Friday 30 November 2012
Research And Planning
SHOT DIVISIONING
NO. ONE: Black screne fades in- (multiple close-up shots of Saima making tea).
NO. TWO: Enter'sthe loungue (mis-shot).
NO. THREE: Puts the tea tray on the table next to the pile of books (over the shoulder shot).
NO.FOUR: (Close up) of the pile of books within a (low-angle midshot of Saima).
NO. FIVE: Parallel editing (fast forward shots of Saima doing parts of her daily chores).
NO. SIX: Saima's sitting on the terrace tracing the alphabets while also listening to the mistress's daughter revising her oral lesson ( side angle shot of Saima, also showing the daughter in the back ground).
NO. SEVEN : (Close up) of the copy Saima is working on.
NO. EIGHT: (Master shot) of the room as Saima moves out of the terrace to listen to what her mistress is saying.
NO. NINE: (Close up) of the book with Saima in the back ground.
NO. TEN: (Fast forwards parallel editing) Saima does the task.
NO. ELEVEN: She tracing the alphabets again (over the shoulder shot).
NO. TWELVE: (Cose up) of the copy with an over lapping fast forward (master shot) of the sky changing colour, showing the time passed.
NO. THIRTEEN: (Master shot of the lounge)
NO. FOURTEEN: (Close up) of Saima's face.
NO. ONE: Black screne fades in- (multiple close-up shots of Saima making tea).
NO. TWO: Enter'sthe loungue (mis-shot).
NO. THREE: Puts the tea tray on the table next to the pile of books (over the shoulder shot).
NO.FOUR: (Close up) of the pile of books within a (low-angle midshot of Saima).
NO. FIVE: Parallel editing (fast forward shots of Saima doing parts of her daily chores).
NO. SIX: Saima's sitting on the terrace tracing the alphabets while also listening to the mistress's daughter revising her oral lesson ( side angle shot of Saima, also showing the daughter in the back ground).
NO. SEVEN : (Close up) of the copy Saima is working on.
NO. EIGHT: (Master shot) of the room as Saima moves out of the terrace to listen to what her mistress is saying.
NO. NINE: (Close up) of the book with Saima in the back ground.
NO. TEN: (Fast forwards parallel editing) Saima does the task.
NO. ELEVEN: She tracing the alphabets again (over the shoulder shot).
NO. TWELVE: (Cose up) of the copy with an over lapping fast forward (master shot) of the sky changing colour, showing the time passed.
NO. THIRTEEN: (Master shot of the lounge)
NO. FOURTEEN: (Close up) of Saima's face.
NO. FIFTEEN: (Close up) of the drawer.
REPRESENTATION
An Example Of FYI's Best-written Articles : In
conversation with Sharmee Obaid Chinoy
FILM POSTERS - TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
In
this particular poster, their is an additional convention used, the phrase at
the bottom of the poster. The phrase states, 'framed, abandoned, but never defeated'. This gives a
slight idea of the character in front who happens to be the protagonist. framed
and abandoned could mean that he was blamed and looked upon for some crime he
hadn't committed which lead him to being abandoned, left alone. But despite the
circumstances, he managed to stand steady and eventually win and prove himself
as the 'good guy' or in better, more typical words, the 'hero'.
Moving
forward, our next convention is the Rule of Thirds. This convention can
be a little tricky, however, as part of an audience, we always tend to examine
a film poster by this particular convention unconsciously while not knowing
what it really is. This convention suggests that each and every image within
the poster should be placed and highlighted in such a way that some what idea
of the story and main conflict of the film is delivered. For example, in the
poster above, the Hulk i behind the guy, while both are prominent The idea of
placing the guy in front of the Hulk gives an idea to some level, that this guy
probably terns into that creature and since the Hulk and the guy seem as if
they have their backs towards one another shows that their characteristics do
not collide with one another, and that maybe the character is destructive and
that guy does not like that side of his personality. The rule of thirds effect
also makes use of some hints of the story for example the location, the color scheme, that reflects the genre. In other words, just as for films we require
the perfect mise-en-sene, for posters this effect acts as the mise-en-sene of
poster conventions.
GENRE ANALYSIS:
Different film industries have several media institutions, that are
production houses responsible for the financing, distribution and publicity of
media products, mainly films. Usually, these institutions buy films under
particular genres that they consider worthy to be publicized by them. Due to
this reason, every film is based on a particular genre and at times a
combination of sub genres. Before
starting, let us see what the word ‘Genre’ really means.
INTRODUCTION –A
genre is an important concept for film critics, film makers and audiences as
well as media theorists. A film genre is said to have both, academic as well as
practical applications since films are categorized by their genre at every
stage of their existence whether its when then script writer write the story, to
the final stage where they end up as real films on celluloid and movie stores.
This categorization builds our understanding about thee film as a media text. A
media text is said to belong to a specific genre, as it adopts the codes and
conventions needed to create and represent that genre in accordance to the
expectations of its target audience. At times, texts from different mediums,
belong to the same genre. ’Audiences’
have a set of expectations to a media text and what it contains
according to its genre in terms of transportation, representation, costume,
mise-en-sene, characters, setting, sound tract etc. We can relate these to the
term ‘genre-specific’ elements. These are what the audience expects to find
while experiencing a media text. For example, having a horror or thriller
theme, the audience would expect things like, dark lighting, a quiet old place,
a heroin in white, very obvious diegetic sounds etc. However, having the same
sorts of genre-specific elements, horror and thriller are still two different
genres, as horror relates to super natural activity while thriller caters more
to reality.Genres also differ from industry to industry, as Bollywood art film will be different from
that of a Hollywood art film since both cater to different cultures and
traditions as well as social and environmental problems (art films cater to
reality and the surrounding). Hollywood art films might show a teen-aged girl
getting into drugs, however a Bollywood art film would want to show the problems
of poverty, considering their own occupational problems.
Despite having such elements, texts from the same genres are not always the
same. Genres are defined as dynamic, since their boundaries keep changing.
Media texts often challenge codes and conventions, while still being able to
define certain parts of the usual genre categorization. To an audience, genre
texts could get very boring if they keep following the same predictable
conventions. This can result to people not wanting to consume new films, rather
revisiting their old favorites.These genre spacific elements are also called genre
paradigms. These are part of the descriptive approach of genre
analysis. This approach involves viewing a film as belonging to a category, or
being an example of an established type. The film is perceived as sharing
aspects and attributes as another such as structure, theme and visual style.
Hence, this approach relies heavily on these genre paradigms and codes and
conventions. But what are codes and
conventions really? CODES AND CONVENTIONS – You can call these stereo types.
We
relate to codes and conventions in any media text without even knowing. When
you go out to watch a romantic comedy, you expect good looking heroes and heroins,
nice and slow sound tracts, intimacy, heroin crying, hero proposing and all
that with a touch of comedy having funny dialogues and scenes, but if you go
and watch ghosts and weapons, you wont be sure if thats the movie you paid for
now would you? These expectations are what make codes and conventions important
in catering to a particular genre. So who are genres important to? PRODUCERS –
These give a pattern of construction while having an established audience that
makes it easy to market to. Also, when working for the same genre over and over
again, specialization is experienced and also, a producer has a big choice to
those specific starts who act for the particular genre. Fans of genres also
know the codes and conventions, so not much work into reinventing the wheel all
the time is needed. DISTRIBUTORS – This creates a clear channel of marketing
and distribution as it has a target-able audience and fans are easy to attract
and persuade into buying other texts within the same genre.Genres are very important
for the initial marketing of the movie. They are also extremely important to
some finance companies such as Netfix and Lovefilm, that heavily
rely on the categorization and presentation of genres in order to attract their
own target audience. This happens mainly because some institutions choose their
type of audience than the type of films before, such as Disney, that caters
mostly to children as it target audience.
Another method of analyzing genre is known as the Functional Approach.
In this approach, the film genre is perceived as 'collective expressions of
contemporary life that strike a relative knowledge about it to the audience'.
This approach can be most useful in representing art films since they are most
close o reality as well as some romantic films where the audience can relate to
the feeling delivered.
Sub Genres-In order to attract your target audience to the fullest, you can always
combine genres. For example, if you plan on making a horror film but in your
survey, you find out that more people tend to watch romantic movies more than
horror, you can always keep romance as a sub genre and your film is now a
romantic-horror and you may have attracted more people by now. However, your
combination of genres must be relevant. That is, you can combine a romantic
comedy, with a hint of action, but in this case, horror would not be considered
as an option. Or you can combine thriller and action, but comedy here would not
seem very appropriate. This is because you can play with codes and conventions
to a certain level, but you need to make sure your media language remains easy
to read. You must never cheat your audience, since your audience is who will
really decide if your product is good or not, despite all the money and effort
you put in it. As mentioned before, codes and conventions differ with
industries. A Hollywood horror would be different from a Bollywood horror.
Hollywood makes it more realistic while Bollywood makes it more exaggerated.
Hollywood would probably use action, or bible words in the conclusion, but
Bollywood mainly uses their Hindu teachings in their conclusion and would last
for longer, usually three to four hours. A Hollywood chick flick would have a
rich pretty looking girl with the best wardrobe, the best house with a swimming
pool, the most expensive and trendy car, a pet that she carries along and the
best looking boyfriend, however in Bollywood, their girls and women are shown
in big houses with usually two staircases wearing heavy jewelry, flashy
colorful ‘saris’ which they stay in all the time even while going to bed. Film
industries in different countries have different conventions in accordance to
their own trends and cultures. An art film by Bollywood would be very different from that of Hollywood, having local faces with very prominent Indian accents
and showing completely different cultures and a completely diffenet
representation and construction even though the genre’s the same.
So basically, genre does not simply rely on the text but also the way all
micro, genre specific elements are put together to one macro level and then the
text is constructed This is what really allows us to distinguish between
different genres.
Criticism on Genre- As mentioned above, genre categorization and analysis is very important to
critics. It is often harsh but useful. Pointing out types can be either
negative or positive. For example calling a film a 'Western' or 'Eastern' type
can be an indirect way of racial and social discrimination. This is known as
the Semantic Approach.Another approach is called the Syntactic Approach. This takes into account the relationship between the semantic
elements, or between those elements and the aspects of real life, within the
media text. This approach can make good use of genre since at times the inequalities and incidents within a media text can become more meaningful by the
justifications given by these approaches. So basically, have the correct
representation of genre in accordance to the story line and the target audience
is very important otherwise the outcome of the complete media text might not
make sense.
Coming to my own GENRE, as according to the concept of my film, that is on poverty and child labour, the genre of my film is ART. Art films are indeed tricky, as far as film genres are concerned. This is basically because art films have a very limited set of codes and conventions. Unlike the expected scenes and mise-ene-sene one would find in horror films or romantic fims, art films tend to cater ti reality, hence different aspects of life. So with each aspect, a new concept and treatment is used. Yes, however, there are certain characteristics that art films tend to carry along. These include a great use of sound, both diegetic and non-diegetic, use of cultural aspects, at times repetition of something, like soundtrack (motive), ordinary actors and a simple storyline with very little exaggeration in both, the story, the direction, as well as the editing. I will shoot and create my film in the same manner. It will be a simple product on the daily life of a girl or child forced to work rather than going to school. After examining a number of short art films, i have planned to make my film look dull, i would use color filters, and use a slow depressing background score, with a great use of the fluit and make my film look like a true 'ART FILM'.
Coming to my own GENRE, as according to the concept of my film, that is on poverty and child labour, the genre of my film is ART. Art films are indeed tricky, as far as film genres are concerned. This is basically because art films have a very limited set of codes and conventions. Unlike the expected scenes and mise-ene-sene one would find in horror films or romantic fims, art films tend to cater ti reality, hence different aspects of life. So with each aspect, a new concept and treatment is used. Yes, however, there are certain characteristics that art films tend to carry along. These include a great use of sound, both diegetic and non-diegetic, use of cultural aspects, at times repetition of something, like soundtrack (motive), ordinary actors and a simple storyline with very little exaggeration in both, the story, the direction, as well as the editing. I will shoot and create my film in the same manner. It will be a simple product on the daily life of a girl or child forced to work rather than going to school. After examining a number of short art films, i have planned to make my film look dull, i would use color filters, and use a slow depressing background score, with a great use of the fluit and make my film look like a true 'ART FILM'.
INSTITUTIONS IN AND THE FILM
FRATERNITY
In easy words, one could describe the word media institution as those
people, organisations and bodies who have certain role in the production of a
media text. Big or small, this process is not as simple as the words make it
sound. Institutions basically comprise of many kinds, these mainly include
companies, producers, distributers, financiers and promotion and marketing
organisations for starters. You see, a media product consists of many steps
that lead it to become what we, the audience can see.
What part does each sort of institution plays and why? A scriptwriter sells out his or her story. A
directer makes a film and the editor edits (considering the main processes of
the process). Now what? A director wouldn't really release the film now would
he? This is where institutional companies and organisations step in. Big
producers will examine the ideology and the target audience for a particular
product. If they feel everything has been collected together and created well
and that the product s strong enough t meet its target audience then these
producers wight agree to finance the product. Once enough money is generated
then marketing and promoting the product is done by other marketing
departments. Eventually the product needs to be distributed around whether on
DVDs, on celluloid or other ways for example via iphone applications. Taking
television for an example, products will be be of two types, commissioned (asked
for) or non-commisioned (just written by a hopeful scriptwriter). The easiest
way of understanding this is that basically a product has to be sold at all levels in this process. Everything
in the media world of institutions depends on money. What does this mean?
Well, you cant possibly sell your story out just because the director is your
friend. In reality, every stage in the process should be economically viable in
order to reach the next stage. Foe example, if the product does not make enough
finance in a process than its costs, it will be very difficult for the next
buyers to purchase the product. On the other hand, finance is very hard to
generate. This is mainly because the audience's feedback is always uncertain.
This is one reason why institutions feel that the connection between the
product's ideology and story with its target audience is very important. This
is because if a film does not have all the genre elements that are needed to
attract its audience, an institution would resist putting its money into the
process.
Now coming to Film Fraternities, what does
this word mean? The word 'fraternity' simply means a group or body of people
joined by similar backgrounds, occupations, interests and tastes. Hence, a film
fraternity is created by each and every existence of people in it. In other
words, a film fraternity is known as the Film Industry The two most
popular film industries of the world are HOLLYWOOD and BOLLYWOOD,
however, that does not mean these are the only industries. Countries and
different occupations comprise of their own film industries that cater to their
culture, interests and languages. Every film industry comprises of its own film
institutions. This is mainly because different film fraternities follow their
own set of codes and conventions in terms of which their films are made. For
example, the codes and conventions of a Hollywood romantic film will differ
from that of a Bollywood romantic film. This will be explained in detail later.
Hence, their institutions cater to their own types o films. A Hollywood institution that caters most to romantic films would not exactly want to finance
a Bollywood romantic film because of the diffence in representation genre.
Further more, film fraternities and their institutions have a better
relationship in terms of its audience and the occupational culture. A Bollywood
romantic film might be loved by people in India but to foreigners in lets say,
England might still find their own Hollywood romantic films more interesting
and attractive. Bollywood is the name given to the film industry of
Mumbai and is known for making huge box office hits. A romantic film here would
be very glamorous with very good looking actors and a very sterio typical
ending and conflict. Heavy clothes and make up, exaggerated use of sound and
music, romantic setting in a beautiful place with heavy wind blowing and the heroin stares at the hero as he fights of a bunch of men who were teasing his
love. Actually, no matter how many times repeated, the audience loves it. This
is because the film makers know the mentality and areas of interests their
audience upholds. Hollywood on the other hand does more simple and close
to reality story lines. Film are very less repetitive and less dramatized. That
is the way the audience likes it here.
So basically, whatever a film industry comprises
of, comes from its own self. Coming to film institutions of different
industries, lets come to Hollywood first. Hollywood comprises of some of the
world's biggest institutions. These consist of Walt Disney Pictures, Warner
Brothers, Collumbia Pictures, Universal Pictures, BBC, Twentieth Century Fox,
Sony etc. These are a few very popular institutions. Most popular out of
all is Walt Disney. which is also one of the oldest, along with its oldest competitions Warner Brothers. Many popular films have been catered under Disney
itself like the old classics Cinderella, Snowwhite, Beauty and the Beast to the
new feature films like Tangled and Pirates of the Carabian. Disney and Warner
bros cater to real life feature films as well as animated feature films. Unlike
the usual institutions, such like Disney, not omly produces, but creates,
finances, promotes and distributes itself too. Sometimes more than one
instiutions tend to work together as a merger like Warner bros and dreamworks,
that is another institution. At times an instituion also tends to buy another
like Disney bought Pixar, which means now every feature film produced by Pixar
is owned by Disney. On the other hand, we have institutions like Twentieth
Century fox and Paramount that mostly cater to horror, comedy and romantic
films.
Bollywood has some other famous institutions too. Some of the most popular are Eros
International, Dharma Productions, UTV etc.Starting with Eros
Entertainment, this is well known to be one of India’s biggest leading media
and entertainment institution and has been under business since almost three
decades. It has a core trade in production, acquisition and distribution of
filmed text under several distribution ways like theatres, television and other
technical media applications. It has a vast level of distribution considering
genres of films. It distributes all kinds of film, including art, drama,
comedy, adventure, horror, action and romance. This is one of the reasons why
it is so big. It also works as a jewelry business otherwise, and this is rare
since institutions, especially in Hollywood, don’t have this concept of having
other side businesses as well. The company has started from being a distributor
and now is known to be an aggregator. It has offices nearly all around the
world. A few names of movies it has distributed are Desi Boys, Rock star, Ra.
One, Zindagi Na Mile Gi Dobara etc.
Next we can take a look at UTV, which is another
huge institute. It also has a vast distribution of films and has the honor of
being one of the oldest institutions of Bollywood. It also gives importance to
a number of films with completely different genres whether, art or drama or
romance or whatever. It is a privilege to directors and producers to have such
institutions buying and distributing their films. It caters to major art films,
like Rang De Basabti, that has been one of Bollywood’s big success. So, films
of mixed genres are likely to be distributed and financed by such institutions.
Coming to Dharma Productions, again, a very huge
institution formed by Shri Yash Johar in
1976. It has always been able to achieve its goals by producing high quality
cinema that is accepted and appreciated all around the world. It has produced
movies like ‘Dostana’ , ‘Dunya’, ‘Muqqdar ka Fiasla’ etc. But these are still
towards the side, it has produced india’s biggest blog busters that have broken
box-office records without a fail. It had produced the famous ‘ Kuch Kuch Hota
Hai’ which did not just break records but also gathered a number of national
and international awards. And this kept going on till movies like ‘Kabhi Khushi
Kabhi Ghum’ and ‘My Name Is Khan’ were produced and once again broke records to
a great amount. This production house is famous for distributing and financing
drama and romance related movies and has the reputation of being a very honest
and clean institution and had been able to prove it over the years. Eros
International and Dharma productions usually cater to romantic and comedy
films. UTV on the other hand is more into action, drama, thrill and art. Eros
International and UTV are probably the most popular and have the highest number
of produced films in the Indian film library. They also have a great number of
box office hits and the Indian directors feel very lucky to be financed by such
big institutions. They generate enough money to finance Bollywood's glamorous a
long films with very highly paid actors. Here generating money is more
important because the India has a higher number of poor and middle class people
who like drama and exaggeration as well as a bit of a 'flash' in the films. So
directors feel it is important to have all these elements in their films so
that people enjoy and generate money. No one would rather have ordinary actors
in a romantic film over the great Bollywood actors 'Shahrukh Khan' and 'Kareena
Kapoor'. Obviously such big actors wouldn't compromise on the amount they are
paid.
Moreover, the basic idea to sell out films step
by step finally to institutions is because it is on them to decide the possible
result due to which mostly before the release, there are premier shows
arranged. These shows basically give an idea about the audience reaction to
the producers. If the reaction is good, they decide to make a cinema release,
but if not, they go with just a video release. Summarizing everything, Every
media text needs its institution and every institution comes from its
fraternity that is its occupation.
COMMERCIAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL COMPANIES
By the term 'companies', here, we are referring to those companies or
institutions that cater to media text. Catering is done in terms of finance,
distribution, production and promotion. These companies are also called media
houses. Every media text needs to generate money and help from these companies
in the process of making the mroduct. For example, a film has to be released
and distributed after being produced.
Other than being divided into sectors such as finance distribution,
promotion etc these companies can also be divided into commercial and
non-commercial companies. So what are these and how are they different? Non-Commercial
Companies (public companies) are those companies that have to follow
accepted business practices in order to make a profit but is not a financial
company or institution. A good and most successful example of a non-commercial
media institution is BBC. How is BBC
a non-commercial company? This is mainly because BBC caters more towards public purpose in all
means other than just entertainment and profit making. BBC dos not only finance
and distribute films, documentaries and shows but also the news and
environmental knowledge via different headlines and programmes It is one of the
few Media institutions that are also shown on television as a complete Channel.
Not only that, but is the world's most biggest and famous new channel, catering
to a wide range of the worldly occupation
and is definitely the most authentic and trusted news channel. The BBC
has six public purposes. For starters, sustaining citizenship and civil
society (The BBC provides high-quality news, current affairs and factual
programming to engage its viewers, listeners and users in important current and
political issues), promoting education and learning ( The support
of formal education in schools and colleges and informal knowledge and skills
building), stimulating creativity and cultural excellence (Encouraging
interest, engagement and participation in cultural, creative and sporting
activities across the UK), representing UK, its nations, regions and
communities ( BBC viewers, listeners and users can rely on the BBC to
reflect the many communities that exist in the UK ), bringing the UK to the
world and the world to the UK ( The BBC will build a global understanding
of international issues and broaden UK audiences' experience of different
cultures) and delivering to the public the benefit of emerging
communications technologies and services (Assisting UK residents to get the
best out of emerging media technologies now and in the future). The BBC
is run on the basis of certain laws and guidelines These are created by individual official bodies such as OFcom, BBC trust and fair trading. These policies help BBC obtain the designed public purposes. In other words, institutions like BBC are more socially friendly whereas non-commercial companies are just
the opposite.
Commercial companies however, are companies that work more towards making money by financing,
promoting and distributing media texts, mainly feature films in order to make
money through audience feedback and box office ratings. The main difference
between commercial and non-commercial companies is the concept of ideas and
purposes, since commercial companies want more of social welfare and
non-commercial care mainly towards their profit maximization. Non commercial
companies tend to choose a particular genre type of films that they cater to.
Examples of non-commercial companies are Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Bros,
Paramount, Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Fox etc. Taking Warner
Brothers as an example, this is one of the world'd oldest and respected
motion pictures organization. It not only finances films but also produces them
as well as promotion and distribution.
Literally, the term representation has several meanings as,
representation- the action or an instance of representing or being
represented, and representation- an image, model, or other depiction of
something.
Representation- Reference :
1. Presence, bearing, air; Appearance; impression on the sight. 2. An
Image, likeness, or reproduction in some manner of a thing; A material image or
figure; a reproduction in some material or tangible form; in later use, a
drawing or painting. (of a person or thing); The action or fact of exhibiting
in some visible image or form; The fact of expressing or denoting by means of a
figure or symbol; symbolic action or exhibition. 3. The exhibition of character
and action upon the stage; the performance of a play; Acting, simulation,
pretense. 4. The action of placing a fact, etc., before another or others by
means of discourse; a statement or account, esp. one intended to convey a
particular view or impression of a matter in order to influence opinion or action.
5. A formal and serious statement of facts, reasons, or arguments, made with a
view to effecting some change, preventing some action, etc.; hence, a
remonstrance, protest, expostulation. 6. The action of presenting to the mind
or imagination; an image thus presented; a clearly conceived idea or concept;
The operation of the mind in forming a clear image or concept; the faculty of
doing this. 7. The fact of standing for, or in place of, some other thing or
person, esp. with a right or authority to act on their account; substitution of
one thing or person for another. 8. The fact of representing or being
represented in a legislative or deliberative assembly, spec. in Parliament; the
position, principle, or system implied by this; The aggregate of those who thus
represent the elective body.
from The Oxford English Dictionary
Now, it is understood the representation basically involves
re-presenting anything, keeping in focus all the dominant aspects of what
is being represented. By braking down the word represent to re-present, it is
now easier to understand the that representation takes place when something is
presented as itself in different ways i.e
such as a portrait can represent the person being painted.
Representation has many levels. It can be done in accordance to objects,
events, people and beings, and social norms and festivities. Even though this
is a much debatable topic, according to most definitions, representation is
basically a term given to 'presence' and 'depiction', mainly in appearance (having a visual aspect). We could make good use of this definition
when it comes to representation in terms of media.
Representation in terms of Media
'By definition, all media texts are re-presentations of reality. This means
that they are intentionally composed, lit, written, framed, cropped, captioned,
branded, targeted and censored by their producers, and that they are entirely
artificial versions of the reality we perceive around us'. The particular sentence basically folds up the entire idea of representation when creating a
media product.
The artificial presentation of aspects of reality that we see on the
television, the internet, newspapers and magazines etc, are what lead us to our
level of understanding and prediction about everything around us. Media representation
has broken the walls and limitations of knowledge for us. We create perceptions
about things as they are represented and brought to us by the media. Taking as
example, we know of traditions and latest fashions of one country while sitting
in an other. Without the concept of representation in the media, our knowledge about the world would be very limited.
However, limitations to knowledge still occur. This is mainly because we
gather information and create perceptions the way the media wants us to create.
We believe what we see in a media text. Our minds make the set up in accordance
to what we are experiencing while consuming any sort of media representation.
Does that mean that what we see, read or hear by the media is always true?
LIMITATIONS TO MEDIA REPRESENTATION- an evaluation
We, as audiences, tend to except anything the way the media shows it. Yes,
to some extent we do believe that representation in some situations is highly
fictitious, but in the base, our ideologies are brought together by these representations of culture, traditions, thoughts, situations, history etc
(reality). Therefore, we tend to ignore what is true and what is not while
consuming any such thing. Not because we are generally indifferent in nature,
but because the product is created in such a way that its message and ideology,
be it true or false, is not negligible. The media depicts and creates, while we
believe.
ANALYSIS OF REPRESENTATION
Representation is always directed to a certain topic. We can call these
factors of representation. These factors are taken into account when presenting
a media product. The most prominant characteristics of these factors are
gathered and studied, therefore, this is study is used in representing these
factors. Some of the most commonly used factors of representation are
- gender
- ethnicity and culture
- age
-race
- ability and disability
GENDER- starting with gender, this is the most important and likely considered
factor of representation. The concept of differentiating between genders takes
us closer to the actions, reactions, body language and characteristics and
human beings. Not only by appearance of people we can represent gender, but
also by objects. Certain things are considered 'masculine' and some are
considered typically 'feminine'. For example, tough, hard, sweaty are typically
masculine characteristics while soft, fragile, fragrant are typically feminine
characteristics. Likewise, a sports car would reflect the characteristics of
the male gender while a lip gloss and flowers would represent the female
gender. In order to understand gender representation, it is important to know a
little about representation of femininity first
.
Representation of
Despite the fact that the philosophy of feminism has changed over the years
with the concept of modernization and woman empowerment, the media still
represents 'femininity' using the same characteristics as all times. These
characteristics include
- Beauty
- size and physique
- sexuality
- emotionalism
- relationships
These are all the stereo typical elements of woman representation and these
can be related to 'feminine' factor of representation mentioned above.
Representation of masculinity is exactly the opposite, as summarized above.
Race, Ethnicity And Color
Race, ethnicity and color, in terms of representation are exposed by
their genetically defined, biological characteristics, just as sexuality.
However, they are also given their exaggerated stereo-typical elements as those
of gender when it comes to showing them of within a media product.
Stereo-typing of age is the one of the most controversial representations
in the media, even more than gender differentiation This is mainly due to the
fragmented cultural and racial ideologies of the world and the history related
to all sorts of racial discrimination. Racial representation takes place mainly
under the terms of history and social myth, perpetuated down the ages. The
result of this act basically sets the depicted ideology of the represented race
or culture which for those viewers who have never experienced in reality, can
turn into a belief regarding that race. Accurate racial portrayal is a priority
for political agendas, but it is not easy to remove this concept and process by
all means of the media, mainly television.
Age
After gender and ethnicity, age is one of the most prominent factors of
representation used for profiling people, and in accordance to that, objects as
well as topics. With the different gaps of aging, comes a different way of stereo-typing. For example, small children and youngsters can have the
following characteristics
- Innocence
- Indifference
- Laziness
- greed
- self-
-impatience
On the other hand, the characteristics of the elderly will be completely
different. These would consist more of love, care, knowledge, grumpy, out-dated,
slow, unhealthy, dependent, miserly etc.
The representation of different ages can hence be related to objects. For
example, colorful rooms, toys and video games would represent children, while
sports cars, trendy fashions, make up, notebooks, high school lockers would
represent youngsters. However, heavy
frames, newspapers, and an item of support i.e a stick or a a box of
medicines would represent old people.
Ability and Disability
Ability and disability are still fairly easy to represent, in comparison to
others. This is mainly because this topic, when represented, is done mainly
under the circumstances of reality. This means there is not much exaggeration that has to take place when it comes to stereo typing. Characteristics of
actual ability and disability are picked and shown within the media text.
However, this is a vast topic since ability would remain the same usually but
disability would differ since there are different sorts of disabilities that
people possess. Some can be physical disabilities, some can be mental, whilst
others can be a mix of both. Presentation of this relies on both, physical,
biological and mental attributes of human beings as well as their social
standing in accordance to these attributes.
MAGAZINE RESEARCH
Print media has two main forms, newspapers and magazines. Newspapers are
mainly printed and prepared on inexpensive paper qualities while magazines, on
the other hand are magazines are printed on high quality glossy sheets and are
compiled in the form of a book or a booklet. Newspapers contain news, advertisements usually jokes, however, magazines on the other hand
are much more versatile when it comes to information.
Magazines work in accordance to genres. Some of these genres can be
classified as, sports, fashion, health and beauty, animals, photography,
computers, gaming, sexuality, medicine, financial and economical, and
socio-political. This tells us about the vast audience of magazines. The
concept of having such a long range of genres is basically because magazines
tend to cater to all sorts of audiences in relevance to age, gender,
occupation, language, finance and area of interest. Obviously, each of these
segments of genres have a wide scale of information, articles, advertisements etc. It is a common trend, magazines brands are usually known for their own
specific type of genres and sub-genres. For example, Newsweek is solely
a news related magazine and it caters to people within the countries it is sold
out to, within the age limit of 25-60. On the other hand, The Economist
is a finance magazine that caters to everyone within the working class
department and to all those who are closely linked to the economy of the
country. It has managed to cater to
issues such as Britain's sinking economy, Stalemate in Israel,
Australia's fires from hell, Will electronic books save newspapers etc. Then we
have magazines that cater to health, beauty and sexuality such as Cosmopolitan
and Playboy. However, despite catering to almost the same genres,
such magazines can be completely different due to their target audience,
Cosmopolitan caters to woman hence with the genre of sexuality, there are sub
genres of health and beauty as well. However Playboy targets young guys, between
the age group of 18-25 and do not have much link with health and beauty, but is
mainly erotic in reference to context. On the other hand, Cosmopolitan has a
good amount of written information whereas Playboy is more visual in accordance
to the interests of their audiences.
We then have fashion magazines, that are widely distributed around the
world. These are too, divided into groups regarding mostly, gender, however, at
times can even collide as one. Vogue one
of the most famous fashion magazines. It caters to both, men and women and advertises fashion products of very well-known brands and designers like Gucci,
Piere Carden, Prada, Luis Veton, Hill-figure, Miu Miu, Armani, Lacoste, D&G
etc. We have a number of fashion magazines in Pakistan as well. One of the best
sold is Expose and the Fashion Collection . It caters to girls to
the female society within the age group of 19-35 and advertizes products by
famous Pakistani Designers. One the other hand Pakistan has a great deal of
socio-political magazines as well. Socio-political magazines are very vast when
it comes to information. One can read articles about the government, the latest
fashion, the economy crisis or even the latest openings of malls and successful
cafes. Having to deal with so many issues basically means they have to cater to a large number of audience with
different areas of interests. Some would be interested in reading the articles
related to the news and business, some would be interested to the political
issues, while others would be interested more towards the social and fashion
articles and advertisements. An example of a socio-political magazine is the FYI Magazine (for your
information).
Coming to nature, one of the most popular and the most trusted magazines is
the National Geographic Magazine. This magazine does not only comprise
of nature, but also makes use of sub-genres like animal study and photography.
Such magazines do not have a very big audience, but are very inspirational and
informative towards whatever little audience they have. Such magazines are
completely advertised and distributed in accordance to the interests and
hobbies of the audience. The audience of such a magazine can consist of
photography students, environmentalists or simply animal lovers. Computing,
technological and gaming magazines are basically catered to the male society of
young boys who have an interest in new technologies and games, and students of computing media or engineering. Lastly, medicine is a very rare genre of
magazines and simply caters to medical students and doctors to whom it might be
of interest and relevance Stepping aside from a general view, i will now come
to the magazine i have chosen for detailed study, the socio-political magazine,
FYI.
The FYI Magazine
As mentioned above, FYI magazine-Pakistan, is one of the very few magazines
in Pakistan that cater to such a vast audience due to all the sub-genres the
magazine comprises of. The four pictures above illustrate the versatile nature
of the magazine. The first two pictures show the magazine cover of models
dressed in branded wear, which caters to the 'fashion' department of the
magazine. However, the third cover shows a picture of one of Pakistan's very
talented actors, Hina Dilpazir, which caters to the 'media' department and the
personal life of the actor interviewed, as well as his or her view regarding
social, political as well as literary affairs. The fourth magazine cover is simply
regarding the official start of the new year 2012. I other words, the magazine
has very few boundaris and limitation to information and affairs.
Here are some examples of the types os sub-headings one would find while
reading the FYI magazine:
- Politics
- Socio Culture
- Fashion
- Music
- Film
- Television
- Literature
FYI magazine also appreciates and initiates write ups from the public
regarding their thoughts and suggestions, feedback and their likes and
dislikes about the magazine. This is taken as a way to get the audience remarks
and apply them accordingly when preparing and launching their next issue. This
method of gathering audience feedback also leaves a good impression of the
magazine management on the audience and hence, brand loyalty is likely to be achieved FYI is distributed in all the mega-cities of Pakistan, Karachi being
the head quarters, Islamabad, Lahore etc. It is available at every bookstore,
as well as super markets proving with newspapers and magazines. High quality
textured, glossy paper is used for printing, and the magazine relates to relevant and brief information and manages to be a handy, thin magazine,
consisting of around 35 pages.
Every year the cover pages are unique and informative in their own way.
Like most magazines do, FYI tends to present the most important issue of the
magazine on the cover page, whether it's over a fashion show, an important
interview, a big event that took place, the opening of a new cafe or simply
over photography by a famous photographer of a well-known model or a well-known
brand. Here is an example of covers that illustrate the main issue of inside
the magazine.
This magazine was launched in 2008. Its cover shows the main events being discussed in the magazine, that were, the article on The Chicago Musical play held in Karachi and
the Samar Mehdi Fashion Show. The cover page is divided into two pictures and
one is of the play and the other is of the fashion show. Also, the cover pages
have sub-headings written on them, informing the readers what will likely to be
found out inside the magazine, in this case, it said The Chicago Musical -
opening in Karachi 27th July and The Sama Mehdi Fashion Show - Exclusive
Behind the This cover was given to the launch of 2008. As shown on the
cover, the main two issues of this years scenes.
NARRATIVE
By exact definition, the word 'narrative' means, 1. a story or account of
events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious, 2. a book,
literary work, etc., containing such a story or 3. the art, technique, or
process of narrating. Likewise, in the language of media, narrative is termed
as the coherence (organisation) given to a series of facts.
It is merely in human nature that we tend to connect to a story. We need a
beginning to relate it to the middle or climax, and we need the climax to relate
it to the end or conclusion. This connection between the steps that lead to a
story are expected by us at all times, while reading a story book, hearing the
news or within major media products such as soap opera shows, documentaries as
well as the'film' itself.
We understand and make meaning of stories by relating them to reality and
our personal experiences. We make assumptions and need the correct order of construction in a story in order to fulfill our predicted expectations It happens
a lot at times, mainly when the next part of an old famous series of a film has
released, and our expectations are high, but the entire film has no meaning.
What happens then? Our expectations go down. And why is that? This is mainly
because the construction and link between the 'narrative' of the film was not
in balance. Hence the film did not consist of a meaning and was not admired by
its audience.
Your audience is very smart. It is not wise to fool the audience, specially because it is them, who's reaction makes your profit or loss. Therefore, the
concept of having the perfect 'narrative' is very important when it comes to
producing and constructing a media text. Now, it is important to understand that
story and narrative are not the same in meaning. What is a story? Story is
simply that main substance of the text,for example, they meet, the fall in love
and get married, and live happily ever after. Narrative, on the other hand, is
the construction of the steps that lead to the story, or how the story is
related.
Unlike reality itself, media texts are better organized. We need to be able
to understand the narrative of a media text without putting in any effort. Basic
elements of a narrative, according to Aristotle: "...the most important
is the plot, the ordering of the incidents; for tragedy is a representation,
not of men, but of action and life, of happiness and unhappiness - and
happiness and unhappiness are bound up with action. ...it is their characters
indeed, that make men what they are, but it is by reason of their actions that
they are happy or the reverse."
It is thought that more than the characteristics and appearance of famous
characters, it is their actions and reactions towards the climax and resolution
of the story that make them so popular among-st their audience. Coming towards
the conventions of narrative, it is very important to know that narrative does not only exist
for movies and story books, it is present in advertisements documentaries and
even news stories, because every media text needs its sense of meaning and
direction.
Narrative - Codes And
When examining a media product, we expect to find a set of codes and
convensions of the genre, character, form and time. We then use those
coneventions while relating to the text and make meaning of the narrative.
Barthes´ Codes
Roland Barthes describes a text as
"a galaxy of signifiers, not
a structure of signifieds; it has no beginning; it is reversible; we gain
access to it by several entrances, none of which can be authoritatively
declared to be the main one; the codes it mobilizes extend as far as the eye
can read, they are indeterminable...the systems of meaning can take over this
absolutely plural text, but their number is never closed, based as it is on the
infinity of language..."
What the theorist really means by his saying is basically, the narrative is
composed in a such a way, that once it
starts to unravel, it comprises of several meanings that are understood
while each is unraveled But at the same time, one meaning can change once we
start observing it from a different point of view. This can be done in a way that, at first we interpret the particular meaning conveyed by relating it to a
particular experience or knowledge, but the moment we reverse the experience and knowledge the meaning would change. In other words, it is on the human mind how
it wants to interpret the narrative of the media text.
Barthes was a semiotics professor and he stated that the threads you try to
pull to unravel the meanings of the narrative are the narrative codes and he
categorized them in five following ways :
*
Action/proiarectic code & enigma code (ie Answers & questions)
* Symbols & Signs
* Points of Cultural Reference
* Simple description/reproduction
Narrative Structures
There are several ways of breaking down narrative structures and this is
where most work by literary theorists has been done.
* Tvzetan Todorov - suggests narrative is simply equilibrium,
disequilibrium, new equilibrium
* Vladimir Propp - characters and actions (31 functions of character
types)
* Claude Levi-Strauss - constant creation of conflict/opposition
propels narrative. Narrative can only end on a resolution of conflict.
Opposition can be visual (light/darkness, movement/stillness) or conceptual
(love/hate, control/panic), and to do with soundtrack. Binary oppositions.
VLADIMIR PROPP- Propp's analysis of Folk Tales
Vladimir Propp was one of the most influential theorists as far as narrative
is concerned. He studied and analyzed a whole lot of Russian folk tales and noticed
that they kept revolving around the same framework and series of events. His
seminal book, Morphology of the Folk Tale, was first published in 1928 and has
had a huge influence on literary theorists and practitioners ever since. He
then extended the Russian study of language with his study of folk takes
and and then broke down the tales into
small relative components which he called the narrative functions. Each
function is an event that drives the narrative forward to a new direction.
There are 31 narrative functions altogether.
1. A member of a family leaves home (the hero is introduced as a unique
person within the tribe, whose needs may not be met by remaining)
2. An interdiction (a command NOT to do something e.g.'don't go there', 'go
to this place'), is addressed to the hero;
3. The hero ignores the interdiction
4. The villain appears and (either villain tries to find the
children/jewels etc; or intended victim encounters the villain);
5. The villain gains information about the victim;
6. The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim
or victim's belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win confidence of
victim);
7. The victim is fooled by the villain, unwittingly helps the enemy;
8. Villain causes harm/injury to family/tribe member (by abduction, theft
of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a
disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc,
commits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides
nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of family lacks something or desires
something (magical potion etc);
9. Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for
help etc/ alternative is that victimised hero is sent away, freed from
imprisonment);
10. Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action;
11. Hero leaves home;
12. Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc, preparing the way for
his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);
13. Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test,
frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers
against them);
14. Hero acquires use of a magical agent (it's directly transferred,
located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, is eaten/drunk, or offered
by other characters);
15. Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of
the search;
16. Hero and villain join in direct combat;
17. Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
18. Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed
while asleep, banished);
19. Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed,
spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed);
20. Hero returns;
21. Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
22. Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is
hidden, hero transforms unrecognisably,
hero saved from attempt on his/her life);
23. Hero unrecognised, arrives home or in another country;
24. False hero presents unfounded claims;
25. Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of
strength/endurance,
other tasks);
26. Task is resolved;
27. Hero is recognised (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
28. False hero or villain is exposed;
29. Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments
etc);
30. Villain is punished;
31. Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).
Propp also said that even though the narrative revolves around the reaction
and action of the protagonist (hero), it still relates to the main characters
of the story as well. He categorized these characters as
* the villain, who struggles with the hero (formally known as the
antagonist)
* the donor,
* the helper,
* the Princess, a sought-for person (and/or her father), who exists as a
goal and often recognizes and marries hero and/or punishes villain
* the dispatcher,
* the hero, who departs on a search (seeker-hero), reacts to the donor and
weds
* the false hero (or antihero or usurper), who claims to be the hero, often
seeking and reacting like a real hero (ie by trying to marry the princess)
Propp's ideology was very influencial, however, considering how vast the
media has gotten, it is not certain that each film has an obvious antagonist
and protagonist, hence in this case, Propp's theory is not likely to be
relevant.
As mensioned earlier, story and narrative are two different things, how
would ind the story from a narrative sequence, or a narrative sequence from a
story?
Deconstruction of Narrative
The first step in order to deonstruct narrative is separate the plot and
the story. In order to do this, we must analyse the 'substance' and how it is
programmed and organized in steps. The analysis of each step can then be
related to the substance. The substance will be the story, and the steps will
be the plot. The main deology of constructing the plot is to
* reveal the events which make up
the story
* mediate those events for the audience
* evaluate those events for the audience
Lastly, narratives usually need a location, either physical or geographical
in order the be able to relate to the genre, setting, characters as well as the
story. The narrative of my film is heaily based on the ocation, age and gender of my actor and my storyline, that all will be relevant to one another, complementing one another, making a uniue and easy to comprehend product.
PROPOSAL
'What is a friend, a friend is two souls,
dwelling in a single body' - Aristotle. Yes, Saima, my maid, is my friend. My film concept, purpose and idea, all
revolves around this single sentence. I have always been amazed by the way she
works all day long with a smile on her face, despite all the compromises she
had to make all her life in order to support her family and I do not only
admire her work, but also respect her for what she does.
Four years of my life all I have done is observe,
now I finally have the chance and the privilege to make something out of my
observations. And for me, there is no stepping back. I have decided to make my
film on the particular subject, exactly the way it is, without any exaggeration
and any extra-ordinary characteristics. I just want to see if I can make it
look as simple and beautifully painful as it really is.
This topic provokes the artist inside me, and i
am of full confidence to make good use of it. I feel children like Saima
deserve to be filmed and acknowledged for what they do and they way they do it.
I cannot think of another concept because my mind is totally and completely aroused by this one and i hope i do a good job while creating it as a media
text.
SHORT FILMS - A COMPARISON (poster)
This particular poster represents a film on child labour, and how small poor children are driven into child labour instead of education. However, by looking at the poster, it is understood that the child gets some sort of education and that delivers a little happiness into his life as it id obvious by the smile on his face, holding a book in his hand, and there is a small phrase at the bottom of the poster that says "all he needed was a hero" which indicates that someone somehow helped him out and lead him to taking a positive step.
This film is again, representing poverty, but in a completely different way than the first one. The entire problems and circumstances of poverty in this film are shown by a simple story in reference to the relationship of a brother and a sister belonging to an under-privileged household. Yes, they are given the rights of education, but for a poor child, just being educated does not mean everything. This film shows the two siblings sharing one old pair of shoes because they cannot afford new ones and feel embarrassed and ashamed to tell their father they need another pair. Can little education buy them shoes? I do not think so.
Hence, the two films are completely different while catering to the same genre. So basically, Genres can remain the same, but if the ideology differs, the entire text will create a completely different meaning and deliver a completely different message in its own way.
MY GENRE is also alike. As mentioned in my proposal, i will be making a film on child labor and poverty on my own maid. This genre belongs the 'art and drama'. My audience will be little, however, my film will create social awareness which is my mian goal. This is one reason why i have chosen such a topic.
Hence, the two films are completely different while catering to the same genre. So basically, Genres can remain the same, but if the ideology differs, the entire text will create a completely different meaning and deliver a completely different message in its own way.
MY GENRE is also alike. As mentioned in my proposal, i will be making a film on child labor and poverty on my own maid. This genre belongs the 'art and drama'. My audience will be little, however, my film will create social awareness which is my mian goal. This is one reason why i have chosen such a topic.
MY INSTITUTION : INDIAN FILM INSTITUTIONS - SHORT FILM PRODUCTION a
closer look
Films Division
The institution named Information Films of India was renamed to The Films
Division in 1948. The headquarters of Films Division is located in Mumbai, the
film city of India. They have got sub-units in Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata. It
is a well equipped organisation. The major goals of the films division includes
making the people aware of the changes in the society and educating them,
implementing programmes on a national level, uphold our pride before Indian and
foreign audiences etc. Their major functions are the following: Films division
releases a short film once in a week, usually Friday. This is done in 15
important languages in India. They keep a record of the entire history of
Indian cinema since Independence. They also have the responsibility of Mumbai
international film festival. They produce many creative documentaries and short
films as well.
National Film Development Corporation
National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) was established in 1975 in
order to increase the quality of cinema released in India and to integrate more
technology into audio-visual aspects of cinema in India. Corporation takes
effort to produce creative low-budget films and thereby promote upcoming
film making talent in India. NFDC finances and assists the production of such
films, they look after the post-production works if any, and they also makes an
effort to distribute such cinema through notable channels. They also conducts
many film festivals in India. The largest trust in Indian cinema field, The
"Cine Artistes Welfare Fund of India" is set up by the NFDC.
Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity
This directorate work almost as the PR section of various ministries and
looks into the publicity matters of these organs. This include publicity
through print media, outdoor display media, electronic media and nowadays
internet too. They publish brochures, diaries, calendars etc for various
ministries, they create hoardings and flush boards. They create small short
films and advertisements for the publicity of various ministries. Nowadays they
look after internet media too.
Film and Television Institute of India, Pune
The Film and television Institute of India is popularly known as the Pune
Film Institute. Unlike the other institutions mentioned above, the Pune Film Institute
is a training organisation, a film school to be precise. The Institute grooms
film students for their talent in film making, editing, camera, sound and other
similar aspects of a film. The students get the opportunity to be exposed to
national and international cinema, learn various aspects of cinema, make their
own short films etc. The institute enters these creative films by students to
various film festivals. Many cinema by these students have won many awards.
Satyajit Ray Film Institute is another film school like this situated in
Kolkata.
Satyajit Ray Film Institute
Government of India established
Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute in 1995 as an autonomous
academic institution under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.The
Institute was subsequently registered under the West Bengal Societies
Registration Act, 1961. Located at Kolkata and named after the legendary film
maestro Satyajit Ray, the Institute, the second of its kind in the country, is
a National Centre offering post-graduate diploma courses in Film and
Television. Besides offering regular full time courses, the Institute has plans
to undertake project development, funding and production of fiction and
non-fiction films.
All these institutes help in improving cinema as an industry and as an art
form in India. They have been doing a noble work for so many years. It is
because of the presence of these institutes that our films are at a level where
they are at present. Further growth of cinema as a medium is expected from them.
REFERENCE TAKEN FROM
Now coming to my own words, i chose to do this particular research since i will
be involved in making a short film myself, showing our Indo-Pak culture, hence
it was important to study small organizations of India that indulge into
production of short films and cultural and social documentaries.
TARGET
AUDIENCES:
The target audience is the percentage of people, film makers
consider to cater to while making a media product. It can be categorized in two
ways, demographic and sociological. These consist of the following; age and
gender, income (profession), residence and social back ground. On the other
hand attitudinal demographics and sociological can be classified as another
category. These consist of; intentions habits, likes and dislikes, responses,
behavior etc.
It is a must for film makers to be aware of all these things
of their particular target audience, only then they know how to cater to them.
Knowing what age and gender your target audience belongs to help film makers
know what kind of films they like, their income levels help them to know what
amount they’d be willing to pay to watch a film, and their professional life
helps them in analyzing when they have time to consume the product.
Interests on the other hand are very important while making
a film. If your target audience has a high percentage of boys between the age
of 13 to 25, then you know your product will be consumed most if it caters to
genres like action, horror or thriller, but if your target audience has a high
percentage of girls between the age of 13 to 25, you should know they’re
probably expecting a chick flick or a love story. This is how audience affects
your product.
Coming to my own film, I have researched and managed to find
out, that for an art film, my target audience consists of multi-sex people,
mainly above the age of thirty with high income levels. Also, their interests
are more towards consuming whatever conveys an sort of intellect, rather than
enjoyment n entertainment. My target audience also consists of art film critics
and scholars, who would watch the film in order to observe it completely,
including its presentation, construction, story and mise-en-sene.
Their age tells me that they want a mature film with a
mature story line, closer to reality which they can relate to. Also, they are
grownups, so the use of indirect language throughout the movie can be easily
understood, however, media language must be easy to read. These people often
come to consume such products with immense interests, mainly due to their
habits and likes and also because this film line is small and art films tend to
release within gaps, leaving them curious and anxious to watch it.
Income levels make it easier for art film makers. They
already know their audience is full of intellectual people with classy and open
minded backgrounds having enough money to consume their product, more than just
once, or very often. Their backgrounds are mainly from the elite, or educated
class, which enables them to critically analyze the product and accordingly,
give the truthful response to it.
All these things about my target audience will help me know,
what type of scenes I can shoot, what media language I can use, what my
mese-en-sene should look like, keeping in mind what my audience is expecting,
what type of music they would approve of, and what story would appeal to them
to the level that they relate to it.
FILM POSTERS - TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Poster One : Slumdog Millionaire
The construction and placing of this poster i done in such a way that the
idea of the film is instantly delivered Firstly, let us observe if the poster
is following all the technical conventions of film posters or not. The film
title is highlighted in a very prominent way. This gives identity to the
entire project, and also, to some level, creates meaning of the film. The word
'slumdog millionaire' instantly provokes the audience into thinking and gives
and idea that this film has something to do with a poor personality turning
into a millionaire.
The poster simultaneously draws attention to the guy in the center in
front. Once the audience's attention is drawn to the guy, it is instantly
understood that he is the lead character and that probably the title is referring to him, that he was once poor and belonged to the slums but somehow
turned into a millionaire. The link between the title and the guy automatically
provokes the audience into thinking, what could possibly happen in order to
transform him into a millionaire from a kid on the streets.
At the same time, there are five small pictures aliened at the bottom of the
main picture and each picture reflects a separate ideology and story within the
film. The first picture shows the guy sitting in front of a computer screen and
it seems like scenario of the famous show 'kon bane ga carore pati'. This gives
the audience an idea that, maybe the guy signed up for the 'big game' and that
is how he became a millionaire. The second picture shows him hugging a girl and
the hint of a little romance is given, and it is then understood that the film
has some sort of a love story within the main story. The third picture shows
kids belonging to the slums that gives an idea of his previous life and the
last two pictures shown the girl and the Taj Mehal, that instantly tells the
audience that the film is probably shot in India. The star
names and the name of the director is mentioned.however there is no production brand name mentioned and in this case, most
of the stars are unknown so no promotion and marketing has been done by taking
use of the star names or the institution, it is mainly all in the appearance
and characteristics of the poster itself.
Lastly, the title name, and the images let us know that the film belongs to
sub-genres of art, drama, adventure and romance.
Poster Two : Behind Enemy Lines
This poster, unlike other is different as it has not used some of the
poster conventions, like the star names, production brand name, however,
still manages to deliver meaning the moment it is looked at. The first thing
that pops into the audiences' minds when looking at this poster is 'action' and
'war'. This meaning is transferred by the use of the icon image and the
rule of thirds as well as the film title.
Firstly, the film title is placed exactly in the center of the poster, and
is written in white that contradicts the colors used in the rest of the poster,
hence becomes prominent The character shown in the center in front is in an
army outfit holding onto a gun, and there are a few men behind him in the same attire Their dressing and the location ( barren land with spiky bushes ) show
that they are soldiers in a matter of major crisis and are off on a mission to
fight off their enemies ( that is also made obvious by the film title ).
The use of icon image is done very well in this case. Despite being
completely in the background, an hint of the American flag is given which
automatically tells makes clear to the audience that the men are probably
american soldiers off to an expedition, fighting for their country. The colors used in the entire poster, shades of red and orange represent the genre,
emotion and personality of the adventurous, dangerous and dramatic
characteristics of the story. Therefore, it is easily understood that the film
caters to a sub-genre of action-adventure.
Another meaning of placing one guy ( the lead ) in the center and the rest
at the back could be that he's probably leading the expedition or if not, he
has to be the one who does something outstanding during the main arrival of the
conflict. In other words, it is made obvious that he's the 'protagonist' whilst
his enemies, whoever or who all he will eventually fight off will be the
antagonists.
Overall, the poster, despite challenging some conventions of film posters,
has managed to deliver the concept and synopsis of the film as well as the
genre it caters to mainly along with the sub-genre and also managed to create
the poster in such a way that it gave complete idea of the character sketch of
the protagonist as well as the story-line.
FILM POSTER CONVENTIONS
Just as other forms of media such as film, magazines, advertisements etc,
film posters, being part of the 'print media' also have their own set of codes
and conventions that they tend to follow and create attraction, an informative
character and a sense of meaning.
Reference : Myles Roache Daniel's A2 Media Studies coursework
The poster shown above is a simple poster of THE HULK that has been divided
into compartments that illustrate the technical convention of film posters. Let
us take the first convention to be the name of stars. Film posters tend
to 'highlight' the names of the stars that will appear in the film. This is one
way of gaining audience involvement into the poster, and eventually, the film.
This is because actors themselves act as brands. Fans automatically feel
interested in the movie due to their high expectations from their admired
actors, and at times when the actors are loved immensely, fans not only feel
attracted, but tend to feel obliged to watch the film. This is basically a way
of branding the film producers make sure to do this if using very big actors
and make money out of the fame created.
Next we can take the Icon Image. The icon image tends to appear in
the background or at a spot somewhere behind the main picture, but at the same
time, creates and gathers most attention In the example given above, the huge
figure of the HULK is in the background but it still manages to gain attention and gives the audience a sort of idea that the man in front might turn into
that creature, or somehow, that creature is the main essence of the film. This
particular convention is used in film posters to create the 'charisma' and curiosity regarding the what the film
would be about and what that particular thing, place or character in the
background has to do with the story. This builds up the indulgence and desire
of the audience into watching the particular film.
Furthermore, we have the Production title and the Release date. Both
these conventions are basically used solely for information purposes. The
production title is mentioned so that the audience would know which institution
is financing and distributing the film. At times this is also used as a
marketing and promotion strategy since some institutions have a brand image for
example WAlt Disney Productions. Disney fans tend to watch films mainly because
they have an idea of what type of films Disney would produce that they admire.
Release title is simply mentioned so that the audience would know when the film
is finally releasing on celluloid and start buying the tickets and generate
profit for the film.
Lastly, the Film Title, is the most important part of the poster.
The film title basically acts as the identity if the entire set of conventions
story line, and everything in the film. It is the brand name within itself, and
the entire media product is recognized and refereed to, by this particular
title.
GENERATING IDEAS
REFERENCE FILMS
Before starting of with my reference films, first i would like to give a
short summary of the theme of my product. The short film is going to be based
on a fourteen years old girl who had to drop out of school in order to work as
a maid an earn for her family. Yes, this is child labour, but in Saima's case
(character's name), life is hard, but not so bad. The family she works for
love's and respect's her a lot. But even then she at times thinks to herself
and recalls all the dreams she had ever since she was born. But unfortunately
children like her donnot get chances to fulfil those dreams. She is very
creative though, she paints out something beautiful whenever she gets time.
However, when after every two weeks she goes back home for a day, she makes sure
she collects whatever money she is given as a privilege to buy what she wants
by the owner of the house she works for as a sign of love and care, in order to
buy some chocolates and sweets from the store because she knows when she enters
home, she'd see her three younger siblings waiting for her to surprise them,
with eyes full of innocence and hope, and once she hands over the sweets and
chocolates and sees the happiness and joy on their faces, she feels all her
dreams just came true. Point being, great money cannot buy happiness, but
happiness can come from anywhere in any way, even to those who never get to
live their dreams.
It was very hard to find films with stories of such kinds. However i
managed to find three big famous films. These are Children Of Paradise, Slum
Dog Millionaire and Stanley ka
Dubba.
CHILDREN OF PARADISE
Starting with Children Of Paradise, despite being a film of the
small film fraternity, Children of paradise
has proven to be a very beautiful, simple and admired film by many areas
of media in the world. I have happened to watch this film myself on television
around four times even though it is not a Bollywood, neither a Hollywood film.
The dialogue sequence and scene to shot divisioning has been done so well that
even watching with sub-titles makes it feel equally interesting and heart
throbbing. This film Les Enfants du Paradis, released as Children of Paradise
in North America, is a 1945 French film directed by Marcel Carné. It was made
during the German occupation of France during World War II. The film was voted
"Best Film Ever" in a poll of 600 French critics and professionals in
1995.
The basic purpose of choosing this film as a reference film is mainly
because of is characterization, and to some level, the story. This film is
about a brother and a sister who belong to a very poor home, but are being
provided with education by their father who works hard day and night, and the
entire time, they both share one pair of shoes, a very old and worn out pair
that even hurts their feet. But they don't afford to buy a new pair. The brother
even runs for a race only because the second prize is a new pair of shoes. He
does very well and actually wins the first prize, but he's not happy, because
all he wanted was a pair of shoes. The films ends on scene where the children
are very upset back home because the brother could not win the shoes, but their
father while coming home has a twp pairs of shoes in his cycle basket, and one
can only imagine what the reaction of the children would be when they see what
their father got for them.
Basically, the concept of the small dreams and desires of a poor child who
does not afford to purchase a big happiness but can get the same happiness out
of something small is what made me choose this film as a good comparison to
mine and the characterization and relationship between siblings is another
reason of comparison since in my story the main character feels responsible and
careful towards her younger siblings.
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Coming to the Slum Dog Millionaire, this film has proved to be one
of the greatest films of the year 2008. Being a 2008 British drama film
directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by
Loveleen Tandan, this film was a great success to both, the Hollywood as well
as Bollywood industry. 'Set and filmed in India, the film tells the story of
Jamal Malik, a young man from the Juhu slums of Mumbai who appears on the
Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Kaun Banega Crorepati in the
Hindi version) and exceeds people's expectations, thereby arousing the
suspicions of the game show host and of law enforcement officials. The movie
combines elements of crime and adventure'. This particular sentence basically
tells the entire story of the film. Even though this film is barely comparable
to my film, i have still chosen it as a reference film, mainly just to compare
the way of life of the poor and under privalidged children. That s the only
aspect of common interest of this film to mine, but i still felt it is
important to mention it. Actually, what really attracted me into choosing this
particular media text is because of the way certain scenes are shot and the
characterization in accordance to appearance, living standard and language. I
feel i could make good use of such planning and shots for my film when i start
my shoot.
STANLEY KE DABBA
Stanley Ka Dabba is one of the most beautiful
films i have seen on the topic of child labor and is one of my very favorites.
This was a low budget film as the famous Bollywood director Amul Gupte wanted
this film to be out of the main stream cinema. However, Stanley Ka Dabba
attracted positive reviews from critics across India. The film is based on a
boy, Stanley, who is vry creative, talented and popular amongst his friends and
teachers. But one thing about him was strange, he never carried his lunch box 'dabba'.
There was a teacher in the school, who was known as 'khadoos' (miser) amongst
all the children. He never got his own lunch, but always used to take away
lunch from the students. Stanley's friends used to share their lunch with him,
hiding from khadoos. Unfortunately, one day they got caught by him and he
strictly told Stanley that he either has to get his own lunch or leave school.
Ever since then nobody saw Stanley in school again.' Khadoos' felt bad for what
he had done and left school, while on the other hand Stanley happened to win an
inter-school festival prize. The same day his teacher Mrs. Rosy, who was very
impressed by him, offered to drop him off. But Stanley lied and said that his
mother was waiting in the car. Later on, Stanley’s secret is revealed when he
rushes to a restaurant. Turns out he's an orphan who works at the restaurant
and earns for a living. From next day onwards Stanley takes his restaurant left
over to school and shares them with his friends, lying to them that his mother
made everything.
When he goes back home he looks at a picture of his mother who looked just like Mrs.
Rosy, and the resemblance is the reason why Mrs Rosy was so special to Stanley.
Stanley Ka Dabba attracted positive reviews from critics across India. Raja
Sen of rediff.com gave it a rating of 5 stars out of 5 stating that it was the
"Best, purest film to come out of Hindi cinema in a while". Film
critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave it a rating of 4/5 calling it
"heartwarming". Anupama Chopra of NDTV said - "I recommend that
you make time for the film. It has an inherent sweetness and honesty that will
stay with you long after the film is over" and gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India wrote "Don't miss this rich and nuanced
soul curry for both, the young and adult heart", giving SKD once again 3.5
out of 5 stars. It has an aggregate rating of 8 out of 10 on ReviewGang.
Stanley Ka Dabba made Rs 3.8 crore in its first two weeks, eventually grossed
just above Rs 5 crore.
The reason I chose Stanley Ka Dabba as a reference film is due to the
concept of child labor, and care for others. Despite Stanley's financial position
he still takes along whatever little lunch he has and shares it with his
friends happily. In my film, my main character Saima is just the same. She
works hard and in the end collects money and spends it on her siblings rather
than herself. On the other hand, she is also very creative just like Stanley
himself, full of talent as she is into drawing and can make beautiful art work.
Now, putting main-stream feature films aside, i have chosen a number of
short films produced by independent film companies. The purpose of choosing
such films is basically because these are closer o my product, not just in
terms of story and characters but also film type. What i will make is a short
film, just as these. So it is simply justice to chose these instead of some
more famous blockbusters. The names of
the films i chose are I am Kalaam, Struggle, When the stars go down, Home
sweet home and Incredible India.
I AM KALAAM
I Am Kalam is a Hindi film directed by Nila Madhab Panda. The plot revolves
around Chhotu, a poor Rajasthani boy, who is inspired by the life of the former
President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and his eagerness and desire for
education. The character of Chhotu has been performed by Harsh Mayar, a Delhi
slum boy. The film was released in August 2011.
Chhotu is an intelligent boy who belongs to a poor family in Rajasthan.
Born into poverty, he is forced to find work at a roadside food stall under the
owner, Bhati. Bhati is impressed by
Chhotu's astonishing abilities. Near the food stall is a heritage hotel in the
palace of an erstwhile royal family. Chhotu happens to make friends with the
lonely Prince of the royal family, but the Prince is forbidden by his father
from mixing with commoners, mainly those as Chhotu. One day Chhotu watches
President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on television and it inspires him. Chhotu
changes his name to Kalam and decides he wants to meet the president. He
studies in his spare time and writes a speech for the Prince for a contest. The
speech wins first prize at the contest, but soon after palace guards search
Kalam's room and find the Prince's clothes. Kalam is labeled a thief and the
rest of the story deals with how his actions lead to his destiny. Despite being
accused of being a thief, he does not reveal the source of his clothes in order
to protect the Prince from his father. Kalam hitches a ride to New Delhi where
he tries to meet the President. Meanwhile, the Prince tells his father that it
was he who gave the clothes to Kalam and that Kalam wrote the speech which
earned first prize. The nominal King realizes his mistake and sends the prince
to find Kalam in New Delhi. Kalam is found near the India Gate and is brought
back home. The King tells him that he can study in the same school as the
Prince and employs Kalam's mother as well.
The idea of choosing this film is of course, due to the character being
poor and working. But also, his desire of education can be linked to the desire
of learning of my character as it was the one privilege she was given and
eventually taken away from.
THE STRUGGLE
The film tells the story of a poor family struggling to survive against all
odds. The children are represented as a symbol of innocence and hope, while the
father is seen as a helpless individual with an empty wallet, who is well aware
of the harsh realities of life.
SOME MORE REFERENCES:
THE INCREDIBLE INDIA
Directed by Mayur Kachhadiya
Present by GRiNMATION Studio
This short movie is all about Indian culture, traditions, hospitality.
HOME SWEET HOME
The film is on a thought that education can be the guide to lead the poor
and underprivileged children to their dreams, also an ironical view on how the
academicians ignore the poor homes and print only the colorful and hard to
attain houses thereby dividing the children into haves and have not at that
tender age.
POSTER IDEAS - FOR MY OWN FILM
When I started off with thinking about what to do
with my film poster I thought of using photographs of my lead actress and
transforming them to black and white through photoshop.
I decided to convert one or two of the picturEs in
'pop art' through photoshop since the colors of pop art represent
personalities, gender, thoughts and genres. I could use the right colors in the
picture i would like to transform and create meaning of the picture in a
completely different way, that i haven't ever done before.
Samples Of pictures in Pop Art :
Some paintings in pop art i made myself:
I even thought I'd use some poetry that would be
written on the top left hand side of my poster, mainly in the 'Urdu' Language
since i feel that goes well with my theme and genre and creates the required
feel.
Pictures Of My Actress ( lead character ) that i
took and am willing to use :
QUESTIONNAIRE - A CLOSER IDEA
Question : Do you have a maid or any servant working for you?
Question : What is the approximate age of your maid or servant?
Question : Since when has you made or servant been wrking for you?
Question : Did your maid or servant have to drop out of school in order to
work or never got the chance to study?
Question : Do you have an idea of the amount of family members your maid or
servant has back home?
Question : Hoe often does your maid or servant go back home, are they
permanent or work on a daily basis?
Question : Why do you think we have this trend of keeping servants and
maids in Pakistan?
Question : Do you think we are taking advantage of our country's poverty
level and promoting child labour?
Question : Do you think servants and maids are paid as much as they work,
if not, why do you think so?
Question : What would you have to say to the Government in accordance to
child labor in Pakistan?
( The particular questions will be asked orally on video ).
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