Our Shot list

This is our initial shot list for the opening scene of our thriller production;


1. Worms eye - Looking up from desk/table at person 1 creating chemical


2. Close shot - Person 1 Putting chemical in bag and walking out room


3. Tracking shot - Person 1 walking outside + vanishing point


4. High-angle mid/close shot - Friends socialising in lounge


5. Over the shoulder - Person 1 poring chemical into one of a few mugs/drinks


6. Close-up - Drink, showing chemical being poured into mug


7. Long + panning shot - Person 1 walking down corridor with drinks on tray


8. Birds eye - Friends round tray, taking drinks

Animal Kingdom; Analysis

Animal Kingdom - 2010, Directed by David Michôd
Staring James Frecheville, Guy Pearce and Joe Edgerton

Tells the story of seventeen year-old J (Josh) as he navigates his survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him.


In Animal Kingdom, the director uses several thriller conventions to establish the film as a thriller. 
One convention that the director uses is the setting of small indoor spaces. Spaces such as the homes of the family being quite small and claustrophobic, as well as being dirty inside. Another example of this is a part of the film is filmed within a motel - this being quite a common setting for thriller films, No Country For Old Men for example which was mostly filmed within motels.
 Another aspect of the thriller genre that the director used  was the character that was put into a unfamiliar situation. This is a important aspect of the film as it is based around the character of Josh 'J' Cody, who is put into the surroundings of the rest of his family once his mother dies. This leaves Josh into the violent and crime-filled surroundings of the rest of his family. The director also makes the family seem like a pride of lions in africa, with one male figure at the top of the family (Andrew 'Pope' Cody) however there is also the matriarchal figure (Janine 'Smurf' Cody) who is ultimately in charge of the family. Within this family they se themselves as the top of the 'Food Chain' within Melbourne, However as the story progresses we see that ultimately they are all vulnerable and scared of the world around them. This in some ways is quite similar with other thriller films - the character/s think they have everything under control but they come to realise that they cannot escape the thing that is chasing them.
One final feature of the thriller genre that the director uses is the open spaces, although he doesn't use it as much as alot of other thrillers use that particular convention. The scene where Craig Cody is shot by the police while running off into the bush is really the only scene where the director utilises this aspect. This is possibly as a signifier of Craigs isolation in the world at the time of this scene.


This Film stands out from the Hollywood mainstream mainly by being set within Australia, and not the norm of the mid-west of america or Europe as a lot of modern thrillers are set. It also stands out thought the minimal use of CGI and also the lack of big budget actors, apart from Guy Pearce, this is inline with the very small budget of the film (around AU$5 million) compared with films such as medium budget tinker, tailor, soldier, spy (budget around £20 million) and big budget The Bourne Ultimatum (Budget around US$110 Million). The film also uses everyday settings for filming (locations such as Houses and outside city locations) the only exception to which would be the Police interrogation rooms and the courts (which we don't see inside of)

Analysis of scenes from Jackie Brown

Jackie Brown - 1997, Directed By Quentin Tarantino 

Staring Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Forster

A female flight attendant becomes a key figure in a plot between the police and an arms dealer.

In the opening sequence, Tarantino establishes the character of Jackie Brown as being a very confident character. He does this mainly thought the use of camera angles. One example of which is that when she is on the travelator she is standing perfectly still and always looking in the direction that she is travelling. Another example is that when she has got off the travelator, Tarantino uses mainly low angle shots looking up at her to give the impression of importance and stature. This camera angle also shows all the people in the background walking the other way and wearing very dull clothes, which is in contrast to the very smart, bright blue uniform of Jackie Brown. Also the feel of confidence is further developed by the fact that she never looks directly into the camera, always forward - this shows that she is very focused on one thing and is not easily distracted by her surroundings.

In the scene where the character of Ordell Robie shoots Beaumont Livingstone, is is established as a thriller mainly though the fact that it is set mostly in a set of apartments at night, which are both characteristics of thriller films. Tarantino uses the darkness and very little lighting to give the feel of emptiness. Also the last part of the scene, where we see Ordell drive off and then drive into what appears to be a building site, with Livingstone in the boot of the car and then stops to shot him, gives us the impression that Ordell planed this and therefore is a very methodical man and likes to plan things before doing them. Also in this scene he is very calm - this gives us the feel that he is not in a unfamiliar situation.

This is a contrast to the character of Louis Gara. In the scene where scene where he is in the shopping mall he is very nervous and uptight, this gives us the feel that he is very uncomfortable in his surroundings. Also at the end of the scene, when he shoots Melanine, he shoots her after getting annoyed with her. This show us that the character of Louis Gara is very short tempered and does things on a spur-of-the moment basis and doesn't plan them like Ordell Robie does.

Analysis Of The Witness Murder Scene

Witness - 1985, Directed by Peter Weir
Staring Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis and Lukas Haas

A young Amish boy is sole witness to a murder; policeman John Book goes into hiding in Amish country to protect him until the trial.


The first shot a Long shot of a Amish boy - we can tell this by the clothes that he is wearing -  looking up at a large statue and then of a close-up of his face that has a expression of awe. This gives the a sense of scale to the boy and the location, which is a train station, and also the give a sense of the boy's insignificance in the world around him. The large open indoor spaces is also goes against the thriller convention of claustrophobic indoor spaces.   Also his expression indicates that he has not been in this environment before.


 We then see a mid/long shot of the boy and his mother sitting a another room within the station and the boy gets up and asks his mother to go to the toilet and he then pre-seeds to walk off. We then see the Boy in the toilet and also another man washing his face in the sinks, all we can hear during this scene is the sound of the tap running and the footsteps of two more men that walk into the toilet - one of whom is very smartly dressed and has a very confident body language, which suggests a person of power, A policeman in the case of this film. These two men then attack the man that was already in the toilet and then murder him, while this is happening we then get a close-up of the boy looking though the gap in the toilet cubical door at the scene that is taking place before him. This gives us the feel that boy has no power and a sense of helplessness in the current situation. After the men have killed the person they start rummaging though his possessions, as they do this the boy makes a noise that one of the men hear and he starts opening all the cubical doors one by one, slowly getting closer and closer to the cubical that the boy is in - this builds the tension and makes that audience ask what is going to happen next. As he is doing this we then skip to see the boys face with a very scared expression, he this franticly tries to close the lock on the door - this also adds to the tension in the scene but also creates a sense of urgency. As the man gets to the locked door of the cubical he tries to get it open and as he kicks it down the boy gets into the next cubical along that has already been opened. The man then walks out of the toilet past the boy standing in the open cubical, but he doesn't notice the boy standing on the toilet standing perfectly still in fear of the men.


This scene mainly builds tension mainly though the boys fear and insecurity in the current situation that he has never experienced before. Also the scene the toilet keeps to the thriller convention of being filmed in small dirty rooms - this contrasts with the start of the scene being in the grander of the huge areas of the train station. Another thing that contrasts in this scene is that at the start of it the boy is placed as a insignificant person interrelation to the huge statue he was looking at, and at the scene he becomes very important as he is the only one who saw the person that committed the murder.

Analysis Of The Opening Scene Of Essex Boys

Essex Boys - 2000, Directed by Terry Winsor
Staring - Charlie Creed-Miles, Sean Bean and Gareth Milne

The film is based loosely around events in December 1995 that culminated in the murders of three drug dealers in Rettendon, Essex, UK.


The scene starts with medium shot of a figure - Billy Reynolds -  opening a garage. This scene contains only one light source, a lamp in the background, and therefore it is quite a dark scene which is a classic thriller characteristic of Noir Lighting.  This creates some intrigue in the scene and acts to draw the audience in to continue watching the rest of the scene and film. The figure then continues to get the Mercedes that is in the garage ready to drive. He gets in the car and starts the window wipers to reveal another character, known as Jason. As this is happening we hear a monologue that sets the scene for the film and gives the audience some background to the character of Jason. Jason's body language in this scene when we first see him is of a very confident man, this is supported by the monologue which tell us that he has just come out of jail and also that everyone in the area knows of him. 


We then skip to another scene where Billy is driving Jason into the Dartmouth Tunnel. The tunnel is a signifier for the barrel of a gun which adds to the theme of violence in the film that becomes apparent in the rest of the scene. As they leave the tunnel the camera that is looking at the car from behind in a medium shot, focuses on the "Welcome the Essex" sign.  The sign is conveying a message that Essex is a friendly place.  This is in contrast to the image of Essex that the film conveys which is Essex as a a violent place that is filled with gangs and crime. In the next part of the scene we see Jason and Billy in a van at a fish market filled with people. Jason then gets out of the van  - with a wooden batten - and walks towards a man in a suit which suggests he is a person of importance and influence. We then see the mans expression as he sees Jason.  It is an expression of fear which also builds the character of Jason as being a confident person (in the way he walks up and beats the man in a crowed place) as-well as being a violent man (suggested by the way the presumably important man reacts to Jason as he goes to beat him up). Jason then continues to beat him, throw acid in his face and then locks him in the back of the van as Billy is nervously looking on. This tells us that Billy is in a very uncomfortable position that he is not familiar with. 


The camera then skips to the van driving along.  The van has a very generic nature about it, there is nothing special about it or anything to suggest that there is a person in the back. We see Billy and Jason sitting in the van and we can hear the man in the back shouting and hitting the sides of the van. Billy's body language tells us that he is still very uncomfortable in the current situation. The final part of the scene is on some marshes.   Billy opens the back of the van and the man charges out and falls over in the mud.  This is a contrast to his first appearance in the fish market.  The market was full of people and he appeared very confident.  Whereas now in the desolate deserted marsh landscape he is appearing as a very vulnerable person. This landscape could also be a reflection of Jason, despite the confidence that he shows on the outside, he might be feeling lost and quite isolated as he has just come out of prison. 

Analysis of Heavenly Creatures

Heavenly Creatures - 1994, Directed By Peter Jackson

Staring Melanine Lynskey, Kate Winslet and Sarah Peris

In this scene there is a focus on the clocks, used mostly to show the thriller convention of time, but also possibly to help the audience create a timeframe in the scene as the narrative of this film is non-linear. It can also suggest a countdown to some kind of act within the plot that could act as a climax. There is also a focus on the bag being carried by one of the girls which we saw earlier  in the scene,  where a brick was being put inside some tights and placed in the bag, to create tension in the scene to add to the feeling that something is about to happen. Another thing that the camera is focusing on is the feet of the three female characters struggling to walking along a muddy path, possibly to signify that they are in unfamiliar territory or situation.  

The majority of this scene is filmed on a very sunny day in a location that is very welcoming, and this goes against one of the main thriller conventions of being mostly filmed in very gloomy and desolate landscapes, although at the same time this gives the location a very eerie feeling about it, as if it was too perfect, to make it seem like a heavenly place. However, a feeling of isolation is also brought across. One way it is brought across is that when they are on the bus they are sitting right at the back when everybody else is sitting towards the front.

The song that starts playing when they are in the cafe also adds a very unearthly feeling to the scene.  This, coupled with the two girls acting nervously, the close ups of the girls feet and the way that the scene is slightly slow motion gives the same feel as in other films where an important character gets killed in a kind of noble way that is not typical of a thriller film (e.g. The Lord Of The Rings), and not like it happens in this scene where the mother gets murdered by her daughter and her friend which is more like a thriller convention.

Towards the end of the clip when the two girls are killing the mother there are cut scenes where we see one of the girls on a ship crying and screaming to the other girl who is struggling to push her way though the crowds who are all joyful with streamers and confetti flying though the air - to act as an opposite to the two girls emotions at the time. The cut scenes are also filled in a way that gives it a really unearthly feel as if it was a dream.

Analysis of Still from Thelma and Louise

Location;
This is set in a car park at night, suggested by the lighting, which plays into the thriller convention of being filmed in dark open spaces. This contradicts the other aspect of the still - the woman being dominant within the scene, rather than the male character.


Characters;
The female is the dominant character in the still -  which defies the thriller convention as well as reversing the norm of that time in America. There is also a crazed look on the woman's face to suggest that the man has done/said something to make her really angry. This suggests that before the situation shown that the man was the dominant, also the face of the man suggests that he is in a unfamiliar situation.


Lighting;
Non-ambient lighting is the primary light-source in this shot, to create some atmosphere around these two characters. It also helps the audience focus on the foreground - where all the action is happening- rather than the background.


Camera Angle;
The Camera angle is a medium-close shot which is cropped quite close around the action, again to get the audience focused on the action and to cut down in as much distractions as possible.


Props;
There is only really one prop within this scene, the gun in the hands of the woman, again differing from the thriller conventions of the man being the dominant one within the scene. 

The Analysis Of The Opening Scene Of Kill Bill Vol.. 1

Kill Bill Vol. 1 - 2003, Directed By Quentin Tarantino

Staring Uma Thurman, David Carradine and Daryl Hannah 

The Bride wakes up after a long coma. The baby that she carried before entering the coma is gone. The only thing on her mind is to have revenge on the assassination team that betrayed her - a team she was once part of. - IMDb.com

The black & white opening scene of Kill Bill Vol. 1 starts with a close up shot of the heavily beaten bride covered in alot of blood, possibly laying on a bed - i say possibly because the shot is cropped so tight around her face you cant see much else, and also the tight cropping is to draw the audience in to concentrating on her and her body language ,and not on her surroundings - and with the sound of her heavily breathing and foot steps of 'Bill'. After a few seconds we skip to a tracking close-shot of the feet of 'Bill', with the light of the scene reflected of his highly Polished shoes (this Gives the audience the impression of a man that cares about his image, this may also indicate that he is also quite wealthy) and then after another few second we switch back to the face of the bride, with her still heavily breathing but the footsteps stop and we hear the line: 

Do you find me sadistic ?

This line is the first Dialogue of the entire film, this draws the audience in due to the fact that we cannot see the face of 'Bill' and therefore this creates some mystery around him, why the bride is in this situation and how these two people are linked. We then see the hand of Bill - with a gold ring and Bracelet, to further give the impression that he is quite wealthy - wipe some of the blood of of The Brides face with a handkerchief with the name 'Bill' sewn into the corner (this is the first time we learn of Bill's Name, further creating some mystery) he then continues his monologue :  

 I bet I could fry an egg on your

head about now, if I wanted to.

Pause

No kiddo, I'd like to believe you’re aware enough

even now 

there is nothing sadistic in

my actions... - Maybe towards

those other jokers - but not you.

Pause

No Kiddo at this moment, this is me

at my most masochistic.

During this Monologue he continues to wipe the face of the bride - with her still heavily breathing, this give the  indication that she is quite scared of Bill. The way the camera is angled could give the indication that we are looking at her from Bills viewpoint, and because it is looking down on her it could signify that she doesn't have much power in the present situation and/or that Bill is a very dominant figure within the scene - despite the fact that we have yet to see his face. The Director could be doing this the keep as much mystery around the character of Bill as if the keep the audience watching and interested in the film.


At this Point we hear Bill pick up a gun and load it and The Bride says :

Bill... It's your baby

we then hear the gun fire as soon as the bride finishes hr sentence and then the scene finishes almost instantly after this.


Within this scene was mostly about drawing the audience in and to get them interested in what is going to happen in the rest of the film, and i think the director has done this quite well. The fact that it was entirely filmed in black and white and the mystery that the screen play creates around Bill really draws you in for more. 

The Analysis Of The Opening Scene Of Once upon a time in America

Once upon a time in America - 1984, Directed By Sergio Leone
Staring Robert De Niro, James Woods and Elizabeth McGovern

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to Brooklyn over 30 years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life. - IMDb.com


Scene starts with the sound of footsteps at the end of the credits with a totally black shot and then female character (possibly a femme fatale) opening the door to her darkened room so she is a silhouette in the frame (as a medium-close shot & also the backlighting to create the silhouette - as if the director wants you to focus on that character within the scene) with the song God Bless America playing as a Non-diegetic sound. As she walks in the room her sihiloet disappears and you can only see her face - again to focus the attention squarely on her and what she is doing  - and she tries to turn on the light but it wont turn on, to give the scene some tension and also the lack of ambient lighting within the room can act as a signifier to say that the room is not safe/Dangerous and also to add tension. 


There is then a high-angle shot looking though some kind of ornament or light fitting towards the door where the female character is standing and then it then proceeds to pan down as the Woman walks toward the bed within the room. it then cuts to a close-up of the hands of the woman operating the switch of the lamp  and then tracking her hands to screw in the bulb to get the light to work  - this then lights up her face which give the audience there first proper look at her face, and her costume to give the audience an idea of what period the film is set in. It also helps build the American Stereotype of the time within the film along with all the other features of the scene - although such features as the song God Bless america gives a false indication of the Stereotype.


The next shot in the scene is a Close up of some bullet holes in the bed. then it cuts to a shot of her pulling back the covers - as she does that the camera zooms out to show the entire bed or to give the "Bigger picture" as it were - to expose the outline of a person in Bullet holes on the bed, possibly as a reference to the chalk outline the sometimes put down in other crime films to indicate a murder scene. Then - with the song cutting to an end - you see a close-up of a hand holding a gun, smash a picture with a quite loud noise as if to break the tension within the scene, cutting back to a high shot of the woman to give a sense of insignificance within the current scene and situation, and then cutting back to the hand and then the camera then pans up to the face of a man. You then see another two Male characters walk out of the shadows. The three men are all waring similar clothes, which signifies that they are all in the same line of work - most likely Gangsters or Police by the way they are dressed - they then proceed to ask the woman "where is he, where is he hiding", after replying "i don't know" on of the three men hits the woman - adding to the effect of insignificance and powerlessness the woman has in the present situation, along with the high angle shots whenever she is in the frame, also the opposite for the three men, which are always almost shown in a low angle shot to give a sense of command and authority in the situation (possibly suggesting that they are police). as she stand back up she asks the men "what are you going to do to him" - the audience does not know the man s name yet - you see a mid-shot of one of the three men screwing a silencer onto his gun and then you see him aiming and firing at the woman and she then collapses onto the bed - where she is then shot again. Two of the men then leave the room and the one remaining man switches off the light, as if to signify the woman has died and she is no longer present in the room. 

The Three Men are probably part of a stereotype of the typical American "hard man" - gangsters looking for money or a rival or tough cop type looking for a criminal. Possibly to help the audience establish a era in which this film is set or to give the three men some mystery around them. They could also be getting the audience asking some questions about the man they are looking for, such as what has he done ? or Could he just have been caught up with something that he had no part in and he is just running from these men ?

There is also the link between the Bed-side light and the woman, when she enters the room she goes and turns it on - this gives us the first proper look at her face - and then, at the end of the scene when she dies, one of the men turns it off again. This could possibly be a signifer of her life or presence whithin the room as before mentioned.

Preliminary Task Final Edit

Preliminary Task Evaluation

When planing our thriller we did a script as well as a basic storyboard (in a earlier post) to just highlight the main shots and their respective sound and parts of the script. We also did a filming script to help us further plan the filming. This helped this in the filming because during the planning we had decided on the location of the filming and also the majority of the camera angles to be used. It also helped us on the positioning of the cameras within the space that we were filming in which was quite a small space and it was difficult to frame the shots without getting the other camera in the frame – as we were using two cameras.

During the filming we kept to the 180° rule – the rule in filming that says that you should be always be filming on the same side of the action, whether it be a conversation with in filming or in sports (to give a few examples) – to not confuse the audience on who is talking to who. But we also it was not possible for us to break the rule because of the problems highlighted above – the fact that the space we were filming in was very small and therefore we could only place the cameras on onside of the room without getting the other camera within the frame.

We used a variety of camera angles in the filming, for example for the opening shot we used a worms eye view to give the audience a scene that something bad was going to happen. We also used

a birds eye shot to end the scene with one of the characters walking off after the conversation. However during the conversation we used shot-reverse-shot for on run though of the conversation with my own digital camera and then with one of the schools film cameras and then we tried filming the conversation with both camera – one on one person and the one on the other person – as we thought this would be easer in the edit and produce a smoother end product.

Finally, during the edit we came up with a few problems, to start with the footage from my digital camera wouldn’t work on the editing program (Adobe Premiere Elements 1.0 – though this was probably because that the program is so old) but we managed to get the clips from my camera converted to a format that would work. The next problem was that a lot of the cameras wouldn't work with the software on the school computers so we had to wait for the one or two cameras that did work to become free. So in the end we just used the shot-reverse-shot footage from my camera and edited it into the final product.

Thriller Films That I Have Seen

Eagle Eye - 2008 , D.J. Caruso
Thriller Elements : running from the law, Chases, an unknown entity, unseen threat, featureless landscapes, victims on the run/fugitives, unexplained situation, dark indoor spaces.  













  Se7en - 1995, David Fincher
  Thriller Elements: Psychopathic Serial Killer, Methodical Killing, Pursuit , Wide open spaces, Dark claustrophobic Indoor spaces, unseen threats, conflict.
















The Bourne Trilogy, Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity - 2002) Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy - 2004- and the Bourne Ultimatum - 2007)  
Thriller Elements: On the Run, Dark Past, Fast paced action, main character trying to escape past, conflict, assassins  














No Country For Old Men - 2007, Ethan & Joel Coen
Thriller Elements: Psychopathic Killer, Pursuit, Cold-blood killing, Dark open and featureless landscapes, dimly lit indoor spaces, innocent victims, escaped criminals, Greed.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - 2011, Thomas Alfredson
Thriller Elements: Moles, Flashbacks, undercover agents, dimly lit rooms, dimly lit interiors, investigation, 

Camera Training ; Still Images

Birds eye shot

Close Shot

Extreme close up 

High Angle

Medium Shot

Low Angle

Over the Shoulder Shot

Tilt Shot

Worms Eye

Long Shot

How Did Tinker Tailor Use New New Tech in the Marketing campaign ?

How Did Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Use New

By the way - i know there is spelling errors , it is a problem with Scribd and not my Spelling

Pre-lim task story board

Winters Bone - Director: Debra Granik

By PETER TRAVERS (roling stone)

JUNE 3, 2010

Every once in a rare while a movie gets inside your head and heart, rubbing your emotions raw. The remarkable Winter's Bone is just such a movie. Having won the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, plus the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, Winter's Bone faces the challenge of finding an audience in a blizzard of multiplex crap. This story of a dirt-poor Ozark family may just be the antidote to the designer porn of Sex and the City 2. Director Debra Granik has adapted the 2006 novel by Daniel Woodrell into a brutally honest movie about secrets that fester among families in the Missouri backwoods. In the absence of her father, who has put the family shack up as bond for a court date he failed to meet, Ree is now the caregiver for her younger brother and sister and a mother barely standing on the shaky tightrope of her sanity. It falls to Ree to find her father, way over his head in a crystal meth scam involving local characters without an ounce of sympathy. Even her dad's junkie brother, Uncle Teardrop (John Hawkes in a brilliant portrayal of buried tenderness), is scared of going up against the unwritten law of the mountains.

Granik handles this volatile, borderline horrific material with unblinking ferocity and feeling. She did the same with her 2004 debut feature, Down to the Bone, with the great Vera Farmiga as a cocaine-addicted wife and mother. In Lawrence, Granik has found just the right young actress to inhabit Ree. Her performance is more than acting, it's a gathering storm. Lawrence's eyes are a roadmap to what's tearing Ree apart. Her pride won't allow her to cry or beg. "Don't ask for what should be offered," she tells her siblings. Winter's Bone is unforgettable. It means to shake you, and does.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Year 12 Media Studies Student Questionnaire

Hello, my name is Jack Monahan and I have just started my A-levels having previously attained a B in GCSE maths and a NCEA level 1 (New Zealand Qualification). My hobbies are photography and cycling.

Media Interests

Print Media:

I mostly read The Guardian and The Observer because my parents buy those two newspapers, so they are readily available in our house. Also they report the news in a way that is easily understood and they are also not as biased as most other newspaper. They report on subjects that are relevant to me such as the sports I like, such as cycling and not just football. I also quite often read up on news on the internet on the BBC news website mostly because It is more up to date then a newspaper. I also read the magazines Amateur Photographer, What Digital Camera and Cycling Plus.  These relate to my interests, I like cycling and photography.

Radio Media:

The main two radio stations I listen to are BBC Radio 1 (because it suits my tastes in music) – and 1Live (a German station on internet radio, because I used to learn German in New Zealand and, again, because it suits my music taste).

Music Industry

I don't particularly have a favourite genre of music – I might like some music in one genre but not all of it, Also I do use facilities to access music online such as Youtube and Spotify. I don't support illegal downloading as its theft.  I also think illegal down loading Is quite pointless these days because of the availability of music online on music streaming facilities and the falling cost of CDs and downloads. 


The music industry might influence my choices in many ways.  Product placement may be influencing the products I might buy, the type of clothes I choose to copy the bands that I like and identify with a social group to fit into.

Video games

My current favourite video game is Halo. It is a war game about the human race trying to stop their persecution by a alien race, the Covenant. While I think video games don't affect gender attitudes as much as some people think I think there has always been a general divide in genders to do with the types of games that they like to play. I do think it affects the way people think about the way conflicts should be resolved – they tend to lean towards the American way of solving conflicts with more aggression and on the offensive and not the way, for example, that Egypt recently changed its government through demonstrations.

New Technology

How Has New Technology.....

Increased understanding of the world: I think it has made it easer to find out about the world i.e we would not know anything about the middle eastern uprising in countries, such as Syria among others, without the internet and sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

Your ability to communicate with others: it makes it easier with sites like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, the list goes on – also there is the advancement in mobile phone technology such as Blackberry’s and iphones with their ability to access these sites on the move. In this modern age, you are always connected.

Access to film, TV and the music industry: new technology has given the average person access to more visual media like film, TV and music than ever before. You can now get films streamed direct from websites such as Lovefilm and film4. The Main TV broadcasters now have online 'catch up' services such as iPlayer. YouTube and Myspace have given people acccess to an audience without record labels and so on.  Also Record labels etc also use the same spaces to market their stuff.

The ability to create your own media texts: it makes it easier with the ability for people to use programs such as Adobe Creative Suite and not only the accessibility of printing services to the public but the ability to put texts on the internet through blogs. There is also the falling cost of advanced camera equipment and the ease of use whether it be a digital stills or HD movie recording.

Television

My favourite TV channels are BBC 1 & 2 because of the variety of programming that is on them. I don't really have a favourite genre of of TV for the same reason I don't have a favourite music genre – the only genres I definitely don't watch are soap operas and talent shows such as the X factor , I just find them dull, boring and repetitive. The TV programs I find most memorable are Have I Got News For You, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, QI and Doctor Who.

Feature Film

My favorite film genre Is action thriller/adventure because often they have good storylines and are exciting.  The three most outstanding films I can think of are The Bourne Ultimatum, Saving Private Ryan and Boy.  


My favourite way of consuming film is at the cinema because I think nothing can beat the experience of sitting in front of a big screen.   My favourite cinema in Norwich is Vue, its easy to get to and they have a reasonably wide range of films.  I prefer to go and watch film on my own but I don't mind if there is someone else with me.

Am I A Media Producer ?

Unfortunately I have never taken part in a media production.

Conclusion

The only real media texts that have offended me are a few american news programs such a Fox News and the like.  I often find their views incomprehensible and often has a very biased right wing stance. I also believe that to comment and report on news that you have to know quite a lot about what is happening in the world and how the politics work in countries other than your own.  A lot of their reporters and political/general news commentators do not show that knowledge.

I think the most exciting media I have seen or heard is the reporting of the recent uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. The past year has been quite eventful as dictatorships that have stood for decades have finally fallen.  The human interest angle of people not much older than me and like me becoming freedom fighters and liberators was exciting.  As was seeing the political changes as countries turn against their previous allies.  

There hasn't been really any TV programs that have change the way I think about the world ,although if there had to be one It would be a news programs.

If I was to construct a media text about the state of England I would use the medium of film to convey the message that if we want to advance as a country we need to stop worrying so much about money and do things because we enjoy doing it and not just for the money that is involved with it i.e. bankers and footballers to give an example.

I chose to do Media Studies for A-level because I would like to become a photojournalist and i think that it will help me understand how a picture gets to the point where it becomes a part of a newspaper report or a documentary or documents a story in its own right, and also because I really enjoy film and I would like to know more about it .