Links to Trailer Paperwork

Pre-Production Log
Roles within the group
Narrative, Genre and Audience
Initial Ideas
SWOT Analysis, Idea 1
SWOT Analysis, Idea 2
SWOT Analysis, Idea 3
Full Synopsis of Chosen Idea
Advertising Industry Codes of Practise
UK Legal Frameworks (BBFC)
Trailer Research 01
Trailer Research 02
Trailer Research 03
Research Conclusions
Audience Profile
Audience Analysis
List of Resources
Linking our campaign choice to the OCR Brief
Character Analysis for the Female Protagonist
Character Analysis for the Male Protagonist
Character Analysis for the Male Antagonist
Call Sheet
Props List
Draft Storyboard
2nd Draft Storyboard
Final Storyboard
Dual Column Script
Script
Location Photos
Location Floor Plans
Test Photos of our Actors
Production Schedule
Production Photos
Footage Log
Bibliography

Collective Identity Christmas Work

Find and list 5 websites that allow readers/users/contributors to create or participate in a collective identity. You are required to provide a discussion of how a specific collective identity is constructed/expressed on each of these sites (including a theoretical discussion of any relevant issues). You should seek to be as detailed as possible, use appropriate terminology and link to specific aspects of contextual study.

Links To Websites

Facebook
MySpace
Blogger
YouTube
Flickr

Through the development of technology such as Web 2.0, the ability to create collective identities through resources such as social networking sites has been made considerably easier. As well as social networking sites, it has also been made easier to create collective identities using websites with other types of user generated content, for example You Tube or Flickr. Along with the ease of use of these types of sites, the fact that it is now possible to access the web anywhere and anytime adds to the popularity of creating a collective identity via the web.

Facebook

The predominant use of Facebook is to interact and connect with other users worldwide, and is a way in which individual users can construct a profile portraying aspects of their identities that they wish to share with other people. By selectively choosing specific aspects of their personal identities to share with people online, an online identity is created by the user, which people can identify and find out more about the person. Although this is how an individual identity is formed through the use of this website, collective identities can also be formed through features such as groups and fan pages that can be accessed through the site. By joining a group or becoming a fan of something that is of particular interest to the user, and also other users on Facebook, a collective identity is formed through people having these similar interests and connecting with each other by joining the same groups. This supports the theory of Louis Althusser and his idea of interpellation, where the media shouts out to you. In order for a user to become interested in joining a particular group or becoming a fan of something, the title must be of interest and catch the attention of the user, thus shouting out to them and encouraging them to join and become part of a group who share similar interests. Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital can be applied to Facebook. An individual can create an online profile for others to see using embodied and objectified cultural capital in order to gain more “worth” in society or in a social group through what they include on their profiles, for example the interests they highlight, or the favourite bands or films that the particular individual enjoys. In order for this to help the individual to gain a higher place in society or in a social group, they will only put information that they feel other people will ‘agree’ with, for example, they may not put something on their profile that they feel will make them appear “uncool” to others.

MySpace

MySpace is another example of a social networking site; however a large aspect of this site is the ability for musicians to create profiles and upload their own music for other users to consume. The musical content of this website is just one aspect, and in a similar fashion to Facebook, users are able to create their own profiles and select areas of their identity that they wish to share with other users of the site. The music sector is a prime example of how a collective identity is created through different users around the world. Music genres are a popular way in which people express their identities and so a collective identity is easily created through fans of the same genre, or specific band or artist, joining groups or leaving comments about the media they are consuming, because they all share the same interest. As with Facebook, Louis Althusser’s theory of interpellation can be applied to this website because the content needs to shout out to its potential consumers in order for them to want to consume what is on the website, and then comment on what they have heard. Again, Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital can be applied here. Because a MySpace profile's look can be changed more than that of a Facebook profile, cultural capital can again be shown by the users of this site. In order to create more "worth" for themselves, a user will selectively choose how their profile looks, and also what they choose to include within that profile, be it photos or interests etc.

Blogger

Blogger is a site where its users are able to create lengthy entries on topics of their choosing. Other site users are then able to become followers of different blogs that contain topics which interest them. The difference between social networking sites and blogging sites is that blogging sites are where users can write substantial amounts on a specific topic whereas a social networking site is where users can interact using smaller amounts of written communication. A specific example of collective identity through the use of Blogger is our media studies class, where a group of students have become users of the site in order to communicate the work we are producing in class. This collective identity we have with each other is not necessarily our interest in using site, but the interest we share in the subject we all study and the work we produce and post onto the site. In some respects, cultural capital can once again be applied here, due to the fact that the work the group are posting all relates to our coursework production, and we need the moderater to approve of what we have done. If the moderator approves of the work we have posted then our cultural "worth" will again be enhanced.

YouTube

YouTube is a site where users can upload their own videos for other users to watch, rate and comment on. Users can also subscribe to channels that contain content that interests them, and this is one of the ways in which a collective identity is created through the use of this particular Web 2.0 site. Because of the development of Web 2.0, it is through websites such as YouTube that anybody has been able to turn from a media consumer to a media producer. This gives a much more accurate representation of today’s society because people are able to create their own material, portraying things from their own point of view, showing the real world from a different perspective, rather than large production companies producing texts that they think provides an accurate representation. As well as a collective identity being created through the channels available for people to subscribe to, the comments people leave also add to this collective identity. If people are interested, or not as the case may be, in the video they have just consumed, they may choose to leave a comment containing their thoughts and opinions on the video concerned. Although this may be for or against the video concerned, the fact that a discussion may be created and the fact that users felt inclined to leave a comment in the first place suggests that there is a collective identity between the different users that have all rated or commented on a specific video. It could again be argued that YouTube also links to the interpellation theory of Louis Althusser, because as with Facebook, the content of the videos featured on YouTube needs to call out to the users of the website in order for them to watch the be encouraged to watch the videos featured.

Flickr

Flickr is a Web 2.0 site that is similar in nature to that of YouTube, however rather than videos, users upload their photos. Users of the site can also look at the work of specific people who have uploaded their work onto the site. By tagging the photos that they upload onto the site, a collective identity is formed because other people may have tagged their photos as the same thing, and so when another user of the site conducts a search using a key word, a group of photos with the same tags will be the result of the search. As well as this, the comments that are left or the ratings that other users give photos again represent a collective identity. Users will generally only comment or rate photos that specifically interest them for whatever reason, and so whether the comments are positive or negative towards the specific piece that is concerned, a collective identity is expressed because of the fact that they have chosen to comment on the same photo as other people. Again, as with YouTube, the theory of interpellation as put forward by Louis Althusser can be applied to this website, because in order for the collective identity to be portrayed, the photos on the site have to attract the attention of the users of the site, in theory calling out to them.

Practice at making a magazine cover

Go to the FHM website

In preparation for my coursework exercise, I have spent time creating a magazine cover in the style of FHM magazine. In order to do this in a convincing way, I used the programme Photoshop to create my piece. Throughout the process, I learnt how to manage working with a number of different layers, and vastly improved my skills when working with text. For example, I learnt how to create a drop shadow behind the title of the magazine, which made the text stand out from the rest of the page. This made it look effective; however it wasn’t too much to make it look unrealistic. As well as learning how to create a drop shadow, I also learnt how to put a glow around the edge of text. This makes the main headline on the front of the magazine stand out, and by also adjusting the spacing between the letters as well as the spaces between each line on all my text, I think that all of the headlines look realistic. In order to make sure that my interpretation of the FHM magazine cover used similar codes and conventions to the actual magazine cover, I looked at several copies to gain an understanding of how they arrange their headlines, as well as ideas on the kind of fonts they use, the font colours, and the type of headlines that are featured in order to target their specific audience. From looking at past magazine covers, I found that mainly bold fonts were used, with bright block colours, and usually only two or three colours were used on each cover. As well as this, I found that shadows and glows around the text were used in order to make the text stand out to the reader. This links in with Louis Althusser’s theory of interpellation, where the media shouts out to you, and the magazine does this through the aspects used on the front cover. By using bold colours and effects such as subtle drop shadows, the text looks as though it physically stands out from the page, which attracts the attention of the audience, who then read the rest of the text on the cover of the magazine, and through the cycle of investment, are then inclined to buy the product. In order to use the correct codes and conventions for my own cover of FHM, I looked at the kind of headlines that were featured on the past issues that I looked at. Common features of the past headlines were women, music, films, gadgets and fitness, and so to stay in keeping with this, I decided to use some of these as the ideas for my own headlines. The past headlines also had a relaxed and jokey nature to them, and so I tried to stay in keeping with this aspect as well. For example, by putting the headline “Getting hitched?!...” it could be argued that it is seen as a jokey idea for a reader of this magazine to get married, as he will then no longer be single, and as a consequence will no longer be able to do ‘laddish’ things. As well as headlines having a jokey nature to them, they also had headlines relating to women which had sexual implications. For example my main headline “Bianca Gascoigne reveals all...” has sexual connotations as well as its literal meaning. Headlines like this feature on the cover of this magazine as the targeted audience is heterosexual men. The only thing I am slightly unhappy with and would change in the future is the colour of the text for some of the headlines. Although I think white was a good colour to use for some of them, it is still difficult to read some of the headlines because of the colour of the background. To change this in the future, I would find a suitable colour that would stand out from the background, but would also work with the colour scheme, and also the theory of interpellation.

Further Development Through the use of Dreamweaver

Again, my creativity has been developed through using the software 'Dreamweaver' to learn how to create a website with working links. I had never used this programme before so I have learnt another new skill that will help me throughout the coursework process, as well as other times outside of my study. I specifically learnt how to use Photoshop to create each page for the website, and then how to import them into 'Dreamweaver' to create my website. As well as this, I also learnt how to add links to navigate around the website.

Additional development to my creativity through using digital technology

As well as improving my creative skills through digital technology as previously mentioned, I have also developed creatively through the use of Blogger. Having never used this website before, I have learnt how to create a blog, as well as how to post new information, in order to help successfully display my work in an electronic format throughout the process of my A2 coursework. This has helped my creativity because I have learnt how to use a site that I have never used before and has also provided me with a way of keeping my work electronically organised and ordered in a sensible way.

Another way in which I have further developed my creativity is through the use of Photoshop. Although I am very familiar with this programme for my other studies, I have learnt things that I didn’t know before that will be applied in the later stages of the coursework production. For example, once cutting something out and putting it onto a new photo, I learnt how to make it look more realistic and as if it should be in the original photo by adding a shadow, and also by resizing but keeping the correct scale of what had added. I also elaborated my creativity when adding text to the image and adjusting the kerning and leading.

How has my creativity developed through using digital technology to complete my coursework production?

Improving my camera skills has helped to develop my creativity as I have learnt new skills, as well as improved the skills that I already had. For the preliminary exercise during our AS coursework, we wanted to include a panning movement as the character walked across the room, however when we filmed this we had a problem with the camera not keeping up with the character it was following. As a consequence of this, the framing went wrong, and there was unwanted sound, although the film did still make sense. Even though there were problems with the panning movement in the preliminary exercise, we still wanted to use the same movement in the main exercise. It was my role to film this part of the film for our main task, and from using the problems that occurred in the preliminary exercise, I was able to improve the panning movement. The main thing I did to improve the pan was to move the tripod with just one finger, rather than holding it with my whole hand. This meant the movement was much smoother and also stayed at a consistent speed which made it look more professional and effective once we had added in the cross cuts.

Through improving the panning movement for the main task, I was also able to greatly improve my framing skills. This is because when filming a pan it is important to get the framing right in order for the shot to be good. By making sure the framing for the pan was correct, I feel that I improved the skill of checking the rest of the framing throughout the rest of the coursework, which I think made the overall end product better because everything was how it was originally planned to be.

I also think there were problems with the lighting and continuity in the first exercise. For example, when we were editing the film, there were issues with getting the different shots to match up to each other and make sense through not making sure that the continuity would work during the filming process. In order to improve this, I made sure that when we were filming our main task, when we re-filmed a shot, or moved on to film a different shot, everything was in the same place as it was before. This meant that it was much easier to edit the film together during the editing process, and it also meant that we had a wider variety of shots to choose from. I feel that this greatly enhanced the final product of the main task, compared to the completed preliminary exercise.

Using software that I was unfamiliar with to edit both the preliminary exercise and the main task ensured that I developed a new creative skill. By having to adapt to a new piece of software and to understand how to use it in a short space of time was difficult, however I think it is a skill that I can build on and use in other situations. Even though the programme is limited in terms of some things you can do, for example the choice of credits, I feel I was still able to be part of making the end films look as good as they could with the technology available for us to use. This developed my creativity because I now feel I would be confident enough to use the software for future projects.

Another way in which my creativity has been developed through the use of digital technology is Web 2.0. Through websites that incorporate user generated content, such as YouTube, I was able to publish my work onto the internet, and then also able to evaluate it alongside my uploaded video. This meant that all of my work was electronic, and it was easy to relate it back to the actual film because it was easily available to watch.