Tuesday, 26 October 2010

Audience Research Task: Vox Pops

I was set a challenge with my media partner, to create a vox pop. A vox pops are normally short interviews which are shown in public places and provide spontaneous opinions on the questions asked by chanced encounters with the people in those places. In a vox pop you ask the same questions to a variety of people to give provide  a variance of responses. The wider the audience, the more variety responses you will get which will enhance the creditability of the results as you would have gathered responses from all types of people.

Our vox pop was about the thriller genre and we asked the following three questions.

  1. Whats your favourite thriller?
  2. What do you like about the genre?
  3. what makes a great thriller?
This is our attempt of a vox pop.

Sunday, 17 October 2010

Film Language : Sound Bridges

A sound bridge is used by film makers to connect two scenes together, to create a smooth transitions from one of the scenes to the next. If this did not happen then the film would appear very disjointed.

Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Film Language : Diegetic & Non Diegetic Sound

Diegetic Sound

Diegetic sound is sound that can can be heard in the film world . This type of sound can be heard on screen or off screen. For example dialogue between two characters onscreen, like the dialogue between Batman and Com. Gordon on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ycgsDIQVDs&feature=related

Non Diegetic sound is sound that cannot be heard in the film world like a soundtrack. My example the music in this clip of spider man.

Friday, 8 October 2010

Colour

When talking about colour in media, it can be described by two words, Denotation and Connotation.

Denotation

Denotation is the literal descripton of an concept,object or idea.
For example the colour RED is the first colour we see in the electromagnetic spectrum.

Connotation

A connotation is what we ossociate with the concept, object or idea.
For example words we can ossociate with the colour RED would be stop, danger, romance, passion etc.

Colours can be used to represent thoughts, feelings, and attitudes of the characters, writers intensions and many other factors.

Lighting Part 2

By the use of the under lighting, filer lights etc, Directors use these to create a certain atmosphere that they wish to convey. These are in the form of Low-Key lighting and High-key lighting.

Low Key Lighting

Low-Key lighting is used to create dramatic contrasts between light and dark using only key and back lights. The effect used to create a strong contrasts between light and dark areas is called Chiaroscuro.


Example of Low-Key Lighting

High-Key Lighting

High-key lighting is used to give a more realistic and normal viewing to our eyes. It can be used to describe  the lighting used on a brightly lit set such as a sunny day in the park or to describe a more subtly-lit night scene which actually looks quite dark to our eyes. Shadows will appear but not as harsh or dramatic as in low-key lighting.
Example of High-Key Lighting

Film Noir
Film Noir is the term given to a set of films by french critics to American films which were released in the beginning of the 1940's (1941). These films where normally American detective novels and were located in big cities with dark alleyways, wet pavements and sleazy bars, with characters who have devious motives. These films also include a femme fetal who betrays the protagonist.The films are called film Noir's due to the darkness of the subject matter and the visually dark look at the film.

Two Silhouette figures from the Film 'The Big Combo'

Lighting Part 1

Within the last few weeks we have completed a number of different components that are vital to the Media course. One of which are lighting.

We have learnt that within lighting, there are several key elements. These are The types of lighting, when they are used, and film Noir.

Types of Lighting

Key Light

A key light is like the name suggests, the most powerful and influential light that is used.

Back Light

The back light helps counteract the effect of the key light to give the subject a more 'rounded' shape

Filler Light

Filler lights are used to remove or soften the harsh shadows which are caused by the back and key lights. There may be more then one filler light used.



typical set up of Key, Back and Filler lights
By using these lights at different angles we can create different effects, these include under lighting, top lighting and back lighting.

Effects Of Lighting


Under lighting is when the main source of lighting comes from below the subject. This has a distorting effect on the subject which may make them appear scary. This technique is often used in horror films.

Top Lighting is when the light source is above the subject to give them a glamorous look.

Back  Lighting is when the source of light is coming from behind the subject. This is used to create silhouettes.