prep for the mock exam

Codes and conventions are everything that make up a film poster such as: Main Image: The main image dominates the front cover and lets the reader know who the main person they about in the film. Cover line: The cover line supports the main image and tells the reader what is happening in the image. Masthead: The masthead is usually the text with the biggest, boldest font so it catches the readers attention. House Style: House style is when you use only 2 or 3 main colours and 1 or 2 different types of font so it doesn’t look to busy and looks easy to understand. Most sci- fi films are usually set in space with lots of aliens that don’t exist to make it more fun for children viewing it. Sci -fi also represents the different galaxies that exists to make it exciting for the viewers to watch they also make it like alternate universe. The term institution is commonly applied to customers and behaviour patterns which are important in society. Institution are also a central concern for political rule making and enforcement. Institution are stable valued reoccurring patterns of behaviour

gravity case study

we will market our film by advertising in various different ways:

• social networking sites
• billboards
• newspapers
• magazines
• tv advertisements 
• the underground
• bus stops

we chose to use these marketing techniques to advertise our film because they will be seen by many people as they are shown easily for the public. 

social networking sites: the internet has become more popular in the modern day, most people(typically teenagers) are using the internet more and therefore keeping with this drastic movement in society will allow our film to reach out at our target audience of 15-18 years. we will create our own social networking site pages on websites such as Facebook, Instagram etc this will allow us to reach to our target audience, allow the audience to read more information about the film, behind the scene photos etc .  we will also create our own website this will allow us to place all our behind the scenes clips, images etc, giving our audience a greater insight of our film. 

Billboards:  we will market our film by placing the theatrical and teaser posters on billboards in well advertised parts of London, London is the closest main city near our current location and by placing our image on billboards in more publicised areas will create a greater audience for our film. areas such as Trafalgar square, Piccadilly circus as they would have alot of moving film and still picture billboards. it has alot of publicity and press, also a great tourist attraction therefore expanding our audience 

newspapers and magazines: newspapers and magazines are generally used less nowadays for the teenage age group as social networking sites and the internet have reached greater globalisation. however typically the elder generation will read newspapers and magazines and our film will still reach out to them and we want to cater for as many people (in our target audience) as possible. we will chose magazines for teenagers such as 'more' and 'closer' which are all fashion and lifestyle magazines, however have a film section within, because our target audience is the same as these magazines we will target the right age group.  we also advertise in the film magazines such as 'empire ' which is due to popularity will reach a larger audience, it is an am American based company therefore our film can reach further than the united kingdom. also the newspapers will use will be ones such as 'the guardian'  as there is a section on films on their website and newspapers and are popular newspaper to advertise our film to a larger audience as well as typically the age group will be elder. 

TV adverts: advertising our film on TV will be a great advertising technique for our film as we will be reaching into a larger audience of all ages. because our film is certificated 15-18 we will advertise at around 9pm as this is where younger children - not appropriate for our film  are least likely to be watching TV. The advert will include  our film trailer both teaser and theatrical depending on the time slot allowed to us.  We will advertise on TV channels such as film4 and sky movies.  This is because they advertise and show only films and therefore would be fitting for our type of media product - our sci-fi film.  

Underground and Bus stops:  We chose to advertise our films on the underground - on posters and bill boards as well as small posters placed around, we chose bus stops and sides of buses to place our poster on to promote our film because it will reach a larger audience, according to 'www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/' - 3.5 million passenger journeys are made everyday on London's tube therefore marketing our film on the london underground will allow various amount of people different class, age etc advertising to a diverse and greater amount of people.  Bus stops give the same amount of coverage as the london underground however using bus stops we can target more local ones and well as the ones in London. 

The genre that needs to be emphasised is fairytale because it gives a different and unexpected twist to the film.

We think the parts that are more likely to appeal to our target audience is the violent scenes as well as the romantic scenes.

All aspects of the film are vitality important from the begging to the end as it keeps audience focused and interested and on the edge of their seats!

The unique selling points of the film is the cast, the better the cast the bigger the audience  

Star wars media homework from LouisaRose27

Usability Testing - A hero's journey from Eewei Chen

Archetype: is a term used by Carl Jung to describe universal and recurring characters. the root of this word comes from greek archetypos this means 'first of its kind'. Achretypal characters share certain common features that possess elements of universality. They are able to transcend cultural boundaries. the term hero has long been used to identify the main character story

 

 

High Concept Film:    a high concept film is a film which  a shocking  story line that makes promotion and marketing 'easy'. for example" may the force be with you" comes from star wars and everyone always remembers where it comes from. The film normally appeals to the audience before the film has even come out because many people watch the trailers before they watch the movies  The story line usually really hooks and intrigues the audience.

 

 

Archetypes in films for instance in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory we have many archetypes for example Charlie is a very good child sometimes his character is described as a goody two shoes where as Veruca Salt is completely the opposite she is a very annoying girl is very high maintenance and expects lots of things of her parents as soon as she sees something she wants it such as the golden egg  towards the end of the film and she throws a massive tantrum. another example of an archetype is Augustus Gloop who is very glutton and lazy. as he goes round the factory he wants all the chocolate for himself and if he had it his way he would not let anyone touch it!

s way he wouldn't let anyone touch it! 




Different archetypes:


The Chief-  Gandalf from lord of the rings
The Bad boy- The Joker from batman
The best friend- Rowley from diary of the wimpy kid
The lost soul- Anakin sky walker from star wars
The charmer-  jack dawson from Titanic
The professor- DR Frankenstein from hotel Transylvania 2
The swashbuckler- Peeta Malone from hunger games
The warrior- Achilles from troy

gravity review

Big science fiction films are all the rage this year (Oblivion, Elysium, Pacific Rim...) and Gravity is finally one worth watching. From the trailers I had no idea what to expect. George Clooney and Sandra Bullock floating around in space for two hours eventually became my best guess. I rushed the film at the Toronto International Film Festival and when someone said they were showing it in 3D, I was half tempted to leave the line. I hate 3D movies, they give me awful headaches and I don't see the point of them. As soon as Gravity started, I changed my mind.

The 3D definitely adds something to the film. The opening shot of earth and space is absolutely beautiful. The film starts up fast enough. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are both out doing repairs on the spaceship when Houston warns them the Russians blew up their own satellite and accidentally destroyed every other satellite there is. Debris is coming their way and they have to get back to earth as soon as possible. Of course, from the trailers we see that debris does his them, and without a spaceship they must find another way home.

George Clooney basically plays George Clooney in a space suit (a funny self-loving character also often played by Robert Downey Jr) and Sandra Bullock plays a doctor who was trained a few months for this mission only. George gets very little screen time but Sandra shines throughout the whole film. Despite her being alone, I would say there is quite a lot of action in the film. She's alone out there and you feel you are too. The film takes you in space and it feels claustrophobic to be there. It keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Throughout the film, you see Sandra's character growing as well. Not only is she trying to get back home, but she's finding the will to do so as well.

The film is a visual masterpiece. For once, the 3D definitely adds something to the experience. You get the depth of field you need to truly experience the movie and feel as through you're right there with Sandra. She gives an absolutely stunning performance, acting to absolutely nothing, yet always being right on the spot.

If you get a chance to see Gravity in theatres, go for it, especially if you see it in 3D (even if you usually hate 3D, believe me, it's worth it.) Alfonso Cuarón has outdone himself with this film, it's definitely a must see for sci-fi lovers.

the maze runner review

I recently watched this movie called "The Maze Runner", a scientific thriller film directed by Wes Ball. The main character Thomas wakes up in a rusty elevator and has no memory. He is in a community full of strangers in a place known as "The Glade". The place is enclosed by a massive maze and there is no escape. Thomas and his crew face a lot of challenges but they learn the ins and outs of the maze and finally find an escape route. The movie is filled with great suspense and kept me entertained at all times. The story opens with Thomas who wakes up in an elevator which was filled with water for a couple of hours. He is rescued by a gang of unfamiliar teenagers in a place called "The Glade". Thomas is unable to remember anything about himself. Alby, the leader of the group tells Thomas the condition is normal and he should remember his name soon. Alby shows Thomas around and how the Glade works. Thomas wonders whats beyond the maze and whether there is a way to escape. But he is warned by Alby not to go in the maze. While learning about The Glade, he meets Chuck and they both become friends. In the night there is a celebration to welcome Thomas. Every month a new person arrives and supplies come. Newt, a second in command and gardener tells Thomas the maze keeps changing and the only way to escape is to go through the maze. The Runners are the only one that are allowed to enter the maze. They plan for an escape route in the day and return back before nightfall. One of the boys end up with a fight with another boy named Gally, during which Thomas remembers his name. The next morning when Thomas is gathering supplies in the woods he is attacked by Ben, who has been stung by grievers; deadly monsters that roam around the maze in the night. The boys decide to banish Ben and leave him in the maze to die. On the other hand, one of the boys Alby is stung and unconscious. Minho, drags Alby to the entrance gate of the maze but is unable to make it through. Seeing this Thomas runs inside the maze and helps. The three boys survive at night with Thomas successfully killing the griever, and they return the next day with Alby which kept the other boys astonished. A few days later a new girl arrives Teresa, with a note in her hand "She is the final one". On the other hand Thomas accompanies Minho to the maze and discovers an escape route. After finding an escape route, all the boys follow Thomas inside the maze.With lots of twists and turns towards in the end, the boys finally made it through and they find an escape route. They discover that they were living in the world with a fatal disease known as The Flare. I really liked the photography of the film. The best part of The Maze Runner is the maze itself. The way the maze is built in a 3D form with creepy noises and monsters living inside it. Another aspect which I really enjoyed was the action pack sequence. The action pack sequence shown in the film is great. Most of the times there are fighting scenes with Thomas defeating the griever which is very entertaining to watch. Most of the action scenes were amazing and it seemed the grievers were real. One of my favorite actors is Thomas; the main protagonist of the film did a great job. Although, he faced many obstacles on the way but he acted bravely and went through fear. He also put himself in danger to help his friend. I also really liked the suspense and action of the movie. The one thing I learned from this movie was how courage and bravery were shown. With an unfamiliar place with strangers, and the will to escape this prison with challenges. I learned that don't lose hope and be prepared to face any challenges that come across. This movie is mainly to the teenagers as of today many teens like to watch movies of suspense and action. I would not recommend this movie for children because there is a lot of fear and violence. A lot of dead bodies as most boys while were crushed and killed by the griever. In my opinion, I think this is a great and interesting movie filled with a lot of action and suspense. I would rate this movie a 5/5 because it kept be entertained from the beginning to the end. The photography and the visual effects were spectacular and eye-catching.

star wars a new hope summary

 a distant galaxy known before the creation of the mythical planet known as Earth, vast civilizations have evolved, and ruling the galaxy is an interstellar Empire created from the ruins of an Old Republic that held sway for generations. It is a time of civil war, as solar systems have broken away from the Empire and are waging a war of rebellion. During a recent battle, technical schematics for a gigantic space station, code named the Death Star, have been unearthed by Rebel spies, and a young woman who is a dissident member of the Imperial Senate, under the cover of a diplomatic mission to the planet Alderaan, is trying to smuggle these plans to the Rebellion. But her spacecraft is attacked by a vast warship of the Empire and seized. The dissident Senator is captured, but the plans for the Death Star are nowhere to be found. While soldiers of the Empire search the nearby planet Tatooine, a series of incidents sweeps up a young desert farmer with dreams of being a fighter pilot in the Rebellion, as he winds up with the Death Star plans and also the assistance of an elderly hermit who once served as a warrior of an ancient order whose chosen weapons were powerful energy swords known as lightsabers. The pair recruit a cynical interstellar smuggler and his outsized alien copilot with an ancient freighter heavily modified for combat to help them reach Alderaan - but the planet is obliterated and now the foursome must rescue the young woman held prisoner by the Empire and lead an attack by the Rebellion against the Death Star before it can annihilate all hope of restoring freedom to the galaxy.

Back to the Future

the hunger games review

The hunger games is a thrilling and superbly acted film. the hunger games captures the dramatic violence, raw emotion and ambitious scope of its source novel. the dystopian universe could have been more well explored, while the shaky camera in the action scenes makes it a bit hard to follow what is happening on screen. Still this is an exhilarating movie that benefits a lot from charismatic characters and great performances. Also this film creates an atmosphere unlike anything you've seen before. when Katniss' sister Prim is chosen as a tribute for the 74th annual hunger games, she will not have it, she volunteers herself to compete. the hungers games is like a battle to death 12 districts across the world compete in the hunger games, it is a televised event that happens out of pure chance many of the contenders have been trained, while Katniss is forced to rely on her hunting knowledge and coaching instructions as she meets Peeta her feelings for the game change, when she finds out that he is in love with her 24 contestants are forced into battle, only one comes out alive. the acting is brilliant by the entire cast especially Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson who play Katniss and Peeta, their emotions run on a high throughout the film I was on the edge of my seat the entire way through although it does have its fair share of clichés of course and those are minor faults.

Star Wars

Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a wookiee and two droids to save the universe from the Empire's world-destroying battle-station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the evil Darth Vader. it was released the 27th December 1977 and the writer and director of this film was George Lucas the budget for this film was 11,000,000 dollars the cast contains: Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker Harrison Ford as Han Solo Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin Alec Guinness as Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi Anthony Daniels as C-3PO Kenny Baker as R2-D2 Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca David Prowse as Darth Vader Phil Brown as Uncle Owen Shelagh Fraser as Aunt Beru Jack Purvis as Chief Jawa Alex McCrindle as General Dodonna Eddie Byrne General Willard Drewe Henley as Red Leader

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key concepts by Louisa Rose

Key words for science fiction film

Synergy-  the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects

Convergence - Media convergence is the merging of mass communication outlets – print, television, radio, the Internet along with portable and interactive technologies through various digital media platforms

B movie - a low-budget film of inferior quality made for use as a supporting feature in a cinema programme

Ontological –   it refers to the subject of existence and what it means to be human

Dystopia- A dystopia is a community or society that is undesirable or frightening

Intertextuality - Intertextuality is the shaping of a text's meaning by another text. Intertextual figures include: allusion, quotation, calque, plagiarism, translation, pastiche and parody

Iconography-  Iconography is an important aspect of genre. We expect to see certain objects on screen when we see a particular genre, for example, in a Western, dusty lonely roads, saloon bars, cowboy hats and horses, jails, sheriffs badges, guns, etc..

 Mise- en scene - the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play. the setting or surroundings of an event.

 

Binary opposites- A binary opposition (also binary system) is a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning. Binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another.

 Ideology- a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.

the history of science fiction film

History of science fiction (1920's-2000's)
Instead, the decade saw the rise of film serials: low-budget, quickly-produced shorts depicting futuristic, heroic adventures. action, melodramatic plots, and gadgetry. Echoes of this style can still be seen in science fiction and action films today, as well as in the various James Bond films. Some of the most popular of the era were the various Flash Gordon films, the exploits of Buck Rogers, and others, such as the quasi-science fiction 1920s: Meanwhile, in Europe, the 1920s displayed a distinct difference from American cinema. European film-makers began to use the genre for prediction and social commentary. In Russia, the film Aelita discussed social revolution in the context of a voyage to Mars. In Germany, one of the most important pioneers of science fiction was the Expressionist Fritz Lang. His 1927 film Metropolis was the most expensive film ever released up to that point. Set in the year 2026, it included elements such as an autonomous robot, a mad scientist, a dystopian society, and elaborate futuristic sets. His 1929 work Frau im Mond, or Woman In The Moon, came as the silent film era was coming to a close, and notably introduced the idea of counting down the time to a rocket launch. reluctant to finance the expensive futuristic sets necessary for this type of film. Although the 1936 British film Things to Come, written by H. G. Wells, projected the world 100 years into the future and forecasted the advent of World War II, it too was a box-office flop, and films with serious speculation and visual spectacle of the future would largely disappear until the 1950s.

1930s and 1940’s: Movies during the 1930s were largely impacted by the advent of sound and dialogue, and by the effects of the Great Depression that began in 1929. Audiences began to pursue films with more escapist themes, leading to a decline in serious speculative films. After the failure of the big-budget 1930 American film Just Imagine, studios were Dick Tracy. They continued to use science fiction elements like space travel, high-tech gadgets, plots for world domination, and mad scientists.

Other elements of science fiction were carried into the burgeoning horror genre, driven by the massive success of the Universal Studios' Frankenstein and its sequel Bride of Frankenstein. Many Universal Horror films, such as The Invisible Man and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde prominently featured mad scientists and experiments gone wrong, as did other monster movies like The Vampire Bat, Doctor X, and Dr. Cyclops.

Sequels to successful horror films continued into World War II, and the 1940s also saw the development of patriotic superhero serials like Fleischer Studio's animated Superman short subjects that often doubled as war propaganda. However, science fiction as an independent genre lay mostly dormant throughout the war.

1950s: Two events at the end of World War II had major impacts on the science fiction genre. The development of the atomic bomb increased interest in science, as well as anxiety about the possible apocalyptic effects of a nuclear war. The period also saw the beginning of the Cold War, and widespread Communist paranoia in the United States. These led to a major increase in the number of sci-fi films being created throughout the 1950s, and creating a Golden Age of Science Fiction that matched the one taking place in literature

One of the earlier and most important films of the era was 1950's widely publicized Destination Moon. It follows a nuclear-powered rocketship carrying four men to the moon, against a background of competition against the Soviets. With a script co-written by Robert A. Heinlein and astronomical sets by renowned space artist Chesley Bonestell, the film was a commercial and artistic success, and it brought about more studio financing of science fiction film. The producer of Destination Moon was notably George Pal who also helped create When Worlds Collide, The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, and the pseudo-documentary of manned space exploration Conquest of Space. Although Conquest of Space was a commercial failure that set back Pal's career, the other four each won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, which demonstrated the increased technical excellence and critical recognition of the genre.

 1960s: The era of manned trips to the Moon saw a resurgence of interest in the science fiction film in the 1970s. Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, both released in 1977, contained a mystical element reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The space discoveries of the 1970s created a growing sense of marvel about the universe that was reflected in these films.

However, the early 1970s also saw the continued theme of paranoia, with humanity under threat from ecological or technological adversaries of its own creation. Notable films of this period included Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange 1971 (man vs. brainwashing), THX 1138 1971 (man vs. the state), Silent Running1972 (ecology), the sequels to Planet of the Apes (man vs. evolution), and Westworld 1973 (man vs. robot).

The history of science fiction films parallels that of the motion picture industry as a whole, although it took several decades before the genre was taken seriously. Since the 1960s, major science fiction films have succeeded in pulling in large audience shares, and films of this genre have become a regular staple of the film industry. Science fiction films have led the way in special effects technology, and have also been used as a vehicle for social commentary.

Following the huge success of Star Wars, science fiction became bankable again and each major studio rushed into production their available projects. As a direct result, the Star Trek Television series was reborn as a film franchise that continued through the 1980s and 1990s.

Thanks to the Star Wars 1977 and Star Trek 1979 franchises, escapism became the dominant form of science fiction film through the 1980s. The big budget adaptations of Frank Herbert's Dune 1984 and Arthur C. Clarke's sequel to 2001, 2010 in 1984, were box office duds that dissuaded producers from investing in science fiction literary properties.

The emergence of the world wide web and the cyberpunk genre during the 1990s spawned several Internet-themed films. Both The Lawnmower Man (1992) and Virtuosity (1995) dealt with threats to the network from a human-computer interface. Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and Total Recall (1990) had the memories of their main actors modified by a similar interface, and The Matrix (1999) created a machine-run virtual prison for humanity. The internet also provided a ready medium for film fandom, who could more directly support (or criticize) such media franchise film series as Star Trek and Star Wars.

Disaster film remained popular, with themes updated to reflect recent influences. Both Armageddon (1998) and Deep Impact (1998) used the threat of a massive impact with the earth. Independence Day (1996 in film) recycled the 1950s alien invasion films, with rapacious, all-consuming aliens. Advances in genetic science were also featured in the Jurassic Park (1993) and the slow-paced Gattaca (1997).

As the decade progressed, computers played an increasingly important role in both the addition of special effects and the production of film

Oddly, in the 2000s, Science fiction films seemed to turn away from space travel, and fantasy predominated. Except for Star Trek and Star Wars films, the only films set off Earth that appeared in the first half of the 2000s were Serenity, Titan A.E., and the poorly received Mission to Mars and Red Planet. On the other hand, fantasy and superhero films abounded, as did earthbound SF such as the Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions.