media exam mock monday

1.A) Describe how your skills developed in digital technology over the whole course. Also evaluate how these skills contributed to your creativity

I have been doing media studies for two years now and i have learnt new ways of creating and using text within media. Along the progress i have used different technologies to help me in creating and editing these texts and this has expanded my skills with digital technology.

In the first year of Media studies (As) i was set a task to create a preliminary video and this included four shots that we had been told to incorporate and they are; long shot, close up, mid shot and a shot reverse shot. The narrative to this video was; person opens door sits down and conversation happens so there was no relevance to any conventions within this narrative. In the creation of the preliminary task i used the schools cameras that were dated and used old technology so this meant that i had to learn how to use them and this was done by us receiving a step by step talk by Mrs Sutton on how to use the cameras. This prelim set a bench mark for me on how well my camera skills were and they were proved to be quite good. Once i had all of the required filming i had to edit the clips using the schools Macs and this proved difficult as they lacked some of the required features that i needed to apply into the preliminary task, such as the internet connection so i could not download any new title sequences onto iTunes. i then went onto creating my film opening for the Media studies As level and for this i decided to use my own laptop with its own movie editing software on called SONY Vegas Pro 9, i have also used my own digital camera as i knew how to use all of its features and i could also apply all of the clips onto my laptop without having to change or edit the format of the clips. Because i used a different types of technology for my film opening than from my preliminary task my skills needed to be developed on using all of the new technology so i decided to record some clips with my camera such as filming cars passing by and then i experimented in many creative ways to edit the clips and i also used YouTube instruction clips to help me edit the video clips and this improved my skills for when i did my final version of my film opening.

In the second year of Media studies (A2) i was set the task to create a music video and then to create a digipak and a poster for the music video. I started off by selecting the same equipment that i used for my draft and final version of my film opening sequence in AS level, which were my laptop and computer with SONY Vegas Pro 9 on and also my own digital video camera and this meant that i had an advantage over all of the other students as i did not need to borrow any of the schools equipment and i could practice and improve my skills in my own time. In the music video that i have created my editing skills have improved by using shorter and faster clips to suite all of the conventions, all of the camera angles and shots were more advanced and more thought through such as the high angle shot of Rhys on the drums and there was a section of the drums on the right and bottom of the clip, i have used some of the transitions at the beginning of the video limiting it so the video looks more professional and suites the genre of the song more and i have met the editing with the tempo of the music. The digipak and poster that i have made also show how my skills have improved through the year as in As level i made a preliminary poster and i have used paint shop pro X2 and my laptop to edit the prelim poster, and i have followed all of this experience and knowledge through to my A2 digipak and poster, but i have also improved in many ways by using the technology by applying more special effects to the digipak and poster such as making the pictures taken look like the street artist Banksie’s work and colouring in some of the bricks in the picture to emphasise the effect of a derelict location and finally i have improved my lasso cropping by making the lines of the cut out image much more smoother and closer to the line than in my As Prelim.

1.B) Analyse one of your media products in relation to media language

In my A2 level music video i have followed all of the conventions for the rock genre of music videos and this is because my music video is of the rock genre. In the music video there is only a performance based and the member of the band that i play is the lead singer and we have amplified this member of the band by using a close up of my face singing them lyrics and showing the facial expressions of anger and regret which also follows the lyrics in the song, then there is Rhys on the drums and all of the camera shots of his band member are all mainly high angled close ups, this is to show that he is playing the most important instrument in the video. Next the shots of Nick on the guitar are mainly close-ups of him fingering the guitar or strumming it and there are also lots of mid shots showing him playing the guitar. Finally all of the shots of Tom are mainly concentrated on the keyboard and him pushing down on the keys, this is because the piano is not normally the main instrument in a rock band and it is therefore not important.

A theory that could be applied into our music video could be the reverse male gaze as we have been given feedback that suggests that Tom is wearing leather, fingerless gloves that suite the stereotype of fetish desires and being camp, although he was not wearing leather gloves they looked like they were leather in the video as the resolution of the video was not perfect, so this theory could be applied to the video depending on the audiences thoughts.

The editing that was used in the music video was all fast paced and the continuity was perfect as all of the

theory lesson 09th/May

- Maslo

- mcQuail +Katz

- effects model

- Mode of address

Maslo:

An audience question is not simple

- What you learnt from feed back

- Who watched it

- Whether people liked it

Hierarchy of needs why we use media texts

McQuail + Katz uses and gratification

- Information – learn about wider world

- Identity – create a sense of self

§ Celebrity driven

- Social interaction – how to fit into society à possibly negative

· (You could always challenge)

- Diversion – entertainment

Next theory

Entertain is the primary function because:
Music videos are primarily to promote an artist or ban. It should not be seen as an advert

Active audience theory

- Preferred/ dominant reading – what the producer wanted the audience to think e.g. McDonald’s burgers

- Oppositional reading – what counter views did e.g. McDonald’s are not healthy

- Negotiated reading – it is a bit of both (preferred and oppositional) e.g. we know McDonald’s are not healthy but we eat them because they are nice

Mode of address

Part of active audience model.

The way a text “speaks” to you

Elements within a text which appeal to an audience, you have to have created a specific target audience

1.

Ethnographic audience theory

a) Focus on domestic context of reception

a. YouTube (phone/PC/laptop) (wi-fi/internet)

i. Phone – smaller screen, sound quality – send forward link to friend

b. Music TV (TV, digital TV) to afford this they may be mid class

i. Specific channels for specific styles – reduces the chance of oppositional reading

b) Cultural competence of the audience (could create oppositional readings)

a. the more informed the more critical

c) Technology

a. “information rich” lots and lots of sources

b. “Information poor” not many sources

Using audience theory analyse your text

- Introduction à specify the one media text you are analysing, who you thought your target audience was

- Pont 1 – uses + gratification of your chosen text (McQuail + Katz) – why and how

- Point 2 – dominant, oppositional, negotiated (include mode of address in these examples)

- Point 3 – ethnographic

- Conclusion – how successful was your text?

Who is your target audience?

I have aimed the media text that I have created at the younger generation, this is because they way to experience a more upbeat song and also all of the members of the band are in fissionable rock clothing making it seem more inspiring to the younger audience and therefore this text is speaking to the audience by using the appearance and beats to the song.

active audience theory question answer

1. What is the preferred reading of your text?
How and why did you create this reading?
(Link this to McQuail + Katz)

2. What oppositional readings were made of your text?
Why was this possible?
What could you have done to prevent this?

3. what was the negotiated reading of your text?

Why did your audience arrive at this conclusion?

The preferred reading of my text is to show that there is a rock band that looks like the typical stereotype of a rock band performing their song and they are in the typical setting of a rock bands location as it is plain and simple and the area is just for one reason, to play music loud and hard, also the attitude of the band suggests that it is rock. This reading was created by applying McQuail and Katz theory by using the identity text and this shows that our bands appearance and attitude is celebrity driven creating a sense of self meaning and this gave the effect of our band being a proper rock band as all of the main features were copied from a pre-existing band.

The oppositional readings that are in our music video suggest that the location of the video is not correct for a rock band as the setting is in a summer log cabin and it looks too soft and friendly to fit in with the typical setting for a rock video, to challenge this convention we decided to put up a couple of rock poster in the background and this roughened up the background, but it did not give off the impression that we were looking for as it made the setting feel like a teenagers wall with all of the posters.

The negotiated reading of my text could be that although the audience know that the setting is not of an alternative rock genre and it makes the musicians seem lees of a rock band, all of the clothes, attitudes, editing speed and beats of the song show that the band is a rock band because their appearance and attitude is of a typical rock genre. The audience arrived at this conclusion because they were looking at my video and comparing it existing conventions and stereotypes and this is where they gathered the conclusions for my music video, also it is down to the audiences point of opinion because some would think different to others and won’t see what others see as being incorrect for the genre.

My view on the media project.

in my opinion I think that the music video that we created would fall under two of the four sections from McQuail and Katz theory that are; diversion and identity. Our video would fall under identity because we have gone for the rock band effect with all of the characters clothing and attitude so this is portrayed around what pre-existing rock bands already exist, our video also has a fast editing pace matching the beats to the song and this is also seen as being rock. Next our music video fits in with the diversion part of their theory and an example of this would be; the speed of all of the editing within the video as this improves the excitement that the audience feels.

(example of how to start) by the use of McQuail + Katz theory and my media text...

Kramers theory part 2

1. is not simply a repudiation of modernism or its continuation, but has aspects of both a break and an extension
2. is, on some level and in some way, ironic
3. does not respect boundaries between sonorities and procedures of the past and of the present
4. challenges barriers between 'high' and 'low' styles
5. shows disdain for the often unquestioned value of structural unity
6. questions the mutual exclusivity of elitist and populist values
7. avoids totalizing forms (e.g., does not want entire pieces to be tonal or serial or cast in a prescribed formal mold)
8. considers music not as autonomous but as relevant to cultural, social, and political contexts
9. includes quotations of or references to music of many traditions and cultures
10. considers technology not only as a way to preserve and transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of music
11. embraces contradictions
12. distrusts binary oppositions
13. includes fragmentations and discontinuities
14. encompasses pluralism and eclecticism
15. presents multiple meanings and multiple temporalities
16. locates meaning and even structure in listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers

1.

2. This is where the creator of the music leaves mocking humour somewhere in the song and they are playing with the perceptions of music, Timberland would be an example of this with the monkey screaming, birds tweeting and baby crying, another example would be in Eminem’s stay wide awake as there is a sound of a chain saw half way through.

3.

4. The high style will be classical and then the low style would pop. And a song would challenge these barriers by something like a modern pop/r ’n’ b song with a backing sound of classical music such as Kanye West, beastie boys

5. This is music that is just one genre with no intertextuality and an example of this would be rock just being rock

6. Elitist = classical and populist = pop music, this is to get an elitist track such as opera or Elvis Presley and then add a sweet tune onto of the original tune to make it more main stream such as Dan Black symphonies

7.

8. Autonomous (a part), just music – this includes political, social and cultural music such as charity singles, MIA, Lady Ga-Ga. à diamonds from Ceria-Leone (this is about blood diamonds) and makes it a protest song

9. This is taking music from other cultures and other songs and an example of this would be Kanye West – Drunken hot girls (US R ‘n’ B/hip hop song) being a copy of Kraut rock – can, swing, swan song (German song)

10. This is when technology is used in a live performance or recordings to create a song by using auto tuning or cooping sounds and an example of this would be DJ shadow, Katie Tunstal, Imogene Heap - just for now

11. 77 boa drums

12.

13. This is a clever use of sampling such as the Black eyed peas, Vampire weekend or Dan Black

14.

15.

16. The meaning of the music is in us the audience rather than the song its self, the songs meaning is what we think of it e.g. walking on sunshine could be a sad song for the audience if it reminds them of someone close to them that has died and therefore the meaning has changed

Kramers theory

Timberland – if we ever meet again feat Katie Perry à

this song fits into Kramers theory because it uses elements of point ten with the lyrics of the singing (this is clear to hear as timberlands vocals are distorted and sound more electro), also some of the lyrics are jarred, repeated and looped to show an error in the track, this could also be linking to kramers theory of the creator implying irony into the song as it creates mocking humour.

Stockhausen - "Helicopter String Quartet" à

this song fits into Kramers theory because it blurs the lines between high performance and low performance music, this is shown with the classical instruments being played such as the violin, but then the musicians try to make it more modern by changing the speed and tempo at which they play the instruments and also the rotor blades from the helicopters give a more lower class of music effect as they provide a background beat, also they experiment with different ways of performing music as they are all in separate helicopters and they can hear what the other musicians are doing live through their headphones.

Alvin Lucier – i am sitting in a room à

this song fits into Kramers theory because it is using existing technology to record what he says and then playback what he has just said into the microphone and then he increases the rate that the recording is played every time by layering new ones on top of the first, then it gets so far and it is just a loud distorting sound and it becomes a piece of music in its self