Gender Representation

1. What is the difference between someone's 'sex' and their gender?

         Gender is the way you express and present yourself, like your interests, hobbies and the way you go about certain situations. And sex is showing if you are a male or female from birth.

2. 'Male and Female' can be a binary opposition within texts. In your opinion, which male or female is seen in a more positive light by society and why?
  
        I do think that males are seen in a more positive light due to many thinking men are the ones who provide the money wealth and security. Men have always been seen as the more dominant sex, even going back to the Victorian era, a lot was planned for the women; they didn't have much choice of what to do with their lives. For example they were seen as the house wife who cooks and cleans, which even to this day and age is still the way in which some men expect there wife to be. Where as women are presented as weak, relying on the males to provide for them which many will argue against because many females have superb jobs however many will still argue that women couldn't cope with the work that men do daily.

3. What do we mean by the term 'stereotype'
       
          A generalised idea of some thing

Do generic conventions help or restrict fim makers?

 Helpful

- blue prints 

-codes/conventions

-Genre evolution meaning that have 

a type of guideline may be helpful for 

the film makers when coming up with 

an idea, so they know how quickly genres

become unpopular due to the evolution of

them all so this would prepare them to create 

a film that will be popular. 

Restrictive 

-Been done before so the film makers will

have to come up with a fairly original story line.

-Loose audience if the film is too repetitive or doesn't live 

up to the typical plot for that genre.

-Expectations linking with loosing the audience, if your 

expectations aren't met then its a disappointment, this

can be caused if the film makers do not stick to the typical 

plot or the same characters etc.

Animatic

Animatic

The last couple of weeks we have been in groups creating a story board for a film called ' Terror In The Night' after we had created the video we then had to make it into an animatic.

At first I wasn't 100% as to what an animatic was. So I done some research to find the meaning and i found out that an animatic is a form of television commercial consisting of a series of drawings with a voice over.

To create the animatic, we took pictures of our story board separately and then downloaded them onto the Mac, which we then imported the pictures onto premiere pro and started to put them into order and edit them. 

On our story board, we figured out the duration of  each clips which made it easier when we had to create our animatic, because we only had to either cut or drag the clip longer to create the particular time we wrote down. 

This would be the area I lack most in, I am not familiar with Macs and most of the programme's on it, so by doing this task I was able to come familiar or at least learn some skills and how to use premiere pro to a certain extent.

Narrative

Whats the effect of the change in narrative structure? 

The effect it has changing the narrative structure is that it gets you thinking and questioning certain roles within that narrative, for example the binary opposition and the length in which some shots are, having to change things around rather than sticking with one narrative. For example in our groups we were given the task to come up with a story for the title 'Terror In The Night' and once we had figured out the type of shots and our story, sir then went and changed the narrative starting with a death which didn't completely change the narrative however it did makes us think of a better story line, so by changing the narrative it can give you different and possibly better ideas for the project you're working on. 

What must happen to tell the same story, but with a different narrative? What technical areas need change? 

Before sir switched some parts of our story board around, i thought that if you change the narrative you then also change the story line completely, as in the story becomes new. However after this lesson, i begun to think differently. What must happen to tell the same story is for the story line to stay the same to a certain degree, by making certain changes it will most definitely change. So to a certain extent i don't think you can have the exact same story if you change the narrative, because i would argue that binary oppositions and technical codes are then out of place and context. As well as the duration of certain clips will have to change if the narrative is changed. Referring back to sir taking one of the killing scenes which was originally in the middle of our story board, sir then placed it at the beginning of the story board which instantly makes our story more dramatic, just in that first scene creating more tension straight away for the audience to experience. 

What technical areas need change? 

If the narrative changes, the technical areas that will have to change will be the duration of some clips due to the change making the video or film not flow as nicely. As well as the camera angles possibly not making sense or causing the tension we originally created, so i would have to re-think how long the clips will be and the camera angles that will create the tension we wanted to begin with. 

 

Camera shots

Tracking shot:
Tracks the movement of a character or object

Pan shot:
When the camera is stationary but moves from left to right or right to left. 

Tilt shot:
When the camera is stationary however its move up and down.

Aerial Shot:This is often used at the beginning of a film, in order to establish setting and movement. A helicopter is like a particularly flexible sort of crane - it can go anywhere, keep up with anything, move in and out of a scene

In lesson we looked at Fast and Furious and how they conveyed shots, so we found a tracking shot from when the two cars are racing and the camera keeps switching to each car causing tension, as well as allowing the audience to predict some sort of collision due to not being able to see where they're heading, until we see a another tracking shot of the train heading in the same direction, this causes the suspense to see if the cars will collide with the train. As well as this we also picked out a tilt shot of the traffic lights turning red to green, this ensures the audience that its a chase. 

Extreme Close up 

An extreme close-up of a face, for instance, would show only the mouth or eyes, with no background detail whatsoever.

Extreme long shot 
This can be taken from as much as a quarter of a mile away, and is generally used as a scene-setting, establishing shot and is often used to show scenes of thrilling action eg in a war film or disaster movie. There will be very little detail visible in the shot, it's meant to give a general impression rather than specific information.

Long Shot 
A long shot  contains landscape but gives the viewer a more specific idea of setting. A long shot may show the viewers the building where the action will take place

Medium Shot

Contains a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for dialogue scenes, or to show some detail of action.

Medium Long Shot
Frames the whole subject from the knees up showing the subject in relation to the surroundings.

Over Shoulder Shot
This shot is framed from behind a person who is looking at the subject. The person facing the subject should usually occupy about 1/3 of the frame.

High Angle:

A high angle shows the subject from above, i.e. the camera is angled down towards the subject. This has the effect of diminishing the subject, making them appear less powerful, less significant or even submissive.

Low Angle:

This shows the subject from below, giving them the impression of being more powerful or dominant.

Camera Angles

For home work we were set a task to go and find a film in which included different shots film makers have used. So I chose the film The Chronicles Of Narnia which I then found a tracking shot, a medium

Shot and a long shot, this is my homework below which explains why the shots are useful and why the film makers may have used them.

Shots