interface, computer animation and interactive computer installations

Traditional media

are the mass media institutions that predominated prior to the information age;

particularly print media, film studios, music studios, advertising agencies, radio broadcasting, and television

Digital

Describes a media product that still exists in the form of computer instructions such as a digital video or video game

symbolic codes

setting, mise en scene, acting and colour

Technical codes

camerawork, editing, audio, lighting

Written codes

printed language, spoken language

conventions

form conventions, story conventions and genre conventions

CAMELS (Codes)

Camera
Acting
Mise-en-scene
Editing
Lighting
Sound

Camera (Code) examples

Angle
Movement
Distance/Placement
Shot Selection
Height
Lens/Focus

Editing (Code) examples

Cut
Fade
Dissolve
Wipe
Shot-reverse shot
Graphic match (Scott Pilgrim!!)
Crosscutting
Timing
Rhythm of editing.

Binge watching

The practice of watching multiple aspects of a media form in rapid succession, typically by means of DVDs or digital streaming

Citizen journalism

The collecting, reporting, and analyzing of news content by the audience, expected to be reported within seconds on the Internet

Post-broadcast era

The period following the introduction of digital technologies where audiences became influential in the creation of media

Broadcast era

The period where large media institutions dominated media production in a certain area

Ideology

A consistent set of beliefs by groups/individuals

Mass communication

The idea of using mass media to reach a large audience

Social media

Digital communication channels used primarily for audiences and producers to share content

echo chamber

a metaphorical description of a situation in which information, ideas, or beliefs are

amplified or reinforced by communication and repetition inside a defined system.

Expository documentaries

A type of documentary that is heavily researched and sometimes referred to as 'essay films' as they aim to educate

explain events, issues, ways of life and settings the general population know little about.

It leaves judgement of events to the audience.

They speak directly to the audience, showing them reality, and revolve around historic happenings and important events.

Observational documentaries

A type of documentary where the filmmaker does not have a script, screenplay, actors or location.

A hand-held camera is used and voice-overs are mostly spontaneous observations of the filmmaker.

This form of documentary aims to portray ordinary real-life situations and people's actions and takes on such events,

striving for cinematic realism. It usually avoids intervention and looks in at the world unbiasedly

Performative documentaries

A type of documentary that is autobiographic in nature that
emphasises the filmmaker's own involvement with the subject and perceived in different ways to different people.

They are subjective in nature and strongly personal, making use of enactments to put forth a point of view.

These documentaries usually portray personal connections to historical or political events.

Participatory documentaries

A type of documentary where the filmmaker tends to become the subject of the documentary, when the filmmaker and

subject is recorded and the filmmaker actively engages with the situation they are documenting. In a sense, the filmmaker

becomes a guinea pig for a specific thesis or idea

Poetic documentaries

A type of documentary that focuses on triggering an emotional response in the viewer.

They value visual rhythm over continuity, lack traditional narrative and are subjective. Rather than arguing for an objective truth, they provide a subjective interpretation of a topic,

approaching them more abstractly and experimentally. Ideas are expressed through dramatisation of reality using audio visual associations,

descriptive passages, rhythmic qualities, juxtaposition, etc. It is lyrical, fragmentary and impressionistic

Reflective documentaries

A type of documentary that draws attention to how documentaries are created rather than an actual event taking place to try

to portray a sense of realism if we are watching the filmmaker personally make their documentary to draw the audience in.

It provokes the audience to question the authenticity of documentaries and showing that not all documentaries show the truth, just part of it.

Stereotype - Women cannot handle power

I'm buying this house for my babies wedding present, $40,000 dollars cash.' Says Tom Cassidy to Marion.

A shot with Cassidy in the dirty foreground, while Marion faces the camera appearing to be thinking deeply about what he just said.

George Lawray, in a low angle shot 'I don't even want it in the office over the weekend put it in the safe deposit box in the bank' to which the shot switches to a mid-shot of Marion listening to Lawray closely, to which she agrees with

a subtle 'yes' Marion, dressed in a black bra and black skirt, is in her bedroom.

She appears to look down onto the bed, then goes into her dresser while the camera tracks down onto her bed exposing Cassidy's money

Stereotype - Mental Illness

A low angle shot positions Norman in the side of the frame with a large, taxidermized owl appearing to watch above his head.

Chiaroscuro lighting illuminates his face insinuating there is duality to his character he discusses his mother 'I don't hate her, I what she's become,

I hate the illness', after Marion suggests Norman put her in a psychiatric ward, Norman continues in a close up shot 'but she's harmless

, she's as harmless as one of those stuffed birds', within the background of the misce-en-scene is a taxidermized bird peering to look at Normans head.

The birds are symbolic motifs to a self-referential illusion to death, thus associating Norman's mother's mental illness with self-caused death and destruction

Censorship Impact - Sex Scenes

In an eye view shot, Marion lays on a bed made with white bed sheets. She wears all white, and a man, in black pants and no shirt, stands above her, his head cut of from the frame.

The black bars of the bed frame are positioned above and larger than Marion, making her character appear entrapped.

She passionately kisses Sam Loomis on the bed, Marion says to Sam 'Sam, this is the last time' for 'meeting you in secret' to which it has become evident that Marion, is having relations with a married man.

She begins to put a white blouse on 'oh we can see each other, we can even have dinner, but respectably' 'with my mother's picture on the mantle' showing that while Marion stops being 'sexually devious' and asking for 'respect' she becomes purer. Showing that she is pushing for family values, rather than secrecy and defiance.

To which Sam says 'Alright' in agreeance, in a midshot with no shirt on, sitting by the window.
The music becomes increasingly intense, with high pitched violin strings.
Sam reveals that he is experiencing great financial struggle, due to his divorce. 'I sweat to pay of my father's debts and he's in his grave, I still have to my ex-wife's alimony and she's living on the other side of the world somewhere' tracking shot showing him becoming increasingly stressed, and opening the window blinds to the reality of the world

Cultural Context (1950s)Psycho

- Decade idealized the traditional family; women belonged in the kitchen, domestic woman, men the providers
- Very early stages of the second wave of feminism; increase equality among women by disrupting the traditional roles within suburban life. It sought to increase equality in terms of reproductive rights, sexuality, and removal of housewife oppression
- Due to the upset of war time, the American dream was sought heavily, and decrease in men increased the number of women within the workplace

Studio System (Hollywood mainstream studio productions)

- Psycho was produced in a time where the studio system was at its downfall and auteur theory was becoming more prominent
- This prevalence of Classical, Hollywood style relates to the difficulty Hitchcock has in getting psycho produced (lack of support due to themes and narrative)
- Hitchcock was a pioneer in changing the construction of film. Moving away from formulaic films to more innovative, creative films
- He exercised as much possible control over his film, reflecting the move away from the studio system - the Abolishment of studio system led to a shift in audience expectations of cinema
- Increasing presence of home TV, Hitchcock wanted to create a new innovative film to drive market back towards traditional cinema

Hays law

1. No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin
2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment shall be presented
3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation
4. The sanctity of the institution of marriage and the home shall be upheld. Pictures shall not infer that low forms of sex relationships are the accepted or common thing.
5. Scenes of passion:- The should not be introduced when not essential to the plot
- Excessive and lustful kissing, lustful embraces, suggestive postures and gestures are not to be shown
- In general passion should so be treated that these scenes do not stimulate the lower and baser element

Motifs

Motifs
Eyes/Circles:
- Theme = voyeurism and surveillance
( telling audience that this film is showing us what we shouldn't be seeing )

Birds: (trapped in one way or another - stuffed or in a frame)
- Theme = emphasises isolation, duality and vulnerability

Mirrors and Reflection:
- Theme = duality
(Mirror = marks the need for introspection)
(Hitchcock frequently juxtaposes Marion with her reflection after she stole the money)

Symbol - "Susanna and the Elders"
- Painting Norman uses to cover secret peephole symbolised his repressed sexuality and foreshadows what will happen to Marion.

Marian Crane

- Last name is a type of bird
- Start of the movie she is wearing white clothing but wears darker clothing once she stole the money
- White = innocence and respectability
- Takes a cleansing shower to remove the guilt of her theft

Tone - Shift in tone

There is clear shift in tone through the film which is used to convey the tension. At the start the lighting is high-key all until Marion starts to run away.

The shot of her in the car shows time is changing and how she doesn't notice due to her thoughts racing as it gets darker and darker with quick cuts - making the overall tone more scary and setting up for what is too come.

This is furthered when she arrives at the motel and there is low-key lighting but Norman is shown in side light.

This shows how he is an outwardly good person but has evil within him, that he cannot control. It also helps convey that he is hiding a secret (his mother being dead) to not only himself but Marion too as he cannot accept the truth

Shower scene - Rapid Shots

During the scene when Marion is in the shower there's empty space of the left side of the screen.

This creates suspense and horror as the audience will have this feelings of expectation for something to fill it. This adding to the horror genre as they wait for the moment of the killer appearing to happen.