media mock - june 2014 exam

1. MediaMock Exam GeetaGohil
Question1A – Digital Technology
Digital Technologyhascontributedtomymediaproductioneffectivelyintermsof skills.Withboth
foundationandadvancedportfolio’shavingmediaproductionthathasbeenmade throughthe use
of digital technology.The proliferation of digital technologyhasincreasedinorderformedia
productionsto be more successful,notonlythatbut ithas significantlyhasdevelopedmykillsin
editing,photoshoots,equipmentandsoftware usage throughcreatingamusicmagazine in my
foundationportfolioandamusicvideoinmyadvancedportfolio.
In myfoundationportfolio,one aspectof digital technologywhichimmenselydevelopedmyskillsis
incamera. In ASthe camera I usedwasa CannonCamera,550D DSLR withfocuslensfor the outdoor
shoot.The camera was setinautomatic, alongside;the synchronisationof the studioflashlights
ensuresthe shutterspeedwassetrightsothe image wasnot overexposed.Withusingadigital
camera,I can take clearimagesformy product,but notonly that, I can alsoinstantlyview animage
afterit has beentaken,thiswasagreat way forme toview whetherimagesare takenwelland
determine whetherIneedtotake more pictures. A 16BG SD card was alsousedwhichenabledme
to store 800 images. Lookingthroughthe imagesensuredthatmycreativityof typesof imagesI
neededtoinclude inmymagazine foraudience appeal.
Furthermore,comparingmycameraskillstomyadvancedportfolioportraysthe significantskillsof
usinga camera to a newlevel.InA2,ratherthan usingthe camerafor takingstill images,itwas
aboutusinga camerato work withmovingimage.Thisitself createdachallengeasittestedmy
abilityof takingfootage correctlywithrightsettings.The cameraIusedthis time wasa Cannon600D
SLR, alongside a16GB SD card to ensure Ihave I have plentyof space to store all my footage taken.
As I wasfocusingmore onblack dropoutsandperformance silhouettes,Ihadtochange settingson
the camera so that there wasn’tas much over-exposureof studiolights,forinstance;the ISOsetting
was changedtoISO 500 – 600. Furthermore,aprime aperture lensof 1.8mm wasusedas it was
suitable forlocationswithlowerlight.WhenIwasshootingthe balletperformance,eventhough
there were 4 studiolights used,usingthe lenswashelpful toachieve more of asilhouette.The
camera wasusedin many waysto ensure the movingimagestakenwere correct,makinginstant
decisionsof typesof shotorwhetherthe footage turnedoutvery well waspartof mycreative
decision;howeverthe mosthelpful partof the camerawas the reviewingof the footage,asthenI
couldgo and re-shootatthe same place and same time instantly.
Goingback to my Foundationportfolio,anothergreatdigital technologywasthe use of software.On
my AS,I usedsoftware whichwasnewtome:Adobe InDesignCS6.InDesignensuredthatmusic
magazine wasat a cleanand neatstandard alongside makingthe productlookprofessional.Asin
GCSE, I createda filmmagazine onAdobe Photoshop,Ifounditharddue to technical abilityto
understandhoweverInDesignwascompletelydifferent,itwasmore easiertosetoutand add
featuressuchas textandimages.The textflow tool andparagraphinghelpedme intosimplyadding
textquickerwithoutanytextbeingcutout.Thismethodhelpedthe processof editing/draftingvery
quick.The red plusbuttonunderneaththe textbook,clickandthenclicktoa blankspace,the extra
textwhich‘disappeared’wasinsertedthere.Thistool helpedme inmakingadecisionof where I
couldput mytexts.AsI knewthe textflow wouldn’taffectthe whole ‘text’itself,Icould’ve placeit
anywhere.

2. MediaMock Exam GeetaGohil
Comparedtomy Advancedportfolio,using software’s wastakentoanotherlevel.Eventhough
InDesignisa popularsoftware tocreate documents,anothersoftware IusedformyAdvanced
portfoliowasAdobe Premier,whichisusedcommonlyinthe industry.Withthissoftware,Ihadto
workwithmovingimage ona continuoustimeline.Iimportedall footage Itookformymusicvideo
and thencreated layersforeachtake as there were manydifferentshotsineachfootage clip –e.g
One footage wasa highangle,anotherwasa steadicamshot.Thenwiththe processof cuttingparts
and deletingsome parts,the clipsare mergedtogetherinone layerinorderfora consistentviewing.
Furthermore,effectsusedinPremierincludedthe three-waycolourcorrectorwhere Iaddedaslight
sepiatone tothe whole clip,and itwas usedonthe timeline through‘adjustmentlayer’.Another
great effectwasthe brightnessandcontrasteffect,thishelpedme tospecificallyadjustthe
brightnessof aclipif itwas toodark in a studioshoot.The warp stabiliserwasanothereffectused
howeveronlyacertainclips.The warpstabiliserensuredthatclipswhichhave slightshakinesscan
be adjustedwithwarpstabiliseraddedontoanadjustmentlayer.
As youcan see,digital technologywasagreat contributiontoproduce 2 successful mediaprodcts
whichhad a range of skillsrequired.Skillsincameraandsoftware have developedovertime from
watchingtutorialsof howto use Adobe Premiertobeingaconfidentindividual whocansuccessfully
create a smooth,consistentmusicvideo.
Question1B – MediaLanguage
Medialanguage isthe methodof communication,whetherit’sthroughstructural,ideologicallyor
visually.Medialangueattemptstogive aclearmessage tothe audience.MediaLanguage hasbeen
usedconsistentlyinmymusicvideofrommyadvancedportfolio,throughmicro-featuressuchas
camera,editing,mise-en-sceneandrepresentation.
Levi Strausis one theoristinwhichhelpsme evidentlyshowcasedthe use of medialanguageinmy
musicvideothroughthe use of binaryopposites.The binaryopposite inthe musicis‘weakvs
strong’,itportrays the mainprotagonistandthe ballerinaasweakinthe beginningthroughthe use
of bodylanguage,slowandsmall balletstepsandtechnical skillssuchastime remappingandslow
motionandthroughlyrical meaning,howeverasthe music videoprogressesalongsidethe song,the
mainprotagonistsbodylanguage while singingismore openandconfident,portrayingeventhough
she was weakandhurt and portrayedemotional,she isbeingstrongandshowcasingsignsof moving
on.Furthermore,the balletperformance getsbolderandmore complicateddance stepsare
introduce,depictingthisstrengthof womanpower.
Laura Mulveyarguesthat the viewpointof a male gaze iscreatedthroughthe whole ‘Madonnavs
Whore’theoryandthat femalesare gazed uponthe male audience throughthe enticingclose-ups
and verystereotypicalfemale traits.Inmymusicvideo,there isawhole representationof the
‘whore’personaasthere isa portrayal of mymain protagonist beingclueless,howeverit’salsothe
representationthathasbeencreatedthroughthe mise-en-sceneandstereotypical femaletraitsof
redlipstick,eye make-up,clothingthatrevealssome skin.Inadditionthe use of close-upsandslow
motionmovementsupportsthe whole ‘whore’personahoweverit canalsobe challengedagainst
the ‘Madonna’persona,where the mainprotagonististhinkingaboutthe pastand future,andthe
lyrical meaningisveryemotional andaboutlove andheartbreak.Towardsthe bridge of the song,
the lyrics‘forgive me now’displaysthe pleadingandinnocentpersonality,whichcompletely
challengesthe wholeLauraMulveytheoryof the male gaze.

3. MediaMock Exam GeetaGohil
Medialanguage isconstructedthroughthe use of manymeaningful momentsintehmusicvideo.
The slowspeedballetperformance inthe beginningcreatesthiswholeideasof ‘weakness’,however
incontrast throughoutthe musicvideo,there are constantclose-upsof the performerswithdirect
addresswhichsupportsthe ‘whore’personaof beinganon-innocentgirl,howeverthe
representational isstereotypical forinstance the redlipstick.
Question2 – Postmodernity
Postmodernmediaiswhere mediasuchastelevisionsitcoms,film, magazines,comics,gamesand
musicvideosare influencedbythe nature of otherinfluencessurroundingthem.Postmodernisin
manyways the afterphase of modernity.Postmodernmediahasbeencreatedthroughinfluence of
original workintootherworksandso and so forth.Itbasicallymeansthere isnooriginalitytowhat’s
beencreated,howeverthe approachhasbeentakenina differentkindof way.
In one of my case studies,wasbasedona filmwhichisstronglyinfluencedunderpostmodernity.
The movie I chose to lookat was‘Teenage MutantNinjaTurtles’,itwasreleasedinAugust2014. The
movie itself issocalledpostmoderndue tothe conceptof itcomingfrom a verypostmodern
background.The TMNT movie isalsonamedaftera franchise whichthismovie helpre-bootagain.
Furthermore,itrehashedthe popculture where the teenage mutantninjaturtleswasoriginallya
comic bookfranchise andextremelypopularinthe 80’s and90’s generation.The movie was
directionwasJonathonLiebsmanwhoisalsoknownfordirection Battle:LosAnglesandWrathof
the titans.
The ‘teenage mutantninjaturtles’movie hasgotmanypostmodernfeatureswhichstronglymakesit
postmodern;there isthe use of pastiche where there are similarcontextual links.Suchasthe plotof
where the journalistAprilO’Neil discoveringthose turtles.Thisstronglydepictsthatpastiche isused
throughthe original comicbookplots.Anotherfeature of postmodernmoviefeaturesishyper
reality.Inboththe comicsand the movie,the turtlesare livinginabigcity – New York, howeverin
the sewerwhile eatingpizzaandbeingraisedbyarat whoisan sensei.It’stoofake forthe real
world.A huge hyperrealityiscreated asit overexaggeratedthe ‘realness’of the situation.The idea
of postmoderncomesfrompostmodernliterature asthe theme of transformationiscreated
alongside the separationof the populationinthisfranchise whichare;the mutagens,the evil
mutagens,the scientists,the animalsandthe humans.
The franchise hadmany re-bootsinorderfora successful franchise,howeveritdidn’tseemtowork
out,howeverwhichthisrecentTMNTmovie,the audience wouldfeel more interactedasit’snotan
animation, it’safully3D,CGI effect/animationmovie toemphasise the detail lookof the turtles,in
orderfor the audience tobelieve the turtlesdoexistsinNew Yorkcity,thisishyperrealityitself.
Reffeirngtoanothercase studyismusicvideo.The music videoIcbhose was‘ArianaGrande – Break
free’asthere are veryobviouspostmodernfeatureswhichare veryeasytospot.
Firstof all,the whole musicvideoisbasedonparodyandconsumerism.The singer,whoisalsothe
mainprotagonistinthisvideois portrayedtobe a superhero of space,thiscanbe seenevidently
thoughmanyaction sequences,one example iswhere the mainprotagonisttofighting‘evil aliens’
witha lasergun,thisis reference tothe Starwars franchise.

4. MediaMock Exam GeetaGohil
In the beginning,the clipstartswithadramaticepilogue whichisverysimilartothe infamousStar
Wars crawl at the beginning;the use of intertextualitycanbe portrayedhere asthe audience would
immediatelyknow whatthemethe musicvideoistryingtobe created.
Furthermore, herlookissimilarto‘barbella’whichwasafamoussci-fi fictionmovie aboutafemale
superheroandhersavingthe world.ArianaGrande simplyfollowsthatlookof a metallicoutfitina
particularscene where she isfloatinginthe airandanotheroutfitwhichissimilartobarbella;thisis
once again hyperreality.
Anotheraspect,partof postmodernthatisincludedinthe musicvideoisconsumerism.Towardsthe
endof the musicvideo,the singerisadvertisingalipglossbrand,anda close up shotof her applying
the product shown.Inaddition,while inthis‘startrek’inspiredspaceshipdrivenbyZedd – playing
musicmakesitdrive isanotherform of intertextuality,ArianaGrande andZeddare seenwearing
‘Beats’headphonestoadvertise the product.Aswell asBeatsPill thatshowsthe songbeingplayed
on a smartphone towardsthe end.Consumerismisabigpart of postmodernasitshowsthe whole
ideaof everythingbeingincludedinanew way.
The future of theorywill be completelydifferent,theorieswill change asideasthatare contributed
for postmodernwouldhave changeddue tothe perspectiveof upcominggenerations.However
supportingtheorieswilldemonstrate more of the analyticapproachtothe mediatextsratherthan
the entertainmenttowardsit.