Top tips on how to create the perfect film review

The application above is a top ten list on how to write the perfect film review. We done this work in class in preparation for us creating our own film review on The Boat That Rocked, which is a popualar film based around the media related world of radio.

TAPE

Connotation: The hidden meaning behind something. E.g. A male giving a female a rose may mean affection.

Denotation: The dictionary meaning. E.g A male giving a female a rose means just that, a male giving a female a rose.

TAPE and its meaning:

Type: What type of text is this?
What codes does it use?


Audience: Who is the audience?
(Age. Gender, Interests?)


Purpose: What is the text trying to do?
What is it trying to make its audience think and feel in order
to do this?


Effectiveness: Do you think that the text would achieve its purpose?

Semiotics and Polysemic and open and closed texts

Semiotics and Polysemic and open and closed texts:

Semiotics: Semiotics is the study of signs and sign systems and their roles in construction and organisation. It has become influential as one of the main methods for analysing media text and out put.

Polysemic: Polysemic is text that has a number of meanings. They can be interpreted in many different ways.

Open texts: Open text has different meanings depending upon time, place, class, gender, occupation and experience of the reader.

Closed text: Closed text has a particular meaning.

Picture tip presentation

This is my leaflet on the conventions of photographs. This was a task that we done in class and that help significally with learning the different types of shots. This was a good exercise to do because as well as learning and writing about the shots that we had to include, we were also able to find pictures that showed this subject.
In this presentation I tried to include as much as possible to do with the array of shots that you have on offer.

Composition

Composition:

Viewpoint:
* Horizontal or vertical.

Shots:
* Extreme long shot.
* Long shot.
* Mid shot.
* Close up.
* Extreme close up.

Simplicity:
Don’t include too much and so keep it as simple as possible.

Dramatic angles:
* Aerial or overhead view.
* Low angle.
* High angle.

Leading lines:
* Diagonal.
* ‘S’ curves.
* Repetitive lines.

Framing:
* Natural framing.

Codes

Written, technical and symbolic codes

Written codes:
* Headlines.
* Captions.
* Speech bubbles.
* Style of language.
* Font and size of text.
* Position of text.

Technical codes:
* Camera angle.
* Lens choice.
* Framing.
* Shutter speed.
* Depth of field.
* Lighting and exposure.
* Juxtaposition.

Symbolic codes:
* Objects.
* Setting.
* Body Language.
* Gesture, posture and facial expression.
* Clothing.
* Colour.

Written codes: How the text conveys meaning.

Technical codes: How the image is composed.

Symbolic codes: How cultural symbols informs the audience about the text.



Shots

Low angle shot:
Taken from below a person or object and looking up. It gives an impression of power or supremacy.

High angle shot:
Looking down on a person or object.
It makes something look small and insignificant and like you are superior to them.

Extreme close up (ECU):
Zooming in on a particular feature.
Normally used to convey a meaning without using any dialect.

Close up (CU):
A close up will focus on a particular part of something, for example the upper body of a human.

Mid shot (MS):
Mid shots are of the main feature and have little or no background.

Long shot (LS):
Long shots will normally be of the object that the photo is focusing on and some of the background.

Extreme long shot (ELS):
Looking at something that is very far away.


Lens choice

Telephoto:
Telephoto shots are used by people like the paparazzi. It captures someone when they don’t know it and it is normally from quite far away.

Macro:
Close up shots.

Wide angle:
Wide angle gets something in whole, for example a car.



Shutter speed

Fast shutter speed:
Fast means that the shutter from the camera closes instantly. It should be used for an event that needs a quick reaction like sports.

Slow shutter speed:
Slow means that the shutter takes more time to close. This type of shutter speed could be used on things like motorways where the reaction time does not have to be so precise.


Depth of field

Deep:
Everything is I focus – When you want to see all of something.

Selective:
Only focuses on one aspect – When you want to focus on something pacific.

Soft:
Slightly blurred – To glamorise someone E.g. to get rid of wrinkles. It can also be used as a method of making someone focus on one thing.


Lighting and exposure

Realistic lighting:
When actors and set are lit so naturally that the audience does not notice the technology being used.

Expressive lighting:
When the audience uses light to set a mood or tone for a scene.

High key:
Often a sense of strength and power.

Low key:
Dark overall with few areas of highlights.

High contrast:
Often survey a sense of strength and power.

Low contrast:
Often survey a sense of gentleness.
Juxtaposition:
Placing images or scenes together to try and create a third meaning.

Camera Angles, Framing and Effects

Camera Angles, Framing and Effects

This photo is slightly a low angle shot as it is more looking up at the couple rather then square at them; this is a useful method that is used by a photographer because it leads to a dramatic affect and as by the look of it this scene may be dramatic. It also appears to be a mid shot rather then a close up or a far away shot as it is not solely emphasising on a certain feature of this couple and not showing them from a far away distance, from doing this they are focusing on the parts of the body that are showing emotion as well as the face. The couple have a look of distress but as you can see by the body the male is gripping the female as to try to restrain her or comfort her whilst the women is clasping hold of a baby. The photo is either deep or soft. I say this because like deep it has everything in focus, but also like soft it is very blurred but this may just be the quality of the photo. So under the circumstances I would say that it is a deep photo. I say this because it has a blurred twinge to it but it could also be selective because they are focusing on the couple and the child that they are holding indicating that this child may be key to what is happening in the scene.



This is a very spooky shot clearly looking through the gates to what looks like an old mansion in the background. The angle of this photo is low to add to the drama of the spooky castle being the main point of attraction. This picture has two different types of shot. The first being a close up of the gate, and the second being an Extreme long shot of the castle. This is also adding a touch of drama to the picture as it seems that you are actually walking through the gates and looking up at the castle.
The photo is in black and white which adds to the feeling of mystery.
It is using a wide angle as it is not only showing the castle in the background it also showing the gate and the hill leading up to the mansion. It is slightly blurred which could mean that there are bits of the castle that want to remain unclear to the human eye and also wants the viewer just to, solely, focus on the mansion and the gate.



The affects of this photo give the viewer a menacing and a sort of in danger feel about it. The use of the extreme close up shot is very effective emphasising on the piercing eyes and the almost straight line for a mouth, these shots focus on the facial expressions. The macro lens choice had definitely been applied here, as much like the extreme close up it is showing someone in a very close proximity and focusing on a certain feature like in this picture whilst looking in the glasses of the man you can see hands and so adds mystery as to what those hands may be doing and why they are there. This picture is selective as it is featuring and focusing solely on the man and the expression that he is wearing and leaves us to figure out why he wearing that expression.


This photo shows a front cover or an advertisement for a romantic film. The photographer is using a mid shot and is so focusing on all of the characters in the movie, this is generally effective as it enables you to get an understanding of the roles that the actors are playing and also meet the characters as well. It uses a deep depth of field as not only are there people in the photo, the background is also essential to this as it sets the scene.



This is a high angle shot and so it is being taken from a higher point then the person that it is being taken off. Photographs like this normally aim to make the subject look small and insignificant and try to make the viewer or indeed another character looking down feel superior. It is a way of looking at someone without actually making any facial expression or talking. It shows a mid shot which is probably the most effective kind in this shop as you can see what the man is doing as well as the expression on his face.



This is also a high angle shot but instead of it trying to show the viewer an aerial view of this place and the advantages of living there. This is an effective method because it is showing the entire town which is very appealing to live or stay at.
The lens choice that this photographer has used is wide angle so as to get in the whole of the town and so let people judge for themselves what they think of the villas for this reason they have also decided to use the selective depth of field.
It is making the villas look magnificent as you can see it all.

Contents page for my student magazine

Front cover of a student magazine

This is the front cover for a student magazine.
We had to construct a front cover and a contents page for a student magazine as research and for when we had to create the real thing. From doing this we were able to practise the methods of achieving a successful magazine. I was able to look at this magazine front cover and learn what needs to be changed and done to this magazine so that my music magazine would be popular if it was being sold in stores.
This was good practice for when we had to design the music magazine because I can see where I need to make improvements and also I can look back at this magazine to see if I have improved in the making of my music magazine.

Image manipulation

Image manipulation:

Explanation

Manipulating an image is basically perfecting a picture that you have taken using different workshops like photo shop or picasa.
When using these shops it allows you to do things like crop images, take out any blemishes that may be obscuring the image or add things in that will help to contribute to the quality of the picture.

Image 1:
As you can see by the image below there are a few things that we need to remove to make the image presentable enough to publish in a magazine. Such things include:


Manipulation 1:
A lot of the editing for this picture would be in the background, things like the plug socket, the wooden panel and the speaker wire that is at the bottom and side of the picture needs to be taken out.
I think that the background and the carpet are a good contrast in colour, the way that I am going to remove the things that I just mentioned are in a paint document which is a tool that is automatically installed on the computer. It will allow me to paint in the background minus the objects that I do not want but still keeping the carpet.
By using the pick a colour tool I can make sure that I get the roughly same colour background.
When the colour has been selected you have to use the brush to fill in the background.



Manipulation 2:
The next step for this image is to crop it because as it is there is a lot of the background space on show. It is normally good to have some background space on show if you are using that picture as a front cover picture as you can then write around it. But for this picture it would be better to use inside of a magazine rather then on the front.
Cropping an image means to shorten it down and cut of some the parts that you no longer want, for example in this picture it is the background.



Manipulation 3:
The final manipulation that I am going to do is mainly focusing on the minor details. Around my neck there is a necklace and the wire from the headphones is cutting across me.
I am going to remove these by going on picasa, which is a workshop that helps with the manipulation of images. On this document I am going to use a retouching brush which will blend the necklace and the wire in with the background, by using this it will make the necklace and the wire the same colour as my skin, therefore meaning that it will not be noticeable.



My final image 1:



Image 2:


Manipulation 1:
This image is very much like the previous image, there is not a lot that needs to be retuned on it.
As with the previous image the background will need to be changed as it also has the plug socket and the wooden panelling in it.

Manipulation 2:
Using picasa I have been able to remove the wire from the headphones and the necklace.
Also like the previous image I have used a retouching brush to remove the wire and the necklace. By removing the wire from the image it gives a more spacious feel and provides less distractions.

Manipulation 3:
The final manipulation that I am going to do is the cropping of my image.

My final image 2:



Image 3:


Manipulation 1:
As with the previous pictures the background has to be altered to the same colour as the background because once again there is the panelling. I will do this again in paint using the colour picker tool and the painting brush.

Manipulation 2:
In this image there is red eye. To remove this there is a device on picasa that is called red eye removal. This takes out all or any red eye that may be in the picture.
After clicking on the red eye removal it should automatically remove it, but if not it allows you to remove any that it hasn’t using a box. Removing the red eye from my picture is important because it makes them look more professional.



Even though in this image there are a lot of extra props on the floor I have decided to keep these in it as it goes with the theme of a band.

Manipulation 3:
These images like the others need to be cropped. This one has to be cropped at the right hand side because there is a lot of free space.

My final image 3:



Image 4:


Manipulation 1:
This also has red eye, so like the previous, by using picasa I can remove this.

Manipulation 2:
In this image you can see my necklace. As I have removed it from the other pictures I have to remove it from this one. But also it doesn’t really go with what I am wearing and the band theme.

Manipulation 3:
The final manipulation is the cropping of the image again but this time at the top of the picture.

My final image 4: