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Understanding films
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- 2. GENRE Every media textbelongs to a genre. In terms of films it could be horror, comedy, drama, action and a number of others. In order for a genre to be determined or for the film to be understood they must meet a number of codes and conventions that the audience can easily adapt to. GENERIC FEATURES Characterisation: This feature is established when the audience can relate to the character, for example the audience often relate to the stereotypes of the character such as personalities of the main characters. For example if I was to watch a film which had Leonardo DiCaprio in it, it would have perception in the film because it would be a thriller and it would be unlikely for him to appear in a comedy. SETTINGS: The settings of the film may help the audience establish the genre such as where the film is taking place. NARRATIVE: The narrative can also help the audience identify the genre, such as predictable plot lines, and narrative structures. For example with horrors the most common narrative structure is that new family or couple buy a house in an isolated area, which happens to habitat a possessed being able to take over a person. MISE EN SCENE Props and costumes can help to establish a genre, for example props and costumes can sometimes represent symbols and have connotations with certain types of genres. EXPECTATIONS As I have mentioned before some characters will have reassumed ideas of how they feel in film should be and will already have expectations of the film itself. Due to the audience having an understanding in different genres which will mean that they will already have certain expectations.
- 3. REPRESENTATION Representation in mediaessentially means the way the media portrays particular groups, communities, ideas or topics from particular views or ideas. As an audience we tend to be quite passive which means despite the media being false or true we will still accept it, sometimes without challenging it. Common representations made by media often surround: - Age - Gender - Ethnicity - Class - Regional Identity - Sexuality - Ability/Disability
- 4. REPRESNTATION Understanding about howfilms are represented we need to think about a number of things which help us to understand. The first thing to think about is the images used, for example the images that are used can reflect either positive or negative views on different social groups. An example of this in particular is when the media text is representing gender, they tend to have the woman in red in order to represent her as a ‘siren’ or ‘tease’ to emphasise the sexual nature of the text, we tend to look at these images as signifiers to create implied meanings. The second thing to think about is the sound and music. Sound and music can be very important in representation in film as it helps the audience establish what they have in common with or what they feel ‘fits’ in with that particular stereotype. For example when a media text represents youth especially in areas such as East London the music tends to be fast paced or grime and rap.
- 5. AUDIENCE DEMOGRAPHICS The audienceare the people who consume any media text. Due to the modern times it is very unlikely that people can go through a day without encountering the media text in some way. There are two types of audiences, one being mass which essentially means the larger the group which refers to mainstream audiences. On the other hand there are niche audiences as well which is a small amount of people interested in unique things and not influenced as much as the mass market. To classify audiences we tend to look at their age, gender, race and geographical location and class. For example ‘all age classification decisions are based on the BBFC’s published and regularly updated guidelines’. (www.bbfc.co.uk) . There are many guidelines which the BBFC follow for example they tend to look at issues surrounding discrimination, drugs, horror, nudity, sexual violence, as well taking in consideration of the context. Tone and impact of a work. When looking at the audience demographics their age is very important as it can act as a guideline towards my short film that I am going to produce to ensure that it is age appropriate.
- 6. NARRATIVE The narrative ismainly the story and how it is told. For example, the story will refer to the events of the narrative and what actually happens within the story and the plot which will then refer to the story which is presented in terms of order and narrative logic.
- 7. INSTITUITION The institution isthe company which creates and distributes media products. When looking at film there are many ways we can spot what institution it came from, this is when codes and conventions are commonly followed For example, every film will have a logo which establishes what they are and the brand symbolising the company.
- 8. TECHNOLOGIES In this modernera technology is always changing and as it changes it also changes the way we consume media products. Using different types of technology can really affect how we see things and how we can manipulate in certain circumstances. One type of technology is sound which can help establish the genre and the setting. Sound is broken down in two categories with one bring diegetic and the other being non diegetic. The second type of technology used in editing, editing is an important part of filming as the editing brings the whole film together and can change the way the audience see film.
- 9. EVIDENCE When analysing filmit is important to ensure that there is evidence to back up any points that we have made throughout our analysis. When looking at the evidence we need to ensure that we look at denotation and connotations of media text. For example, the denotation is what we see on the screen whereas the connotation is the meaning that is made by the audience.