Moodboard 2: Actors/Actresses

In this moodboard I was focusing on actors/actresses that show in the genre of film, fantasy-fiction, when looking at them in groups depending on gender, you can see many similarities, the girls are mostly brunette or blonde, they are all have quite a 'good looking' image. They are all very similar, you then go to the males, and you can split the men up into age grouping, so we have a few that are older than the others, for example in one group we have Robert Pattinson and Chris Hemsworth in the other we have Ian McKellen and Jeff Bridges, all able to do the same genre but of different ages. 

Moodboard 1: Overall look at the Genre

When I started to plan my moodboard I started with having one overall moodboard to show the genre on as a summary, I then will go off this into each sub-section.

4th September - 19th September 2014

Blog Entry 1: Week One to Week Two

This week in media lesson, I have started to look at different genres of film and have chosen my set genre which will be fantasy. In class we have been looking at both film trailers and music videos and seen how the genres differentiate. I have then started to look at theorists relating to film trailers, and found that since researching them I can go into more detail, for example on narrative in film trailers, Tzvetan Todorov, after reading about his theory in summary I then went to look at his structure on narrative, which is included on my blog. Within lessons I started to look at other theorists in certain areas of film trailers such as audience theorists and character theories.  

When I then started to look at different trailers, I then went to look at the actors in more detail, and found that some actors are used more in certain dramas, that they are more skilled in, but then I also found that actors such as Chloe Grace Mortex, has a more talented wider range of genres, and as used in my trailer analysis, is not only in a horror film but also in a teen romance film. I found that since I was looking at the trailers, it might help to go further in research and to look at their website, posters, and if they had any other type of media exposure. 

After looking at theorists I then wanted to go into my genre of film more, and have started to create moodboards for different aspects of a film trailer. Such as costumes, make-up, lighting, colours used and actors that in the trailers of that genre. 

Withing the next few posts I will have all of my analysis' up on my blog, and then am going to go further into analysis on the genre I am planning to do. I am also planning on setting up an A2 media Twitter account and get followers to comment on the questions I will put up (will be putting screenshots up on my blog when this is up and running). 

Timetable of Tasks

Genre Theory: Tom Ryall, John Fiske, Steve Neale and Rick Altman

Tom Ryall in 1978 believed that Genreprovides a framework of rules for structure, in the shapes of patterns/forms/styles and structures, which act as a form of 'supervision' over the work of production of filmmakers.

John Fiske defines genre as 'attempts to structure some order into the wide range of texts and meaning that circulate in our culture for the convenience of both producers and audiences'. 

Steve Neale in 1990 argued that Hollywood's generic regime performs two inter-relate functions:

1. to guarantee meanings and pleasures for audience
2. to offset the considerable economic risks of industrial film production by providing cognitive collateral innovation and difference.

Rick Altman also argued that genres are usually defined in types of media language (semantic elements) and codes (in Western films for example: guns, horses, landscape, characters and stars like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood) or certain ideologies and narratives (syntactic elements) and example would be in a zombie film and the main characters surviving, or two love interests coming together at the end of the film. In some ways this enables the audience to have an idea of what will happen by the end of the film, however when some directors make the trailer look like the genre won't fit or the genre is a mix, some audiences are more interested due to not knowing what is likely to happen. 

Understanding Claude Levi-Strauss Narrative Theory: Binary Opposition

Prezi Presentation on Levi-Strauss's Binary Theory

Above is the link to my Prezi presentation on Binary Opossitions by Levi-Strauss.

When doing my first presentation on understanding Propp's character theory, I decided to try something different to using Powerpoint, so I decided to use Prezi, something I have used before for other subjects that I study, I like the use of being able to move around the presentation and seeing the overall look of presentation. There are many different themes you could get as the background and text, I have decided to use something creative for this one, but when it comes to other presentations and I may use this again, I will try to link the theme to the topic I am writing about. After using this once, I will most likely use it again, but not too often and try something else. 

Understanding Propp's Character Theory