Textually analysing films

00:31  -  this is a long shot, it is showing the miss-en-scene of an office type room, presumably and interrogation, this is backed up by the presence of a video camera pointing at person A - giving the impression that he is the one being interrogated. Though it is a long shot it is also from the point of view of a security camera, this is because of the high/position the shot has been taken from and also the fact that it is in black and white rather than colour. There are also _____________________ which state that this scene is taking place in "Ostford police" sand that it is "A few days before Christmas". The miss-en-scene of body language shown in the scene from the two characters is that person A is leaning forward in his chair, suggesting that he is slightly panicked or stressed, whereas person B is leaning back in his chair and appears to be more relaxed.

00:35  -  this is a two shot/mid shot. It shows the surroundings of the two characters as well as showing, in the miss-en-scene, the emotions they are showing. The style of the scene is in colour, this shows that we are now out of the view of the security camera and are now in the room with the characters. The lighting is now revealed to us clearer as well as, behind person A, we can see windows - giving the effect of natural light.

00:42  -  a shot reverse shot has been used in this scene to show the characters facial expressions while person A is being interrogated. The miss-en-scene of this particular shot is focusing of the clothing of each of the people in the scene. Person A is covered in red stains, blood, this give the impression that when they arrested him they gave him no chance to change his clothes or shower. It also reveals to the audience that he has committed murder or some kind of violent criminal act which resulted in his present state. In this situation person A is the underdog and person B, whom we see wearing a suit and sitting in a more relaxed position in his chair - showing power -, is the alpha male.

Representation of women in the media

Women are constantly objectified in the media, and as a result of 'the male gaze'* they are repeatedly exploited - being used to sell products through sex. Outside of the media, women tend to be looked upon as being maternal and domestic, but as shown in this Dolce & Gabbana perfume advert the media sexualises them to promote the product and encourage people (mostly men) to buy it.
The technical codes of this image are that buying the product - the Dolce & Gabbana perfumes - will cause attractive members of the opposite text to find you desirable and that your sex life will increase.


*'The male gaze' is an idea formulated by Laura Mulvey in 1975 it states that women are turned into sex objects because of how they are portrayed in the media. Only certain body parts are shown for male pleasure. This is fragmentation which leads to objectification.

'This Girl Can' video analysis

This video contains numerous connotations to the idea that women don't have to be skinny to exercise, they can be any shape or size because exercise is about being healthy and having fun not trying to stay really slim. Throughout the video, women of all ages were shown to be having fun and having some body fat 'jiggle' when they were running or exercising, giving contrast to the rest of the media who constantly sexualise women and objectify them - mostly for the entertainment and pleasure of the male audience.
 Along with the mise-en-scene of each of the shots, there were also a range of different camera shots used to sow the different figures and body images that the women had. The close ups mostly showed how the women weren't perfectly skinny like most people expect them to be, having the areas of body fat, as well as showing the emotions on their faces - determination, exhaustion and happiness/amusement.
 The music used for the promotional video, gave it a more motivational theme as the beat was quick and one that you would imagine people to listen to while they were exercising. The editing of the video followed suit with the music, having quick edited scenes while the beat was fast but also using slowed down scenes when the rhythm of the music was more relaxed and slower. The writing that flashed over the video at points was also of a motivational theme, this gave the promotional video a much more powerful impact and message.

Textual Analysis - Representation of Age 1/3

The Guardian - Friday 28 February 2014

This piece of text is showing a negative view of the generation of new parents. It highlights the fact that the upbringing of children these days is greatly different to that of previous generations. The article mainly talks about the reason for this being that children in resent years are growing up surrounded by technology and different types of media, meaning that they are learning how to use it before they have learnt any real, necessary life skills. "children ages three to five...66% of children know how to play online games and 62% can turn on a computer, but only 14% can tie their shoes" points out that because the parenting age at the moment are already so absorbed in technology, they seemingly forget that it won't be able to teach their children the important things that they themselves can, but also that they appear either unfazed by the fact that exposing their children to technology can have a harmful effect or that they don't actually realise the damage that adverts or other types of media can have on infants and younger children.
The language used within this article is mainly factual, informing the reader of the risks and apparent danger that there is when children are exposed to technology the way they are. However, the opening of the article is written in a way that sounds almost accusing of parents for seemingly forcing this world of technology and media on their children, "More than 90% of children under two have a digital foot print", this can be seen as the author of the article blaming the parents for the children not being able to escape the 'technology web' so to speak.

Pre-production plan

For my pre-production, I am thinking about making a film poster based on one of my favourite books 'Dead to the World' by Charlaine Harris. This is a book based on a teenage girl, Sookie, and the extraordinary life she leads both living in the supernatural world and being a supernatural being herself.

For the film poster I am going to try to create what I think the characters would be like and how they would act, trying to convey their personalities and attitudes through a photograph. As the main character is a teenage girl, I am thinking about using my sister as a model for the picture this should help to convey the characters age and also the target age group and genre of the film. I am also thinking about having a young man or older teenage boy behind her in the background of the picture, this will work as bringing in another character from the book, Eric, but in addition it will create a more mysterious and at the same time dangerous atmosphere for the image - I am going to ask my brother to act as the male.

In terms of location I am thinking about going to Combe Abby and shooting some photos of my siblings in the forest areas and within the trees so that I can convey to the audience the setting for the film and also, as woods normally give connotations of being lost, it being dark and that there is danger, the fact that I am shooting on location in Combe Abby in amongst the trees should help to increase the mysterious air of the image and make the poster look both more professional and like it belongs in the desired genre.

Textual analysis of Film posters

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) Film Poster

In this film poster the main focus is the main character of the movie, Steve Rogers (Captain America). As opposed to most film posters where the person in focus is making direct eye contact with the viewer, in this film poster the person is facing away from the audience and is looking towards the floor - giving the audience a view of the characters profile. In addition the background of the image looks gloomy and deserted with a small/distant view an iconic building in America. This can be interpreted to be that something has happened and that whatever it is has cause a lot of destruction - meaning that as a result the main character has a solum face. This idea that something bad/upsetting as happened is further enhanced by the darker colours and tones that they have used in the image as there aren't any bright or cheerful colours. As in the previous film poster, the title of the film is in the largest font followed by the date of release and ten the smaller typeface for the details on who the producers are.

Textual analysis of Film posters

Star Trek (2009) Film poster

This is the film poster for the 2009 Star Trek reboot film. In this poster there are pictures of the main characters in the film, the title, a scene that is from the film, and details about the director, producers and when the film will be released at the bottom. The colours are mainly blues and blacks - other than the red of the fire on the Enterprise in the background - this can have colour connotations of space but also of action, as the colours are dark and blend in well with each other. This therefore makes the film look more like its a serious film than a comedy. The fact that the title of the film is in one of the only colours other than blue and black (gold) makes it stand out a great deal more than if it was in the same colours as everything else. In the background of the poster, Uhura - the woman - is the only one that isn't facing forward, this could have connotations to the fact that she is more mysterious than the other characters in the film and on the cover.