Hammer Films

1. Hammer films is a film company which was founded in  November 1934, it is now one of the oldest film companies existing. In the past they have made movies such as 'The  Curse Of Frankenstein', The horror of Dracula', and more recently 'The Women In Black', and the 'Shawshank Redemption'.
2. Hammer Films are known for their defining films of the horror genre, however only one third of their movies are made in the specific horror genre. The rest of the movies are sci-fi, psychological and thrillers. 
3. From the start up of the company to the 50's, the content used for Hammer Films was predominantly crime/thriller kinds of movies. However in the 50's they started to make horror films.
4.  The company made history when making the first fully colour film, 'The Curse Of Frankenstein'.
5. Their movies mostly consisted of gothic horror movies, however in the 70's as colour television was emerging, box office revenues decreased. From this Hammer films realised that movies under the genre of gothic horror were not appealing to the audience anymore.
6.  The film 'Women In Black' which was released in 2012, was Hammer Film's first theoretical ghost story movie. The movie made $130 million worldwide, therefore making it the bigger indie horror films ever. This also leads on to Hammer Films making its first ever sequel, of 'The Women In Black: Angle of death.'

Stupid girls music video analysis

Pink's Music video "Stupid girls" was released in 2006 and shows how girls in todays day and age tend to care more about their body image and how they look rather than their personality and how intelligent they are. The video represents women as being 'plastic bimbo's', only wanting to be thin and beautiful to get attention from men, and not for themselves.




The video starts of with a little girl having two figure on to her shoulders. These two figures represent the binary opposites of an angel and a devil. The angel wants the little girl to chose what she wants to do instead of conforming to societies pressures of becoming only invested in her outwards appearance. It can be denoted that the girl is a tom boy, represented by the rugby jersey that she is wearing, however she is pressured into liking typical 'girly' stuff in order to fit in.




The use of the lyric "What happened to the dream of a girl president? She's dancing in the video next to 50 Cent", can show how the feminist movements of the 1920's, 60's and 80's, worked hard for men and women to be equal, however women of today are turning back on the hard work in which women such as Emily Davison who died for her cause. This can be shown as the women represented within the video, only care for their public image. This lyric can also show how women are perceived as sexual objects, and this has been reiterated through the radical feminists argument by Andrea Dworkin. Dworkin's argues that pornographic representations of women, which can be seen in this video and in many other music videos, has socialized men into acts of rape and sexual violence in their real lives. The next lyric, "They travel in packs of two and three with their itsy bitsy doggies, and their teeny-weeny tees " can show the type of woman represented within this music video are more concerned on material objects and showing off as much skin as possible in order to satisfy the male gaze. The reference to "itsy bitsy doggies" could be a reference to Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Kim Kardashian and Brittany Spears, as they were major female icons of the 2000, Another representation of these icons is the scene which is supposed to look like a sex tape, as both Pink and the male actor are in their under garments. The use of this scene could be a reference to how Kim Kardashian got famous, due to her sex tape.




The use of the lyric further on within the music video, "The disease is growing, it's epidemic" can show how Pink is acting as if its a disease. This can show how the media has polluted young girls minds in doing everything for a males attention, as well as in order to compete with other girls. While this lyric is sung, the image of pink with markings along her body where potential plastic surgery could be done, i.e.- around the breasts, making her waist smaller and getting rid of excess stomach fat. This can show how due to one or two star, most girls are catching on to this widespread disease of being perfect and not caring for knowledge and inner beauty. But rather being tanned, curvy and thin.




Pink makes a mention of bulimia, a very serious disease however talks about it s if it is a joke. she enters the scene saying "Oh My God I've had so many calories, like 300", and a girl next to her is making her self throw up. Pink asks for the toothbrush and puts it down her throat while shouting "I want to be skinny!". The scene shows another side to bulimia as many young teenage girls can be influenced quickly therefore if they see someone of known power, for example a celebrity making themselves vomit in order to become skinner, younger girls within their teens are likely to do this as well. However the scene is insensitive to people suffering from bulimia as it is a mental illness which shouldn't be made fun of through Pink mocking most causes in the music video.


The pink music video stupid girls is a post feminism text as it is being used as a contract with the prevailing ideologies of feminism. The ideas can show that women have the right to do what ever they want, and now they are fighting for equality amongst everyone therefore it does not matter whether or not a women prefers to look after the way she looks more rather than doing activity's such as sports. As well as this it could potentially be represented as women wanting to look nice for themselves as well as for the male gaze, as they have the desire to be considered attractive to the other gender, in heterosexual views. Moreover this matter, it can show how the text is in fact both going against the views of historical feminism as well as being apart of the post feminism theories

Narrative Theory

Narrative theory is when something needs to happen within a narrative. When there is conflict as a source of narrative.

Levi-Strauss

• Levi-Strauss talks about binary opposites. This means when there are different sets of values crashing. When one set of values become more dominant.
• This is usually represented by the struggle between protagonist and antagonist, good and evil.

Narrative Structure

       1.Equilibrium

The first part of a story which is usually happy and all the characters are very content within the storyline. 

       2. A Disruption

A problem disrupts happiness. 

      3.Realistation

The part when all of the characters realise that there is a problem, and there is generally chaos.

     4.Restore Order

When characters resolve and repair all problems.

     5.Equilibrium Again

All problems are resolved and happiness amongst the characters are restored.

However in some story lines, they may start with a disruption, or start with another part of the sequence.

Ronald Barthes's codes

• Barthes tell us that there is two different codes that both create suspense. The enigma code and action code.   
• Enigma code-unanswered questions which can create suspense, tension and empathy.
• Action code-An action which prompts another action which can cause suspense.

Vladimir Propp

• Sphere of action.
• When a character has interactions within an imaginary circle.

In the world of Propp, you have:

• Hero
• Villain
• Princess
• False Hero
• Helper
• Dispatcher
• Princess's Father

David Gauntlett

Representations of gender in the past:

• men in the past have had more roles.
• (20/30%)
• domestic cirlces/domains 
• women are passive, men are assertive.
• women are perceived as sexual objects

Magazines

• Tells consumers to be happy with their body despite always selling slimming products.
• happiness and fulfilment of many roles. ( becoming a home maker, mother, and wife/lover)

Advertisements

• domestic products are tend to be sold by using a male voiceover, this can reinstate that women are passive and men are assertive.
• patriarchal validation

Sex is what we were biologically given, gender is what we think we like. e.g-being gay, lesbian, queer, and bisexual.

Bechtel test: Are they two or more women in the media type? (who have names)

                   : Do they talk to one another?

                   :Do they talk to each other about something that isn't a man?

"other peoples expectations get in the way of individual choices and achievements."

Reception Theory

• The main idea of reception theory is that not one media text has one single meaning
• Reception analysis suggests that individual members of an audience themselves help to create the meaning of text.

We decode text in an individual way which may be the result of our own context.

The way we see things and can be changed by and with, age, race, social class, etc.

• "The meaning of text is not inherent within the text itself ,but its created within the relationship between the text and reader.

Producers can potition an audience and thus create a certain amount of agreement on what the code means.

Hegemony

• works to supress the force of opposition by actively speaking out support from different parts of society.

Users and Gratification Theory ( Katz and Bulmer- 1974)

• Audiences are made of indivduals who actively consume different texts for different reasons and in different ways.
• Bulmer and Katz suggest reasings why people seek and consume texts.

Personal Identify

• Figuring models of behaviour
• identifying with media models
• Gaining insights into ones self
• Finding reinforcement for personal values/beliefs

Integration and social interaction

• having a substitute for real life companionship
• Helping to carry out social rules
• Enabling one to connect friends/family/society
• Finding a basic conversation and social interaction
• Identifying others and gaining a scene of belonging
• Gaining an insight into circumstances of others, social empathy  

 When analysing we look at:

• Media language employed
• Identifying institution and context and ideology
• representation of text ,in text
• narrative structure and the genre of a text.

• analysing media text is easier once the audience is identified as you can look at particular features of a text and the strategies deployed to which will appeal to the audience.

When defining an audience what do we look for?

• What assumptions are made about the audience which are revealed through positioning and scheduling?

Demographic profiling- Age, gender, class, geographical area, economic status, religion etc.

The psychographic profile includes, mainstreamers, aspirers , succeeders ,reformers , and individuals.

Semiotics/Myths

• Semiotics is the framework to organise/analyse language (a sign)

There is the Signifier and the signified which equals a sign. The term signifier means a sound or definition, and the signified is an idea or concept. This creates a sign in which an audience can interpret.

• Roland Barthes-Mythologies

The signifier and the signified are a system of myths.

Signs have no intrinsic meaning. They only become signs and have any meaning one they are given to the audience, to create meaning. Anything can be a sign as long as we agree the meaning, or to give a meaning.

• The two great fathers of modern linguistics are, Ferdinand Saussure (1857-1913) and Charles Pierce (1839-1914).  "The linguistic sign unties not a thing of name ;but a concept and a sound image. 

Saussure suggested that the meaning of any term in a language system consists of a signifier plus a signified to give a sign. 

For example: denotation- stem, petal, thorns

                      connotations- This is a flower, specifically a rose.

                      Interpreting- a indexical sign the interpretent understands that this flower may conjure                                              fragrances and idea of beauty.

                      Contextual- In our culture the rose has a symbolic meaning of love and romance.

Water Aid advert comparison

Compare how audiences are positioned by the representations in this WaterAid advertisement and the WaterAid advertisement you have studied.(30 marks)

The two WaterAid adverts, "Claudia sings sunshine on a rainy day" and "No choice Jean" show two different aspects of charity advertising and ways in which to get the target audience to donate to the charity. The advertisement "No choice Jean"  produced in 2013, shows a young boy with dirty water. The advert shows the audience how water could potentially change their lives. In the "Claudia sings sunshine on a rainy day", produced in 2016, shows the aftermath of WaterAid helping them, and what a big difference they have made to Claudia and her communities life.

The beginning of the advertisement shows a western country, most likely Britain due to the miserable weather. Within the shot the camera first focuses on a radio using diegetic sound, of a women giving a weather forecast, however there is change in focus and the camera focuses on the background which is a window. The radio is put into a blur, and the audience can only focus on the rain droplets dropping on to the window. Before the scene changes onto Africa, there is a non- diegetic sound, which sounds like crickets in a field, which create a smooth transition to the setting in which Claudia is in, a field.  within the advert there is a large range of close up shots and mid shots. there is a close up shot of Claudia's shoes, which also allows the audience to see the dirt path, which can tell the audience that they are not in the Uk, there are in a "third world country". There is anticipation before seeing Claudia's actual face. this can be shown through the various shots before actually the meeting the character. When we finally see Claudia, it is a extreme close up of her, this can convey her ethnicity, as well as the setting bit more. The first long shot used could also potentially be used as an establishing shot, as it shows Claudia in the setting as well. The setting is a field which has a dirt path through it. From the mise-en-scene, we can tell that she is in Africa. As well as this we can also tell that she is going to collect water as she is carrying an empty bucket. This theory that allows us to understand something within its context is reception theory by Stuart hall. This can show how whenever we see a black child, within this setting and is holding a bucket we can only assume they are going to get water.


Within the advertisement "Claudia sings sunshine on a rainy day" there is a clear role between the two genders, as there is a group of ladies who walk past Claudia with buckets on their head, and a group of men working in the filed to bring in the crops. This can show the stereotypical roles of women and men within the African villages. The mise-en-scene of the dry, dead looking land can show the weather conditions and can represent how much rain water the people get within Claudia's community. The use of the close/mid shots of the men and women can show what Claudia is looking at and can represent how much the people within this community have to work, in comparison to the easy life that we have in the western reiterating binary opposites. In the "No choice Jean" water aid advert the same shots are used to portray the two genders. The advertisement shows  women carrying clay pots on their head, presumably filled with water, and then men constructing water pumps.
The mentioning of the lyric "sunshine on a rainy day" shows how happy people are when they have clean water. There is a instant  juxtaposition of when the mentioning of water. They also match the lyric when she sings, "drip, drip, drip." This conveys the happiness in which a simple and everyday thing such as water can benefit and make their lives a whole lot easier. Within the "No Choice Jean" there is a turning point in the music, this can show the impact of having water, much like the "Claudia sings sunshine on a rainy day".

Wateraid notes

Claudia sings on a rainy day
The Water Aid advertisement "Claudia singing sunshine on a rainy day", shows a rainy Britain in the beginning of the advert, the scene then changes to a field potentially somewhere in Africa. The advertisement shows the journey of Claudia going to fetch water from a tap .Throughout the advert you can see the things Claudia can see. For example she walks past men in the field, which can represent the hardships in which the people around her have to go through ,unlike the people in the UK. However it also shows what the impact of clean water can do to a community. This is represented by the children playing, and the women washing their clothes, with multiple buckets of the clean water surrounding the tap. The advert shows how clean water can change a community, which is shown by close upshots of all of the children and women, when shown the advantages of the tap.

Water aid Jean has no choice
The Water Aid advertisement has a different approach in comparison to the "Claudia sings on a rainy day". The advertisement starts on a very serious note, with the words "this is an urgent appeal from the UK charity Water Aid", this is griping to the audience as they know they will be shown someone in need of help. The next scene shows a young child who is need of clean water. The use of slow empathetic music, can engage the audience making them want to donate money to the deserving cause. They also use similar techniques to the first advert by using close up shots which can make the audience feel sympathy as the child big eyes are staring into the audiences eyes. The advert shows the impact clean water has on people lives which can make people want to donate in order to help someone from around the world.

I chose this picture, as I believe that it could portray a story.  I used a high angle in order to show that the character is less dominant. I chose for the character to have dramatic make up, as well as having mascara down her cheek. This could symbolise that the character has been through some trauma and is therefore crying, as well as having smudged lipstick. I used a phone to take the picture, however I used the flashlight, in a dark room, in order to make sure that there wasn't to much light.

 The character is wearing a black hoodie, this could show that the character is generic, representing a generic situation.  The use of the colour black has negative connotations, which can symbolise the character being hurt or abused. The character uses indirect address to show feelings of intimidation and sadness, which can also be represented through the mascara marks on her cheek.

As you can only see half of the characters face, this can convey a mystery to the audience. This could also show the character is shying away from people, which could be related to her being victimised via abuse.

From the characters facial expressions, looking sad and upset the audience can tell that something has happened to her, therefore allowing the audience to sympathise with the character.

I applied no filters to the picture, as I believed that there was no need too. The character's hair which is messy and frizzy, makes the effect that there is filter over the picture to make it look as if there are two of the same picture slightly over lapping. The use of this could show some sort of abuse that the character has been through as well. This effect can also make the picture look slightly blurry on the outer corners of the picture, hence making the audience concentrate especially on the characters face and facial expressions.

Outcome 1:
 From the series of videos, I have learnt a large amount of detail about different camerawork, and camera angles. In the film trailer, 'El Mariachi' by Robert Rodriguez the action shown entices the audience to watch the movie, however the fade in fade out used when editing can cut action down allowing a hook to be created therefore making the audience want to watch the movie.  The trailer is also separating different scenes which can show there are multiple places within the film, where action takes place.

From the clip titled, 'Top 10 opening shots of all time', many films start of with establishing shots in order to show the audience the setting and location in which the film is set in. These establishing shots are mostly shown using a high camera angle in order to show the full setting.  The opening shots also show a small introduction to the main characters.