Film pitch - 'Unauthorised personnel'

Unauthorised Personnel is a crime/action/drama story about 17 year old student Clyde Kennedy, the son of Gerald Kennedy - a middle-aged criminal mastermind and reputed member of anti-government organisation: 'RTTS'. Gerald discovers that type U-235 enriched uranium is securely cached at Clyde's college site, which leads to a high-priority stealth operation executed by the academically successful and socially-anxious teenager; alongside unexpected personnel. Unauthorised Personnel offers an all-action element to the film Spy Kids. The film provides appeal to late-teen audiences with an effective coalition of serious crime, teen drama and explosive action. 

Clyde Kennedy has an established reputation of being the son in a criminal family and is neglected among his social groups for his intellect and shady background. Clyde commits the mistake (which he very soon regrets) of informing his father regarding the storage of type U-235 enriched uranium at his college. This develops interest for Gerald and results into Clyde having to operate a series of tasks under the surveillance of RTTS to obtain intel of accessing the lethal substance - tasks which could not only sabotage his reputation but also kill the 17 year old.

"A brilliant addition to the Christmas watch-list for the stealthy action fanatics" - TIME 

"Ferociously suspenseful" - EMPIRE
"An ideal approach to the teenage mind" - The Telegraph 

Log-line : 'Unauthorised Personnel'

'Unauthorised Personnel' is a crime/action/drama story about 17 year old student Clyde Kennedy, the son of Gerald Kennedy - a middle-aged criminal mastermind and reputed member of anti-government organisation: 'RTTS'. Gerald discovers that type U-235 enriched uranium is securely cached at Clyde's college site, which leads to a high-priority stealth operation executed by the academically successful and socially-anxious teenager; alongside unexpected personnel. 

Genre: Crime/Drama

Initial Ideas

Genre & setting initial ideas for Assignment 2 

Advertising of films via posters & trailers

1. Street Dreams 

Genre: Drama/Sport

Key conventions (poster): Relevant and eye-catching central image, relevantly manipulated film title, cleverly constructed film tagline, flash names and production blurb. 

Key conventions (trailer): Key scenes, film title latency, names of main stars, on-screen text, music.

Target audience: 11-30 years, primarily skateboarding enthusiasts.

Reasons for this being successful promotion: The poster features a skateboarder's deck being confiscated by a police officer. This represents the general rejection of skaters in society for no valid reason but to commit to their passion. Skateboarding enthusiasts can relate to the lifestyle of the characters presented in the trailer, therefore successfully appealing to the target audience and more.

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2. Gravity

Genre: Drama/Sci-Fi/Thriller 

Key conventions (poster): Relevant and eye-catching central image, relevantly manipulated film title, cleverly constructed film tagline, flash names and production blurb. 

Key conventions (trailer): Key scenes, film title latency, names of directors/producers.

Target audience: 13-45 years, primarily male, sci-fi enthusiasts. 

Reasons for this being successful promotion: The poster is highly surreal and eye-catching. The surrealism of an astronaut falling out into space creates curiosity for the audience as well as suggesting the plot of the film storyline. The trailer highlights the climax/plot of the film which is regarded as exciting and will fascinate audiences. 

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3. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi

Key conventions (poster): Relevant and eye-catching central image, relevantly manipulated film title, cleverly constructed film tagline and production blurb. 

Key conventions (trailer): Key scenes, film title latency, powerful voice-over, on-screen text, music.

Target audience: 13-21 years, primarily female.

Reasons for this being successful promotion: Successfully follows the prequel Hunger Games film. Creates suspense with the trailer with the use of the gradual on-screen text being a form of information being revealed to the audience. The poster's central image is elegantly manipulated and suits the 'fire' theme. Overally appeals to the target audiences and Hunger Games established fan-base from prequel success.

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Key conventions of film posters & trailers

Key conventions of film posters

• Attractive image/compilation of images; often related to the stars/characters and/or setting of the film.

• Film title; considerably manipulated in terms of font, size, colour, effects, placement and genre correspondence.

• Film Tagline; catchy advertisement slogan; offers insight into genre and main theme and content of film.

• Flash names; known associates such as lead actors/directors/producers who are acknowledged for previous production and specialities in a specific film genre.

• Critic review(s); (for example. Empire magazine) giving their comments such as ‘an unmissable film’ and commonly ratings such as '8 out of 10', '5/5'.

• Awards and/or award nominations; clearly placed on the poster to highlight positive aspects of the film.

• The production blurb; information, in tiny print, that lists the production and distribution companies as well as other information.

Key conventions of film trailers

• Key scenes; do not give away any crucial plot details (some trailers are criticised for giving away too many details); inserted strategically to market film in a certain way.

• Film title latency; not usually put on screen until the end of the trailer, often followed by the release date.

• Names of main stars; put on screen early on in the trailer. This is important as it lets audiences know who they can expect to see in the film. Audiences will often decide they want to see a film just because of the stars in it.

• Names of the director and/or producer; with phrases such as ‘from the director/makers of…’ This helps the audience to make connections between the film being trailed and previously successful and recognised films.

• Powerful voice-over; draws our attention to the key points of the film.

• On screen text; gives important information about the film, including the stars, director/producers, tagline, title and release date. 

• Music; essential in trailers as it can suggest the genre, style and plot of the film.

Assignment 1 - Magazine cover - production & analysis

Final production of custom magazine cover - 'Calibre' 

Final analysis (page 3/3) of custom magazine cover - 'Calibre' 

Current progress of magazine cover - 'Calibre'

Obviously I yet have a lot to do, but this is what I'm submitting as my current progress of my magazine cover for 'Calibre'. 

Halo 4 - Audience Profile

TEXT:

Halo 4 is a first-person shooter video game developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios  for the Xbox 360 video game console. Halo 4 is a shooter game in which players predominantly experience gameplay from a first-person perspective; the game perspective switches to third-person when using certain weapons, abilities and vehicles. The player's head-up display (HUD) shows real-time information on the player character's armor system, such as shield status, information on current weapons and abilities, and waypoints for goals and objectives. The HUD also has a motion tracker that detects allies, enemies, and vehicles within a certain radius of the player.

The majority of Halo 4 gamers are 17 year old male students living in cities such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, Sydney, Melbourne, Chicago, Los Angeles etc. This is justified due to the fact that Halo 4 is an online game requiring high-speed broadband which is most efficiently accessible in suburban locations. Furthermore, 17 year olds tend to play the game with their peers from school, therefore creating such a demography.

People within this range are most likely to purchase products such as Vans shoes, Monster energydrinks, Samsung smart-phones, MadCatz stereo gaming earphones, as well as the necessity to be able to play the game - the Microsoft XBOX 360.

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Typography task

As displayed above, most significantly, the words: 

'Madness', 'Radiation', 'Globe', 'Relax' and 'Brittle',

 are edited in terms of font, colour, graphics, scale and texture according to the theme and connotation of the specific word. 

The Minority Report - Shot by shot analysis

Photo storyboard - Camera shots

Shot 1 - Establishing shot

Generates the scene of the story. From the bird's eye view it can be established that the victim is being approached by two pursuers as he proceeds towards the staircase. 

Shot 2 - Long shot 

Assists the audience to identify with the victim. The character is presented as unaware and vulnerable due to the high camera angle.Consists of one primary subject in the scene.

Shot 3 - Over the shoulder shot

Displays the viewpoint of one of the pursuers. The audience can see the action from the predatory perspective. Consists of two primary subjects in the scene.

Shot 4 - Medium shot

Constitutes that the victim is about to be attacked. Develops tension and the audience may question and attempt to predict the consequence. 

Shot 5 - Medium Long shot

Further development of tension as the pursuers begin to advance on the victim as he is now aware of the two 'followers'. 

Shot 6 - Long shot

Clearly and effectively presents the distance between the two characters and the victim. A dramatic effect is created due to this because the audience may be curious to discover the result subsequent to such action. 

Shot 7 - Over the shoulder shot

Shows the scene which the victim has left behind as he attempts to escape from them. Humour is created because this shot enables the audience to see the character falling (physical comedy) - common aspect of television as the fallen is aided by his companion.

Shot 8 - Medium close up

Focuses on the facial expressions and body language of the two pursuers. The victim is surrounded in a confined area and this creates a sense of claustrophobia for the audience, hence creating empathy for the victim.

Shot 9 - Medium close up

 The audience can sympathise for the victim as he is in a threatened position. The camera shot enables the audience to view facial expressions by both subjects.

Shot 10 - Long shot 

Concludes the storyline, the victim has been dealt with and is left helpless as the pursuers finish their act.

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(EBI) I am aware that there is a lack of a close-up shot, which could've been quite useful. 

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Fruit Bowl Task

This is my submission for this task - based on the theme of surreal art. 

All the images used share the idea of surrealism. I chose these particular images because they closely relate to the letimotif of fruit, trees, nature etc.

Each section of the original template was selectively 'filled in' with segments of the images used as appropriate to the implied object (fruit, bowl, background). 

Peculiarly, I chose to invert the colour of the outline to white from black as it appeared more compatible with the rest of the colours than it would with the default colour. 

This was an enjoyable task and enabled students to unlock the creative side of media studies and Adobe Photoshop use.  

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Analysis of concepts used in video-game advertisements

Grand Theft Auto 5 is an upcoming game scheduled to release on various platforms on 17th September 2013. 

This post will analyse the features and key concepts used by 'Rockstar North' in order to send a message to target audiences.

The language which is used in this particular form of media is concise and compatible for the intended purpose - to convince audiences to purchase or 'pre-order' the game. An appealing factor of this message is the pledge to be given a 'FREE POSTER' if customers pre-order. 

The institution of the game as well as the developer of this poster is Rockstar North. The institution aims to sell this game well on release date as it is a sequel to previous best-selling games. Additionally, Rockstar uses these promotive methods to ensure that pre-orders of the game are made so that sales are guaranteed before release date, hence this poster was published.

The target audience of this poster (as well as the game itself) is mostly males aged 16 and above. This is supported by the placement of a female on the majority of the poster in clothes (well, lack of clothes) which presents sexual appeal. Additionally, the name 'Grand Theft Auto' or more commonly referred to the acronym 'GTA' is well known and will immediately attract persons within the target audience, due to interest.

This poster consists of representation of a female animated character who is presented as a trendy young woman with sexual appeal. This is due to the 'peace sign' pose combined with the parody iPhone back camera facing towards the audience, imitating the mirror 'selfie' images on social-media. Additionally, the inclusion of the '#GTAIV' twitter hashtag adds to the trend representation. These factors contribute to more attention drawn to this poster as audiences can recognise these symbols and items and therefore develop interest.

These conventions are significant as they draw attention and generate interestedness towards the advertisement by target audiences. These conventions are cleverly designed to attract these audiences by the research conducted by the institution. Consequently, the institution can successfully spread the intended message to its audience, in this case it is to convince the target audience to pre-order this game.

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Summer videogame research project

                        GCSE Media Studies : Marketing and promotion of videogames                   

                                                                                                   Battlefield 3 - Electronic Arts 

                                                                             Battlefield 3 is a first-person shooter developed and published by Electronic Arts (EA), released globally from October 25th-November 2nd 2011. The game resulted a sale quotient of 5 million copies (priced at a launch price of approximately £50) within its initial week of release on platforms XBOX 360, WIndows PC & Playstation 3.

Reactions from game critics and magazines were generally impressed and reviews suggested the game to consist of an 'unmatched experience'. Review scores ranged from 8/10 to 9.5/10.

According to EA, Battlefield 3 garnered 3 million pre-orders by the day of its release.The pre-order total makes it "the biggest first-person shooter launch in EA history", according to the publisher.

Awards

• Best Shooter, 2011 IGN People's Choice Award
• Best Multiplayer Game, 2011 IGN People's Choice Award
• Best Xbox 360 Shooter, Best of 2011 IGN Award & 2011 IGN People's Choice Award
• Best Xbox 360 Multiplayer Game, Best of 2011 IGN Award & 2011 IGN People's Choice Award
• Best PS3 Shooter, 2011 IGN People's Choice Award
• Best PS3 Multiplayer Game, Best of 2011 IGN Award & 2011 IGN People's Choice Award
• Best PC Shooter, Best of 2011 IGN Award & 2011 IGN People's Choice Award
• Best PC Multiplayer Game, Best of 2011 IGN Award & 2011 IGN People's Choice Award

                                                                        __________







Battlefield 3 was developed by an EA infant company -  Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment (DICE). The biggest break for DICE was the release of Battlefield 1942 and its sequels and expansions. The Battlefield series jump-started their popularity. In 2004, the total value of the company was estimated at approximately US$55 million.




                                                                        __________

BF3 was marketed heavily with over $100 million spent on the marketing campaign. After the reveal of the game (3rd Feb 2011), several trailers were released which highlighted different features of the game such as the multiplayer and single-player campaign mode. Trailer releases were promoted on YouTube, Twitter and Faceboook in the week before the release. EA released a multiplayer trailer which consisted of actual gameplay footage. Billboards and magazine advertisements were also published pre-release of the game, as well as TV ads.

                                                                      ____________

The target audience for EA's Battlefield 3 is mainly designated to young males.

The marketing and promotion campaign of Battlefield 3 was successful due to its reception in terms of sales revenue - BF3 made it is EA's single fastest selling game in history. (see http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/278534,battlefield-3-is-the-most-successful-ea-game-of-all-time.aspx)




EA have revealed the sequel 'Battlefield 4' which is projected to launch on next generation consoles Playstation 4 and XBOX One, as well as the platforms of the prequel. This time EA have used a different approach of marketing the game by attending and promoting the game at more gaming conferences, as well as continuing to use traditional methods.

DICE have taken a more serious approach with the marketing of BF4 than with the prequel. This has been demonstrated by EA and DICE as a whole taking advantage of gaming events and conferences such as ‘E3 2013’. Following up to the event, EA release a short teaser trailer with very limited information to tantalise the target market as well as potential gamers. This was successful move because this information was circulating over social media websites such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Plenty of promotional material such as posters was distributed in EA games as well as being put up in popular public locations – promotional method. 

 

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HSBC 'Different Values' Advertisement

My version of the advertisement has the theme of 'communication' and the images involved represent three different ways in which a person can communicate with others. The pictures vary with the audience which the person (in the image) is communicating with, the age of the pictured individual, as well as their professions.

How could I improve it?

• The freedom of the inclusion of images taken by myself according to the variant themes and meanings of the pictures.
• The elimination of constricted dimensions and layout to support the running theme of the 'Different Values' campaign.

How could I have done it differently?

• The utilisation of different fonts.
• Different images.
• Different quote to support the theme of communication.                                                         

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Textual Analysis

Genre 

The embedded clip is classified as a 'Sports Advertisement'. The purpose of the clip is to promote Paul Rodriguez's signature Nike SB merchandise consisting of shoes, T-shirts e.t.c. 

Audience 
The clip targets an audience of a narrow range. This includes skateboarding enthusiasts and those who listen to hip-hop (particularly music by Ice Cube as he features in the advert). The most probably age range for the target audience is 10-30 years. 

Platform 
This clip was featured on television in the United States at the time of its initial publishing. It is now available on-line on websites such as YouTube and Vimeo. 

Introduction

Welcome to my GCSE Media Studies blog!

    

Why did I choose this course? 

I've always wanted to do this course. Since he age of around 5 I've had a passionate interest for Media & Technology, from which spirit I have learnt and developed many skills throughout the duration of the last several years.

I believe that Media is a very varied and interesting subject, from which I anticipate to learn key terminology and more about media analysis and film studies.

I look forward to the following year.