Thursday 6 April 2017

Popularity of Genre's

Tessa Perkins had five assumptions regarding stereotypes, she believed that stereotyping is not a simple process and it contains assumptions that can be challenged. Perkins believed that stereotypes are not always negative for example in Hotel Babylon the Chinese woman is portrayed as being intelligent.

Leon Festinger can be used to explain the popularity of programmes like Hotel Babylon and other similar TV drama's because of his theory of cognitive dissonance. This claims that we resist adjusting our attitude unless faced with overwhelming evidence.

40 questions- star wars the Force Awakens






  • Who owns Lucasfilm? Disney
  • Who formed Lucasfilm? George Lucas
  • What year was Lucasfilm formed? 1971
  • Who is the president of Lucasfilm? Kathleen Kennedy
  • What other major films have they worked on? Indiana Jones franchise, Starwars franchise and many more 


  • How much was Lucasfilm sold for? $4.05billion


  • Who wrote Star Wars: The Force Awakens? JJ. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, Micheal Ardnt
  • Who directed Star Wars: The Force Awakens? JJ. Abrams
  • What other major films is the director responsible for? Star Trek, Lost (tv show), 10 Cloverfield lane  
  • How many Star Wars films have there been so far (list them)? Star wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), The Phantom Menace (1999), Attack of the Clones (2002), Revenge of the Sith (2005), The Clone Wars (2008), The Force Awakens (2015)
  • How much money have they all made at the global box office? Star Wars: The Force Awakens remained on top of the international chart with $133.3 million
  • When was the first Star Wars film released? The first starters film was released in 1977
  • What does ILM stand for? Industrial Light Magic
  • What do ILM do? Visual effects 
  • Who created ILM? George Lucas
  • Why did they create ILM? 
  • What do casting directors do? Casting Directors organize and facilitate the casting of actors for all the roles in a film. 
  • Where were the first scenes for Star Wars: The Force Awakens filmed? Rub'al Khali desert Abu Dhabi 
  • What format was Star Wars: The Force Awakens shot on? 35mm Kodak film
  • What types of camera were used to film Star Wars: The Force Awakens? IMAX
  • What studio was used to film a large portion of the film? Pinewood
  • Where is the studio? England
  • What major franchise is famously filmed at this studio? James Bond
  • How does said franchise link to Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Daniel Craig played a stormtrooper
  • Who was the inspiration for the character Maz Kanata? JJ's School teacher
  • What technology was used to create Maz Kanata? Motion Capture
  • Who played Maz Kanata & what other roles is she famous for? Lupita Nyong'o, 12 years a slave. Jungle Book (2016)
  • Who played General Snoke? Andy Serkis
  • What is he renowned for in the movie business? He is best known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation and voice work for such computer-generated characters as Gollum
  • Where was the final scene filmed? Skellig Michael, an island located 7.2 miles west of the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland.
  • Who composed the film score? John Williams
  • How many Star wars films has he composed the music for? All main ones
  • What other famous films has he created the music for? Indiana Jones Franchise 
  • How mant times did John Boyega audition for the film (according to JJ Abrams)? 7 months of auditions 
  • Over what period of time did these auditions occur?
  • How many people operated B-B8?
  • What type of technology was the main version of B-B8?
  • What colour suit did the B-B8 operator wear?
  • Whay did he have to wear such a suit?
  • What type of special effects (SFX) were employed on Star Wars: The Force Awakens?
  • How many people were behind the monitor watching the scene when Han and Chewie returned to the Millenium Falcon?





  • There are seven key areas of media that need to be applied when critiquing films including Star Wars: The Force Awakens:
    1. the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;
    2. the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing; 
    3. the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange; 
    4. the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences; 
    5. the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences; 
    6. the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions; 
    7. the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour. 


    The issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice

    All modern day media has a legal owner wether it be film, news or music etc. Disney are a main powerhouse in legal ownership owning massive franchises such as ABC television, ESPN, Marvel Entertainment and also Lucasfilm

    As lucasfilm was recently bought by Disney they also acclaimed the rights to the Star Wars™ this means they have full buying and marketing power over the rights of the Star Wars name however they are not able to create and fund large blockbusters by themselves meaning they often collaborate with subsidiary's of their company such as Lucasfilm and Bad Robot in the case of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However because Disney have all the financial backing it means they have control over the whole production process. A large company backing a project sometimes is a bad influence as the product made will be created for the purpose of making a profit over the integrity of art. Because of the backing by Lucasfilm it remains with the original integrity of the first trilogy. It also meant that it was made with the experienced views from the employees on the first film, practical effects were used in an attempt to recreate the vision of the original films also.

    With the large company backings the film made is certain to make 



    The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing

    Companies must work together to produce a film as it takes multiple distributers to create a film. The company Disney distributed 












    Regional Identity is used in this scene to portray the slow and relaxed stereotype of country life. This is presented to the audience through the use of a long held wide shot that connotes slow and relaxed lifestyle of countryside Britain in contrast to Doc Martins constant movement showing the busy and laborious lifestyle of city life. The limited use of non diegetic  sound in this long held shot shows the slow life of country Britain, the diegetic sound in this scene is unproductive and the large worker speaks in a nonsensical manor showing the typical uneducated countryside Brit. As the scene progresses the amount of editing increases showing stressful and fast paced "action" as the water pipe breaks. The audience are focused on Doc Martin to show his erratic actions. the non diegetic sound of the music increases in erratic nature up until the climax of the barking dog. This shows the volatile idiosyncratic nature of city life from a countryside perspective contrasting the tranquil nature of rural life. This hectic environment is only increased through the diegetic addition of a franticly ringing telephone, this telephone is shown to be be old and outdated further enforcing the stereotype of a antiquated rural Britain. Doc is always in control of the scene portrayed through the eyeline camera angles showing his dominance over the situation as an educated city outsider.



    Handheld pan
    I can identify what people's ethnicity's are as they follow common and very basic stereotypes that are often seen as offensive and generalizing.
    Extreme close-up
    This shows the people from different ethnic backgrounds (especially African) are shown as being tribal
    Medium long shot
    This shows the danger in the scene as the hotel worker is confronted by two policemen.

    Long shot
    The three men are walking in a spearhead formation showing that the man in front is dangerous and has the power over the two other members of his "posse"
    Reaction shot
    This has been used to show the diversity of the hotel. It also shows his reaction to the incoming threat and that he is empathetic to the staff.



    Alvarado's theory of racial stereotypes. The media portrays ethnic stereotypes as being, Pitied, Dangerous, Exotic and Humorous

      Barthes narrative codes included: hermeneutic code, action code, semantic code, symbolic code and referential code. 


     Characters are shaped by what readers see them do and say, and so narrative techniques surrounding characters are related to those surrounding plot, point of view and style. 
    Dutch angle, also known as Dutch tilt, 

    Thursday 8 December 2016

    The first scene begins with a pan shot across a group of young children. The children are shown in the extract covered in mud,looking hungry and sad this relates to the common stereotypes of the working/underclass. The adults in the scene are shown dressed in expensive clothing showing the divide between classes. Diagetic sounds of coughing and sniffing are constantly heard throughout the first scene and the entire extract, this connotes the abysmal conditions that are being forced upon the impoverished underclass children. It also shows the poor health and hygiene stereotype commonly paired with the underclass. Shot-Reverse-Shot is used in the confrontation between the boy and MR Bumble the balance of power obviously opposes the young boy as the shot from Bumble's perspective has the boy shown on a low angle and with Bumble dominating the shots blocking. This combined with the subdued low key lighting creates a hostile atmosphere and raises tension for the scene's climax. The second scene begins with a wide angle tracking shot that connotes to the audience the power classes have over each other. The director has used this tracking shot to show the middle class authority over the underclass. Mr Bumble is holding a cane which he uses to hit the the ground with as he walks, this positions the audience into believing his state of authority and has been used to show the divide between the lavish dress and ornament of his cane in contrast to the dirty rags worn by the underclass workers. "God sees thou" is revealed on the wall behind Mr Bumble through a birds eye view crane shot into a longshot. This reinforces the common stereotype of the poor and uneducated being devout christians a motif that remains throughout the entirety of the extract. The use of non-diagetic sound in this scene also enforces the religious motif as church bells can be heard in the background. The director may have used this to portray the historical exploitation of the poor through religion. The ambient silence in the end of this scene portrays the lack of power the poor have.It also references classical victorian beliefs of children being "Seen not heard"