Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation of genre

In this essay I am going to talk about my thriller movie opening sequence, ‘’Dream Chaser’’ I have produced in my foundation portfolio.  My product is suspense/ tension opening about an innocent man who is been accidently involved in a serious crime situation. Our target audience for my thriller opening is men and women from 15 – 30.  My group and I have decided to make the film we are making a 15, as we would have a wider range of different audiences. My group and i have taken a look at genre very closely to attract our target audience. We have research many different genres of suspense movies, and have found that the most successful product was a hybrid of two or more different genres. Therefore my group and i have decided to use a hybrid of two genres – innocent on the run and crime.

The first theorist i am going to discuss about is  Denis McQuail is  who’s theory is that audiences use media texts for personal needs such as for information, personal identity, social interaction and entertainment. In my thriller opening I think that it relates some peoples life, which a small incident can change their whole life.

I also looked at was Rick Altman who’s theory is that genre gives the audience a set of pleasures. He says that genre is used to differentiate, which means that different genres of products are produced to appeal to different target audiences. This is one of the reason we have used a hybrid of two different genre to achieve a wider range of audiences. 

Genre Theory

Rick Altman broadens the links between genre and theories of language and communication.

He says the genres are classified by the term ''semantic'' elements - music, character types, familiar objects or settings. and ''syntactic'' structures - plot structure, character relationship. 

Media forms have consequently become more and more cross generic or hybrid.

Sub genre defines a specific versions of genre



Genre Theory -

Neale, 1980 - genre theory is to do with a circulation if expectations between industries, media texts and audiences. This leads to a ''regulated variety''

Hartly, 1999 - A contract between producers and audiences which 'disciplines' choices and reduces desires.

Napsters impact on music industry

Naspter was launched in 1999 by two students named Sean Parker and John Fanning aged 17 and 18. It was a peer to peer file sharing, where anyone can access to other peoples hard drives to access different songs. Thia technology allowed people to easily share their mp3 files with other participants.

Digital Technology

Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making.

I am going to explore how digital technology have contributed to evaluate my creative decision making through my 2 year media course. I will be exploring the different fields of my progress from my foundation portfolio to my advanced portfolio.

In my foundation portfolio, my partner and i have produced a thriller opening sequence which was a hybrid of two different sub genres, one of which was a crime and the other was man on the run. we have used these sub genres mainly to create tension and suspense throughout the video and to get the audience to get involved in the pressure of the situation and feel sympathy to the protagonist. Through research and viewing existing products, my parter and I have analysised different hybrid thriller movies to have a rough idea of how it is shot and edited. As this was the first year I have studied media, it was quite tough getting used to the different types of technologies and to get used to it, for instance the editing software we have used was final cut express. I have also researched and learnt few skills from my media teachers and also by viewing online tutorial videos - how to add the time code at the bottom of my CCTV footage to make it look like it is being recorded and someone is watching . As our movie opening was located around an elevator, we have taken many different angles in order to make the opening more creative and to build tension to the audience. We have used four different high angle camera shots from different location around the elevator, which allows the audience to have a better view of what is happening  In the editing process, i have used simple but effective editing, getting the different angle of the incidence happening into one continuous editing. 

In my advanced portfolio we have used a wider range of different digital technology  to produce a music video using a exisiting artist. As my partner was an exisiting upcoming UK rap artist, i was lucky to use him own single '' Starry Eyed Remix''. As the genre of the music was raped based, we have followed the typical style of most rap music video. As I have gained experience in our first year of studying media, i found it more fun and easier to make my music video as i had a better understanding of the editing software and the use of camera. For our music video we have used a more advanced camera - canon 550 d which has allowed us get a wider range of better shots - fading in and out of the background of the artist.  I have used more advanced editing software to do different type of editing and the colour correcting in  Adobe premier. Over the two year course I have learnt how to use variety of different technologies to produce an effective product.  I have learnt how to edit effectively, sync music track to the video, and how to add two different videos onto one frame.

Another new technology I found quite hard adapting quickly was Photoshop. I have used this software to produce ancillary tasks. To make a CD album cover, and produce a poster for the music video release. It took a lot of practise and time to understand how to use the different aspects with the help of our media teachers. I believe learning how to use these softwares and getting to know how to use them effectively, have influenced my  creative decision making into making a more advanced and professional piece of product, whereas in our foundation portfolio, we didn’t have access to more advanced softwares.

However one of the most important digital technologies we have used throughout the two year course was the internet. We have used this technology to research into existing products and to also advertise our final product – music video, which has allowed us to get different feedback from friends and families. We have also used social networking sites to promote our music video, and ancillary tasks we have produced in our advanced portfolio.

In my foundation portfolio we have used blogger, and ,most of the research came from slideshare and watching different videos in youtube, however in my advanced portfolio we have used different technologies to promote our music artist, for example putting the music track of our artist on soundcloud and sharing the link through social networking.

Overall from my foundation to advanced portfolio, i have learnt how to work with many different software programmes which enabled me to produce an effective product. I have also gained my creative decision making as i got familiar with the different technologies. 

Media Online Age

Media Effect

What is Propaganda?

Propaganda is the manipulation of information to influence public opinion.

What is Hypodermic needle theory?

 The Hypodermic Needle Model suggests that the information from a text passes into the mass awareness of the audience without the audience really having to think about what the message really is, the theory suggests that the audience are manipulated by the creator of the media product, the modern day issue raised by the hypodermic needle theory is that the amount of violence seen in video games, films (especially horror films and music videos for example will cause the viewers (usually a younger person) to be affected by the violence impassively or not.

What is the cultivation theory?

This theory asserts that information from the media moves in two distinct stages. First, individuals (opinion leaders) who pay close attention to the mass media and its messages receive the information. Opinion leaders pass on their own interpretations in addition to the actual media content.



Media Impact on younger Children

Media violence is especially damaging to younger children as they cant differentiate between real life and fantasy.

89% of top selling video games contain violent contents.

Case Study : Can a Video Game Lead to Murder? A Study of Grand Theft Auto

Post Productions

‘’Creativity is something that is inherent and cannot be learned’’. In your experience detail how the post production of your media products developed your creative skills.

 I am going to explore how my post productions have contributed to the process of the creative decision making and how my processes I have followed from my foundation portfolio to my advanced portfolio. 

In my foundation portfolio my partner and I have produced a thriller opening sequence which was a hybrid of two different genres, one which was crime and other was man on the run. We have used these genre conventions mainly to create tension and suspense throughout the video, as it was a opening sequence we wanted the audience to feel the pressure of the protagonist. As a group we came to an idea of using our main opening based on CCTV footages. We have used different styles to overcome both the sub genres, for example the different camera shots we have used to as CCTV footage for the 'crime' genre and the protagonist as the 'man on the run' genre. We have used simple editing and camera shots throughout the opening, and used editing software - final cut express was suitable enough to create the suspense in our opening thriller.

However, in my advanced portfolio we have used a more advanced creativity and post productions to produce a professional video. In our advanced portfolio we had to produce a music video from an existing artist. As my partner was an existing upcoming UK artist, I was lucky to use his own single called ‘’Starry Eyed Remix’’. As the genre of this music was rap based, we followed the stereotypical style of all rap music videos. The music video we have produced was much different compared to the opening sequence we have made at AS, requiring use of different types of transitions and more advanced camera shots, as our framing was more accurate.

The film opening mainly focused on the continuity editing. We had to introduce the main characters, establish a setting, and create an enigma - all to make the audience suspend their disbelief and accept the world which you had created as being realistic. The continuity techniques to do these included things such as match on action, the 180-degree rule, and the shot/reverse-shot pattern. In our thriller opening we have mainly used match on action, for example the different camera angles of the CCTV footage of the protagonist getting out the lift and accidently picking up the secret tape.

In our A2 project our editing and camera skills was very different compared to our AS project. This was due to the different locations we have come across in our music video. As our music genre was rap, all the footages were based outdoors. We have also used a more advanced camera which has enabled to make our music video more professional, for example the use of focusing in and out of the frame of the shot. To conclude I believe that from my foundation to my advanced portfolio, I have successfully improved my creativity skills, as I was more used to the editing software’s and technologies. I also believe that my final products in both AS and A2 has fitted the genre we aimed for perfectly and also achieved our target audiences.