Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making

In year 12, for my AS Media production, I was given the task of complete pre-production work and create a two minute opening to a film. The genre of film which my group chose to produce was a Thriller film. In year 13, for my A2 Media production,the task was to create a music video, website and digipak.The genre of the song which we chose to create a video for was a Rock Song. Before beginning work on these productions it was vital that I researched similar pre-existing products of the same genre so that I could identify all of the typical codes and conventions, making it easy for the audience to identify that genre and allow them to know what to expect when before they view it. However it also allowed my group to be able to differentiate our products from other products in some ways making it unique while still fit the genre which is meant to fit.

For the research of my AS Film Opening, I used websites such as www.IMDB.com in order to identify movie titles within the same genre as the film which i was creating as well as identify the synopsis of these movies so that I could tell how these movie openings lead to the rest of the film. I then used Youtube to view the openings of many of these thriller movies taking the positive aspects which I liked from each one and interpreting them in my own way to fit my film, for example the opening sequence to the film 'SEVEN'. This also enabled me to see what these films all had in common and be able to identify the key codes and conventions of this genre. From this research I found that Thriller movies never reveal much at the beginning creating a sense of mystery and creating alot of questions for the audience which will then be answered later, often involving a twist which was set up right from the beginning to fool the audience. Thriller generally also include a murder. This is the same for the film SEVEN and The Di Vinci Code, which is another film which had a synopsis similar to that of the film we were going to create.

For my A2 Media production of the music video, digipak and website I again used Youtube to research existing products. However this time I did not only look at videos from the Rock genre as a whole but it was also important to look at existing music videos from the band who's song we were going to use. When researching the Rock genre I found that the editing was fast and there were alot of cut aways. They also included a lot of  different shots and shot types in order to grab the audiences attention and keep them interested.. I also used the Google search engine to find other rock bands official websites and see what they generally include on their websites so that when it came to producing my own I would know what to include to make it seem professional. I also used Google Images to search digipaks and find out what type of information is included on them and where that information is placed. I feel that I have developed my skills further since my AS Production as the codes and conventions as well as the research required for a Rock music video is different to those of a Thriller movie. They both also use very different shot types and angles. The editing between them were very different and, many more effects were used in the music video than in the thriller movie opening. With the music video I was able to experiment a lot more and produce shots with colour tints, three shots in one frame with sliding transitions as well as slow motion to slow down shots. This was all done on Sony Vegas Pro. For the website i also edited many photos of the band which I took using a professional camera. In order to edit these pictures I used Adobe Photoshop, a programme which was not used too widely across the production of the Thriller film opening.

Throughout both productions I also became aware and learned how to use many different online software's for different parts of the production such as Pixton, Bubbl.us, Prezi, Xtranormal and many, many more. 

In progression from my AS Production to my A2 Production, I feel that my editing skills as well as my ability to utilise digital technologies such as Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Illustrator and Sony Vegas Pro to get the effects and finish which I want. The efficiency of the AS Production was not of a high level, however this year everything was better planned and things were done efficiently. The use of the internet and the various websites was very important as it gave me a a basic structure to work from and also influenced my ideas, adding to the creativity of both finished products. 

What I have learned since Year 12

Since we began outr project in Year 12 I have learned to be able to use a range of different Media related software. These include:

• Adobe After Effects
• Cinema 4D (At Home)
• Final Cut Pro
• Adobe Photoshop (Extended knowledged)

I have also learned a range of different websites which are media related, which can be used in order to create presentations or communicate with the audience in a range of different ways. These include:

• Prezzi (Animated Slideshows)
• Wix (Create Websites)
• pixton (Creae cartoon storyboards)
• Word Banks

and more...

Plan- Analyse a product you created on Representation

Who is being represented?
The detective is being represented in our production. The killer is also being also represented.

How is the genre created?
The genre is created using low key lighting and an urban abandoned location. The element of mistery also shows that this production is a thriller

Trump Card Theorists

'Kidulthood', 'Adulthood' and 'Fish Tank'

'Anti-Youth' or 'Pro-Youth' Film?

Kidulthood
This film is an Anti-Youth film as it portrays youths in a negative light through many different negative representations and exaggorates the negatives in a youths life. There are also not many positives for the youths in this film. Kildulthood is more of a comedy to youths rather than a serious media text which sends them a positive message. The film consists of Drug use, handling of illegal fire arms and other illegal weapons, underage sex, murder, colloquialisms and much more.

Adulthood
I believe that Adulthood is an Anti-Youth film also. Although in this film all of the characters from Kidulthood are a lot more mature and trying to make things better between one another, the title and the age of the characters implies that they are only more mature and doing these things because they are Adults now. As youths, these exact same characters are the ones who cause all of these problems, commit these crimes and behave so indecent but now that they are adults they are portrayed to be well behaved and mature. This implies that youths are the problem and adults are the solution.

Fish Tank
I believe that Fish Tank is a Pro-Youth film. Although throughout the film there are many negative representations of youths, it also implies that there is hope for youths and a positive side to them. This is not done directly, but instead through encoding of the text by the director and decoding by the audience. With Adulthood and Kidulthood, when a youth watches these films there arte no positives to take from them where as with Fish Tank, a youth can watch this film and decode the positive message of hope erasing all nehilism which the youth feels.


Accurate to actual experiences of teenagers?

Kidulthood
This film is not an accurate interpretation of experiences with teenagers. This film is very exaggorated, taking realistic events and making them unrealistic, often adding humour for the audience. An example of this is the speech and the colloquialisms in the film. They took slang words which youths really do use in real life but use them compulsively whereas in real life these words would be used often. Also it is very unlikely that so many youths wo are so indecent would all go to the same school, so the film implies that all/majority of youths are the way which they are portrayed in this film.

Adulthood
I believe that unlike Kidulthood, Adulthood is a lot less exaggorated and realistic.

An adult fascination of youth? How so?
Conforming To stereotypes circulated by news media?
Who makes these media texts and for who?

Fish Tank and Kidulthood Analysis

1) Who is being represented in terms of identity?

Fish Tank
In Fish Tank youths are being represented, Females in particular. However Males are also partially represented. These youths are of the Lower/Working class and live on a council estate (Urban). It is not only teens who are represented but also younger children (the protagonists little sister).

Kidulthood
In Kidulthood it is youths who are being represented (Teens) who live on council estates (Urban). These teens are of Lower/Working class. Both genders are represented, neither one nor the other is more dominant as there are multiple scenes dedicated to the female characters.

2)Who is representing them?

Fish Tank
In Fish Tank the director is representing the youths in the film. This film is used to put acrooss the views of the director who is an Adult.

Kidulthood
In Kidulthood Adam Deacon is representing the characters in this way. This is because a youth/young adult he believes that he can relate to youth behaviour and is putting it across the way that he sees the Youth situation.

3)How are they represented?

Fish Tank
They are represented as foul mouthed, violent and troublesome. Also, they have conflict witht their own identity (past against present) trying to break free of the chains which bind them (attempting to break the horse free). The characters are also represented as defient and thieving. Even the little children smoke, swear and act older than their age which erases any innocence which they may have.

Kidulthood
They are represented as very loud and illiterate, using a lot of colloquialism when talking instead of good English. The youths are also represented as permiscuous, violent thugs who act older than their age. The females in this film also take drugs, get pregnant when under age, talk about permiscuous topics aswell as take part in sexual actions and get pregnant while under age. This shows that the females are no better than the males and are not 'Ladies' like they once were, more animals.

4)What seems to be the intentions of the representation?

Fish Tank
The representation seems to be trying to put a message across to youths that there is always a chance to change and that there is always hope no matter how bad things are or how bad things get. It is a realistic representation so that it has more of an impact on the audeince and the audience take it alot more seriously.

Kidulthood
The representation seems to be very exaggorated and purely for entertainment purposes unlike Fish Tank. There are many realistic events which take place in the film but overall the film is very eaggorated and turn these serious events which take place on the streets of London into comedy.

5)What is the dominant discourse? (World view offered by the film)

6)What range of readings are there?
Fish Tank
One reading of this film is that a message is trying to be put across andf that the film is realistic in order to have an effect. Youths may see this and take the text seriously, taking the message which is encoded into the text in to account. However, adults may watch this film and create their own stereotypical view of youths, believing that all youths from these environments or social classes are like this. This will create prejudice and maybe even discrimination.

Kidulthood
One reading of this film will be from adults. Much like with Fidsh Tank the adults will create their own stereotypical view of youths which may cause discrimination and/or prejudice. However as Kidulthood is significantly more exaggorated than Fish Tank, this film will have a stronger effect on the adult target audience affecting their views alot more. However, for youths, this film may be seen as comedy and not taken very seriously.

With reference to youth, discuss how the identity of youths has been mediated

Foucalt said that our identity is mediated through other people and we then form a collective identity. By looking at the music video 'S&M' by Rihanna, we can see that she conforms to the stereotypical views of which adults have of teenage youths. Young girls will watch this video and see what she is doing and singing about as acceptable. They will then base their identity around the image which she is giving off in the video. This image of Rihanna is constructed, however teenagers will still follow this (Richard Dyer's Star Theory). This is just one example of how the identity of youths have been mediated as these videos are shown on the television often, not restricting explicit content within them, making this content acceptable in everyday lives.

The song S&M by Rihanna has many sexual connotations and implications. In the music video Rihanna is seen to be in control and to have power over the men, having men tied up or on a dog leash. This is a sexual implication and matches the lyrics of the song 'Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it'. These lyrics do not only influence defiance ('I don't care') for youths, females in particular, but it also implants the idea that sex is good and acceptable. This video will influence young girls to be like Rihanna, forming a 'collective identity'and continuing the hegemonic view that all youth are like this.

Winships notion of complexity is about being prepared, in terms of gratification, to finally recognise the ideal version of ourselves. Rihanna represents a glamorous, popular, ideal image for young girls and this may influence the way in which the youths identity develop Rihanna is portraying the image that this is how young females should be, sexual, permiscuous and careless. As youths already hate constraints and rules, the idea of being like Rihanna, granting them freedom will have a huge influence on their identity. This would then create a collective identity which will then be seen as the 'in-group' (Henri Tajfel social identity theory), mediating the image for the youths which Rihanna has portrayed.

However if you look at an older video released by Rihanna called 'If Its Loving That You Want' you will see that the artist has changed her image and appearance over time to sexualisation and promiscuity. Not only the the artists image changed, but so have her lyrics as they do not have sexual connotations behind them and are not explicit. An example is 'If its loving that you want, you should make me your girl' in comparison to 'Sex is in the air, I don't care I love the smell of it.' The clothing which she is wearing in the video is also appropriate as they do not reveal much of Rihanna's body. The mise-en-scene of the video is also very innocent and natural with people having fun and being happy. As these changes in the artist happened over time, us as an audience have grown to accept it and have become desensitised to the images and lyrics of these songs as they are fairly normal for us.

Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding theory uses the idea that the media encode a text with messages and as an audience it is for us to decode the text and take the message how we believe suits us best. By watching videos such as S&M, youths may take the negative, sexual, promiscuous images as positive. As these negatives are pushing the boundaries of regulations set, this will attract more attention from youths as the more a media text pushes the boundaries, the more attention it collects.

In conclusion, youths identities are being mediated through the development of music videos, which push the boundaries of regulations, as the stars change their image. Youths, who are still developing will then see these music videos and decode the texts in the way which they believe applies to them. As Jacques Lacan's Mirror Stage theory says; 'The media is the mirror. Youths look at the media and reflect the behaviour and trends as youths are still developing.'