Representation of class and status in Cranford

The mise-en-scene in this clip reveals a contrast between rich and poor people. We can see this from early on in the clip, Harry and his family are all wearing dark scruffy clothes, this shows that the family are of a lesser class as their clothes are scruffy and also their house looks more like a shed. It has no lighting and decoration on the wall; this shows that the family has very little money. We also see that the present that Harry is given are a pair of old boots, before this his wasn’t wearing shoes, again showing that they have little money and they are of a lower class as he wears no shoes. In contrast to Harry and his family we see Mr. Carter who is a richer man. We can see this from the clothes he wears, he is wearing expensive boots which shows that he is of a higher class than harry and his family as he can afford expensive boots while they can only just afford a pair of old boots. Mr. Carter also wears smarter clothes showing he has a high status, he also walks around with a cane; this suggests that he is a high class person. Mr. Carter’s also has a nice office showing that he has a lot of money, in the office there is a lot of objects with writing on, this indicates that he is an educated man, and from before when Harry’s dad said that ‘learning isn’t for everyone’, Harry and his family are not, this again shows that Mr. Carter is of a higher class and status than Harry and his family.  The lady of the manor is another person who is a contrast to Harry; she is dressed in an extravagant, expensive looking dress, this shows that she is of higher class as she is well presented while Harry is dressed in scruffy dark clothes.

The sound in the clip also shows a contrast between the rich and the poor. When we first see Harry there is some music, which is non-diegetic sound, the music is quite heavy and kind of depressing, this relates to the life in which Harry lives. Also the squeaking door shows that his family are quite poor as it seems as it is an old run down house. The way in which his dad speaks also indicates that the family are of a lower class, he says ‘appy birthday arry’, he doesn’t use the correct pronunciation showing that he is a lower class. When Harry is in the greenhouse it is different to what we have heard before, it is more of a higher pitch tone, this could indicate to us that the owners of the green house have a higher status as it is a higher pitch than when we see Harry’s family. The audience are then introduced to the heavy sound of footsteps; this suggests that the person is of higher status than Harry. When Harry is in Mr. Carter’s office, Mr. Carter talks down to him in a quite patronising way, this indicates that he has a higher status than Harry. Then when Harry becomes giddy Mr. Carter stops talking and there is some emotional music, which indicates that Mr. Carter feels sorry for Harry. Another contrast to Harry and his family is the lady of the manor and the women in the carriages; these are well spoken and use correct pronunciation, this along with the sound of the horses indicates that these people are quite wealthy and of a better class than Harry and his family.

In this clip the camera shows the audience the differences between the classes of people. We first see Harry and the camera follows him, this shows the audience that he going to be an important character in the clip. The camera also shows that Harry has less status than most people in the clip; it shows this by the low angle shots looking up at everybody, apart from his mum where the shot looks down onto her, this indicates that he does more than her to help out. The wealth of the family is shown when the camera focuses on the boots, which Harry got for a present, it does this to show that Harry is grateful for the boots. When he is in the greenhouse the camera again focuses on the grapes, this indicates that he wants them but he restrains himself which shows that he is accustomed to accept disappointment. The camera then focuses on a character’s boots; this is juxtaposition with Harry’s boots as Mr. Carters are more expensive and newer. Another way that the camera shows that Mr. Carter is a higher class is the two shot of them together, from this shot we can see that there is a clear difference in the clothing between the two of them. The camera also uses a high angle shot to show that Mr. Carter has more status than Harry. The juxtaposition of Harry’s house and the manor is shown through master shots, when we see the lady of the manor she is on the steps making her higher up this shows that she has more status than all of the labourers below her.

Continuity editing is used throughout the clip to create a sense of realism for the audience. Point of view shots and eye line matches are used in this clip to show the different statuses between the characters. A lot of the shots are from of Harry or what he is looking at; this shows the class and status that he has compared to everyone else in the clip. This relates to the cutting between the shack, greenhouse and the manor activities as it shows how the class of the characters are closely connected to the locations where they live or work. Shot reverse shot is also used in the conversation between him and his father, it is used to show the audience his father’s harsh reaction about Harry wanting to learn, it also shows how happy Harry is to receive the old boots for a present. This illustrates the class that Harry is as he is happy to receive some old battered boots as a present.

What significance does the continuing development of digital media technology have for media institutions and audiences?

The development of digital technology includes the development of new technology, such as cameras and viral marketing. It is changing day by day which will improve the quality of films and also the way they are marketed and distributed. Although these new technologies are only available to the companies that have a big enough budget to include them in their films. For example big six companies such as Universal are able to take advantage of the technologies such as 3D as films as they have the money to invest in them and as they are a big company, they have the ability to make a profit. An example of this is Prometheus which was distributed by 20^th Century Fox who are one of the big six; the film contains approximately 1,300 digital shots, and several different effects studios including Moving Picture Company. The film was successful as the special features made the film better and more interesting for the audience.

Whereas a contrast to this would be the film Attack the Block which is a British film distributed by Optimum Releasing, this film didn’t have as big a budget as Prometheus, to get their aliens they had two men dressed in gorilla-like suits, and 100 effect shots were used to get the aliens looking better, this is 1,200 shots less than Prometheus. Smaller film companies such as Optimum releasing and Working Title do not have the same kind of money as the bigger studios have, this is why they don’t release as many films with special effects such as 3D films. Working Title has only released one film in 3D as they don’t have the money to use a lot of special features regularly.

The growth of digital media technology has now produced Blu-ray DVDs, this is a new type of disc that has caused original DVDs to have been recreated in high definition to sell more copies of them, the same thing has happened with 3D, many older films have been re-made in 3D to create a new experience and a chance for the company to get more money. These modified films and DVDs have been marketed to the public and they have gone out and re-purchased their favourite films as they now look better, this adds to the profit of the company.

Another way digital media technology has affected audiences is the way films are now marketed, the use of the internet has caused film sales to increase. Viral promotion of films has been taken to another level, now because social networking sites such as Facebook are so widely used it is easier for companies to advertise the film through word of mouth. Sites like this can be used for the company to promote their film by producing specific pages, accounts and groups just for the film, also especially with Facebook if somebody ‘likes’ the film on Facebook this will pop up to their friends and generating a kind of viral word of mouth about the film. On sites such as this videos, interviews, images etc can be posted on there for people to look at, so that the company can entice the audience. An example is The Inbetweeners Movie Facebook page set up by Film4.

Audiences benefit from the development of digital media technology as they can have the experience of watching films in better quality that include better features, it also means that some of their favourite films can be re-lived in better quality, this makes the audience happier. It is also much easier for the audience to be aware of films now as well. This is a selling point as the audience want to go and see the best quality film with the best special features such as 3D, and this will continue to grow into the future as everybody will want to witness the best special features in films. Although the growth of digital media technology may not benefit the smaller film companies as they will be less likely to afford the high price of the latest special features and will therefore release films that are may be not as good quality as films released by the big companies. This can create a kind of divide between the companies with the ones that can afford the features and those who can’t; it may then mean that smaller companies find it hard to make as much money on films.

Representation of age in Monarch of the Glen

 From the establishing of monarch of glen we can see that most of the characters in the clip seem to be old, they all where the same kind of dark winter clothes, it shows that they are a little out dated. You can see that they seem to be on a farm of some sort, so the clothes and people match that kind of stereotype.

The taller more middle aged guy seems that he is the ‘boss’ of the group. We can see this as he starts to tell the younger people what to do, this backs up the point that he is the boss of the group. When he tells the people what to do they immediately do it which again tells us that that he is the boss or a father figure. We see later on in the clip that he is again the father figure, when the young girl crashes the car he immediately runs over to her and asks if she is okay, he then steps in front of her to protect her like a father would if it was his child. There is a mid-shot of them all standing together with him in front of them; he is also higher up showing that he has more authority and power than the others in the group, he straight the way takes charge of the situation showing that he is the leader and has the most power. Towards the end when he is telling Amy off over the shoulder shots are used, from this we can see that he is higher up than Amy showing he has more power and authority as he is older.

The young girl in the clip is different to the rest of people in the clip, for one she is younger than the rest of them, but also the clothes that she is wearing are different to the others in the clip. Her clothes are brighter as she is wearing a white top and jeans, this makes her stand out in the clip as she is different to everyone else. We can again see that she is an important character as when we first see her the camera is focused on her, an over the shoulder shot is used to show the guy looking at her and again she is the centre piece of the shot showing that she is an important character. Again when she first gets into the car the camera pans round to a close up of her, but again she is the main focus. When Amy crashes the car all the people come round her and step in front of her, this shows that she is younger and not as dominant as the others have to fight the battle for her. The camera shows them all standing together and she is the furthest back and also the smallest, showing us that she is younger and more vulnerable. The camera backs this up as it shows the guy and then tilts down to look at Amy emphasising that she is younger and of less authority. When Amy is getting told off by Paul towards the end of the clip over the shoulder shots are used to see the expressions of both of the characters, from the shots we can see that Paul is looking down on Amy showing that she has less power than him as she is younger. She then storms off shouting ‘I hate you’ like a little child would, this shows us that she is in fact younger than everybody else as she is more childish.

Another character in the clip that represents age is Amy’s head teacher, Mr. Green, he is again dressed different to everybody else in the as he is wearing smarter clothes, this shows us that he has a higher paid job than the others. From the clothing we can tell that he is an older character, this is because although he is dressed smarter the clothes are quite dull and bland, the kind of colours you would stereotypically see on an older person. When the teacher first sees who has crashed into him he raises his voice and sound quite patronising, but when Paul comes over he softens the tone of his voice and is much quieter, this shows that he is more patronising to younger people as he is older, but not so much with adults. When he and Paul are talking in his kind of office he sounds quite stuck up as he is rude in a way to Paul, this shows that he feels that he can take charge as he is the older person.

                                                                                                                      

Universal Studios

-          Universal Studios makes up 12.2% of the US/Canadian market share

-          Universal Studios is an American motion picture studio

-          It is owned by Comcast

-          It is one of the six major movie studios

-          It is one of the longest lived motion picture studios to be placed outside of Hollywood

-          NBCUniversal is Universal studios’ parent company

-          It was founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, and Jules Brulatour

-          It is the third oldest movie studio in the world that is still in continuous product, and it is the oldest one in USA

-          Universal studios’ headquarters are in Universal City, California

-          It has distribution and corporate offices in New York

-          It is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)

-          Universal Studios owns a sizable collection of TV shows through NBCUniversal Television Distribution

-          Selected clips and footage shot by Universal can be bought from the NBCUniversal archives

-          Universal is acquired rights to several prominent filmmakers’ works originally released by other studios through its subsidiaries through the years

-          Universal owned the rights to ‘Oswald the Lucky Rabbit’ character, which enjoyed a successful theatrical run. This eventually led to the creation of Mickey Mouse by Disney.

-          In the early 1950’s Universal set up a distribution company in France, and then in the late 1960’s it set up a production company in Paris

-          Universal studios have several resorts set up around the world including; Hollywood, Orlando Florida, Japan, and Singapore

-          Universal have produced films such as; The Fast and the Furious, American Pie, Jaws and Jurassic Park.

-          Universal have several different divisions – Universal Television, home entertainment, Parks & Resorts, Focus features, working title films, Illumination entertainment, Animation studios.

-          The name ‘Universal’ was chosen after the founder saw a delivery truck with the name ‘Universal pipe fittings’ written on the side

American Graffiti - American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas, the budget for the film was $775,000 and it made around $140,000,000.
Jaws - Jaws is a 1975 – American horror/thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg, it is based on Peter Benchley’s novel ‘Jaws’. The budget for the film was about $8,000,000 and it made around about $430,000,000 and it took $7,000,000 on its first weekend on screen.
Ted – Ted is a 2012 American comedy film; it was released June 29^th 2012 in United States. Ted cost around $50 million and made $500,000,000 approximately

Working Title

- Working Title is a film production company

- It is based in London

- Founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983

- Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan are now the co-owners of the company

- Bevan and Fellner launched subsidiary company in 1999 called

  Working Title 2 productions (WT²)

- The company produced a variety of films for PolyGram's London-  

  based production company PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.

- Working Title is located in London, and is known for having a

  limited number of employees

- The company has other offices located in Los Angeles, and   

  Ireland.

- NBCUniversal is Working Title's parent company.

- Working Title films have produced many films including; Senna, 

  Johnny English reborn, Paul and les misérables.

- It produces films and several TV productions

- Closely works with comic actor Rowan Atkinson

- Working Title and NBCUniversal have launched a new division for  

  developing comedy and drama properties for television, in a joint  

  venture

- In 1992, PolyGram became the company’s corporate backer

- The company released a modernised version of the children's    

  novels, The Borrowes in December 2011 and Abi Morgan's

  adaptation of Birdsong in January 2012.

- Contractually, Working Title were allowed to produce any film with

   a budget up to $35 million

Senna - Senna is a British 2010 documentary film that depicts the life and death of Brazilian motor-racing champion, Ayrton Senna. The film won 13 awards including 2 BAFTA film awards.

Green Zone - Green Zone is a 2010 British-French-American war thriller film directed by Paul Greengrass. The films budget was around $100 million and made about $95 million.

Les Misérables - Les Misérables is an upcoming British musical drama film produced by Working Title Films and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film cost around $61 million and will be released on the 25 December 2012 in the US and on 11 January 2013 in the UK.

 

Essay #1

Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices”. To what extent would you agree with this statement, within the media area you have studied?

It is very important to market a product well in any business; this is because it is important for the audience to know about the product. Products are marketed to the audience in order to generate hype and create an enigma that would entice the audience, it is also important to build up the popularity of a product by integrating it into the audiences lifestyle e.g. on billboards and posters. It is important for a company to market their product to the specific market; this is because they are more likely to make more money if the target audience are aware of the product rather than the unintended audience. For example if a product for older ages was advertised on a child’s channel like Disney, it is unlikely that the company would generate as much money as they would have thought. Marketing to the right audience is the key for a company to getting their product out there. The distribution of a product is just as important as the marketing, this is because if the product isn’t distributed sensibly the audience will not be able to purchase meaning that the company will be losing money for not distributing it.

Without a good product a company will not make money, a company need a good product to sell in order to make a lot of money, the better the product the more money is made, this means that a lot of time and effort has to be spent making sure that the product is good and that there is an audience that will pay for it. Creating a product is the hardest bit about making and distributing the product, it takes a lot of talent to come up with a product that will appeal to people and go on to sell. The company has to come up with an idea for a product and then have to go around making the idea ‘come to life’, the company go from nothing to a successful product that is adored by many. This is a very hard and important job to do, and the people who do this are the most well known within the company e.g. Steve Jobs, Apple and James Dyson, Dyson. These people are recognised as the key figures in the company as they are the people who come up with the ideas for products and therefore people see them as the most important people in the company.

I think that it is extremely hard for someone to come up with an idea and then make a product that people are willing to spend their money on, it takes great imagination to do this. Then going about making the product takes great skill to get everything right. The job of the marketing team is just to make the sure that the audience are aware of the product so that they go out and buy it. The team need to make sure that they market it to the right people and in the right platforms, in papers, magazines, television, radio etc. This does take some creativeness so that the audience take notice of the product. I think that both the production of the product and the marketing take great skill and time to make sure that they are both as good as they can be, I believe that successful media products do depend as much upon marketing and distribution as they do upon good production practices, I think this because it is all well and good having a good product but without the marketing of the product the audience will not know about the product. If the audience don’t know about it they won’t go out and purchase the item or watch the film, this means the company won’t gain any money. This is why I agree with the statement as without the marketing team the audience would not be aware of the product and therefore not buy it.

Regional Identity - Doc Martin

One of the first characters that we see in the clip is Doc Martin, in this clip the plumbers are in the foreground and he is in the background and he towers over the over two characters. This shows that he is more important than the other two characters and he has higher authority. In the clip they are positioned like a podium. The young plumber is the lowest down, and then the father is higher up than him, then Doc Martin towers over the both of them again showing that he is more important. We can see from very early on the clip that Doc Martin is of a higher class than the others, we can see this from the way in which he dressed. He is wearing a suit which shows high authority, and a better paid job, it also shows that he is quite powerful. Doc martin speaks in Standard English, again showing that he is of higher class as the other people in the clip don’t speak Standard English. Also both of the plumbers have an accent whereas Doc Martin doesn’t, this shows us that he is of a different regional identity, and this is backed up by the way in which he acts and dresses. For example when he comes into the room he asks the plumbers (the locals) what a word means, this shows that he isn’t used to how they speak. When Doc Martin takes the dog to the police he is very abrupt, he doesn’t want to stay and talk to him he just wants to get rid of the dog. Also he has dismissive body language; he always walks with his hands in his pockets showing that he is quite reserved and doesn’t really want to speak to anyone. Doc Martin is also quite highly strung, we can see this when the women in the street comes up to him and starts to talk to him, he doesn’t want to talk to the women so he carries on walking.

Another character in the clip is the young plumber, we first see him in a low establishing shot doing his job, as his dad sits there and eats his sandwich, this shows that he is a harder working than his dad, or maybe his dad is just training him. He is wearing overalls and he has a pencil behind his ear, this shows that he has a lower paid job as people who have a status normally dress smarter rather than doing labour work. The son also has an accent, this shows that he is from the area, as it matches the locals’ accent, but you can see that Doc Martin is not a local as he doesn’t have an accent. You can hear from the way that they speak that the characters are not equal, this is because Doc martin seems more intelligent as he doesn’t have an accent, but the young plumber does, showing that he is maybe less intelligent. Although the son doesn’t adhere to the regional identity, we see this when he begins to speak about the topic, he is an intelligent character. This doesn’t match the regional stereotype as the rest of them are doing manual labour jobs, showing that they are less intelligent than people that have office jobs. When he begins to talk the son stands up showing that he is higher than his dad, this shows he is more intelligent but it wasn’t expected. When there is a water leak all of the local characters seemed to be quite laid back about it but Doc Martin is the opposite of that as he is worried about it.

The older plumber is introduced to us at the same time as his son, we can see that he isn’t doing much work, just sitting eating a sandwich, showing us that he seems to be a quite laid back character. He thinks that he is a higher status than his son and has more power, this is shown in the way he addressed his son, he refers to him as boy even though he is a young man, and this shows that the dad thinks that he is a much higher status than his son. This is backed up by the camera as in the early shot he is higher up than his son but is lower than Doc Martin, showing that he is in the middle of the two; he would like to think he is anyway. When Doc Martin asks him what the word means he keeps stuttering and takes his time to get the meaning out. This is portrayed in the length of the shot; the shot goes on for around 16 seconds this shows that the dad drones on a lot. The water leak incident is another little clip that shows us that he is a laid back character. He doesn’t get up to help with the leak or even think of a way to stop he, he just carries on eating, this shows that he is very laid back and doesn’t really care about what is happening. At the same time Doc Martin is rushing around trying to stop the leak. We can tell that the dad is a local from his accent the way in which he speaks, he has an accent that matches the rest of the locals, he is also the one that Doc Martin asks about the word that he doesn’t know, and this suggests that he is a local as he knows what it means. Also nobody in the village seems to have a high quality job such as an office job, they all seem to be in manual labour, as he is again suggesting he is local.